Visit From Meme & Pop

We had another great weekend! Meme & Pop came to visit & Ella LOVED spending time with them. She read a lot of books, had a tea party, & helped cook breakfast. We had a nice relaxing afternoon & evening at the house Friday. Ella had 2 b-day parties to go to on Saturday. Catie Caroline's was at the Jumping Jym & Allie's at the Children's Museum. Ella was so worn out she fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to come home. What fun! Meme & Pop kept Ella Saturday night while Mommy & Daddy went out to dinner to celebrate their 6th anniversary. Thanks, Mom & Dad - we had a wonderful night out! Sunday morning the rain had moved out & it began warming up a little bit. We were finally able to get outside to play! Meme & Pop brought Ella a new "big slide" with a rock climbing wall. It is PERFECT for Ella & she is going to have a lot of fun playing on it. It was hard to get her to come inside for lunch. Ella says, "Thanks, Meme/Pop!"

Our Little Helper

Ella has become quite a little helper around the house. Recent rituals include feeding Aussie her "cheerios" (that's what Ella calls her dog food,) her baby dolls real cherry tomatoes & helping her animal friends go "potty." Here are some funny pics!

A Week in the Life of...

Ella's social & activity calendar has definitely been keeping us busy. She goes to MDO on Mondays & Wednesdays. She absolutely LOVES it! Every morning as soon as we get upstairs where her classroom is, she runs around the corner, finds both of her teachers & gives them big hugs. She hardly even says goodbye to me or Jeff, because she is so eager to play with her friends. Her favorite part of the day is "stretch & grow." It is a physical fitness type class for toddlers & she is always talking about it on the car ride home. Tuesday morning usually starts out at "gym school" as Ella calls it. She has really come to love the girls that work at the childcare at my gym, too. She runs in & is always ready to play hopscotch, puzzles, or go outside to slide. I am happy she is so comfortable there, so I can get in my workouts without worrying about her. After that, we are onto gymnastics. Ella's favorite thing at gymnastics is jumping & doing tricks on the trampoline. Sometimes it is hard for her to understand that the concrete floor at home is not the same as the trampoline! Thursday morning is gym school again for Ella & then onto Kindermusik. Ever since we began this class, before Ella was even walking, she has thrived every week. She is in her element when singing, dancing, & playing instruments. This class has been a great aid to her development every step of the way. Lately, there are a couple songs where she matches pitch really well for her age (according to Ms. Brooke.) Honestly, it makes me laugh when she gets so serious about her singing! Fridays are usually spent getting together with friends for playdates at home, the park, or the Children's Museum. We are looking forward to summer so we can add swimming & Schlitterbahn into the mix. Once again, Ella has a pretty sweet life as a 2 year-old.

Daddy Time

Ella enjoyed a day & night with Daddy while Mommy made a quick trip to Dallas for Jenny's baby shower. Jeff & Lance took Ella & Landry to Natural Bridge Caverns. Afterwards, Ella said, "I had fun at the caves, but the rocks scare me!" She was a trooper, pushing through her uncertain feelings, & had fun anyway. Daddy wore her little legs out & she wore Daddy's back out (on the way back up.) What an exciting adventure!

Kite Festival

Zilker Kite Festival in Austin, Sunday March 1, 2009. It was a beautiful day for a picnic lunch & kites galore!

Visits From Family

The last 2 weekends Ella got to enjoy visits from aunts & uncles. Jenny & Derek came 2 weekends ago and Cynthia came this past weekend. Each weekend was very relaxing - it was great to just hang around here and let Ella keep everyone laughing. She loves her Aunt Jenny, Uncle D, & Aunt Cici SO much. We tried to explain to Ella that Aunt Jenny had baby Taylor in her belly & Ella just said, "uh uh, nope!" She doesn't quite get it, but we can tell once Taylor is here, Ella is going to be a wonderful big cousin.

Learning Machine

I'm not really one to brag too much, but I'm going to take a minute to update everyone on our little girl's progress. So, it is going to consist of some bragging... Since Ella was about 15 months, she has learned (& mastered very quickly) her colors, shapes, letters & sounds, numbers, counting to 20 & by 10's to 100. Her latest is learning to recognize sight words. "Sight word flashcards" is her newest favorite game. We are fortunate to have a 2 year old that loves to learn & has caught on quicker than we expected to these basic skills. Ella has a wide vocabulary & we are surprised everyday with the words that she uses & the sentences she constructs. We are having so much fun with Ella, watching her soak in all these important building blocks.

This video is too big to post here, but here is Ella's latest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peRBlBGhZxY&feature=channel_page