Recently

Doing her best Gertie impersonation

An art table of her very own, in need of some inspiration and spiffing

That girl and her dog

Happy 4th of July!

Gopher Cheeks

Difficulty

Christian the Lion

Here is a video of Ella watching this video clip.
She says "kitty" every time we go into the office, and points to the computer until I put it on for her. She loves this!

Foolin' around

Oops~

Smile, Ella! For some reason she thinks she needs to close her eyes to smile at the camera

Ella loves our new bed~ I can't blame her, we do too

We finally had her 15 month appointment, a week before she turned 16 months. She weighs
25 lbs 12 oz and is 33 inches long. 85th % in weight, >95th % in height

Because it wouldn't be summer without swimming

Watching Dad swim

Diving for her rings

Cool new crab goggles

We're working on pool safety, especially how to hold onto the side and get out of the pool. She has mastered holding her breath and swimming (when I say swimming, I mean we push her) between Greg and I. On Wednesdsay she was holding her breath and going under water to look for and retrieve her rings. We are so happy to have a pool right out the back door, especially now that we're into the second week of 110+ temps.

Itsy-Bitsy Mother

Ella just did the cutest thing EVER. I was on the phone, and she was playing with her baby doll, pointing to her eyes, etc. Then she sat her baby up on the floor facing her, and started to "sing" The Itsy-Bitsy Spider to her (or do the hand motions and babble on incoherently). Damn the video camera and its battery always being dead when I actually need it!

"Dad!"

We've come a long way since this day last year! Ella is so much happier and such a joy to be around. This morning I got up with her and closed our bedroom door so Greg could sleep in...but Ella had other plans. She loves to yell "Dad!!!" and she is usually rewarded with a booming "El-la!!!" from Greg. But, since he was in bed, she just kept calling for him, "Dad! ... Dada ... Dad! ... Daddy ... Dad! ..." And, being the great father that he is, he promptly got out of bed, swung open the door, and yelled "El-la!!!" without even one complaint.

Attack of the Inside-Out-Dress-On-Her-Head Monster