Ella

As always, it has been too long between posts. At the end of each day it is surprisingly easy to tell myself that I will have more time tomorrow to blog. Funnily enough that extra time is yet to eventuate.

Today marks the first day of week 4 of Term one. The kids have all settled in to their daily routine. Each day has a fairly consistent outline to it, so we all find staying in the groove of it fairly easy. The one bonus that we have this year is that Ella wants to go to school, in fact she finds school 'fantastic'. So our mornings are very smooth running, as we are no longer fighting to get her in her uniform and out the door.

Her new teacher is lovely. Efficient and kind and available and nice. Ella is having a lot of trouble with the pronunciation of her teachers name, which I never would have imagined. Mrs Hudson - not so hard, right? Well, she was Mrs Hunstman for a while, then Mrs Hutson, which is close, but now it is Mrs Huntston. Oh well.

Ella has grown riduculously tall lately, sprouting a good couple of inches in the few months since she turned 5. She is a long lithe thing. She wants to be a singer, or a musician of some sort. Un-biased opinion of course, but she has a beautiful singing voice and can certainly hold a tune. She has signed up for piano lessons through the school this term and we all look forward to that being fun. She also harbours a secret desire to become a vet, but as a child that has never really voluntarily touched an animal of any sort,I think that may just be a pipe dream.

She is clever and reading up a storm now. She wanted me to take her reading a book the other day, so I have 5 minutes of footage that I will attempt to upload shortly.
She is thoughful and resposible and looks out for her sisters. She is really in tune with Lucy and could probably look after her perfectly well in my absence.

It is only in hindsight that I really 'get' how hard the last 7ish months have been for her, with starting school (with a less than nice teacher) on top of having an extra sibling added to the family. Her favourite book of all time is "I wish my mother was an octopus' and she likes to quote it to me often.

She thrives on one one one time, so her and I spent a lovely morning on Saturday with just the two of us. We went to the library and then hung out at a coffee shop, reading books on the couch. It was refreshing for both of us. Sometimes in the day to day of getting stuff cleaned and assorted people fed and clothed and washed, I forget to make time just for her. I mean, we read together, but usually while I am cooking dinner, or breastfeeding Lucy, or we start off alone, but end up with me jumping up to save the baby from choking on another small piece of plasticky something or other, or wiping a bottom, or getting some food for the starving masses or whatever.

Hmm, I just went to add in some recent phtos of her, but there are none of her since the beginning of the year, besides the 'back to school' ones that I already posted.
Must remedy that, hey?

I think she is amazing and it is just mind blowing that she will be six this year!

Here is that youtube of her reading. Like I said, it does go for just over 5 minutes, but I did promise her I would blog it for you all ;)