Stringing it Together

A few weeks ago Ella began using the structure of a sentence as she attempted to put words together in a series of longer than one or two. It was clear that she was beginning to understand the sentence, what it should be, and what it could be but she wasn't using her words quite right. She would say, "Aba Deeba Inga feeba cheese please," or, "Illta gonga tota tinta rooba Dewey." She was using sentence cadence and length but still just using a few words at a time. She knows a ton of words, she just wasn't ready to put them together quite right...
...Until tonight. After dinner we offered her the option to wash her own hands with the washcloth. We said, "Would you like to wash your own hands?" To which she replied in a very quiet voice, clearly only timidly trying on this new skill, "I wash my hands all by myself." Well, yes m'am you do! Go right ahead Miss 7 word sentence (one of which is a compound word)! You can wash whatever you want!
Of course this was followed by a classic 2-word sentence, "Up Pease!" and then followed by another odd string of sounds ending in a real word.
Baby steps. Toddler steps.

Landed

All,
Just a note to say that we've safely landed in our new home. It is wonderful! I planned on taking some pictures to share today but it was raining all afternoon. We're still unpacking and settling in but we're getting very comfortable very fast. We especially love our screened in porch. With the fan on it is at least 10 to 20 degrees cooler back there. We love to play soccer in our first backyard. We love to park in a driveway. We love the big trees. We love to listen to the birdies every morning. We love to look for bunnies on long walks (one of us would like to catch one--hint: woof, woof). We love our friendly new neighbors. We love our friendly new neighborhood. We love our new friendly part of the country and remember daily why we've hoped to get back to the South all this time. We love that we live near family again. We love that we have so much more to discover in and around our house and in and around our new neighborhood and city.
More updates are on the way, pictures included. For now enjoy the view of the one place in the house with no boxes...The view up our stairs...

You can see Ella enjoys our new steps quite a bit!!!

Big Smile

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Happy Ella from May 2005.

Still Happy! Same old smile. Happy Ella from today.

The Joys of Summer

With our move 700 miles south our entrance into summer was made much more abrupt. It is much hotter here and more humid. But the joys of summer are more available here and in some cases just more neccesary. As you can see, we're enjoying it...heat, humidity, and all!

Popsicles on the porch. Red! Better off without even a bib. Just a bath!

All done. Time for that bath.

And some locally grown Farmer's Market corn to wash it down. Yum!!!

Happy Summer to Everyone!!!

One-and-a-Half

Ella just turned 18 months old. Otherwise known as one-and-a-half. Otherwise known as really, freaking old. Otherwise known as creeping towards her teen years. Ok, now I'm getting carried away, but all of the sudden our little peanut seems like a really BIG little girl!
Her vocabulary is enormous and growing every day. Her word recognition and repetition has quickly turned into word connections. If she says Aunt Sharon (which she loves to say these days), Uncle Joshua, Caleb, and Ezra aren't ever far behind. Bubby Always comes with Zaida, Grammy always comes with Poppy and O Brendan. And of course two comes with three through twelve. She is also starting to use the language structure of sentences. Now instead of a quick word or two she'll babble a sentence that ends with a real word or two. As if she's realized the importance of the sentence pattern but isn't yet ready to put it together. It won't be long before the babble turns into whole sentences of all real words.
Always a fan of jumping, Ella has finally caught air!!!
Finally, talk about a pleasant little lady! There isn't a more pleasant 18 month old around. As a testament to this we are now on day 15 of total chaos and she is none the worse for wear. Through packing, moving, and unpacking Ella is as happy as can be. She is happy to fill and empty boxes, climb on and in boxes, and explore every corner of new and old space to keep her busy. Last night at 4 am the makeshift blind/big beach towel fell off of her window, woke her up, and freaked her out. After 30 minutes of sadness and an unwillingness to return to her crib, Kelly finally brought her to our bed to sleep the rest of the night. She hasn't slept with us since she was still nursing. She was always so distracted and such a bad sleeper. But she just put her head down and went to sleep right next to me. It was very nice and a sure sign of being almost a grown-up.
We know it must be coming but she still doesn't really test us. She still gives up easily and doesn't ever fight to the toddler finish. In return for the occasional snuggle, milk, and time outside she stays on the sunny side of the street almost always.
I am sad to be giving up my flexible grad school schedule with Ella for a real work schedule soon. I am blessed to have the next two weeks off to spend with Ella and it is sooooooooo fun! Then I'll reluctantly pass the part-time torch. Ella, you are so wonderful right now! This is definitely hardest time to give up the extra time with you. You should know that after you go to bed every night we talk about how beautiful, brilliant, and bubbly you are. We love you lots and continue to impatiently wait for the coming days, months, and years with you while we gloat on the ones that have just passed. So far it has only gotten better.
Happy year-and-a-half, Ella-Bella-Boo!!!

Sometimes instead of smiling for a picture I just have to keep practicing my counting.

Ode to Paul

When I moved to Boston
I hardly knew a soul.
But soon I met my best friend Paul
And we were on a roll.

You taught me how to crawl.
You taught me how to walk.
I taught you how to nap.
And together we’ve learned to talk.

We play in the sand box.
We look around for ants.
When we get real dirty
We sometimes share our pants.

We chase around old Dewey.
We chase around your cat.
And when we go outside to play
Neither one of us wears a hat.

I’m really going to miss you!
And I’ll miss your mom a lot!
When I move to Carolina
It will be really, really hot.

I hope you can come visit
And play in my kiddie pool.
When we meet again
Probably neither of us will still drool.

We’ll always save a place
For you to take a nap.
Just look for N-O-R-T-H--C-A-R-O-L-I-N-A
And you’ll find us on the map!!!

Hi!

Sadly, just in time for our move Ella has made some new friends here in Boston. We have spent a lot of time in our tiny yard recently and she just loves her new friends the Ants (sometimes pronounced like Nats). She chases them around the brick patio and wouldn't dare step on them. The best part is when she gets down in a careful squat, puts her face close to the ground, and in her most purposeful, earnest voice imaginable says, "hi," with a whole lot of love!
Over the past few rainy days Ella has also made friends with a family of snails outside. She does the same thing with the snails only she can pet the snails and says, "nice!" when she does catch them.
Tonight at dinner, the BBQ joint we visited (in preparation for our move to North Carolina BBQ heaven--we don't want the introduction to be too abrupt) had flying pigs hanging from the ceiling. Similarly, Ella spent our entire meal looking up lovingly and saying HI to the pigs. She even held her food up high in the air in the hopes of really sharing her meal with them.
"Nice!"