Girls' Day at the Zoo

Every Sunday Mom and Ella hang out together while Dad is at work. This past week we made a day of it and took a field trip out to western Mass and found a zoo, park, and train ride. Mommy and Ella wake up early and we left the house pretty early too. We got to the zoo park a half hour before it opened. Lucky for us they came prepared and had a beautiful garden to walk through and a big Ella-fied playground.



There were tons of kids at the playground already, apparently Ella isn't the only early bird. Suprisingly many of them were exactly the same age as Ella. We met a little friend on the slide who was a little afraid, so Ella showed him out it was done.



Then it was zoo time. We were off - we saw monkeys (to which Ella always said "who who who"), wolves, chickens, kangaroo, turtles, bears, a caged racoon (hopefully not for rabies purposes), and Ella favorite - a giant bunny.



After a long walk around the zoo, we were off to the train. That was Mom's favorite part. We got the whole train to ourselves for a small fee of $6. Plus the weather was just right - sunny and breezy.

After all of that fun, it was time to eat - and boy did Ella enjoy a very yummy grilled cheese.



After a good lunch and a lot of fun it was time for the big ride home. We hit the car and giggled the whole way. Miss Ella figured out that she can stick her finger up her nose and Mommy couldn't help but laugh along.



A perfect day!

Birthday Fun

Ella's social schedule seems to be growing every day, and she does her best to have fun and be the life of any party she attends. This past weekend, she attended a birthday party for her good friend, Max. But first, before the party, we needed a present. Her parents found a great present, while Ella did a little shopping for herself...



She loves computers. Sorry kid, maybe next year.

Next, we needed to wrap it. Ella helped decorate the wrapping paper.



Finally, every little lady needs to have her bag and get herself made up. Here, Ella pulls her play lipstick out of her play purse and starts putting it on! (They grow up so fast.)



The party was held at Gymboree, and was a blast. Lots of fun games, lots of running around, and Ella worked the balance beam like a champ.



Of course, every good birthday party has cake!



After the party, we headed out for dinner...



...which naturally, also ended in cake. (Love you, Chocolate-Face!)

Ahoy Matey

We had been enjoying some sunny weather, but mostly we've just been enjoying some nice nights out. Last week we made a big picnic dinner and headed to a local beachy area with a very nice pirate ship playground.





Ella enjoy sliding, and a little peanut butter and jelly sandwich too.

We didn't quite realize it was such a beachy park, but Ella couldn't get enough. She is quite the daredevil and just lauches herself into the water. She likes to dive, crawl, and run. Splashing the whole way too. So much fun!

18 Month Check-up

So... really it was closer to her 19 month birthday, but Ella had her most recent pediatrician visit this week and here are the results... she is still perfect!



Here are the stats:

Weight is 24 lbs even - 40th %
Height is 33 inches - 70th %

(for those keeping score that is 1 inch and almost 2 lbs in 3 months)



Dr. Gentile had absolutely nothing to add, he just kept smiling, as did we. Unfortunately though with all that growing, the tug boat seems to be getting a little smaller.

For comparison sake - here is a little Ella at 8/9 months old.

Reed Ella Reed -- Agent .001

We've been busy visiting family and friends, or having them visit us... so we also took a trip to see Great Grandma while we were in CT for the reunion. We are pretty lucky as Ella keeps herself pretty amused at restaurants and in the car. This time she became agent .001 as she used her super secret shoe phone.

The Littlest Colello

Ella has a fun day on Saturday at her 2nd Colello reunion. She had some wonderful little friends to play with and enjoyed pasta and balloons too.



Here are the pictures from the day. Here are the Colellos...



Here are the Wannabee Colellos...



And here is a tired little Ella after all of the Italian fun.

Grace's Cousin

Ella had a wonderful day visiting with Nana, Aunt Kris, and of course Cousin Grace. They visited Old Sturbridge Village, testing out the boat ride, and then joined Mommy for dinner. It was a lot of fun, especially when Grace introduced herself to everyone as Ella's cousin. Here are some of our favorite pictures.

What a year can do...

Happy 4th of July 2008



Happy 4th of July 2009



Where did our baby go??

The Littlest Cook

After much searching, we finally found the perfect play kitchen for Ella. She's been fascinated by kitchens and play kitchens for so long now, possibly because her parents spend so much time in the kitchen, so we had to make sure we found a good one. And this one has it all: fridge, oven, microwave, even a toaster that's a dead ringer for our real life toaster. Ella loved it immediately.



She seemed to know what to do without any prompting for us. She puts food in the fridge, takes it out again, fixes herself a plate of play food, and sits down on the little stool to play eat.



We seem to be raising a little cook, here. But that's not such a bad thing. While Ella makes herself a play dinner...



...Mommy can make a real dinner. The end result? Ella, happy as a clam, and trying to share her green beans. Is there anything in the world better than this?