Growing up

In the past month Ella has seemed to do a lot of growing up all at once.

Exhibit A: The big girl bed 

I had been dreading the transition from the crib to the big girl bed and hoped to delay it as long as possible. About six months ago we had turned the crib around so the higher back was facing the front, which seemed to discourage any attempts at climbing out. Then the inevitable happened: she figured out she could climb out the side. Jim caught her straddling the side rail, pretending she was riding a horse or something like that. He says she seemed to scared to try and get out all the way. Regardless, she could have fallen out so the time had come.

Since we already had two twin beds, we decided to skip the toddler bed and go straight to the twin mattress. I had thought about putting it on the floor, but (a) that was too much work, (b) she was going to have to learn to sleep in a real bed eventually, and (c) I thought being up high might discourage her from getting down and running amok (yeah, that worked for maybe a day).

It's been kind of a rough transition. I made a big deal of moving all her stuff to the new bedroom, letting her pick out sheets, etc. Even so, she still cried a lot and asked to go back to the crib. The past few days, however, she seems to be very into the whole "I'm a big girl" thing and talks about how the crib is for babies and how her old bedroom is the baby room. Baby, er, big girl steps, right?

Exhibit B: Potty Training (again)

We had been taking Ella to the potty whenever she asked or if we thought she needed to go, but hadn't been pushing it as she has been dealing with some terrible constipation. Last week, though, she decided to fully commit to it. After breakfast she asked to wear big girl undies then proceeded to be accident-free all day. The only time she had an accident all week was at school. The weekend was kind of rough because she was incredibly constipated again. But today she seems to be back on track with the bathroom. Per the pediatrician's recommendation we're trying some Miralax every day, and hopefully that will solve the issue.

Exhibit C: Names 

Up until two weeks ago, all her dolls and stuffed animals had pretty simple names. Doggy. Baby. Girl. New Baby. Striped Baby. You get the idea. Her stuffed Curious George was the only exception, and that was most likely due to the fact he came pre-named.

All of a sudden she came up with random names for some of the toys. Her dog is occasionally what sounds like Trudy. Where she heard the name Trudy is beyond me. Of course, that might not be what she's really saying. And one of the stuffed rabbits is now Silas. That one I at least sort of get because a boy in her class is called Silas.

Then at nap time today, as I was snuggling with her, she requested I start calling her Eleanor. She said it enough times that I guess she's pretty serious about it.

At least for today. Because in true toddler fashion, she could change her mind tomorrow. After all, as much as she says she's a big girl, she is only two.