Eleanor is 2!!!!

Our baby girl is officially a toddler.  She's two years old!  Time sure flies.  Her first year of life was a little rough, with her not taking a bottle/nuk and not sleeping through the night for 14+ months.  But her second year was pretty awesome - she's a spunky, sweet, and smart little girl.  And she sure loves her momma!

Eleanor is talking like crazy.  Honestly sometimes she seems like she's three in that respect.  She says a lot of almost complete sentences, just leaving out some smaller words.  And she's doing pretty well with "me, I, my" versus just saying her name.  She also LOVES singing and it blows me away how many songs she knows.  Her favorites right now are the songs from Frozen.  That's her favorite "moobie" for movie night and Aunt Missy and Uncle Kyle got her the cd for her birthday.  She loves it!

Eleanor is starting to love playing make believe.  Her favorites are playing with her baby dolls and playing doctor with her stuffed animals and dolls (Doc McStuffins is her favorite TV show).  For her second birthday she got twin babies and a double stroller, plus a new bigger play kitchen and lots of food, so she's pretty much in Heaven playing in our basement lately.  She also loves to pretend talk on the phone.  She also loves reading books, doing puzzles, and playing with anything Bennett is playing with.  She loves being outside except in the cold so I think come spring she'll be super happy to be out again.

Eleanor just adores Bennett.  Don't get me wrong, the fight like crazy (which I was not expecting when they are so young!!).  She always wants to do what he's doing, including playing with whatever he is playing with, so that leads to lots of fights.  Usually that means Ben is crying and Eleanor is running away with said toy, giggling.  She's kind of a sass. :)  But mostly she just wants to be just like him.  If he runs and yells, she runs and yells.  If he sings, she sings.  He goes to school, and she is just dying to go with him.  She loves to carry his lunch box and water bottle to the car each day for him when we pick him up.

Eleanor usually sleeps from 7:30pm-6/6:30am.  And she takes one nap a day around 12:30 (usually 1.5-2 hours long).  Once in awhile she refuses her nap and those days are looooooong.  She occasionally cries in the night - mostly if she's sick and needs a kleenex or water.  I normally send Brad in to deal with it because then she goes right back to sleep.  If I go in, it's like a half hour ordeal.    Eleanor is also a great eater.  Bennett was already so picky at this age (and still is!), but she will eat almost anything.  If she won't eat it, she's either sick or it's really not kid friendly.  Her favorite things are snacks "Need nack!" and meats "Mo meat!"  She loves mac and cheese, string cheese, crackers, pizza, pasta, fruits, and most types of meat.  She's not a huge veggie fan but does better with raw carrots and dip.  Anything with dip she is a big fan of.  :)

She's definitely a toddler lately, and tantrums and saying "No!" are everyday occurrences.  She's more even-tempered than Bennett, and usually pretty happy, but if she gets hurt she doesn't handle it well and it usually turns into a tantrum.  She's starting to be very independent, therefore she doesn't like being told no or that she can't do something.  She wants to pick her own cup, bowl, plate, snack...you name it!  She also is really big into showing us things lately.  If she gets hurt, she'll take our hands and lead us to the scene of the crime, saying, "Show you.  Right here."

Eleanor's favorite places to go are the library, Panera, Betty Brinn Children's Museum, and Target.  She's my little errand buddy when Bennett is in school.  She especially loves running errands with Daddy on Saturdays.  Bennett usually wants to stay home with Mom, but Elle always wants to go.

Eleanor is definitely a Mommy's girl.  She'll randomly hug me and say, "I love you mommy."  She's excited for the baby and will often say, "Baby soon!  Hold her.  Feed bottle."  She's in for a rude awakening when she realizes that having a baby sister is tough for the first few months when she needs to be by mommy most of the time.  Hopefully she loves helping with the baby as much as she thinks she will.  We just adore this sweet girl and can't believe how fast she's growing up!