Ella got to spend some quality alone time with grandma today. I went into NY to meet a friend for lunch and then my dad and I came back into NY to go to AJ and Uncle Michael’s gig. It was great to hear them sing/play. Ella and grandma had a love fest. Here are some pictures that I took of Ella earlier today. She loves dancing in the mirror.
Getting ready for the dance.
Checking herself out in the mirror…
and dance!
Ella and I had a very busy day today. First of all, I’m happy to say that she slept through the night last night…midnight – 8:00 am. I’m starting to get some rest too – so are grandma and papa. We went into NY to meet KK (Carol) to go to Build a Bear. Ella fell asleep in the car and I wasn’t sure she was going to make it at all, but she woke up as soon as she saw all the bears and animals in the store. We had her pick out a bear – she was a little confused but did it all on her own. She picked out a bear that was orange and yellow and had some shiny silver hair. I asked her what she wanted to name it and she said, “Orange”. I’m glad she is finally learning her colors. After we picked “Orange”, Ella picked out certain sounds that the lady was going to put into the bear’s hand so that when you squeeze it, it talks to you. Hers says, “I love you”, “Let’s Go Home” and some other stuff. Then the lady put the stuffing in the bear and Ella kissed this little red heart and put it into the bear before the lady closed the bear. After the bear was fully stuffed, Ella picked out shoes (flip flops with bling on them) and a purse (very shiny) for Orange her bear. Once that was all finished, we had lunch with KK and the bear. Ella fed the bear some french fries and then decorated a bear cookie at the end. I will make a small movie about all of this tomorrow. It was a lot of fun. Ella was into it and had a great time with KK.
After the bear making, we drove downtown to see AJ, uncle Michael and Normyn. We hung around there for a little while and then drove back to NJ for a bar-b-que at grandma and papa’s. Grandma’s cousin Arlyne and her husband Gary were visiting from Florida and we had a fun night.
Here are some pictures from the evening.
Here is Ella hanging out with Orange. Notice the purse in Ella’s left hand.
Ella drinking out of a big girl cup.
AJ reading “Big Girls Use the Potty” to Ella with Normyn listening on.
Ella’s cousin Normyn
Ella practicing sitting on the potty
Here we are – mama and Ella – mommy makes 3. Hurry up and get here!!!
AJ reading the potty book to Ella again. Maybe she’ll be ready soon. (Ella not AJ!)
Uncle Michael sharing his ice cream with Ella.
What a beauty. Ella is winding down.
Ella, grandma and I arrived in NJ last night. We had a great flight (grandma was in San Diego so she flew to SF to fly back here with us). Ella slept for about 2 hours on the plane, sat in her own seat for about 2 hours and hung with us for the other hour. She is very happy to be at grandma and papa’s house. Sunny is joining us on Sunday and Ella and I miss her so much! Hurry up and get here mommy!!!!! Things here are great except Ella’s sleeping. I guess it will take a few days to get on some kind of east coast schedule. Here are a few pictures from this morning and today.
Ella playing with her new blocks.
Ella having a little bit of bread before dinner.
A beautiful picture of Ella and her grandparents. Ella is super hyper, grandma and papa are ready to go to sleep!
Jesse and Heather are moving to LA on the 20th and we are leaving for NY on Sunday, so tonight was our last dinner in SF with Jesse and Heather (until they come back and visit). We had Japanese food and we had a great dinner. Ella loves spending time with her aunt and uncle so we’re going to have to get out to LA in the fall. After dinner, Sunny, Ella and I hung around and sang some songs at the piano.
Hi Heather!
Ella having miso soup all by herself!
What a big girl!
Eating noodles with Jesse.
Mochi with Mommy.
See ya real soon!
Making beautiful music.
Ella decided to add a little foot action.
We went to a game on Thursday and one on Friday. Everyone is caught up in Barry chasing Hank Aaron’s record…except Ella. Ella is much more interested in Lou Seal and Charlie Brown. Luckily we can “cover all bases” at the ballpark! Barry didn’t hit a home run on Thursday, but he did it last night. We were there, but not in our seats and not with our camera out. I couldn’t capture the swing, but we did capture highlights for us of the past 2 games. There were fireworks at the game last night, which was a long game. It was an exciting game and Ella stayed up for the whole thing! She was struggling at the end a little, but once the fireworks started, she was laying in Sunny’s arms, mesmerized by the magic in the air and completely relaxed.
