Old Habits...

This is the same exact position Ella slept in for the first three months of her life when she was in her brace. I'll spare everyone my diatribe of getting Ella to bed tonight, except to say it took an hour.

Sleeping like Uncle Matt

Interesting picture, no? It doesn't seem too exciting (it's not) and there is no Ella (say it isn't so). But look closer and you'll see her feet peeking out beside the chair. Here's a closer look:

And another:

Yes- that is Ella sleeping behind her chair using Fancy Nancy as a pillow.

Here's how this happened... I decided today's nap was a good time to re-introduce Ella to sleeping on her own. This, I knew, would entail walking her back to her room.. repeatedly. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to start this at this particular time- especially since Wes was golfing, but I did and I regretted it as soon as I realized what I had done. I started out getting up, giving Ella a hug, reassuring her, and then carrying her back to her bed. After six tries of that I walked her back to her bed, seven times later I just pointed to her room as I walked toward her and somewhere around the 20th time I just pointed.

Then I had to go downstairs to get something and when I came back upstairs Ella was hiding behind her chair insisting she wasn't coming out and she wanted her blanket and binks. This seemed like a good alternative to me since the other option was wearing a rut in our carpet. And sure enough- she fell asleep behind her chair.

I say this is like Uncle Matt because I have heard about all sorts of places he can sleep (non of which I could) so I can only think she gets this from him. Hi Uncle Matt!

Grandpa Barry's House

Every time we go to Richmond, I feel like we take over Barry's home. And Barry, you are so generous about it- thank you! This weekend was no different. We went shopping, including a train ride:

We then headed over to Barry's for a nap. That sounds simple enough but Ella loves "Grandpa's Puppy" and goes right for him:

She then moves on to find any type of ball no matter where it is in the house. You know, normal active two-year-old stuff that wrecks a house in seconds flat. We wrapped up the day with dinner and were lucky to hit a night Shannon wasn't "Noosing" (I quote Ella on that one) so she could join us.

Of course before we hit the road to go home Ella needed to use the potty. Yes- I travel with a potty chair in my car. Yet another reason I love the Volvo. Thank you Polly for the tip.

And as a footnote- Ella woke up the next day wanting to see Max. I had no idea who that was, but apparently it is "Grandpa's puppy".

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.

Our Very Own Poncho and Lefty

Ella has been very into Poncho and Lefty lately (see July 29th post). She came up today with her own version of them- two of her stuffed animals. Pretty clever, huh? Tonight the activity was dancing, and yes- that is the Go-Go's we are listening to, she does dance like her Daddy, and she feels her audience is Sid the Science Kid who was on the TV.

Random, random, random...

Here's a quote from Wes, "Oh my God this is such a chick flick"- said as he left the room. Really, this has absolutely nothing to do with Ella except that I laughed so hard I might have woken her up. Truth be told, Wes was watching some news show (overload) when I came in and changed the channel (shallow) so really I can't say anything except that we all need a little mindless, veg-out, down-time. Right? Right.

Thank You Uncle Mark

Mark is responsible for "Hockey Socks"- ya know- pulling your socks up high OVER your pants. "Hockey Socks" was one of Ella's first words. So this morning when Ella was getting dressed I pulled out her cute socks with the ruffles. Adorable and even better these days... clean.

At this point I'm pretty impressed with myself. There were no struggles over clothes, what she picked out matched, and the socks would be so cute! Can you see where this is going? Ella put on her socks and I folded them over which was met with a "NO, HOCKEY SOCKS!" and her pulling them up as far as possible. Of course this was cute too and I love her independence. I especially love that it reminds me to chill out and have fun (Thank you Uncle Mark!)