These are all things Gabriella has done this week...

Ways to explore: by Gabriella
1) after your Mommy has swiffered the floor and its still wet (wait until she leaves the room for a second to answer the phone) slide across it on your tummy. Pretend you are sliding into home plate.
2) after your Mommy has asked you not to talk fresh, point to yourself and say "me fresh".
3) sneak into the kitchen and get the 6 pack of cinnamon rolls use a spoon and eat them all. Wait until Mommy is unloading the groceries (especially if she has a lot of melting ones waiting in the car) you have to do this quickly Mommy will be right back.
4) while Mommy is in the bathroom take all of the wipes out of your pack and throw them all around the room.
5) on the road home from the store, take all of the dirt out of the potted plant and throw it around the car. Mom will be too busy driving to do anything about it.
6) hide your animal cookies, crackers, and cheese under the living room rug and in your crib mattress for later. Make sure Mommy isn't looking when you this, first shove it down your dress, then take it out and hide it.

Afer you have done the previous things, use crocodile tears and ask for Daddy.
love,
Gabriella

The need to be clean continues a generation..

Playtime fun!

Gabriella has been going crazy playing hard with all of her new toys. Her favorite are her talking twin dolls. She loves her kitchen set too. She also likes the train set in the kitchen. We didn't go crazy with the buying. But she has plenty of new toys to play with. She has been playing so hard she has taken an early nap every day since Christmas morning!

Christmas Morning Fun

Oh brother....

Ellie loves Gram. Ellie misses Gram. Ellie is rebelling until Gram comes, no sleeping night or day. Just crying Gram, Grammaaamaa, Gram. She has been throwing massive fits everytime the phone rings, thinking it must be Gram. We actually had to unplug our phone yesterday. In between the 31 min long distance call she made (trying to call Gram) and the fits I said forget it. If people want to talk to me they can email. UGH. Thank goodness Gram is coming in two weeks. This girl knows what she wants and she wants it NOW.

Tiny Tappers

The moon

Ellie and I took a "dark" walk down to see Ceal late this afternoon. I bundled her up and put on her new boots. She keep pointing to the sky and saying wow. It took me awhile to figure out what she was seeing. The moon! She was so happy to be out at night. On the way back we tossed some snowballs on the street. She was having a ball. It was one of those moments where I remembered how fast time will go and how glad I am to be at home savoring it with her!

Finally pants that work...

How did I do it? They are velvety with a huge bow in the back, very fancy. She thinks that it is a dress. LOL.

All that glitters

After the snowstorm fisaco, I decided to buy Gabriella boots she would actually wear. I.E. "pretty". I bought these pink sparkly, light up, flowery boots that pass her "pretty" test. The problem? She didn't want to take them off when we got in the house. It was "pretty" "no, pretty on". At least they were only $13. Kohls has good sales!

It's me Ellie

Dear Friends,
Would one of you tell my Mother that just because its snowing doesn't mean I need that many clothes? It snowed all day today and my Mom insisted on taking me outside. It took her forever to bundle me up, I'm busy I don't have time for that. She made me wear snowpants, boots, mittens, a hat, a coat, and a hood. Then after all of that she put me a a snowbank. I ask you, it that supposed to be fun?

Love,
Ellie

And the night goes on...

Ella Feeding Ella

Ella's friend Ella came over to play today. Her friend is the sweetest little girl. She wanted to continually kiss Gabriella. Gabriella wasn't too interested in the kisses, but was happy to feed Ella.

have you ever wanted to punch a 4 foot tall red guy?

I have. The teletubbies have offically made me insane.

Family updates...

Ella has grown very tall. She is almost as tall as most 2 year olds. She's running everywhere. Her favorite game is peek a boo, which she would play with me all day if I could stand it. She would also watch Teletubbies all day if I would let her. I've seen the animal episode 1057 times. UGH.
I've started tutoring two afternoons a week. It's nice to use my teaching skills again. Ella spends Monday late afternoons while I tutor with Daddy and Thursday she spends with the neighborhood babysitter Sami. Thank goodness I finally I have a break from grad school for the next month. I feel like I'm running all day and too busy. Ella and the housework are a full time job. You throw in full time grad school and tutoring in there and its becomes over-time.

She did WHAT?

