Archive for September, 2007

Laying low on Saturday

Sunday, September 30th, 2007

It seems like Ella has had a cold since mid August, so we decided to just lay low with her today. Ella spoke to grandma on the phone this morning and we didn’t put grandma on the speaker phone like we usually do. Instead, I held the phone to Ella’s ear and let them have a private conversation. Ella was listening so intently and answering grandma’s question. On our end, the conversation sounded like this…”Yes, ok, ok, yes, yes, red, ok, ok, New Jersey Park, ok, ok, I can’t wait to see you”. We can’t believe what a big girl Ella is becoming! We played around the house in the morning and were contemplating taking her to this toddler thing called “Raze, Rise and Recycle” AKA “Toddler Burning Man” by Ellen’s house, but she fell asleep in her stroller the second we put her in. She took a really good nap and Sunny and I enjoyed a beautiful walk on a beautiful day. This evening, Debby, Toby and Rachel came over to spend some time with us (well really with Ella). It was a sweet night. We had dinner and then Ella played with the girls. Debby got to read the Pigeon books to Ella and she loved it. Ella really loved playing with Rachel and at one point demanded, “Rachel play with toys with Ella”. Here are some pictures of the night.

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Ella and Rachel playing in the tunnel.

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Ella having a serious conversation with Toby

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Playing around with Debby

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A kiss for Rachel

Picture from the opera

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

I just stole this picture from Stella and Juliet’s website. Thanks Ron!

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Ella’s first time painting

Saturday, September 29th, 2007

Ella went over to Stella and Juliet’s house this morning to do some painting. This was Ella’s first time painting and she loved it. She painted with her left hand and her right hand and the jury is still out about whether she is going to be a lefty or a righty. After the painting fun, Stella and Juliet came over to our house to watch Yo Gabba Gabba (they love it too). They watched the show and danced their little hearts out. We split up for lunch and naps and then met up in the afternoon at Borders. Tonight, Becca came over for dinner and then we all went over to the ballpark to watch the opera Samson and Delilah. It was a free night at the ballpark – they had a live feed of the opera on the jumbotron. It was a cold and windy night – we didn’t stay for long but it was really cool. Stella loved it so much that she stayed with Ron. Becca, Sunny, Helen, Juliet, Ella and I left together. Ron has pictures on his camera from tonight so I’ll get some from him and post them tomorrow. Sunny and I just watched the local 11:00 news and there was a cool shot of Helen/Stella, me/Juliet and Sunny/Ella all sitting in a row and watching the opera. Another beautiful busy day and night.

Below is a video of the painting and dancing. I really like it.

A busy day

Friday, September 28th, 2007

Today, Ella started her day off at My Gym. She did a great job in class. After My Gym, we went over to the Women’s Re-entry Center where there was a big celebration. Sunny and her staff have worked so hard over the past 2 years to get the center up and running. A lot of our good friends were there so Ella got to see a lot of people who love her. Ella was pretty hungry and tired by the time we left the celebration. She fell asleep in the car on the way home, so I just put her in her stroller and walked down town. Ella woke up after about an hour and said that she wanted to eat mac and cheese. We were right near Nordstrom, so we went there to the Bistro and had lunch together. After lunch, Ella went shoe shopping and we bought 2 pair of shoes. During lunch, Ella told me that she wanted to go to the carousel. We called Sunny and she joined us at the carousel. After a few rides around we went home and met up with Helen, Stella and Juliet. We all went out to dinner at Pasta Pomodoro. It was a great day and night – very full and I’m very tired.

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Ella waiting on the steps for mommy.

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Girl’s night out

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Here is the big girl button pusher Stella!

OK – One last game…

Thursday, September 27th, 2007

We bought some really cheap tickets tonight and went to the last Giant’s home game for the season. We wanted to be a part of history…Barry’s last game as a Giant. It wasn’t so exciting…he didn’t even get on base, but we were there. Thank you Barry for giving us some very exciting baseball. Now it’s time to watch the Yankees and hopefully the Mets and Cubs in the post season. Here are some pictures from tonight.

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Sunny and Ella before the game

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Look at all those teeth!

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Barry in the on-deck circle. Bye bye Barry

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This is a trip…Ella from one year ago yesterday. Where has the time gone?

Monday Monday

Tuesday, September 25th, 2007

I think Monday is Sunny’s favorite day of the week. Monday is the day that Ella and Sunny get to spend the day together. Here is a recap of the day as told by Sunny. In the morning, Sunny and Ella went to pick Stella and Juliet up to go to Acrosport. Juliet was not feeling well, so it was Ella and Stella.  Stella came running out and Ella and Stella went flying down the hallway. Sunny was following them – slowly to give them privacy. There is a spot by the elevator that the girls love to sit down and hang out at. We usually give them alone time there. Just as Sunny was calling out to the girls, seeing how they were doing, she heard the “ding” of the elevator. Sunny went tearing around the corner to see what was up, and she found Stella and Ella standing in the elevator against the wall, with huge smiles on their faces, waiting for the doors to close. I guess Stella is tall enough to push the button (we know Ella can’t) and they just went in. Sunny pulled them out and explained that they have to wait for an adult before they get into the elevator.Ella, Sunny and Stella took the train to the class. The girls were giddy on the train. Ella had a great time in the class. She ran around, jumped on the trampoline, danced, climbed. Ella had a Giants tattoo on her arm and the teacher noticed it. She asked Ella if she liked the Giants and Ella started clapping. Then she said “Bye bye Barry”. We broke the news to her that Barry wouldn’t be back next year and she has been saying bye bye to him. After class, they took the train home. Ella and Sunny had lunch and then Ella took a nap. After the nap, they watched one of Ella’s favorite TV shows “Yo Gabba Gabba” and then they went to Safeway. Ella knows the balloon lady there and she always gets a red balloon from her. Angela, the balloon lady said, “I don’t have a red balloon today, I have a purple balloon, ok?” and Ella said, “OK”. Then Ella looked at Sunny and said, “Don’t let go or it will fly away and don’t bite the balloon, it will go pop!” On the way home, it was really windy out and the balloon was blowing and hitting Ella and Ella was hysterically laughing.I came home from work and we got ready to go to the game with Ellen. Ella was excited to go to the game and had a great time there until the 5th inning (around 9:00) when she said that she wanted to go home. It was past her bedtime so we left. It’s our last game of the season. We’re looking forward to next season already. Here are some pictures from the day and night and a special “Bye Bye Barry song” on the video.trampoline.jpgJumping on the trampoline at Acrosportrings.jpgPlaying with ringsdancing.jpgDancing around – look at those eyelashes!friends.jpgFriends forever. Look at these beauties holding hands!waiting.jpgWaiting for the train to comeellie.jpgGetting ready to go to the game with Ellen3ofus.jpgThe three of us at the gamelouseal.jpgElla’s last picture with Lou Seal for the 2007 season!

