I am very tired but want to post Ella’s 5th ballet class movie. Ella didn’t have school today so Alicia couldn’t do her hair…Ella had to settle for me doing it. She told me that I did a good job, but probably not as good as Alicia. Ella was once again enchanting in the class and she just has such a good time.
Look at the sweet little ballerinas.
Saying goodnight in cozy pajamas.
Here’s the movie…
The weekend flew by and I had a great time. I was so happy to hear that Sunny and Ella were having a great time…going away every once in a while is a good thing. I love and missed you guys and can’t wait to see you tomorrow. Milo is a beautiful boy and it was fantastic getting to spend time with him and Jamie and getting to know Milo. Here are some pictures from my NY/NJ adventures…
On Saturday morning, Nikki B and I went to the batting cage. It was so much fun. I had some pretty good hits. I also tried pitching from the exact distance that they do in the major leagues. I pitched a few good ones.
Beautiful Milo on Saturday night. Adam came over for dinner and we spent some great time together.
Milo on Sunday morning relaxing.
Milo propped up in his pack and play holding court.
Tummy time!
This is Tess, our friends Jennie and David’s baby. I got to spend time with them today. She is a really sweet baby.
Bath time!
Here I am with beautiful Milo. Ella and Milo are going to have a lot of fun as soon as Milo is able to play.
Bed time for Milo. Goodnight sweet boy.
It was great being here. Love you mom, dad, AJ, Michael, Milo. It was great being here. I love you Sunny and Ella – can’t wait to see you tomorrow.
Today was full of fun and goodness. Started off nice and easy after a wee hour shout out from Ella– calling out for me, rather “Sporticus” (character from the Icelandic kid show called “Lazytown.) Ella said she fell out of her bed, but all was well after staying with her a while.
It was a cool overcast day and thought a movie would be fun, Ella happily agreed and then asked if we could call Brickelle and ask her if she can come with us. Akilah was game and joined in — Ella and I were happy that Akilah and Brickelle were spontaneous! So off we went on the train to meet our friends and to see Toy Story 2 and 3D to boot!–It was such a sweet and clever movie–albeit a little nauseating with the 3D but after a while I got use to it. More importantly, the girls loved it –after the movies we went to Yerba Buena Park and walked home via Whole Foods as Ella said she was “starving” and wanted whole foods chicken and for me to make rice pilaf, broccoli and asparagus–I think Ella is going through a good growth spurt as she has had a big appetite today–makes this mommy very happy!
Tonight while putting Ella to bed–she was extra hyper and silly and happy–I said Ella it is really late and you need to quiet down and go to sleep–she said–“I can’t mommy, I am too excited about the next day!” That was something else as we didn’t even talk about what we planned to do tomorrow–this was just another pure statement from Ella that speaks of her joy of life–Talk about pearls of wisdom from this child and how much we can learn from her!
Love you Mama–Ella made you a present today and can’t wait to give it to you! Have fun and lots of love to everyone! 
Ella getting ready to go the movies, she picked her outfit out, the first time in ages no dress. I promise, I didn’t coerce her!
Ella happy to have her own seat on muni
good friends 3D style
more 3 D chic–assuming the position for the movie
what better way to end a movie day than to share ice cream with your good friend?
Every week I say to myself that I am just going to drop Ella off at ballet school and go take a walk or have some coffee, and every week I find myself amazed by Ella’s love of the class. Her enthusiasm and attempts at being graceful just grab my heart. I can’t help but smile from ear to ear during the entire class. I made another movie – pretty much the same as the last 3 weeks but different because I think Ella’s moves are getting a little better. Of course Ms. Alicia made a beautiful bun for Ella and when Ella greeted me on the school yard this afternoon, she looked so proud and excited and just loved her hairstyle. I think she also loves her special time with Ms. Alicia on Monday afternoons. Things are great – enjoy the movie.
Ms. Alicia’s fancy work.
Ella wanted to wear her gold skirt today.
Ella showing off her ballerina strength.
