Life with Ben and Ella

Thursday, April 28, 2011

Ella turned five?

Well, I guess I should probably post something for Ella’s milestone birthday. I think I was hoping that if I didn’t acknowledge it on here, then it didn’t really happen and she would still be my little girl. I could still fool myself into thinking pre-April 25th.

But, it did happen.

Ella turned 5.

That seems so old for my girl. She seems so big. When I am with her, I really notice the things that make her seem older – her lengthening blond hair, her height (compared to her brother), the phrases she comes out with, the attitude she gives (oh boy!).

But there are a few things that remind me of her actual age – the way she still needs her blankie at bedtime, how she loves to snuggle with us, her sensitive feelings when she feels she’s been wronged. And her speech (we KNOW we’ll have sessions with the speech therapist next year).

So, she’s an enigma. Big and little, all at once.

Her current likes:

Raw veggies
Fruit, fruit and more fruit - especially strawberries & watermelon
Her new scooter
Art class
Digging in the dirt
Drawing
Playing with play-doh
Eating tacos at the mall
Cats
Singing songs and being sung to

Her current dislikes:

Cooked veggies
Meat (at least, she THINKS she doesn’t like it)
Having to wait until September to go to school
Eating a “real” breakfast
Having her hair combed or put into pigtails
When her brother ignores her
When her brother gets in her face (see, an enigma!)

I feel like I could say a lot about her, but I also feel like I can’t put it all into words. I feel like the past 5 years have zipped by with not enough pictures, not enough time. Why can’t I remember more of her as a baby? Like all parents, I wish I could go back to relive every single moment with my kids.

This all makes me so emotional. A teary mess, really.

I guess all I can say about our Ella is that she is a sweet, sensitive, stubborn, creative, funny girl who we absolutely love to pieces. We can’t imagine our family without her in it!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Another milestone passed...

What's missing in this picture??

Ben says, "One tooth gone, 19 to go!"

The tooth has been really loose the last couple of days. Ben actually said yesterday that he thought the tooth would come out today!

So it was after supper - I was in the kitchen, cleaning up a bit, and Ben came to me and asked if he could be done. I looked at him and said, "Ben, your tooth! It's gone!" I immediately thought that he had swallowed it, eating his supper, but nope, there it was, on his plate. And he didn't even notice!

He's excited for the tooth fairy to come tonight - he said, "Maybe she'll leave me a quarter! Or a washer!"

Monday, November 22, 2010

We have ourselves a comedian!

Saturday night, during supper, we were watching “Cash Cab”. (If you haven’t seen it, it’s a gameshow where a cabbie asks trivia questions for money – and if you make it to your destination without getting 3 wrong, you can opt to double your money by correctly answering a bonus question; if you get it wrong, you lose it all.)

First there was a group of 4 guys that did very well and ended up getting their (very easy) bonus question correct to double up to over $800. Then a second group of guys get to the bonus question, and decided not to risk their winnings. But they got to hear the question and guess anyway (better tv, right?). So it was very easy as well, and I remarked to Gord that the bonus questions seemed a lot easier than before. But I couldn’t remember the previous group’s question/answer, and neither could Gord (the memory is the first thing to go!). So Ben piped up with the answer – “Lionfish. It was Lionfish.” (They showed a videoclip with some voice-over facts and asked what this fish was more commonly called.) We thanked him and said that he had a good memory, and he said, “Do I get cash?” Does he know how the game works or what?!?! LOL We laughed pretty hard at our witty son!