the family bed

Ella has been sneaking into our bed at night a lot lately. She has figured out that if she climbs in and snuggles up next to Daddy, he's too incoherent to do anything about it whereas Mommy will escort her back to her own room. A good part of the week, we wake up with a third party snuggled up in our covers! Last week I talked to Ella about this:

Me: Ella, you're going to have to stop sleeping with Mommy and Daddy.
Ella: Mmmm...maybe someday.

While eating our lunch today, we talked about it again since she had pulled her sneakery again last night. Bryan was telling me he is confused on how she is able to make room since he somehow woke up in the middle of the bed as though she had made him move over. She was eavesdropping on this conversation and piped in: "I found room right next to you Daddy, and then when you got up, I found LOTS of room!" What a silly goose she is. She's a nice cuddler too, even though she should stay in her own cozy bed!

first order of business upon growing up

To begin, I must tell you of a game that Bryan and I enjoy playing. It's called Carcassonne and it's a German game, sort of a strategy game where you build cities and roads and get points by acquiring the most farms. A little hard to explain, but fun. The "farmers" in the game are made of wood and are brightly colored and small and Ella always wants to play with them. Usually when we've got a game going, Ella wants to be right up where we're at and sometimes she messes the pieces up, but that's ok. She just wants to be involved in the fun.

Anyway, all that explanation is required so that tonight's bedtime conversation has meaning. After stories were read, back was scratched and all that, I was asking Ella some fun questions, like, "Am I your best friend?" I'm delighted that she says yes! And then I inquired about what she thought life would be like when she grows up. Here's the rundown:

Me: Ella, what would you like to do when you're a grown up?
Ella: Play Carcassonne!
Me: Really??!
Ella: Yeah. When I'm big...you're already a grown up...and we can play Carcassonne and I'll be red and you can be yellow.
Me: Ok.

That sounds fun! This struck me so funny that this would be the first perk of being grown up. She also agrees that she will take on the grocery shopping, vaccumming, laundry, cooking, cleaning and other necessities. We can do it together. In the mean time, I am so loving watching her grow up!
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modest tootenheimer (an oxymoron of sorts?)

We've been on vacation in Atlanta spending time with the Douglass clan. This evening we went to Riverside Park to play and let Simon run free and get some energy out. There were several different playgrounds and as we climbed everything, there were a couple of little kids who seemed to shadow our every move. As we moved on to the swings, the little girl followed us. As I lifted Ella into the swing I could tell this other little girl was dying to swing with us. I asked her if she'd like me to push her and she eagerly agreed. So here were the two girls, swinging in unison, side-by-side and you'd think they'd been friends since birth. The little girl told us her name was Daniella and Ella introduced herself. Then they began to sing a little song they created when I asked if they wanted me to keep pushing them...it went "Not me. Not me. Not meeeee!" And then they giggled. Then Ella said, "Hey Daniella, guess what I am?" Daniella said, "What?" " I'm a Tootenheimer! That's 'cause I toot a lot!" And then they laughed hysterically! And so did I! Man that was funny!

Later, we decided baths were in order since we all reeked of bug repellant. Ella and Keely were going to take a bath together with lots of bubbles. As they disrobed, Keely was hanging out in her birthday suit in the bathroom and Ella had to comment. Here's the conversation as it was relayed to me by Cimi:

E: I'm being modest.
K: What's 'modest'?
E: 'Modest' means covered up.
At this point, Keely is on the potty, unashamed in her
birthday suit. Ella is staring at her.
K: Why are you lookin' at me?
E: 'Cause you're not modest!

Oh dear! It's the morality police at three years old!!!

boots are made for walkin'

Ella's favorite song right now is "These Boots are Made for Walkin'". We dance to it daily. Simon is loving it too. Boy we can have a lot of fun dancing the day away! Just had to post this and make an attempt at adding the video!

do chickens get gas?

One of Ella's finest moments was at the dinner table last night. We heard a little squeak and she said, "I tooted. Like a chicken!!" followed by giggles. We did our best not to laugh but when she started calling her toots "chicken toots", we couldn't help it. And then I began to cluck like a chicken...but I should probably leave that part out...

celebrate good times, c'mon!

So this entry might not translate all that well since most of the amusement came from the inflection and delivery from dear Ella, but it's worth noting just the same. Tonight Ella, Simon and I were in our pjs, reading books in the recliner and getting settled down for the night. Since we were in Simon's room, most of the reading material was pretty basic. As we read a counting book, we came to the page where there were two cupcakes to count. I pointed and said "cupcakes" for Simon and then I asked Ella, "Would you like cupcakes at your birthday?" Of course she answered yes. Then I asked, "What would you like to do for your birthday?" And her answer, with gusto was, "I would like to have a cel-e-BRA-tion!!!!" What the....where did she pick up that word?? We were practically rolling with laughter. We will indeed celebrate when she turns four...and we'll eat cupcakes too!

tenderhearted

Simon is nearly 18 months old now so we are getting a glimpse into his personality more and more. Today in particular we saw his nurturing and affectionate side. He's an early riser, generally up at least an hour before his sister, so when Ella rolled out of bed this morning, Simon was already perky and ready to meet the day full on. She however, went straight to the couch to lie back down to wake up gradually. Seeing that she was still tired and grumpy, he pulled out one of the throws and covered her up for a nap! A bit later, Bryan came in to kiss me goodbye as he headed for work. As he opened the door to head out, I saw Simon heading his way with his lips puckered! As Bryan let the door close behind him I called out, "WAAAIITTT! Simon needs a kiss goodbye!!" It was a moment I hated for Daddy to miss. Sure enough, as Bryan came back through the door, Simon crooked his head up and planted a sweet kiss on Daddy's lips. Then he raised his little pudgy hand and began to wave, "bye-bye". Soooo cute!!! And then he went back to his play! Love that boy.