Life With Ella

AJ and Milo were supposed to come today but Milo had a rough time at the airport - he wouldn’t stop crying and was really working himself up so AJ decided that she didn’t feel comfortable flying alone with Milo.  AJ - we totally understand.  We wish you guys were here with us but we get it!  Love you!  The day in SF was pretty overcast but we could tell that the sun was trying to come out. We decided to take a little trip to the Oakland Zoo.  It’s always fun there.  We like the sky ride and train ride and the animals are sweet when you can find them.  We had a really sweet day there - Bug was heavy on my heart and Sunny’s heart but that’s part of love and life.  We are heading to Gilroy Gardens in the morning with the Kim/Arena clan.  The kids are going to have a blast. The 3 of us on the train. Our big beautiful girl. Ella was watching this monkey put on a show. Standing on giant snake eggs. Riding a giant caterpillar. Spidergirl. A refreshing ice pop on a hot day. Ella is growing up in front of our very eyes.  She’s totally into Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montanna…a little scary.

There is nothing more beautiful than picking up Ella from school, having her run to me and give me a big hug and then want to go back and play with her friends.  Ella is so happy and confident this year at school.  Her whole energy feels different.  I guess being one of the oldest kids in preschool is really making a difference for Ella.  We both met Ella after school and took a walk over to Bi Rite.  Brickelle (who is now in kindergarten) came onto the yard to meet Ella and they gave each other the biggest hug.  It was so beautiful.  They were both so happy to see each other and they are both doing well in their own classes!  We all walked over to Bi Rite together and saw a lot of other CDS families there.  It was a beautiful day and a great way to end the week - having great ice cream.  Tonight the movie picked was “A Bug’s Life” - pretty intense choice since it will be one week since Bug died on Saturday.  Last Friday night, we were all saying goodbye to Bug. We had a sweet night tonight. On the way to the car.  Ella skips to school!  She is so happy there. You can just feel the happiness through the photo. Beautiful kids! Brickelle, Ella and their buddy Maya. Brickelle, Ella and Brooklyn - I can”t believe how much he has grown up. A great San Francisco scene.

Ella had another great day at school today.  She seems really confident and excited about learning and exploring.  A lot of the new kids are still having some trouble adjusting.  Ella did a crying report yesterday and did another one today.  She thought it was great that this one kid who cried almost the whole day yesterday only cried in the morning today.  She also told me that I kid was saying the word “stupid” when they were outside playing on the structure.  Stupid is a word that we do not use in our family and Ella knows how strongly we feel about it.  She does not use it either.  I asked her if anyone said anything to the kid and she said, “No, we were outside so none of the teachers could hear him but I said something, I told him to stop saying stupid”.  I asked her how he responded and she said, “He didn’t stop”.  Then I asked her what she did when he didn’t stop and she said, “I walked away”.  Whether all of this happened or not, I like it that she said that she walked away.  This is a good skill to have.  After school, Stella and Juliet came over and the girls hung out.  Stella started kindergarten at Friends on Wednesday and Juliet is in her final year at Pacific Primary.  It was sweet for the girls to get together after their separate days at school.  I had a massage tonight and then met everyone at Blush.  AJ and Milo are coming this weekend.  I am really excited to see them and also excited to see KJ and Milo together. Ella by the elevator…she still looks a little tired. In the classroom checking out the fingerpaints. Jumping on the trampoline - maybe it will wake her up a little. Ella and Stella tonight at Blush trying to get some Fruity Pebbles in every bite.  Notice KJ with his sweet little frozen yogurt goatee.

Before I get into the Annie costume, Ella had her first unofficial day of school today.  The orientation went really well.  Ella seemed to be really happy to be back at school and was talking up a storm.  She was talking to Alicia as if they were long lost friends, filling her in on what she did over the summer.  It was actually so cute to watch Ella speaking with Alicia with such confidence and poise.  She’s usually a little shy around her.  After the orientation, Ella told me that she wanted to grab lunch at the Nordstrom Bistro.  Ella had mac and cheese and then ordered ice cream with hot fudge.  She used some of the fudge to dip her strawberries and some on the ice cream.  After Nordstrom, Ella had a swimming lesson.  After the lesson, we had dinner at home.  A package was delivered this evening and it was a part of Ella’s Halloween costume.  Yes - “Annie’s” dress came in the mail, and of course Ella put it right on.  She was so cute in it.  The wig should be in sometime this week.  We went out for a walk with Towby and at the end of the walk, Ella did a song from Annie for us in the hallway.  The song was “dumb dog”. Ella after eating a whole bowl of mac and cheese. Chocolate makes Ella very happy. Sandy and Annie. Annie walking down the street.and now for the video…

