Paige’s First Bites
Tonight we fed Paige her first bites of solid food.
My Favorite Place to Cry
The following exchange happened calmly and happily without Ella offering a bit of the emotion implied in the dialog:
Ella: I’m going to go cry in my room.
Beth: Aw, Ella, why are you going to go cry in your room?
Ella: Because I love to go cry in my room.
Abbreviated Nap Time
We’ve had Ella in a toddler bed for a little over a month now. Although she’s able to get out of it, she’s never attempted to unless we’ve come in the room to get her out of bed. She’s even cried for things she has thrown out of bed because she hasn’t thought of getting out to get them. Well, things have begun to change…
Yesterday my mother was watching Ella, and she told us that Ella had gotten out of bed as she was on her way back to her room. Today’s story tops that: I’d just put Ella down for a nap. While I was working in my office, I heard a door open. I thought it was Beth coming from our bedroom. Imagine my surprise when I heard Ella in my doorway announcing, “I’m all done with my nap, Daddy.” I assured her that she wasn’t done, escorted her back to her room, and watched her climb back into bed.
Afterwards, I peeked in at Beth who was holding Paige for a nap. We shared looks of raised eyebrows and rolled our eyes at each other. A couple of minutes later, Ella was back up again. This time Beth reminded me to tell her that if she got up again she wouldn’t get to watch a TV show when she gets up from her nap. Hopefully that did the trick… 
Family Reading Time
Yesterday morning I had the pleasure of reading Brown Bear, Brown Bear to Paige and Ella.
NOTE TO EMAIL READERS: Please click on the title of this post to visit the blog and see the picture.
It’s official. Beth and I are both ready to call last night’s sleep the best so far for Paige since we started “sleep training” her this past Saturday night. She only fed twice (one more hour of sleep would have dropped that to once), and she went down easy (i.e. no crying) for bedtime and after each feeding.
Tell Me a “Mater” Story
Ella loves for us to make stories up on the spot and tell them to her. Recently, Ella was introduced to the characters in Pixar’s Cars movie. She loves for us to tell her stories about Lighting McQueen and Tow-Mater. The following exchange relates how one day last week she tried to trick Grandmommy into telling her a story with one of her favorite characters:
Ella: Grandmommy, tell me a “Mater” story.
Grandmommy: I don’t know any “Mater” stories.
Ella: Tell me a “Rastus*” story.
Grandmommy: Ok, what “Rastus” story would you like to hear?
Ella: “Rastus Meets a Friend”
Grandmommy: What friend did he meet?
Ella (with a sheepish grin): Mater.
You may or may not catch the humor and the precocious thinking here, but for those involved this is a scene definitely worth capturing and remembering.
*Grandmommy has told “Pogo and Rastus” stories for years. Pogo and Rastus are two black bears who live in the Smoky Mountains. They still join the Wender Family whenever we take trips to Myrtle Beach.