98 Months

Ella has asked how many months Abby is throughout the past year and finally asked how many months she was. When I told her she was pretty amazed.
My 98 month old is adorable. She's such a sweet girl these days. She's been incredibly helpful, patient, and just fantastic. I pray this isn't the calm before the pubescent storm.
Speaking of, Ella is in such a hurry to grow up. She's a bit of a fashionista. She loves dressing up, getting her hair styled, and is pretty frustrated with me for not buying her high heels (she has received some as hand-me-downs that I let her wear, but I refuse to buy any.) She is dying to start wearing makeup, and has asked Santa for fake fingernails. She has even started asking when she'll need to start wearing a bra! Oi! She seems to be ok with my rule of "no make-up 'til you're 12" and such but she is counting down the days. As for the fingernail bit, we made a deal. She loves reading, but she is also a high energy kid so sitting down to read can be difficult for such an antsy kid. So, the deal was, for every book she reads, I will take her to my friend to get a nice shellac and some nail art done. It's sorta working. She finished one, we schedule her nail appointment, and now she hasn't read much since. Ugh! She loved the book (1st in the series) so moving to the second shouldn't be a problem. But she'd rather be physically active and spend all her time acting out the first book. Oh well. I have high hopes that someday she will be as lazy as her mom.
Ella is still doing fantastic in school. It seems like she might be losing interest a bit though. There's been a few days she's mentioned she didn't want to go and the other day she used a bonked head and slight headache as an excuse to come home after lunch. I'll be chatting with her to see what's up, but I have a feeling she might be a bit bored.
Ella's extra-curriculars are going fantastic. She loves tumbling and pushes herself to improve each day. Her piano is also going well and I love seeing her excitement with it. I hope it lasts...She also is in the school's jump rope club and does well with that. All these things definitely make for a busy Ella but that seems to be how she likes it. As long as she still manages to find time for it all, I'm happy. And she does so I am.