Developmental and Personal Update

I keep thinking about how when I look back at this blog I want to remember not just what Ella looked like or was doing at 3 1/2 but what she was like. That's hard to capture but I want to at least note some recent changes. It seems like all around she's had some kind of growth spurt in the last couple weeks-she's coloring much closer to "in the lines" seemingly overnight, writing her name all the time, picking up all kinds of new phrases and nuances to words and talking pretty much like an adult, and becoming quite the diplomatic bargainer rather than crying for things. She still whines more than we'd like but my guess is that'll be around for a while. Anyway, I thought Ella deserved a personal, developmental update since it is her blog and all :-)

According to me: Ella is doing great :-)
-She misses school and asks often if it's fall yet
-she's obsessed with Caillou (seriously, pretty much the only show she's watched for over a month) and has learned all kinds of useful facts from it
-still sleeping great (about 8-8)
-back to taking a drink to bed (oy-hope they make pull-ups in extra, extra large)
-begging and praying for a baby sister who she wants to name "Ella Madagascar"
-going on "nature walks" with me almost every day and overcoming her fear of bugs
-occasionally eating more than a bird, would still rather drink milk and prune juice all day long and eat nothing
-recently decided she likes eggs, strawberries, red peppers, apples, "spices" (pepper), and mustard and will rattle off this list at a moment's notice
-Ella is good at sharing. She is not good at cleaning up her toys.
-Ella likes painting, singing, reading, and drawing (this week anyway)
-Ella eats strawberry frosted mini-wheats or pancakes with yogurt and/or fruit every morning
-She struggles with whining when told "no" (usually about watching TV or having another drink)
-She's OBSESSED with Hannah and Christopher (2 of her cousins) right now
-She's going through her first ever clingy phase, usually only in unfamiliar places or with unfamiliar people (i.e. the dance class we had to quit because she wouldn't let go of my neck)
-She's starting to like stuffed animals for the first time and sleeps with a little doggie named Raleigh every night (thanks Aunt Stacy!)
-still very attached to her lovey, "blankie"
-she seems a lot like I was as a kid...she'd rather stay home, read books and do art projects and play with close friends than be on a playground or be outside or try something new
-very sweet and nurturing to animals and any inanimate object she decides needs a "mama"
-hasn't napped consistently in a year and half but doing ok with "rest time" (reading/playing quietly in her room for an hour until her timer goes off)
-A hearing aid HERO. She reminds us to put them on and wears them all the time without complaint. She's doing GREAT and has no speech problems at all according to her last evaluation!


According to actual experts:
This is from the national network for child care and is for kids in their fourth year
Motor Skills

feed herself (with little spilling)-yup
try to use a fork-yup
hold a pencil-yup
try to write name-yup
draw with the arm and not small hand movements-not sure
draw a circle-yup
draw a face-yup
try to cut paper with blunt scissors-yup
sometimes unbutton buttons-yup
try to buckle, button, and lace, even though she probably needs help-yup
completely undress herself if wearing clothes with simple fasteners-yup
brush teeth with help-yup
build a tower of 7-9 blocks-yup
put together a simple puzzle of 4-12 pieces-yup
pour from a small pitcher-yup
use the toilet alone-yup
try to skip-yup
catch a bouncing ball-not sure
walk downstairs using a handrail and alternating feet-not sure (we have no stairs)
swing, starting by himself and keeping himself going-yup

Sensory and Thinking Skills

recognize red, yellow, and blue-yup
understand taking turns and can do so without always being reminded-yup
understand "big," "little," "tall," "short"-yup
want to know what will happen next-yup
sort by shape or color-yup
count up to 5 objects-yup
follow three instructions given at one time-yup
("Put the toys away, wash your hands, and come eat.")
distinguish between the real world and the imaginary or pretend world-yup
identify situations that would lead to happiness, sadness, or anger-yup

Language and Social Skills

have a large vocabulary and use good grammar often-yup
often talk about action in conversation ("go," "do," "make")-yup
enjoy rhyming and nonsense words-yup (she's really into rhyming lately and very good at it!)
use regular past tenses of verbs ("pulled," "walked")-yup
use "a," "an," and "the" when speaking-yup
ask direct questions ("May I?" "Would you?")-yup
want explanations of "why" and "how"-yup
relate a simple experience she has had recently-yup
understand "next to"-yup
separate from his parent for a short time without crying-yup
help clean up toys at home or school when asked to-yup (when asked many times is more like it)
like to play "dress up"-yup
pretend to play with imaginary objects-yup
act out elaborate events which tell a story (as in serving an imaginary dinner or going on a "dragon hunt")
sometimes cooperate with other children
often prefer playing with other children to playing alone, unless deeply involved in a solitary task-yup
change the rules of a game as he goes along-yup
try to bargain ("I'll give you this toy if you'll give me that one")-yup
share when asked-yup
enjoy tag, hide-and-seek and other games with simple rules-yup
like moderate "rough and tumble" play-yup
like to do things for himself-yup
know her age and the town where she lives-yup
act as though a doll or stuffed animal thinks and feels on its own-yup

She's doing great!!

At last...

So, Holly and I have been friends since high school and even met in middle school. We've been accountability partners for about 13 years (we spend a couple hours each week sharing about our lives and keeping each other accountable for our living out our faith in our daily lives). We've been through a lot and God has totally given us parallel lives: we both graduated from college early, got engaged 6 months apart, got married 6 months apart, married into the military, moved out west (CA and AZ), went through both husbands deployments to Iraq (2 weeks apart), got out of the military, moved back to Maryland and both were in the hospital for each other's baby girls being born. So, we thought we'd finished a lot of the hard parts and now could raise our girls together and both be stay at home moms at the same time. Well, I'm sad to report that for the first 15 months of Hope's life, our children were on completely opposite nap schedules and we could NEVER see each other during the day! There were no times between about 9:30am and 4:30pm when one kid wasn't in the process of napping. We had to start meeting for accountability early in the morning before the girls woke up and for a while it was almost the only time we saw each other. It was really hard to be moms at the same time but never be able to do things together because one of them was asleep or because they just can't do the same things (they're a year and half apart in age). However, almost out of the blue, it happened. Hope switched to one nap a day. It seemed like just another fun milestone and we were both kind of nonchalant about it but then we realized OH MY GOSH!!! We can be mom-friends now!!! We can actually play during the day! We can see each other without all kinds of complicated arrangements! I'm SO excited for this new phase! I get my Holly back during daytime hours-not only at night or the crack of dawn. Ahhhh. I'm so thankful for a WONDERFUL friend to add to our daytime playdate repertoire. YAY!!! Here are yesterday's pics from one of our first playdates with Holly and Hope :-)