Oh, Ellyott Strain... watch out world!

Ellyott is almost 11 months old.

I forgot to post anything about her when she turned 10 months.

At nine months, she was still our little baby.

And somewhere in between now and then she has become quite the little character.

She's fearless.

She knows what she wants and won't stop until she gets it... or gets scolded.

She goes where she wants, when she wants.

She likes to pretend she can read when she sees me reading.

She actually mimics anything she finds interesting... which leads us to this next picture.

Daddy was making noises with his lips, so she decided that it was awesome and needed to do it as well. This is the face she makes when she does it.

I LOVE HER!

I just do.

Who wouldn't love this day???

Check me out. I'm at the pool.

Taylor... also here. Remember Uncle Jonny? Yep, here as well.

Mommy, Elly, Aunt Lindsay, and Bubbies... all here.

Look at my little sis... OH! She is so cute.

And she discovered her shadow today.

I call this shot, "10", because that's what she is... a perfect 10!

Taylor and I were pretty brave today. We waded out to the deep end... it was over two feet!

We ran all around, in and out of the mushroom fountain.

Watch out when these two are together... seriously.

Oh, Bubbies...

And there he is... Uncle Jonny!

I'm not sure what's up here.

I think I may have been making him some "food" here.

I really did not want to leave.

What a glorious afternoon.

Did I mention that I love makeup???

Today I tried out mascara.

I think it's a REALLY good look on me.

This is my afternoon look.

(Because Mommy didn't put it where I couldn't reach it when she put it away this morning.)

Watch out, World...

The Strain GIRLS are on the loose!

Taylor came over to play with us today, and some MAJOR fun was had.

Obviously. My Mommy took this cool action shot of Taylor as she came running out of nowhere and slid onto our slip-n-slide/swimming pool aka an old shower curtain.

Then tonight, Elly and I were able to reach Mommy's makeup bag and there's this really cool bottle of something. It looks like lotion. I LOVE lotion.

So, of course, I needed to POUR out the contents onto my leg and RUB it all around.

Except it didn't really rub in, but my skin was VERY shimmery as I ran into the living room to show Mommy. Her reaction wasn't what I thought it would be.

Not at all, actually.

She ran out of the room asking, "Lucy Jo Strain, what have you done????"

Then she found Elly chewing on a tiny little brush in the middle of a pile of really pretty colorful makeup.

So what? We know how to have fun.

Elly's favorite place on earth!

My bed.

She's always up here.

She's so cute.

A lot of tea parties happen here.

I teach her letters with my flashcards.

And then she tries to eat them.

This is Elly's second favorite place on earth...

the wood floor.

She loves to just lay completely stretched out on the floor.

She's kind of a funny baby.

Although, Mommy and I both tried it out and it is quite relaxing.

This is how we roll...

We have hot blood running through our veins, so water is a must on these 100 degree days.

Someone likes to scoot their little rump through the mud instead of being sprayed with the hose.

Whatever works.

I love babies...

This is my new friend, Emery.

She's 10 days old.

And she lives way too far away from us.

But look at her! She's just perfect.

And I love her.

Elly likes to be clean

Myself, a bowl, and a bathtub full of water...

plus Elly standing next to the bathtub with no parental supervision...

equals a soaking wet Elly and a water soaked floor.

Mommy and Daddy have been giving me a little more freedom lately. For example, I can go out on the porch or in the back yard by myself and play; I can get into my car seat and buckle myself in; and, as in these photos, I can take a bath by myself. Now this actually does not happen that often because Elly and I usually take a bath together, but on this evening Mommy was making dinner and Daddy was mowing the lawn so I went ahead and took one myself. Elly was supposed to be playing in our room. Now I'm only two, so when it comes to how things work, I usually have some things to learn. However, a situation that involves myself in a tub of water and a wild baby on the loose seems like it could end... well, exactly how it did.

When Mommy heard some very excited noises coming from the bathroom she was immediately stricken with a bit of concern... I'm just assuming this, she didn't actually SAY she was concerned, but she appeared in the bathroom rather quickly. The look on her face made me want to pour as much water as I possibly could as quickly as I possibly could all over Elly. I knew that perhaps that wasn't the best choice for that moment, but I did it anyway.

Mommy gasped.

Elly squealed... with delight, I might add.

I filled my bowl with more water.

I was then pounced upon. And scolded. But it kind of looked like Mommy may have been laughing, so I filled my bowl up again. And then the bowl was taken from me and clothes and towels were flying everywhere! Elly was now in the tub. Mommy was taking wet towels out of the bathroom, and Daddy walked in thinking we were the cutest things he'd ever seen.