One of Those Moments

I fear I have been remiss in not recording more "Ellie-isms" here, because that kid can talk your ear off and man, is she funny. And sweet. And silly. And wicked smart. And sometimes, she just melts my heart.

Her favorite car game as of late is singing "Old McDonald Had a Farm." Or rather, she wants us to sing it, and she'll call out what exactly Old McDonald has on his farm. Her suggestions very rarely include actual farm animals, and more regularly include things like red lights, green lights, trucks, cars, trees, clouds, and the occasional E.J. Needless to say, we do a good bit of thinking on our feet to come up with what these "animals" on the farm "say" here and there.

(Side note: This game got its start while E.J. was in the hospital and Eric and Ellie were driving back and forth twice a day. Eric was trying anything he could think of to keep Ellie awake on the 20-minute drive, because if she fell asleep in the car it would spell trouble for nap/bedtimes when they got home. She got very used to it and for a long time it was always a part of her car routine when driving south on I-95, on the path she recognized from the hospital to our apartment. Smart cookie, that one.)

Anyway.

On Thursday night we were all in the car together, driving to a high school football game, when Ellie requested "sing Old McDonald, please, Daddy?" So sing he did, and then it went like this:

Eric: "What does Old McDonald have on the farm, Ellie?"

Ellie: "Hmmm...."

Eric: "How about Mamas?"

Ellie: "Yeah!"

Eric: "What do the Mamas say?"

Ellie: "They say, 'I love Ellie!'"

Cue big smiles from me, and appropriate singing from Eric. Then, the next round:

Ellie: "How about Ellies on the farm?"

Eric: "Okay, what do the Ellies say?"

Ellie: "They say, "I love Mama!"

And I'm done. I'm out. Can't deal.

That kid is just the coolest.

Mama says, "I love Ellie" indeed!