Chewing Gum

Ella has been very eager to chew gum for about 2 years now. I always chew gum and so she's been really fascinated by it, asks me to blow bubbles that she tries to pop, likes to stick her finger on my gum, etc - she frequently talks about it and along with being able to drink soda, I think that chewing gum, and blowing bubbles, are some of her main goals in life!

I've never let her have it before because I don't want her to choke on it, but when I took her to her doctor's appointment, the sheet of information they gave me mentioned gum and hard candies were okay with supervision, so I decided to let her try a piece as a special big girl treat for being 4 years old.

We had to go to the pharmacy on the way home and I told her she could pick out any pack of gum she wanted and chew her first piece when we got home. She was so excited and very well behaved while I got what I needed at the store (amazing how far a little motivation goes). Of all the different kinds of gum, she picked the same strawberry trident that I chew all the time, carried it to the cashier and told her "that's my gum - I get to have gum now because I'm 4."

With her piece unwrapped, ready to try it



She was so excited I had to capture it on video...


She loved it and I have given her several pieces since then - she is very diligent about wrapping it up when she's done and holds the empty wrapper the whole time so she can throw it out in there when she's done, and then of course hands me the wrapper filled with gum. She swallowed one piece by accident and was very concerned about what was going to happen since she knew she wasn't supposed to swallow it. She'll ask questions like "is it okay if I have gum in my mouth and wash my hands at the same time?", it's just so cute how excited she is about it.

Growing up, Mom always had gum in her purse and I remember saying one time to her how nice it was that she was always willing to share her gum and that I couldn't imagine ever wanting to share my gum as freely as she did. I am proud to say that instead of selfishly hoarding my gum as I envisioned I would, I am carrying on the mother-daughter gum sharing tradition :).

4 year doctor's appointment

I took Ella for her 4-year pediatrician appointment a few days after her birthday. She has really grown - she is 34.5 lbs (47th percentile) and 39 7/8 inches (54th percentile). They checked her hearing and vision for the first time, and of course she talked and asked a million questions throughout - she wants me to explain every poster to her, needs to know why the inside of your throat looks like that, what the nurse is having for dinner, on and on - I would do anything for a running transcript of what is going on inside that head of hers!

The only bad part of the appointment was when the nurses came back at the end to give her shots - 2 shots in each arm, from 2 nurses at the same time. I had her in my lap and she started to get upset and was fussing and then all of a sudden she said "it's not going to hurt" and didn't even cry when they gave her the actual shots. It was pretty neat, she showed some mind over matter and did great. Of course she felt that after that amazing performance she needed a lollipop not just for her, but her stuffed kitty that came too. They earned it!

Birthday Party

We had Ella's birthday party the Saturday after her birthday. She wanted a jumping party with Backyardigans theme, so that is what she got!

Mom and Glenn; Erin, Josh and Cameron; and Teresa and Carmen all came in for the weekend to celebrate. Ella had all her friends there and had so much fun.

With my sweet birthday girl at home


with Steve at BounceU, ready to party




Could this birthday girl be any cuter??




Ella and Grampy G


with Rorie


Watching the safety video


Once it was time for them to start jumping, Ella just ran around and had fun with all her buds for more than an hour without so much as a break. It was just our group so they had the place to themselves and were free to run wild :).

They ran, jumped, played, tons of yelling and laughing, and just had a blast - I love watching her have so much fun. It's also pretty noteworthy that she's at the age where her friends are more fun than her good old mommy (gasp!!).

Having fun with Tess


Adorable Dominic


Steve, Mom and Cameron


Jumping in the spider web


Coming down the slide


Cameron and the girls - he was quite the ladies man. Ella had been really excited for all her friends to meet him and , and at one point Gillian said "Ella, your baby is cute!"


Look at this handsome little man!


Jumping with Maddie



In the party room after the jumping time


Backyardigans cake


Ella was funny with her cake - she took 4 blows to get all her candles out, and did them one at a time




With Maddie and Morgan


Ella and Grammy


At home later that evening after a big nap, doing stamps and coloring with Carmen


Hammock from Grampy


Coloring with Grammy and Grampy


Erin and Cameron


Mom's birthday is the 13th, so Erin brought another cake and we gave Mom her birthday gifts.



Very big hug for Grammy!


With Aunt Tesie and Miss Carmen




Playing with her new pizza play-doh maker from Aunt Erin and Uncle Josh


The party and weekend were awesome, and a very big thank you to our family and friends who came to celebrate Ella's 4th birthday!!

Ella's 4th Birthday

Ella turned 4 on January 5th!

A picture of her on her 4th birthday eve, her last night asleep as 3-year old


And here she is, waking up as a big 4 year old!!




Adorable birthday girl in her birthday shirt


Mom, Steve and I met at Ella's school to have cupcakes with her class after nap time.







After cupcakes they were wild and ready for some fun!




Mom and I stayed for circle time





Big hug for Grammy





Mom made lots of little friends and helped the kids draw spider webs





That night we went out to dinner to a Japanese restaurant. Ella was very proud of herself because she tried soy sauce for the first time, and she told us over and over that the reason she tried it was because she's 4 now and will be trying a lot of new things.

They knew it was her birthday because she made sure to tell everyone! And although we did not request it, our waitress brought out a big dessert and we all sang Happy Birthday



As we were walking out of the restaurant, she stopped at almost every table along the way, pushed her "4" candle (from her cupcake at school - of course she brought it to dinner as proof of her new age!) out in front of her and said to each table "I'm already 4!", "I'm 4 now!" It was just so funny, definitely one of my favorite memories of that day.

We got home and it was time for birthday celebration #3 :)






Silly girl


It was a great day, I loved seeing how proud and excited she was that it was her birthday, and how excited she was to turn 4. It was also awesome that Mom came to celebrate with us, and made it that much more special.

More updates to come on my big 4 year old!!