Three is a Magic Number

PART 1: ELLA IS THREE (almost)
We admit we’re not the most objective observers, but any way you slice it, Ella is pretty darn fantastic. As she gets older and more and more fun, we just feel luckier and luckier to have her around. Put simply, Ella sparkles.
Ella is smart and creative. Her pretend-play scenarios get more complex by the day ("…and I am the mommy, and I pack my suitcase to Florida and then I check my computer to see if our plane is on time, and you are the baby and you are going to cry because you don’t want to take your shoes off and give them to the airport man, and Dewey is the big sister but he has to stay home to get the mail…") She reads constantly- to us, to Dewey, to an imaginary audience of kids. She’s crazy observant (see milk post). For some real fun, come on over and take her out to dinner sometime- an uninterrupted hour with some Ella conversation and a pancake from Elmo’s will cheer you up and make you realize how incredibly interesting the world is (especially her made-up world… ask her about the time when she was a little baby and got to drive Santa’s sleigh).
Ella is chill. That may not be a shocker to those of you who know her dad, but we’re constantly amazed by the way she adapts to new situations and stays cool as a cucumber. The potentially Terrible Twos have almost passed with only one screaming tantrum (and really, I felt like crying that afternoon in the Shoe Carnival store too). As the way-youngest kid at her new preschool, she fit right in and even took other kids "under her wing" by the end of week 1 and helps them put on their shoes. She’s even dealing pretty well with me, her 39-weeks-pregnant mom, whose patience has completely evaporated these past few weeks. .We’re beginning to think that she’ll take this new guy in stride better than the rest of us (it will help that she won’t be waking up every 2 hours…).
Ella is loving. She’s not super-snuggly these days, but even better, is just a really nice, empathic girl. It absolutely kills her to hear other kids cry (which hopefully she’ll get over once a newborn comes home). She often mentions people she loves and wants to do nice things for them ("This flower will be for Rachel, because she weally loves purple"). And we get at least a few out-of-the-blue "I love yous" every day. She’s not a bit selfish, even as a toddler. Today, she was sick and laying on the couch, and Dewey was all up in her way, and she just said, "Even when Dewey squishes my feet, I love him" and let him stay. Almost three is a really neat age- Ella’s still little, but we’re getting more and more glimpses of what she’ll be like forever. And aside from the attitude-face she made the other day that I just KNOW I’ll see again when she’s 15, we’re very glad to be along for the ride.
Happy almost Birthday, Ella Bean! We love you so, so much!

PART 2: WE ARE THREE (for a teeny bit longer)
All of the cheesy magazines say that the first few years with kids are the hardest years for a marriage. If this is true, then we sure are lucky because it has been smooth sailing over here since the arrival of our third wheel. Of course, we ARE super-lucky- for real- we’re all healthy, and safe, and have a great family and fantastic friends, and get to do really good and important work every day. And the three of us (four already, counting Dewey, of course) have figured this family thing out pretty well over the past 3 years. We take good care of each other, almost always manage to be nice to one another, and have a lot of fun. Three really has been a magic number for the three of us, for the past three years. But something tells me that four is also a really good number.

Bring it on, Mr. 4! I think we're ready!