A picture is worth ...

This picture pretty much sums up Ellen these days ...

- New haircut, did you notice? I have had more people compliment me on her hair, which is sweet because mostly I think she goes too many days between baths and has terrible bed head. I think they call that "messy cool" these days.

- She loves to dance - we all were serenaded this afternoon with a never ending rendition of "shake your booty".

- She loves to be outside playing chalk, riding her bike (she can peddle to the end of the street on her tricycle!), and looking at the crazy critters in our yard. If we aren't out there, she begs to go.

- SASS. Can't you just sense it from her pose? She is every bit of 2 going on 3. There is a lot of "I want pizza. No, I don't want pizza!" Replace 'pizza' with virtually anything.

- Fortunately, along with the sour comes a lot of sweet. She likes to give mom and dad a "big hug and big kiss" and screams for group hugs at bedtime. She uses her manners occasionally, but especially 'thank you'. "Thank you for making dinner, mommy." Awwww ... mark it on your calendar, might not happen again. She also has this funny thing about complimenting people. "I love your house, Aunt Betsy", "I love your shoes, Mommy."

- Her favorite things these days are dresses, dance music, collecting rocks, coloring, playing kitchen, riding her bike, and "doing it herself". She has a great imagination and is very good at pretend play - we do a lot of shopping in the house, feeding and changing babies, and talking to our friends on the phone (calculator).

- She moves up to the next room in daycare next week and we are excited for what the new "school year" will bring. Hard to believe that Birthday #3 is just around the corner!