The Garber Fam: November 2014

Everett's first Halloween meant my first chance to have a costume duo. Meet Ella the Zookeeper and Everett the Monkey. I know I'm biased, but it was totally adorable. Ella loved her panda patch, binoculars, aviator "shades" and dangling keys. Everett tolerated his fancy hat which was a success. So cute, so funny.

Auntie Dora (Sierra) and Uncle Matt took Ella to the pumpkin patch in San Carlos, giving Mommy and Daddy some time at home with newborn Everett. She had a blast and came home with a Mommy/Daddy pumpkin, Ella pumpkin, and brother pumpkin in their respective sizes. She loved playing with the small pumpkins and arranging them in long rows at the patch. It was special for her to have that fun afternoon with Sierra and Matt; so adores them!

Then it came time to help Daddy carve her first pumpkin... I'll let her facial expressions tell you how she felt about it ;)

Meanwhile, Everett supervised...

The Finished Product: Ella's First Carved Pumpkin!

We celebrated the holiday by attending Little Hands' Halloween Party, where the whole school came together for games, snacks, crafts, etc. We invited Papa and Grandma to come, and all of us enjoyed seeing so many adorable toddlers in costume. We were complimented on Ella's costume being "original." She rocked the glasses for most of the party :)

Ella in Full Costume for the Little Hands Halloween Party

Pumpkin Art with Papa

Trick-or-Treating with Grandma:

First Face Painting

Family Pic at the Little Hands Halloween Party

Rainy weather and a newborn swayed our Halloween Day plans to having a fun time around the house. We made and played with orange play dough and had a special Spider Lunch and pink popcorn for snack. Ella loved answering the door for our ONE trick-or-treating family: our next-door neighbors who came to meet Everett with their two kiddos. A dead-end street and hilly nearby streets make for a low-traffic, quiet Halloween night, but that was just right for our young family. Next year will be different I'm sure!

Halloween Night Photo Shoot

Action Shot :)

Our Charming Two-Year-Old

2 Year Checkup

2 Year Stats
Height: 2' 9" (36th percentile)
Weight: 24 lbs 11 oz (24th percentile)

We drove into the parking lot, and Ella said, "Dr. Lynch, feel better."

Like Father Like Daughter
Reading about Iraq in the Waiting Room

Ella is quite the linguist. She talks all day every day, using full sentences and both verbal and facial expressions that make us laugh. She's non-stop-- playing, running, singing, and dancing from when she wakes up until nap time, and then when she wakes up again until bedtime. She's bursting with personality, and she has such a sweet nature about her. She makes every day fun and exhausting.

Likes:

Dancing... all of the time. She likes to dance to Disney songs (Tarzan, Cinderella, Frozen, and Little Mermaid are her favorite soundtracks) and Daddy's music (fast and rockin typically), and she requests you dance with her with "both hands" over and over again.
Dressing up. Right around her 2nd birthday, the want to dress up ignited. She wants her wings, her dancing skirt ("princess dress"), slippers (fancy dress shoes), bunny ears or animal hat, and cape on as much as possible, and preferably all at once.
Trains and big trucks. We greet every train we see, and she yells "whooooaaaa" every time we pass or see a big truck.
Art. From painting to glue and coloring, Ella loves "painting" which is what she calls all art projects.
Her Big Girl Room. Before Everett arrived, Ella moved into her brand new room (formerly known as the office) complete with a reading nook under a canopy which she loves. It now has a "big girl bed", too, as Ella climbed out of her crib within days of us being home from having the baby.
Mickey & Minnie Mouse (and the whole Clubhouse gang), Thomas the Train, & princesses.
The swings... nothing's changed since she was 6 months old. Ella runs to the swings first every time we go to the park :)
Play dough and stickers
Her beloved monkey pacifier... "I need monkey. Monkey feel better"
Doing things "myself"... climbing into her highchair, into her bed, into her carseat, up and down stairs... you name it, she'd like to try it herself :)
Dairy. Cheese, yogurt, milk... she would eat dairy all day every day if we let her.
Cooking. Ella loves her play kitchen, and she "cooks" every day, most times wearing her apron Sierra gave her for her birthday. She's also started helping more in the real kitchen. She loves to bake with us, and she'll stir, pour, and taste anything we let her. She uses the step stool to help me cook, and I love it as much as she does.
Our bedtime routine of reading books and drinking milk, teeth, and song time. "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "Twinkle Twinkle," and "Slippery Fish" continue to be the favorites and most requested.

Dislikes:

Not being in charge, in control, etc. She likes when things are her idea. Too bad she's not in charge ;)
Veggies at first sight... We're having more successes with trying and then liking them though. We'll keep at it!
It could be anything depending on the moment. She's a two-year-old, and she changes her mind by the minute. She keeps us on our toes, and we're mastering the art of distraction along with other parenting techniques.
Ending fun things... Leaving the park and other outings, finishing an art project, cleaning up games/toys, etc. It's always hard to stop a good thing.