I'm no artist...

I was trying to cut and then paint Ella's nails and she kept jerking away and even started crying at one point saying I hurt her. Then...
Me: Ella do you know what toenails are? They're dead. Like your hair. You being scared of me cutting your nails is like going to a hair salon and crying when they cut your hair. You wouldn't do that because it doesn't hurt!!
Ella: but no mom. It's different.
Me: no it's the same
Ella: no but they are different...they do it all the time, they're like....artists mom. They're talented. They know what they're doing. So it doesn't hurt.

What???

I acted all offended and assured her that I'm no toenail artist but after 32 years of life, I know how to cut them.
Where does she come up with this stuff???!!

Snow thaws hearts

In getting to know a lot of people from other countries and cultures, it's become very obvious to me over the past few years that America is NOT a communal culture. As a general rule we don't do things for each other, with each other, or even with others in mind the way people in other countries do. There's a sense of isolation, competition, and pride that pervades our society. Of course there are the occasional Good Samaritans and many people who try to put others first but the way we live our lives is very separate. Anyway, I'll get off my soapbox now and show you why I even mention this.

During this insane week of snow, numerous times I have heard people comment and seen with my own eyes an unusual amount of connecting between neighbors and even strangers while helping each other get unstuck from the snow. Here's a visual for you. I can guarantee that many of these people had never spoken before this day, yet in the face of a trial (no one had come to plow their street 3 days into the storm) somehow, over 20 people bonded together and did this in about an hour. Awesome.



Before



After

More hilarity

The things that come out of Ella's mouth are the highlight of my day most days! Here are some recent ones :-)

*Commonly used phrases
"fer sure!"
(with genuine awe) "that's ahhhmayyyyyzing!"
when asking her a yes or no question "that will be fine"

*We were playing a game on PBDKIDS.org (which I HIGHLY recommend) and Ella was decorating a house with furniture. She plopped a big arm chair in the middle of the living room as it's only decor and said "There. That'll be good for a man."


*We were talking the car about prayer
Mom: Isn't it cool that God can always hear us wherever we are and we can always talk to him?
Ella:Yeah! But we can't hear Him.
Mom: Yeah, not with our ears but sometimes we'll hear him say something in our hearts that we know he wants us to do.
Ella:Yeah! Like this (bends her head to the side). If you put your ear real close to your shoulder you can hear your heart! That's how it works Mom.

Ella is Hilarious

I've been collecting things Ella has been saying and doing that have made me laugh (or cry) but most are HILARIOUS. SO love this girl.

Random quotes (and I mean RANDOM):
Ella: Mom! Wanna race? Do you know what a race is? It's when you run as fast as you can and then someone wins and then the cheerleaders cheer!! Yeah! Whoohoo!

Ella (when we walked past a Baltimore Ravens Sticker on someone's car): Look mom-a "B" on a Hokie Bird!
Mom: No, that's a raven, it's a different kind of bird but it does look like a Hokie!
Ella:(silent for a moment, processing): Oh! Raven, just like a raisin! Mmmm.

Ella (in the car after a long silence, very nonchalantly): Hey Mom? This raisin is flat. Flat like a doggie's bed.



About a month ago Ella has this odd, hard to describe, new laugh she was doing ALL the time. It also went a long with this very teenager-ey tendency to say "oh yeah, for sure" and "like" all the time. I have NO idea where it came from. Anyway, it was so odd that I kept pointing it out and since then she has decided she'll pick a new "laugh for the week" (her words) each week. It is hysterical. Lately she's lost track and forgets but for a while she somehow naturally went into the desginated "laugh for the week" whenever something was funny. Where does she come up with this stuff??


