Swim Lessons

Ella just started her real big girl swim lessons yesterday! It's crazy sitting by the side of the pool while she's in there with her swim teacher.

It's a great class because it's semi-private which means only 3 kids, and one of them is Ella's BFF, Natalie. The girls had so much fun and helped each other so much.

Ella and Natalie before getting into the pool
Ella on her back-sort of...she wasn't so sure about this but got better at it the second time around
Blowing bubbles and doing ice cream scoops with her arms
Waiting at the edge of the pool to jump in

The best part about swim lessons (for me) is that since it's at a local gym, babysitting for the little ones is part of the package, so I actually get to sit in a chair at the edge of the pool with Diana (Natalie's mom) and talk like an adult for 30 minutes! Wahoo!

Ella's Big Big Girl Room

So, Ella's been in a toddler bed now for 6+ months but we've been talking a lot lately about getting her into a full sized bed. We never intended on putting her in a toddler bed but because her crib converted to one, it was easy (and cheap) to do, so we did it. But it's small and cramped and near impossible to lie in bed and read books with her, so we made the leap to a twin bed this weekend.

Ella was so excited as we're Ricardo and I. We just can't stop peering into her room. There's no longer a baby in there but an actual...KID! YIKES!

We went to IKEA and let Ella pick something out for her new big big girl room and she chose these cool flower wall lights which were only $9.99 each-man, I love IKEA. She loves that she can turn them on and off on her own, especially since she still ask to sleep with a light on at night.

So without further ado, Ella's Big Big Girl Room

Yes, I know the flower lights are a little uneven. We have to fix that...some day.

Being that I'm not artistic or creative, I was pretty pleased with the pictures in her dormer. She received two different "Ella the Elephant" books, which she loves. I always remove the sleeves off the book before putting them in her bookcase and hold on to them. I figured, why not put the sleeves to use so I went to The Christmas Tree Shop and bought frames for $7 each and framed the sleeves. I think it turned out pretty cute and it was certainly a cheap way to put up some artwork!

Ella spent a good portion of Sunday just hanging out in her big girl bed reading and playing.
And of course, Mikka got in on the action too...doesn't she look thrilled?

Saturday night was Ella's first night in her new big girl bed, so of course, I checked on her 8 million times. Around midnight, I found her like this:
Poor thing is so used to her bed being against the wall that she just gravitated in this direction. Last night was better though. She seemed to stay in the right direction all night and under the covers.

It's a little bitter sweet to see her in such a big bed. I'm glad we didn't go right to a full. I don't know if we'd be able to find her in a bed that big!

What is it about walking in our mother's heels?

I'm sure all us woman remember walking around in our mother's high heels...what is it about our mother's heels that is so special?

Saturday night Ricardo and I went out to dinner in the city with some friends and as I was getting ready, Ella found my shoes and walked around in them for a good 10 minutes without triping...impressive.

I don't know what it is about this picture that I love so much...sure I love her little face and that smile, but I think I also love the memories it brings back for me. Seeing my little girl wearing my heels reminds me of the joy I got out of wearing my mom's heels and hanging out with my her while she was getting ready to go out and now here I am...a mommy.

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.

BIG GIRL BED!

It's a big day in Ella's world today because she moved from her crib to a BIG GIRL BED! She's soooo excited. She started asking for one earlier this week so today we decided to convert her crib to the toddler bed functionality.

I'm a little diaspointed and not sure what to do because as you can see from this picture, the toddler rail that goes with the crib (although it was an additional $60) doesn't do a thing. It barely even goes an inch above the mattress so it's pretty useless.

We have put a regular bed rail on

But all bed rails say they are not for toddler beds and should be used only on twin size are bigger. Getting a twin is not an option right now, so we aren't sure if we should just stick with the mesh bed rail or just use the one that came with the bed but isn't very high? What do you all think?

Ella has just wanted to hang out in her bed all day-we had to drag her away to go to Target. She's even been inviting everyone to join her, including Mikka.

She's so proud of herself. She's upstairs taking a nap now, which is a total miracle and not something I'm expecting to be repeated (she was exhausted) and as she was falling asleep she kept saying, "I'm a big girl! I'm a big girl!" Too cute.

She's so proud of her big girl status that today at Target she even asked for and picked out some of her own big girl underwear (Cinderella and The Little Mermaid). We're not going to pick back up potty training for another month or so since it seems to stress her out so much, but this is a step in the right direction.

I just can't believe she's in a big girl bed...she just keeps growing up.