Presenting Tutu School week 4
Today was a beautiful day. We spent a lot of it outside. Ella rode her scooter over to the Java House and we had lunch with Kate. After lunch, we played around in the park and had a lot of fun being outside. Tonight we had dinner at Pasta P with Debby and Toby. Ella said that it was the best dinner ever. Ella says this a lot and we love her for it. She is such an enthusiastic kid and so much fun to be with.
Having fun in the elevator.
Tag…you’re it.
Cooperating with me while I try to get the perfect jumping picture.
I think these are pretty good.
Kate and Ella on the sandbox boat.
Mommy and Ella meeting at the top of the red thing.
My turn!
Today we met Brickelle, her parents and younger brother Brooklyn at a park near our place. The weather was beautiful and we all had a great time. After the park we had lunch at Extreme Pizza. It was great to watch Ella and Brickelle running around, playing, laughing and being completely independent of us. They have a life totally separate from us at school and you could really tell from how they were playing today. In the early evening, I took Ella swimming. We spent most of the time in the deep end where Ella let go of me and was playing around under water. She is getting so confident in the water. She told me that she wanted to be on a swimming team and that she wanted to win a race.
Ella decided that she wanted to wear pants today…go figure.
Brickelle climbing the ropes.
Beautiful Brooklyn.
Soaring down the slide.
Brooklyn greeted Ella at the bottom of the slide.
Hanging out.
Jumping around on the concrete furniture.
Brickelle, Brooke and Ella playing “Red Light Green Light 1 2 3” with Sunny.
Taking turns on the scooter.
Look at these beautiful girls!
Ella has graduated from her toddler bed to this beautiful “big girl” bed. The bed was a gift from grandma and papa and Ella loves it. Now we just have to fix up the rest of her room to a “big girl” room and we are all set. Ella said something about wanting a huge rainbow the wall above her bed. Here are 2 pictures of Ella while she was on the phone thanking grandma and papa.
Here are some more great pictures of Ella during her lesson today. The teacher, Megan said that Ella was going to be a great swimmer and she is truly impressed that Ella remembers what she learned in the previous lesson. She spent 10 minutes in the shallow part of the pool and the other 20 minutes in the deeper part. Ella is starting to do her arms in a freestyle motion.
Doing a great job in the pool.
Playing around in the quad after swimming.
As you can tell from the past few months of pictures, Ella loves wearing dresses…sun dresses, long sleeved dresses, princess dresses and fancy dresses. She likes to wear tights under the dresses but she’s not into wearing pants or jeans. She does wear the occasional sweatpants every once in a while but it’s rare. I got Ella a skirt the other day and she told me that she wanted to wear it under her dress. She said that shirts and skirts weren’t pretty. This morning, Stella came over to say hi and she was wearing a skirt and a shirt. Ella decided that she wanted to wear a skirt and shirt too. When we went upstairs to find an outfit, she went a little coo coo because she wanted to wear the same shirt that Stella was wearing…a Lucky Kid lucky cat shirt. She doesn’t have that shirt so it took a while to get an outfit together. When she finally decided what to wear, she loved her outfit. The 3 of us went to Noe Valley to pick up a round challah for Yom Kippur dinner and we also had lunch at a cute diner on 24th street. Tonight, Becca and Debby came over for dinner. It was a sweet dinner and we had a lot of fun. Ella was a huge help – she kept asking what she could do at the end of the meal so I let her help me wash the dishes. She did a great job. I hope that everyone who is fasting today has an easy fast.
Ella jumping in her new outfit.
Look at Ella – growing up right before our eyes.
A beautiful hug at lunch.
Raspberries on the finger.
Hanging out on a stoop with mommy and eating a cupcake. Life is beautiful.
Having fun before lighting the candles.
Drinking our grape juice after the blessing over the wine.
Washing the dishes.
We went to the game today and had a great time. The Giants didn’t have as much fun as we did. They are going down hard. Looks like we’re not going to get the wildcard. The greatest part of today for us was that Ella got to give Lou Seal a great big hug. Ella was so happy after she hugged Lou Seal.
Heading over to the game.
Happiness is…cotton candy, a cherry snow cone and a ball game.
Ella fooling around with her vampire lollipop. Nothing like a lot of sugar on a fine Saturday afternoon.
Ella and Lou.
Here is another song that Ella did the other night…