EVB: 3 Years + 11 Months Old!

Less than a month to go until EVB's 4th birthday ... Yikes! Lots to do (most importantly, getting Ellen to make up her mind about the theme of her party!) as we savor the final weeks and days of our little lady being 3. It's been a busy and exciting month for Miss Ellen. Without further ado, here are the highlights, which include a few "big girl" milestones:

• Finally finding the courage to jump off the diving board at Omma & Boppa's pool. (After she did it for the first time, of course she couldn't get enough ... too bad Ellen acquired this new skill at the very END of summer!)
• Graduating to a bigger bike, complete with training wheels. All it took was seeing the older neighbor kids zipping around on their two-wheelers for Ellen to eagerly move on from her giant trike.
• Ditching her junior dining chair for a regular, adult-size chair at the dinner table
• Doing great at preschool. Ellen has been having lots of fun making beautiful artwork, learning important things like taking turns and standing in line, and making new friends. (EVB's favorite buddy is a little boy named Carson. They're apparently so tight that they even take trips to the bathroom together.) Oh, and Ellen got in trouble for the first time at school. There was a pushing incident ... EVB hasn't been too eager to talk about it, but I think she definitely understands that she did something unkind and, more than anything, I think she was mortified that she disappointed her teachers and Mom and Dad. :)
• Showing an interest in spelling/reading. Ellen is constantly asking how to spell various words and likes to try to identify words on the pages when we read books at bedtime.
• Lying. To date, EVB's fibs have been pretty harmless, but I'm worried about what the future might bring because this girl has one amazing poker face.
• Still taking great care of June (when she's not tormenting June by invading her personal-space bubble). Ellen's new favorite thing is having June sit in her lap to look at books and I've even caught her trying to lift June up a few times. :/

All-in-all, Ellen is ... well, she's Ellen. And we love her just the way she is. :)