The Ring Leader

So I guess it's only fair that I keep Ella in the loop of this 3-ringed circus.  Needless to say she is definitely the ring leader.  She is really starting to be my great big helper.  The best part about it is that she observes what's happening around her and she decides to take charge.  I'll start with an example from just the other day.  I was getting ready to feed Riley and I knew that Ella and Aiden were in that 'let's aggravate each other because we're bored' mood.  So planning ahead to try and avoid any confrontation, I set them up on the computer.  Now trying to stay one step ahead of your kids only works out about 70% of the time.  The other 30% usually comes back to bite you.  I'll just put this in that 30% category.  So they have a little Thomas laptop that has several learning games. Ella plays the 'Find the Letter'.  So to even out the playing field I put Aiden on the laptop and set him up on the Fisher-Price website to play the ABC zoo game.  Both were lying on their bellies on the floor with their computers side by side.  All is well.  Now I can feed my patient baby in peace.  A few minutes go by and Ella needs to go potty.  It's nice that she can take herself, wipe and wash her hands now all by herself.  In the meantime Aiden decides that he's bored with ABC zoo, so he waits for Ella to come back, looks at her and closes her Thomas laptop and sits on it.  So of course Ella reacts with a shrieking "NO!!!"  And get this, then he hits her.  What?  Shouldn't this be the other way around?  "Alright Aiden, time out."  And Ella says "It's OK Aiden, I'll take you."  Then she precedes to take him by the hand and walk him to the bean bag.  After finishing his time he comes back to the computers and resumes his game.  Can I please get some insight as to what goes on in his brain?  A few more minutes go by and Ella starts sniffing.  "Mom, (Yes, my 3 year old demoted me to Mom, it's so depressing) Aiden has stinky poo poo."  Pause.  She sees that I am still feeding Riley.  "Let me check your diaper, Aiden."  She peeks in the back of his diaper, "Yep, he has poop."  Oh, where's Daddy when you need him?  *Sigh*  Come on, Aiden...sorry Riley, I guess this whole eating thing is just gonna have to wait...

Nap time.  Stories are read, songs are sung and Ella and Aiden are in bed.  2 down 1 to go.  Now all I have to do is feed Riley and then I will have my hour of solitude.  No sooner do I get her latched on I hear a door open.  "Mom...(it's Ella) I have to go potty again."  While she is wrapping things up I hear another door.   "Aiden close your door and go back to bed."  "My bwankets, I can't do it."  He likes his blankets to be perfectly laid on him or else he doesn't sleep.  Next thing I know Ella comes running out of the bathroom and says to me "Mom, I'll be right back, I have to help Aiden."  Let's just see how this pans out.  I guess Riley's meal will have to be interrupted yet again.  Surprisingly she covered him up, gave him a kiss, closed his door and that was it.  He was sleeping minutes later.  She then goes back to her room closed her door and went to bed.  At this rate in another year or so I can put her on diaper duty! 

On a different note, Ella has really been into dressing herself lately.  Not only that, but picking out her own clothes as well.  Now I don't have a problem with this, but I do have a few issues.  If we are gonna do this, it's going to be done right...the outfits need to match.  When she picks out a shirt I will show her options of pants.  We've talked about matching and finding other colors in the shorts that match something on the shirt.  At first it was, this is green and this is green so it matches.  No, no...it doesn't work like that.  Ella has violet, lavender and magenta in her color purple repertoire so I know that she understands different hues of the same color.  She's getting a lot better at picking out pants completely on her own without my help, also learning that you can put denim with just about anything.  The other issue is the dern monkey shirt.  I swear it will be my demise.  We receive hand me downs from her cousin, Lauren.  Ella looks forward to going through these bags of clothes and the latest jackpot for her was a green monkey shirt that says 'No Autographs Please'.  Now as grateful as I am for the clothes, this monkey shirt has about put me over the edge.  She wants to wear it EVERY single day!  It's actually only available every other day because of the way laundry rotates, yet everyday she still wants it.  I've even tried to hide it when I put it away and she digs through her entire drawer looking for it.  It's like she's thinking "OK, it wasn't here yesterday so technically it should be here today!"  Everyday, immediately after getting out of the tub she says "I want to pick out my clothes", then runs to her drawer and says "How about my monkey shirt?"  Eye twitch.  Deep breath.  Eyes closed.  A reluctant OK.  But there are just some days when I can't handle the shirt and my response (before she even makes it to her room) is "anything but the monkey shirt!"  And then in a very sad voice and her head hung low she says "OK..."  Now call me crazy or think whatever you want but I am telling you I am counting down the days until she grows out of that thing.  But considering it's only been a few months upon receiving this little treasure I don't think I'm going to be sane again anytime soon.  Can you tell that today was an 'anything but the monkey shirt' day?  Gotta love a girl that knows what she wants, I guess it takes years for most women to figure that out.  My little girl's all grown up.