2.5 years



Ellasen is 2.5 years old today! I promised I would do an update on her at this age so here it is! Ellasen is still so fun and silly and happy. She definitely has her own ideas about things though. She wants to do things a certain way. She is very type A like her mommy and daddy. She loves to play kitchen and mommy. She puts her baby down for a nap every day. She loves to play on her computer and watch Diego, Dora, Winnie the Pooh and Jay Jay the Jet Plane. She still loves Curious George - especially the books, and has recently decided she likes Mickey and Minnie Mouse. She is pretty much totally potty trained including naps. She only wears a pull-up at night. She can communicate pretty much anything she needs to with words. She is speaking in full paragraphs most of the time. We are starting to possibly think about pre-schools for next year. Nap time is starting to become a struggle at times. She is asking for kisses and hugs over and over, and while kisses and hugs are nice to give when she wants 28 before nap she might just be stalling. As I type this she is crying for another hug and a kiss...she went down for a nap at 12:25...it is 2:30. We may have to go to a "quiet time" rather than a traditional nap pretty soon. She loves gymnastics and story time at the library. She likes to swim, but she isn't much of a risk taker so we are thinking we might try swimming lessons this summer. She loves going to breakfast on  the weekends with her daddy. She loves all songs. She will sing out the details of our day in the car as we drive around. She loves being girly: wearing dresses, getting her nails painted, etc. She is not a fan of getting her hair brushed or styled.  She is still a pretty picky eater. She loves peanut butter on anything though, pizza, broccoli. applesauce, strawberries, turkey, spaghetti and cheddar bunnies. She is 24 lbs and 3 ft tall. She is a true joy in our lives, and we feel so lucky that she belongs to us.

Mother's Day

We had a really nice Mother's Day weekend. Tim had to work Sunday so on Saturday morning he brought home flowers for me, and then we took a family trip to Mall of America. I got to pick out a gift (a necklace and earrings). On Sunday while Tim was at work Ellasen and I had a picnic lunch outside, and got manicures! She picked out her own color, and she sat there so nicely throughout the whole process! It was a fun girls day!

Holding our colors







My flowers

Rochester Trolley

My friend Lesley was going to take her son Caleb on the Rochester Trolley for his birthday and discovered that it was free last Thursday. We decided to take Ellasen too. She was very excited to ride on the trolley! There was a guide who told us all about Mayo and other popular sites around Rochester. The trolley took about an hour which was just enough! It was hard to take pictures on the trolley because it was pretty cramped, but I got a couple. 

Waiting for the trolley





Here comes the trolley!






After the trolley we went out to a family dinner...I snapped these pictures while we were there




Bounce World

Last weekend Tim was on call and so I decided to take Ellasen to a place in Rochester called Bounce World. Basically it is just this warehouse with tons of inflatable bounce houses and slides for her to play on. We had a great time. Ellasen doesn't take a lot of risks, but by the end she was even doing some slides by herself! She was very proud. I didn't realize what a workout it was going to be for me! I had to carry a toddler up to the top of these huge slides. It was fun, but tiring!















Random Cuteness

While we were painting one day she put her paint shirt over her head...silly, but cute! 







We spend A LOT of time in the car...Ellasen loves to wear sunglasses and hats!