I am in the company of Nana tonight while Mommy and Daddy attend an informational meeting at Pacific Crest Montessori. The school is located in the Fre-Lard area, right by Hale’s Ales off of Leary Way and is the school of my friend Campbell Smith.

Mommy and Daddy hadn’t previously discussed Montessori until Campbell started going. A little reading and their interest was piqued. The report from their visit is that they are even more intrigued by the Montessori philosophy and that the school gets high marks.

A fall ‘08 enrollment seems unlikely due to my age, but they still plan to go through the remaining 3 steps to enrollment with a realistic target of a fall ‘09 enrollment. They are not ruling out traditional public school, but with only three schools on the shortlist, they are exploring my options.

Tonight was dark and stormy, but Mommy and I were not about to allow rain, sleet or 60MPH winds to stop us from celebrating at the annual ELDC holiday soiree. Everyone was asked to bring a side dish to accompany the lasagna roll-ups that Chef Dani made for dinner, so Mommy and I elected to bring Cranberry Bliss Bars and Gingerbread Loafs from Starbucks - Not a single crumb was left at the end of the night. Apparently a nice selection on our part ;P

Dinner was served in the Social Hall set to the cacophony of over 150 revelers… I wonder if there have ever been soooo many people in the hall at one time before?! The hall was festively decorated with holiday themed artwork that the entire student body had been working on for the past few weeks… My contribution was a snowman with a carrot nose and charcoal eyes that was prominently on display! Dinner was yummy and enjoyed by all, but the real fun was only just beginning.

Unbeknownst to all of us parents, we kids had been working on songs to perform in recital. Amidst the chaos of some crying and confused tots, 50 of us stood together and performed “Frosty the Snowman” followed by “Winter Wonderland” (in sign language). Needless to say, there was not a dry eye in the house! In fact, based on a certain performance of his own, Mommy went up to Joe Moriarty (Owen’s dad) and assured him that she thought that “guys that cry are really sexy.” Hmmm… Whatever that means!

As a little something to commemorate the evening, my wonderful teacher Heather made ornaments for all of us kids using some fantastic pictures she had recently taken. Mine is proudly hanging near the top of our family tree right now and absolutely melted Daddy’s heart.

Thanks to all of the staff at ELDC for putting in the extra effort to produce such a wonderful night. We are already looking forward to next year!

Here is the transcript of a conversation between my teacher Silver and I at ELDC on Monday:

Ella:  Juice pease.
Silver:  Sorry Ella… No juice but you can have water.
Ella:  That sucks.
Silver:  What did you say?!
Ella:  That sucks.

So everyone goes potty, right? Well today I managed to request a session on the big toilet at school as I was feeling the urge to, um… you know. With a little help from my teacher Heather, I officially and effectiveley used a toilet for the first time. Ain’t life grand? It’s the little things in life.

Today Mommy and Daddy met with Silver at ELDC for my first official parent-teacher conference. After salutations they discussed how I’m excelling in every department: language, motor skills, art, and social ability. I’m the only kid in my class that can actually jump!

Silver also told Mommy and Daddy that I’m very nuturing to the other kids when they are crying. There is also a girl that only comes once in a blue moon that played in isolation before I befriended her. Now I make sure she has tons of fun. Silver spilled that I like to dance, dance, dance all day long and that I also like to sit by myself and read books for up to an hour.

It looks like all of the Dora the Explorer I watch and IPA I drink from the Barking Dog are paying off.

Today my pal Henry Light joined Owen Moriarty and I in becoming the latest former Cosmopolitan Kid to make the transition to ELDC.  Heck even one of our Cosmo teachers made the switch.  In fact, I hear another 3 kids are slated to be joining us soon.  It’s great having so many friends with me at ELDC… Will the last one to leave Cosmo please turn out the lights?

Today was my first day at my new school, The Early Learning and Development Center in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood. No hard feelings, but was time to blaze from Cosmopolitan Kids. So far, so good at ELDC!

Today Daddy took me to the Leschi neighborhood for my inaugural attendance of a language academy for kids called Sponge where I’m enrolled in Spanish class. I happen to be joining the program at week 6, so I’m a titch behind the other kids. I’m a smart lass so it’ll no problemo to catch up. Also in the class are Campbell Smith and Asher Basden, two of my PEPs buddies. Bravo!

Today we got notified from Early Learning and Development Center in Phinney Ridge that they will have space for me in February. As you may or may not know, it has been a very trying and tumultuous year at Cosmopolitan Kids. Unfortunately this move comes just as it appears that things are coming together at Cosmo, but enough is enough. No more drama please.

I will terribly miss both the teachers and other kids at Cosmo that I’ve come to know and love. But staying together is what play dates are all about, right? I’d like to give shout-outs to: Cindi Togar, Amy Lower, Nicolie, Henry Light and family, Bailey Stumpf and family, and Ngaire and Amber at ELDC.

Tonight we hosted the two other families from Cosmopolitan Kids for a quaint holiday celebration. Par usual, it was great playing with Henry and Bailey. It was also great to have guests over to our new house for the first time. Have a look at us as we obsessively play with a basket full of corks:

As never one to by shy, I just can’t keep my clothes on when I’m around Henry Light! That kid is cute!