 

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Life is beautiful and we miss the shit out of Bug.  Sunny and I are both super sad about Bug.  We probably break down crying a few times a day.  Ella is doing just fine.  I guess we prepared her for Bug’s death.  It also really helps that we have Towby.  He is getting a lot of attention.  He seems like he misses Bug.  She was a great dog and we were so lucky to have her for as long as we did.  On Sunday, Ella asked me when school started.  I told her that on Tuesday, we all had an orientation where the kids and parents would be in the classroom together for 45 minutes and then the kids could go out and play and the parents had to stay in the classroom to find things out about the school year.  Then I told her that her first day of school was Wednesday.  All of a sudden she yelled, “YAY!!! Miss Alicia!!”  This made us feel so good that Ella was excited to go back to school and to see Ms. Alicia.  We’re excited for Ella.  This should be a great year for her.  She has grown so much over the summer in so many ways.  I think she’s also ready to be a “big kid” in the classroom.  She told me that if the younger kids were having trouble, she would want to give them a hug.  I think Ella got a lot of hugs her first year.  Today, Ella and I had lunch at Crossroads Cafe and then Stella and Juliet came over for an afternoon movie.  They all go back to school on Wednesday so it was a special before school movie afternoon.  Ella had so much fun that she cried when they left. Ella was running around the garden at Crossroads pretending that she was a fairy. We went to Southpaw pet store and Ella visited with a new friend. Helping mommy cut the artichokes for dinner. Our beautiful beagle boy Towby. Tonight Ella was adding texture to dry erase artwork by using a toothpick to make white lines.

We woke up this morning and Bug was breathing really heavy.  Sunny and I decided that we needed to take her to in and put her to sleep.  I went over to Helen and Ron’s and asked them if they would take Ella for a little while.  I told Ella that we needed to take Bug to the vet and that we thought that she was going to die today.  Ella looked at me and said, “Really?”  I said, “really”.  Then I told her that she was going to go over and hang out with Stella and Juliet - she yelled “YEAH!” and jumped out of bed.  Once Ella was next door, Sunny called the vet and asked them if we could bring her in.  They said that we couldn’t come in until 10:30.  It was only 9:00 and Bug just seemed like she needed to die.  We kissed her and hugged her and told her that it was ok to die and that she was the greatest dog.  We both just sat together and cried.  About 5 minutes later, Bug died on her own.  It was actually so peaceful and I am so happy that she did it on her own terms.After the very sad morning, we went on with our day as planned - for our sake and for Ella’s sake.  First, we met Bronwen, Georgia and company for Dim Sum.  Ella really loved seeing her cousins and it was great to spend time with David and the girls.  After Dim Sum, we came home and rested for a little while.  At 3:00 Ella went to Taekwondo class.  She loves it so much.  She gets into the studio and starts running around, chasing the other kids.  She kind of got zoned and silly by 4:30 but that’s a long time to stay focused!  We came home from class and rested again and then Ron, Sunny, Ella, Juliet, Stella and I went to see the “Broadway” version of Beauty and the Beast.  The girls really loved it and had a great time.  What a day and night.  Life is quite incredible. Ella and Georgia at brunch. Ella and Bronwen at brunch. Does she look like she’s having fun or what????? Getting ready to go see Beauty and the Beast. This would have been the perfect shot if Ella wasn’t blinking but you can feel the love.

Happy Birthday Jesse - hope you have a beautiful day.  We love you.  Can’t wait to see you.  We had a mellow day - Ella and I went to a park so she could run around.  Ella’s class is having an informal get together at this park on Sunday and I told Ella about it yesterday so she told me that she wanted to go there today to check it out.  Tonight we had Friday night movie night with Stella and Juliet.  We watched Beauty and the Beast.  On Saturday, we are taking the girls to see the theatrical version of Beauty and the Beast here in San Francisco.  Bug is still hanging in there - she’s just relaxing and eating turkey.  We are going to see how the weekend goes and then figure out what to do next.  This is difficult but we’re trying to be as honest as we can with Ella.  Whenever we spell the word D-I-E…she says, “That spells die - when Bug dies I am going to write her a card saying, ‘Dear Bug, I am sorry that you D-I-E.”  I told her that would be beautiful. Ella and Bug today. Ella and Towby today. This is a drawing of an angler fish that Ella and I made the other day. we bumped into a colleague of mine at the park and her son Cairo joined Ella on the swing. Ella is a fantastic climber.  This thing also spins but I made sure that nobody spun it around while she was climbing. Making brownies for movie night. The girls having brownies and watching Beauty and the Beast.

