The Elwell's: Little L Update

Well this is now a couple of months behind but Little L hit the 2 1/2 year mark at the end of July! She is turning into such a little girl and has definitely left the "baby" stage behind (although she still likes to pretend she's a baby these days!) I don't even know where to start with how much she's changed over the last six months but I can say that she is such a JOY to be around! We have our moments of tears and little tantrums (although no terrible twos for us praise God!) but truly she is usually in a good mood most days and she has such an amazing heart for people! Making friends is probably one of her favorite things to do!

We've had an extremely full summer but we have had lots of fun! Little L got to do some normal summer stuff like swimming, playing outside, bubbles, sprinlkers, etc. She also got to do a lot of "firsts" this summer, including dance class, pony ride, and a trip to the state fair (with a ride down the Giant Slide).

Little L has definitely blossomed in the area of communication! (She's taking after both her mommy and daddy!) Just in the last few weeks she's started really role playing with her toys, giving them names, having them talk to each other, and acting out different ideas. She loves to give directions to her mommy and daddy and anyone else that might want to do what she suggests!

Some Little L stories:

The gum situation...Little L wants to chew gum since mommy and daddy do but we decdided that we weren't going to let her chew gum until she is 5. Still, every once in awhile she will say "I older Mommy, I chew gum now!" She definitely has the concept of older down but not necissarily time!

Our little ballerina...Ever since we took dance classes (more on that in another post) Little L has been a little ballerina! She loves watching Angelina Ballerina and wearing anything that makes her feel like a dancer (dresses, skirts, clothes with ruffles, sparkles, etc.). She will dance or anyone that will watch (recently when we went to church, instead of shaking people's hands or giving high fives she would dance for them when they greeted her!)

Potty training...it's in full swing now although we are struggling with #2. It's a little frustrating since I know she could do it if she wanted to but it's a work in progress! :)

Making friends...Like I said earlier, it has to be on of Little L's favorite things to do! She will make friends at the church, the grocery store, garage sales, wherever! It's really nice though because she warms up to people extremely quickly! A few weeks ago we had some friends that I've know for years from CA come to MN for a trip and they were able to swing by our house for 30 min or so to chat. Within that short time Little L was climbing all over the guy and having him throw her in the air and sitting in his lap! Then when my brother came the other day from Norway (she hasn't seen him in person in 1 1/2 years) she started showing off (acting silly) and then he became her new best friend (she even told him that!) and they did puzzles and played catch and all sorts of stuff! She even cried when he left!

Reading stories...Little L has always loved to "read" but lately I've been really impressed with her ability to memorize books so quickly and "read" them back to me! She also loves to get our books from my bookshelf and "read" them outloud. They usually have a story that is about Jesus or someone getting stuck and her helping them out!

Singing...Little L loves to sing songs (some of her favorites right now are "Mr. Sun" "Baby Beluga" "Itsy Bitsy Spider" "I'm a Little Teapot" but she also loves to make up her own songs. Those are usually about whatever she is doing at the moment! Too fun!

Things Little L says:

Everything is "so cute!" or she "loves" it!

"I older Mommy" (see above story)

"Get me out" (usually yelled from her crib when she wants to get out...yes she is still in a crib but since she's not climbing out yet we are sticking with it!)

"Can I have some chocolate please?"

"I'm a ballerina!"

"Happy Birthday!" (this usually accompanies some type of "gift" that she is giving to you!)

"I love you SO much!" (That's my favorite!)

with daddy

She absolutely LOVES puzzles and she is really good at them! She does some of the 24 piece puzzles all by herself!

Grandma S took this picture when they went ot the mall...Little L loves to accessorize!

Art time!

Pretending to be a rock star with daddy!

When we bought the top we thought it was a dress so this was the first time we put it on her and we realzied it's a bit short to be a dress so it gets shorts or leggings underneath it!