The things she says and does

Ella literally has us laughing out loud and pulling out hair out almost every day, sometimes within 5 minutes. Three years is such a fun age and still a little frustrating at times as well. But one of my goals with this blog is to document all the big and small things in their lives. I am not very good about writing things in the baby book (in fact, I haven't even gotten a baby book for Maddie yet and she is 6 months old!) so this blog keeps a record of their day to day life. So, miss Ella, this post is all about the funny things you say and do each day at three years old!

In our Hokie gear before the first game! You hold up your pom poms and say "hokie hokie hokie high!"

 At three years old, you say the funniest things all the time. You love to pick up any phone you see and have a fake conversation. Sometimes when a telemarketer calls, I let you answer it. You just keep repeating, "hello, this is Ella James Hennessy!"But when it comes to talking on the real phone, you are funny about that. You used to want to talk all the time, but now not so much.

You have funny names for things, you call Gatorade "gator gator", instead of saying "you forgot", you add an extra got in there and say "Mommy, you got forgot." Every night after we tuck you in bed, you have to blow us a kiss and say "love you night night" at least 3 times, sometimes more depending on how hard you are stalling that night.

You are also into letters a lot right now, you know a couple, of course E, L and A and know how to spell your name. You also know a K is Mommy's letter and a M is Daddy and Maddie's letter. You know some random ones also like R and F but the newest one you just learned is G. Everytime you see it, you shout, look Mommy G for gas!" Like when we are in public places and I am sure you do it at school, what those teachers must think! We try and say, yes, G for grapes but then you always say "and gas!" You like potty talk a lot these days. Whenever you do pass some gas, you always laugh and say "holy smokes!" We think this came from Daddy, at least, I am blaming it on him!

 You still love your sister so much and to see you all play with each other and interact is so much fun. Now that Maddie is sitting up, you love to sit next to her. But you definitely have an opinion about what toys she should play with and are very particular that she doesn't play with anything you might want to play with. We need to work on this sharing thing a little more. Before bed, I ask you what your favorite part of the day has been. Last Friday I asked you and you had done a lot of fun things that day, been to school, played at the park, played with our neighbor buddies but you thought about for awhile and then said, "taking a bath with Maddie Grace. I love taking a bath with her." Hearing those sweet words and how you two adore each other is the sweetest thing a parent can witness for sure.

 At three years old, you are still my cautious and tentative child. You want to make sure everything is very safe before you try it. But then once you do, you usually love it, it is just getting you to try it part that is hard. You rode your bike with Daddy the other day and hadn't been in awhile and even though you have been on it a lot before, you wanted to make sure that Daddy was going to go slow and not too fast.

 At three, you are very into your clothes and what you are going to wear. This is nothing new but we definitely have some battles over clothes and also your hair and how you want to wear it each day. And the bow has to match and the shoes have to be just right. And not just your clothes, Mommy's clothes, Maddie's clothes (Daddy is usually at work by the time you wake up so you can't pick out his clothes!).

Watching the Matthews Labor Day parade

One of your favorite things is dancing and singing. You love music and once it starts playing, it is like you have to start dancing and singing. We have lots of dance parties at home, with Mommy and Daddy and your best buddies in the neighborhood. When Mommy gets around to it, I am going to post a video of you singing Nicki Minaj's song, Starships. You love this and Call me Maybe the most right now. You are still undecided if you like sports or not (but daddy keeps trying) but singing and dancing are definitely at the top of your list!

You love Homer the Dragon, the mascot for the baseball team and the local beauty queens or "princesses" as you call them.

 At three you also have major opinions about what you like and don't like and you are not afraid to express those opinions. Like for lunch, you have a pb&j for lunch everyday and love it. It is our one stand by that we can go to everyday and know you will eat. But this year in school, there is a boy with a peanut allergy and so no pb&j at school. So, Mommy tried to be sneaky and buy a soy butter that looks just like peanut butter and tastes similar but no missy, you would not be fooled. You took one bite and declared you didn't like it. I tried to tell you it was just the same but you knew better and so you only had one bite of your sandwich at school and told Mommy to never use that yucky peanut butter again. No pulling a fast one on you and your peanut butter. (And can we talk about how it is so unfair to all the peanut butter lovers out there that one kid has to ruin the fun for all the others???)

 But despite the peanut butter, you absolutely love school. You wake up every morning asking if it is time to go to school and since you only go M/W/F, the days when it's not school, you get sad. But this year, being three, we get to do drop off for school. No more Mommy walking you to your class, just hopping out of the car and walking with your bag all by yourself. Yesterday was your first day and even though we discussed it, I had no idea if you would make it there since we only went twice last week. But then another Mommy emailed me and who was helping the kids find their classes and said while lots of kids needed help, not you. You walked confidentially down the hall and stopped to smile at her and went right into your class. I love that school has brought you so much confidence.

You rode the pony carousel and loved it. Getting a little more brave big sister!

 At three, you are very into birthday parties. Like love them, everything about them and good thing since we seem to go to one about every week. 

 I was shocked that you were so brave with corky the clown since you don't like characters in costumes (I don't blame you, I didn't either!) but you warmed right up to her and let her paint your face. Plus, you knew after the clown comes...