Ellie had her 15 month appointment at the doctors this morning. The doctor said she "LOST weight!!!!!?!" What? She has never lost weight! She was always weighing in the 90% percentile. She actually lost .5 lbs since her 12 month appointment. I'm not worried. My child will eat anything under the sun. Yesterday she ate 15 (yes 15) chicken steamed potstickers for dinner. Then she had a banana before bed. A whole one. Her favorite word is bapple (apple!) and she can constantly be seen eating one, peel and all. notice the picture below. (you can see it in her mouth, eww.) She is still in the 90% percentile for height, she's headed towards giantdom like her uncles.

Ready for Santa

sigh: target portrait studio

So I got the whole family ready for the portrait dragged them unwillingly to Target, (picture dragging a 15 month old and a football loving guy during the middle of the game). I fixed Ella's hair three times, changed her diaper on the way, fought the change of outfit, only to get there and wait 30 minutes past my scheduled time. The waiting room was filled with unruly and whiny toddlers (including my own! all in keeping with the holiday spirit. These better be the best pictures ever. At least the Target lady felt sorry for me and gave me 3 free sheets of pictures.

Pigtails and more

Gabriella has offically left fuzzy hairdom. The huge bows that she wore each day have been set aside until her hair grows longer and she can wear them over her pigtails. For now her look is pigtails with tiny bows. It's adorable but she looks like she is two!

Free stuff!

So in addition to the Little People sets I scored Ellie this easel with paper, a white board, and a white board! Yay!

Freecycle

Decorating for Christmas

Decorating for Christmas

Today we decorated for Christmas. Ellie (as usual) was right in the middle of the action. i.e. exactly in the way. Thankfully much of decorating took place during her nap. I'm also really really glad last year I invested in shatterproof bulbs (how cool is that?)

How to know you are married to a sociologist (who has a toddler)

when:
your spouse starts commenting on the societal implications of the teletubbies...
He has decided the purple one is gay or transgendered, or that they shows writen intentionally made it so people would think she/he/it? ( i dunno) had a male voice yet carried a very obvious red purse.
He also noted they made the "darker" faced tubby (the green one) mildly retarded on purpose. He is wondering what societal implications they were making. OMG seriously. Too much teletubbies. and way too much sociology. can you imagine the dinner table at my house? At least we don't ban them based on this (I can think of someone who does...)

Playing with Daddy

Gobble Gobble

Photobucket Album

Todays Outfit

Little People

LIttle people fun

I'm a member of this online group called freecycle. It's basically where people recyle things they are finished with. Today I hit the toddler jackpot and scored a little people castle, ark, 3 cars, and a train. The sets would've been around $60 new. I cleaned them up and they look brand new. Ellie spent the afternoon happily playing with her new toys. : )

The beginning of I don't want to wear that...

This morning I took out two sweaters and asked Ellie which one she wanted to wear. She responded with "neither" as clear as day. My mistake, not taking out the skirt to go with them. She must have thought I was going to put her in pants. We compromised with this outfit. (and neither sweater : )

Up, not down.

Gabriella's latest accomplishment is to climb the stairs and open doors. We figured this out today. The attic door was closed and I was in the bathroom. 2 minutes later I couldn't find her, I hear laughing and running above me. I ran upstairs and guess who was trying to turn on the TV for Teletubbies? Yep, climbed the stairs and opened the door. Oh boy! She will not climb down though. She has learned though that mean Mom won't carry her down. That makes it less fun to repeatedly climb the stairs. She hates trying to get down. I figure either way I win: she learns to climb down (and I can stop carrying 1/3 of my body weight up and down the stairs 6 times a day) or she will stop climbing for fun!

yay for new toys....

Yep, you heard right 5 weeks before Christmas and new toys. No I didn't go shopping! Tracy gave them to Gabriella because Lilly has outgrown them. : ) I would've loved some of these things. A mini baby swing, a shopping cart! I played house until I was like 8, I can't imagine how much I would have loved them!

They didn't make this stuff when I was a kid

bebe

"bebe" is what Gabriella calls her Taggie blanket. (which is a small blanket with tags on the sides, its pink with hearts). She cannot sleep without it. She rubs and rubs the tags until she falls asleep. Thank goodness I thought to buy a backup, which was $21! Ugh whoever thought of those things is a marketing genius, $21 for a small square of material with tags. And we have 2.........

It's party time!

Photobucket Album

Running not walking....

