love week: i love toddlers.

you know how when you have a baby all these people tell you it just gets better and better in each stage?
well folks, i'm here to be Captain Cliche and tell you- it does.
every moment i think i couldn't possibly love Ellie any more, there she goes and does something ridiculously adorable and makes me love her more than i did before. how is that possible?
clicheness. craziness. coolness.

so today i love toddlers.
some things i love about toddlers:

i love the things that toddlers say.
i spend a ridiculous amount of time scrolling through Ellie's twitter account to read things she's said in the past because they make me laugh. and that's only like 10% of the cute funny things she says. my most favorite recent thing she's said is the tweet about Minnie Mouse. Minnie was about to suicide jump out of her crib and Ellie yelled, "Don't do it Minnie! IT'S DANGEROUS!" she's so funny.
i also love when she says "i'm so excited!"
i love when she voluntarily says, "i love you daddy."
i love how she tells Alice all the time, "you're my cute sister. you're MY sister, Alice!"
i love that when she likes the way something tastes, she licks her lips and says, "mmm, that's reallll good."
i love the things that come out of this beautiful little girl's mouth.

i love how smart toddlers are.
just tonight, she recited the whole "5 little monkeys swingin' in a tree...teasin' mr alligator" poem...all by herself. i didn't even know she was listening when i recited that poem to her.
she's like that with dozens of songs and movies too- she can sing and quote right a long.
crazy toddler brains.
Ellie even knows where we live. once we're like 2 streets away, she says, "Mama, i don't want to go home yet." or "are we going to take a nap at my house now?"
i love how she knows how to open the fridge and get exactly what she wants out of it (usually a juice box for the 10th time that day).

Ellie knows that Gammy + Pops live by Disneyland. and she asks to visit them and Disneyland almost every day.
and the first thing Ellie asks me every morning when she wakes up is, "is Daddy working today?"
these toddlers are so smart.

i love how toddlers love art projects.
Ellie loves to make things.
Ellie loves to color. she loves to draw circles and faces.
she especially loves drawing on my big easel. it's like her very favorite thing. i love watching how serious she is about her artwork. it is serious BUSINESS for this chica to color.



i love how toddlers love to play.
Ellie loves the park- especially playing on the slide and in the sand.
she loves having M around so they can run around outside and in like banchees. (what are banchees, exactly?)
she loves playing pretend in her dress-ups
she loves her princesses and babies and trains and ponies and stuffed animals and littlest pet shop animals...and every other toy she owns that i didn't list.
Ellie loves to play.

 

i love how toddlers have the whole "sleep" thing figured out.
well, maybe some don't.
but Ellie is a sleep rock-star.
like i don't remember the last time she woke up in the middle of the night.
it's a beautiful thing. because if you remember, i love my sleep.

i love how toddlers love to do things themselves.
Ellie loves to pick out her clothes. which leads to some pretty interesting clothing combos.
Ellie loves to open her juice-box herself.
Ellie doesn't want you to cut her food for her.
Ellie doesn't want you to put her shoes on for her.
Ellie loves to open doors, close doors, put on socks, take off her clothes for the bath, zip her jacket, and use cookie cutters on play dough all by herself.
Ellie loves her independence.

i love the way toddlers like what they like.
there's no convincing them out of it.
and there's no convincing them to like something new. until they decide they want to like something new.
Ellie likes tacos.

Ellie likes Oreos.

Ellie likes princesses.
Ellie likes peanut butter and honey sandwiches.

Ellie likes her trike.

Ellie likes vanilla yogurt. NOT strawberry yogurt. NOT blueberry yogurt. VANILLA. just like the mama.

Ellie likes the slide.

Ellie likes her sister.

Ellie likes dresses. NOT pants.

don't try to convince Ellie otherwise on the things she likes.
because she likes what she likes.

i love how silly toddlers are.
Ellie is constantly singing different words in songs to try to make us laugh...
she is always trying to tickle us.
she loves to spin and twirl and do anything to make me smile.
she loves making silly faces and doing silly moves.
i love silly Ellie.



i love how toddlers don't love anyone like they love their daddies.
Ellie would marry her daddy if she could.
in fact, she even has argued with me on more than one occasion that M isn't my husband, he's hers.
she loves to run around the house back and forth and back and forth with her daddy.
she loves to cuddle with her daddy on the love sac.
she loves to take a bite of whatever her daddy is eating.
and then spit it out if she doesn't like it.
she loves her daddy so so much.

i love how toddlers still need the mama.
kisses are still magic.
hugs still console the tears.
singing still helps get sleepy before bed.
and even though their independence is everything, Mama is everything too.
sometimes we drive each other crazy, but at the end of each day, when this little girl says, "i love you mama," i know she means it. and i know that what i said at the beginning of this post is true: i love this toddler more than i did yesterday.

....aaaaaand we're back.

hope you're feeling lots of love!
can't wait for a day full of love tomorrow.
xoxo