Happy Birthday Ella!

It’s hard to not be sentimental on the day of your baby’s birth. Tucking in a three year old and waking up a four year old. At 2:32 am, Ella entered the world and took her first breath, on one hand, four years have flown by, on the other, it feels as if Ella has been with us forever. It’s hard to remember life without her sparkling personality and big blue eyes. Life must have been pretty boring, and quiet, and clean.

Tucking in the three year old

This year, we decided to try something new. Rather than have the big birthday party, then celebrate Christmas a few days later with everyone, we thought we would try to make Ella’s day extra special and do something with just her and Mom and Dad. In addition to her special activity, it was also a school day – both schools.

When I woke up my now four year old, she was all smiles and one of the first proclamations she made was  - “When I am old, I’m going to wear beautiful dresses every day and every night.” I like that. And why wait until you’re old, we outfitted Ella in a nice purple dress and striped tights. She was ready to do her birthday right. In fact, I made breakfast a little celebration. I’d read of traditions where parents make pancakes in the shape of their child’s age. That seemed like a lot of work and we don’t really have time to whip up pancakes before school, but arm me with some scissors and a toaster waffle and behold – waffles fit for a four year old!

 

We celebrated Ella at Garden of Hope, along with special guests Grandma and Grandpa. Last year, Ella had been quiet and a bit timid during her birthday celebration. This year, that was not the case. Her chest was literally puffed out, she strutted around like a proud little peacock. Ella was truly savoring her birthday celebration and the attention bestowed upon her. She was all smiles and giggles. It was a great celebration!

Showing off the board all about Ella

We read Ella Sets the Stage – our Ella loved it.

After that celebration, we whisked her away to a birthday lunch at the restaurant of her choice – Old McDonalds. Both girls enjoyed a Happy Meal before we had to get Ella back to the Garden of Hope parking lot so the bus could pick her up and drive her 100 yards to her next birthday celebration. Ella was so excited, we were invited onto the bus to see it before it took off. She was armed with birthday treats for her afternoon celebration and the party continued at her other school!

The gang’s ready to celebrate, complete with handmade party hats.

Once off the bus in the afternoon, we dropped Lillian off with Nana and took off to the Mall of America – specifically, the American Girl store. Ella was all eyes. We had 5:30 dinner reservations at the bistro. Since we didn’t yet have a doll, we were able to borrow one from their collection so Ella would have a friend to dine with. She chose a boy and we named him Sam. Ella received a birthday sticker, and this meant that every staff member was then obligated to stop Ella, wish her a happy birthday and chat. What impressed me, was the sincerity in which every person approached Ella and talked to her and wished her a happy birthday. The food at the bistro was quite good. It was fun to have a fancy dining experience that was still catering to their younger clientele, so we couldn’t be blamed for ruining someone else’s fancy night out. Ella was really into the conversation starters at the table, while we asked her a few, she took the rest of the cards and started asking us questions. Could she read them? No. Were her questions actually relevant and well thought out? Yes. We were so impressed by our four year old!

Sam was a good dining buddy

Ella surprised us and ordered her own food, then proceeded to devour it all.

Ella and the conversation cards. She was later treated to a sugar cookie with flaming whipped cream on the side while being serenaded with the birthday song!

After our fancy dinner and conversation, we set off to buy a doll that looked like Ella. This process involved several trips up and down the escalator, much to Ella’s dismay, but we worked through it. She was like a little pinball, bouncing from one doll display to another. Playing with the accessories, studying each doll. She rounded a corner and found a display for a Native American doll that had large horses. She was convinced, that was the doll for her, because it had horses, that doll naturally looked just like her…once we moved past the horse obsession we were back on the hunt. While American Girl has an amazing assortment of dolls, they do not feature any dolls that have pale skin, brown hair and blue eyes (no freckles). We were encouraged to check out the historical dolls. We finally settled on Rebecca – a Jewish girl from 1914 New York  with long curly hair. You know, just like Ella…However, Ella loves Rebecca – and we’re working on teaching her how to care for Rebecca’s fancy curls. Right now, she wears a lot of pony tails, like most of my naturally curly haired friends.

Ella and Rebecca meet

On our way out, we attempted to walk Ella through the amusement park (when I was a kid, it was Camp Snoopy and it’s been rebranded twice, so it might be Nickelodeon Universe, but I wouldn’t bet money on it – it will always be Camp Snoopy to me.) However, the amusement park atmosphere proved to be too stimulating for Ella, who laid down in the middle of a path and refused to move. We peeled her off the sidewalk and retreated towards our car.

That evening, we tucked in a very tired, very happy little girl. I have to say it was a wonderful day and it’s safe to say, Loran and I enjoyed it almost as much as Ella, if not more. While we’re both in shock that we have a four year old, especially given the fact that *we* haven’t aged four years, but having a four year old has been pretty amazing so far. It was hard to let go of the baby gear, but this little girl phase is really growing on me! What a year it’s been, what a year it will be! We love you, Ella!