Cutie

carrying around the laundry detergent cup (and Pinkie)

"Look at me, Momma!"

holding cup with only teeth
(Her new thing is trying to hold things in her mouth or toes without
using her hands--Does she have a circus career?)


so proud of herself


playing peek-a-book during lunch

Who Needs Toys?

Who needs toys when you have a garden hose and watering can? Ella loves to play with the hose, water my plants, and pour from the can. She makes hand prints on the concrete porch and mixes the water around. After a morning in the playground sandbox, which left her sweaty and sandy, she cleaned off by playing with the hose before lunch yesterday.

watering the Queen Lace bush with the hose
(love that jumper outfit!)


look at that concentration--this work is important!


watching a bird on a tree...then more watering to do


she's an expert waterer

Daddy Love

I love this picture of Rob and Ella taken on Sunday. He is so patient with her and makes her laugh. They like watching baseball together before bedtime, playing chase, and counting.

daddy and daughter

Visit to see Granny

On Sunday, we went to the Masonic Village to see Rob's grandmother, who Ella calls Granny. We visited her new place, enjoyed the view from her balcony, and then headed to Friendly's for lunch. Here are a couple of pictures:

Granny, Ella, Rob

Ella, you can look at the camera..

grandmother and grandson

Plants' Update

Last week's rainy, damp weather was great for our outdoor plants (as well, as the weeds--I spent yesterday afternoon pulling them out). Our tomato plants have tons of yellow blossoms and this weekend the first tomatoes made their appearance. Ella doesn't understand why she can't pick them off the vine, yet.

All three plants started out the size of the one in the white container....
(I think that one doesn't have good drainage, so I might replant it since it's still early in the season)

lots of juicy grape tomatoes in our future!

Our cucumber plants are spreading rapidly, almost strangling the salvia plant. We have quite a few blossoms on them, too, although no cucumbers, yet.

cucumbers surrounding salvia

cucumber blossom

The eggplant is large, so much so that I might have to transplant it to the ground so that it can continue to grow well. I haven't grown eggplant before, but by the size of the leaves and plant, I think it might require more space.

eggplant outgrowing its container

The banana pepper plant's flowers have produced 2 little peppers already, so it will be exciting to see how long it takes for them to become full-size and turn bright yellow.

2 mini peppers

Basil and cilantro are growing well, especially the basil (we have four pots going at once). It continues to get bushy, so we've been picking the leaves so that it will be healthy and, the best part, to make homemade pesto! I love the smell and taste of pesto on sandwiches, pasta, or mixed in with low-fat sour cream for a veggie or pita chip dip. Yesterday we made our second batch of the season. I used some on a sandwich and froze the rest in ice cube trays so we can use it in the fall and winter when hot summer days will only be a memory. As you can see from the pictures below, Ella enjoyed helping me make the pesto in my mini-chopper:

Just added the pine nuts to the chopper

measuring out the basil leaves to add to the pine nuts

Ella trying to plug the cord back into the chopper
(our finished product ready to go into ice cube trays)

Here are a few other garden pictures from today:

potted petunia plant
(keeps growing well since I've been dead-heading it every day)


the hydrangea bush that we chopped completely to the ground in March
(you couldn't see anything but dirt, then...we had our fingers crossed that it would grow back healthy this year)

Saturday Morning Bird Walk

This morning I went to the Pennypack Ecological Trust for one of their guided Saturday morning bird walks. They have them every other weekend in the summer from 7:30-10:00 am. So, I packed my binoculars, water, cherries and blueberries, and camera and headed out while Rob stayed home with Ella. Two experienced "birders" and I made our way around different trails along the park and creek. There were many nice views and it was a very peaceful hike. We saw---deer, wild turkeys, orioles (and their nest), woodhatches, sparrows, red-winged blackbirds, bluebirds, yellow finches, turtles, and a few others. It was great to get some exercise and relax outdoors at the same time. I look forward to going again soon.

barn on Pennypack property
(Some of the homes are owned by people of the Pennypack Trust
and some by descendants of the Swedenborg family)



another view of the barn
(we saw lots of barn swallows and tree swallows catching bugs)



view of Bryn Athyn Cathedral behind grasses
(I can see the top of this lit up from our bedroom window)



beginning of a trail



Pennypack Creek
(flows into the Delaware River)



the creek was pretty high today because of all the rain we've had


another creek view from the restored bridge


trail next to the pond
(close to where we saw the oriole nest)


birdwatcher in his element
(trying to find bluebirds)

21 Months Old (almost)

Tomorrow (June 6th), Ella will be 21 months old. Before we know it, the end of the summer will be here and we'll be celebrating her 2nd birthday. In addition to some of the others that I've already posted about, here are some new things Ella has been doing/is interested in lately:


New things she's said:

• "Elmo share water bottle (with) Big Bird."
• "Look at me, Mommy!"
• "I'm stuck!"
• "I jumped really high!"
• "Ella threw ball (in) basket."
• "1, 2, 3,....3 people eating picnic outside."
• "I did it!"
• "Thank you, Jesus, (for our) food."
  
