Helmet

We finally bought Ella a bike helmet. She's still trying to get the hang of pedaling on her tricycle so we've not been in a hurry to get a helmet... not that any fit her anyway. But... Ron just bought himself a new fancy road bike that is lightning fast and he's taken Ella out in the bike trailer a few times. The helmet is no longer optional at Ron's speed and luckily, Ella has grown enough that we found one that fit. She's so in love with it, she's worn it all afternoon - eating a snack, playing blocks or doing a puzzle. Ron finally got her to take it off... I think he bribed her with watching "Barney". :)

Love

Ella and Emmanuel

Mamma Mia

I arranged a girls night out with Sara, Christina and Maikou. We had dinner together and then saw the fabulous Mamma Mia. I saw it originally on stage and couldn't stay off my feet dancing. The movie was just as good and I can't wait to dance around to ABBA this weekend with Ella....

Hickam Beach

Ella and SebastianElla and EmmiElla, Sebastian and I went to Hickam Beach on the airforce base with Christina and Emmi. The beach is gorgeous and we get the added entertainment of watching planes take off from the airport as well as fighter jets practicing and taking off right next to us.

Blog Makeover

I'd like to thank Lesley for introducing me to The Cutest Blog website. I noticed her blog was looking very adorable and much nicer than the blogger layouts available. I spent much of the afternoon playing around with it and love the new look - hope you do too.

Yesterday afternoon we had our friends over for a potluck BBQ. Maikou made her famous (and delicious) egg rolls, Christina made some fantastic chicken tostadas, and Carrie and Sara brought fruit and cake for dessert.

Yummy! With the hamburgers and hot dogs it was a feast. It's always good to see everyone and hang out, we've made some great friends here.
Here are some pictures from last night, and all of Ella's friends....

I Can Swim!

I took Ella and Sebastian down to Ford Island in Pearl Harbor to visit with Christina and Emmi. We went to the pool after lunch and Ella tried out her new water wings. SHE DID IT!! She was floating and kicking on her own and was motoring about the pool. I'm so proud of her! She kept saying, "I swimming, Mommy." Luckily, Christina was with us and was able to capture all this with the camera. Ella only swam for about 30 minutes before wanting out of the pool. Not two minutes later she passed out on a lounge chair. All that exercise wiped her out! I let Sebastian play for a while longer while my little swim star slept. So excited today!

Friends

Ella loves other kids. She adores older ones and Sebastian is no exception. Here, I asked her to take a picture with Sebastian and she snuggled up to him. And the others are Ella all day, laughing at his antics; she laughs so hard she has to hold her belly. He's so good with kids... must be all those little brothers he has :)

Potty Update

Ella continues to wet her diapers but has not once pooped in them since the 1st. Twelve days, twelve poops on the toilet... isn't it the pooping that is the hardest part of potty training??? She could care less about wet diapers, but is quick to tell us "Ella have stinky bum" to which we whisk her off to the toilet and she goes with no problem. Potty training is odd, we're just winging it and we figure she'll get it eventually.

Just Beachy

Ella is still doing well, her appetite isn't totally back to normal but she's active, drinking and eating toast and cheerios so all is well. Today we went to Ko'Olina. Ella has a new swim ring and she's so brave. She floats out above her head and has learned to kick to turn herself around. She's not quite kicking enough to propel her through the water but she is happy to float and be out in the water. Without the swim ring she'll walk out to her head and ends up with a wave over her. Despite this, she insists on being on her own and when I pick her out of the water and bring her back to where she can safely touch, she can't get away from me fast enough. She wants to swim so desperately, especially now that Sebastian is with us and he has so much freedom being able to swim. We will be more than ready for swim lessons in March...

Almost Normal

Ella is doing fine, she hasn't been sick since we left the hospital and we didn't have to give her any more medicine. We all went to bed really early last night and had an excellent night's sleep.

Funny, unrelated note about boys versus girls. Ella, as I have said many times is very sweet. She loves giving kisses and hugs and will make Ron and I kiss each time we kiss her when she's getting ready for bed. She gives Eskimo kisses, butterfly kisses, and blows kisses. She kisses and hugs all her toys, her blanket, her bike... she carries around her baby dolls and Barbie dolls and gives them bottles, wraps them in blankets, puts them to bed... the list goes on. She is very sweet to her friends and to ours, always running up to my girlfriends to give them a big hug. Did I mention I have a very adorable, sweet little girl??

I have been watching Sebastian for week and he is a very polite and well-behaved 10-year-old... but is it a gene boys are born with??? So far he's wrestled Ella's Elmo chair, pile-drived her dolls, "smashed" Elmo into the carpet repeating "die, Elmo, die.. aggghhhh (dying sounds)", and held a boxing/death match with her stuffed animals. Now granted, we don't have any "boy" toys in the house and he's surrounded by girlie dolls and pink stuffed animals, but really, "die, Elmo, die"??? Ella of course, was horrified, then intrigued, and then thought the whole thing was hilarious. I put an end to it and explained that while, yes, he does have brothers, and he is used to video games, Ella is a little girl who is sweet and we want her to stay that way. He is a great kid and has headed my warnings: if he can't stop torturing Ella's things, he's not to play with them at all:) There's to be no death or destruction in the house... that, I'm sure, will come later because didn't we all rip off Barbie's head at some point??? LOL