More Brown County Pics and a few Ellie stories

Gotta love Picasa for photo sharing... some of these I pulled off of the community family album from our reunion last weekend, others were found on another photo card I had that didn't get downloaded until just now.

playin' in the rocks

getting a big smooch from Aunt Dianna

Sunday brunch

Ellie's sweet VT cousin, Tua (I love this pic!)
I loved that she was so much more comfortable with us this visit

Because Ellie's had so many delays, we always love and celebrate when Ellie does something so kid normal. Today we told her after church we would go to McDonalds (so she could play at the Playplace). She actually got excited and said, "McDonalds! McDonalds! McDonalds!" I guess she knows the Golden Arches now! She got there and played over an hour before we could tear her away. Partly, I think, because shortly after she finished lunch she was joined by half a dozen or more kids and was fascinated with their agility in the tubes and tunnels. One of whom saw her (apparently) staring at him so he got in her face really close and said (in a friendly way, but in a VERY loud voice), "Buenos Deeeaaassss!" (Maybe he thought that if he spoke louder, she would understand him?) Yes, even in small town KY we don't have to go very far for a cross-cultural experience.

The other day when we were hosting Ellie's teachers, she saw their digital camera on the floor, lens side down which meant that the LCD display was face up. Apparently it resembled our PDA cell phone because Ellie picked it up, put it to the side of her face and said, "Hello! blah, blah, blah. Buh bye!" This kind of imaginary play is something most kids half her age are already engaging in, not to mention, she's always strongly resisted any kind of talking on the phone when relatives call so this was pretty cool to see her initiate. Tonight while Nathan was running a quick erand, he called home to see if I needed anything else while he was out. Ellie was there so I thought I would give it a try and see if she would talk to her dad on the phone. She actually let me hold the phone next to her ear and she said, "Hello! Hello! BYE!!!" before pushing the phone away.

Some of my favorite moments with her now are her singing moments. This happens most frequently in her car seat. She doesn't say many of the words very well, but you can usually understand the tune pretty easily to know what she's singing. Some of her favorites are "Jesus Loves Me" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." But it's not just singing, she's talking to herself in indiscernable speech, but seems like she wants to speak in sentences like everyone around her which is pretty cool.

Finally, she now understands that if she gets any kind of bump or bruise, she can illicit immediate sympathy and kisses. She'll point to the tender area and say, "Sorry. Kiss? Kiss?"