Not that 22 months is a special age for any reason, but Ellie has been growing by leaps and bounds lately so I thought I would do a little update. This past month or so, it's been her vocabulary that is growing exponentially. When my sister was here at the beginning of October, Ellie's vocabulary consisted of just a few words like Mommy, Daddy, yeah, no, hi, and bye. 
 

 Fast forward a couple of weeks later, and I realized she was saying more and more words. I thought, "I bet she knows about 10 now." I wrote them all down, and it was actually more like 25. I keep adding more to the list every day. She's probably up to 35 or 40 now, which astounds me since a month ago she just knew 6. It's like all those words were in her, and now they are just spilling out. It's been really fun to see what new words she is going to say each day. Just as I was typing this post she said a pretty recognizable "breakfast" and "oatmeal."

Speaking of oatmeal, the other skill I'm finally working on with Ellie is using a spoon. I've been so reluctant to have her start feeding herself because she has a bowl of oatmeal most mornings. It's just a disaster to clean up. I finally bit the bullet and had her feed herself. At this point she still ends up with a lap full of oatmeal even when I employ the above pillow trick. I guess she'll get it by the time she goes off to kindergarten.

Ellie loves to play with baby dolls, just like Hannah. She's also been into coloring more, just like Hannah. Really, whatever Hannah does, Ellie is sure to follow.

 

The girls really are sweet together. Hannah often gets Ellie dressed in the morning, and if Ellie gets hurt and needs a hug, she's just as likely to go to Hannah as she is to go to me. Unfortunately Ellie does love to hit, pinch, and pull Hannah's hair, which is not nearly as cute. In fact, we've been dealing with this so often that her word for "sorry" is "Hannah," which she says whenever she has to give Hannah a repentant hug.

Ellie is not always a snuggler, but every once in a while, Andy can cajole her into snuggling with him... for about 5 seconds. Still, those are Andy's favorite mornings.

And then there's this:

 She just cracks us up!

A magical thing has happened these past few months. Joey has transformed into a reader. Like an enthusiastic chapter book reader. It's not that he's reading 24-7. He still loves to play outside or play with his Legos, but reading is now high up on his list of things to do. It's so exciting to see him read and enjoy it. He's been checking out Magic Tree House books from the school library, but he can't take them home yet. I found out that there are quite a few Magic Tree House books available from our library in ebook form. That, my friends, has been a game changer. Joey LOVES getting to read on our Nook! Here's a note he wrote for himself on his after school to-do list:

 

He also loves getting to read to his sisters.

I just hope his enthusiasm for reading continues!

Joey: Mom, can you help me put my shoes on?
Me: Just untie them first and you'll be fine.
Joey: That's not how I roll.


While Andy and Joey were gone camping...
Me: Hannah, next time we see Joey he'll be 7!
Hannah: I wonder what he'll look like.


Hannah: I love Daddy. You married a good guy, Mommy.


Joey: This is a great meal! I mean, it's not my best favorite meal, but I'm not suffering!

I'm thankful for:

Ellie-her blossoming vocbulary. I love that she can say all of our names now.

Hannah-that girl is ridiculous in the best sense of the word. Today she cleaned the kitchen, straightened all of the upstairs, wiped down the bathroom counters, made my bed, and took Ellie on a stroller ride, all without me asking!

Joey's love of school and love of his teacher. It's amazing how he's turning into such a little reader right before our eyes.

Andy-so much to be thankful for. The guy is amazing. I love that even when we are slightly annoyed with each other, we still make each other laugh.

I'm thankful that we live close to my parents.

I'm thankful that we are in driving distance of Andy's parents.

I'm thankful for the aunts and uncles my kids have. They are so spoiled with attention from our sweet siblings and spouses.

For Joey's 7th birthday he really wanted to have a slumber party. The kid has never had friends over for a birthday party before, so I thought he was probably due. The only slight problem was that I originally scheduled his slumber party for November 1 and didn't realize until quite a bit later that I was going to be in Atlanta then. Andy can handle a lot, but I didn't think our marriage would survive me scheduling a slumber party and then skipping town for the event. Thankfully we were able to reschedule the slumber party for this past weekend.

