Ella's Birthday

Ella turned two in July! We knew she and I were going to be in Idaho without Blair on her actual birthday (during my trip out west to defend my thesis) so we had a little family celebration 2 weeks before her actual birthday. She didn't know the difference--she was just thrilled to have cupcakes! We had a friend over for Sunday dinner and then just had cupcakes and opened a few presents. It had been a while since Ella was given new toys, so she was in heaven with the presents and I loved watching her!

"How old are you?"

She made off with some fun new toys: a dress up petticoat skirt, sunglasses, a box for sorting wooden shapes, and some blocks for stacking (and pushing over!)

When we have some down time and ask Ella what she wants to do, we can usually count on her response, "pay bocks!" (play blocks)

And here's a snapshot of all of us together

Side note: Though Ella turned 2 in July, she really started acting 2 just about 2 weeks ago. We still adore her, 2-year-oldness and all!

Florida Wildlife

As soon as we found out we were moving to Florida, my family started teasing me about alligators. The teasing increased when we moved into an apartment that sits right on a waterway (very common for the "Venice of America"). But I haven't seen any alligators yet. We plan to eventually take a trip west across Alligator Alley, so maybe we'll see one then. We have, however, seen plenty of wildlife:

Here's a family of ducks that live in our complex. The babies are pretty well grown now, but Ella loved to feed and follow them when they were still tiny. We counted the babies every time they came by.

They joined us one day for a picnic

We see tons of these little guys. It's hard to get close because they're pretty fast. This one snuck into our screened in back patio.

We watched this sea turtle for a while when we went to the beach a couple of weeks ago. He persuaded Ella to brave the noise and movement of the waves and come into the water. She now really enjoys the ocean!

And though there aren't really any animals here, this is a view from our patio. We see a wide variety of birds and the occasional fish in the water. And we have some lovely sunsets.

Happy Birthday, Blair!

Way back in June we celebrated Blair's birthday. Though we didn't have an official party, we did have some trifle (the official birthday treat at our house) when some friends came for a BBQ and we made Blair listen to us all sing 'Happy Birthday'. Otherwise, to mark the occasion we just had a quiet family dinner with cupcakes for dessert, the obligatory candles and singing, and some small presents. As predicted, Ella adored the cupcakes. (I'm sorry I only took one little snapshot of the occasion!)

Eat Puppies.

Last weekend we decided to go out to eat one night. I was telling Ella about it and she was excited to eat in a restaurant and sit in a high chair at the table. A minute later she piped up with halting little words:

"Ella eat puppies."

Me: "You want to eat puppies?"

Ella: "Yes."

Me: *Confused. Thinks for a minute.* "Oh! You want a hot dog?"

Ella: "Yes!"

She has obviously had a hot dog at a restaurant before, but she doesn't eat them often enough to remember the name. We've been laughing about that since she said it! Thank goodness she doesn't really want to eat puppies...