Come On Party People!

Ella helped her friend Evan celebrate his 1st birthday at the Gymboree this weekend. Here are the highlights in pictures. Make sure to look at Ella and her little buddy in the pully sled laughing at each other. She had an absolute blast!









And of course, the best part...

Walk for Babies 2009

If you count this weekend, Ella has participated in three walk-a-thons... two for homelessness (one inutero) and now the March of Dimes, March for Babies. Mom works with moms, dads, and little kids - newborn to 3. Each family Mom works with has their own great strengths, and at the same time faces the biggest of obstacles. Over the past few years, Mom has seen too many premature babies being born... bringing with them medical challenges no adult should face. The littles babies need help to, and since Mom had a perfectly healthy post-due date baby we wanted to give back a little too.



So we took the ride to Worcester. Loaded up the stroller - it had to be fully stocked after all. Sippy cup -check, golfish crackers - check, emergency booper - check, water bottle - check, diapers/wipers - check. We were good. We made our way to the registration table around nap time and ran as the walk had just started. We were the last to register, almost at the end of the long line, and yet by the end we succeeded.



Ella and Mom walked a full 3-4 miles in about an hour. Ella required half a cup of juice, five crackers, and a 20 minute nap. Ella only exited the stroller once, and that was within viewing distance of the finish (she must have felt the excitement.) Luckily at the end of the walk we were greeted by friendly faces. (A wookie?? We don't get it either)...



And a lovely little outdoor play set-up. Perfect!! We're already looking forward to next year.

Fishy Fishy

Our little fishy went to the New England Aquarium in Boston for the first time this week. She joined Mom, Dad, and our friend Lisa. It was a lot of fun. We were warned by a friend that there wouldn't be a lot to do, but we quickly found that Ella would have been happy to move in. She absolutely loved it - the giant circular fish tank, the touch and feel pond, and most of all - penguins!



So, by now you may have noticed that Ella keeps getting bigger... well, what you may not be able to tell is that Ella is also getting super strong. We had to do everything we could to prevent her from leaping (head first of course) into the giant penguin exhibit.



So far, Ella shows no fear, although sometimes a little shyness when you ask her to say hi to an adult she doesn't know. She wanted at the penguins. She wanted to pull herself up for a better look...



She wanted to be picked up for a better look...



Lucky for us she was happy enough waving hello from above.



She also really liked the big big tanks. She wanted an up close look there too...

Although the funniest part of the day was at the touch and feel tank, where Ella dove right in an picked up some starfish. The woman running the exhibit mistakeningly thought Ella tried to eat a starfish... silly lady.



But all the same, we moved onto the kids play place just to ease her mind.



But after all those fishies - it was time for a nice dinner with some good friends. Ella feasted on chicken, green beans, cheese, milk, and her new favorite - peanuts. She always eats really well, we are blessed to have a kid with a great appetite, and an even better sense of humor :)

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

Going to Work?

Sometimes Ella is awake when Mommy leaves for work in the morning. This past week Ella got her shoes on, her coat "on" and waited at the door for Mommy to head out. If it wasn't the cutest thing ever, it would have broke Mommy's heart to leave. Luckily Ella hugs are always there to greet Mom or Dad when they come home.

Let's Play

Ella is a busy 16 month old. (How is she 16 months already??) We have been having fun touring playgrounds all around town and playing outside. Here are some of the pictures from another great week with a really great little girl.





Here's Ella visiting the playground at her future elementary school for the first time.



Dad took Ella to her third (and probably last) egg hunt of the year. The Moms Club held their annual egg hunt and Ella went to work again at collecting, playing and smiling with her friends.

A few more Easter firsts...

We know that Easter was a week ago, but Ella still had some fun to have. Ella and Mommy went over to her friend Max's for a nice Easter lunch. Ella was a big girl and sat at the table.



She then took a second go at egg hunting at Max's house. She did such a good job that she filled up her little bucket in minutes flat. Then Ella did something amazingly brilliant. Since her basket was full she needed another way to collect eggs, so she found a shopping cart, put her full basket inside and just kept going. Smart kid!!



Then it was time to color eggs. Ella got right into it. She sat on Dads lap and helped dunk each egg into a series to colored dyes. We started the job with a dozen eggs and a pretty Easter dress...



We ended the egg dying with a baby in a diaper, and 11 eggs. She had a blast.



The eggs were absolutely beautiful.



To end a fun day we had Max and his family over for a little Easter dinner. Ella and Max had a great time playing and being silly. She even took him for a ride in her new car.

What a fun day!!

Happy Easter!

Ella was in full Easter mode today, ready to meet up with one very important bunny! She had her bunny ears ready...





We headed off to the candy mandsion to meet the Easter Bunny. All things considered, Ella took sitting on the Bunny's lap very well. She even waited in line pretty patiently... although Dad was getting a little restless.



She got all dressed up for occasion (in a little outfit one of Dad's new Dad friends gave us as his daughter is getting big) with shiny white shoes and all.





After visiting the Easter Bunny, we had to pick up a few things at the store. Ella went right for the biggest box of goldfish crackers she could find...



...and Mom and Dad picked up an Easter ham for tomorrow.

Then, home we went. And despite the rain, Ella had a chance to try out her Easter present, her new car.



What a sweet ride! Then, it was time for a little milk... (Mom loves watching her take care of her baby so sweetly... until Ella gets bored of her and drops her on her head, we'll have to work on that.)



...and a much needed nap. So busy these days!

A Little Bean in Bean Town

Ella has really only driven through Boston on a few occasions. This week Ella got to visit the big city and see some of our favorite places. Ella got to see inside the State House, while Mom was attending a child abuse prevention event.



Dad took Ella over to see the shoes - where 700 shoes represented the number of children with confirmed cases of abuse in Massachusetts in one week. It is a scary statistic, but one that emphasizes the need for jobs like Mom's, and for kids to be cared for and loved as much as Ella.



After the event was over and Mommy was off the clock, we took a quick stroll through the Boston Common and the public gardens. Ella got to see the Make Way for Ducklings statues. Last week Pack was stolen, so Ella did her share to fill in his webbed feet for a few minutes. (Don't worry he was found wandering down Mt. Vernon street in Boston and will be reunited with his family soon.)



She loved them looking at each one. She spent time hugging each duckling - except for poor Lack.



She patted them on the head and even gave Mrs. Mallard a big hug.



She even took time to tell tourists all about the statues and share her new found enthusiasm for them.



After a long drive out of the city we had a nice nap on the way home and a little dinner for good balance. We're sure that this was just one trip to Boston with many more to follow - next trip: Aquarium!