Pump-It-Up

Addy is in quite a predicament -- she can't decide where she wants to have her birthday party.  I know it isn't going to be at the house, but there are a few options she keeps jumping between.  One of the options is Pump It Up so we went to play on Monday.  I had hoped to find a friend for Addy to play around with, but schedules didn't work out so Addy, Ella and I went.  Addy calls this the "big" Pump It Up, it is more geared towards older kids.  So, there wasn't much for Ella but a fun time was still had by all. 

 Addy at the top of the slide at the end of the obstacle course.  I tried to do the obstacle course with Ella but it was pretty much impossible for me to make it up the last big climb, so we backtracked.  Addy could just zip on up no problem!

 This was a very standard view of Ella.  Wide open spaces, running too fast and down she goes.  Fortunately she did a great job catching herself and we didn't leave with carpet burn on her face.

 Ella went down the big slide with me once, but this turned out to be more her style.  It is just the wedge to climb up to get into the obstacle course, but it was perfect for a 1 year old to slide down.  And it didn't require mom to climb to the top of a tall slide, holding a heavy kid, and doing her best to not fall down on the kid climbing up behind her!

Ella's Words

Ella has started saying so many new words - seems like it is just all of a sudden too!  It was just dog for a while and the list has gotten much longer.  Here are the ones I can remember.  Just typing them really doesn't do it much justice, it is adorable to hear them come out of her mouth.  Now, someone on the street may not realize she is saying some of these, but the girls spend a few days with the grandparents this week and I think that they were even able to recognize a number of Ella's new words. 

* dog - still the most frequently spoken word
* duck
* Adda - a.k.a. Addy, this is my favorite.  You can ask Ella what her sissy's name is and she responds with "Adda".  I am not sure Addy was a fan at first, her response at one point was, "My name is ADDY".  But even big sister is on boards with the cuteness at this point!
* Dada - this week she was even pointing at pictures of Michael at Grandma and Grandpa's and saying "dada"
* apple
* ball
* toda - now, this one is on the list based on feedback from her teacher.  Toda is thank you in Hebrew.  Ella's current teacher speaks a lot of Hebrew in class and she raves about how Ella says "toda" after they change her diaper.  Can't say she uses it a lot a home, especially not after diaper changes, but Zvia claims she says it all the time, so it is on the list!
* bubble - this one showed up over the weekend when we were at the beach and she grabbed a bubble wand and started saying "bubble" non-stop
* hi
* bye-bye - this is my all time favorite and I ask her to say it repeatedly because it is so stinkin' cute.

So, these are the words I can figure out and that she uses at the appropriate times, repeatedly.  Little girl is quite the chatty cathy and is talking all the time, not always sure what she is saying though.

Notice a key word that is missing?  Yep, she doesn't call me mama or really anything.  She can say mama, I've heard her say it, but she wasn't referring to me.  She doesn't point at pictures of me and say "mama"...one day soon hopefully! 

Visit from Granny!

Such a great beach weekend last weekend - and we never actually made it to the water!  The best treat of the weekend was a visit from Granny on Saturday.  It was so much fun to just hang out and relax on the porch and catch up.  I can't believe it had been since Ella's birthday in April since we'd seen each other.  Where did the summer go?!  She got to see the girls in their element down at the beach house.  We set up the pool on the porch and they splashed around.  Ella has grown so much over the summer, seems like in the past 2 weeks really, but she was getting in and out of the pool by herself no problem.  She has especially grown since Granny saw her on her birthday!  During Granny's visit we even had a yummy pizza lunch from the newly found, #1 rated restaurant (according to our family at least) on Crystal Beach. 

I forgot to get a pic while Ella was still up, but here is a cute one of Granny and Addy on the porch.  Granny - you need to come down next time we are there so we can be sure to get a pic with Ella!!

