Thfree

Ellie sometimes has a problem distinguishing between her "th" and "f" sounds, so we've been working with her to try to get her to pronounce them clearly. Often this makes for a funny combination, like when she says "three" and tries to pronounce the "th" clearly, but then just tacks on the "free" like she normally says it.

We've also noticed that she has difficulty making a "3" with her fingers. She tries to do it the way we do it (by holding the pinky down with the thumb) and concentrates very hard before giving up and doing it "her" way. "Her" way consists of holding her ring finger down with her thumb. It wasn't until I was looking through pictures from the park the other day that I realized Zoe has her own way of making a "3" too. I asked them to hold up 3 fingers since they're both 3, and this is what I got:

Best Buds

Eliana has missed her friends this summer. Zachary has been in Salt Lake City visiting family for a large part of the summer, and then we spent time in Texas, Kansas, and had company here. Add to that the fact that her friends' mothers keep popping out babies like crazy and you have a little girl who feels deprived of time with her friends.

But earlier this week, Erika and her 9 day old baby braved the splash park so her older daughter could get out of the house and play. We met up with them there and Ellie and Zoe finally got to play, after about 6 weeks of not seeing eachother! These two little girls seem to be best buds and had a great time playing and being silly together!

I've got one word for you:

Joy!

Raspberries

Two years back, we picked up some raspberry bushes from Freecycle. A local family's garden was being overrun by the canes, so they invited any takes to come and dig some up. I had no idea what I was getting into; for example, I didn't know raspberry bushes were thorny. The givers were nice enough to lend me some gloves while I dug and lugged.

Now, our raspberry bushes are taking over our garden and are happily, consistently pumping out yummy fruit. Many evenings I'll take Ellie out to the far side of the yard to look for berries. I think it's a good exercise in patience for her since I'll only let her pick the ripe ones. It's a small joy that I look forward to.

Blood

I just listened to this conversation between Ellie and Leif, while she was showing him her hurt toe.

Leif: Eliana, what is blood?
Eliana: Well, the owie on my toe was blood...
L: What color is blood?
E: Red.
L: Where does blood come from?
E: (very matter-of-factly) Sidewalks.

And the conversation was over. =D In her defense, most of the owies she gets that bleed DO come from stubbing her toes or falling on the sidewalk.... And yet she still insists on running without shoes on....

Sometimes she looks so big and sometimes, like right now, she looks so little.

The Anatomy of a Snort

This sweet little girl loves to snort. It's true. First, you scrunch up your face like this:

... and then you snort!

And then you follow up each snort with bouts of wild laughter....

That's my girl!

The Cruel Gene

I think all mothers have a cruel gene. It's that gene that makes us take pictures instead of helping our children when they find themselves in situations like this:

She was supposed to be in bed sleeping. But somehow she got this tote (which was nowhere near her bed) stuck on her head. I laughed. I took pictures. I felt no sympathy for the disobedient little girl who got zapped with a natural consequence of her disobedience. Then I removed the tote, gave her a hug (and continued chuckling to myself) and sent her back to bed.

And someday I look forward to laughing again when she heartlessly takes pictures of her own daughter doing similar things to her. =D

Discrimination

Eggs have long been one of Ellie's favorite foods. Lately she's been leaving some portion of the egg on her plate. Tonight she finally articulated why; she told me that she didn't like the yellow part. Sure enough, she'd eaten everything but the yolks of the two eggs I'd made her. I made her a second batch of eggs, 3 whites, which she's scarfing down all of as I type.

Of course, I find this sort of amusing because I don't like yolks either. I'd been feeding them to her because (a) I thought she liked them and (b) she could use the extra fat.

Update: Elizabeth tells me that while they were at the family reunion in Kansas eating hard boiled eggs, Ellie told her that she didn't like like the yellow part.

You Crack Me Up!

This is one of Ellie's new phrases. If she thinks you did something funny, she'll say, "Mommy, You crack me up!" Sometimes, though, she really does crack me up.... like when she's singing into a hair dryer...

Backpacking Lava Lake

Last summer we took Eliana camping for the first time. So this summer we decided to attempt backpacking for the first time. We took Ellie up to Lava Lake. It's a 3 mile uphill hike with a beautiful lake at the end. It's long enough to justify backpacking, and short enough that we thought maybe it wouldn't be too hard with Eliana. And...

Sure enough, she hiked pretty much the entire way by herself!! 3 miles at 3 years... not bad! By the time she's 10 she'll be able to go hiking with Leif. =D (And I can spend the weekend scrapbooking by myself, ha ha!) So... it was a good trip! So good, in fact, that we're going to attempt a 2 night backpacking trip this weekend....

So, we didn't get too many pictures on this little trip, but we did get a few. Here's the lake we hiked to:

Isn't it beautiful? We love this particular hike.

Leif and Ellie ate breakfast down by the lake and then I read while they pumped water. Ellie was even helpful on this trip and pumped a liter of water all by herself! She also helped Leif put up the tent. She enjoyed being his little helper!

12th of August.... er, um... 4th of July?

Okay, so these pictures are a liiiiiiittle late. But better to post them late than never, right? For 4th of July we went up to Peet's Hill and watch the fireworks over Bozeman. It was pretty neat, and Ellie even managed to enjoy herself this year instead of being freaked out the whole time! Turns out that being far enough away to enjoy the sight but not the sound of the fireworks helps. Hooray!

That's me sitting on Peet's Hill with Ellie in my arms. She insisted on being under the blanket until the show started!

Soccer!

This summer we decided to put Ellie in a little soccer camp for 2-3 year olds through the Bozeman Parks and Recs Department. She had some fun in the camp, but I don't think soccer will be a way of life for her. =D Still, it was fun to see her running around, following the coaches and other kids!

They started with exercises and stretches. This was Ellie's favorite part of the whole class. Then they got to pick a ball. Ellie always went for the purple one.

They learned things like "stop" position, running, kicking, and not using their hands.

And then they had some fun activities like obstacle courses and parachutes!

But her favorite part about going to soccer?? She got to play at the park before and after!! =D She loves to play...

Hiking the M with Daddy

Leif and Ellie enjoy hiking together. Most recently he took her up to the M and got these pictures of her:

Isn't she funny running down the trail? She loves to run!

Little Fairy Princess

We have a 3 year old girl. That means that sometimes our home is inhabited by a little fairy princess. Such was the case this week and we got pictures of the flittery little creature!

And what is a princess without kissing a frog?

Every time Eliana kissed the frog my mom would push the button that made the frog giggle. It was really cute! It had Eliana laughing so hard!

Here's one last look at our sweet little fairy princess...