Monday, January 25, 2010

Just Ella





My middle child, Ella, is fast approaching two years old and is trying to grow up quickly. Since the new addition, she has decided to act like a big girl instead of regressing. She has gone into a big girl bed, started fighting at bedtimes, cut her 2 year molars, and started using two and three-word sentences. When her big sister, Samantha, does something or gets something, Ella is right there with a "Me too, Mommy". She doesn't want my help putting on her pants or her shoes anymore ("Me do, Mommy").

This weekend I came to the realization she is also losing her baby moniker, Ella Bean, and becoming just Ella. When she was born, I nicknamed her Ella Bean in the hospital. I called Samantha Peanut, so Bean kind of fit (Penelope is Pea). Also, Ella Bean sounds like L.L. Bean (so clever, I know). It caught on and Ella became Ella Bean to everyone. Sean and I, Samantha, her grandparents, her aunts and uncles, even our friends called her Ella Bean. My mother-in-law particularly seemed fond of it, and I rarely heard her use just Ella. It was cute. I commented to my sister-in-law a couple months ago that I hoped she liked it, because it looked like she would be Ella Bean when she was thirty.

Well, this Sunday, my mother-in-law came over on Sunday, as she usually does, and addressed her as just Ella, not Ella Bean. At that moment, I realized I rarely used Ella Bean myself anymore and, in fact, no one did. Sean calls her just Ella, Samantha says, "Ella pinched me!". Even my mother-in-law has stopped using Ella Bean routinely.

I think it has to do with her fast approaching terrible two's. She can be a little stinker sometimes, hitting, pinching, and biting on purpose, grabbing food off the counters, and terrorizing the pets. Ella Bean is not a fitting name for a little stinker. But, I like it, and losing it is making me realize I'm losing my second baby.

I'm gaining a head-strong toddler. She can be naughty, but she's also a little ham who loves to dance and sing the Dora theme song. I'm looking forward to seeing who exactly just Ella is, but I will miss my little Ella Bean.

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