Ella interview before Preschool

After seeing this cute idea on Pinterest, I thought I would give it a shot and interview Ella the day before preschool. Here are my questions and her responses, exactly as she answered.

1. What is your favorite show? "Uh...Dora"
2. What is your favorite color? "Hmm...All the colors in the rainbow and all of the colors of the world!"
3. What is your favorite thing to eat? Peas! (This one was news to me)
4. What is your favorite book? Book to read? Yes, Ella, book to read. Oh, ok. The Animal Alphabet.
5. What is your favorite thing to play with? Polly Pockets and Dolls. Avery is my favorite dolly.
6. What do you think school is going to be like? I think I'll draw pictures and stuff like that. I think I will eat snacks and play games, like board games.
7. What is your favorite treat? My favorite treat is candy! Chocolate chips!
8. How are you feeling about going to school? I feel worried, a little bit nervous. I feel eckskyted a little bit.
9. What is making you nervous? Um, making new friends.
10. What are you excited about? I'm eckskyted about what I am going to do at school, just not about making new friends.
11. What is your favorite thing to do? I like to play 'I'm the Mommy' and Doctor (yes she does!)
12. What is your favorite movie? Ratatouille, I like rats (that is honestly what she said)
13. What is your favorite season? Uh...Fall! Why? Because it has colorful leaves and I like colors and because I get to go trick or treating and I like tricks and I like treats.
14. What do you want to be for Halloween? A kitty!
15. What are you going to wear on the first day of school? The same dress I wanted (we already picked out her clothes) orange, orange, orange dress.

Pretty cute! Hopefully I can continue to do this every year along with her first day of school picture. She then turned the tables on me and asked me a bunch of questions and scribbled down my answers in a notebook with an orange crayon. Here are a few examples. I didn't answer how she wanted me to at first, as you can see:

1. What is your favorite thing to do? Play with my girls.2. What is your favorite thing to sleep on? My green blanket. No, no, no! What is your favorite thing to sleep on that is big and soft? I see, you mean my bed? Yes! Very good mommy!
3. What is your favorite thing to change that is a person? Do you mean Aubrey? Yes. Very good!

Daily Dose of Ella

My Ella is something special. She is strong willed, she is energetic, she is inquisitive. She loves to learn new things. Her new favorite thing to ask is "why is (whatever she is wondering about) called (whatever she is wondering about)". Usually I don't have any idea, I don't know why oceans are called oceans or horses are called horses. I'm not of the "make it up" camp, so I usually tell her when I don't know. She has started saying, "Well do you think you might even have a guess Mom? Think about it a little bit." She is always thinking and analyzing the world around her. Because of that, often I forget that she is just 4! Some days she acts so grown up, like the other day when she came in while I was making dinner and asked for a plate. I got her a plate and then she came back asking for another one and then repeated the cycle again. I thought she was using them to play with and asked her why she needed so many plates and she said "I'm just setting the table mom." She set the table without being asked! She followed that shortly with a fit of some sort and got sent to time out and I remembered that she was still a little kid.

She has recently learned how to play soccer. She really enjoys it. It was funny to watch her learn how to play. Our friend Stephanie taught her the correct way to kick a ball. She resisted kicking it with the side of her foot for a long time and then just decided that it was easier. The other day I overheard her teaching one of the neighborhood kids (that is at least five years older than her) how to kick the ball.

The other thing that is huge for us this week is that she has learned how to ride her bike! I haven't had a chance to take a picture of her on it, but she looks so grown up with her helmet on riding her bike with training wheels! She was so excited to show Daddy what she had learned. I'm hoping she can start riding her bike when we go running or for a walk around the neighborhood. She loves it. I am glad she is learning how to channel some of that crazy energy that she has!

She is fascinated by animals and insects and the world around her. We check out movies and books from the library on various subjects and learn about them more in depth. When Granny and Papa visited us a few weeks ago they took us to the Boston Aquarium and on a whale watching tour. It was really fun and Ella really enjoyed it. Now I get to answer lots of questions about Humpback whales and Blue whales and various other whales that she has studied. I often feel like I know nothing, but then have to remember that she is just excited and ready to learn about everything around her. Things that I may have known about once upon a time are brand new to her.

Her other new favorite thing to talk about is Spiders. We have several living on our porches that we have just let live there and make webs. It has been interesting to watch them grow. I think I'm going to have to start doing research so I can answer her questions!

The thing that I have most loved watching is her in her role of sister. She loves her sister so much. She is so helpful when I need things and tries to fill Aubrey's many many needs. She entertains her and soothes her and just plain makes that girl laugh. Aubrey has started imitating Ella (which is both good and bad). It really makes my day when one of them starts giggling and the other joins in until they are both shaking with laughter. It makes me hopeful that someday they will have the special relationship that I have with my sisters.

It is so much fun watching my sweet girl grow and learn about the world around her and accomplish new things. She is so fun and full of life!

Time is flying by!

I am embarrassed that my last post was her 5 month post!

At six months Aubrey was already proving to us how much of a mover she is. She scooted around everywhere and never sat still. She ate just about anything that you put in front of her and she wanted to do it BY HERSELF!!!!

At seven months she learned how to sleep in her OWN BED in her OWN ROOM! The heavens rejoiced on that one! She also learned how to sign "more" which she has now stopped using because she has found that banging on the table gets her what she wants as well. We could title this month "A Healthy Appetite" because she loves everything that you put in front of her. She doesn't care about textures or flavors or anything. She thinks that if you are eating it she needs to be as well. It's a good thing she is such a mover...

Which brings me to Aubrey's eighth month, the one which we will title "I've Got Places to Go". This kid can MOVE. She does not sit still. She can climb steps. She stands up. She cruises around furniture and cabinets.

She will take some steps while holding onto your hands. She constantly flips over when changing her diaper, which I don't remember Ella doing until a few months later, and then I just started changing her diaper standing up because it was easier. It probably won't be easier this time around with the cloth. We've kind of regressed with our sleeping, but I think a lot of that had to do with Mommy going back to work. During orientation I worked 4 nights a week. I am hoping it is going to settle back down only working a shift or two a week.

And there you have it folks. Aubrey's last three months in three short paragraphs! I can't believe how fast time is whizzing by. Jimmie is finished writing his proposals and will soon be applying for jobs. I can't believe we have lived in New Haven for over a year. I can't believe that (hopefully) this time next year we will be settling into new routines in a new state. I can't believe that Ella starts school in less than a week! Sometimes I think that time has flown by and others I feel like this last year has dragged on.

It's funny how life changes and you don't even realize it until you look back. This time last year I didn't know how I would even make it. I was lonely, I missed my family and I wanted to go home (to either Kansas or Oklahoma-either home would have worked a that point). I was pregnant and scared and unsure of how I could even begin to think of taking care of 2 girls, one was difficult enough. We have gone through a lot this last year, but as Jimmie reminded me the other day, we have always had all of our needs met. When we were lonely we met good friends. When Aubrey was crying and we didn't know if we would make it to the next day those friends were there again and He provided the strength we needed to keep going. When we were running out of money and unsure of how we were even going to buy groceries, I got offered a job. When I am tired and having a bad day, when I am feeling like a horrible mother, when I am lonely and just want to go "home" if I can remember to look to the one who has consistently and abundantly provided I can usually pull myself out of my wallowing pit and face reality again. For that I am truly grateful, because time is going to continue to fly by and life is going to continue to happen.