In the past I was always worried about having enough to entertain the girls (and even Addy when she was an only) but have since learned my lesson - we leave a minimal number of toys down there, but the girls always find a way to entertain themselves, usually with no toys involved.  At the beach, a favorite activity is playing on the beds.  Jumping is not allowed, but they both just romp around on the beds and have a blast.  Obviously we have beds here at home, but there is something special about the ones at the beach I guess.  Now that Ella is bigger, wrestling on the beds is a new fun activity.  Here are the girls in their matching pjs, wresting on the bed

And this picture is just funny, so I have to include.  Sunday morning we were busy getting ready to leave, Michael was finishing up projects and our goal was to keep Ella awake until it was time to get in the car.  She was just sitting on the floor quietly for a while when I looked over and was afraid she was about to fall over, her eyes were 1/2 open and she was swaying a bit.  I put her on the couch and not 2 seconds after she laid down this was the scene

Dead asleep and she stayed that way until we put her in the car.  We usually judge the success of a beach weekend by how quickly the girls fall asleep on the way home.  I think that both girls were asleep by the time we turned off 87 after this past weekend!

Not So Sneaky Sneak

Ella is OBSESSED with mac 'n cheese.  She was done with her dinner and for some reason Addy hadn't finished her mac, so Ella climbed up on Addy's seat and helped herself.  2 seconds after this pic was taken she attempted to shove a handful of mac in her mouth, without taking her pacifier out.  Paci quickly came out and she chowed down. 

Kitties

4th of July weekend we discovered a momma cat and 5 kittens in the storage closet under the beach house.  4th of July weekend, a momma cat and 5 kittens moved in with Dad and Mary on Braeburn Dr!  One might initially think it was Mary's idea because she has had cats in the recent past, but no, it was softy Lee who insisted that the cats come home with them.  Where was this guy when I wanted pets growing up?! Addy and Ella have enjoyed visiting the kitties over the past few weeks and I finally remembered to take my camera the other day.

Addy is a fan of the kitties.  Although not so much when they started to crawl on her and their nails got stuck in her shirt!

This kitty isn't so crazy, she (or he) loves belly rubs!

I think that Ella takes after Michael in many ways, and not being a huge fan of cats may be another one to add to the list.  She was quite fascinated at first and still is to some extent, but now when we go she has much more fun climbing in and out of this box.  And doesn't always seems so excited when the cats jump in too.  She kind of looks at them like they are invading her space.  

Kitten claws - ouch!  

Ella does like to pet them a little.  I think that one reason she may be less excited about the cats is because all she hears is us saying "gentle" when she is around them.  She is gentle for a toddler I guess.

And one may ask, "what are they going to do with a momma cat and 5 kittens?" Well, there are free kittens available, but rumor is that momma may take up permanent residence.  It is ironic that I am the one that is now lecturing Dad about how the last thing he needs is a pet at this point, when every other week he is off globe trotting again!  I seem to recall getting the same lecture at different points when I wanted a pet and it was not the opportune time.  Guess that means I am getting old if I'm doing the lecturing now!

Horseshoes

At the beach this weekend we introduced Addy to the game of horseshoes.  I was quite surprised - she really got into it.  Figured she'd throw them a few times and then claim they were too heavy and her arm hurt - nope, she had a blast.  And in true Addy style, she even started making up her own rules to the game.  Neither Michael or I ever had a clue what the real rules of her game were, but we just took turns throwing the horseshoes and Addy kept score for us. 

 Ella tried to get in on the game a few times.  Fortunately she never got hit by a horseshoe, or dropped one on her toes.  We ended up having to bring down some other entertainment for Ella to distract her from the horseshoes.  

 Here she is in action!  (and no, that is not a UFO in the sky, ugh, think it is a smudge on my camera...hopefully I can get rid of that)

Ella Playtime

Just some fun pics of Ella's favorite activities these days.  And note the cute clip in her hair!  She finally has enough hair that we can kind of start doing stuff with it.  Her teacher still puts it up on a regular basis and at first it was just silly looking b/c her hair was so short, but now it is looking much cuter.  I especially love the clips that my friend Merri makes, they are super tiny and stay in great.  She doesn't even really realize it is there, for now at least.

 Cute smile.  And she is actually sitting at the art table, not climbing up and down on the chair!

 The artist in action.  Apparently crumpling the paper makes it more fun to color on.

 Cars.  Oh goodness, both girls are obsessed with cars right now.  Maybe Ella a bit more than Addy.  There are hot wheels all over the floor and pieces of track spread around all the time now.   Ella really just likes to hold them and then watch you launch the cars.  She is pretty good at retrieving the cars too. 