• tells Rob what we did during the day
• "Daddy's eating..Mommy's eating...I eating...EVERYBODY's eating!"
• "Baby birdies in birdie nest...Mommy bird bring wormies...GROSS!"
  

She has been saying longer phrases and has started to add articles like, "at" and "in" on occasion. She has also been saying "I" for herself instead of "Ella" all of the time (although I find myself having to break the habit of saying things like, "Mommy is going to make dinner now."
Ella also continues to sign words (most times out of the blue without prompting). For example, I said, "We can do that when Daddy gets home" and she said "Daddy's at work" and simultaneously did the sign for work. She has a renewed interest in watching the DVD Baby Signing Time.


New things she likes to eat:

• macaroni and cheese (only fresh--no reheats, and only traditional--no shells or other unusual shapes)
• sliced apples
• hummus (especially the really garlicky kind!)

dipping a whole wheat pretzel into garlic hummus

ummmm....so good (she will even eat it with just her fingers)

• grilled cheese
• mashed potatoes ("tatoes")
• whole bananas (peels the entire thing and picks off the nib first)
• eats "stick" yogurt by herself
• Everything bagels with cream cheese

New things she likes to/can do:

• walk up the sliding board from the bottom
• pull herself up onto anything possible and do "pull-ups"
• push her stuffed animals around in a toy shopping cart
• help me bake/cook
• look for worms while we weed
  
• sing (see below for favorites)
• watch sports on t.v. in bed with Rob (their new before-bedtime routine)
• drink from a regular cup (without a lid)
• put clothes in the dryer and carry the folded ones to her room
• playing in the bathtub (aways did, but now really loves it)

pouring water into the sand strainer from Gram

• count things...she can count to 14 now, and up to 16 with help
• say her full address, including Pennsylvania (except zip code)
• say her birthday is September 6
• climb up onto our tall bed by herself
• open water bottle twist-off tops
• identify circles, triangles, and ovals
• figure out where most shapes go in her shape box
• floss her teeth (in her own way)
• use the potty usually once a day
• play with bubble wrap (who needs toys??)
• play in sandbox
  
• takes her diaper off
• tries to put her own shirt and shoes on (she wants service)
  

Songs she likes to sing:

• Row, row, row Your Boat
• Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
• The Wheels on the Bus
• I'm a Little Teapot (thanks, Baba!)
• Down, Down Baby from Elmo movie (thanks, Pappy!)
• ABC's
  

Letting Go

Many of you know that I am a person who prefers things to be neat and organized. I thrive on having a schedule to follow (most of the time) and like to know what's going to happen (some may call that a control-freak...I'd rather think of it as being on top of things).

Anyway, having a baby, and now a toddler, can really throw people like me a curve-ball. As much as I've tried to make a schedule for Ella's napping and bedtime, plan for all of the "what-if's" when going out with her, and try to prepare ahead of time, I've learned the hard way that it doesn't always work. Kids poop as you're about to walk out the door (sorry, promised I'd never talk about poop on my blog), throw up in the car halfway through a two hour ride on the turnpike, have a temper tantrums in the middle of the Philadelphia Zoo, and hide stickers in your hair or on your back for others to notice when you are walking around a store. Other times those unexpected moments are refreshing, like sitting patiently and pleasantly in the grocery cart when you are shopping or readily climbing into the stroller when it's time to leave the playground.

My point is that having Ella is teaching me to expect the unexpected, to roll with the punches, and to try to let go a little bit when things don't go as I've planned---much easier said than done. But I have to make these changes because when Ella gets older, I want her to remember me as fun and lovable, not uptight and rigid. So, in the spirit of learning to let go, here are a few pictures of us making coffee cake today. We made 2 different kinds---raspberry and cheese coffee cake, and another with blueberries. Both we and the kitchen were a huge mess, but when I relaxed (and remembered that I could easily clean it up later), I was able to enjoy watching her concentrate on mixing the flour and sugar, laugh at her when she flung raspberries onto the floor, and smile when she beamed with pride at our culinary creation. Letting go may be difficult, but it certainly has its benefits.

examining the lemon that we're about to zest

using a spatula to mix the flour

Ella surveying the mess we made

the aftermath of our baking

raspberry and cheese coffee cake

Tasha's Confirmation

On Sunday, we were lucky to able to attend Tasha's confirmation at Tree of Life church in Harrisburg. Tasha is finishing 8th grade and I started watching her and the rest of "the girls" when she was only a couple months old (wow, I'm old)! The service was really nice and we were glad we could be a part of it.

Karen, Tasha, me, Madge

Karen, Tasha, me

the confirmation class being silly

Playing

in the bathtub

silly bathtub face

playing with a straw

trying to listen to headphones

dancing to headphone music (it was classical)

ooo...I can hear it!

sounds great

Ella and Baba

waiting for Pappy

sitting with bunny (from Gram) and Pinkie

sitting with friends and waiting for Pappy

Pinkie, bunny, and Ella

putting bunny in the stroller