3 1/2 Years Old!

How is it possible that my baby turned 3 1/2 years old today?!  Time is just flying way, way too fast!  Oh, how I just love this little peanut of mine!  She is such a joy in our family and brings such energy and happiness to us every single day.  Ella continues to grow up every day and is 100% a little girl and no longer a baby in any way, shape, or form.  Ever since the summer, she only will wear dresses outside of the house...which is going to pose a problem as the cold weather sets in for the next several months.  And just like her older sister, Ella prefers to wear one of her "jamma dresses" in the house whenever we are home.  I have stopped fighting it and will only make her get dressed into real clothes when we leave the house and, most of the time, Ella will change right back into a nightgown the second we return home.  The funny this is that Lia had totally outgrown this phase (by several years) before Ella started it.  So, where did she come up with this idea?!  It must be a genetic thing.  Ella loves all things Disney Princess, Barbie, and Fancy Nancy.  I think that she has succeeded in taking every single book that falls under these three categories from Lia's room and has permanently moved them into her room.  It's just a good thing that Lia is totally into chapter books now and doesn't mind.  Ella also has really gotten into coloring and painting pictures.  The funny thing is that she will just choose one crayon or paint color and will color the entire picture in that color.  She doesn't stay in the lines yet, but does a decent job filling the entire picture in with the chosen color.  It's quite cute to see how hard she is concentrating when she does this.  Ella really loves playing dolls whether it is with small, princess dolls or bigger, Barbie dolls.  Although she can be found playing alone, she prefers to play with someone else and constantly asks Lia, Ron, or me to play with her.  She has also started to play with Logan and they can be the cutest thing when they are getting along and playing nicely with each other.  Ella still prefers to be with me over anyone else all of the time, but I am happy to announce that she is totally going to her church nursery class and to her preschool co-op without even blinking an eye.  I still bribe her with candy at the beginning and the end of class, but she finally has developed a little bit of independence from me which is a huge relief!  Ella also loves her movie time every morning, still takes an afternoon nap every day, and has developed an aversion to most meats and some vegetables during dinner time which I am not a big fan of.  Ella is very vocal about not wanting to grow up and always wanting to stay a "bee bee" (how she pronounces the word, "baby").  The sad thing is that I always agree with her which is probably not healthiest thing for her.  I wish that she would stay my little girl forever.  *sigh*  She is just the cutest, sweetest thing and I love her to pieces!