Life With Ella

Ella and I had a great day on Friday and then Sunny, Ella and I had fun on Friday night at the gym. I took Ella to Patagonia to get a new jacket and she loved walking around town. She stopped and sat on a stoop and she loved walking on the yellow bumps on the corners of the sidewalk. Right before we left for the pool, Ella broke into “Hey Lolly Lolly” non-stop and she was dancing around and being so kooky. We captured it on film and you can enjoy it at the end of this blog.

Ella sitting on the steps outside of the Patagonia store.

Here she is wearing her new jacket – it’s exactly like her vest but it has sleeves (duh)

In the pool with mommy…”This is the way we wash our nose”

“This is the way we wash mommy’s mouth”

Today we took the girls to see the Velveteen Rabbit. It was at the Yerba Buena theater. We made it all the way up to the break. Stella was terrific – completely still, mesmerized – I think she really enjoyed the show. Ella and Juliet were great but they didn’t quite get the fact that you’re supposed to be quiet during a performance. They were really sweet, squealing, talking, and eating Pirates Booty. At one point Ella was yelling “End ballet, end ballet” at the top of her lungs. It was pretty funny. After the show, we ate at the Bistro in Nordstrom. The girls were really terrific there too. They finished off their lunch with mini ice cream sundaes. Helen brought over a dress for Ella to wear since Stella and Juliet were looking beautiful and fancy. Ella loved wearing the dress. She pretty much loves everything.

This was the best shot I was able to get of the 3 girls together

Ella and Stella at the restaurant

Here is a little video of Ella in the park

It’s pretty late here so I’ll make this a short entry. Tonight is the first night of Chanukah and we gave Ella her BIG present first…a shiny red drum set! She loved it. She started drumming like a pro right away.

Check out our little drummer girl!

Here’s Ella working the crash cymbal

We spent the first night of Chanukah with our beautiful friends Helen, Ron, Stella and Juliet. First we had some latkes, then we lit the candles and then we ate a delicious Chanukah dinner that Helen cooked. After dinner, we gave the kids some of their presents. The big theme was ballet. Helen’s parents gave Ella a ballet outfit and we gave Stella a light up tutu. We gave Juliet that same adorable hat that Ella has so Ron and Helen made sure that she had her regular ballet outfit so she didn’t feel left out. Helen and Ron gave the girls matching warm up suits. I’m sure there will be some incredible pictures of the girls in their outfits very soon. The first video is of Ella drumming and the second video is some priceless Chanukah footage.

Today, Ella had her 2 year check up. Before the check-up, Sunny, Ron and I took a tour of the SFJCC for pre-school for the girls. We had to take Ella with us because the JCC is very close to her doctor’s office and we weren’t going to have time to go home and bring her back. We put her in the daycare drop-in place at the JCC – a place that was strange to us and strange to Ella. Ella looked in the room, saw the toys and kids and took off. She did not look back at us, she didn’t even wave – she just went right into the room. The lady told us that they would be moving her into a bigger kids room in a while and gave Sunny a pager to hold just in case they needed to find us. We went on the tour (about an hour and 10 minutes) and the pager didn’t buzz at all. We went down to find her in the big kid’s room and one of the women in there was holding Ella. She told us that she did a great job but about 10 minutes before we arrived she started looking for me. I gave her a big hug and she seemed relieved that we were back. Later on during the day, Ella said, “Mama, I was looking for you” then she said, “Mama you came to get me”. I explained to her that any time Sunny and I dropped her off anywhere that we would come back to get her. I asked her if she had fun at the daycare place and she said that she had fun. She said that she played with friends and played with macaroni. I asked her what the macaroni looked like and she said, “Just like mac and cheese”. I have no idea what she was talking about.

OK – the doctor visit. We have been preparing Ella for this visit for a few weeks. She is so super aware of everything that is going on that we thought we should let her know what was going to happen at the doctor’s office. We reminded her that the doctor’s name is Dr. Rosenbaum, and that the nurse is Nurse Nancy. We told her that Nurse Nancy was going to weigh her and measure her and then give her a shot. We told her that the shot was going to hurt for a short amount of time and then she would get a band-aid and it would start to feel better. We told her that the doctor would look at her ears and eyes, listen to her heart, touch her elbows and knees and ask us a lot of questions. Ella did a really great job. She wasn’t relaxed at all, but she wasn’t hysterical for the whole time. She actually warmed up to Dr. Rosenbaum. He asked her to sing her ABC’s and she started to sing it in a joking way. Then Sunny started singing “A You’re Adorable” and Ella joined in with her blowing the doctor’s mind. He said that he thinks Ella knows more stuff that a lot of 3 year olds. We agree with that. As for her height and weight…Ella weighs 23 pounds and is 32″ high. She’s a pip squeak in the 10%. We love her just the way she is. She was very brave during the shot. She cried for 30 seconds and then was all better when she got her shiny band-aid.

