What's Up with Ella

So, I haven't posted in awhile about what Ella has been up to lately. She changes so much everyday and its hard to keep up with it all. First of all, she is such a girly girl. She loves make-up, purses, babydolls, jewelry, etc. She likes to comb her own hair and she loves to pretend she is putting make-up on when I get ready in the mornings. She loves shoes and likes to have them on all the time. If she doesn't have her regular shoes on then she has to have her bedroom slippers on. It bothers her when I come in and take my shoes off. She hands them to me and says, "shoes, Mommy" which means that she wants me to put them back on. She has taken a sudden interest in TV and wants to watch it nonstop. But, the only two shows she will watch are Elmo's World and the Backyardigans. So, we repeat the same 5 DVD's over and over again unless they just happen to be on. I guess we need to start TiVo-ing them! Her language has exploded over the past 3-4 months. She can repeat anything you say and talks nonstop. Her favorite phrases are "No ma'am" and "Ella do it". Which leads into her next new development: independence. She refuses to eat unless she is feeding herself, wants to sing all by herself with no help and likes to read her books all by herself. The days are over of actually reading to her..she won't have it.
Ella's favorite activities are reading (Alphabooks are her favorite). She also loves having tea parties and likes to take care of her babydolls. She rocks them and feeds them everyday. She has four and has named them: Emma (after her friend Emma Cate), Allie (after her friend at daycare), Isabel and Lucy. Today she was putting Lucy to sleep and I heard her say, "Wucy, way down" (aka Lucy, lay down). I got so tickled. She enjoys talking on the phone and wants to call everybody. She doesn't put the phone up to her ear with her hand, she does it with her shoulder. I guess she has seen me do that! She also loves to color and draw.
We are working on her colors right now. She can pick out pink, green, blue and yellow but has trouble with the rest. She can count to eleven, skips twelve and does all of the teens. She can sing her ABCs and spell her name. She has also started to recognize letters and points them out in books and on billboards when we are in the car.
Last, but not least is singing. We do this all the time. She can sing "Jesus Loves Me" all the way through and it is the sweetest. I am trying to video it but she gets shy when I turn the camera on. Her favorite bathtime songs are "Old MacDonald" and "She'll Be Comin' Around the Mountain". At bedtime, she likes "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear".
She has become such a big girl now and is no longer a baby. She still loves to cuddle and sit in my lap though, which I adore. We can't believe that she will soon be 2!