This morning we were talking about our friend Lexi riding in our car. This turned into a discussion about how old you have to be to sit in the front seat and how old to not be in a car seat and then...
Ella: when you're 10 you get to sit in the front!
Mom: yeah! and when you're 16 you can learn to drive! Isn't that cool?
Ella: yeah! And when you're 17 you can get pregnant!
Mom: WHAT?? No you can't! You have to be much older. And married! That's SO silly Ella!! You have to be an adult to do that.
Ella:but 17 is a half way adult and you could have your own baby!
Mom: (lots of talk about how that's not a good idea)
(*disclaimer-we had talked earlier that day about what how "pregnant" means someone has a baby in their tummy because she didn't know that word when I mentioned our friend was pregnant. I think it was just fresh in her mind when she was thinking of things you get to do when you're older, like drive! Still, threw me for a loop!)


Climbing into the car and seeing Silas (her cousin) getting strapped into her carseat Ella looks at Chris and I and with her voice quivering and her face solemn says "This. is very. disappointing. (long pause) I. am getting. very. angry. I. do not. want. him in my seat." She was on the verge of tears and it was everything Chris and I could do to not burst out laughing! Poor girl hasn't had to share her car seat much!

No needle phobias here

Ella is a freakin hero when it comes to shots. That's all I have to say. The girl asked repeatedly when she could please get a shot this year because she was so excited. She was disappointed when we went to the audiologist last week because "hearing aid doctors don't give shots." Why has she been so excited? Because, in her words "I'm good at shots, I'm good at being brave!" And she was. We went for mother-daughter flu shots this week. She's not usually very nice when I have to wake her up but when I reminded her it was to go get our shots she perked up and quickly put on her clothes. In the car she reminded me that she would hold my hand and give me a kiss when I was done (she knows I'm not as big a fan of shots as she is). So, game time came and true to her word, she was brave! She didn't even flinch for her shot. And she was true to her offer to hold my hand when I got my shot and give me a kiss :-) This bravery and lack of fear of needles is certainly not inherited from me but I love it! She is so funny and quirky and I absolutely adore her.

She was right

A couple weeks ago we froze some of Ella's yogurts with a stick in them per the instructions on the box. One morning she remembered and asked if she could have a popsicle for breakfast. Because this sounded absurd and like something to of course, say no to, I did. She whined and said "but popsicles are good for breakfast!!" and "whyyyyy??" And then, as she was whining, I realized she eats yogurt for breakfast almost every day. Why is the same exact yogurt in frozen form not allowed? So, I came to my senses, apologized for being ridiculous and told her she was right-popsicles are good for breakfast :-) She was thrilled and I was reminded that my knee-jerk response to say no to certain things needs to be re-evaluated in some cases. And I love getting to say yes to this little girl.

Future DDS?

The other morning I was doing something in the kitchen and realized Ella had myteriously disappeared and been awfully quiet for a while. Since she can't turn on the TV by herself yet I was concerned that I was about to discover her painting the walls or unfolding all the laundry or some other disaster. Here's what I found.

Yes, she's flossing. Our dentist would be proud.

Here's why I LOVE my family

So, we're sitting at the dinner table tonight chatting about our days and to give kudos for something Ella did well today Chris offered her a fist bump and she started to move towards him with her fist balled but then stared at his fist, paused, pulled back, hesitated then said "Hey! Ms.Tiffany (her preschool teacher) says that's another way to say the letter A!!" It took Chris and I a second to realize she was talking about the sign language alphabet and she was completely right!
This began one of the most adorable, amusing dinners I've had in a long time. Chris proceeded to ask Ella if she wanted to learn the next letter and she was thrilled to learn B, then C, then D. I also was so impressed that Chris knows the entire sign language alphabet that I was on he edge of my seat to be reminded of each one. We also started occasionally requiring Ella to eat a piece of chicken or a green bean or a bite of her "burrito" (really a potsticker but she insisted it was a Chinese burrito) to get the next letter. 20 minutes later Ella ate ALL of her dinner (virtually unheard of here) and we all learned to sign all the letters! At some point in the middle I was saying something to Chris and Ella interrupts us to say "Dad! Dad! You are FABULOUS at the alphabet!" My heart really melted to see all of us so excited to learn together and just be together and enjoy each other. At least for now, I REALLY love my little 3 person family. We're a perfect fit for each other.