Ella, Sunny and Lou Seal at Thursday’s game. Ella is holding 2 Lou Seal cards that the usher gave to her. She held onto them through most of the game.
Here we are coming towards the end of Thursday’s game. I was still totally into the game…Ella was a little too through.
Friday night right before the game. This is not a posed picture. They all just sat down on the steps once we reached the lobby. They are too much!
There is the home run counter right there on the wall. He did it in the beginning of the game. Some history to show Ella later on.
So we’re all excited about the home run and Ella really wants to go see her friend Charlie Brown. She’s getting brave now. She’s standing on the platform with him!
Something very exciting happened. Duane Kuiper – one of the voices of the Giants (that’s him in the upper left hand corner) who knows Sunny from the Giants Community Fund, spotted us in our seats. He saw Ella and gave two big thumbs up. A few minutes later, one of the ushers came down to us and handed a ball to Ella telling her that it was from Duane Kuiper. What a treat! Ella loved holding the baseball and also shared it with her buddy Stella.
Here we are with the ball from Kuip.
The evening is almost over…the lights in the stadium are starting to go off…the girls are getting ready to watch the fireworks.
It was another beautiful day today – the three of us went to the park behind the ballpark for Ella’s first kite flying and some fun times. Sunny flew a kite as Ella watched on. Ella went for almost 2 blocks on Sunny’s shoulders which made Sunny very happy. Here are some pictures from the afternoon.
The kite launched!
There’s nothing like a sweet kiss from Ella.
A big kiss and a big smile.
Laughter!!!!
Now Ella can see all the boats! Things look different from up here.
Happy child, happy mommy.
Today, we met Jesse, Heather, Elaine, Andy and Chloe at the Oakland Zoo. This was sort of a mini-reunion of our time last summer at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. It was a wonderful day. The girls were so sweet with each other. Chloe is a very thoughtful, beautiful, sweet and funny kid. Ella and Chloe hit it off right away. It was a great day for us to be with everyone and a special day for Jesse and Heather because they will be moving to LA within the next month so having a day at the zoo with their nieces was perfect. Sunny and I took Ella on the carousel at the end of the day and Ella did the same thing she did yesterday…she was so happy when she was riding (an elephant today) and when the carousel stopped, she cried and cried. We have to work on carousel transitions.
Here we are arriving at the zoo.
Heather, Elaine and Chloe
Chloe and Ella looking at the flamingos.
Ella and Jesse
Ella coming out of the cave
Holding hands
Shaking hands
Sharing the “zoo ride”. Heather was the official driver for Ella today.
Mommy and Ella checking out the giraffes.
No food at this petting zoo…only brushes. The kids were able to brush the goats and sheep.
Andy and Chloe watching two monkeys communicate with each other. They were very loud monkeys.
Waiting for the train that goes around the zoo.
Ella is getting better and better at communicating. She’s at a place now where she is stringing words together and making sentences that make sense. Last night she looked at me and said, “Go to bed mama”. She wanted to go to sleep! It was incredible. Tonight, we were having dinner and we were just about winding down. Ella looked at us and said, “Are we done?” We just stared at her in wonder and delight. After dinner, Sunny said, “OK Ella – I’m going to bring you up to go to bed”. Ella looked at her and said, “OK – brush your teeth”.
These are probably things that only parents are proud of, but I thought I would share them. Sunny and I are just so moved by this little one.
Here are some pictures from her day today.
Here is Ella at My Gym crawing through a little tube.
The three amigas
Resting after playing hard with Stella and Juliet
Mommy and Ella reading “Don’t Let The Pigeon Stay Up Late” – a gift from Helen
Ella loves to go on the swings. Today was a beautiful day, so we went to a park a few blocks away from our place and she played around on the swings. Here are some sweet pictures from our trip to the park.
Sunny stays home with Ella on Mondays and from what I heard, they had a great day together. They started out on a walk to go see the sea lions, but Ella fell asleep somewhere near the Ferry Building, so Sunny did some shopping and relaxing. When Ella woke up, they walked around near the Ferry Building and made their way back to our neighborhood. When they got to the park behind the ballpark, they struck gold. Some of Ella’s favorite friends were there including Stella, Juliet, Jay, Cora and a whole bunch of others.Here are some pictures that Sunny took of Ella on their walk to the park. Ella is a really sensitive kid and loves to give kisses to every one and every thing.Here is Ella kissing a starfish
And here she is studying the octopus
Huggy mommy…thanks for a beautiful day!