Frozen Bananas

What would human beings do without the invention of the chocolate covered frozen banana? Really?

A Week at the Beach

We just got back from family vacation at Newport Beach. Can I just say that it is so nice to spend a solid week on vacation at the beach. We did a whole bunch of nothing as the whole family piled into two floors of a beach house. We ate, swam, walked, ate, slept, sat on the beach, played some semi-pro wiffle ball, and ate a little more. Besides the part where we brought a stomach flu out west with us and shared it with the whole house, this was another perfect week in Newport Beach. Until next year here are some of the highlights...
We got to hang out with Uncle Brendan a lot. At least I think that was Uncle Brendan.
We had a fancy, dress up, girl cousin dance party. Don't I look Mahvelous?!
Ella had a lot of fun with her cousin Morgan. Here they are drinking juice and playing with Play-Do.
Every morning we woke up early, went to the pier and fed the birds. Today was Frito Day.

Thank you to everyone for a wonderful summer vacation! See you next year.

A Long Day at the Pool

Sometimes a long day in the baby pool or running through the sprinkler takes a toll on a toddler. Sometimes you just have to get those sunglasses off quick and take a nap.

Macaroni and Cheese

It is really hot here this week. I mean hot. I guess it's hot everywhere so nobody wants to hear it but I'll tell you anyway. It is hot!
To beat the heat we bought some ice cream and cones at the store on Sunday. Ella was with us and she helped us pick it out. Then Ella didn't really eat much dinner on Sunday and so she didn't get to have ice cream afterward. That didn't make her particularly happy but we'll call it a teachable moment--and don't forget her mom and dad are teachers.
On Monday she devoured her dinner as if she had learned that lesson to perfection. She was ready! Right? Here's a transcript of the post dinner conversation:
Parents: Ella...you ate all of your dinner tonight. Good job, big girl.
Ella: Yeah.
P: You at it all up. You know what that means right?
E: (feet kicking. getting excited) Yeah!!
P: You get to have some...
E: (eyes bugging out. getting really excited) YEAH!!!
P: You get to have some...
E: (eyes bugging out. huge smile. legs kicking. arms waving in the air. She yells with glee) MACARONI AND CHEESE!!!

Ok. I guess you could have some mac and cheese. But we'd really like some ice cream. Oh well.

Big Shoes

Today Ella was seen with my size 13s on (backwards), walking slowly towards the front door saying, "Ella go get Bunny Crackers" over and over again. Apparently she was hungry for the crackers we'd left in the car earlier. And I guess it was just easier to get my shoes on by herself. Not easier to walk though.

19

Ella's 19 month birthday passed with barely a whisper. I guess 19 just isn't such a cool number--not so much worth stopping for. At 18 you're one-and-a-half. At 20 you're no longer a teen-baby. At 21 you can drink...2% milk instead of whole milk. 22 is a member of the much overrated even number club and it will also be cousin Ezra's first birthday. At 23 months you're almost two and that's worth noting. But 19 is just 19.
But the truth is a lot has happened. At our latest doctor visit Ella weighed in at the 50th percentile for height and weight and got to visit the big-girl stand-up scale. As usual, her head size is a laughable 90th percentile. And this time the doctor appreciated my jokes. Ella has started to go to a new daycare and loves it! More and more of her sentences include more and more real words. Mom cut her bangs unbelievably short and crooked--as if we just wanted to have a funny bang cutting story and we'd just get it out of the way early (you won't find any pictures here). We're doing good and having fun!
I guess 19 is cooler than I thought.

Ella and Some Ducks

Someone's about to get bit and I wouldn't be so sure it isn't the ducks instead of Ella.
NOTE: No ducks or toddlers were harmed in the taking of this picture and nobody got eaten either.

A Baby Bird

Over the weekend when Grammie and Poppy were visiting and working in our yard (THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!) they spotted a bird's nest just over our back fence with two beautiful shiny blue eggs. We showed Ella and promised to come back each day to check for babybirds (not to be confused for our dear friend Babybird). Last night, just before our day came to an end, I walked over to check on the nest and I peeked through the leaves literally just as the baby bird was cracking through the egg. I'll admit to being a little bit shocked by what I saw but I pulled it together for the sake of good parenting and a teachable moment. I ran back to the house to grab Ella and we quietly snuck back to the nest to take a peek. Ella did a great job staying quiet even though she was VERY excited and the mamabird must have left for a moment to get the baby it's first food (worms I presume) so we had a straight sightline at the babybird. Just as we peeked it lifted its head and opened its beak wide, as if getting ready for that first meal. It was COOL and that is a severe understatement. Today mamabird has been sitting in the nest all day. Maybe the second egg didn't hatch yet or maybe they just sit there a while. I would.

Yesterday and today we feel blessed to have chosen to move out of the city a bit and feel lucky to share these things with Ella. Hooray for a backyard!

Here's Ella demonstrating what we saw the babybird doing right after it was born:

A Wet July 4th

Many of you know that I am not a huge fan of the 4th of July holiday. I have my reasons. Neither does Dewey! He has his reasons too. But I will admit that I enjoyed my 4th of July Holiday this year and I enjoyed to whole Holiday weekend.

Why? Because everything is more fun with Ella and everyday 95 degrees and above is more fun with water

Here's a tour of some of our wet and wild fun!

Even Dewey got into the action for family kiddie pool time

Our new neighborhood had a 4th of July Parade. We got Ella's stroller tricked out in red, white, and blue and joined the neighbors for a raucus march around town. At the end of the parade we were plenty hot. To our pleasant surprise, the next neighborhood tradition is that the firetruck opens the hose on the crowd. Here's Ella and Poppy after playing in the spray!

Are you catching on to our theme here? Here's Ella and Poppy playing in the sprinkler at our new favorite spot in town, Duke Gardens.

Here's Ella strutting her freedom loving stuff right before the parade. As you can see our weekend wasn't quite as much fun when we were dry!

Happy 4th of July, everyone! Thanks for a great weekend, Grammie and Poppy!

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!"

Counting to 10

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Ella has learned to count to 10 and can count to 12 on a really good day. She just recently learned to do it unassisted but this video is somewhere in between support and independence. I won't bias readers/watchers with my own judgement of this feat. Judge for yourselves. Enjoy!

Hiding in the laundry

Hiding in the laundry
Originally uploaded by Ella and Dewey.

Maybe if I am very quiet and very still they won't notice me in the laundry basket and I can finally go for a ride in that spinning machine in the basement. Shhhhhhh!

HELLO Kitty Cat!

We had a wonderful visit to "Auntie" Dana's last weekend in Chicago. Although Dana lives in a beautiful apartment right in the middle of the action, Ella's favorite part of the whole weekend was Dana's cat. When we were away from the apartment she asked for the cat and when we got off the elevator she sprinted to the door saying, "kitty cat! Hi kitty cat!"
Here Ella and Dana are singing to the cat:

And here is Ella and Dana looking for the cat after their singing sent her running under the bed. Oh well:

Thanks for a wonderful visit, Dana!!!

Uncle B, esquire

A big, fat congratulations goes to our favorite Uncle Brendan for graduating from law school last weekend. We know it was no easy task and we are very proud of you. You'll find no lawyer jokes here (but if you're in the mood you will find some here). We know of a nice spot in North Carolina to get some quiet Bar studying done.

A proud Papa Lawyer and his son. Brendan is clearly ready to take this lawyering thing very seriously!