Ella Talk

Me (in a funny voice while dancing around): I Love You!! I love you!! I love you!
Ella (in a scolding tone): Mom. You are being a little too crazy.


E (while we're in the car running errands): Mom can you take a shower when we get home?
Me: Why? I took a shower this morning.
E: Please? Please? Can you please take a shower?
Me: No Ella, I'll take one tomorrow morning.
(lots more begging and me getting frustrated)
Me: Why do you want me to take a shower? I'm clean!
E (quietly): ummm...so I can watch TV
Ahhh, it all comes together now. She had no concerns for my hygiene, it was just a new way to beg for TV time (the begging is the main reason she's been banned from TV lately).
Later she told me "Mom, I won't let it hurt my brain! I promise!" (Yes, I told her too much TV will hurt her brain.)


Ella: Mom? Did you know vegetables are good for my brain, and my tummy, and my poop! That's what they're good for!
Me: That's true! How about some broccoli at lunch? I love broccoli.
Ella: Nope. I don't like vegetables.
(TMI ALERT-she knows vegetables are good for her poop because she's been constipated for most of her life so it's kind of a mantra around here)


Ella: Mom, come look! Come! Now!
Me: What happened? Are you ok? What are you doing? (I come around the table to look and she's sitting there bouncing her leg up and down)
Ella: This is called the hopping leg. Do you like it?


(in the car, both sitting quietly and pull up to a light about a mile from the mall)
E: Oh! We're going to the Alumbia Mall!
Me: We are! How did you know the name of the mall? How do you know where we are??
E: Cause it's the Alumbia Mall! We're near Popeye and Abuela's house too.
Me (seriously incredulous): Wow Ella! You're right! I'm so impressed!
E (to a tune she made up, over and over and over): I'm right, I'm right, I'm totally right!


Me: Ella can you tell me about the Christmas Story?
Ella: Yes! It's about Disney World. There's Mickey and Princesses.

It has to slide down!!

Ella was stalling and didn't want to go to bed (this is new as of 3 nights ago) so after she was all tucked in she screamed and cried and eventually insisted she had to go potty.  I let her go and she sat there FOREVER and talked and talked about all kinds of things, perfectly happy to be out of her bed and "winning" the go to bed fight.  I was not thrilled however and I kept asking if she was all done and of course, she said no.  Then...

Me: Ella, I think you're all done.  It's been a long time and nothing is coming out.  All your pee pee is out.
Ella: No Mommy!  I need to go pee pee and poo poo.  The poo poo is all the way up here in my head and it has to go all the way down down down to my heinie.
Me: Really?
Ella: Yes.  It has to slide slide slide down.  That takes time mom.

Well, she shut me up with that.  What do you say to that?  I guess that would take time.  So I left her alone and came out and started writing this.  Lo and behold 2 minutes later she calls out "Mommy!  The poo poo came down!!" and she was right.  Huh.  I totally thought she was making it up about having to go at all.  Her stalling tactics certainly worked though.  She demanded the promised 2 treats (MnMs) for when she goes #2 in the potty.  Then, of course we had to re-brush her teeth etcetera. Oh well, at least she certainly entertained me in the process :-)

You NEED happy clothes!!

Chris got home from a meeting with a client in DC a little while ago. He usually works from home but sometimes heads out to meet with clients and when he does go, usually wears a suit. Well, today he came in wearing his suit and sat down and started talking to Ella. Here's how the conversation went.

Chris: Hi Ella! How are you?
Ella: Daddy you need to take off your clothes.
Chris (laughing): What? Why?
Ella: DAD you NEED to take off your clothes. Put on happy clothes.
Dad: But these are happy clothes, I'm happy!
Ella (starting to get a little sad): No. Those are bye-bye clothes. You need to take them off.

We almost melted from the cuteness. I guess because Chris only wears a suit when he's leaving and she was worried that he would leave again if he left it on. Awww...melts my heart.