Night Out

Wes and I went out tonight to a Casino Night at Wes' work. I had never been to one of these so it was all new to me. Wes gambled and I hung out with my friends. Not so much a "date night" but at least we got out, right? The event was held on The Lawn at UVa so we got to see college life in full swing on a Friday night. I forgot what that was like and I have to say all those kids look much younger than I did (or maybe I'm just that much older now). Steve came over to stay with Ella (thank you GPS!) and was dancing when we left. Steve has Bear Bear and Ella has Baby Baby. That's right- we are oh so creative in naming around here.

Everyday Life

Here are some pictures from this week. The one above is this morning. Wes and I are so amazed at how big Ella looks to us sometimes. This morning was one of those times. On top of her looking big, she acts big with her "I can do it" attitude and her desire to go to Preschool. This morning I was tickling and kissing her and she straightened herself up and said, "Stop Mamma, I am going to school now." She then walked outside and tried to open the car door. I just watched her and wanted to say, "No, don't go!" and thought maybe if I pleaded hard enough with time, I could stop it. Who doesn't want that, right?

Earlier we were outside to see a home-made bottle scooter (something to do with a science experiment that probably involved baking soda) scoot down the road. It was a success. The girls squealed and Benton ran after the scooter. I don't know how Amy and Benton put that thing together, but it was really cool.

Ella and Caroline got some scooter time in too:

Dr. Mayo

We love Dr. Mayo. Actually, the entire practice, but Dr. Mayo is who we see most often and we saw her today. Ella is usually not so great in the doctor's office but today she was stellar, even asking for a repeat performance of her exam. So this is Dr. Mayo right before we got the news that Ella has pneumonia. It's the watered-down "Walking Pneumonia" type but her first antibiotic none-the-less.

Vacation

I would usually be writing about what a great trip we had, thanking Poppy and Nonna on behalf of Ella for playing school, pumpkin picking, reading, hugs, bird feeding, dancing, singing, cooking (and letting Ella cook too!), and especially for letting me sleep.

I'd be posting pictures of the beautiful view from their home and trying to put into words the beauty of a visit to Creeksedge. Well, you will have to check out the 06/04/08 post for that. I only have a couple pictures from this past week.

But instead I am writing an apology. I brought a coughing child to your home, left her with you, and then came back in not such great shape myself. Then I called you today to let you know Ella has pneumonia. I am so so sorry! Thank you for sleeping with Ella. That's right everyone reading this, Ella slept BETWEEN Poppy and Nonna. She started out in her bed but her coughing was so difficult they put her safely between them. One night I came upstairs to find her all tucked in and my Dad and Nancy had barely enough room to sit let alone sleep. They sent me back to my room to sleep and they took care of Ella. Thank you for taking care of both of us- I promise a better trip in November.

And just so we are all clear on how badly I behaved, this is the only picture I have:

Old Habits...

This is the same exact position Ella slept in for the first three months of her life when she was in her brace. I'll spare everyone my diatribe of getting Ella to bed tonight, except to say it took an hour.

Sleeping like Uncle Matt

Interesting picture, no? It doesn't seem too exciting (it's not) and there is no Ella (say it isn't so). But look closer and you'll see her feet peeking out beside the chair. Here's a closer look:

And another:

Yes- that is Ella sleeping behind her chair using Fancy Nancy as a pillow.

Here's how this happened... I decided today's nap was a good time to re-introduce Ella to sleeping on her own. This, I knew, would entail walking her back to her room.. repeatedly. I don't know why I thought it was a good idea to start this at this particular time- especially since Wes was golfing, but I did and I regretted it as soon as I realized what I had done. I started out getting up, giving Ella a hug, reassuring her, and then carrying her back to her bed. After six tries of that I walked her back to her bed, seven times later I just pointed to her room as I walked toward her and somewhere around the 20th time I just pointed.

Then I had to go downstairs to get something and when I came back upstairs Ella was hiding behind her chair insisting she wasn't coming out and she wanted her blanket and binks. This seemed like a good alternative to me since the other option was wearing a rut in our carpet. And sure enough- she fell asleep behind her chair.

I say this is like Uncle Matt because I have heard about all sorts of places he can sleep (non of which I could) so I can only think she gets this from him. Hi Uncle Matt!

Grandpa Barry's House

Every time we go to Richmond, I feel like we take over Barry's home. And Barry, you are so generous about it- thank you! This weekend was no different. We went shopping, including a train ride:

We then headed over to Barry's for a nap. That sounds simple enough but Ella loves "Grandpa's Puppy" and goes right for him:

She then moves on to find any type of ball no matter where it is in the house. You know, normal active two-year-old stuff that wrecks a house in seconds flat. We wrapped up the day with dinner and were lucky to hit a night Shannon wasn't "Noosing" (I quote Ella on that one) so she could join us.

Of course before we hit the road to go home Ella needed to use the potty. Yes- I travel with a potty chair in my car. Yet another reason I love the Volvo. Thank you Polly for the tip.

And as a footnote- Ella woke up the next day wanting to see Max. I had no idea who that was, but apparently it is "Grandpa's puppy".