ella-isms

"you and i." ...she said this at penelope's house when they were sitting next to each other on the floor playing. ella scooted up next to penelope, shoulder to shoulder, and said "you and i" very affectionately. (or she'll say this when we get back from the beach and i place her and myself in the tub to rinse off. or she'll say this when she and j. sit on the couch together.)

"want to not do that?!?" ...in casa de moda when she was busy climbing on a kid-sized chair and i wanted to hold up a leotard to see if it would fit her and i said "ella, can you come over here so i can try this on you?" and she answered "want to not try that on?!?" (she's getting pretty good at negating sentences.)

"where's God?" ...while half-way through reading the golden book about "God" at bedtime. she was looking at all the pictures of the children and the flowers and the animals, and it suddenly struck her that God wasn't on the page. that was a hard one to explain.

"it's not good." ...at dinner-time when there's something on her plate that she doesn't want to eat. i respond, "yes it is good, ella." and she restates: "no, it's not good." (this is new, and it is a phase i expect her to grow out of by the end of the week.)

"what's that?" ...she says this, to my chagrin, when she can't tell if a person is male or female (like a woman with short hair or a man with long hair). i've realized that this is what she means because this statement is usually followed 30 seconds later with a statement such as "not a boy" or "not a lady." i try to soften the blow to the person in question by answering "what's that?" with a statement such as "the lady is wearing a necklace" (so that they think she means their jewelry and so that ella is clued in to the fact that it's a lady) etc.