Goodbye 2011

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Oh well

Summer is too fun, I didn't stop to blog again this year! I give up on last year's update, I'll just post what's going on now.

Ella is going to kindergarten this year! It is a Waldorf kindergarten, and I am so so so glad. I love her teacher and I still pinch myself every time I drop her off.

 I really agree with the Waldorf philosophy, and I've known that I want her to go to a Waldorf school since she was about two, although I was interested in them before that. The problem is that they are so gosh darn expensive! Well her father and I pooled our resources, and for this year at least she is in. It is such a relief to know that she is being nurtured and cared for in such a wonderful way.

Token's candle

I've started a new bed time ritual with Ella. I got the idea from two books, my favorite parenting book here, and a cute kids book here. So every night we light Token's candle(Token being a giant blue cat), to wake him up. He comes and sits outside Ella's window and keeps her safe, brings her good dreams and chases away the nightmares. After we say prayers she blows out the candle. She is so into this that when I ran out of matches one night she started crying and saying she didn't want to get nightmares! Ooops, this was supposed to be comforting... I had to have a very one sided conversation with Token to wake him up. He was pretty grumpy about not having his candle lit, but Ella apologized and he felt much better.

 Token's Candle

Anyone want to give me a bigger bed?

You can sort of make out a funny redness to Ella's face in the last picture. She had a pretty bed allergic reaction to something. It's cleared up now, and hopefully we'll find out what it is when she goes to the allergist on Friday.