Ella Turns 3

Last weekend was Ella’s third birthday! Three! Does that even count as a toddler anymore, or is she just a child now? I'm not sure when the official toddler cutoff is... Ok I just asked Google and a toddler is 18-36 months, so nope, I don't have a toddler anymore! 

To celebrate we had a classic Aussie kids party: a BBQ at the park. I love how in Australia there are free BBQs in nearly every park for anyone to use. We don’t take advantage of this nearly enough. The party was at 10am to allow those kids that still have afternoon naps to get home in time for it. Instead of the usual "sausage sizzle" we did bacon and egg sandwiches for breakfast. They were a huge hit, and I even had some of my Australian mum friends say they were stealing this idea for their  own kids party. We invited a few of Ella’s friends from daycare along with our friends who have kids of a similar age and it was so much fun. The kids ran around playing at the park while the adults were able to have a bit of a chat. We were really lucky with the weather as it can be pretty unpredictable in the winter in Melbourne. But with blue skies and no wind the chilly morning quickly warmed up to a pleasant 14 degrees. Ollie was a star all day and slept in the hug-a-bub wrap for the most part.

After most people had left our good friends Steve and Michelle came back to our place for some beers and snacks. Their daughter Gemma is 5 days younger than Ella and the two of them are BFFs. They also have a little boy who is about six months old. (All four of us work at the same school as well, so Steve and Michelle are like the Aussie version of us, haha.) The girls played together all afternoon, Michelle and I took the babies for a walk down the Merri Creek, and my dad and the husbands snuck off to the pub for a couple of hours. For dinner we ordered from our current favourite: Hellenic Republic. The restaurant is not really a take away place but between Deliveroo and Uber Eats you can order from pretty much anywhere these days!

All in all it was a great day and I think Ella had a really good time. She really is such a “big girl” now and every day I am amazed at the things she says and does. Here’s a little update on my not-a-toddler- anymore:

• Height: 97cm, Weight: about 14kg (69th and 58th percentile respectively, so a healthy girl!)
• Favourite foods: oranges, mandarines, carrots, rice, apple juice, bread, cheese, berries & yogurt
• Favourite games/activities: 
• taking care of her “babies” (any dolls or stuffed animals). This usually includes using most of Ollie’s stuff like his blanket, bassinet, bouncer etc. 
• Daddy challenges: a series of challenges Andy has set up in the garage. Things like bouncing a ball into a bucket, kicking a ball into a goal, etc. Andy is pretty keen to develop her hand eye coordination! It's the soccer coach in him...
• Monster (basically whoever is the monster chases everyone else around)
• Doctor
• Ella is a baby: we have to pretend to change her nappy, feed her, rock her etc. This is clearly a result of her new baby brother!
• Matching cards
• Playing in her kitchen
• Playing in a sand pit
• Dancing while Andy plays “Time of Your Life” by Green Day on the guitar
• Jumping (on the sofa, on an exercise ball)
• Riding on daddy’s bike. She loves this cool bike seat we’ve borrowed from a colleague:

• Favourite places to visit: Zoo, playgrounds, Melbourne Museum, Latitude (trampolines), any indoor play centre
• Lessons: swimming (goes in by herself now!) and gymnastics (she just started gymnastics and loves it!)
• Favourite books: Hairy Maclary, Yoga Bug, Where’s Wally
• Favourite song: Castle on a Hill by Ed Sheeran. She constantly requests this in the car and knows all the words!

It's been a crazy three years but we are so proud of our cheeky little girl! Seeing her now makes me excited for the future and what we have to look forward to with Ollie as well.