Ella is 21 months old today!

Ella is 21 months old today! She has been having a lot of fun playing with all of her new toys. We recently made our "dining" room (which has never had a dining table in it - yet) into a playroom for Ella. Ella likes to call it "Ella's office". When she wakes up in the morning, she immediately asks to go downstairs so she can begin her morning with some play in her new room.

She continues to amaze us with her language and memory. We recently went to a sporting store where there were many mannequins. She pointed to one and said "this" asking what was the word for it. I told her it was a mannequin, and she repeated it over and over as we walked through the store. A couple of weeks later, when we went back to the same store, we asked her if she remembered what it was called. She thought for a few seconds, looked back and forth between the two of us, and proudly came up with the word "mannequin". I was amazed that she would remember such a strange word, which we had obviously not used in front of her since the first time. It's really cute to see the wheels turning at times like this, and to see the proud look on her face.

Ella continues to show her new found independence in caring for herself like a big girl. We have a new step stool in the bathroom that she uses to brush her teeth, wash her face, and drink from a cup of water before bedtime. It's amazing how big she is getting - how fast the time flies! Below is a picture of Ella one year ago today at 9 months old.