Climber.  Note that Ella is standing, not sitting on her train.  Not safe for a number of reasons, but Ella doesn't really seem to care.  We try to make sure that the train is always on the carpet since it doesn't roll as good on the carpet and if she falls (which she has) it isn't too hard of a fall!

Diver

What a difference 2 weeks makes in the world of swimming...2 weeks ago Addy would hardly go near the deep end and today she was jumping off the diving rock (for those that don't know, the diving board got replaced with a diving rock during the last pool redo - think that Mom was trying relive summer camp days and also go for a more "natural" look!)   First she was jumping to a noodle and by the end she was just jumping and swimming to us.  So proud of her!

 Getting ready to leap

Proud of her jump!

Granddad has both noodles, she is jumping on her own.  A couple of times this past week she came home and was talking about jumping off the diving board at the JCC during swimming, even talked about doing "cheerleading kicks" off the board.  I'm glad we were home this weekend so we could swim and see it for ourselves! 

Ballerina

Finally got my hands on the professional pics that Addison took for her dance recital. So glad I was able to track this down, I love it!

Fashion Model

I'm not sure exactly where this idea came from, although I have my suspicions...Addy has been playing a dress up "paper doll" game on the iPad and suddenly the other night she had to have a fashion show. She picked out all the parts of the outfits, did the wardrobe changes herself and actually posed and smiled for the camera! The smiling for the camera was my favorite part, although her ensembles were quite creative I though. Here are her glamor shots

Growing Up

Ella seems to be getting older and wiser every day, at a much more rapid pace than in the past.  Now I actually feel like she knows what I am saying and while I don't always know what she is saying (although she is super chatty) she is getting better at showing me what she wants.  She has apparently figured out where we keep the snacks and fortunately she hasn't learned how to open the door, but it seems like every 20 minutes she is standing at the pantry door shouting.   When it is actually snack time and I grant her wish to open the door, she is really cute as she looks at all the boxes and makes her pick.  Right now she is OBSESSED with what we call "circle crackers" at our house.   Here she is tying to help herself. 

Last week, on multiple occasions, Ella's teachers told me how much she likes to do art.  I must admit that the art supplies at our house are typically off limits to Ella.  Historically they just went straight to her mouth, not to mention that I'm convinced that she is going to be the kid that draws on the walls.  Addy never really drew on the walls, but I just have this feeling with Ms. Ella!  So, under supervision, I busted out the crayons and some paper and below is Ella's masterpiece.  She definitely enjoyed herself, but I'm not sure if she enjoyed the drawing more, or climbing up and down off the chair at our little kiddie table.  Our little climber!

Beach

Not as successful with the casting net as we were the last time we were there, but fun times were still had by all.  Even got some rain on Saturday morning, but fortunately it didn't slow us down.

Not a lot of people on the beach, so Star got to hang out with us for a long time.  

Ella found the visor in a bag and suddenly everyone had to have it - good ol' sibling rivalry!

Who needs toys when you have coke cans!  Ella spent TONS of time taking the cans out of the box, putting them back in, stacking them on the stool, stacking them on the shelf...it was fun to watch and also helped confirm for me that I don't have to have a toy box full of toys for the girls to be entertained! 

Best part of the weekend was family time on the porch!  So, so, so wonderful to just be able to let everyone roam freely and not have to worry about anyone going down stairs or taking a tumble off.  We all loved it.  Ella loved running from side to side, looking out the rails and we loved just sitting in our chair and watching, not having to run along side her! 

Addy decided to make a pool out of chalk.  Ella decided to sit in the "pool".  

Ella and Addy ended up covered in blue!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MICHAEL!!

I forgot to take my own pics at Michael's birthday dinner, but fortunately the restaurant caught on that it was his birthday and took this one! 

Remember Michael's gift from Addy last year, the hot wheels track?  Well, this year we got 2 new parts to the track so we can do all kinds of fun things now.  I'm no hot wheels expert, but apparently we have been missing out by only having the 1 section we did!  

Happy 30 something birthday!  

4th of July Weekend

3rd weekend straight of traveling, but another great weekend!