Joey and Hannah have both been to some amazing birthday parties with games, a real princess, bouncy houses, laser tag, go karts, party favors, and more. Throwing elaborate parties is not my skill set, which may be the reason I have never attempted a friend birthday party. Maybe that's why the slumber party idea appealed to me. Slumber parties are pretty low-key, or maybe that's just in our household.

Joey invited his two best friends from school, Colton and Josh. They came over in the late afternoon and played outside until it was well past dark. At one point Joey, Hannah, Colton and Josh were playing dodge ball over and around the little tot lot in our neighborhood in the dark. It was so fun that even I got in on the action.

After they played outside, we came in for Dominos Pizza that Andy picked up on his way home from work. Then Joey got to open his presents:

Hannah's face cracks me up in this picture because she was so over the moon excited about Joey's party. She certainly was just as excited as him and maybe even more so. She loved getting to hang out with the boys, and they were all very sweet to her.

As usual, Joey requested ice cream sandwiches in lieu of cake. The other kids chose to have their cookies on the side with a little ice cream sundae. We are very fancy around here with our dessert options.

Then it was pj and video game time.

Even the girls got into it. Hannah used the game pad for the Wii U and helped the boys using the "boost mode." Ellie has an old controller that she likes to pretend to use. She is a very enthusiastic gamer.

The night flew by and before I knew it, is was time to get into bed and watch some TV. Andy recently introduced the kids to the 1974 show, Hong Kong Phooey, and they love it.

The slumber party was super easy and the kids had a blast. Although I had a passing thought of caving to peer pressure, I didn't even hand out party favors!

 It was fun coming back from my trip to Atlanta and taking a look at the pictures Andy took on the camera. It gave me a little extra insight into what they did while I was gone.

It looks like there was a dance party.

 And definitely a movie night.

Andy texted me Sunday morning and told me he put Ellie's hair in a pony tail for church.

I don't know what's cuter: Ellie's hair in a pony tail or the fact that Andy put Ellie's hair in a pony tail.

It's funny that when I was in Atlanta and people found out that Andy had all three kids for the weekend, they usually seemed concerned for Andy's sake. I told them that taking care of three kids is not a big deal for Andy. I wish it was actually a little harder for him, so when I got back he would be more in awe of my mothering skills. Sadly, he's not phased in the slightest. :-)

In April, Andy, the kids, and I all flew to Atlanta for my cousin's wedding (Part 1 and Part 2). This past weekend, I flew out alone to Atlanta for my other cousin's wedding. I've never been a big fan of flying, but it's amazing how now that I have kids, flying alone is such a vacation! It helped that I had a great book to read: Dad is Fat. I highly recommend it!

I arrived in Atlanta Friday evening and walked from the train station right to this restaurant (across the street from our hotel) to join this group for dinner:

Aunt Debbie, Rachel, Michael, Baby Ben, Me

Uncle Bill, Cousin Marin, Dad, Mom

The next day was Saturday, and the bride and groom (Katie and Daniel) organized a big kickball game with a bunch of family and friends. The groom's dad had these hats made for the game. The R is for their last name.

Saturday night was the rehearsal dinner and all of the 180 out-of-town guests were invited! It was like a full on reception with a cocktail hour and dinner. Then we were entertained by the grooms' brothers who emceed a pretty hilarious roast of Daniel. There were even musical numbers, and a lot of sweet speeches as well.

One of the highlights of the weekend was that my brother Benjamin's girlfriend Christina got to come. I've been lucky enough to spend time with her before, but it was my sister's first time meeting her.

Sibling picture at dinner!

Sunday was the wedding. It was beautiful!

Sibling picture at the wedding (in birth order).

The beautiful bride and her sweet dad.

The happy couple.

Then there was the reception. They had a live band, and it was so great. Even Baby Ben cut a rug.

Monday morning there was a farewell brunch for Katie and Daniel. Afterwards, a bunch of us that weren't flying back home until Monday evening had time to walk around the gorgeous Piedmont Park. My mom wanted to get a close look at the ducks!

And I found this awesome tree to climb!

I wanted another chance to snuggle with Ben so I carried him in the ergo for a little bit. It feels like a long time since I've had a baby that little strapped to me. He's such a sweetie.

As I kept saying all weekend, it was so fun bringing the whole family to Atlanta in April, and it was so fun going by myself this time. It was a nice mini-vacation, and Andy did an amazing job, as usual, holding down the fort at home.