No small feat

(By JPC)

Ellie was playing with her shoes by the front door this afternoon, in an attempt to give me the hint that she wanted to go outside. I looked away for a minute and when I looked back, she had one of her sandals on...correctly! I watched in amazement as she put on the other sandal. Of course I had to take her outside after that!

Happy Family

Social Butterfly

(By JPC)

Ellie had quite the busy weekend! She was invited to 2 birthday parties this weekend, which of course meant 2 party dresses! The first party was at Build-A-Bear and Ellie loved it! Lori took her since I had to stay home and study. We all went to the second party which was a birthday BBQ at our friend's house. Happy Birthday, Pat and Nora!

Getting instructions on how to put the bear together

Now that her bear is stuffed and dressed, Ellie spent lots of time brushing its hair (her favorite part of the bear building!)

Gathering to sing to the birthday girl!

A sleepy Ellie listens to the singing

At the birthday BBQ, Ellie gets a push from mommy while she rides around the yard

I make egg-free, dairy-free cupcakes to bring along so that she can have a treat with the other kids - so far she hasn't caught on to the difference, but we know the day is coming quickly! Right now she just enjoys the sugary treat.

Ellie and Lori went for a swim early this morning before it got too crowded at the pool. It was a bit chilly so Ellie spent much of the time on a beach chair watching her mommy swim

Ellie can say her name!

Puzzled

(By JPC)

Last weekend, we bought Ellie her first puzzles. She was able to do one of them right away and really enjoyed it, although, as made obvious in the pictures below, perhaps it was too easy!

Father's Day

(By JPC)

We spent Father's Day with Mimi and Boppa, celebrating Ellie's grandfathers. Here are a few pictures from that day as well as the day before when Ellie made Boppa's gift. Happy Father's Day!

After Boppa's handprint gift was made, Ellie did some fingerpainting on the front steps. I made the mistake of painting the "E" on her chest - once that was done, she took the idea and painted most of her reachable body parts!

Boppa's gift to place in his garden

Too dirty to risk the trip to her bathroom for a traditional bath. The kitchen sink was the closest spot for a quick rinse!

Boppa and Ellie heading out for a walk

Ellie's ready to do a little gardening with Boppa

And of course the most exciting thing about Mimi and Boppa's house is Buddy! Unfortunately, Ellie is allergic to Buddy and breaks out in hives when she touches him. She still loves to be near him and feed him treats though. Buddy tolerates it very well!

Sierra Leone

One of our friends is from Sierra Leone amd she went back last year for a visit. She brought back 2 outfits and a pair of sandals for Ellie and we have been waiting for her to be able to wear them. They are still a little big, but Ellie wore one for a little while tonight. She was a bit confused by the movement of all the tiny shells hanging from the bottom of the top and skirt!

Thank you, Dorinda! We hope that you are doing well and not too bored at home :-)

Little Swimmer

(By JPC)

Now that our pool is open all week, we have been heading over after work every day to take a quick swim. Ellie is starting to warm up to it and even gets excited when we walk over. She still clings to one of us the entire time, but she is starting to kick her feet and splash her arms around in the water. Of course, she's the cutest baby at the pool!

Ready to swim!

Ellie and Mommy

Cutest girl at the pool

Bringing mommy a towel (with the message that it's time

to get out of the pool and go home!)

Taking a break from her busy life to relax by the pool

Story Hour

(By JPC)

Last weekend Ellie and I went to her first story hour at the library. Once a week they have a story hour specifically for kids under age 2. Ellie was a little shy around the other kids, which surprised me since she loves the kids at day care, but she loved listening to the nursery rhymes. I brought my camera with me just in case there was an opportunity to photograph this big event, but I wasn't sure if it would be appropriate for the library. No worries - as soon as the story teller was done reading, 95% of the moms (yes, it was only moms) whipped out their digital cameras to capture their little ones running around the library. What a sign of the times! We even took a picture using the cell phone to send to Lori :-)

Ready to leave for the library

Looking for a good place to sit

Playing after story hour is over

Showing off the stamp she got on her hand from the story teller for being a good listener!

New red wagon

(by JPC)

We all spent Saturday at Mimi and Boppa's house. Lori had an appointment with the eye doctor and Jana studied; meanwhile Ellie had lots of fun! The hit of the weekend was Ellie's new red wagon. Ellie has been saying "Boppa" for a while now, but this week she also started saying "Mimi". She asked for both of them the whole way home!

Hittin' the road in her new sunglasses (or as Ellie calls them her "eyes")

The first ride in her wagon after "helping" Boppa put it together

Going for a walk with Boppa

Feet up and relaxing!

Thank you, Mimi and Boppa!

Firegirl

Ellie got the oppurtunity to sit in a fire truck a few weeks ago at a street fair...

The newest fashion accessory

(By JPC)

Ellie models this year's hottest fashion "must-have" - PlayDoh! It's available in many colors that will match the stains on the front of your shirt no matter what you had for lunch. We chose red today for all the tomato and watermelon stains we were wearing!

All the cool babies at day care will be wearing (and eating) it!

Farmer Ellie

(By JPC)

Last summer when we bought our house, it came with a large pot of basil growing on the patio. We loved having fresh basil at our disposal everyday, but of course we did not take care of it during the winter. The other day we decided to replant basil in the now empty pot and Ellie loved helping (mostly by digging in the dirt). We may not have a lot of space for gardening, but I think that a pot of basil may be enough for now. Maybe next year we'll add mint or rosemary! The overalls on our little farmer were just coincidental...