Gabriella is in to everything. She loves to run not walk. And as for crawling that faze is long gone now. She is still very good about leaving the bookshelves alone and not getting into the China or breakables. I did my best to leave things as they were (except for the toxic chemicals) to teach her no. For the most part, its gone well. She hasn't broken or climbed up anything yet. However, shes discovered the automatic trash can in the kitchen!

Yay for Teletubbies. Ella loves them. If I let her she would watch ALL day. We've decided one in the morning and in the afternoon. : ) It really does help pass the time between 4:15 and 5 when Daddy gets home. Otherwise she is screaming and pounding on the door, "daddy" until he gets home. That's not to stop her from saying, "Tubby" and walking to the television throughout the day in the hopes that I will cave in!

A toddlers creed

I came across the funniest (and true) thing today

The Toddlers Creed
If I want it, it's mine.
If I give it to you an dchange my mind later, it's mine.
If I can take it away from you, it's mine.
If I had it a little while ago, it's mine.
If it's mine, it will never belong to anyone else, no matter what.
If we are building something together, all the pieces are mine.
If it looks like mine, its mine.

Ahh, reading Ella's mind.

On another note, Ella Gram just left today. She left while Ella was sleeping the carseat. Of course the first thing she said was "GRAMMMMMM" "GRAMMMMMMMMMMMMM" followed by a huge fit when she realized Gram had gone home.

Wild thing...

I dressed up Ella today as the Wild Thing monster. She was so cute. Storming around with her horns and tail. LOL. I will post a picture later. Way way too cute ; )

I DON'T WANT TO!

Well you can't say I didn't try. I got Gabriella all dressed up in the dress Grandma made, drove across town to Target, took her to the portrait studio. I'll bet you can guess what happens next....
Yep, a major fit. The photographer came too close to her and touched her dress. That was it. The tears started to flow and the screaming started. She refused to calm down for the pictures. No luck. and no photos.
sigh. I guess its a good thing Uncle John bought us that nice camera.

Gabriella's day.....

Ella video

Yay for friends...

Gabriella is finally warming up to friends. She had a blast at school today. She clapped along with the song and played instead of cried during free-play.

Yesterday, we went to visit Joey. She wasn't quite sure what to make of him. She got close to him and smiled but that was about it. She really LOVED Daisy (Joeys dog). She laughed and kissed her right on the face. She was screaming with excitement whenever Daisy was around. I'm guessing it was because of the adorable bow Daisy had in her hair...... She also took a real liking to Mary Ellen. She had a lot of fun and wore herself right on. She fell asleep in the car almost immediately after we left.

Mom Book!

Ella is a sponge. Today she learned "book" and "snack". I taught her book the same way I taught her other words, not giving in until she stops whining and tries to say something. It worked for book in about 10 minutes. We all know how much she loves books. She's currently pestering her Daddy in her room "book" "book" "book". Ha-ha-ha it's his turn. She even sleeps with three in the crib. Last night I heard her reading to herself at midnight. : )

The picture on the left is from this weekend at the pumpkin patch. Yes, I made William buy me a 24 pound pumpkin because my pumpkin is 24 lbs this year. Unlike last year, I got it on the first guess. : )

Books, books, and more books.

I guess what goes around comes around. My mom said that I was obsessed with books as a child (well it's been true my whole life, to this day). As a teacher, I'm so glad that my daughter has a love of words and a love of books. The only thing is she likes the same book over and over and over. She would read all day if I let her. I keep encouraging playtime too. She immediately crawls over to her bookshelf and pulls books down. She hands me one of three or four choices. I've read "Binky" five times so far today (it's only Noon). I'm ashamed to admit I've hid "Moo, Baa, La, La." I just couldn't take it anymore. My mom said she read me "The Little Engine that Could" until we wore out the pages.....

Off to school we go

Well we are off to our third session of school. I'm hoping she will do better today. She is talking a lot. She can say, "oh no" ,"Daddy", "Mom", "blankie", "baby", "more", "all done", "nite nite", "hi", "bye", "wheres Daddy", "bow-wow", "oh wow", "yummy", "yucky", "up", "no", "yes". But still no walking......

Talk or Whine?

