nap? what nap?

elenora is on the 5th day of just playing in her crib during naptime. here is the exchange j. had with her when he went in to tell her to settle down...

J: Ella, you need to be quiet. This is nap time.

Ella: Bubba is having a birthday party.

J: Ok, well Bubba needs to sleep.

Ella: She's having a party.

J: Ok, well you dream about Bubba's party. Close your eyes.

Ella: But I can see it. (Implying that dreaming about it was unnecessary)

as we pack

this is a photo of the 7 boxes of elenora's books. yes, 7 boxes of just ella's books.

check out the blue eyes and ringlets.

we've retired the high chair to the garage of our new townhouse. ella's been sitting just at the table in a regular chair and doing such a good job of eating like a big girl.

yesterday in the car we asked ella what she wants to be when she grows up, and we listed off various careers (geologist, gardener, biologist, veterinarian, nurse) and the one that stuck out to her as the best was farmer.

yes, there's a paper plate in there. i packed all our plates and pots and pans today and brought them to our new place.

our townhouse!

i went to our new townhouse today by myself to just revel in the size of it. it's so big and quiet and bright.

this is the kitchen, looking into the dining room/living room.

here's my dishwasher!!!!!!

this is the living room.

here's the laundry!

the downstairs hallway. the first door is ella's room, then her bathroom, then j.'s office.

the family room/playroom, looking out onto our very own deck with woods beyond.

here's some video of the downstairs (notice i forget the word for "closet"... classic me):

here's some video of the upstairs:

packing and everything

this morning elenora was searching for her brown nail polish and couldn't find it and suddenly said "it's a little bit mysterious."

as i was driving with her this afternoon she said "i am whispering something to myself very quietly." so i said "will you tell me what you said?" and she replied "it's a secret. i'll tell you another day."

we are getting ready to move now. tomorrow we get the keys to our new townhouse, and j. and i have big plans to pack and move a lot of stuff over from friday to saturday while ella stays with her mamaw. the biggest issue right now is finding enough space to actually live while we pack. there's just no place to put packed boxes.

elenora asked me if we have to pack everything, and i said yes. she said "i don't have to pack my bubbas. i can just carry them in my arms."

next week i start training a new qc auditor at work. it's a big deal, and i really hope she can catch on quickly and do quality work. so many things changing right now, but all for the better i am hoping.

next month j. and i are going away for our 5 year wedding anniversary, so we have something relaxing to look forward to. we're just going to woodstock, vt, but we're staying at a gorgeous resort/inn that i've always wanted to go to because i've driven past it oodles of times and always thought it looks so beautiful.

i'm almost through with mansfield park. i think i'll finish before we move. i still don't like fanny price yet.

boxed books are heavy... even in small boxes.

ella's favorite tape (and i mean tape) to listen to in the car has the song "Hear the Bells Ringing," by Glad, on it. she likes to sing the allelujah at the end with gusto and then says "i want to do that one again."

we've been walking all over town the past week because i was given a pedometer from ebscoland as a health initiative and it's motivated me to walk instead of drive if at all possible. ella's a good walker, and doesn't require a lot of carrying even if we're going pretty far. i get lots of steps for all her little steps, too.

we've been going to the park a lot, since i'm home by 11:15 am and she doesn't go down for a nap until about 1:20 pm now. we get outside if at all possible before her nap and try to do something invigorating. in the afternoons we also try to get out to do some sort of activity. we still stick with our old favorites, shifting between the park, the library, appleton farm, russell orchard, the river walk, and the ocean. i'm so glad that we're only moving up the street and not to another town. i would really miss all of this.

her favorite color lately is blue. her favorite foods include: all fruit, prunes (i know it's a fruit, but it requires its own listing because it is liked that much), haddock, olives, ham, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on whole wheat, asparagus, lima beans, couscous, raisin nut bran cereal, and apples with peanut butter and honey for dipping. among others. she's still really great about eating legumes, veggies and fruit. foods she doesn't prefer yet include pasta, creamy sauces, and steak.

i asked her the other day what her favorite thing we ever did was and she responded (very excitedly) "pick fluffy dandelions!"

such an easy girl to please.

happiest girl

this morning momby and i ventured into boston with ella to the children's museum. this was our first time there with elenora, so it was very exciting. we arrived mid-morning in a beautiful part of boston on the river with the skyscrapers rising above us. there are some gorgeous buildings in boston. elenora narrated herself as we neared the museum. "then she jumped up and down and clapped her hands like this and said 'i'm the happiest girl in the whole wide world today!'" it was so precious.

the museum did not disappoint. we had so much fun, starting with the bubble room, which i swear i remember from when i was a kid. we made some huge bubbles.

then we went to a room that had live turtles and some stuffed small animals and birds and butterflies.

upstairs we found a room with three basketball hoops and some jelly balls, and she had fun throwing the balls and making dunks. after one dunk where i lifted her up and she dunked it, she grabbed onto the rim and hung on it. j. would have been proud.

then there was this huge floor mat that kept lighting up with different colors and all the little kids were running around dancing on it. elenora was telling me she was on a stage.

there was a play room with all kinds of little children's toys and play tables.

the water room was one of the favorites of the morning, with all kinds of tables full of water and cups and scoops and funnels to experiment with. you could even "paint with water" on this huge stone on the wall.

we ended up our visit in a "chalk talk" where we discovered an artist named Nat Scrimshaw who was drawing in the style of Curious George. he was creating pictures for audience members, and he drew this picture of elenora.

can you see how tired she is getting in this next photo?

j. was gone yesterday and today on a trip to visit c. in ny, which is why he wasn't around for the museum. ella and i enjoyed our time together. she's a darlin.

saturday ballet

it was time for a new ballet photo. ella's recital is coming up in a month!

notice that ella is backwards at the beginning of the video... and then notice her direction at the end.