El-phant.

Ella took Russ to the zoo for the first time and showed him the el-phants and all her other critter friends. Her favorite is the one she gets to ride... the carousel.

Along the way, Russ and Ella discovered a tent with a nice shady spot to sit. They discussed what we'd seen so far, and Ella climbed back into her stylin' zoo stroller. I decided that while the stroller is Ella's natural habitat, Russ's natural habitat is the shaded cabana. Mine happens to be the snack bar.

Big City Here We Come.

Ella made her first trip downtown recently! I can't believe it took us two years to take her, but I guess there was just never a reason. Until now.

While we were watching TV one Saturday, a commercial for Disney on Ice came on. Ella want ballistic. Squealing, jumping, laughing hysterically. It was quite a surprise to me and Russ, who soberly watched the incident unfold, because she has never seen anything Disney before. Once Ella's Daddy sees that she wants something that badly, no amount of logic (like how long will she sit still in a seat?) can overcome his determination to make her happy.

So off we went. We had dinner at a nice local restaurant, and Ella thought the chicken strips were divine. A short walk later, we watched the whole show and she was great. We'd prepped her on who Mickey and Minnie were, and watched The Little Mermaid the week before, so she knew a few charachters. She calls Ariel "A-e-o-e-o."

Her favorite part was the folding seat that she could move up and down, and climb in and out of. She watched MOST of the show...

On a related note, we bought her a little Minnie Mouse at the show and she has fallen in love yet again. Now we must take Minnie AND Pig everywhere. And the roll call at night includes Pig, Minnie, Sheep, Monkey, Pink Bear, and sometimes even Barbie. The bed is getting so crowded I think we'll have to find Ella somewhere else to sleep.

Birthday Baby.

Ella Grace Edwards turned two on September 6th. I must have turned around or fallen asleep for a few minutes because I swear I JUST brought her home from the hospital, and now she's two.

We'll be having a party in a couple of weeks, because I procrastinate, so on her special day we did two things she loves-- ate dinner at Panera and went jumping.

Here Ella and I slide together!

It usually takes her a few minutes to get warmed up, but then she's unstoppable. Here are a few of her jumping, with and without Daddy.

When Russ complains about getting INJURED at the jump place with little burns on his elbows and knees, it's not because the place is unsafe. It's because he does stuff like this.
For all of you yoga and pilates lovers out there, this is why they call it child's pose!

I can't believe my tiny baby is big enough, and brave enough, to do this.

Ella darling, it takes a lot of courage to climb up that big slide on your own. There will be many mountains that you'll climb in your life. Sometimes I'll be there to carry you up, but there will come a day when you'll have to face challenges on your own. No matter what happens on the way up or down that hill, know that I will always, always be waiting at the bottom to catch you.

Happy Birthday G!

We celebrated G's birthday by going out to dinner. Here, G shares a cookie with his favorite little friend!

Labor Day Weekend.

Ella and I spend Labor Day weekend at Mimi and Poppi's house. Ella's favorite cousin Kalynn spent the weekend with us and they had a wonderful time playing together for three straight days!

Whatever one does, the other must do also. Saturday night Ella climbed in bed with Kalynn, situated herself under the blankets, and said "ni ni." (Translation: night night.)

Don't grow up so fast, little one! You still have a few months left in the crib!

The highlight of the weekend was Ella finding some of Poppi's glasses and parading around in them. Kalynn quickly followed her lead, and we laughed until we cried.

Kalynn and Ella discuss quantum physics!

Ella reached a little milestone by climbing up four steps-- WITH NO HANDS-- on Mimi's front and back porches. The views at Mimi's house are well worth the climb up the steps!

Here Ella "rock rocks" in a rocking chair just her size.

Over the Foothill.

I turned 30 (gulp) at the end of July. It feels pretty much the same as 29, in case you were wondering!

I don't have any pictures, but my MIL Laura and Russ conspired to throw a surprise birthday dinner at Mike & Laura's at the end of August. I had no clue!

It was so nice to get to spend time with friends and see all the kids play together. Every birthday should be so lovely!

Halloween Comes Early.

It seems like every day Ella becomes less baby, more girl. Dressing up is now SO funny, and trying to walk in my high-heeled shoes can either bring this little drama queen to height of exhilaration or the lowest depths of frustration.

When her Halloween costume came in we attempted to try it on her to make sure it fit. She prefers it backwards and inside out, paired with upside-down sunglasses, of course!

She's usually not much of a ham for the camera, but kept kicking up her leg. I only take the pictures-- asking questions isn't in my job description.

I Cookie.

Ella's favorite thing, apart from Piggy of course, is cookies. Daddy and Ella have had "special cookie time" almost every night lately, and mommy is seeking to put a ban on it happening quite so often. When he walks in she yells, "Daddy! I cookie I cookie I cookie I cookie I cookie I cookie..."

Here we are at the pool in August enjoying a nice day and an AMAZING chocolate chip cookie. Trust me when I say that it's not pleasant when the extra-good cookie runs out. I maintain that Russ had more than his fair share of it, but bygones...

New Pics.

Here are a few of Ella's 18-month pictures that we had done earlier this year.

Ft. Lauderdale.

Russ and I got to go down to Ft. Lauderdale in July for a conference I was attending. I had never been before, and I must say that we enjoyed it quite a lot. We stayed at the Hyatt Pier 66 which seemed to be a fabulous old deco resort of the 50s/60s that's been re-done in sleek white. It was truly refreshing to me just to stay there.

Ft. Lauderdale is called the Venice of America because waterways were dug and land piled up to create a very interesting topography from what once was swampland. From the air, flying in, I could see that there were streets that led to the front of houses and waterways that led to the back. I guess Floridians park their cars out front and their boats out back!

We didn't even have to rent a car because a water taxi takes one everywhere he may need to go, including the swanky little shopping district where we went once for crepes and twice for gelato. Along the way, we saw mansions of some of the country's most successful business owners. They range for $30-$60 million, in case you're looking for a nice place to live! The new ones are in grand Floridian style, of course, but the old ones are the charming little bungalows of stars like Vivien Leigh (Scarlett O'Hara).

The yachts themselves were quite a sight to behold, and since Ft. Lauderdale is a major port-of-call, we got to see some humongous cruise ships too.

Here's a shot of the tower of our hotel, though it doesn't show the courtyard with villas and swanky new pool. It gets four stars from me!

Oopsie.

I know, it's been at least a decade since I updated this dilapidated old blog. I promise to do better. But let's face it, you don't pay to read the crazy things I say so do you really have room to complain? :)