Being 4

It still amazes me how much Ella changes in just 3 months.
To top the list of what's new with Ella would have to be coloring, drawing and writing, she loves them all! The first day she picked up a coloring book she sat and colored for 2 hrs! It is such a marvelous new activity for her (and me!) Then one Sat morning in November she went from drawing squiggles and telling us "It's a 3 legged flamingo" to drawing this:
"It's a fish" she said. Greg and I looked in disbelief. Yes, obviously a fish.

A person standing near sunflowers with birds in the air, the sun and clouds.

A rabbit. I love how all her papers from school she now writes Mom and/or Dad she also usually writes Love and Ella and today she wrote Dog. She also writes strings of letters and then asks me what she wrote- rarely is it readable.
She loves to ask us how to spell words for her to write. She also loves workbooks, which are just mixed in with her coloring books. She reads out letters on signs as we drive around town and asks me what they say. She can read the word "No" and finds it everywhere.

* It's been sweet to see how thoughtful she's becoming. Like getting Greg a cup of water for hiccups without being asked, or the internal struggle that shows on her face when she knows she should share a toy but doesn't want to.

* She is insistent on growing out her bangs, although she rarely wants them clipped back (this drives me crazy!)

* She occasionally self narrates. "She couldn't wait to go inside" etc. I love this!

* Her memory is scary, with our trip to CA she amazed me by talking in detail about things that happened on our last visit - October or 2007!

* She is really into horses and unicorns

* And too keep it honest the drive me crazy thing she's picked up lately is saying "boooringgg" when she is not being entertained. This is like nails on a chalk board to me! She/We are so spoiled in the US to assume entitlement to constant entertainment and enjoyment. I think she's heard me lecture her on this enough, as well as show her pictures Greg took in Niger or kids playing with rusty old tires, that this is becoming less frequent.

The games we play:
"Hide the Yetti", This game was inspired from the local Trader Joes where they hide a stuffed Yetti among the shelves and while we shop Ella, pushing her kid sized shopping cart, searches for the Yetti. Once it's found we tell someone at the front desk and she gets a treasure out of the treasure chest. In an effort to not grocery shop daily we found a Yetti of our own and play a game of hiding it around the house. It's also proven a great way to move her upstairs to get ready for bed etc.

"Pet shop", one of my favorites (inject sarcasm) where Ella pretends to be a cat, dog, or horse and we follow her directions for all we say and buy her at the pet store, then we name her her chosen name, usually Rosebelle. She loves this scenerio, we play a few times a day.

"Get Married", another imaginary scenerio where Ella, a princess, marries a prince (cringe.) fortunately she doesn't dictate the script rigidly so I'm able to focus on what a wise and compassionate princess she is, and how long we've taken to get to know each other and then I ask her to marry me and we give each other roses and dance.

And the stats of this 4 year old: 40 lbs 43 inches 75% for each