Morning Routine

We make it a practice to let Ellie wake up on her own. It is extremely rare that we will ever wake her up. We will even call Grandma to come over and get Ellie ready and off to daycare on the days I have to go to work early or if I'm out of town and Randall has to be at school by 7:30am.

We have our morning routine and thanks to a fabulous job at UMW (and before at the Moss Free Clinic) I have the luxury to go into work around 9:30 each morning. This allows us to put Ellie down at 8:30/8:45ish after a full evening of playtime and then sleep until 8:30 the next morning.

Ellie is starting to talk more and more. She knew baby sign early on but she's saying about 40 words clearly now. One of her favorites (and a favorite of most toddlers) is 'no'. She can say this word in more ways than I knew. We laugh at her determination and cuteness as she says it. We even find ourselves impersonating her when we talk to each other because it's just too darn cute. But I digress. One of my favorites is when she looks up at me and smiles and then says "no!" as happily and sweetly as humanly possible. I hear this version of "no" when I say "Good morning, babydoll! Are you ready to go downstairs?", or when she's in the bathtub and I ask "Are you ready to get out?", "Do you want to get out and watch Pajanimals?" and a host of other questions. She's just too cute and I'm beginning to think she knows it. Or maybe she just knows she has mommy and daddy wrapped around her finger :)

After I hear her response to "Are your ready to go downstairs?" we go downstairs and eat a banana and oatmeal. She is a very independent eater-- even her teachers say so. No more spoon-feeding this girl. She doesn't even want to eat a cut up banana-- just peel that sucker and she goes to town. It's pretty funny to watch her get that heavy banana in her mouth while trying so hard to be a big girl. She loves her oatmeal but it must be the perfect temperature. She is quick to hold out her little palm and exclaim "It's HOT!" even if its just a little warmer than she'd like. This makes me smile- particular, just like her daddy.

She watches Oswald and Little Bear when she eats breakfast. She loves those guys-- if Little Bill comes on we know we're late!!

After breakfast, I get her dressed, she brushes her teeth, and we're out the door to Growing Kids Academy just 3 minutes up the road. Before we get there it is a no brainer that she will immediately stick her hand into the carseat cup holder in search of her treasured "rai-rais" (AKA: raisins) if she hasn't eaten them all from the last trip we're safe, otherwise, she will sign "more" and repeat her request until we are at school or she has been satisfied. I've learned to carry raisins with me at all times. Why not? :)