all of the loud

so every night when i leave ella's room she says "say 'sweet dreams' all of the loud" and i say "can't i just say it sweetly and quietly?" and she gets a glint in her eye and says "All of the loud." so as i leave her room i shout "SWEET DREAMS" and as the door shuts i see her little eyes smiling with the joke she just played.

since we don't nap anymore, ella and i have had lots of relaxing, slow-paced afternoons full of activities (followed by early bedtimes: 6 pm). we've gone out walking from our house to the park or to the library (over a mile of walking), or we go to visit auntie h. (who is happily expecting a march baby!), or we head to appleton farms for an adventure to gather up "treasures" (rocks, acorns, flowers, etc.). it's been good, even though some afternoons i find that i wished i could have a nap, even though she is skipping one. but in those cases i sometimes just suggest that we have quiet snuggling/reading time together, and that usually gives me a burst of energy to get through dinner and the bedtime routine.

cooking dinners has been a bit more challenging, because i used to have an hour or more to prepare dinner in the middle of the day. now elenora is up the whole time, so i have to either get her to "help" me (putting chopped veggies in a bowl etc.) or something. it's kind of fun to get her involved, but definitely a change.

the past few weeks s. and i have pulled together a wednesday routine where we spend the afternoons together and then s. and i cook dinner while the girls play (or watch a shirley temple movie). then we all eat together (both our husbands go to basketball on wednesday nights anyhow) and give the girls a bath together. it's a fun time for all of us. tonight we made indian food after spending a couple hours at the park and at russell orchard.

in the mornings lately, ella comes out of her room on her own just about the time i'm heading downstairs to go to work. i see her at the bottom of the steps and she greets me sweetly. it probably adds on 10 minutes to my morning routine, because i get her a little something to eat or a cup of milk and i take her to the potty and change her into clean undies etc. she's so darling when she walks me to the door and calls out "bye mommy! see you later!" some mornings she lets j. sleep after i leave, and some mornings she goes upstairs immediately to get him up. yesterday morning she went right up and said to j. (who was sleeping) "daddy, here are your choices: you can sleep a little longer, or you can play with me."

this morning after i left, for the first time ever, elenora took it upon herself to go poo on the potty all by herself without anybody helping her! i am so thrilled because that's a huge step. she's been so good about "holding it" and not having accidents all day, but sometimes in the mornings before anyone is up and if nobody is around to help her, she has been known to go poo in her diaper. so for her to take the initiative to go to the potty all by herself is just amazingly wonderful.