Ellie-isms

Ah, the three year old. Being home with Ellie has made for some very interesting moments over the past several months. I am constantly amazed at how clever she is becoming, and also what a little sponge she is when it comes to soaking up random knowledge. When you are taking care of two infants, sometimes the entertainment for an older child has just got to come courtesy of good old Disney Channel or Nick, Jr. (Well, at least in our house -- some days that's the only thing that buys me 1/2 an hour to feed the babies and get them down for naps in peace.) But as a result of all this Dora the Explorer and Wonder Pets watching, she is now a walking, talking commercial. They must show the exact same commercials during these shows every day, because Ellie has started to spout comments like "I've got Pantene hair, Mommy. It makes my hair so shiny and fresh."

She also enjoys telling me about all the "vacteria" that live on toilets and doorknobs that we can get rid of with hand sanitizer.

Apparently these commercials also provide her with some expertise on bathroom maintenance. A few weeks ago, Ellie, Chris, and I were all in the bathroom upstairs and Ellie peeks into the toilet bowl and says what sounds like "The Aspen is in the toilet." Huh? Chris and I looked at each other and just shrugged it off, chalking it up to her overactive imagination. But later that week, a toilet cleaner commercial came on TV and when the illustration of the toilet structure popped on the screen, she was quick to pipe up, "See, Mommy, that's where the S-bend is! Underneath the toilet!" Here I am thinking she's got plans to be a ballerina someday, but I obviously haven't considered her talents in plumbing as a future career.

In other random cleaning-related thoughts from Ellie, I have also been informed that she thinks Mr. Clean needs to come live at our house. I told her that if she can track him down, he is more than welcome to move into the spare bedroom.

Ellie loves it that the babies are making more noise these days, and really enjoys being their primary baby-talk translator. The other day she and I were laying on my bed with the babies after they'd just gotten up for the day. They were chattering away, and I said that maybe they were telling us good morning. She looked at me and said, "No, Mommy. Alex just said 'Hey, Maguire, I can't believe we're wearing the same blue pajamas as each other. That's crazy!'"

(By the way, these are Grammie's glasses pictured below.)

And finally, my favorite Ellie story lately: As you might imagine, nursing two babies is pretty much a full time job and requires certain parts of me to be uncovered for a good portion of the day. Ellie was interested in the process at first, but now she mostly just ignores it. She and I were laying in my bed one morning (do you see a pattern emerging in how we start our days?) with one of the babies, who'd just finished nursing. I hadn't gotten my shirt all back in order, but she didn't seem to notice as we just talked for awhile. Then all of a sudden, she says "Mom, you need to put that boob away. There are no babies around here who need that." Ah, the three year old. Gotta love her honesty!