Me: Are you going to be a new person when you are four tomorrow?
Her: Oh yes, a whole new person!
Me: Well, why? What can you do when you are four?
Her: Oh, almost drive a car or van or anything that moves. And go to the city, but not work. I’m too young to work. And I can chop down trees. Tomorrow though. Not today.
Slow down, my little love.
Before she was born, I sat in my sister-in-law’s living room, watching my nephew Jack run around in circles and thought that I wasn’t quite sure if I could handle being a mom. She assured me that the baby wouldn’t come out of the womb quite as energetic as her lively two-year-old… slowly but surely, she would grow into toddlerhood and I would be ready for it because I would grow with her.
She was right. Baby Ellie crammed herself right into our little life – never snuggling in, but making her presence known in every moment with coos and smiles and belly chuckles.
By the time she was one, we referred to the Ellie that appeared between 5 and 7 PM each night as Tornado Ellie. And while I would never call her rambunctious or wild (well, maybe a little wild), Ellie’s infectious energy has kept us melting onto the couch after bedtime for 1,460 days now. Her first word was cuckoo. From there, the other words poured out… tee-coo (thank you), hello, tree, papa, amen, beer… Ellie innocently delivers a well-timed punchline to every moment. She is a pint-sized comedienne.
By two, “clumsy” had become her middle name. Even now, as I watch her sprawl across our living room floor, I can’t believe how, for as many scrapes and bumps and bruises she has, there have been no broken bones.
Knock on wood.
As a three-year-old, we have grown into parenting her big personality. There is nothing meek about anything that Ellie does. She LOVES and she’s ANGRY and she’s THRILLED and she’s BIG emotion in every moment. Life with her is vivid and bold and full.
We love you, Ellie Bean! Happy fourth birthday. I can’t wait to keep growing with you this year.
Yo soy La Lay 
Happy day to my sweet Ellie Mae Clampett! OMA is SO glad you were born and I love you always and forever no matter what! Ask momma what happened to that harmonica? Xo!
I promise that we actually still have the harmonica!!
Happy belated, Ellie! Oh, her personality S C R E A M S through on every post. She’s adorable.