Sweet afternoon

Monday, September 24th, 2007

We have all been a little under the weather – a little tired – the weather has not been so great. Yesterday, Sunny and I fasted and happily watched our little one eat her little heart out. We went to temple in the afternoon and had some friends over at night to break the fast. It was a really nice night. We were all up pretty late. Ella has been sleeping through the night. That’s a beautiful thing. Right before she goes to bed we ask her if she will sleep through the night and she looks at us and says, “I will sleep through the night” with a big smile on her face.

Sunny went to the gym this morning and Ella and I slept in. When Sunny came home, we all pretty much just hung around the house. Our energy level was pretty low and it was cloudy out. At around 4:30 we decided to take a walk to the carousel. All of a sudden it was beautiful outside. The sun came out and the sky was blue and we were all coming out of our fatigue. Sunny and Ella went around the carousel once and then Sunny and I were switching and all of a sudden we heard, “Sunny, Lauren…” it was Helen, Ron, Stella and Juliet. I guess they had the same idea that we had. We all rode the carousel together and then went to the park where they have all the slides. We all had a lot of fun. Ella and Juliet have pretty bad colds, but they just played and played. Ella fell asleep pretty early tonight – she was exhausted.

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Sunny and Ella on the carousel

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The three of us!

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Ella going down the slide all by herself

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Sunny and Ella coming out of the big tube slide

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Here we are looking very serious…we’re about to go down the big slide

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Here’s Sunny going down the slide with Stella and Juliet

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There’s nothing like Ella’s laughter

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Here are Ella and Juliet hanging out together. Juliet is really strong and can actually hang there by herself for about 10 seconds. Ella hung for about 5 seconds.

The Exploratorium

Saturday, September 22nd, 2007

Today we had another Friday outing with Stella and Juliet. Helen and Ron put a third car seat in their mini-van, so we all went to the exploratorium together. I think Ella got a kick out of driving in the car with the girls. They really did a lot of exploring – they played with magnets, looked at fish, played musical instruments, checked out prisms and rainbows, danced around, played with huge bubbles, and Ella had a blast in front of a mirror. It was a fun adventure and they all did a great job.

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Together in the mini-van

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The rainbow connection

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Here are four photos of Ella dancing in the mirror

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Holding hands on the way home

Feeling better

Friday, September 21st, 2007

Ella and I are both feeling better – Ella still has a runny nose, and I’m a little slow, but we’re on the mend. Ella went to her My Gym class this morning and had a blast. She’s really outgoing and does great in a group. Ella is now in a group with kids who are 22 mos – 30 months. She’s on the younger side, but she does so well. In the beginning of the group, the leaders ask us to go around the circle and have the kids introduce themselves. Most of the kids just sit there and don’t say anything and the parents have to introduce them. Today and the week before, when it’s Ella’s turn, she looks out into the group and quietly says, “Ella”. Ella and another little girl Ava were the only ones to introduce themselves today. It was pretty cool.

After My Gym, we came home, had lunch and then Ella took a nap. I took a walk downtown while Ella was sleeping. When she woke up, she said, “are we going to the carousel?” So off to the carousel we went. After the carousel, we went into the Yeurba Buena park. We went down a big tube slide and then Ella went on another tall slide all by herself. After that, we walked through another part of the park and Ella found this Martin Luther King Jr. monument/waterfall. Ella loves the water and played around there for a while. We came home and then Sunny, Ella and I met Ellen for dinner at Acme. If we say “Acme” to Ella, she says, “Mac and cheese and french fries”. That’s what Ella had for dinner and she loved it.

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Ella brushing her teeth before My Gym

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What a big beautiful smile! Ella was really proud of herself because she climbed up on the chair all by herself.

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This is a meaningful quote, and we’re looking at one beautiful part of the future – little Ella

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Ella wants to jump in the water so badly!

We have a cold

Thursday, September 20th, 2007

I have a pretty bad cold and Ella does too. So far, Sunny has steered clear of it…she’s still recovering from her terrible cough from a few weeks ago! I have been going to work (I stayed home on Monday) but I have been a little slow and exhausted so my blog has reflected my fatigue. Ella is such a trooper. She was a little more tired today – she actually took a 3 hour nap and missed her music class, but her love of life and everything around her shines through. Here are two pictures from tonight.

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Ella drinking her chocolate soy milk.

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Ella and Tucker, Becca’s dog and one of Ella’s favorite friends