Ella Turns 2

Ella's Breakfast Birthday Dinner

My cake decorating assistants

All it took was seeing Mia's birthday the week before for Ella to jump on the Birthday Bandwagon. The day before her Birthday she started jumping around saying "My Birthday! My Birthday! My Birthday!" And when it came time to open presents and eat cake she knew JUST what to do.

What do you get the 3rd girl in the family for her Birthday? We decided that while we have 2 little strollers, maybe Ella needed one of her own. We got her the deluxe double stroller, and regardless of how much she actually loved the stroller, she was most excited about being the envy of her 2 older sisters!

Minnie towel from Grandma and Grandpa. Ella LOVES Minnie but when we held the towel up to show her, I think she thought the REAL Minnie was standing there and it took her awhile before she would go up and touch it. :)

A Compost Cake.

Got this idea from Family Fun magazine and the girls and I thought it would be fun to try out. Not exactly Birthday themed, but I new they would love the candy on top. :)

Ella is 2!

It's amazing how fast time flies, especially with our youngest! I remember looking at both Mia and Maddi at this age and thinking that they seemed SO old (this probably had something to do with the fact that we already had a new baby in the house by this point). But when I look at Ella I still think of HER as a baby. She is still our cute, sweet, book loving, and in most ways easy going little girl, but if I had only one word to describe her little personality at this point, I would have to say Fiery! She has started talking in full sentences all of a sudden and with each burst of language comes a new burst of Independence and opinions! Her most powerful phrase these days is: "I Don't Want To". And that applies to almost anything someone ELSE wants Ella to do. She definitely wants to make her own decisions and knows how to make herself heard in our little family. :) She thinks of herself as very old and wants to be a part of EVERYTHING the girls are doing...and does a pretty good job of keeping up....even with all the pretend play. She has learned how to climb out of her crib and has become the earliest riser in the house, often trying (somewhat forcefully) to get her older sisters to join her. Most mornings I'm awakened by Ella's cute little face by the side of my bed, before she proceeds to pile all her books, blankets and stuffed animals, on top of me and then climb over me right into the middle of the bed. It's hard to imagine her as the tiny fragile little baby that she was when she was born. I think she has officially caught up in all areas of life. When we took her for her 2 year appointment she was in the 90th percentile for both Head and Height and 50th for weight!

We love you Ella!