At one of our first garage sales of the season:
“Oh! I love this store!”

My Mom: Ellen, do you want to go for a walk?
Ellen: No! You go pop your tags over there!
My Mom: …

Referencing her favorite song these days:
“Mom? I belong with you, okay?”

In the car with Mike:
“Daddy! Go faster!”
Mike obliges…of course.
“You crazy, daddy!”

I have to drain the tub in order to get Ellen out of the bath – otherwise she will stay all night. After draining the other night, she looked around her and said, “I not taking a bath anymore.”

My Mom: (eating carrots) What’s up, doc?
Ellen: (repeating) What’s up, cock?

Chatting with my mom:
“Do you like boobies, Mima? Do you like Geepy’s (my dad) boobies?”

Offering me a plastic cup with felt red peppers inside:
“The Blood of Christ.”

While changing her diaper the other morning:
“I don’t understand you, mom.”

After asking for lipstick – I pretend obliged.
“Now I have a moustache just like mommy!”
I.do.not.

I gave Ellen a picture of her baby brother to hang onto. Now she takes it everywhere and tells me things about him:
“Um, he’s kinda like big and smaller.”

Snuggling right up next to me, Ellen said, “Mommy, you pretty. You my buddy.”
You’re all going “awww,” but what I didn’t tell you is that seconds before, she was throwing a fit, and I was sitting down on the couch with a big bowl of Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream. She pulled that same crap on my mom two minutes later.

Spilling prune juice all over her high chair:
“Aww! What Annie do?” (Annie is the cat…)

Now, when you ask Ellen what she is doing:
“Something special with the kids.”
???

Listening to Icona Pop on the speakers at Nordstrom Rack
Ellen (totally jamming): Mommy, I like dis song.
Me: Why’s that?
Ellen: ‘Cause I dance!

And, I really can’t help but melt (or become suspicious) when I hear her latest words of approval for me:
“You so pretty!”
“You my buddy!”
“Cute shirt, mom!”
“Great showering!”

And, is it just me, or at this age is the word “not” really big?
“I not change my diaper!”
“I not put on jammies!”
“I not take a bath!”

Sigh.

toe jam, anyone?

Ellen loves to interact with the tv shows she watches.
Daniel Tiger: Can you say “friendship?”
Ellen: Friendship!
–
Dora: Can you say, “Ven conmigo?”
Ellen: Um, no.

Talking to my mom early one morning:
“Mommy tickles the doctor!”
No. No, I don’t.

Looking at a guy who looks exactly like Steve Wasniak:
“Hi Daddy! Daddy hold you?”

My mom said to Ellen the other day, “Nobody puts baby in the corner.”
Ellen in any corner now: Baby in da corner?

When Ellen wants you to hold her upside down:
“Upside Downton Abbey?”

Apparently I was snoring the other day. I doubt it.
Ellen in my face: Mommy? Why you do dat?

New words to old favorites:
“All around da mulberry bush, da robot chase da weasel!”
“The cool kids on da bus go up and down!”
“Once upon a time, der were three mommies.”

Waking up in our bed the other morning:
Me: Good morning, peanut. Are you ready to get up?
Ellen (throwing head on pillow): You gotta be kidding me, mom!

Leaning underneath a teenage boy’s face, and very much in his personal kneeling prayer space at church:
“Boy? You sad?”

Mike had to take Ellen to the back of the church a few Sundays ago for stellar behavior. They walked past a statue of Mary with her hands outstretched.
“Mary? High five?”

Random Phrases:
Hi punk!
Great to meet you!
stuffy nose=snuffy nose
M&Ms=ummy nums
Any noise: What dat mean, mommy?
Mom, I have a question. (usually followed by her laughing and running away…)
Seeing a big cat: fat cat ever!

If all went well, we are on the road to the Mitten right now. We’re probably in a hotel room trying to keep Ellen quiet enough that no one calls the front desk. I’ll check in when we reach home sweet my parents’ house. Don’t you fret. I’m going to let Ellen do the talking today.

Ellen walked into the room the other day and announced, “I got pretty eyes.”

She brought me a coaster with Rosaries stacked on top:
“Mmm, spaghetti.”

To Mike walking down the hallway:
“You go ahead.”
Runs away in other direction.

Ellen throwing Mike under the bus after they got back from an outing together in the car:
Me: Did you have fun with Daddy?
Ellen: Daddy fast!
Mike: Ellen, geez!
Ellen: Fast, Daddy! Go fast!

Things Ellen Says in Her Sleep:
“daddy”
“puppies”
“boobies”
“Cookie Monster? Are you?”

Ellen threw a ball at my stomach and said, “Play catch, baby brudder?”

Her newest obsession: robots. With a box over her head:
“I. a. robot.”
Or after hearing her baby brother’s heartbeat:
“baby.brudder.a.robot.”

While Mike was changing her diaper:
“Be vewy cawreful, daddy.”

Dancing in the kitchen:
“Rumor has it! Rumor has it! Rumor has it!”

She loves to give orders during the day:
“Mommy, robe on.”
“Lights on, please.”
Hands me a towel after my shower: “baby cold”

Ellen listening to Mike pee (weird, I know):
“Daddy go potty. Pssssssssssssssssssss”

While we were getting meat from the deli:
Ellen to deli lady: Thanks, Charlotte!
Me to deli lady: Is your name Charlotte?
Deli Lady: No, but I could be.

Looking at my stomach:
“Baby brudder hiding?”

To Mike while he was drinking a glass of scotch with dinner:
“Daddy dwinkin'”

Me: Ellen, what’s your baby brother’s name?
Ellen: Chris.
Me (later): Ellen, what’s your baby brother’s name?
Ellen: Eric.
Two names that have never been spoken to her let alone are on our list…

Ellen pretending to be the Count from Sesame Street:
“Uh one. Uh two. Uh three. Uh four…”

Ellen shoving her Elmo toy down my shirt:
“No, Elmo! Dose Mommies!”

Her newest random phrase she spouts all the time:
“Shhhh, Mumma. Airpwane sweeping!”

At the OB with me:
beeping noises from some machine
“Oh! Mama! Robot Sex.”
(Ok, maybe that isn’t what she was trying to say, but that’s what came out…Robot something…)