Ellie turns 2 today. That makes her officially not a baby, which suits her just fine. After all, no one can be a baby who goes by the name "mommy" to so many of her own babies. She's the busiest little mommy you can imagine - always changing diapers, rocking to sleep, feeding, dressing, taking on walks. The work never stops, really.
She has a large and growing brood, though she is prone to playing favorites. I sometimes wonder if her other children ever get jealous of her obvious preference for Piglet.
Unfortunately for Piglet, being a stuffed animal of the Velveteen Rabbit variety means very many baths are necessary. And not even by my own decree - any time I throw in a load of laundry, Ellie comes running to add Piglet to the "baf."
Fortunately for Piglet, he has a very faithful, very watchful mommy who will -- no joke -- observe his bath for the entire washer cycle. Woe to me if Piglet somehow ends up invisible at the bottom of the washer.
It is a testament to her brother's great love for her that he often keeps her company as they oversee. Gotta make sure Piglet doesn't become too agitated (see what I did there? I crack myself up.)
Taking pictures of the bath guard has become the new sleeping-kid-pictures: I know I have a million pictures already, but I can't resist taking one more.
"You exaggerate," you say. "A million photos is just a matter of hyberbole."
And perhaps it is an exaggeration.
But not much of one.
When I'm not using the laundry as a free mother's helper, I'm using the bathtub. I have discovered that if I put Ellie in the bathtub with a sponge, she will be perfectly content to scrub it down for at least 20 minutes.
"Gee," you say, "Ellie's life sounds ever so hard and difficult. Caring for babies, doing laundry, and cleaning bathtubs - is that poor girl being worked to the bone? What does she do for fun?"
I'm glad you asked. Apart from her [dubiously helpful] household contributions, Ellie spends most of her spare time perfecting her own personal style.
Whether it's 20 shades of pink...
...construction worker Ellie..
...or a look I like to call "winter hat and coat on a 90-degree day"...
It does make a handy parenting hack, though. When you need to get Ellie's attention, just say "tutu" to the empty room and watch her materialize out of nowhere.
Me (trying to get Ellie's attention): "Ellie? *no answer* Eliana? *no answer* Elbie. *no answer* Elzers." *no answer*
Me: "Monkey?"
Ellie: *turns around*
Me: "Really? That's the name you respond to?"
Ellie: "hoo hoo ha ha"
Josh: "Oh, I just love you. I say we keep you, whaddaya say?"
Ellie: "Thank you"
