Date with Ella

Before our second Wonderkid was born, Ella was like my little appendage.  She went everywhere with me.  We were very attached.  It was like having a second head.

Ahem.  Yes, well.

Now that Jack is here, of course, we travel as a group, and I don't often get quality time out alone with her. 

When the Winnie the Pooh movie came out last week, Handsome Hero and I thought it would be a wonderful first movie theatre experience for Ella. She and I talked about it for days, painted toenails, and dressed in complimentary dresses chosen by her. She wanted to be dress twins.  She's into that.  "Mama, we're pants twins!"  "Mama, we're flip flop twins!"  "Mama, we're toenail polish twins!"

Let's take a picture before our date, Ella.

We are big fans of the original Winnie the Pooh books.  If you haven't read these books you are missing out.    A. A. Milne is one of the funniest authors I have ever read.

Look at the camera this time, Sweetie.  Okay, let's try one more.

We had a wonderful time.  The movie was really cute.  We went out for dinner, got ice cream {cotton candy flavored with sprinkles} and window shopped at the mall.  We ended our evening by playing in the playground inside the mall where my big girl impressed me by being very kind to a mean little beady-eyed smartypants that I wanted to punt into next week, little devil. 

I'm working on my protective mom issues.

Smile this time, Ella.  Not so hard, Honey!  You're.  smushing.  my.  cheek!

All in all, a very successful evening.  Handsome Hero and I love spending one on one time with our kids.  They feel special and we get to know them in a different way.  For instance, on this date I learned that Ella has no concept of what a stranger is.  She would walk up to someone and say, "Hi!" and then say to me, "That man wasn't a stranger.  I just don't know him."

{exasperated sigh}