Little Miss Talkative

Ellen's vocabulary seems to expand almost on a daily basis. The original "da-da" has now developed into "Bye, Daddy. See you." when Jeff leaves for work in the morning.  I don't think I've ever mentioned her first sentence, which really wasn't said intentionally, either: "I don't like that gravy". She said this at my grandma's house in December while the three of us were in the bathroom getting ready. So, no, it wasn't while we were eating gravy over anything.  However, her babbling is turning into real used in context, so we decided to make a list of her current vocabulary.

The words she says most often are:
Ma or Mama - referring to either me or wanting to be nursed, while pointing to my chest.
Da da or Daddy
No - which can sometimes mean "yes", too.
Car - "Car!" she exclaims while a car drives past the house, or while playing with her toy cars
Shoes - she gets particularly excited while getting her shoes out of the basket in hopes of going to the Swings, she'll repeat "shoes" over and over.
swings - sometimes pronounced "swee"
Bye - (no explanation needed ;)
Please - mostly pronouced "cheese", especially used while looking sweetly at her daddy to get her a chocolate button.
Cheese - referring to the real thing.
Cartoons - pronounced "coons". I think if it were up to her she'd either be on the "swees" or watching "coons" all day.

Other words she says:
Slide - mostly pronouced "side"
Uh-oh! - mostly currently heard through the baby monitor as she tosses her socks, blankets, or teddies from her crib while refusing to take a nap.
See you - as in "Bye! See you (later)" or "I see you" while playing peek-a-boo.
Peek-a-boo - was pronouced "ah-ka" a few weeks ago, but now is pronounced "peep-bo" which is actually what the Britons sometimes say for peek-a-boo.
Baby - sometimes she calls her blankie "baby", too.
Kitty
Paddy - the neighbor's cat's name
Teddy
Bubble
Sheep
Banana - pronounced "nan-na"
That - one of her first words said in March, while pointing to something, however, she doesn't say this so much anymore.
Coat
Home
Spoon - pronounced "poon"
Socks
Nose - her favorite body part.
Chocolate - another one of her first words said clearly at first, though now she mostly says something I can't really find a spelling for, but we know what she means.
Cookie and Yogurt - again, another word we know what she means but she can't truly say and I can't really spell.
Cracker
Soup
Switch - pronounced "sitch", either when I'm nursing her and she wants to switch sides (ehm...) or while turning on one of her toys.
Ding-dong - the doorbell!... duh.
That's it - I'll say, as in "yes, that's how you do it, Ellen."
One...Two... Seven... Nine... Ten! (counting according to Ellen)  She loves to count her puzzle pieces or Duplo blocks.
Thank you
Hello - with the ephasis on the first syllable.
Peppa - as in Peppa pig
Touch it - really only said when she wants to touch the dresses hanging in her closet or when we're at Sainsbury's and she wants to look at the clothes (such a girl!).
Night-night - the newest to the list.

And animal noises:
Meelaow - cat
Mmmoo - cow
Uh-uh (grunting) - pig
Baa - sheep
Sssss - snake -while slithering her hand
Ooh ooh - monkey

Quite a list for a 14-month old, if I do say so myself! Hmm... I wonder where she get's it from?!

Here are a few pictures I took last week. I was trying very hard to get her to look at the camera and smile, but the "coons" were on and if I tried turning off the tv, she'd get really upset.

 

 

 

 This is exactly how she watches tv.

 

 

 A hug from Daddy that same evening

Father's Day - we didn't do much for Father's Day, but Ellen got her daddy a card, a bar of chocolate with whole hazelnuts (I don't like hazelnuts, so it's all his!) and a Motor Cycle News newspaper.  Ellen knows her daddy very well.

 Helping to open his card

 Ellen reads what she wrote in the card to Daddy

"Daddy, I know there's chocolate inside this wrapper. I'll just bite through it for you."

And just to add a bit more to this blog... I took these pictures in May of Ellen in the dress my grandma sent her for her first birthday.  Again, it was almost Mission Impossible to get Ellen to look at the camera and smile.

