3 Years Old!

Our Ellie Ruth is turning 3 tomorrow, but the celebrating has already begun! Last Thursday Ellie brought treats in for her friends at school, today we had a fun time with all the Boyers and the Betkers, tomorrow Ellie and Mama are having a special day together, and next weekend the Pomeroy clan is coming to celebrate some more! Nothing like breaking up the cold winter with a week-long birthday celebration =) For as much as Ellie is excited for this birthday though, she deserves it! =)

Ellie's seriously been talking about her birthday since October. After Great-Grandma's birthday, she heard that her birthday was "next". Well, that was true (in our family), but there was still Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas to be had. After Christmas Ellie knew her birthday was "next", but she also had 2 friends at school with January birthdays, so we patiently waited through January, first Henry had his, and then Gabby, and then FINALLY Ellie's was NEXT! Oh, she has been SO excited =) I'll do another post with all the birthday fun, but thought I'd write a little about our 3 year old these days.

Ellie is independent, sweet, appreciative, and loving. No, it's not sweetness ALL of the time, but her moments are ones that just come with this age I've decided. She can be very stubborn (independence to the max!) which causes frustration, but I guess we can be thankful that she's learning and trying new things. On the mornings when she's INSISTENT on getting in the car and buckling herself in "ALL BY MYSELF", I just take a deep breath and get a warm chai to start my day.

Ellie is such a talker, and we always hear how she talks so well. She seriously talks so much, non-stop. Her most favorite thing to ask is "Why?"...while it does get annoying, I do think she's trying to understand, so we do our best to explain whatever it is she's asking about. Ellie says so many things, I cannot even begin to list, but here are some that make me smile...

"Oh my Goodness! Oh my Gosh!" (usually out of excitement or joy)
"That's not very nice, he needs a time-out" (usually about Emmit or a friend at school)
"I'm a BEAUUUTIFUL princess!" (Emphasis on the beautiful and usually spinning around)
"I love you SO much Mama/Daddy" (She really emphasizes things and this ones just makes me smile)
"I love my whole family!" (and then she'll proceed to name everyone, including Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, and cousins, considering the number there are..I'm usually impressed)

Ellie loves her brother and her friends. I love our dinnertime chats where she tells us who she played with and what they did at school. Ellie and Emmit have a bit of a love/hate relationship these days, but for the most part I think it's love. Except maybe when there's a need to share...that doesn't go so well (I actually did my first toy timeout yesterday over a ball they couldn't seem to play together with).

Ellie loves watching her shows - her MOST favorite being Wow Wow Wubbzy and Max & Ruby right now. She loves anything princess and will play dress-up all day long. She wears a princess dress at some point of just about every day lately. She loves reading stories and reads most of her favorite stories back to us now. She knows some of them word for word. She loves to play hide-and-seek, make snow angels, chase around the house, and princess in the castle (Daddy, the mean dragon, puts princess Ellie and prince Emmit in the dungeon (the landing on the stairs) and Mama, the rescuer, saves the day!) Ellie can be very imaginative, so we play lots of silly games at home most evenings.

Ellie's gotten a little pickier in her eating as she's gotten older, but still likes a lot of things so we can't complain at all! She really has a sweet tooth like her Mama though, listing ice cream and candy as favorites! =) Some of her other favorites are grapes, mac & cheese, string cheese, guacamole, popcorn, raviolis, and apple juice. The one thing Ellie doesn't really eat is meat (except hamburger); she'll eat almost anything, but only after picking the meat out first. She is liking milk now which is kind of a new thing - she was a 'water-only' child for a long time.

As a 3-year old, here are some things Ellie's been talking about lately.

Going to the dentist - She learned about the dentist at school probably 6 months ago. I told her that when she was 3 she could go, and she DID NOT forget. She has her first dentist appointment scheduled in a couple weeks, and she's REALLY excited. I am taking her so we will see...she might love it, she might freak out - I really don't know what to expect?!

Taking a vitamin - She's been taking a multi-vitamin every night now, and she just loves this. She always reminds us to take our vitamins too so we can get 'big and strong'.

Being done with her nummy/nukie - I really don't know what to do about this. She still loves her nuk, but ONLY at home. She totally gave it up at school, and doesn't take it when we go places (it always stays in her cup holder in the car). At home though, she still has it. We've been talking about her being a big girl when she's 3 and how she won't need nummy anymore, and she's been saying it back...but we're one day away, and I really don't think it's going to happen. Especially since Emmit equally loves his nummy, so it's just teasing Ellie if he has one and she can't. I am wondering if the dentist might be able to convince her at all???? Someone else had told me that worked, I don't know, we'll see!

Ellie is totally potty trained (for a couple months now) which is AWESOME! Nighttime still requires a Pull-Up, but that is a-ok with me! She is doing great using the potty all day now and loves all her underwear.

Happy 3rd Birthday Baby Girl!



Fun in the blankets! Not only does Ellie love her nummy yet, but she also REALLY loves her green blanket which she's had since she was born. She gives blankie a hug and a kiss each morning, and takes it just about everywhere she can.



Being silly in Mama's boots - Ellie is a dress-up queen!



Grocery shopping with Mama...it's really easy to go places with Ellie now which we love. She insists on walking herself though - no riding in the cart. Grocery shopping is no exception - she loves pushing her own cart. This particular day she did take off running from me, which caused me to have to ditch my cart and chase her, but after that she stayed close!



And Ellie in her most favorite attire...100% princess!



I just love this video. It's from before Christmas, but I was having upload issues and just finally got it to work. This is so Ellie now, talking away, playing with Emmit, and taking care of her babies =) Of course there's a little Emmit in here too...he's listening to music on Daddy's phone and cuts the video short when he decides he should bang it against the door!