Ella started her second year of pre-school today. Everything got off to a slow start b/c there was some kind of gas leak at Newton South (High School) so the bus was very late. Etan ended up driving her over to the school with Netta in tow. He reported that there was alot of action over there as all the parents brought their pre-schoolers in for the first day. I took Ella over to the school for an hour of acclimation a couple of days ago. Ella surprised me by being visibly shy for the first few minutes. All of the “typical” kids are new and the only one who came that day and seemed to be special needs in any way was Shira who Ella doesn’t really know either. (But they had a playdate yesterday and Ella loved Shira’s toys). That was only half the class though on Monday. A couple of kids are continuing. After getting over being shy (with hands in her mouth and everything) Ella loved being in school again. When the kids sat in a circle and Kim read them a story Ella was just screaming with joy and flapping her arms and legs all over the place. Ella seems so much more interactive now. She is just more “with it”. She’s been playing this funny game with Netta. Ella will say a long drawn out and very loud “ABBAHHH!” and then Netta will yell, “Don’t say Aba!” and then Ella will laugh and laugh and then she’ll say it again. It is pretty funny b/c the girls try to outdo themselves. At one point Ella tricked Netta. She didn’t say Aba when Netta told her not to. After a short silence. Netta quipped “Ella, SAY ABA!” All this makes for a pretty noisy dinner. I wouldn’t be surprised if the whole neighborhood hears us.