My Ella Bella

In the past twenty four hours, Ella has been in typical Ella form which inspired me to list the top ten reasons I love her:

10. Her sensational fashion sense. She has an uncanny ability to put together an unforgettable ensemble.

9. Her determination and ability to just pick things up, i.e. potty training, monkey barring, bike riding and tying her shoes are all things she figured out in, literally, a day. Sometimes she just gets it.

8. When she dances or sings, she totally doesn't get it that other people can see her but gets embarrassed when she realizes they do. Most recently she was doing a hula dance during Mass and Uncle Clifford caught a glimpse and she was mortified.

7. How she can make Grace the Stoneface laugh like no one else can.

6. The intensity with which she experiences emotions. Some may call it being a Drama Queen but I prefer to call it a passion for life. It is this intensity that was the basis for two of her funnier comments lately: Last night I asked her three different times to put away the stuff on her table. I finally became exasperated and raised my voice. She did it without a word and hopped into bed. About five minutes later she came stomping out of her room in the "I'm ticked off, slumped shoulder position" we all know and love and informed me, "You know, usually you are pretty nice to me but right now, you are being a real jerk." How do you respond to that? Second, this morning when I told her she was the only Kolb girl going to school today because Grace was still sick, she became hysterical and cried, "I never knew something like this could happen." After I reminded her how excited her teacher and classmates would be to see her and how worried they must have been yesterday when she was gone, she replied, "That's true.", dried her tears and put on her shoes.

5. Her own personal Ella quirks: the way she laughs in her sleep, the way she lays her clothes out on the floor the night before school-she lays them out so they actually look like a person laying on her floor, how she covers up all of her stuffed animals when she gets out of bed, the way she always has friends but can never remember their names, how she says playground commitment instead of playground equipment.

4. How she is the sort of person I would love to be. She is so generous, giving up her favorite necklace to Lily when she realized how much Lily loved it. And she is completely honest and genuine. She says what she is feeling and means it with her whole heart and soul. Sometimes that can get a person into trouble but it takes courage that many people do not have.

3. Her stories. She starts talking the minute she gets up in the morning and doesn't stop until long after she has been tucked into bed. I guess all that talking explains why she has to take breaths between all her words.

2. The dichotomy that is Ella: She is incredibly kind and loving but fiercely protective when she feels she or anyone she cares about has been wronged. She is so independent but needy and loves a good snuggle. Her all encompassing desire to be funny and make others laugh but her extreme aversion to having others laugh AT her. These qualities make Ella a very interesting but unpredictable individual.

1. Because when she tells me she is going to be a veterinarian, a jewelry designer or a singer when she grows up, I believe her.

And as I did with Lily, I have a couple of add ons for Ella as well,
***How much she loves Oreos

***Her intense focus on whatever it is that she is doing allows her to completely become one with whatever TV show or movie she happens to be watching. So much so that it sometimes is more entertaining to watch her watch a show then to watch the show itself. She's like her daddy that way!

Fritzie-I just love you with all my heart.