tikki tikki tembo

ella's been randomly saying "tiki tiki tembo" for fun.  (it's a children's book i have that was read to me when i was little...the boy's name in this book is "tikki tikki tembo no sa rembo chari bari ruchi pip peri pembo).  sometimes she tries to say the whole thing and it sounds like "tikki tikki tembo no embo chari buchi pip perio".  so cute.

h. and i took her to the beach yesterday afternoon.  it was the perfect afternoon and nobody was there.  the water was calm and elenora was very comfortable running around and burying her feet in the sand.  she loves seashells, but she doesn't like it when she picks up two shells that are still stuck together and then they break apart.  she looks at me and says "mommy fix it!" and i say "i can't fix it" and she gets a little sad.

this morning j. and i took elenora out to breakfast.  she likes eating my spinach, cheese, and salsa omelette, hot apples, and wheat toast (which we put grape jelly on today).  she's getting really good at feeding herself, too. 

after we ate we took her to the river downtown and took a walk over the bridge.  ella likes to climb up on the benches and she says "watching" and i'll say "what are we watching?" and she says "river."

this afternoon we all went to the ocean.  my favorite thing to do there is just to sit and watch as elenora toddles off on her own discovery.  i like that she can go 200 feet away without being unsafe, and i get to observe her as this individual who is separate from myself.  she's so fun to watch, as she comments on everything around her.  she's so interested in the seagulls and the seashells and the kites and the other children.

tonight momby bathed and put ella to bed while j. and i went out to dinner at our favorite mexican restaurant.  their sangria is so good, and i always enjoy their pescado dishes.  then we went to see a foreign film called "cherry blossom" that was really good.  half of it was set in japan.

tomorrow is my second mother's day.  

here are some words/phrases from ella:

daddy's taking another shower.

a hungry caterpillar.

two people, talking.

buttercup

hot apples

grape jelly