father's day

today is our first father's day. i finally was able to share with j. the beautiful pictures we got taken at the mall two weeks ago. he just loves them so much. also, we got j. a universal remote control so that we can finally adjust the volume on the tv in the living room without getting up. elenora and i went downtown this morning to pick up breakfast and coffees for j. so it's been a very special day so far. this afternoon we have to go celebrate father's day with j.'s parents. the restaurant is way too far away. and too fancy for a baby who won't want to sit still for over an hour while adults eat bread and entrees. i can't think of what time she's going to get to bed tonight.

and it's important for her to get a good night of sleep tonight because we got home late last night from a 1st birthday party for one of ella's little friends. aurora is one now, and we had a lovely time at a cook out on the ocean. elenora and aurora are so cute together. ella is crawling and pulling herself up and will walk while holding our hands, and aurora is walking now. they shared a tray of "sugar" puffs. ella was really well behaved and cheerful; one of the guys there commented on how easily she smiles. i was really proud of her.

but we didn't get home until seven thirty. so she didn't go to bed until around 8 pm. i let her sleep in a little this morning and then kept her naps the same as usual today, and she's been sleeping really well.

but i don't particularly want to have another late night tonight.

oh well.

the celtics might win the final finals tonight.

yesterday morning j. went to take a literacy test to help him get into the school system so he can apply as an adjustment counselor. i went to a meeting for the CSA and learned that my first collection time is this tuesday. fresh veggies are going to be much welcomed. elenora is eating a lot more lately, and it's getting expensive to buy all the organic baby foods. i can't wait to make my own. k. came over for brunch when j. got home. ella was so sweet with her "auntie" k. she kept leaning backwards towards k. with a huge smile on her face and letting k. nuzzle her chin. it's so special for me to see how kind and sweet elenora is in social situations.

i got ella a new duck yesterday. this one is blue and if you press the bottom it lights up with all different colors. it's so much fun, and she loves it so much. she consistently says "uck" or "guck" for "duck." hasn't quite got the "d" sound down yet. she's been doing a lot of "k" and "ga" lately.

but she definitely says "duck."

she's been pulling herself up on everything and standing very strong. i just have to spot her, rather than helping her. she's fairly solid. today she pulled herself up and was standing just holding onto one of my hands with one of her hands. she would have let go altogether, too. she's pretty brave.

oh! and she finally figured out how to go from a crawling position to a sitting position! i'm super excited about this, since it seemed like something she should be able to figure out.

yesterday she crawled over to our bookshelf and was playing with some papers that were on the bottom shelf tucked between some books. she went to put them in her mouth and i said "no, no eat, ella" and she shook her head "no." then she continued playing with the papers but every few seconds she would look at them and shake her head "no."

cutie.