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My Ella. I am very reluctant to think of her as a big girl even though she seems worlds older than the boys. I have been meaning to interview her for months (like back when she was 2 and not 2 1/2) but when I actually had a moment to spare she decided that was the last thing she wanted to do. Hah! Gotta love 2-year-olds. The last couple weeks I have been thinking over and over how much I absolutely love the stages my children are in right now. I feel like each of them makes me laugh constantly these days. Ella is our affectionate, gracious, silly, chatty, compassionate, energetic, curious, opinionated, quirky, hysterical, imaginative, playful, gentle, kind little girl.
Here's a rather hilarious impromptu interview we did asking Ella about some of her favorite things.At 2 1/2, Ella:Recent Happenings:- went through a very difficult phase when the boys were 2-4 months old. She never stopped adoring her brothers, but had a very difficult time understanding why Daddy and I had so little time to just play. There were a lot of tears, but now that the boys only eat 5 times a day and Mama is a bit more rested and alert, she has adjusted beautifully.
- has been completely potty trained (day and night) since the end of November. We still have an accident every once in a while, but she does great most of the time. Potty training Ella while simultaneously taking care of 2 3-month-olds was exactly as fun as it sounds. It was exhausting and took longer than I had expected. Thank goodness that's over!
- is very proud of anyone who goes potty. She even cheered for 2 strangers that went to the bathroom at Wendy's despite my attempts to distract her.
- was very into Christmas this year. She understood the main people related to Jesus' birth and of course loved the idea of Santa and presents. ;)
- started attending Council Oak Preschool this fall for a few hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Interests:- is obsessed with everyone's full names right now. She will tell you her brothers full names instead of just first names, and she likes to talk about how Chad and I each have two names (Chad and Daddy, Katie and Mama).
- uses her own pots, pans, spatula, and whisk to help me "cook" dinner each night.
- loooooooves art. Chalk, paint, crayons, dry erase markers, glitter pens, stickers, glue, you name it.
- loves Fancy Nancy and Olivia books.
- loves going to church and Sunday School.
- sings "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Jesus Loves Me", "Row Your Boat", and "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
- still loves to swing.
- insists on being the one who gives treats to the dogs.
Body:- has been wearing 3T clothes for a couple months.
- sleeps from about 8-7 at night and takes about a 2-3 hour nap each afternoon. I am so thankful that the fact that she only slept 12-13 hours a day as a newborn (when experts swear that 16-18 hours is the norm) was not a future indicator of terrible sleep habits!
- would still eat just fruit and yogurt all day if I let her. She has recently decided to eat meat again and luckily I can usually get her to eat most vegetables. She is currently on a cheese strike. This boggles my mind.
- turns on her radio and dances to silly songs daily. Captured in video for your viewing pleasure…
Mind:- knows all of her letters and loves to sing the alphabet song.
- can count to 14 consistently….up to 20 every once in a while. She can identify about half of her numbers when written.
- can spell her first name. Though if you ask her what her name is, she will say, "Ella Grace Bailey".
- asks questions. About everything. All the time.
- has an imaginary friend named "Bolda". When asked further questions, Ella calmly explained that Bolda is a little girl (approximately 5 inches tall according to Ella's hand motions) with brown hair that lives on her arm. She flies home at night to sleep at her house in Kingwood. Alrighty then.
- loves loves loooooooves to read and be read to. We read countless books each day and she doesn't understand why public bathrooms are not stocked with books. Hah! Though potty training was exhausting, one unexpected benefit is that she now has several books completely memorized and can "read" them to you.
- constantly says, "I need to tell you a question". She follows this up with a random story or fact. She might understand what a question is by now if we didn't egg it on because we think it is so funny.
Heart:- insists on kissing, hugging, and telling each family member "I love you, ______" before heading upstairs to get ready for bed.
- is very grateful. She constantly says things like, "Thank you, Mama, for making me a yummy breakfast," or "Thank you , Mama, for putting my shirt on". Makes me smile every time.
- is extremely aware of others' feelings and is able to articulate hers as well. I'm sure we'll have a lot of tears in middle school due to her sensitive nature, but it also makes her one of the kindest 2-year-olds I have ever seen. Though she certainly has moments of acting like a turkey, I am so proud of her thoughtfulness.
- dances and sings for her brothers. She adores them and gets a kick out of making them laugh. If one of them is upset, she runs to get them a toy and tries to make them smile again by talking or making silly faces.
Ella-isms:- sometimes acts more like a 12-year-old than a 2-year-old. She's an old soul. But she acts very much like a 2-year-old enough each day to keep me on my toes.
- has about 10 stuffed animals that she has named and insists on kissing good night each evening at bedtime. It's the sweetest thing you have ever seen.
- yells, "Mama/Daddy, I'm a hoot!" when she's being silly.
- loves to help me with her brothers. I have had to explain to her that they don't need help when they are sleeping in their room. One time I was in the bathroom (is it just me or is there a lot of bathroom talk in this post??) and I heard doors in the hallway opening. I called, "Ella, are you going into the boys' room? They're sleeping!". She paused then replied, "Mama, just keep trying potty!".
- insists on picking out her own outfit, underwear, hair accessories, shoes, and socks.
- lights up when she gets to wear princess panties. She even gets excited when she sees them while I am doing laundry. "Oh, my princess panties are clean!!!".
- gets excited about almost everything. I love that everything is an adventure to her and the smallest tasks such as helping me unload the dishwasher or drawing with chalk on the patio completely make her day.
- has a difficult time playing independently for more than a few minutes. She'd much rather have a companion such as Mama or a friend. Hopefully one day soon her brothers will make acceptable playmates. This girl was not meant to be an only child!
- reminds everyone that the babies can't do everything she can do. "Ian and Spencer can't eat peanut butter/go down the slide/drink milk. That's for big girls."
- could be described as having "great leadership skills". Or bossy. :) She was yelling from the bathroom one day for me to get her a book. She paused and said, "I'm not being bossy Mama, I'm just being nice!".
- has a shredded, knotted blanket that is essential to sleeping or any stressful moment. In fact, both the blanket and Mama's kisses have magical powers to heal any boo-boo. Charlie, our dog, stepped on her foot the other day and she quickly covered her foot with her blanket to make it feel better.
Confession: I copied my friend Lauren's idea of subheadings when I realized how excruciatingly long my post had become. I guess I have a bit to say about my kids. At least the grandparents are interested, right? -
1 comment
Jan 15, 2012Sarah said...I loved reading every little thing about sweet Ella! She is such a precious little girl.
