Fingerpainting

Learning to Play the Piano

This Morning

L went out this morning and took some pictures of the aftermath of last night's fireworks. They ended up going from 6-12:30 last night and started again at 6 this morning...and it will be like this all week! Miraculously, Ella is able to sleep through it all.

Tonight

SHE FINALLY ROLLED OVER!

As usual, the cinematography leaves something to be desired, but basically I was just flipping out that she finally rolled over and I wanted for the fam to see it as soon as possible. I didn't catch the first one on film but these are the next few. It looks like Ella will never have to suffer through Tummy Time again. She has hated Tummy Time from the very beginning but now as soon as we turn her over she rolls right back again.

Pretty In Pink

Ella's Half Birthday Hat

This totally hip birthday hat is from IKEA. It actually has three candles (and three strawberries which are hard to see) on top but I still thought I would take some pictures of her wearing it on her half birthday.

In other birthday news, Ella attended her first birthday party last week (her friend Charis turned 2). L thought that my excitement over Ella being invited to a birthday party was pretty funny but maybe you other moms out there can understand! I've entered a whole new realm of social events now...

My 28th Birthday

On my birthday our friends Peter and Mary bought me a beautiful cake! It was really funny though because on the top the cake decorator (who probably didn't speak English) had written "Sweet message."

Earlier that day I took Ella to the aquarium. It was a lot of fun for me to get out of the house and Ella seemed to be able to track the fish with her eyes so I think she enjoyed it as well. I only saw five other people there the entire time so it was like we had the entire thing all to ourselves. It was actually kind of scary because living here you get used to being around a million other people every time you go out so being by myself in a public setting was extremely weird.

I actually think that Ella's favorite part of the outing was the bus ride home. She quite the center of attention on the #20 and really enjoyed smiling at everyone.

Ella Joins the Band

Tonight L and a friend from our fellowship, Cadeau, performed in an end-of-year show at L's school. This is a video of their practice this afternoon. I know it's a bit odd but they are practicing in our bedroom because that is where the speakers are and L needed to plug his guitar in. Have I ever mentioned that our apartments is really small? :) It's funny because when we first moved in we didn't think that we would last a month and now two years and one additional family member later we are still happily making this our home. In fact, we have now lived here longer than we have ever lived in any of our previous homes.

Ella's Spring Festival Outfit

One of our friends gave Ella this outfit. It is a traditional outfit that would be worn during Spring Festival. It's a little too big for her but still really cute. I'm not at all a fan of the fake hair though partly because it's creepy and partly because the mother-of-a-daughter in me doesn't like to see little Asian girls wearing these hats (and we have seen that many times) because I want for them to realize that their own straight, black hair is just as beautiful as curly, blond hair.

(The first two pictures were taken tonight at the show L was in.)

Ella at Six Months

It's hard to believe that Ella is now six-months-old! These days she enjoys watching me brush my teeth, watching L play the guitar, bath time, and playing with toys. She is also increasingly enjoying reading books and snuggling. She does not enjoy solid food or tummy time. We think that she may crawl before she rolls over.

It was really hard to get the second picture because she either wanted to have her feet lifted up or the dog in her mouth or sometimes both! So, next month I'm going to start taking the monthly pictures with her sitting up.

Tap Dancing Video

We took this last week when I let L in on my little secret for keeping Ella happy. When all else fails, I start "dancing." Ella was sitting on his lap and after she had been laughing for a good two or three minutes, L grabbed the camera and started filming her. At one point, we thought that she didn't think it was funny anymore so he turned off the camera, but then she started laughing so hard that it made her fall over on his lap so he turned it back on.

I put off posting this video because it makes me look like a total dork but then I realized that anyone who knows me well enough to read this blog probably already knows these two things...1. I cannot dance. 2. I am a total dork. So, enjoy! Although I'm not sure any of you will enjoy this as much as Ella does.

Ella Playing with Toys

This is a really long (4 minutes) video of Ella smiling, waving her arms, babbling and playing with her toys. It also includes one or two yawns. I made this because a few family members mentioned that they watch the Ella videos over and over and over again so I thought that I would give them a long one instead of making them watch the same thing multiple times. We do what we can to keep the grandparents (and aunts) happy! But, more than that we appreciate the many things they are doing so that they can develop a good and meaningful relationship with Ella across the miles. We realize that this is a sacrifice for them as well as for us and appreciate their support and dedication to make it work.

Happy Birthday Gramma

Unfortunately, Ella was a bit grumpy (working on another tooth) during the filming of this video. As you will see, the stage hand tried a couple of different tactics to keep Ella happy and smiling and in the end even resorted to tap dancing (which you won't see but you might be able to hear some of the taps) but nothing quite seemed to work. Fortunately, I know that Gramma won't mind Ella "showing her personality."

New Year's Eve Activities

There was a big tug-of-war competition at L's school on New Year's Eve (day) so Ella and I walked up so that we could watch. But, as you can see, the crowd was so big we couldn't actually see any of the tug-of-war. L's team won and his prize was $10!

Picking Out a Book

Our Little Mimic