 Another big hole in the sand.  My favorite part of this pic though is Addy's big, natural smile!! 

Have cooler, will climb!

 So fun - Granddad and Meme joined us for the weekend!  

 Ella is currently obsessed with her toothbrush.  Took a while before she had enough teeth to make brushing worthwhile, but now she is a huge fan!

Fun times in the pool on the deck.  

 Sisters playin' around in their fun new chairs. 

 Super Star!!

 "Being at the beach is SO fun!"

 We caught a squid!  So, Addy has been a bit bummed about fishing after a number of unsuccessful attempts with the fishing rod.  So Michael got a cast net for his b-day and oh goodness did they have success.  They caught fish, shrimp, crabs and squid.  Kind of makes me scared to get back in the water.  Wow! 

 This pretty much sums up how we all felt by the end of the weekend!  Addy was asleep probably 5 minutes after pulling out of the driveway at the beach and slept until we pulled into our driveway in Houston.

Austin Weekend

June 24th - 26th we made a trip to Austin.  Michael had to go for work over the weekend and the girls and I tagged along.  Traveling with 2 kids solo was a bit tricky, so I totally flaked and didn't take pics, but there were a lot of 1st over the weekend that I wanted to capture. 

• Ella's 1st road trip that wasn't beach related.  She did great, slept nearly the entire drive both to and from Austin.
• The 1st weekend we slept in a hotel room as a family of 4.  Addy loved it, had a big huge bed to herself.  I'd say Ella was luke warm.  Once she got settled at night she was OK, but Saturday night there was a long period of screaming that I thought would never end.  Turns out both girls were completely fascinated just standing and looking out the window in the hotel room.  We were in downtown Austin, so there were tall buildings and all kinds of neat things to look at.  
• 1st time Ella met the Tilson family.  We had a fabulous time hanging out with Gabe, Sawyer, Lexie and Lyndon.  The girls had a blast playing in the pool together and just playing together in general.  And catching up with Gabe was great.  Always makes me sad though that we don't live closer and can't hang out more often!  
• 1st time both Addy and Ella met my friend Lauren.  Not sure how exactly it has been 4 years and Addy and Lauren haven't met.  Guess Lauren and I tend to hang out on girls weekends and adults only weekends. Very glad to be able to hang out with Lauren!
• 1st time I took both girls to the Children's Museum alone, and actually it was Ella's first time to a Children's Museum ever.  Fortunately the Austin museum isn't huge, so it wasn't too hard to chase after Ella and still keep an eye on Addy.  Pretty sure that I don't want to try the Houston museum with 2 of them and just me anytime soon though!  
• Michael might have a somewhat different version of this story, but I think that after this weekend I can say that Ella officially said her first word.  There has been discussion about how "da" was her first word (interpreted as "dad"), but there are a lot of things that are "da".  In my opinion (this is where we might differ a bit!) But this weekend, I'm claiming she officially said "dog" and was actually talking about a dog.  Good ol' Austin, there are dogs everywhere, walking along the street, hanging out at restaurants, you name it.  Every time we'd see a dog, Ella would say "dog" and point and get very excited.  The dog obsession has continued too and she of course gets a lot of practice with Star in the house.  I also learned that I need to keep a watchful eye on her when we are around dogs, especially small ones, because she is not gentle.  One of her favorite activities at Gabe's house was going to lay on the dog bed, with the dog in it.  Ella is a lot bigger than Pudge and he was not real happy to have a toddler plopping on top of him.  I don't blame him!

It was somewhat of a tiring weekend because Michael was working most if it, except Sat night when he got to join us at Gabe's for dinner, but it was also loads of fun.  When we were leaving, Addy told me she wanted us to move to Austin.  (Gabe - don't get your hopes up!!)

Ella's Antenna

Ella's teacher Ms. Maria apparently plays beauty shop at school sometimes and has started "styling" Ella's hair.  Ella doesn't sit still for much, but she LOVES to have her hair brushed so I think that she really likes this.  There isn't much hair there to work with, but Maria does the best she can.  Some of her other teachers refer to her "pig tails" as her antenna, which I have to agree is a pretty appropriate description.  But it is still super cute!