E-L-T

Oh, that Elliott. She is now two years and four months and acting every bit of it. In some ways, this is a great age. She is so curious and excited about things and I love watching her learn new things every day. There are also a lot of tantrums- many more than her sister ever had. (Now, Abbey was challenging in her own way- as in, she started challenging every single thing I said, and hasn't stopped yet.) But the every day, short-lived, screaming and kicking tantrums are still a lot for me to handle! The other day, Elliott got so angry about something that she ran towards me and said, "ME SQUEEZE YOU!" She was determined she was going to take it out on my leg!
She is also turning out to be quite a climber- getting her tiny self up on our tall bed or onto the kitchen table in seconds. When she's not having a meltdown or seeing if she can injure herself, Elliott shows us her sense of humor and how smart she is more each day. A friend of ours was showing Elliott different things and asking her what color they were. Elliott told her all her colors correctly, then purposely started telling her the wrong ones with a mischievous grin on her face. She is also very interested in numbers and letters, probably because Abbey is so excited about learning hers right now. When I am spelling names for Abbey to write down, Elliott will say, "E-yot. E-L-T." She can count along with you, and will occasionally count 3 or 4 things on her own, but mostly uses the phrase "2, 6, 9" to mean a lot of something. At bedtime she likes to bring over a pile of books and when we say we can only read a few she says, "No! Me read 2, 6, 9 books!"
One of her favorite activities is to fill up a bag (or backpack, or bucket, or basket...) with small toys (or puzzle pieces, or magnets, or dollhouse furniture...) and take them somewhere else. Sounds harmless but drives me CRAZY. She has her reasons, though, whether or not I understand them. Here she is at the kitchen table with some magnets and a book. I believe she had told me she was "at school." You can see that she has arranged the magnets in a certain way, and she moved them all around over and over until they were, in her mind, "just wight, Mama."

Look at that expression! Can't you tell she was concentrating?!

Here she is taking a break from all that hard work to dress up and make some music.

Discovering Cool Whip.

Elliott is turning into one of those kids you can't leave alone while you take a shower, even if you think you have put everything away that she could get into. For example, you might come out and find her wearing this:

Daddy's shirt, undies, and mismatched socks. And yes, they were in the dirty clothes. Lovely.

Now you are all caught up on E-L-T.