 

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Life is beautiful, but then there is fear, loss, grief, hope…we are going through this right now with our oldest dog Bug.  Bug hasn’t been doing so well but for a dog who is going to be 16 in November, she’s been doing incredibly well.  Lately she hasn’t been coming upstairs at all - she sleeps downstairs in the living room and she has been breathing really heavy.  Her back legs are really weak, she’s blind and deaf, but she is still such a beautiful being.  She loves us and LOVES to eat.  Today, Sunny and I decided to take her to the vet to see if there was anything that we could do to keep her comfortable and make sure that she wasn’t suffering.  So far with the test results, her heart seems ok, lungs ok, she’s not anemic and they are looking a little more carefully at her stomach/liver x-ray.  She came home all drugged up from getting x-rays, probably feeling a lot better than we are and just is kind of chillin’.  When we came home with Bug from the vet, Ella met us in the hallway.  She looked at me and said, “So how is Bug doing?”  I said, “She seems to be OK - they didn’t say whether there was anything really wrong.  We are going to talk to the vet again tomorrow.”  Then Ella said, “So they said we should keep doing what we’ve been doing?”  I looked at her and said, “Exactly El - how did you get so smart?”  She said, “I’m a kid, all kids are smart.”  I then said, “Well not really all kids Ella”…and she said, “What do you think we are hockey stick players?”  End of conversation.  We met Jaeden for dinner at the Public House.  They both had a lot of energy - were acting pretty goofy and then after they ate, we took out the iPhone/iTouch and it turned into the most beautiful playdate of 2010. Ella in her special polka dot, striped, sparkly shoes outfit. Parallel iPlay! We gave KJ this pimpin’ sweatsuit for his birthday. The Kim/Arean clan was away from a few days…as soon as ELla found out they were back, she was knocking down their door!Welcome home friends!!!!!!

Yesterday was a gorgeous day - one of those days when you wish you had an outdoor pool to go relax in.  I think it was above 90º yesterday!  Ella and I went to the Exploratorium and I followed Ella around as she ran from place to place.  She had a great time but I can’t wait for her to be able to read and then things will be taken to a new level and it won’t be all about pushing buttons and blowing bubbles.  After the Exploratorium, Elsa took Ella to her swimming lesson.  Elsa said that Ella did a great job.  Sunny came home with tickets to the ball game.  The Giants had a fantastic game on Monday night with the heat, so we decided to go and they had another incredible win!  I took Ella to the Coke slide and the trolley car and then we ended up at Blush when we left the game.  What a beautiful day and night all around. Can you find Ella and me in this photo? Here, Ella is creating a huge bubble wall.  She was very patient. Ella’s sweet little hands. We were in a human kaleidoscope. A musician hard at work. In front of the Coke slide. Running to the trolley car. Taking the shot in front of Willie Mays!

Ella and I will be spending this week together since she doesn’t have camp or school and I haven’t gone back to work yet.  We started this week out going to Pier 39 and the Aquarium of the Bay.  I heard on the news that they caught a shark by Alcatraz and brought it to the aquarium.  It was the biggest shark there.  I told Ella about it (we share an obsession of sea creatures) and she said that she wanted to go and see it.  Rachel came on our little adventure with us.  After the aquarium, Ella did her bungee jump and then we had lunch at the Crab House.  Later in the afternoon, Ella and I went to family swim at the gym.  Ella was pissed off that the family swim was inside - she really wanted to swim in the outdoor pool.  It was really hot today.  Bug seems to be doing a little better.  We’re just happy for every day that she’s around…she doesn’t seem like she’s in any pain - just senile and old.   I am really going to miss her when she’s not around anymore. Ella and Rachel at the aquarium. I feel like  this is the 50th time I have taken this picture, but it’s cute every time. Ella has always wanted to touch the ray.  I think the last time we were here with grandma and papa, Ella did touch the ray, but was still a little scared.  Today, she totally took control and stuck her hand in the water and touched the rays a whole bunch of times.  She was so happy and did not want to leave. Here she is really getting into it. Patiently waiting for the ray to come close. Looks like she was giving the ray the finger huh?  Ella likes to use that finger to point.  Let’s hope she doesn’t use it to point at the wrong person. Can’t you just feel her happiness? Ella’s sweet little hand touching the ray. Ella and her pinwheel - simple pleasures. Ella went super high today on the bungee.  She still doesn’t want to flip. This was once a real shark - 600 million years ago.  It was the size of a bus.  I’m really happy they don’t exist anymore.