This afternoon, for the first time, Ella managed to use a pair of scissors. I'm so proud! She was busy doing it all by herself and I was busy at the computer next to her. Suddenly she turned to me and held up two shapes that she had laborously cut out- she told me quite emphatically that one was the moon and one was a doggie. They were very different shapes and clearly she had purposely cut them out quite deliberately. I know that it is not a big deal, really, and probably just on the mark for development, etc. but I think as a parent when you see your child master some skill and then start using her imagination to create something, it just knocks you over. For so long, a baby is just this lump of clay that you tote around and try to mold into something presentable ("Stop picking your nose, quit screaming bloody murder, don't lick the windows" etc) and, suddenly, you get smacked in the face by the reality that this is a separate person with their own ideas.

Its not that I disliked her when she was a baby, but my god, it is a million times more fun now.