ella at 26 months

• Funny things she says....What that silly daddy is doing?.....What that silly daddy was thinking?....That mom's on a mission!
• She is incredibly interested in understanding and being understood. If we are talking to each other, or to another adult, and she doesn't understand what is being said she will interrupt and say, "What he/she/you talking 'bout?" By the same token, if we can't understand what she is saying she will come up with another way to express herself. The other day she kept saying she wanted to see the _____. I had no clue what she was saying. She repeated herself a few times, then said, "That foldy (cold) stuff in the freezer. [Unintelligible word]!" She wanted to see the 'snow' in the freezer (which had been left open and got a bit frosty). It amazes me.
• She has no interest in potty training. We ask her if she wants to go in the potty and she calmly responds, "No. In my per."
• She associates each letter with someones name. When you ask her the letters she tells you "C for Chris," "T for Taylor" "M for Mommy," etc. She just learned her letters and was very disappointed that we didn't know anyone for "V."
• She thinks we know everything. "I don't know" is not an acceptable answer. "Tell me!" she says.
• She loves to hear stories. "Tell me a story about Ma Janet/Mommy/Pa/Ella/Zeus/Daddy..." is a frequent request.
• A few weeks ago she saw this with Ma Sue. "That's my drink!" she said. Needless to say, she came home with it.

• She's gotten much better about playing independently. She will carry on conversations with her stuffed animals. My favorite is when she says "I sooorrrryy. You tan't have that. It's otay."
• She wants to know "Who is on your phone?" whenever you are talking. She doesn't stop until she knows "Who it is you talking to?"