Ella has been doing some seriously whining lately. It's frustrating for her not to be able to express what she wants or walk. I can see it making her mad. We've been practicing words. Patience, patience, practice, practice. As much for me as for her! Today we learned nite-nite (she says nanite). I've been ignoring all whining and crying for attention, I repeat the word, "nite-nite" or "all-done" calmly and walk away. As soon as she says it (or anything really) as long as it's not a whine I give her what she said. It's working. Well, toddler-working. Nothing is 100%, sometimes she whines, especially with Daddy (he is a major sucker for her) but she is asking as much as whining. two steps forward one step back.

Dresses, Bows, and all things girl.

I've created a monster. (the cutest monster ever!) I've been dressing her in dresses and hairbows since she was born. And o.k. I admit it the occasional tutu with ballet shoes. Now she throws temper tantrums if we take out pants. She will pull on them and scream. Whenever we go into a dress shop she says, "OH WOW!". This isn't a figment of my imagination! She really loves fancy dresses. The problem comes when I try to take her to the playground or school. She just has to wear the tutu.......

I admit it I purchased a brown and pink polka dotted bow to make it 56 bows today! : )

Sweet Dreams....

William and Ella bought me a video monitor for mother's day this year. I absolutely love it! I can spy on her anytime I like..... it's too bad that I won't be able to use it when shes a teenager. Tonight William and I were hanging out watching Law and Order in the living room, and I was spying on Ella. She was laughing and laughing in crib in the middle of her sleep. It was so cute! I wonder what she could have been dreaming about. If I had to venture a guess I would guess it was Lilly. Everything Lilly does is just SOOOOOO funny to her.

YUMMY

Ella has had a busy week. Mostly non-stop playing, moving, and snacking ; ) She loves to eat whatever Willliam and I are eating. She has been known to say YUMMY to salmon, basil, shrimp, scallops, spicy BBQ. If I'm eating it she wants it right away. If I'm drinking it, she must have it. I try to sneak candy bars, but she has this sense that I'm eating. As soon as she senses it she crawls at mock 10 towards the food. It's no wonder she is in the 75 % for weight.

What's with all the change, Mom?

I signed Gabriella up for a Mommy and Me "preschool" playgroup for 1-2 year olds. Today was our first class. They have amazing toys, story and songtime, and circle time. Gabriella wasn't thrilled with it. She looked around at all of the toddlers running around and gave me a look that said, "this isn't another birthday party is it?" She played shy the entire class. I'm hoping it will grow on her. Once a week for an hour, and I stay there. She should be able to handle that right?

On another note of disaster, today was the first time I left her with someone other than my neighbor, her Daddy, or my Mom. Let's just say she was mad..... my poor friend. I feel bad. Her poor daughter was trying to nap too!

It's getting hot in here

Isn't summer supposed to be over? It's the last week of September afterall. It's 90 degrees today. Ella is sweating and I'm feeling cranky, I'm on the way to my 6 hour night class. I sure hope fall is going to start tomorrow.....

Visit with Uncle Paul.

My brother Paul came for a very short visit from Ohio this week. Gabriella loves her Uncle and has decided to bawl her eyes out when he leaves the room. She is not going to be happy when she wakes up from her afternoon nap and discovers he has gone back home.....

Talking, talking, talking

Gabriella said her own name today. Just one time, "Gabriella"! I would've thought she would say "Ella" or "Ellie" first. I guess she has an opinion on her name too!

SHHHHHHHH don't make a sound!

It's currently fifteen minutes to 8 am and Ella is still sleeping. YAY, I've been trying not to make a sound. Yesterday was a long day, she got her 8th tooth. She wasn't a happy camper! Hopefully she will wake up happy after all that sleep.

HI!

Most days, my early morning wake-up between 6:30 and 7 am is my favorite time of day. I go into Ella's room and am greeted with the world's biggest smile and, "HI!". She is always surprised and happy to see me. It's the same every morning. It's pretty easy to make her happy! She then is ready for the day and she will tell me what she wants. First it's " da bath!" then it's "da brush" (comb her hair and put on clothes) then its "da bow" (very important--- hairbow). It's amazing how quickly babies (I guess she is a toddler : ( catch on to schedules and routines.

Good things come in small packages....

Gabriella has decided two is better than one. The terrible two's have begun! (just a few days after her first birthday : ) Currently, the whining getting louder and louder..... She has also found out the fun in kicking her feets while throwing her head back and yelping. The teenage years should be fun! Oh boy.