More words

Friday's report from Ella's school said that she started saying the word "Bubble" this week. That is one thing that her classroom does often....play with bubbles in the sink. Here is a video of the words that she knows how to use in context (she gets a little distracted by the TV...but we thought we would share).

When Mama's sick....

I stayed home sick on Monday and J was kind enough to get Ella ready for school and to drop her off in the morning. The only problem is that J dressed her in a pajama top not knowing that it wasn't an "everyday" shirt.

Easter 2008

This morning Ella received an Easter basket from the Easter bunny. The theme was "Elmo" and she loved it (though she was a bit hesitant at first). Inside the Elmo basket was an Elmo doll, Elmo sippy cups, Elmo bibs and plastic eggs with candy inside.

Here is a picture of the basket:

Mama showing Ella all of her loot:

Family picture:

NO!

Lucky for us Ella has learned a new word and uses it quite frequently. Pretty much everytime I ask her a question lately her answer is "No". I don't think she understands what it means yet because I will ask her if she wants something and she will answer "No", but then come and take it.

Her school daily report did make mention that she has been using her words to try and communicate a lot more. So the words that she uses now are:

No
Bye-bye
Elmo
Hi
Mama
Ball
P (she can only make the P sound when she tries to say "up)

Sick day

Ella had a fever of 101.8° at school yesterday, so I had to pick her up early. We also have to stay home from school today because she has to be fever-free for 24 hours before returning.
She definitely has a cold, but her fever is all gone today. She is stuffy and it sounds pretty funny to hear her try and say "Elmo" with a stuffy nose.
Here are just a few pics that I took while at home with her today. We attempted a single ponytail to contain her wild mane. I can't wait for her hair to be all one length so that we don't have to battle every morning anymore.


And her last canine tooth has finally broken bringing her tooth total to 16!!!

Easter Bunny Visit 2008

Mama, Ella and Meena went to visit the Easter Bunny on Saturday. Last year Ella did very good and sat quietly on the bunny's lap. This year was a very different experience. When we first saw the bunny, Ella was calling him Elmo and smiling at him. So we talked a lot about "White Elmo" while in line to hopefully get her excited. When we were next in line, Ella waved to him and said "Hi". As soon as we approached him however, the meltdown began. We still managed to get a picture for her scrapbook.

And for fun here is the picture of Ella with the Easter Bunny from 2007 when she was just 6 months old.

Happy Birthday Uncle John

We attempted to get pictures of this "card" we made for Uncle John's birthday. It was not an easy task!

Happy Birthday Uncle John....hope your day was great!

Lefty video

Ella enjoys coloring and working on art projects at school. So, a few days ago we pulled out the crayons and coloring book that Ella got for Christmas from her friend Owen and let her color at home. She obviously has a strong preference for which hands she likes to color with. We will see if she remains a lefty as she grows.

Farmer Ella

Ella wore the overalls to school today that she got from Meena Rebecca for Christmas. After I did her pigtails I couldn't help but think that she looks like a little farmer.

Also Ella went in for a round of shots after school today. Three in total and she was a very good girl. Cried for just a few seconds and was back to herself.

Happy 17 months Ella. Today the teachers wrote on her daily report that she has been using her words in class. They heard her say "Elmo" and "Ball" today.

Swim party

We had a great time at Gianna's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. It was at an indoor water park in Schaumburg and Ella loved the water, though she was a bit hesitant at first.

If we can figure out how to get video off of our camcorder, we will share that also!

Happy Birthday Grandpa Martin

Thursday was Grandpa Martin's birthday, so they came by and had dinner with J and Ella to celebrate. I was told that they had lots of fun "reading" books with her and watching The Backyardigans.

Happy Birthday!