Ella is One!

Because I want to send out photos for family as soon as possible, I'm going to put pictures now (out of order) and add text, video, and other shared photos later. Long story short, our beautiful girl is one, and we had a wonderful date at the park to celebrate. Happy Birthday Ella!

First Day at Little Hands Co-Op

We just got back from our first 2 hour baby class at Little Hands, a co-op preschool in Belmont. I was so excited about it and the great pictures, I had to share!

The water table, snack time, song time, and ball pit were definitely some of Ella's highlights. She had so much fun, she didn't seem to mind we totally skipped her morning nap. I'm so excited to have this special play time to look forward to every week. Both Ella and I already made some new friends :)

Rockin' with her new friend

Sitting at the table for snack time like a big girl!

The water table was a hit!

Ella LOVED this.
She loved it so much that both her monkey and outfit took a shower.

"Maybe I'll just go to bed with the babies"

My lesson from our first class: bring an extra outfit and a container of cheerios. Ella had so much fun at the water table, we had to borrow a onesie from a friend. And after Ella finished her cheese stick and crackers, she hunted every kid down who had a stash of cheerios. Ha!

Countdown to a Year

11 months and counting! It's hard to believe our little baby is going to turn one soon. I have to admit that I've been having some sad moments recently-- thinking about how quickly she's growing and becoming a toddler. It's easy to cheer back up, though, as she giggles back and forth, climbs on you for hugs, bounces to music, LOVES her food, understands so much of what we say, plays games, looks so proud when she pulls herself up to standing... I'm in awe of her. She is such a joy. We are so blessed.

As for updates, we went to San Diego and Tahoe in August and made wonderful family memories in both places. I'm thinking I'll do a separate Tahoe post soon once I've collected pictures from all who took them. Chris started his new position at Acxiom, I started a new school year, and we've kept up a pretty full social calendar in between. We enrolled for the fall semester of Music Together, the class we took this summer that Ella (and I) loved so much. I'm also really excited to be starting both Ella and I in the once-a-week baby class at a co-op preschool in Belmont this month. I'm excited to be learning right along with her!

New Tricks:
-Pulling up to a stand on anything and everything
-Pointing
-Signing back ("more" and "milk" mostly)
-Eskimo kisses
-Lots of facial expressions (see "the stink face" below)
-Road-tripping to and from Tahoe without a meltdown (impressive, right?)
-Reaching out to people and hugging back

Likes:
-Food! (spinach, zucchini, mango, peach, and applesauce packs are some of her favorite veggies and fruits)
-Morning oatmeal with fruit (her body shakes with excitement)
-Her monkey pacifier and having people kiss the monkey
-The pool and the sand
-FaceTiming her family
-Music! (In music class, in the car, while playing, singing with mom; Loves the Music Together CD, REO Speedwagon, Pandora's Raffi station, and "Blurred Lines" to be specific)
-Shakers and drums
-Climbing and poking at Jackson (his collar is her fav)
-Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
-Yellow ducks (in books, in the bath... all of them)
-Bath time

Dislikes:
-The end of meal time-- this girl loves to eat
-Growing molars
-Having her nose wiped

Our water baby at the beach in San Diego

Dinner with Great Grandma Barbi

Thanks for my dress and hat, Great Grand Nana!

"The Stink Face"

BBQ at Sean, Stacy & Landon's House in July
Stacy takes fantastic pics-- stay tuned for 1 Year photos from her :)

Jocelyn (my teaching partner) and I
First Day of School 2013

Thanks for my outfit Great Grandma Barbie!

Weekend snuggles

First time eating Dad's waffles. Delicious!

"Look what I can do!"

First time eating Spaghetti... well wearing Spaghetti is more like it.