j'ellie, tu ellies, il/elle/on ellie...

(If my niece's name were a regular -er verb,  that's how you would conjugate it.)

Someday I'll manage to take a picture of all four cousins smiling and looking at the camera!  (Ellie, Carl, Gwyneth, and Griffin in August 2012)

I have so enjoyed watching my niece grow!  With her second birthday coming up next month, she's eight months older than Gwyneth, which means they'll be in the same grade at school, but right now, those eight months that separate "baby" from "toddler" may as well be eight years: the girls don't play together yet, not really; Ellie's mostly potty trained; Ellie talks.

Watching Ellie gives me a preview of what we might expect as our baby girl transforms into a toddler girl.  (And I love, love, love hearing about her language acquisition!)

This picture was staged--neither girl really likes to play with dolls!

My relationship with Ellie is quite different from what her older brother Carl and I had when he was her age.  I had been babysitting Carl one afternoon a week for a year and a half at that point, and he would give me big hugs and speak French with me.  We would take walks together, frolic on the playground, read lots and lots of books--basically, the sorts of things that you have the luxury to explore when you're taking care of only one child at a time!

Now I babysit all four cousins every other Wednesday for two hours, which means that Ellie and I never get that one-on-one "quality time" that Carl and I shared.   Therefore, we weren't expecting that she would pick up much French.  (Unlike Carl, who produced two- and three-word sentences in French at 18 months.)

However, every couple of weeks, my sister-in-law Elizabeth mentions something that Ellie said that proves that even short, sporadic contact with a speaker of another language is beneficial!  For example....

Elizabeth: Tatie is bringing Griffin and Gwyneth over this afternoon.
Ellie: Tatie say "bonjour"!

Ellie prepares to tackle her baby cousine

Elizabeth: Be gentle with Gwyneth!  She's just a baby.
Ellie: Tatie say "doucement"! (gently, softly, quietly)

Elizabeth: You're going to Gwyneth's house today.
Ellie: Doucement!

Ellie: Mommy, sing "tete"!  (She wanted to hear the French version of "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes.)

Ellie, while trying to to assemble the pieces of an apple puzzle: Mommy, put 'gether pomme (apple).

Run, run, run as fast as you can

Now, if only I could get all four children to sit still and let me read to them!

(Oh, and I've given up on trying to do mini French classes with them--when they're together, Carl and Griffin want to careen around the house and the yard, wrestle, hide, holler, and throw things, not play with puppets and sing songs in French with a grown-up!)