A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

In pursuit of the perfect pumpkin


The petting farm and Ella's favorites... the piggies!


Playgroup pals

West Coast, Check.

Ella’s walking range is limited to about a dozen steps, but that hasn’t stopped her from getting around – and I’m not talking about crawling.

Before her 1st birthday, Ella had already seen much of the West Coast. While she’s not likely to remember these events with too much clarity, her parents have enjoyed the process of Ella becoming a well-traveled baby.

To date, Ella has visited the following locations:

- Kauai, HI
- Kona, HI
- Lake Tahoe, CA
- Las Vegas, NV
- Los Angeles, CA
- Nipomo, CA
- San Francisco, CA
- SF Bay Area, CA
- Sonoma, CA
- Santa Barbara, CA
- Seattle, WA

Luckily, Ella doesn’t seem to mind all the locomotion – which is good, considering that we’re heading back up to the Bay Area next week. In order to keep track of all her adventures, we’ve adopted the practice of sewing city emblem patches onto the back of her diapers. OK, not really.

Happy Birthday to You!

Dear Ella,

For the first five months of my pregnancy, I was convinced that you were a boy. Not only is your daddy’s side of the family full of boys -- but mainly because I didn’t want to jinx it. If you had turned out to be a boy, I would have loved you just as much. But I’ve always wanted a daughter. Not only because I want to be able to do all the fun crafty stuff with you, but also because I look forward to the same closeness that your Grammy and I have, as you grow up and have kids of your own one day.

In some ways this year has been harder than I thought it would be. A lot of the days were exactly the same -– playtime, mealtime, naptime, mealtime, bathtime, bedtime, repeat. And I’ve definitely had less free time than I thought -– I’m only up to four months in your scrapbook -- and it’s gone by a heck of a lot faster than I thought it would. BUT it’s been more WONDERFUL than I ever thought it could be.


Your personality is emerging more each day. You make us smile and laugh a lot. You love your books and are good at finding fun in the smallest things. You are brave and strong and a tough cookie. Your good friend Charlie bit your arm and you didn’t even cry -– just grimaced and looked at him like he was crazy. And you’re very independent –- always crawling off to explore the world (you especially love leaves, sticks and dirt) -- but you’re definitely a mama’s girl. When you’re tired, no one else will do.

The biggest news of the past month is that you took your first steps! You stand all the time now and love to sit on everything that is your size -– shoeboxes, the bathroom scale, the back step -- and then practice standing up and sitting down. But you’re not in any hurry to walk –- why should you when you’re such a fast crawler?


Your vocabulary has expanded to over a dozen words: including “Na-na” (banana), Night-night, More and “La-la” (Ella) –- and a sure sign of impending toddlerdom: “Nah”. Your signing is expanding as well. You clap for “More, please” and put one finger in your mouth for “eat.” We’re still working on the signs for “Don’t bite me” and “Girl power”.

Love you mucho,
Mama

Ella and the Broc Stalk

What happens when dad is in charge of dinner...


Mmmmm... broccoli good ...


"Want some?"