Today, Ella had her 2 year check up. Before the check-up, Sunny, Ron and I took a tour of the SFJCC for pre-school for the girls. We had to take Ella with us because the JCC is very close to her doctor’s office and we weren’t going to have time to go home and bring her back. We put her in the daycare drop-in place at the JCC – a place that was strange to us and strange to Ella. Ella looked in the room, saw the toys and kids and took off. She did not look back at us, she didn’t even wave – she just went right into the room. The lady told us that they would be moving her into a bigger kids room in a while and gave Sunny a pager to hold just in case they needed to find us. We went on the tour (about an hour and 10 minutes) and the pager didn’t buzz at all. We went down to find her in the big kid’s room and one of the women in there was holding Ella. She told us that she did a great job but about 10 minutes before we arrived she started looking for me. I gave her a big hug and she seemed relieved that we were back. Later on during the day, Ella said, “Mama, I was looking for you” then she said, “Mama you came to get me”. I explained to her that any time Sunny and I dropped her off anywhere that we would come back to get her. I asked her if she had fun at the daycare place and she said that she had fun. She said that she played with friends and played with macaroni. I asked her what the macaroni looked like and she said, “Just like mac and cheese”. I have no idea what she was talking about.
OK – the doctor visit. We have been preparing Ella for this visit for a few weeks. She is so super aware of everything that is going on that we thought we should let her know what was going to happen at the doctor’s office. We reminded her that the doctor’s name is Dr. Rosenbaum, and that the nurse is Nurse Nancy. We told her that Nurse Nancy was going to weigh her and measure her and then give her a shot. We told her that the shot was going to hurt for a short amount of time and then she would get a band-aid and it would start to feel better. We told her that the doctor would look at her ears and eyes, listen to her heart, touch her elbows and knees and ask us a lot of questions. Ella did a really great job. She wasn’t relaxed at all, but she wasn’t hysterical for the whole time. She actually warmed up to Dr. Rosenbaum. He asked her to sing her ABC’s and she started to sing it in a joking way. Then Sunny started singing “A You’re Adorable” and Ella joined in with her blowing the doctor’s mind. He said that he thinks Ella knows more stuff that a lot of 3 year olds. We agree with that. As for her height and weight…Ella weighs 23 pounds and is 32″ high. She’s a pip squeak in the 10%. We love her just the way she is. She was very brave during the shot. She cried for 30 seconds and then was all better when she got her shiny band-aid.
At night, Sunny took us to the Giant’s Community Fund Holiday party. I decided to let Ella get dressed up. She wore this beautiful outfit that was given to her last year. She topped off the outfit with borrowed tights from Juliet and her red sparkely shoes that Helen gave her. She looked really cute and seemed to love what she looked like. I took pictures that I will now share.
This is a little bit of a fake smile, but that’s what I get when I ask Ella to show me her teeth.
Here’s a little bit more of a genuine smile
Back at the Acme Chop house drinking tea
Here’s another one of those fake smiles, but I find them irresistible
Just look at this sweet child
Now here is a short video of Ella singing a version of Row Row Row Your Boat that she sings with Sunny