Highs and lows of being 5

As of today, Ella has been 5 years old for 1 month. This has been a more emotional month that one could ever have imagined a 5 year old could have!!

Our 1st emotional roller coaster was the death of our dear Dorothy the betta fish =( Everyone was ready to get tucked into bed when Ella noticed that Dorothy had not came up to eat any of her food. Daddy thought Dorothy was stuck in the plastic plant, but after jiggling the plant Dorothy just sunk to the bottom of the tank. Mommy was oblivious to the catastrophe that had just occurred and was planning on taking a quick shower. Ella came in with puffy eyes and a very sad heart. We decided to let her help with the "flushing" and began to somehow explain the death of a fish. (I had always thought that I would find the dead whatever 1st and have plenty of time to prepare my speech, think of possible questions she might have and already had some ready-made answers...this night did not go according to this plan.)

After Dorothy received her proper send-off, I tucked Ella into bed. She just could not stop the tears. She told me "My heart is breaking into pieces and my tummy hurts!" It was hard to see her so upset. The next morning, Ella corners Aubrey upstairs soon after waking up and says "Aubrey, I have to tell you something."
Aubrey: "What?"
Ella: "Dorothy died last night and we had to flush her down the toilet."
Aubrey: "What did you do that for??" (Aubrey obviously didn't get the dead part ;-))

A quick trip to PetSmart to get "Dorothy #2" corrected all the wrongs in the world and she was back on the track to being happy once again!
[I'm not sure the poor lady who encountered us on the ice cream aisle at Fred Meyer feels the same way. She was just going about her business and must have smiled at Ella. Ella then blurts out, "My fish died last night and we had to flush it down the toilet!!" This poor lady didn't know what to say, I think she still wanted to buy some ice cream but she was afraid to come any closer to our cart for fear of what other news we might share with her =)]

Last night, with the help of Daddy, Ella lost her 1st tooth! She didn't cry and was very brave when he pulled it out, but then when she saw the blood she started to lose it for a minute. Aubrey was standing by being her little cheerleader the whole time, I think Aubrey was more excited than Ella was! We helped Ella get a plastic baggie, put it under her pillow and explain that the tooth fairy would visit in the night. I left the room, confident that Ella was super excited about this event. Suddenly the tears started again. This was the reasoning given by Ella:
"I want to keep my baby teeth. I don't want to lose them. Now I'm going to have to sell my blanket!"

Apparently, she went from excitement for the tooth fairy to suddenly feeling like she is losing her childhood much too quickly!!! As her mommy, I feel this growing up business is certainly happening fast, but had no idea that she was sensing the fleeting of her youth as well ;-)

The high highs and low lows of this month make me realize that we are now entering into a whole new world with lots of emotions and we are only 5! I can only imagine the material I am going to have for this little blog in the coming months ;-)