Life With Ella

We went on our tour of Children’s Day School today. Ella seemed to really like it there. The teachers were really sweet and it was a pretty relaxed environment. If Ella gets in, that would be great, but it’s a pretty competitive pre-school situation. We’ll see. Ella really loved it that there were 2 sheep and about 4 chickens at the school. They use the animals to teach the kids about math, science, the environment etc. After the tour, Sunny took the dogs to get shampooed (we wanted them to be nice and clean when they go to Ellen and Joyce’s house while we’re in NY) and Ella and I took a walk to get some grilled cheese and french fries behind the ballpark. After Ella’s nap, the three of us went to Target and then had some dinner out there. It was a fun day.

This picture was taken after the school tour. Mommy and I were happy to leave and Ella wanted to stay a little longer

Ella and Mommy on a swing at the school

The doggies all dressed up after their baths

A VIDEO FROM LUNCHTIME AND ELLA THROWING SOME BALLS DOWN THE HALLWAY

Ella had a great day today. We went to the carousel, had some lunch, and went to music class. Mommy and I took Ella to Acme for dinner and then she took a bath and we read her some stories. Ella made a smashing video in the bath which is at the end of this post.Check out Ella’s long hairMommy reading Ella and Towby a goodnight storyRAIN RAIN GO AWAY MOVIE

Ella had her yoga class today. Since today was a holiday for MLK day, Helen and Ron took Stella and Juliet and I came by the class to take some video. Ella kind of got a little out of sorts when she saw me there – just not used to having me at her yoga class and Stella and Juliet were not really into it today (probably because their parents were there). Anyway, I was able to get a little bit of sweet video. The class is great and the kids did a good job even though it was a little bit of an off day.

Ella and Mommy having a tender moment. Look at Ella’s cute feet and toes.

Juliet was actually having a great moment here.

Ron looks pretty content. Stella, on the other hand…

Ella getting ready to give hugs to her friends

YOGA VIDEO

Grandma and Papa came in on Thursday night. Ella didn’t get to see them when they came in, but was so happy to see them this morning. Mommy had to work today, so I took Ella, Grandma and Papa down by Fisherman’s Wharf where Papa had a meeting. Ella, Grandma and I went to lunch, the aquarium and finally the carousel. At the aquarium, Ella kept referencing the movie Finding Nemo. She has been watching it a lot and really loves the characters. In the video below, when you hear her referencing Bruce, she is talking about a great white shark. She loves Bruce. Here are some pictures and a video.

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil and then there’s beautiful Ella

Grandma, Papa and Ella walking down the street. I know Grandma’s eyes are closed, but I think it’s a great picture

I just think this is such a sweet picture of Ella

The carousel!

Here’s the video…

The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day! We decided to take a walk to the little park by our house. Ella had a lot of fun there and she hit another milestone. She climbed up the red rope thing all by herself. There is a video at the end of this that shows one of her climbs. She also let me put her hair in pigtails and she looked really cute.

Ella before we left for the park

Ella was crawling around today to see which holes she could fit through

Here is Ella playing around on the red rope structure

Doesn’t she look like such a big girl chillin’ up against the wall?

Again…what a big girl!

And here is the climb…

Today, we took Ella to a nail salon across the street from our place to get her first manicure. Ella was very serious when we were there. She picked her colors – red and blue and then sat on grandma’s lap while Kelly polished her nails. The whole experience was lots of fun. I think it was more fun for us than for Ella. Just watching her was pure pleasure. Here are some pictures and a video.

Here is Ella “waiting her turn” with Grandma and Papa. Notice that grandma is holding Ella’s colors.

Here they are in the beginning of the manicure – the red is going on the nails

Almost finished – the top coat is going on

All done!

Check out these red and blue nails

Stella turned 3 today and we began celebrating really early this morning with cupcakes. After cupcakes, we all piled into their mini-van and went to the Bay Area Discovery Museum. It was a great morning. The girls had a good time – Ella really practiced sharing today. You’ll see it in the video. Juliet is amazing practice for Ella since Ella kind of treats her like a little sister. They really have a sibling thing going and you’ll also be able to see this at the very end of the video. It’s priceless.

Here’s a funny picture of Ella from last night

Another one from last night – Ella sharing her mac and cheese with me.

Ella and Juliet exploring at the museum

Ella trying to dig with 2 shovels

Ella ringing a big bell – more of this on the video

Here is a very happy child – she got to hang out with her best friends AND she has a lollipop

Nicky B is still here and we are continuing to have a lot of fun. Yesterday, Ella, Nicole and I took a ride to Berkeley to go to the North Face outlet. We told Ella that we were going to Berkeley and she was pretty excited in the car to go to a new place. She kept saying, “We are going to Berkeley now”. When we got to the outlet, Ella looked around for a few minutes and then she was ready to go. She looked up at me and said, “I want to go to the other Berkeley”. Pretty smart kid. After about 1/2 hour, we did end up going to “the other Berkeley” and had lunch.

Today, we took a walk to the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building. On the way to the ferry building, there is a sculpture of a spider by Louise Bourgeois that Ella loves. She loves to touch it and walk all around it. Watch the movie at the end of this entry – it’s pretty good.

I took this of Ella this morning. She was dancing around to Yo Gabba Gabba

Ella and her friend the spider

Sunny and Ella watching a very interesting musical act at the Farmer’s Market

A tone deaf ukulele playing elf

AND NOW FOR THE SPIDER MOVIE…

The title is for the movie that you will see at the end. Ella hung on a bar at My Gym all by herself for at least 6 seconds. Nicky B came to town yesterday and we’ve been spending some great time together.

Here’s a cute Ella story. Tonight, we were having dinner at Acme and there was a table of some people who looked familiar to us. One of the people came over to the table and we were all trying to figure out how we knew each other. At one point, the woman said that she went to Barnard/Columbia and I asked her if she knew Jamie. She asked how old Jamie was and I told her. The woman said, “Oh, I’m much older, I’m 42”. At that point, Nicole and I were like, “Well, we’re going to be 40 this year!” Sunny then said, “I have at least ten years on you guys – I’m 53”. Without missing a beat, Ella looked over at the lady and said, “I am 2”. It was so cute and funny and she actually understood our conversation! She’s a trip.

Here are Ella and Nicky B at My Gym. Although Ella is not smiling at that second, she really had a blast there today.

Here are Ella and Nicky B walking to Acme

Sunny and Ella having some tea together