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February 11, 2004
Cribbin it again
About three weeks after a seamless transition to her big girl bed, Ella had an equally seamless decision to move back to her crib. Maybe I made a mistake by leaving the crib—and thus the option—up in her room but probably not, since I don’t care too much where she sleeps (as long as she sleeps!!). All the same, a few days after she had begun consistently choosing to sleep in her crib again I asked her why she didn’t want to sleep in the big girl bed. She paused to think about it before explaining, “It’s too big”. Her further analysis, to my point that she has been declaring herself a big girl for quite some time now was “I am a big girl, and I am a little girl.” I thought those words were so true, and so insightful, that it gave me chills.
(two weeks after writing the above paragraph and Ella is back in her big girl bed. She has gone back and forth a few times but seems settled once again. So we’ll see)
Sick!
I knew I was jinxing myself even as I was thinking it! I shouldn’t have even let the words out of my mouth, but I was commenting the other day as to how, for nearly the end of January, our family has been relatively sick free. Well, I DID knock on wood when I said it, but nevertheless, after a lovely day of good spirits and no sign of illness, Ella woke up crying—no screeching-- the other night and we found her in a pool of vomit. Poor thing, this was the beginning of nearly constant hourly pukes throughout the night and into the next day. We never did get an official diagnoses beyond stomach bug but the poor thing was such a trooper. When she started to moan we knew what was coming but afterwards she stoically endured the changing and cleaning and general manhandling that comes from de-puking a toddler. By the final puke of the illness we had coordinated it enough that she managed to make her oral deposit into the porcelain goddess and she was very proud of herself for throwing up “like a big girl”. Now there’s a milestone I don’t remember tracking in the baby books…
Parent Teacher Conference
I just love Ella’s school but their strong point is definitely NOT getting their little kid reports out in a timely manner. We are supposed to get a write up on our child a month after she started and then twice a year on their birthday and half birthday. After quite a few gentle reminders from me, we only just got our first ‘report’ on Ella. It was so much fun to read, discussing different milestones she was hitting, personality traits she was developing, with pictures of her doing the different skills and drawings she had completed in there as well. It backed up most of the conclusions with examples of things she had demonstrated during the day and I loved those parts the most, since it was easy to imagine her in the scenarios they described (thanking the teacher for wiping off the table, defending her space when another child got too close to her block tower).
I also took this opportunity to schedule a meeting with the teachers to just talk about how everything was going with Ella at school, and I dragged Jamie along for this one too (“Are you sure this is standard?” He asks me dubiously). I really didn’t have any major issues to talk about (we do, of course, always check in and see how things went every day and I make it a point to chat with the teachers to make sure they have the opportunity to tell me anything they need to) but I liked the idea of making sure everything was going well, as well as making sure they knew that we were involved parents that are very interested in their child’s well being. Besides all that, I have to admit, I just LOVE to talk about Ella. I love to share stories about things she has done as well as just marvel at what a great kid she is. (Gee, loyal diary readers, could you tell that already?!?!). Among other things, we talked about potty training and they agreed with my analysis that she just doesn’t seem interested these days (she doesn’t even care if she got a full diaper) and it will probably be a few months before we should expect much.
Yeah Pats!
Needless to say, Boston is all in an uproar now that the Patriots have won the Superbowl again. The Friday before the big game Ella’s daycare even had a superbowl rally. Ella and Jamie made cookies to bring into the party and Ella was SO proud of herself, talking over and over about bringing them into the party and sharing with her friends and showing them to her teachers. The teachers went pretty nuts too, decorating the room with streamers, Pat’s logos, and a makeshift goal post on the end of the room. It was very cute to watch and possibly this show of faith was what carried them to victory!?!?
Pretty fingernails
I hope I don’t offend anyone out there, but I have to admit that I’ve never really been big on little little girls with nail polish. It just seems to me to be making them grow up and grow ‘pretty’ a little to fast. Of course, I don’t care enough to condemn someone who does make this choice, but it certainly wasn’t something I was planning for my little one. Well, as it turns out, it hasn’t really been up to me after all.
I, myself don’t usually wear finger nail polish either. This has nothing to do with fashions and much to do with the fact that I am just too lazy to keep them up, and that my nails tend to split if I wear polish often. Last New Year’s Eve, however, I made an exception and put on some bright red polish for the festivities. Nearly needless to say, Ella saw this and immediately demanded some of her own. In her defense, she was very good about keeping her fingers still and not touching the polish until it dried, walking around with her fingers gingerly extending in caution. I only applied one layer and figured it would chip off and be done with by the end of the week. Oh no, that was not Ella’s plan! Through all of January and now into February she has been vigilant about having me reapply the polish once it starts to get ragged. And this is bright red polish, remember, so it really shines after a fresh job! I would cringe or avoid eye contact when dropping her off at school, guiltily mumbling something about “her idea” and “picking my battles”. Only last week have I sneakily gotten her to agree to letting me put on a much mellower shade of pink that isn’t nearly as garish, but I have to say, she is definitely her own girl.
Bonnie’s book reviews
Nathan’s Run --This is a silly cops and robbers book, not the kind I normally read. It was about a kid being chased around the country for a murder he committed, albeit in self defense, but it was just silly, really. Every character was a stereotype, the story was ridiculous, and it was more violent then I normally like. Actually, maybe it was a good book if you like those type, so I’m probably not the best judge…
As always, thanks for reading.
Bonnie
PS—Does ANYONE else out there watch America’s Next Top Model? I seriously feel it is one of the most under rated reality shows out there (is that an oxymoron?!?). Yes, it is about modeling, but it is really more then just a bunch of twiggy girls walking around in their underwear all day. I have really been enjoying learning a little about the back side of modeling and I think Tyra Banks does a good job as hostess. My main problem, in fact, is that I have nobody to gossip about it with the next day. What’s a reality junky who thinks she’s found a hidden gem to do!?!?
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