Ella Pearl, Cy-Fair celebrity

Did you know my daughter is a local celebrity??

Ella's been going to the YMCA daycare for almost a year now when Bart or I go work out. When she walks in now, the workers know her by name and shout, "Ella Peaaaaarl," as if they were on Cheers shouting NORM when he would hit the door. She walks in there with a grin from ear to ear, and boy, does she work it.

Tonight I brought the girls to the gym so I could go to yoga, and the first worker that saw Ella asked me if she was in the recent issue of the Cy-Fair Magazine. They went on and on about how they knew that must've been her and how they won a bet with the other girl who works there, yada yada. A little while later, another worker in Amelia's room asked me if Ella was in the magazine. As Bart and I were leaving, a set of PARENTS picking up their kid stopped us and asked us if she was in it. It was CRAZY!

Well, the answer is YES, she was in the recent issue of our local magazine called Cy-Fair Magazine. They asked for any photos from birthday parties, and I submitted this adorable picture of Ella at Brody's birthday party chowing down on an Elmo cookie. Come to find out they published it on like a fourth of the page!! They call her Ella Levet...I guess I just told them her name was Ella, and they got the Levet from my email signature. Oh well...

Here's the pdf from the article...she's like on the second to last page, I believe.

My little girl, a local legend!! Ha ha ha!

TEE TEE ON THE POTTY!!

Tonight the most amazing thing happened!! Ella just tee teed on the potty!! Woohoo!

We have her princess potty in the bathroom all the time, and we always ask her if she wants to try to tee tee or poo poo before and after she bathes, when she's nekked! Well, she'll get on there and maybe toot, but that't about it. I'm not pushing it. I just want to get her used to seeing it.

Anyway, tonight she sat on it before we put her in the bath, and she was playing with a new bouncy ball I had gotten her at WalMart. All of a sudden, we hear the "tah dahhhh!" music coming from within the potty seat, which means tee tee has landed! She made no reaction whatsoever, but Bart and I went ballistic! Yay!! Ella tee teed on the potty!! Woohooo! Yeah, she looked at us like we were nuts, but sure enough, when she got up, there was a puddle of pee! It was glorious! Who knew I could get so excited about urine!?

So, I guess next step is to keep giving her the potty option? Any pointers? I feel like the seal has been broken! Ahhh, gotta love parenthood!

The Many Different Expressions of Ella Pearl

Today was Ella Pearl's 18 month checkup with her pediatrician, Dr. Nguyen. Daddy watched Amelia for me while I took Ella, and she was such a good girl. Apparently, every child in Houston was sick, so we had to wait for 45 minutes to see the doctor, and she just sat in her stroller and read about a million books. She was happy to see Dr. Nguyen, as she always is, and Dr. Nguyen said she looks great! She weighs 26 lbs, and she's 33 inches tall. Dr. Nguyen said she is growing taller faster than she is gaining weight. Her head circumference is in the 95 percentile...so she has a giant cranium! Must be for all those smarts! Then came the bad news...she had to have one immunization shot. Blah. She did NOT like that, and I must say, it was much harder for me to watch my 18 month old get stuck than it was when she was 6 months old and clueless!! She screamed and cried, but by the time we left the building, she was fine. She got a shiny sticker for being such a good girl, and since Amelia was being so good for Daddy, I took her to McDonalds.

It was sooo nice to spend a little one on one time with my baby girl, and she always loves a good trip to the McDonalds playland. We bonded over chicke nuggets and apple slices, and I just about teared up staring at my little girl drinking from a juice box and biting into her nuggets, as if she was literally growing right in front of me. It seems like just yesterday I was spooning icky green peas into her toothless grin. I really considered forbidding her to grow up any more, but I am already starting to see signs of rebellion, so I know this approach will never work. Ha!

Anyway, next order of business is potty training! Dr Nguyen gave me a pamphlet on how to get started, and I have been asking other moms what their secret of success was. We shall see!

Enjoy the many faces of Ella P.