All Snug In Their Beds

If we were going to characterize our daughters' sleeping habits, Ellie would be the sane, sensible, easy one, and Margaret would be the wild woman.

But sometimes, just to mess with us, they mix it up.

Just to prove that we can't pigeonhole them.

Ellie Do It

I have mentioned, in these annals, Ellie's increasing independence.  It is an interesting thing to watch develop, though, because she, unlike her older sister, has a certain inborn* caution.

This manifests itself as a certain pleasing caution when it comes to things like stairs.  Margaret was always of the "let's just jump off that cliff and see what happens" school of stairs descending, while Ellie likes to have things to hold on to, and some certainty that she's going to make it to the bottom.

Just if you're ever watching her, bear in mind that attempting to help, before she says "Ellie need help" will result in howls of anger and cries of "Ellie do it!  Ellie do it!"  Just so you're all aware.

*Possibly not inborn, but certainly developed early in the face of adverse circumstances.**

**And by "adverse circumstances," I mean Margaret.***

***In the nicest possible way, of course.

Sledding!

Margaret's and Ellie's grandparents (paternal) are intrepid people, when it comes to snow.  They understand layers, and wool socks, and giant parkas, and scarves and mittens in ways that I can only dream of.

I, on the other hand, am much hardier than they are in the rain.  They carry umbrellas and rain coats, and think that it is sometimes too wet to go out.

Now that I look at that, it may just be that they are better prepared for the elements.

Anyway, that's not the point.  The point is that they are the sort of people that look at yesterday and think that the thing to do is collect their miscellaneous grandchildren and take them sledding on their truly enormous toboggan.

Ellie is suspicious of the whole enterprise.

Fun was had by all, though everyone got to feeling rather chilled by the end.

Holding Hands

Ellie has decided that the best thing ever is to have Margaret help her do things.  This means that she demands that Margaret hold her hand, usually screaming "Mar han!  Mar han!" in a militant fashion.  I am tolerably certain, though, that it is not some obscure war chant, but rather a firmly worded request.

It is mostly adorable, except when Margaret goes too fast on her legs for Ellie's legs to keep up.

Replacing the Wallpaper

For the last year, I've had the same picture on my phone -- Margaret and Ellie, together at a park in the winter, fortuitously snapped one afternoon.

But the picture is getting old.  So I wanted to replace it.  My mistake was telling the children.  I got a number of options, but they haven't quite figured out posing yet.

All. By. My. Self.

With the advent of twoishness*, Miss Ellie has developed a habit of saying "Ellie do it" and insisting on doing whatever the thing is all by herself, whether she is capable of doing it or not.

This works well when it's something like putting on her shoes, or going up and down the stairs.

It is not so good when it's putting water on the stove to heat, or making macaroni.

But going down the slides?  She's got that all figured out, and she is quite surprised that it's working as well as it is.

*She's precocious; she's been acting like a two-year-old for a month at least

This Is Perfectly Safe, We Promise

We have been having a great deal of snow and freezing (hard freezing, not piddling around with 30 degree days, but right down towards zero.  I don't know, I really don't).

We have also been having some unseasonably warm days, where it is a joy to be outside, and you can hardly believe that it is January.*

This means that there are some odd moments, such as when we go to the park on a lovely day, and the lake is still frozen solid.

And then Leo encourages Ellie to do dangerous, dangerous things.

And then -- just to add insult to injury -- she looks like she thoroughly enjoys it.

Humph.

And he is holding her.  But he's putting my BABY on the ICE and everyone has seen that scene in It's a Wonderful Life with the ice and the drowning and the ears and deafness.  It's NOT GOOD.

*I know it's February, but the unseasonably warm days weren't.