It's nearly impossible to believe that Elise is two years old! She's becoming such a big girl! This birthday feels very different from last year. Last year she had no idea what was going on and this year, while she still didn't get the full concept, she seemed to know that it was, in fact, her birthday (although I am not sure she knows what that means) . This week, whenever a package arrived in the mail, she picked it up and said "Happy Birthday Ellie?" and I would say yes and then she excitedly opened it and exclaimed "WOW!" about her new toy/book. She was genuinely excited about her gifts, which made it really fun.
Ellie and all of her Grandparents
On Sunday we had a tiny gathering to celebrate her birthday and she sang along to the Happy Birthday song and then shouted "Happy Birthday!" when the singing was over. She didn't really care for the (dairy-free) cake, but did eat a few spoonfuls of icing. She REALLY enjoyed the potato chips (she's never had them before), which
seemed to be the highlight of the birthday celebration for her.
She picked out a dress to wear that she actually got for her birthday last year (so it was a little snug!) but she didn't have any complaints, even though she's usually very liberal about saying "that too tight!" so we went with the flow and let her wear what she wanted to wear. She loved the party - all of the attention, food and gifts were right up her alley. She loved it so much, in fact, that she refused to take a nap. There was just too much excitement with all the people and new toys to play with. To our pleasant surprise, she didn't totally melt down at the end of the day. She actually held it together pretty well all day long and acted like a big girl.
Ellie and Milan
Speaking of acting like a big girl, Ellie also had the opportunity to practice her big sister skills with our friends' daughter, Milan, who is seven months old. Ellie held Milan on her lap (the first baby she's ever held) and she LOVED it - so much so that when I took Milan off of her lap she was very unhappy about it. As much as she enjoyed holding Milan though, she wasn't thrilled about
Mommy holding Milan. Milan is going to stay with us for a few days in July, so it will be good practice for Ellie to get used to Mommy dividing her attention and to also keep practicing those big sister skills for when Juan arrives in a few months.
In other big girl news, Ellie got her "big girl bed" this weekend! We set it up in her room so that she would get comfortable with seeing it, but we intended to leave her in her crib until she spent some time getting used to the new bed and was ready to make the switch. Well, apparently the switch is not as traumatic as we thought it would be because she wanted to sleep in the big girl bed last night. We were a little hesitant, but she was insistent, so we went ahead and gave it a try. She went down just as she usually does in her crib and had no problems falling asleep or sleeping through the night. The only problem was that
Greenie and
Pinky (the flat elephants that she has slept with
every night since she was six months old) fell through the slats in the bed and one was on the floor this morning. Luckily it must have happened long after she'd fallen asleep because she didn't seem to notice in the night so it was no big deal.
Ellie with Gram and Oma
So even though it's a little earlier than planned or expected, we are going to go ahead and make the permanent switch to the big girl bed. She really is getting to be our big girl!
Ellie with family friend, "Aunt" Christy
It's nearly impossible to believe that Elise is two years old! She's becoming such a big girl! This birthday feels very different from last year. Last year she had no idea what was going on and this year, while she still didn't get the full concept, she seemed to know that it was, in fact, her birthday (although I am not sure she knows what that means) . This week, whenever a package arrived in the mail, she picked it up and said "Happy Birthday Ellie?" and I would say yes and then she excitedly opened it and exclaimed "WOW!" about her new toy/book. She was genuinely excited about her gifts, which made it really fun. 
On Sunday we had a tiny gathering to celebrate her birthday and she sang along to the Happy Birthday song and then shouted "Happy Birthday!" when the singing was over. She didn't really care for the (dairy-free) cake, but did eat a few spoonfuls of icing. She REALLY enjoyed the potato chips (she's never had them before), which seemed to be the highlight of the birthday celebration for her. 
She picked out a dress to wear that she actually got for her birthday last year (so it was a little snug!) but she didn't have any complaints, even though she's usually very liberal about saying "that too tight!" so we went with the flow and let her wear what she wanted to wear. She loved the party - all of the attention, food and gifts were right up her alley. She loved it so much, in fact, that she refused to take a nap. There was just too much excitement with all the people and new toys to play with. To our pleasant surprise, she didn't totally melt down at the end of the day. She actually held it together pretty well all day long and acted like a big girl. 
Speaking of acting like a big girl, Ellie also had the opportunity to practice her big sister skills with our friends' daughter, Milan, who is seven months old. Ellie held Milan on her lap (the first baby she's ever held) and she LOVED it - so much so that when I took Milan off of her lap she was very unhappy about it. As much as she enjoyed holding Milan though, she wasn't thrilled about Mommy holding Milan. Milan is going to stay with us for a few days in July, so it will be good practice for Ellie to get used to Mommy dividing her attention and to also keep practicing those big sister skills for when Juan arrives in a few months.
In other big girl news, Ellie got her "big girl bed" this weekend! We set it up in her room so that she would get comfortable with seeing it, but we intended to leave her in her crib until she spent some time getting used to the new bed and was ready to make the switch. Well, apparently the switch is not as traumatic as we thought it would be because she wanted to sleep in the big girl bed last night. We were a little hesitant, but she was insistent, so we went ahead and gave it a try. She went down just as she usually does in her crib and had no problems falling asleep or sleeping through the night. The only problem was that Greenie and Pinky (the flat elephants that she has slept with every night since she was six months old) fell through the slats in the bed and one was on the floor this morning. Luckily it must have happened long after she'd fallen asleep because she didn't seem to notice in the night so it was no big deal. 
1 comment:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLIE! I can't believe that she's already 2! Sounds like she had a great day, and yay for the big girl bed!! :) Much love!
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