The Story of Us: An Ellie Update

20 Months. I know. I can hardly believe it either, but it's true. She's 20 months old. Maybe it's time to start saying "she'll be TWO in June," but I think I'll hang on to the whole counting months thing for a little while longer. I'm not ready to give that up yet. I'm not ready to give a lot of things up yet, but she keeps growing and changing and I can hardly recognize the tiny infant in the pictures anymore.

There's something that happens as your child starts approaching the age of TWO. Maybe it's after they turn one, but for me I started noticing it when she was around, oh, 18 months. People start asking a lot of questions, people you don't even know. They start glancing at your stomach, looking for that bloated bump that signals the early stages of pregnancy. For example, I was pulled over by a Policeman today for making an illegal u-turn (don't worry...this is going somewhere). I've always had a problem getting pulled over for making illegal u-turns. Anyways, that's not the point. The police officer sauntered up to my car and proceeded to lecture me. I suppose I deserved a good lecture. After all, I've been pulled over several times for the same thing. I was prepared to remove my license and registration when he asked me how old my daughter was, pointing to Ellie in the back seat. I answered "20 months." He then asked me if she was my only child. I told him she was (thinking this was really strange all the while). He then proceeded to ask me if I was going to have more (it just keeps getting stranger). I am wondering to myself at this point if this is some kind of joke or trick question. I answered seriously, "hopefully." He replied, "GOOD." He made one last remark about driving safely and then told me to have a nice day. I think this is indeed the most bizarre encounter I've ever had with a person of the law.

Maybe I've gone a bit off topic. The point is that Ellie is now 20 months old! The point is that the days of my chubby, little infant are gone. Forever. I will never have them back and that makes me feel kind of sad. I am embracing this new stage with Ellie. She is a very sweet little girl who entertains us with her funny personality for hours on end. The point is that hopefully, someday, we will have more. They may not be chubby or have dark, spiky hair. They may not resemble Ellie at all, but until then, I will look forward to meeting him or her. Hopefully. Someday...

A few pictures of 20 Months-ish: