Life With Ella

Sunny and I took Ella to NY with the intention to go to the Museum of Natural History. When we got close, Ella saw the park and told us that she wanted to go there. We went to a playground in the park. Ella had a great time on the swings and slide and then wanted to try something new. There was a big sprinkler/spout of water in the park and Ella really wanted to get wet. We took off her shorts and t-shirt and let her run around in the water with her diaper and shoes. She had a blast. After the park, we met our friends Sarah and Pato for some coffee. Ella liked meeting them. At the end of the visit, she sang a lot of songs for them.

When we came home, Ella had some dinner and then grandma and papa gave her a bath. After the bath, Ella started getting ready for bed. We have had some issues with Ella waking up once in the night. The other night, we tried something new. We gave her a bottle and then let her run around and play. After about 45 minutes, we changed her diaper and she went to bed. That night, she slept through the night. We also taught Ella to say, “I will sleep through the night”. Then we all clap and say “Yay”. Tonight, Ella said, “I will sleep through the night” “YAY” and then she said “Papa will sleep through the night, grandma will sleep through the night, mama will sleep through the night, mommy will sleep through the night…” That all made sense to us since we were all in the room with her. Then she said, “Stella will sleep through the night, Juliet will sleep through the night, Helen will sleep through the night, Ronny will sleep through the night”. Did you hear that Arena family? You will all sleep through the night. YAY!

Sunny and I are going away for the night to Foxwoods Casino and Resort. We will have no responsibilities for 30 hours. I wonder what that will feel like. We’ll check back in on Wednesday.

Ella the hillbilly in her diaper and shoes

Running through Central Park almost naked

Smiling with grandma

Brushing teeth with papa. Ella is a tooth brushing addict

It was a really hot and beautiful day on Saturday so we went back up to the pool. We always have a good time there! After the pool, we went back to grandma and papa’s house and KK and Karen came over for dinner. Ella had a great time with all of us. She took out her doctor kit, listened to everyone’s hearts and gave us shots. We had Greek food for dinner and Ella really loves spinach. At one point she was crying out, “More spinach…spinach…spinach!” She is speaking so well now.

A sweet kiss at the pool

Dr. Ella giving Karen a shot

KK reading to Ella and Mommy

Love and laughter

The sun finally came out and we went swimming at papa’s club.  Ella really loves the kiddie pool.  We had a great day at the pool.  We drove into NY in the evening to have dinner with Jordin and Kevin.  It was a hot, balmy night.  First we went to a playground in the west village so Ella could swing on some swings and slide down the slide and then we had a great pasta dinner.  After dinner we went back to Jordin and Kevin’s house.  We ended the night with Tasti -D.  It was a great day and night.  We all had fun.

Ice cream with mommy at the pool.

Jordin helping Ella down the slide

Ella just told Kevin a very funny joke

This is just a shout out to Jamie and Michael in Japan.  Your beautiful Normyn is doing great.  It took her a few days to adjust to all of us, but now she is herself again.  She is playing with her toys – even her little cow.  Mom and I took her to the park today (the rain finally stopped).  She ran and ran in the tall wet grass and had a blast.  Love you guys – hope you’re having a great time.

The weather hasn’t been so great here but we’re still having so much fun. Yesterday we took it easy and stayed around then house. We met up with my friend Cheryl and her kids and we played with them at the park. Then we had another barbeque with our family.

Today, Sunny had a meeting in NY so Ella and I drove Sunny into her meeting. After that, Ella and I went to a diner on the upper west side and had some lunch. After lunch we did a little shopping and Ella picked out a pair of purple crocs. She looked at them and said, “Juliet has them” with a big smile on her face. Now she has the same shoes as her buddy Juliet. After the crocs, I asked Ella if she wanted to see flowers. There is a beautiful community garden  in Riverside Park around 91st street. She said that she wanted to go see the flowers. As we were walking into the park, Ella spotted a playground. She quickly started saying “swings, swings”. I asked her if she wanted to go to the playground or see the flowers (duh)…of course we ended up at the playground.

After the park, we went up to 86th street to meet Sunny at Tasti delite. Sunny gave Ella an ice cream cone with rainbow sprinkles. She loved it. She ate it all the way back to NJ. Today was a great day.

Does Ella look happy to be on the swings or what?

“Look mama – it’s a hippo tushie”

Brave Ella checking out the hippo’s teeth

Thanks for the ice cream mommy!

Sunny was gone doing work in the Westchester jails all day and grandma, Ella and I were planning on going swimming. That plan was squashed by the rain. We just hung around the house and the rain finally stopped. I took Ella into NY to meet my friends Rob and Diane. Right across the street from their apartment, in Central Park is this great kid’s park. Ella and I spotted it and spend a little time there before we went to their apartment. Ella had a blast – loved the swings – not a big surprise. She also wanted to run through the water but it just wasn’t happening since she had her out to dinner clothes on. We had fun with Diane and Robby and then went a little downtown to see Nikki B. Nikki has a cat named Mimi who Ella has been doing video chats with but they never met in person. Today they finally met and it was love at first sight. Mimi even got on her hind legs to get to see Ella better. Nikki B, Ella and I had dinner together and then headed downtown to hear AJ perform and to meet Sunny. The place was really crowded and there was nowhere for us to sit so we just hung around outside. I brought Ella in for 2 of AJ’s songs and Ella said “Yay AJ “Yay AJ”. Then Sunny took Ella in a little later and Ella began to scream “Huggy AJ” I guess she didn’t realize that AJ was working. AJ came running out at the end of her set to give little Ella a huggy. It was a sweet night. Ella spent some quality time on Mommy’s shoulders so she got to see the world way up high.

Ella found her dream park!

Ella about to brush Mimi

Making friends forever

Watching the show from Mommy’s shoulders