Late this morn, My Sweet
Hubby and I are heading East to CELEBRATE Baby Elle’s second
birthday! With several other family members. She won’t actually be two for a
few more days. But this day made the most sense for TLC and her Gang and our families.
So CELEBRATE we SHALL!
I’m positive TLC wishes
she could be writing this post. In fact, that’s how we planned it. She’d do
eighteen things she TREASURES about her second child. Y’all know our yadayadayada
story/excuse: Life gets in the way of our good intentions. We both realized she
was super strapped for time.
ENTER…MOI! Grammy can’t
post pictures like TLC would have done. (TLC can do a few for me soon.) I can,
however, give you…
Eighteen (18)
Things I ADORE about Baby Elle (aka Belle):
- Her sweet, funny, precious spirit! From the moment she was born, we all knew she was going to be very different from her older sister (Little Leighton—aka LL). Feistier. Yes—Wilder.
- Her energy! Y’all may recall LL wasn’t a very…what’s the word…physical infant/baby/toddler. In fact, she didn’t sit up on her own until she was nearly a year old. We, lovingly, called her The Happy Sitter—because you could move her around the house all day long and sit her anywhere on any floor and she’d be happy for quite some time. She was getting restless? No problem. Pick her up and move her again! She was sixteen months old before she started walking. Even after that milestone, we never worried about her climbing up on things. Jumping down off things. Running much of anywhere. Belle, ontheotherhand, was a ball of fire and movement from the time she was in her Mommy’s tummy! She did everything physical much earlier than LL ever did. To this day? You can watch her little eyes/brain constantly looking around and trying to figure out where she’s going next. What she’s going to try to get up on/in to. We (tenderly) call her The Tornado. She is EXHAUSTING. In the very best way possible.
- Her love for Her Big Sis! She looks at LL with complete and sincere amazement/admiration. She watches LL. She listens to her. She has from the time she was born. Don’t get me wrong. She fights with LL over toys. Space. Food. If she wants it? She’s going to get it. And hold onto it until the bitter end. Through all of that drama? Her Big Sister reigns SUPREME.
- Her laughter. Her giggles. Her silliness. And, trust me: She completely knows she’s being ridiculous!
- Her manners. From the time she could start saying “Tank ou, Mama…” “Tank ou, Daddy…” “Tank ou, Gwammy…” “Tank ou, Pa-Pa…”, she became the most polite toddler I’ve ever known. And that includes her Mama—who was pretty dadgum polite but sometimes had to be reminded to give thanks to someone. And Her Big Sister. Heck, possibly, me! She thanks everyone around her for something only one person has really done for her. It’s beyond cute.
- “God bless you, Gwammy.” When someone sneezes or coughs? She is the first to say: “God bless you!” Again, the most polite child ever.
- The fantastic way she naps and sleeps at
night! LL? She was like her Mama. Not a good napper. Not a good night-time
sleeper. In fact, she really didn’t sleep in her crib for more than a
couple of hours at a time. We’d all finally just give in and put her in
bed with us. It was the only way we could get any sleep. (TLC? The same.
Exactly the same.) Now, in LL’s defense? Two things: (1) We have no way of
knowing when Celiac disease starting affecting Little Leighton. Could have
been very early on. She was two when she was diagnosed. At 2? TLC and Her
Hubby bought a pretty Pottery Barn bed for LL—called it a “Princess”
bed—and LL started sleeping in it right away. Has been a decent/GOOD SLEEPER
since then! (2) Belle actually didn’t start off as a great sleeper. In
fact, TLC hired an expert (a well-known
- Her hair! Especially when she wakes up from a nap or in the mornings! It. Is. WILD. Which she thinks is FUNNY. Also, those little pink glasses. I mean, seriously, Friends. Are they the MOST PRECIOUS?
- Her love of fruit chews! You know—those little packages of sweet things that are made by companies that try to convince us they’re healthy because they have a teeny percentage of fruit juice in them? Right. Anyway, from the time TLC could give them to Baby Elle without cutting each of them up into several pieces, she has craved them. She is OBSESSED. She’d eat them for breakfast, lunch, dinner and her morning and afternoon snacks. She literally will look at you—every hour on the hour—and, with the sweetest little voice and expression—say: “Fruit chews, Gwammy? Fruit Chews?” It breaks my heart when I have to either pretend I didn’t hear her or think of something to distract her/change the subject. Or, God forbid, say “No, Belle. No fruit chews. You’ve already had two packages today.” She basically likes about six foods at this point in her little life. Which completely frustrates Her Mama. Fruit Chews are absolutely #1 on Baby Belle’s List of Preferred Foods.
- Her curiosity! Yes, most every toddler is curious about everything. I get it. She is hyper-curious! Trust me. This Little Princess picks up everything. Looks at everything. Wants to take everything apart. Holds on to the weirdest things until she finally puts them down and you retrieve them and hide them. We call her a little wackadoodle about this idiosyncrasy.
- Her running! Everywhere. All. Day. Long. Yes. This goes along with her physicalness. Yet, it’s also separate. Because even when she should be exhausted? She runs. One of my sisters can do the BEST impression of Belle running. It’s fast, sort of sideways and full of utter abandon. I LOVE watching Belle—even as we all try to protect her from injuring herself.
- The fact that she calls LL’s teachers by their last name. There is not the required “Mrs.” in front of either one of them. Just their last names. Like Belle thinks their last names are actually their first names. They think she is a hoot. I agree!
- The fact she’s never afraid to tell someone: “NO.” Whether it’s me trying to get her to eat something she doesn’t intend to eat—“No, Gwammy. No.”—or whether it’s her Mama telling her not to continue to do something she’s doing. She is not afraid to say: “NO.” Yes, her Mama occasionally puts her in Time-Out for this choice. Still…this grandmother must hide her laughter.
- Her dancing! And singing! She is cRaZy about the movies Frozen and Sing! Mostly Sing! “Mom Pig, Gwammy? Watch Mom Pig?” She would watch Sing all day. Every day. Every night. 24/7. Yes. Mama TLC and Big Sister LL get weary of starting this movie over. And over. And over. Grammy thinks it’s priceless and they should simply CHILL. Winky. Wink.
- “Okay, Gwammy!” When she says “Okay?” Her little shoulders rise and her adorable little voice gets higher and she smiles. It melts my heart.
- Her love of people! She is quite interested in knowing all her family members and friends. If you’re lucky? She’ll go to you pretty quick. She’ll let you hold her hand. Yes. This could possibly be a challenge for us all in the future—teaching her to be extremely careful about whom she trusts. We’ll be working on that every day for a long time, I fear. But, for now, as we watch her every second like hawks—it’s nice! Little Leighton was always very skeptical of everyone. She still is shy/reserved/slow to warm up to people. Belle? Completely opposite.
- Her love of: Daniel Tiger and Baby Margaret. Peppa Pig. Olaf from Frozen. Full House! If TLC—or Nanny Grammy—needs a few minutes to get a meal together or to get some fast chores done? Put on one of Baby Elle’s favourite TV shows and she’s good for 15-25 minutes!
- My MOST FAVOURITE thing about Baby Elle? She’s here! Making our lives full of spunk. Sass. Giggles. JOY! She’s a force to be reckoned with. Already. At two. Watch Out World!
God bless each of Y’all on this Wonderful
Sunday—wherever in this World Y’all are!
(Thanks for your patience!)
Hugs,
ELC
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