I'm so proud of you because...

Ella has a rather lengthy bedtime routine. Always has. One would think as your child gets older it would get shorter, but in our household, the opposite holds true.

Ella's bedtime routine consists of:

1) bath (which can easily last 30 minutes-she's a mermaid I tell ya)
2) brusing teeth and going pee pee
3) PJ's and bedtime diaper (we're not even close to being night potty trained)
4) two books (and she usually picks very long books like Go Dog Go)
5) then we sit in the rocking chair and open the shades and say goodnight to everyone
6) sing 2 songs-Ahhh My Baby and You Are My Sunshine (which Ella always sings with me)
7) go to the big girl bed get tucked in
8) sing "the goodnight song", which is a song I used to sing to the kids I babysat.

If we forget to do any of the above steps, Ella is quick to remind you.

In the past couple of weeks we've added one more step and this is by far my most favorite moment of the day with Ella.

Between steps 7 and 8 we now tell Ella what she did that day that made us proud of her.
When she gets settled in to bed she gets the biggest smile on her face, giggles, and says, "Proud of me because?"

We then tell her, I'm so proud of you because you shared with your sister today, I'm so proud of you because even though you didn't want to leave the pool, you listened to mommy and got out, I'm so proud of you because you took a shower like a big girl this morning (this is her new routine-she still takes her evening bath but hops in with Ricardo in the mornings)etc...

She just lights up with each new thing and nods her head and says, "um hm" when I list a new thing, like she's saying, "Yup, I'm a good girl."

This makes my heart smile. I am so proud of Ella. The changes she's made in the past year astound me. She's growing in to such a sweet, loving little girl-no longer a baby. She's my buddy.

We're flying to CA at the end of August and while I'm usually nervous about flying with Ella, I have no concerns this time. She's a seasoned traveler and I have no doubt that she'll be a good girl. Sofia on the other hand...yikes.