New Dress from Aunt Jo

Here's the last of the pictures from my sister's trip. Ella is wearing a new dress that Joanna brought her. She looked so absolutely adorable in this dress! I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that she can wear dresses more often.

Hanging Out with Dad

In the first picture you can see that Ella LOVES being held upside-down.

I snapped the second picture today when L and Ella were on their way out the door for some quality time together. L was in charge of Ella during my weekly meeting with Susan and they went to look at microphones. You can also get a glimpse of our new stroller. It's really light and can be strapped on our back for ease going up and down the stairs. This one also fits in taxis. We had to down-grade from our previous stroller because it was too large for me to get in taxis by myself and now that Ella is bursting out of the Bjorn I needed another way to easily take her out when L isn't around.

Toy on My Head

This video consists of me putting a toy on my head, saying "There's a toy on my head," and then making it fall off, all of which was highly amusing to little Miss Ella. You will also see one of my many fruitless attempts to help her stop sucking her fingers so much. She is such a fun baby!

The World's Most Kissable Cheeks

Plum Blossom Festival

Every year when the plum trees are in bloom there is a Plum Blossom Festival at the Ming Tombs. This basically means that tickets are half price, they bring in carnival-type rides for kids, and there are a lot of pretty trees. We have missed the Plum Blossom Festival for the past two years and this year we wish that we had gone earlier because a lot of the blossoms had already fallen off the trees but it was still really beautiful.

Ella Draws a Crowd

No matter where we are Ella is sure to draw a crowd! People love to touch her hands and feet, kiss her, talk to her, check how many layers she is wearing, ask questions about her, comment on how big her eyes are and the other day a woman even stopped the stroller, got down on her knees and sang Ella a song complete with hand motions. Part of me loves that Ella is able to bless people and give me a chance to meet new friends, but the other part of me really hates that people are constantly exposing her to germs. This especially bothers me in the market where I know people commonly touch raw meat. As often as possible I politely ask people to not touch her (or as you can see in the second picture put a blanket over her hands) but often it's too late so please just ask Father with me that she will not get sick as we seek to bless others through this sweet baby!

Local Fav

This is a little restaurant that is close to our house. There is an option of sitting inside but we always prefer to sit out back in the alley mainly so that we aren't sitting in a bunch of cigarette smoke and also because it's interesting to watch the cooks make the noodles. We love this type of food and there will be a lot of it in the city we are moving to next December!

Ella at 8 Months

At her last doctor's appointment, Ella weighed 20 lbs, 8 oz! We are so blessed by this precious little girl and so thankful for her. I can't imagine a sweeter baby.

Blog-roll

I found this today at the end of the TP roll. In lieu of commentary, I'm having a competition for the best caption. Any takers? Don't be shy, your momma don't check my blog. But don't be crude, my momma does check my blog.

-L

Happy Birthday to Pop

One special thing that Ella's Pop does for all his grandchildren is make a special song for them. This is Ella's:

Ella, oh Ella
You're my sweet, sweet Ella
我爱你 (I love you)
我爱你 (I love you)
I love you

Family Visiting

This week my sister, her boyfriend, Alex, and my cousin are visiting! We are having such a good time. It's always incredibly encouraging to be able to spend time with family.

Food!

Reading with Aunt Jo

Train Ride (or where Ella finally got over her fear of Alex's beard)

Happy Birthday to L

Happy Birthday Aunt Jo!

In a moment of complete candor, my sister once actually admitted that she does not enjoy sharing her birthday with another member of the family, so, Joanna, I made sure that the two of you had different videos. :) I'll post L's video tomorrow. I'm posting these videos a bit early because we are going to be out of town this weekend.

We are really looking forward to seeing you next week, Joanna!!!!!!! And, I'm also really looking forward to the chance to boss you around and give you a ton of big sisterly advice. I also haven't had anyone tell me that I'm "just too serious" or that my sister and I laugh/sound exactly alike in a long time so that will be good to hear. Love you!

Object Permanence Video

I made this for my brother because the other day we were talking about object permanence.