At night, Sunny took us to the Giant’s Community Fund Holiday party. I decided to let Ella get dressed up. She wore this beautiful outfit that was given to her last year. She topped off the outfit with borrowed tights from Juliet and her red sparkely shoes that Helen gave her. She looked really cute and seemed to love what she looked like. I took pictures that I will now share.

This is a little bit of a fake smile, but that’s what I get when I ask Ella to show me her teeth.

Here’s a little bit more of a genuine smile

Back at the Acme Chop house drinking tea

Here’s another one of those fake smiles, but I find them irresistible

Just look at this sweet child

Now here is a short video of Ella singing a version of Row Row Row Your Boat that she sings with Sunny

Ron gave me his pictures from the zoo – he took some great shots.

Here is that great picture from the other post

3 meerkats, 3 little beauties

Ella just loved this goat

This picture is one of my all time favorites. Look how happy they all are.

Ella finally has enough hair for us to play with. What do you think of this hairdo for her?

OK – last thing. Here is a movie from our day at the zoo.

We had a very busy weekend that ended at IKEA last night. Ella was fantastic at IKEA, she slept in her stroller the whole time. Sunny and I got a lot of things that we needed. We’re trying to keep things neat in a home where there is a two year old – good luck. Ella made a pee on the potty again on Sunday morning. She seems to be getting the hang of it. Sunny told me that Ella told her every time she pooped today. It was after the fact, but I think the first step is an announcement. Ella has continued to sleep through the night. As a matter of fact, she slept for 12 hours the other night! Here are some pictures and 2 videos. The videos are of Ella at Acrosport with Sunny today and then Ella and Sunny later on during the day. We bought Ella and easel at IKEA and the video is of Ella in action.

Here is beautiful Ella a few minutes after she woke up from her 12 hour sleep. Check out her bed head.

Ella at her easel

VIDEOS

Wow – I have a lot of pictures to show, a lot of beautiful things to say about Ella, a lot of people to thank for making it such a beautiful evening and I am just so exhausted. Seriously – today was a beautiful day and night. Ella woke up a little early (7:30) this morning. She has been sleeping through the night like a champion ever since we cut out the night time bottle. The three of us went downstairs, lit a candle in a cupcake, sang happy birthday to Ella – she loved it, and then had Ella blow out the candle. Sunny and I took Ella to the park to swing on the swings, then we went to the other little park for a while and finally met Becca and Tucker for a little lunch. Ella walked Tucker home for a little bit.

Here are the pictures from the beginning of the day…

One very happy birthday girl on the swings

Second happy swing shot

Playing on the anchor by the water

Walking Tucker on King Street.

Here are some of the cupcakes that I made. I baked a total of 60 cupcakes (12 were a trial run) and the other 48 were legit birthday cupcakes. They were pretty good.

Ella took a nap after lunch, Sunny and I got our act together for phase 2 of the party and with so much help from Helen and Ron, we made it over to My Gym and were ready to roll. As you will see from the pictures below, the evening was very busy – full of activities. All of Ella’s favorite little people and some of her favorite big people were there. I put a video at the very end of all this. It’s only one small part when Ella made her birthday girl debut and then everyone singing happy birthday.

Look at them, displayed in such a beautiful way. Maybe this is my calling…

Ella went down the slide on her belly

And Stella went down head first! What a daredevil

Here’s an action shot of Sunny playing around with Ella and Stella

Here’s Ella walking on the hot dog all by herself!

Ella is enjoying the balance beam before her party officially starts

Here we are doing the beginning exercises for the party.

I love this shot of two sets of sisters…just beautiful

Here are Ella, Stella and Juliet on the trampoline

Look at those two beauties

Getting ready for the puppet show

Wow – look at all the people!

Ella watching the puppet show

Here are Ella and some friends under the parachute

Ok – so here comes the cool part…Ella is now being dragged around the room wearing her tiara and carrying a magic wand. So sweet.

Ella looked beautiful in her tiara

Here is Ella hanging with some of her friends trying to show off her beautiful smile.

Here’s part of the party crowd

One more picture of Ella smiling while wearing her tiara.

Happy birthday Ella!!!

And we’re blowing out the candle…

Oh yeah – that candle is just about out

Pretty good picture of Sunny and me, but Ella seemed very busy

Chillin at home after the party in her brand new Dora tunnel wearing her coolest new UGGS

It’s so wild to us that Ella is going to be two tomorrow. We had a really mellow day…it was raining and we are all recovering from our colds so it was a great day to just enjoy the great indoors. The other day, Sunny ordered this learning tower thing. It basically is this “tower” that Ella can climb up on and be level with the counter. It has sides so it’s safe for her to be able to hang out at the counter with us on her own. She really likes it. There is a video at the end of Ella on her tower, talking, eating and dancing.

Ella in her new hat

So focused

Here I am doing a practice run, baking cupcakes for Ella’s party