A few funny things

Ellie says a few things right now that crack me up.

One is "attackle" it's a mix between attack and tackle. She does this with her girl cousins and I think it's a girl wrestling-type move.

Ah-choo. Ellie doesn't sneeze, she ah-choos. And if someone doesn't bless her within a few seconds...she blesses herself.

Ellie puts an extra 'my' in the phrase 'my mind.' So if something is in her head she will say, "It's in my my-mind."

Ellie and her friend were eating a piece of candy the other day and I overheard Ellie describe it like this, "It tastes like everything you love…all mixed together."

Of course there are more day to day that keep me smiling - these were just a few regulars I wanted to share.

Words

Ellie is really curious about what words mean right now. I get a lot of questions on what does this or that mean. I have a hard time breaking it down, but I think she really gets it when I can. I need to be more like Pinkie-Dinkie-Doo, she is good at explaining the big words.

Here are a few from the last month:

Electrify
Disaster
Sweet Pea
Drool
Shedding
Nauseous
Buy vs. rent a house
Refresh

Final Four

Warning: this is not a basketball post - so if you were looking for one try espn.com.

These are my final thoughts on Ellie at four. It was the night before Ellie's 5th birthday party - I had heard several parents say the famous “I can't believe my kid is this or that old" and it had gone in and out without really resonating in me. I lay in bed as it not only resonated in me, but hit me like a ton of bricks that my only sweet baby was turning five. I cried. Five is the year for kindergarten and school friends (that eventually become the people that help to shape who you are and influence the decisions you make.) Five is the year you grow out of ’T’ clothing and shop in the girl section. Five is the year that you notice a difference between boys and girls. Five is no longer infant, baby or toddler. Five is big. Ellie is five.

Ellie did so many things at four. She went a lot of places and had a lot of fun. She learned so many things. She was the top reader in her preschool class. She could count and write and do simple math. Ellie became a “do-it-myself” at four. She liked to be independent. On independence, she made simple choices at four that were different from mine or different from what she was taught. She felt bad when she disobeyed. She learned that there are consequences to each action. A few nights before she turned five she started sleeping in her own bed. She preferred the bath to the shower. She was care-free. She sang all through four. Everything was a song to Ellie as she went through the day making up songs out of playing or reading or talking. She loved to play, both alone and with friends. She liked to pretend and make believe. She loves everyone equally. She enjoys family. She seemed so big most of the time until I stepped back and realized she is still so little. Just so big from where she started. She is growing up.

She is so beautiful. Her laugh is intoxicating. I can sit and stare at her from any angle and I am mesmerized by every beautiful line in her face. On her birthday she woke up and asked if she was five now. I told her she would be five as soon as I woke up. But then I smiled and told her that she was five, but I wanted her to be three and go backwards. She said there is no way to do that. I guess there is no way to go backwards, but I wish she could.

March Madness

I felt like we did two things in March - celebrated Ellie's birthday and shopped for furniture.

The first Monday in March we took Ellie to the Sorenson's house for dinner (thanks Shawn, Leea, Sage and Taj) and they have this great over-sized chaise we all fit in. That started it. We spent several long hours looking for one - this one cracked me up and reminded me of this Seinfeld episode. Ellie was so funny about it all month. She liked trying out all the different chairs and couches. She was so very patient and good. Towards the end of the month she said something like "Let's just go in, try one couch and see if we want it and leave." With a large emphasis on leaving. I am so lucky to have Kevin and Ellie. They are so patient with my madness. At the end of the month we still made no purchases.


Before we celebrated Ellie's birthday we did celebrate Uncle Jed's birthday. He chose Tepanyaki for dinner and it was Ellie's first time there. When the chef came and started his act with a huge oil fire on the grill in front of Ellie she grabbed onto her grandma's leg so hard. It was fun to watch the rest of the dinner as Ellie got a little more comfortable and enjoyed the tossing and turning of food and all the fun things they can do. She kept her eyes on the chef though to make sure he didn't try anything else crazy.


It was then on to Ellie's birthday. We picked Kangaroo Zoo to have her party at. We went and looked at all the party rooms and she chose the bug room. (It is super cute.) We made and delivered all the invitations. Ellie wanted to invite her entire school class and all her friends. We sent 35 invitations! We then looked around for a cake. She decided on a big cake from Costco with flowers on it. We then had to go shopping for a birthday outfit. Would you really expect anything different from me? Finally the day came for the party! Ellie had school in the morning and then we went to get the balloons (I love balloons. I love how 35 balloons look in a bunch, in a car, for a party.) Then we headed over to the Zoo! 22 friends came. It was crazy and fun and we all left exhausted. She got so many fun toys and enjoyed playing with all her friends. We are so thankful Ellie has such great friends!





The party was Friday the 20th but her birthday was the 22nd so the fun didn't stop there. Ellie had mentioned that she wanted to go miniature golfing on her birthday so on the 21st we went. She got a hole in one. It was so awesome.



Sunday the 22nd was her actual birthday so we started in the morning with presents and playing with toys from her party. We then went to grandma's for dinner and she had a great surprise for Ellie. She had decorated the house for a party! She had baked a fun cake for Ellie and if that wasn't enough, after more presents there was a pinata in the garage!




Monday the 23rd the parties continued. I got to go to Ellie's school to do a spotlight for her and then that evening her dad had a party for her with that side of her family.

Whew. And you thought birthdays were a one day event. For us, it was the entire month! Happy Birthday Ellie!