 Pulling out her hair clip, but I love her eyes and expression in this picture.

Not a clear picture, but I realized I have hardly any pictures of her standing.

Lyth Hill

On Saturday after work, we took a walk on Lyth Hill, just south of Shrewsbury in the Shropshire Hills.  The sun was shining and it was a great afternoon to spend outdoors, despite the slight chill in the air.  Ellen was so happy shuffling up and down the hill and picking, studying and talking to the buttercups.

Crawling up hill is hard work!

Something was very exciting.

The video doesn't need much explainging, but at the very end, Ellen says "Ah-ka" which means "peek-a-boo", as she crouches down behind the grass.

"Hi, Daddy. Are you trying to relax?"

Kissy for Daddy

Ellen just laid down on her daddy's chest and smiled... it was so precious.

A kissy for Mommy, too.

"Hi, Mommy.  Were you trying to relax, too?  Too bad!" 

Ellen Videos

Ellen is so fascinating to us, and I am so blessed to be able to spend every day with her.  Although there are loads of times I wish I had my camera at hand, I was able to catch a few precious moments last week.

The first two videos were taken at Rhythm Time last Monday.  I was trying hard not to take videos of the other children, since they are quite sensitive of that here.  Ellen LOVES when the instruments are handed out. The children tap and bang the instruments to music, then they pass it to the next child (to encourage sharing) and the song is played again.  Here she is playing a new instrument, so I'm impressed that she knew what to do with it (I suppose it's not too different from the others).

(Unfortunately, my thumb was over the microphone, so the sound isn't totally clear.)

The next song the children were given bell shakers to tap along with the music and tap different body parts as the teacher instructed. I love how Ellen watches the teacher and then tries to tap where she's shown.

Last Wednesday we met up with our friend Lindsey from our NCT group and her son, William. They were chasing each other around and squeeling for a good 10 minutes before I got out my iphone to take a video.  It was so funny and so cute to watch.

When we're at Sainsbury's (the supermarket) Ellen usually is pretty good up until the end where the frozen foods are, when she starts to get cranky... until she suddenly sees the pet food section with the cats and dogs on the packages.  She goes absolutely balistic!  It is so precious. The first one was taken on Tuesday last week and the second, on Saturday when Jeff was with us.  Unfortunately, again, my iphone ran out of storage, so the video cut off, but it's still cute.

 

Play Time

We have had a few days of beautiful weather over the past week.  Yippee!  We don't get too many days like this, so we took advantage of the warmth and sunshine by playing at the park and eating lunches and dinners on our patio table. I thought I'd share a few pictures of how we spent these lovely Spring days.

Ellen in a Little Tikes car at playgroup... she AB-SO-LUTE-LY loved being in it and tooting the horn.  Her little legs just dangled in the opening to the ground, and her little hands held on to the steering wheel like she was really driving... it was sooo cute! We'll be sure to get her one of these so she can enjoy it any time she wants.

Ellen and neighbor Charlie in their garden/backyard

Jeff had Monday, May 7th off for the bank holiday, and luckily, it was a beautiful day.  We spent some family time at the park up the street.

"Mommy, can we go to the swings?" By the way, Ellen can say "swing".

Daddy blowing bubbles

"One... two...weee!" We say, "One..." and Ellen joins in with "two...weee!"

Ellen was watching the kids on the big kids playground and was perturbed that she couldn't join in.

"Daddy, I can do that."

A cute outfit from Grandma

Cute, cute curls!

Fields of bright, beautiful, yellow rape flowers where we went for a walk.

That walk sure was tiring!  I just love her legs... so lady like!

Another cute outfit from Grandma

More curls!

Now that Ellen can sit up (from laying down) she moves all around her crib before falling asleep somewhere other than where we lay her down.  Her favorite sleeping position is now on her tummy with her legs curled up under her... simply precious.

And no, her bed was not this untidy before I put her in it for her nap.