Ellie Bear 101

I know that October is Down syndrome awareness month and that I should theoretically be writing about, well, Down syndrome, but since this blog is actually about Ellie Bear and her life is not just Down syndrome, I am sharing a few tidbits about my delightful (and ornery) little Bear-Bear.  Whew, that was one long sentence and I am certain my punctuation is incorrect.

All about the Bear:

1. Ellies likes to fake sneeze.
I am totally counting a-choo as one of her spoken words.  It starts out sounding like a ear shattering scream "AAAUUUUGGGHHH!" and then ends with a hard K sound [augh-k!].  She likes to perform her fake sneeze during the Music Together song "I'm Freezing" as well as after Daddy sneezes, she sneezes, and random strangers sneeze.  She does not, however, fake sneeze after me. The first time she faked sneezed, I was driving and nearly hit a guard rail because of the exaggerated "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH!"


2. If chin-ups were an Olympic sport, Ellie would win the gold.  She would also win in a swing and sliding competition.

3. Ellie has an obsession with her toy kitchen utensils.
She feels the need to place the spoon, soup ladle, strainer, and spatula in her purse.  She has also started to add her play phone to the purse as well which makes more sense to the me than the utensils.  This utensil-filled purse goes with her to the park, to restaurants, shopping, play dates, and even to bed.  She is a lady who likes to be prepared for any kitchen emergency.

4. Sandwiches = Quiznos Flatbread
Just the flatbread. No meat.  No cheese.  No other bread products.  No other flatbreads.  It must be flatbread from Quiznos and eaten at Quiznos.  None of this take-out nonsense.  She likes to dine in style and be seen by her many admirers.

5. Ellie has a horrendous temper.
When The Diva is angry, she turns beet red and screams so loud and with her mouth so wide open that you can see her large tonsils kissing.  She throws.  She chucks her food, her plate, her cup.  She used forcefully knock over her little white chair until it landed on her foot.  Now, she daintily lays the chair on its side.  Then, she looks for more items within her reach to throw.  I just ignore her.  When she is done, she cleans everything up.

6. Crayons are to be eaten like carrots.
The correct eating order would be red, orange, black, green, and then if nothing else is available, purple.  I do mean eat.  Not bite.  Not chew.  EAT.  If crayons are not available, chalk will work as a fine substitute--preferably pink or blue, but will settle for green.  Ellie will actually sign "color" and then sign "red".  When you give her the red crayon, she immediately starts to eat it.  I would love to know what she is truly thinking because at this point, I assume crayons = food group.

7. The Chunky Chicken is the master of hide-and-seek. . . as in hiding objects and leaving us to find them in random places.
I once twice three times found Ellie's beloved blankie in the freezer.  I found her mega blocks in the washer.  Yes, I did accidentally wash them.   One time, I found the remote to the TV in a small hole in the wall (this hole happened to be, unbeknownst to us, hidden behind a strip of wall paper that our dog removed with her teeth).  Play utensils and shoes rest outside the dog door. . . and the time Ellie went outside the dog door.  Then, there was Miss L's iPad.  The Devious Little Thing hid that expensive electronic device under a couch cushion.

Apparently the stuffed puppy had to take a potty break.
Yes, my baseboards are that dirty. 

Life is never dull when Ellie Bear is around.  She is a treasure, a treat, and a little stinker.

*This is the first installment of 21 Things About Ellie for the 31 for 21 Blog Challenge.