Way Behind

I am a little behind on the blogging lately. Let's see, Ella got sent home from daycare last week because they thought she had pink eye. Apparently a couple of other kids in her class the prior week had eye infections, but none were confirmed pink eye. Well, Ella's doctor walked in and took one look at her and said, "oh, she's definitely got pink eye in both eyes". So, either those kids need a new pediatrician, those parents are lying so their kids can stay there and they don't have to miss work, or the "eye infection" somehow mutated into pink eye when it reached Ella. Of course the dreaded daycare letter got sent home to everyone, just to let the whole school know that a child in the daycare had been diagnosed with pink eye. Yes, it was Ella. I mean, what's the difference in pink eye and a contagious eye infection? Ahh the joy of daycare germs.

John continues to study for the bar, which is quickly approaching. 5 weeks away! As the bar gets closer and closer, John is doing more and more yard work every day. :) Hey, he has to take a break every once in a while!

Here are just some random recent pictures.....

Do I really have to check this bag?

Eating a green crayon was totally worth it

This is Mike and Deidra's adorable little girl, Mallory.

Mike, just in case Mallory is missing that pacifier, it's here! Ella found it.

Mallory's dad put on quite a show with sparklers.

Dads + Fire = Fun

Here ya go Anne Marie

Apparently John has a lot more free time in the morning than I do, b/c he takes little videos like this from time to time in the morning before he takes her to school.....

and I am willing to bet little Ella didn't get those hands washed before heading off to school.....

Signing Times

I had to post these videos of Ella doing some of her sign language during dinner the other night. It just amazes me just how quickly she has picked up on this. It really shows me just how much more babies really understand before they can actually talk. I am definitely not a fan of letting little babies watch TV, but I have become a fan of these Signing Times videos. It has made eating time much more enjoyable since she can actually communicate what she wants instead of crying or throwing little tantrums.

Eat & More

Milk

Please

All Done

She's also been doing the signs for baby, car, bird, no, book, read, thank you, bath, dog, and want. Some days she'll just start doing a new sign, and John and I will have to go back and watch the video to see what she's trying to tell us!

Knee Walking

I just had to post these short little videos of Ella walking on her knees. She actually is finally taking steps here and there when SHE wants to, but MUCH prefers to crawl and walk on her knees. Supposedly (according to her doctor), the average age to walk is 14 months, but she is so cautious and hates to fall, I am not sure when she'll decide its time to walk full time! So, for now, its knee walking, which is quite entertaining to watch!

At The Farm

Ella enjoyed her Grandmother Bowles, Aunt Janet, and Great-Granddaddy and Great-Grandmother Vogh at the farm recently.

She also enjoyed fireworks, bubbles, a wagon ride, Grandmother Bowles' piano playing, a ride through the woods in a golf cart, hot dogs fresh off the grill, wild plums, playing in the sand, flowers, and DOGS! She will have to go back some time soon.

Graduation!!!

Finally.....John graduated! Those 3 years went by so quickly. It's just amazing John is already finished with law school. He had a day or two off and now he's already well into his 8 weeks worth of bar review classes before taking the big, nasty test at the end of July! It's going to be a fun summer!

Mollie and Elizabeth drove over for the day!

Ella was very interested in reading the program

Waving to all of the graduates as they left the Wright Center

We took a short beach trip to celebrate John being done with his law school finals! The first day Ella was very scared of the ocean, and it didn't seem to help that she got sand in her eyes within the first 10 minutes of us getting there. The second day it wasn't as windy, and Ella seemed to enjoy the beach a bit more. She even took a little snooze on the beach.

Instead of building a big sand castle like all of the other dads, John decided to dig a big hole. He kept telling Ella that if you kept digging you would eventually find water, which he did. Ella definitely enjoyed helping dada dig in the sand.

Few little updates on Ella. She is saying about 15 words now, and has started doing some sign language. We started letting her watch a little TV in the morning (so we can get ready!) and she has been watching these DVD's called Signing Times. It's amazing how quickly she has picked up on it, and she really enjoys it! Ella isn't walking yet (unless walking on her knees counts!). She is very efficient at crawling and refuses to let us help her walk (actually she refuses to let us help her do much of anything). She is VERY independent and wants to do everything on her own.

She is officially off the bottle completely and transitioned to whole milk wonderfully! Definitely helps the check book not having to buy formula anymore. She's been trying more finger foods and is not choking as much as she used to! Still scares me to death every time though! Ella has started throwing some little temper tantrums from time to time if you take something away from her (like the dog bowl). She just screams and throws her head back or just lays her head on the floor crying very dramatically. It's really quite funny!