For a walk

When it was slightly warmer this week, we tried to let Ellie take her new doll for a walk in the baby stroller she has. We thought it would be nice for the stroller to no longer be depressingly empty... but she screamed every time we put the doll in there. Instead, Ellie just wanted to clutch her doll by the neck and stroll the alley and neighborhood. My favorite part is the dad got stuck on stroller duty! Love it :)

p.s. Thanks for the cute pink hat/mittens combo, Maggie, and thanks mom for the cute pink boots!

Stuff she does

While we're certainly keeping up on photos of Ellie, I slack a little in writing about what Ellie is doing, saying, screaming about, etc. as she grows up.
At 17-months she sometimes seems like a total stranger compared to the younger, baby-version of Ellie we all grew to love. But I can say unequivocally that Ellie 1.42 (years old...) is even more fun than the earlier operating systems.
Here's a snapshot of stuff Ellie does these days:

• At bath time, Ellie has started pouring water over her head herself. She used to take whatever cup I was using and drink from it (whether the water was clean or soapy!). But now she's figured out how to fill it up and douse herself. It's hilarious and quite helpful when I'm trying to wash her hair. I also am crediting the round of parent-baby swim lessons we took last fall for making her comfortable enough in the water to stick her face in. She does this often during bath time, sometimes coming up looking very proud of herself and other times acting shocked and like, "How could you let me do that, mom? Don't you know babies can drown in less than an inch of water?" Good thing I always keep a close eye on this brave fish baby we have.
• Play time includes plenty of "pretend" games, including putting her baby doll to bed and making different "stews" out of whatever blocks and bowls are nearest. She'll also pick up a kitchen towel and put it on like a cape. We may have to go buy some more dress up stuff...
• Meals are going really well (knock on wood). She's throwing food less and eating better with a spoon or fork. Ellie has started to try more grains, meats and veggies — although she clearly has her favorites. I'm hoping to start working on getting her to drink out of a real cup in the next few months, but every time I'm tried thus far she pours the entire contents down her front.
• Frustrations still abound in our house, however. I can see Ellie get upset when she's trying to convey something and we don't understand. I hate that part, but we're working on more words and signals all the time. Mom and dad get plenty frustrated by Ellie's tantrums when she's told "no." She's quite good at throwing a fit already and it's a little scary. I foresee some time-out training in the not-too-distant future.
• On a more positive note, some of the most precious Ellie-isms these days include the kisses she gives on the mouth or blows to us, and the hugs she'll give while saying "ohhhh" and patting mom or dad on the back. Those are the moments when I'm willing to let her do just about anything she wants.
  

Ellie's baby doll

After the few days Ellie and Emma spent together it was determined that our little girl needed her own baby doll to play with. She basically stole Emma's doll during the visit to Whitecap and lugged it around everywhere she went. (Brian is quick to point out that he tried to buy her a doll months ago for her birthday and I steered us toward a different present because I didn't think she was old enough to appreciate a doll yet... boy was I wrong.)

SO, my mom got Ellie one of her own when we got back to Rockford. Brian insisted on a doll that didn't make noises, and I must say it's not that one of her toys doesn't "do" anything... although this doll has magnetic hands to clap and blow kisses, along with a magnetic pacifier. Needless to say, Ellie loves it! She's hardly put it down since we got home from the trip, and she spent about an hour last night "putting it to bed" by covering it (face and all!) with one of her fleece sweatshirts and saying "nigh-nigh."

Of course she doesn't do it all for the video camera... but here's some of what we caught on film.

Emma and other Whitecap fun

Here are some more pictures from our Christmas vacation up at Whitecap ski resort in northern Wisconsin. Grandma and mom spent plenty of time loving on Ellie. As I returned to work this week I fully realized how awesome it was to be around Ellie all day each day! Turns out she's pretty fun.
Ellie also got some good visits in with her aunts and uncles, even though she's still a little clingy to mom and dad sometimes. Here she is with Uncle Ben and Aunt Candice.

Cheese!

Laundry basket rides gone wild!

And, introducing Ellie's friend Emma! (Which is now one of Ellie's favorite words to say... and we hear all about Emma even a week after our cousins headed back to Chicago.) It was fun to watch the girls play together (or at least in the same vicinity!) They did really well together, but every so often we'd hear an outraged "NO!" out of Ellie as she snatched a toy away from Emma or vice versa. Emma is 8 days younger than Ellie and is a total bundle of energy! Ellie learned a lot about running and climbing from this gal.

And this video just cracks me up!

Where is it?

Happy 17-month birthday to Ellie! She is a total spitfire these days... can't imagine where she gets it from. This picture sums up some of that amazing personality, sense of humor and total joy we get to appreciate every day. It's Ellie asking her favorite question: Where is it?

Our snow angel

We enjoyed a very white Christmas in Wisconsin this year. It was fun to watch Ellie enjoy the snow and the sledding.

She even liked to eat it, but we kept her away from the yellow stuff ;)

And... an action shot!

Happy new year! (Christmas flashback...)

Ellie would like to thank everyone who spoiled her this Christmas! Here she is opening her very first Mr. Potato Head on Christmas morning. And Brian and I made out pretty well, too, this holiday! Brian is sporting his own Interpol hat below, which he got from our soon-to-be brother-in-law Chris. That's right, Chris and Maggie got engaged!

Ellie got a doggie from Build A Bear from Aunt Jen and Uncle Dan. She also got great zebra shoes, a musical giraffe, tons of toys and wonderful clothes and so much more. Thank you so much for everything!

Here's one of the family shots we took before heading to Christmas Eve mass. Ellie did pretty well during church and made great friends with a woman and her daughter in the pew behind us. Ellie didn't stay awake long enough for much present-opening on Christmas Eve (when we do the bulk of the gift exchange in the Schneider household), but she made up for lost time the next morning. It was fun to see her actually open some of her own gifts this year and recognize things to get excited about. What a change from last Christmas... although I'm sure they'll keep getting better as she gets older and more excited about the holiday.

Oh, and here's one group shot of Ellie playing with cousins when we visited the Lewis family on the morning of Chrismas Eve.

Lots more pictures and stories to come!