What is Ella up to now?

Now that Ella has reached her 2nd year milestone, I thought it would list what she is able to do. Every day she is amazing us with words she learned that we didn't "teach" her, skills that she has mastered, and stories and sentences that she tells.

Songs Ella likes to sing:

• "Row, row, row, your boat"
• "Baby Signing Time"
• "Elmo's World" theme
• "A-B-C's"
• "Curious George" theme
  
• "Twinkle, twinkle, little star"
• "Lily" frog counting song

Foods Ella likes to eat:

• macaroni and cheese (used to call it 'ronies and cheese')
• grilled cheese
• fruit--bananas, grapes, apples, pears
• veggies--carrots, celery, corn
• broccoli cheese soup (from Panera)....do you notice the cheese theme
  
• pizza (used to call it 'zappa')
• soy chicken nuggets
• fish nuggets
• ketchup (just like her Uncle Buck!)
• yogurt (Yo Baby, 'stick yogurt,' and yoggie juice)
• water, milk, and the occasional 'box juice'
• fruit bars
• "Baba's kind" (seltzer)
• waffles, pancakes, and toast with Smart Balance ('buduh')

Snacks/Sweets Ella likes to eat:

• almost anything chocolate (e.g., brownies, M & M's, cookies)
• cheese balls (just like her Aunt Wu!)
• Goldfish crackers
  
• veggie bootie ('Liam's kind' after one of her friends)
• 'Baba's kind of crunchies"

Things Ella can do:

• go on playground equipment like slides, tunnels, ladders
• ride a tricycle using the pedals to move forward and backward
• put on her clog shoes herself
• climb onto almost anything (including our bed, up the side of her crib)

Academic skills Ella has:

• counts to 14 by herself, and 20 with prompting
• recites her A-B-C's
• can identify the following letters in print: A, B, C, E, G, J, K, O, P, S
• says the following words for these letters:
  

A, apple
B, Baba
C, cat ("meow!")
E, Ella!
G, Gould
J, Jennifer
K, Karl
O
P, Pinkie and Pappy
S, Scrappy

• says, "E-L-L-A spells 'Ella'"
• knows her full name
• knows her address including state
• can identify most colors, except sometimes pink
• identifies red, yellow, and green traffic lights and tells me how to drive the car based on them ("It's green, mama, go!" or "Stop, mama, it's red!")
• likes to locate and identify letters on signs and books

.........work in progress....more to come soon!

Flowers

Our hydrangea actually started blooming a few weeks ago, even though we thought it wouldn't this season since we cut the entire bush down to the ground in the Spring. That was a good move because now we have a really healthy bush and beautiful blooms:







Here is a picture of some blossoms from our crepe mrytle, another one that I thought I killed because I didn't water it well when we planted it last summer. It survived, though, and now has pretty dark pink flowers and berries:

Buck and Wu

I love this new picture of Buck and Wu from Saturday's party. Now that they are engaged, they are already starting to dress alike!

Ella's 2nd Birthday Party

On Saturday, we celebrated Ella's 2nd birthday (a day early) with a party at Mason's Mill Park. Our family and her friends from playgroup came to help us celebrate her big day. The weather was great (a far cry from last year's torrential hurricane rain and winds) and the kids really enjoyed the playground and being outside.

Gould family picture

Baba, Pappy, and Ella


Lesley and Ella


Ella, Nana, and Granddad


a cool caterpillar that fell from the trees onto the horseshoe game


Ella playing horseshoes (she is really strong!)


drinking from the curly straw


opening a card


trying on funny glasses
(part of a gift from Granddad and Nana)


wearing her new Sesame Street bike helmet
(a gift from Pappy and Baba)


playgroup friends
(Matthew, Ella, Xander, Char, and Zene)


opening a big present


checking out another present
(some new clothes)


Ella's "Rob-look"
(think she was wondering why I was taking her picture while she was eating chips)

The Crayola Factory

On Labor Day, we headed up to Easton for a trip to the Crayola Factory. The drive was beautiful (right up 611 North along the Delaware River) with lots of nurseries and old stone houses with tons of flowers. Ella watched her new George movie, which made for a peaceful drive for Rob and me.

The factory was a lot of fun and luckily it was not crowded, so were able to move around the activities easily. Ella enjoyed making things out of the new Model Magic, finger painting, and making a sea horse. She also liked pushing the little shopping cart around the gift shop and filling her cart with things she wanted to buy. I loved everything about the factory and could have spent all day there coloring and making projects! I think Rob's favorite part was the Glow Station where we drew on big screens and made glow-in-the-dark pictures.

standing with the crayon man statue

sample crayon making machine

the world's largest crayon
(inside the Crayola Store)


info about the crayon

Ella and Rob looking at the world's largest crayon


shopping in the Crayola Store
(she enjoyed picking out things she was going to buy)


making a project with Daddy


using sidewalk chalk on the "street"


"Look at me, guys! I'm a turtle!"
(the theme at the factory is ocean life right now)


Ella finger painting (she loved this!)


pointing out the mobiles hanging from the ceiling and walls


closing the markers after playing with Model Magic


Rob and Ella after a fun day together


J and Ella in Easton's square (being silly)


Later in the day, Ella rode her bike
(She can now pedal back and forth like a big kid)
(new fleece jacket from Gram)

Almost 2!

