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.