Christmas is but two weeks away and yet it seems like I haven't had time to enjoy the season. We've been very busy these first 11 days of December. We just got back from a trip to NC where Stephen had an interview at UNC - Chapel Hill. Thankfully he loved it because that's where I really want to go. But, other than that, the trip was very stressful and exhausting. We left with our daughter on Thurs. and yet a few hours into the trip she was replaced by someone else's daughter. That's the only way I can explain what we put up with for 3 days. I have NEVER seen Ella be so high-maintenance and so demanding. She literally screamed for three days straight no matter what her mood and no matter what she needed or wanted. Somehow she forgot that she could talk and refused to used her words to tell us what was wrong. But, most of the time nothing was wrong, she just wanted to be difficult. I say this not to complain or to be mean to my child, but I seriously think she's already starting 'the terrible twos'! I remember reading something before Ella was born saying that this period could start as early as 18 months but didn't think about it because hey, she wasn't here yet and I was going to have the perfect kid, right?!?! I will say that she's been traveling so much lately and I know sitting in your carseat for 9 hours can't be fun even though we stopped and let her run around as much as we thought she needed to. And I will say that as soon as we got back home (early Sunday morning) she was back to her 'normal' self. But, the screaming has got to stop! I don't understand why she won't use her words since she knows how to communicate most things to us.
Anyway, now that we're back we are getting ready to go see Santa sometime this week. I've been trying very hard to get her to recognize Santa so she won't be afraid when I pass her off to him. She seems to know who he is and can say 'santa', but we'll see how it goes when she sees the 'real' thing. She'll also be getting her hair cut again. It's growing like weeds and it needs shaping really bad and then we'll go get her 18 month/Christmas pics taken Friday afternoon. So, y'all should be getting some updated pics real soon.
As far as new things she's doing...these updates are starting to get monotonous in the fact that now that she's getting older she doesn't have as many 'firsts' and is really just building upon things. I will say that she has an afinity for jumping. She loves to show us how high she can jump and she loves landing on her butt and saying 'uh-oh'! In fact, she says 'uh-oh' so much I never really know if something is really wrong! She's also playing with the dogs more and in a rougher way. Most of the time they just lay there and take it, but I truly think she thinks Gator is her oversized stuffed animal.
Another thing with Ella is that she's getting way more independent and wants to do everything herself which makes certain situations difficult because I don't necessarily WANT her to do it herself at that time. But, overall, she's feeding herself with utensils pretty well and helps me dress her. She also loves brushing her hair - if only I could get her to like brushing her teeth!!
Until next month, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and we hope that we'll be seeing you soon, too!
