Sweet Ella

Checking out the ceramic hand that I bought for her in NYC

She is at such a darling stage right now. A few current favorite things about my little bird...

...picking flowers from 'Ella's garden' after her nap. I choose the zinnias for her; she knows that they are hers and is so pleased when we bring some inside. Occasionally she'll have me put them on the fridge so that 'Noah no touch them.'

...when she realizes that she has forgotten to feed her baby all day long. She exclaims 'feed Baby!' with concern and passion. There is no stopping her....she is like a mother bird going to her chicks. I've also realized that Baby's feelings are a good indicator of Ella's. During a thunderstorm last week, Ella grabbed her baby saying 'Baby scared!'

...Ella's fascination with Peapod in our book 'The Six Little Possums and the Babysitter.' She completely identifies with the littlest possum named Peapod and talks about the things that they have that are the same...'that Peapod pink towel' or 'that Peapod Gee-Gee.' Or the other day she asked me to count the tags on the possums. She was really asking me to count the tails, but since she loves feeling the tag on her beloved Gee-Gee, she assumed that the tails were also tags.

...hearing her sing. We listen to a song called 'Little Liza Jane' quite often and she sings along in her sweet voice. Sometimes I can't quite make out what she is saying, but I have realized that she is not singing about Liza Jane. She sings about 'Little Noah James.' She loves her brother, that is for sure.

...speaking of loving her brother, Ella continues to defer to Noah quite a bit. If a stranger comes up to Ella and speaks to her, the immediate response is to say 'Noah' and point to her brother. She even tried to do it the other day when we were at the grocery store without Noah. I could tell that she felt quite confused by the whole situation.

...and last but not least...waffles. This girl loves her waffles right now. She is really into 'jam waffles' which, surprisingly, is a waffle with jam on it. She would eat them for every meal, every day, not that I'd ever allow such a thing to happen.

Showing me her flowers

'Ella show me your feet'

'Ella show me your hands'

'Ella show me your mouth'

'Ella show me your tummy'

And a few silly ones of Momma and Ella together