Congratulations Brielle!

Ella was excited to be in town and able to attend Brielle's graduation.




She even felt moved to share in the slinky bounty.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLA!

Ella has now been with us for one whole year!



I can't believe she's already ONE.

This has been the most joyful, stressful, happiest, scariest, and life changing year of my life.



I never knew I could love another being so fiercely and so completely.

Ella Speaks!

And her first word is "EYE!"



Yup, it's official. Until now Ella could give pretty good imitations of a few choice words that we prompted her to say. Words like bye-bye, ball, duck and eyes.

Then yesterday she crawled right up to me, said "EYE!" and stuck her finger, you guessed it, in my eye! Woohoo!

(If memory serves all this eye poking is poetic justice. I believe I was a bit of an eye poker as a child myself.)

You Gotta Stand For Something

...in this case, it was for Tupperware.



Ella has set a new record for standing on her own: seven whole seconds.

Standing by the edge of the tub, playing with a piece of Tupperware, Ella was so engrossed that she didn't even realize that she wasn't holding on. (This is the sort of physics displayed in the Wile E. Coyote cartoons.)

Yay Ella!

Ella is skeptical

I don't know... Can you assure me that I won't miss out on anything good if I go and take this nap?

First Birthday Party, number one

Since Ella will be on tour (visiting out-of-town family) when her actual birthday rolls around, we had an early party with family here at home. (Two full-on birthday parties for the price of one! Such a deal.)

As you can see she was a bit glazed by the time her cake came out, but she had a fine time smearing it around. If you visit the photo album, you'll see that her face ended up looking like a glazed donut. (Ain't she sweet...)

Hamper Fun

Ella's current favorite thing to do is tip over our hamper and bury herself in our laundry. She thinks it's a blast to put Mark's T-shirts over her head.
Though she likes to, I don't let her do this with our underwear.

I know she doesn't look like she's having a whole lot of fun in this picture, but it was naptime.

Hey Diddle Diddle

"... and the dish ran away with the spoon."



The cow jumped over the moon!? How did he achieve escape velocity?



The dish ran away with the spoon!? Everyone knows spoons don't have legs!



You expect me to believe this? Where are the fact-checkers!!!??

Have no fear . . .

. . . Ella IS wearing a diaper in this picture.

If she had her way she would be free of them, or at least free of the process of putting them on.

It's getting harder and harder to keep Ella sufficiently entertained while on the changing table.

We sing, we make funny noises, we parade a multitude of unusual objects before her. She squirms, she rolls, she plops her foot into her poopy diaper.

The contest continues . . .

Happy Birthday Grandma Charlotte!

. . . and many more!

Where are my Cheerios?

Who organized this pantry anyway?! I can't find ANYTHING!

Where to lady?

Since she usually faces the back of the car Ella found this view particularly exciting. She and Grandma Charlotte had a grand time playing cabbie.

Get Your Motor Runnin'

Mine

No you can NOT have a hug from my duck!!

Note from Mark: Ella is *not* flashing a gang sign with her toes; she does that naturally.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Hurricane Ella

Standing has afforded Ella a much higher and wider grasp. Quick! Lock the china cupboard!

Wocket Economics

Hmmm. . . interesting notion. "There's a Wocket In My Pocket" as a parable on Populism.

Of course the Zable on the Table represents eastern industrialists and bankers who controlled the people, namely the Nupboards in the Cupboard. And clearly the Bofa on the Sofa stands for the dehumanized industrial worker . . .

Our Beautiful Daughter

Green Bean Facial

So Ella is wanting to feed herself more. And not just her cherished and favorite Cheerios. (For a long time now she has been content to sit "placidly" with her mouth open while we deposit "tasty" mush into it.)



She uses her fingers when she means business and actually wants to get some of the stuff in her mouth.



She takes charge of the spoon when she wants to have a more interesting experience.



PS Why is it that the messier she gets the less willing she is to let us wipe her face and hands?