It's happened so fast!

Tomorrow marks the day that I officially report back to school. This weekend is my 10 year high school reunion. My students (26 this year!) start on Monday. Next week will be crazy while I try & get settled into a routine and then before I can blink, we have Meet the Teacher night on Thursday.

Basically, what I'm saying is that if I didn't see Ellen today, it wasn't going to happen for almost 2 weeks :( She's at the point now, that she's changing so much and doing so many new things ... I don't like to go too long without seeing her because I'll miss something. I know how lucky I am to be able to live 15 minutes away from my niece. My friends that have family across the country ... well, I don't know how they do it! I think Ellen is really starting to recognize me, which makes a really long, crappy day a zillion times better! It may have something to do with the high-pitched, "Ellen! I've missed you! How's my baby?" that I give her every time I walk in the door. That is also paired with waving my arms above my head and clapping for her! Surely she's thrilled to see ME ... not the dog & pony show ... right? ;)

So anyway, tonight Minnie & I went over for dinner, a bit of crafting and to hang out.

Look at this big girl! She doesn't look like much of a baby anymore :(

And look at why she was smiling so big! She's standing up ... almost all on her own! No, she's still not a fan of tummy time, rolling over, or thinking too hard about crawling ... but she seemed to love this! We know that Ellen is the perfect product of her two parents because of her large head & short body. You can't really tell this is the case when she's laying down or sitting up. However, when she stood up for the first time, I couldn't stop laughing because she looks like a little lollipop ... big round head on tiny torso and legs! :)

Here she is chewing on her gums. The poor thing is getting a tooth & you can tell she's feeling it!

Ellen is finally to the age where she likes to hold onto a lovey. She even gets one in bed with her. Molly, if you aren't too careful, she might grow up sleeping with a baby blanket far into high school ... and college ... and her adult life! :)

So excited to see Minnie that she just about flew away! You should have seen her bounce & wave her arms & giggle! Ellen is so stingy with her laughs ... of course, Minnie was the one to get her to squeal time after time after time!

Now you get to see the two of them in action! We know that the girls have played very well together this summer ... however, now Ellen has a love of grabbing things around her. {You should click through to the link above, I'm amazed at how much Ellen has changed in just 2 months!} It's one thing when it's sunglasses or earrings, but Ellen's Mommy was starting to get worried when she was grabbing & pulling on Minnie's muzzle. She's got a pretty strong grasp. We tried to split them up and after a while, Minnie was pretty cautious about getting too close. I guess it's MUCH better that Minnie be afraid of Ellen than the other way around.

Thanks for a GREAT night, Molly, Erik & Ellen! It was the perfect end to a long day ... and it helped me relax before the next few full work days! Hugs & Kisses!