 CUPCAKES!!! You absolute favorite part of the party. You, my friend are a huge sweets lover.

Don't get me wrong, we have moments of tantrums when things don't go your way and even though we don't use it too often, you have spent some time in time out when it was warranted. I know you are learning and testing boundaries but try and give your Mommy and Daddy a break every once in awhile.

So, we will wait and see how the rest of three turns out but right now, we are excited to see you learn and grow each and everyday!

Some of your favorite things right now:

TV Shows: team umizoomi, dora the explorer, any princess movie

Games/Crafts: puzzles, painting and stamps

Favorite foods: PB&J (with the real peanut butter), pizza, cheese, rice, cereal, pancakes, cupcakes but you also eat lots of fruits (grapes, apples, strawberries, bananas, blueberries) and veggies (broccoli, corn, raw red peppers, raw carrots)

Favorite things to do outside: swing at the park, climb ladders at the park

Favorite books: Bearenstein Bears and Fancy Nancy

Stats at your 3 year check-up:

31.5 lbs (45%)

38 inches tall (77%)

Vision test: perfect

You did have to get one shot and you screamed but the toys made it all better.

Please stop growing

Please stop growing up and being so big Ella! You are becoming such a little lady and today you started your second year of preschool. You were so excited this morning, ran into Mommy and Daddy's room this morning announcing you were ready to get dressed and go to school.

Much to Daddy's protest, Mommy got you an adorable smocked dress that I knew my little princess would love to wear on her first day. You loved that it had school buses on it as you love to point out all the school buses on our way to school.

 We had your open house last Friday and you got to go meet your new teachers and check out your new classroom. You loved the classroom as it is bigger than your your classroom last year but you did wonder where our beloved Ms Ginny was. Not to worry, Mrs Scott and Mrs Monroe couldn't wait to meet you. You were also excited that 3 of your friends from your class last year are in your class again this year including one of your best buddies, Caroline.

 Mommy of course got out the camera and had to capture this big day. You indulged Mommy for a little bit before deciding enough with the pictures Mommy, let's get to school!

 Daddy s working from home this week due to the DNC so he stayed home with Maddie while Mommy took you to your school.

 After we parked, we saw Caroline and you two girls were so excited to see each other and go into school together. Mommy had to get one more picture of you sweet girls in your smocked dresses (see Daddy, everyone wears a smocked dress on their first day!)

Then you girls took off running down the hall to your new 3 year old classroom. You both looked so old and so grown up. You saw Mrs Scott at the door and couldn't wait to get in. You gave Mommy a quick hug and kiss and then took your bag and walked right over to your cubby to hang it up. I can't believe what a difference a year makes. School has been one of the best things for you, it has given you so much confidence and I just loved seeing how excited you were to start another year this year. When I picked you up, you had a huge smile on your face and the teachers said you had a great day. I am so excited for you this year and all that the 3 year old class brings. 

Happy half birthday

Last week, our little baby turned 6 months old and I can hardly believe she is that old already. These past 6 months have flown by and it is amazing to see how much Maddie is doing these days.

 About a week before turning six months old, she stared sitting up on her own. It was like she just decided one day she was going to do it on her own and that was it. She loves to sit up and check out the world around her. She is definitely very observant (some might call it noisy) like her big sister so she loves to check out the scene.

 There is no denying that Maddie LOVES her big sister! Anytime she sees Ella or hears her voice, she lights up. Ella can get the biggest laughs and reactions out of Maddie. I can't wait to see them continue to grow closer and closer.

 Maddie has also ditched the infant tub for the big tub. We aren't quite ready to leave her siting in the big tub by herself (especially with big sister who can sometimes be a little overbearing) and so our neighbors gave us this awesome seat to use in the tub. It helps her sit up and she loves splashing and eating, I mean playing with all the toys in the tub. And big sister thinks it is super fun to have a new playmate in the tub and even helps out with the washing duties!

 We went out to eat last weekend and Maddie decided enough with the carseat, she wanted to sit in the highchair and participate in the meal as well! She was great and even enjoyed eating her pears while we ate our food. Speaking of food, she loves all kinds of food these days. She is still eating baby food but has loved all the fruits and we are working on the vegetables. Her favorite so far is probably applesauce. Time to start cheerios and puffs next.

 Ella sees me feeding her the bottle all the time and asked the other day if she could feed her. So, after positioning the pillows just right, she fed her the bottle and did a great job. She was so patient and held it so still. I love this picture of the two of them looking into each other's eyes, so stinking cute!

 Being six months old means you get to hang and picnic with friends now! Last weekend, we decided to have a picnic in the front yard with the neighbors and after Maddie woke up from her nap, she joined the party as well, mainly enjoying the plastic fruit!

Last Friday, we had her six month well visit and got the latest stats. She still continues to be our "peanut" in size but Dr Ankrah was very impressed with her and said she is doing great! She weighs 14lb 11oz (24%) and is 25.5 inches long (47%). She may end up being a "little" sister for awhile.

Maddie Grace continues to be the smiliest, happiest baby and we are so blessed and lucky to have her in our family. There is no better feeling than walking in her room in the morning (after she has slept for 12-13 hours which is amazing in itself) and see her face light up with a smile when she sees you. Can't wait to see what the next 6 months will bring!