All Night Long!

I can not even express the joy in our house when we woke up this morning. A little background: since moving to the "big girl bed" Ella has not slept through the night. That's right- HAS NOT SLEPT THROUGH THE NIGHT. I am emphasizing this because it means we have not either. If we were better parents, we would spend the night helping her sleep in her own room. Instead, we spend the night with her sleeping on a blow-up mattress in our room. Uh-huh, yet another parent-of-the year award moment for me. So this morning I wake up, look at the clock and see it is 7:20. WHAT? Wes asked me if Ella was still in her room. I think so - and I hope she is still breathing (yes, I still have that fear of SIDS in me). Sure enough- we hear her calling for us. And this is another great moment because I realize she doesn't necessarily think it's the best idea to get out of bed without us in the morning. Don't worry- I know this may not be the case tonight, tomorrow, etc... but I now know it's obtainable.

This brings up another issue- the reality of Ella's blog. I write so often of all the great things going on with Ella and while that is our life, there is, of course, so much more. There are tantrums, power struggles, feelings of failure, sadness, ... oh the list is long. If I read this blog, I wouldn't like myself- I'd think (dripping with sarcasm), "Oh it must be sooooooo easy to have such a perfect kid, huh?" and I'd call my sister to complain about me and how I must think I'm so perfect. It's just not the case of course, but I do see how it looks that way. While we have fun, there have also been many times when I have been in tears at my inability to cope with a faulty sippy cup, taken two showers in one day since that is the only place I could get some peace and quiet, not taken a shower for days because I couldn't fit it in, been given a bink by Ella to "make me feel better". Just today I bribed Ella with a Pop-tart. A POP-TART! We don't eat greens every night, we had pizza for dinner twice this week. I missed Ella's two-year old check up. Not so bad you think? Ella missed it with me. When Ella was little, I'd put on all the shiny necklaces I could find so she would snuggle with me (she wasn't a huge snuggler). This trick I learned from my sister- so Polly, don't think you are going to beat me out for the parent of the year award (although in reality she would- they always have greens). Ella won't fall asleep by herself this week (soon to be month). She won't brush her teeth and I haven't been able to teach her how to not swallow the toothpaste. If she doesn't like a song on in the car, she has a meltdown. Potty training? She loves the potty. She hasn't had an accident in weeks. I'm sure that has something to do with the fact that she refuses to poop- AT ALL. I could go on and on, but I think I've made my point.