Life With Ella

There was a confirmed case of lice in Ella’s class which meant that Alicia had to bag up and wash all the napping blankets and stuffed animals.  Since Ann (the hippo) comes back and forth from school every day, she had to get washed in the second round.  When I picked Ella up today, Ann was still in the dryer and wasn’t ready for us to take her home.  I asked Ella if it was ok with her that we left Ann at school at night and that she would sleep with her other Ann tonight.  Ella looked at me and said, “OOOKKK”.  What progress!  Ella was in a really good mood after school.   Ella and I had a nutella and strawberry crepe and then came home and hung out.  Ella is hanging out with the girls and boys next door tomorrow night and then on Saturday night, she has a sleepover with Brickelle.  I don’t know if she’s going to be able to wait until Saturday!  Ella is a happy kid. Ella in class this morning with her special Alicia anti-lice do. Playing around with the beach ball this afternoon. Concentration! I took this from the Leaping Lizard blog.  I thought this was terrific and it’s true as far as I know!

I guess it’s lice season here in SF or at least it’s lice season at Ella’s school.  Alicia has been checking heads for the last 2 days.  So far Ella doesn’t have any but ya never know.  Just thinking about it makes my head itchy.  Wednesdays after school are really special for Ella. Stella comes over to our house to hang with Ella.  Ella took an early shower today so that she would have a full hour with Stella.  Juliet also came over after the lesson so all three of them got to play today.  I overheard them reenacting a scene from the Madeline movie.  Too cute. Ella getting her head checked by the multi-talented Alicia this morning. Ella was just finishing up telling her classmate that she had a short sleeve shirt on under her long sleeve shirt.  For some reason, Ella thought that was so cool. Ella was showing me a little routine that they do with Spanish commands. Ella’s window art. Practicing upper case and lower case letters.

We went to the Academy of Science today and had a really fun time.  We started in this igloo house thing and learned about the arctic and then spent a lot of time downstairs in the aquarium part.  We finally went to the planetarium and saw the latest movie in the dome.  Ella was a little nervous – she held both of our hands during the film.  I got a little freaked out because I started thinking about when the earth will not exist.  It’s all too much to think about as far as I’m concerned.  We stayed in tonight – before dinner I gave Ella her first piano lesson.  I started teaching Juliet last week and Ella really wanted a lesson too.  We planned hers for Friday but then she had a lot of plans with friends.  Tonight, Ella asked for her lesson.  She did a fantastic job.  Ella was so focused and really seemed to understand what I was teaching her. Ella and her new Hannah Montana shades. Helping us take the recycling downstairs. Ella and mommy under water. Ella touching some starfish and sea urchins. Ella bumped into one of her classmates Rosie and they hung out in front of the big glass wall. Ella doing some tricks with her new orange furry friend. Ella’s first piano lesson.

I was gone all morning doing volunteer work at Ella’s school.  Sunny and Ella met up with the Kim/Arenas for a bike ride and lunch at Maria’s.  It was super cold outside today but the kids had fun playing around at the little park behind the ballpark.  Ella had Taekwondo today – first week back from a 2 week break.  Ella did a great job and towards the end of the class, one of the teachers asked Ella to show her group how to do an axe kick.  If Ella sticks with this, she can be really great at it!  Tonight we had dinner with Debby and Toby at Nama and then they came back here and watched Despicable Me with Ella.  Ella loves those little yellow guys in the movie.  She speaks their “language” around the house.  It’s kind of cute and kind of annoying. Happy Ella getting the sillies out. Ella and her new assistant instructor. A little meditation at the end of class. Getting ready to go out in the cold.

Ella woke up early this morning on her own.  We knew she would wake up super excited but for Ella to wake up on her own on a school day is a big deal.  She ran into our room with a big smile on her face and she said she was so excited for school and then her playdate with Brickelle and then a night with Stella and Juliet.  What a lover of life!  Ella had a great day and lots of fun at the playhouse place.  Tonight with Stella, Juliet and KJ was a blast.  We all watched Madeline and had brownies and popcorn. Helen and Ron –  now you guys know that you can go out whenever you want – we got it covered! Ella and Casi after assembly today. Ella and Brickelle after school – so happy!  Thay have such a special friendship. A little skee ball. Riding on a car and reading magazines. Ella helping Juliet button her pajamas. The girls in their movie positions.  So happy that Ella has sisters next door. Sweet KJ was so much fun tonight.

Just in case anyone is wondering about the impetigo…Ella is much better.  The impetigo is gone and now Ella just has a scab where it was.  Tomorrow morning is the last morning for her antibiotics.  We switched from bactroban to neosporin and it seems to be helping the healing.  Ella has had a great week at school and is really happy to be back.  Tomorrow afternoon, Ella has a playdate with Brickelle at this playhouse place in Daly City and then Stella, Juliet and KJ are coming over for movie night.   I don’t think Ella is going to be able to concentrate in school tomorrow.  She’s bursting with excitement. Ella working on a big pile of Chanukah thank you notes.

We kept Ella home from school today just to make sure that the lab results on her cultured nose were negative.  We also wanted to make sure that she was cleared to be around other kids.  The culture was negative and the doctor told us that Ella was cleared to go to school.  Ella and I actually had a great day together.  She was in a great mood although she really did want to go to school.  We had music on all day and Ella was singing everything from Miley Cyrus to the Sound of Music to the Beatles… We did this cool art project that Ella was really into.  Ella also helped me with stuff around the house.  I had her take all her towels out of the bathroom so that we could thrown them in the washing machine.  Ella had this big pile of towels and she couldn’t open the door to where the washing machine is.  She looks at me and says, “Can I have a little help here?”  So cute.  I don’t know where she comes up with this stuff.  Ella’s nose is pretty raw but she is not contagious.  I have to keep putting neosporin on it.  I spoke to grandma and papa today and they both got great reports from their doctors.  Papa is going to resume doing surgery on Monday and grandma can throw her slings away and start rigorous physical therapy.  Hopefully she will be driving in 2 weeks.  Way to go you guys!  You are taking great care of yourselves and each other. Ella working on the project. A few of the things Ella did today.  Once they dry, you can stick them on the window.

We want to wish everyone who is reading this a happy and healthy new year filled with love and peace.  2010 was a tough one…for me the hardest part was losing Bug.  She was an amazing dog and a huge part of our family.  Hopefully this year her spirit will guide us to find a new doggie family member.  We celebrated the east coast transition from 2010 to 2011 at 9:00 here with the 5 of us.  My parents went to sleep at around 10:00 and Ella finally went to bed at like 10:45.  Sunny and I have made it to the west coast 12:01.  I am excited to see what 2011 will bring… Today we met up with Phyllis, Michael, Zani, Hannah and Naomi to celebrate Naomi getting straight A’s at Berkeley.  Here are Ella and Zani walking into the restaurant. Ella taking a picture of mommy and Phyllis. Ella and her big sisters Hannah, Naomi and Zani. Later on during the day, Hannah from upstairs came home from Tahoe and came down to pick up her fish Blue.  Ella was in the middle of doing an art project so Hannah joined her. iPad parallel play. Grandma, papa and Ella in their festive head gear. Self timer.  Everyone was laughing because they were making fun of me and my dorky self timed shot. Dinner and dessert. Happy New Year beautiful Ella!