Ella will be 2 on Sunday and we are almost ready for her birthday celebration on Saturday! She is definitely looking and acting like a toddler more now. Here she was this morning watching Baby Signing Time with her Baby Bear. She told me she was going to teach him how to sign eat and dog. When the opening song was playing, Ella rocked Baby Bear in her arms and sang to him.

waiting for the signing DVD to start


Another picture, Mommy???


Her look when I said, "Smile for the camera."

Peach Pound Cake

Ripe, juicy peaches are popping up at the farmers' markets now. What do you get when you mix them with a little (okay, a lot of) sugar, eggs, flour, and butter?...peach pound cake!

I found this recipe online from the West Chester Growers' Market, as their blog features some ideas for creating yummy dishes from their seasonal produce. I haven't tasted it, yet (I'm taking it to Book Club tonight), but it is certainly a special treat dessert with tons of sugar, eggs, and butter. Ella helped me to mix some of the dry ingredients together, add the chopped peaches, and hold the hand mixer with me.

trying to add baking soda to the peaches (not even one of the ingredients)
Her hands were covered with it

I can't find the memory card for my regular camera...grrr! My old camera won't start up, and I can't figure out how to transfer the picture of the cake that I took on my camera, so I'll have to post the picture of it later.

Sleep Tight, Pappy!

Pappy sleeping with Ella's blanket, pillow, and baby bottle

Going Shopping at Giant

Ella loves to pretend she is going "shopping at Giant" with her shopping cart. She gives me a kiss good-bye and asks for her money, then she says, "See you later, Mama" and off she goes to her basket to get play food for her cart.

Yesterday, when I was on the phone in the living room, she was in the kitchen. I called over to her and she said she was "going to Giant," so I didn't go in to check on her. When I was done, she barreled around the corner with her cart full of groceries.....this time real items from my spice cabinet.

P.S. Soon after this picture was taken, Ella wanted to "show you [me] sompin."
It was a nice pile of baking soda that she had spread out all over the kitchen floor.

Fresh Tomato-Basil Pasta

With the abundance of tomatoes ripening in our yard (and our neighbors' yard), I made a favorite--tomato-basil pasta--because it's so easy and delicious.

The basic recipe idea---marinate diced, fresh tomatoes in olive oil, basil, salt, cracked pepper, and minced garlic (lots). Add this to hot pasta and sprinkle with feta cheese---yum!

Birthday Cards

I have been telling Ella that her birthday is coming up and that she is going to be turning 2. I was working on the invitations last week and she wanted to help. Her job was to take the directions out of the printer as the paper came out and to put them into the cards and then into the envelopes. The next day we took them to the post office and her favorite job was putting all of the stamps on the cards and giving them to "the man, Bob's friend" (Bob is our mailman) to "take to my [her] friends."

my birthday cards

in the car on the way to the post office

Favorite Outdoor Activity

I know it's weird, but I love cutting the lawn, especially on really hot, sunny days. I like being outside, getting dirty, and watching the nice, even lines appear on the lawn as I work. Even when I am in Harrisburg (supposed to be relaxing), I can't resist helping to cut the lawns. Over the weekend, I helped my dad cut 4 lawns (we did about 2 each). It wasn't that sunny, but it was really humid. My mom caught this picture of me at the tail end of the work, finishing their lawn:

I really was enjoying that...

Making Cookies

Last week Ella and I made chocolate chip cookies since it was a rainy day and I was in a baking mood. Usually she doesn't like the beaters since they are "too loud," but this particular day she felt brave enough to want to try to use them herself to mix the dough.

turning it on

mixing
(notice the chocolate on her mouth--she had already been sampling the chocolate chips)

Corn Memories

One memory I have of visiting my Gram's house when I was little was eating frozen corn from her freezer. I loved that it was cold, hard, and sweet tasting. I was allowed to have a little bit (not too much or it would "make my belly hurt"). I will still occasionally eat a few kernels from the bag when I am making some at home.

Today I was getting Ella's lunch ready and when I asked her what she wanted to eat, she said her usual, "sup-uh" (supper). I tried again, with, "What do you want to eat with your fish?" She told me, "corn." The next thing I knew, she had discovered the deliciousness of frozen corn, too! She enjoyed that more than the kind that I heated up for her and we enjoyed just a little bit (not too much to "make our bellies hurt").

Pappy's Visit and Hiking

A couple of weeks ago, Pappy came to visit Ella (and Rob and me, of course). I forgot that I didn't post any of the pictures until today.

We went on a hike at the Pine Road section of Pennypack Park and then to do some exploring in the creek. Ella made Pappy a special bucket for collecting rocks, sticks, and other treasures in. We put his name on it and Ella decorated it with stickers of bugs and other outdoor things. So, on our hike, they both had their own buckets to use.

waterfalls on Pennypack Creek


interesting mushroom we found along the way

J and Ella


kiss


What are you thinking about?

thinking


buddies


Ella and Pappy on the bridge with their buckets


buddies on the way back from hiking


hahaha!! This was an expression of happiness :)



examining the wormie


checking out the rocks in the creek


scooping up water and dirt


She loved walking around looking for rocks and fish


navigating the rocks


trying to find little fish in the creek


sitting in the woods


"Look at me, guys!"


"Peek-a-boo!"


Pappy tired Ella out in the woods--
she fell asleep on his shoulder on the car ride home

Later at home, we played outside and Ella and Pappy filled the birdie feeders and found butterflies on our butterfly bush.

Is the feeder full, yet?

on our butterfly bush


showing its wings

In the evening, they did some "laxing" together while they watched Elmo together.

Ella likes Pappy's back scratching

We were so glad Pappy came to visit!