Chatter

We have a constant running commentary, mixed with quotes from books and song singing going on these days. Here are a few clips of the little voice that keeps me company (and then some):


On Ella's farm there are EGGS that get CRACKED here, and here, and here...


An old favorite, monkeys jumping on the bed


Accurate counting! She has been counting in sequence for a long time, but just recently has started to pick up actually counting. She is starting to recognize letters (R, F, U, O and B so far) and can sing the alphabet song, but never on command. She also knows the basic colors (except yellow for some reason) and loves watching the traffic lights turning "orange" then red then green again, with extra excitement for the left turn arrows.

*Disclaimer: I'm listing these things for my memory as her baby book stopped at 12 months, and this is the most convenient place to document her development. Feel free to skip right over the captions if you're not a grandparent!

An Art Study

In the past few weeks, Ella's creative expression (stop laughing, Dad) has changed pretty dramatically. See for yourself:


OLD WORKS

Plate 1: straight line scribbles (Greg did the hand outlines and other obvious parent doodling)

Plate 2: more straight line scribbles, one orange parent assisted circle on left, three independent orange circle attempts at top, and parent doodles in yellow

NEW WORKS

Plate 3: Lots of colors, lots of circles, even a parrot (red scribbles in middle of page), a "bird" and a "mouse" "on the table looking for food." She also signed her name in purple above the big blob, next to the green star.

Plate 4: Even more circles, "letters" (at the bottom in red) and a "mouse."

"Simple Gifts"

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free,
'Tis the gift to come down where you ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.

When true simplicity is gain'd,
To bow and to bend we shan't be asham'd,
To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

Listening to YoYoMa, Itzhak Pearlman and the other musicians perform the arrangement of this Shaker hymn was so touching/moving for me this morning. Ella was dancing around the room, clapping when the camera showed people celebrating, waving her arms when they showed the crowd waving flags, and saying, "Where'd Obama go?" when they panned away from his face. What a gift to live in America and witness this historical day. I am feeling hopeful for our children's future and that they will all "come round right."

Bedtime Rituals

Yesterday we stumbled upon Ella putting Elmo and bunny to bed, and had the camera handy to catch the tail end of "You are My Sunshine" and an "I love you". She has been in her big girl bed for 7 nights now, and it is going smoothly this time around. We put a baby gate in her door and she only got out of bed at cried at the gate one night, for less than 5 minutes. Looks like Baby Sister will get a crib after all!

I floating!

Have you ever...

...wondered to yourself, "Why in the world would anyone want to live in Arizona?"

Here are two good reasons:


Fresh tangelos and grapefruits picked from our trees in the backyard...

...all juiced up and in a pitcher in the fridge. I'm in heaven.

p.s. It is 70 degrees outside.

Hiatus

Greg and I were lucky enough to get away for 4 days to S. California this past week (thanks to G-ma and Papa). Baby-free! The longest I have been away from her in the past 22.5 months is overnight, so 4 straight days was a bit of a shock to my system. It was great to relax and not have any parenting duties to worry about. However by the third night, I couldn't even sleep because I missed her so much. Thankfully we have 16 years to learn to cope before she leaves us for college. Yesterday morning was the first time since her first 2 months of life that I lept out of bed at her first cry for a good morning hug. Vacation is good for everyone!

New Sarah and Uncle Steve

Sarah and Steve Franklin came to visit us for a few days of their trip to the US from London. We are so happy they were willing to cut short their time with the rest of the Franklins and McWilliams to come spend time with us in AZ. They arrived the day after Sarah (Jeffries) Johnson left town~Ella was a little confused about this woman we called Sarah who clearly was not the Sarah she was expecting to see. But, after a few (or 15) minutes of screaming in the car, she warmed up to New Sarah and had a ball playing with Elmo and baking cakes together. She even woke up from her nap asking for New Sarah. Uncle Steve was a little bit harder to get used to (for what reason, only Ella knows, he's great with her). We made the mistake of laughing at her when she ran from him, and thus began the frustrating game of "no Uncle Steve." Fortunately for my sanity, she was willing to offer up a lip kiss at bedtime, so she's really just masking her love, and trying to get us to laugh. We're going to have to work on her manners! The four adults went out to a great dinner last night, and Greg and Steve had some quality brother time playing golf today, and going out in Old Town tonight. We wish we could see you two more often~Safe travels and thank you for coming!

Cousins

Maggie, Zoe and Sarah came to visit after Christmas this year. We had a lot of fun watching the cousins playing together. Ella so looks up to them, imitating them and following their every move. They had a sleepover at G-ma and Papa's house both nights, so I was able to sleep in two days in a row. We also visited the Phoenix Zoo on a beautiful day. Zoe and Maggie are wonderful with their little cousin; they make my life so easy when they're in town. Come back soon!

Our new pet

Ella's cousins gave her a cute stuffed animal that looks like their crazy cat (dog~he plays fetch) Sunny Boy for Christmas. She first fell in love with Sunny last fall, continued the love affair over Skype video conferencing when we went back to Florida last winter, and rekindled the flames a few weeks ago when we visited Tucson. Now, she has her very own Sunny Boy to take care of. The last photo is not staged...she uses the sink from her new kitchen as a food and water bowl for both Sunny and Hailey, and today made the connection that he should be fed on the mat, like Hailey.

Here's a video of the real deal from October 2007: