Fall, like summer, has been moving by quickly. Between work/Chris traveling, school, illness (everyone is currently--knock on wood--healthy), music class, Little Hands, and family and friend time/events, we've had full plates and lots of fun.
Week after week, Ella is the dirtiest baby leaving Little Hands, as she loves to play in the bark, grass, sand, leaves... you name it. I love watching her explore. When our friend Sierra was over this weekend, she said it perfectly. Ella is so thoughtful in her actions. You can see her little wheels turning with everything she does now.
In the last month or so she's had a baby sign language explosion. She signs please, thank you, cracker (can say this, too, over and over again like a parrot), food/eat, drink, milk, water, banana (and a few other fruits), sleep, oatmeal/cereal, hat, baby... we're discovering new things she's signing to us every day it seems like. It's been awesome for her to be able to communicate.
If I could pick Ella's "favorite thing" of the moment, it would be Jackson. She loves to play with him, play near him, wear his harness, lay on his bed, jingle his collar, bring him his toys one by one, use him as a step up to the couch... she's totally into him, and it melts our hearts.
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| "Ella, give Jackson a kiss" |
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| "Max, give Ella a kiss" |
Not sure how it started, but Chris and I call her Ella Bear. It turns out that Ella has a stuffed polar bear that she loves, too. So when I saw this adorable polar bear Halloween costumer online, I thought it'd be perfect. And it was. It was just cool enough outside for her to not overheat in the fur suit. At the Workday "Bring Your Ghouls to Workday" party we did have to take her paws (with claws!) and hat off periodically, though. She had the coziest costume around!
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| Thank you for my stuffed polar bear, Mrs. Duyn and Mrs. Martin |
We went to the Little Hands Halloween Party where I painted faces for the first hour and Ella came with her dad and grandma to play for the second hour. It was fun to show Grandma around!
Auntie Kathleen, Uncle Brad, and Auntie Katelyn all work at Workday and invited us (and Grandma Ellie and Papa Goofy) to their awesome Halloween event. We toured the completely themed-out and transformed cubicles, one floor at a time, tasting treats along the way. Monsters Inc., Vegas and Star Wars were among the themes as pictured below.
We had some family time at the pumpkin patch this Halloween, too!
On Chris's birthday we enjoyed the day with family and friends. We saw Tyler wrestle at San Francisco State, who we hadn't seen since his going away to college; later we had pizza, wine, and cheesecake with our great friends Bob, Lynsey, and Addison, who were in town from Seattle. Addison and Ella are only one week apart, and it was so much fun to see how alike they are! Two sweet peas in a pod :)
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| Reunited with Uncle Tyler |
Here are some fun pictures from a few of our Thursday dates with Grandma.
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| No fear (for Ella, that is) |
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| Ella LOVES the slide; it's coming close to the joy of the swings... |
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| and apparently black beans? |
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| "What? Do I have something on my face or something?" |
Here are some action shots of our thoughtful, playful, and expressive girl. Big hits at our house these days include Ella's red car, the cardboard box house (complete with cut-out windows), Great Papa's baby doll bed, leaves, the castle (mostly because Ella dances to the noise the horses make as they move down the ramp), Jackson's harness, and of course, tupperware.
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| Best Hair Day Ever |
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| Bath time continues to be one of our favorite things to do |
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| Baby Signing Time |
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"Where's your hat, Ella?"
It still fits great this season, Great Grandma Barbi! |
We're still on the look out for her first steps. She cruises around the house and walks pretty steadily holding on to one finger, but she's yet to let go. Stay tuned :)
