Ella

And now the latest and greatest from the kid who think she's five (even though she's not even two):

The separation anxiety from Kauai didn't last long but Ella does still like to be close to me when I'm home.

Big girl in a little stroller.

Ruby is such a good big sister.  She lets Ella sit on her, play with her toys and two seconds after this Ella clocked her in the head with the baby doll.

Ella wants to be just like Ruby.  For whatever reason, Ruby was leaning her head to the side.  When I tried to take a picture, Ella leaned the same way.  Best friends in the making.

Another PBK fan.

Our neighbors built a PVC sprinkler.  All the kids love it but Ella stands in the same stream until she's shivering and has blue lips. 

Someone is obsessed with the potty.

Ruby can't wait until Ella can really play outside.

18 month check up.  90% for weight and height.  I love having a kid who eats.

Next up...sleeping, eating, playing and laughing.

Ruby

Here's the latest and greatest for the kid I now refer to as five (even though she's not yet):

Uncle Kevin's school has a fundraiser with the San Jose Giants every year.  It didn't start until 7PM this year and there were fireworks afterward so Ruby and I had a date night while Adam and Ella watched the Sharks.  Ruby got to play with her buddies Liam and Aaron, eat junk food, go in the jumpy house and see the fireworks.  Fireworks clearly never get old.

She also got to meet the mascot, Gigante.  Thanks Uncle Kevin!

Ruby loves the car wash.  She used to like the duck ride at Ducky's.  Then she liked Lozano's in Mountain View because they have popcorn and lemonade.  Now she wants to go all the way to Sunnyvale because she found a tree she can climb on her own.  It's the little things in life.

I picked up a Laurel hoodie at the Kindergarten Orientation.  How can Ruby be an incoming Kinder?  It's so, so weird for me.  Sometimes I think "I got this" since I teach Kindergarten.  Other times I get tears thinking it's my own kid.  And sometimes, like when I go pick up a student for assessments and see a little blonde cutie pie smiling at me and burst out crying, I have to explain my situation to parents so they don't think I'm a creepy teacher.

Ruby went on a bug hunt with her pre school.  I'm not a tie dye person but love their field trip shirts.

Thanks to my great friend C, Ruby and Adam are both addicted to Plants versus Zombies.  I just remember back to Day One when the leader of our baby group said dads will have their own special things with the kids.  Ruby says her special things with Adam are: Scooby Doo, chocolate milk, swimming, Plants versus Zombies, monster chase, Sharks and taking her shoes off in the house.

Footsteps had a celebration and pool party when they finished the alphabet.  Letter of the Week isn't considered the best way to teach early literacy but Ruby had a blast, knows all her letters and sounds and is reading CVC words.  I'll take it.

Auntie made special alphabet cookies for Ruby's celebration.  Thanks Auntie!

I love how Ruby held Teacher Abby's hand when she gave her the certificate.  Teacher Abby is amazing.  Ruby is so excited about Kindergarten but is really going to miss the teachers at Footsteps.

The climbing wall at Pump It Up.  It's birthday season around here.

Two girls love the dollhouse toys at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

My job share partner and I were taking two students to the movies for an auction prize.  Our oldest are nearly the same age so we took them as well. Here's the gang afterward pretending they are characters in the movie.  Ruby thought it was hilarious to be the little girl picking her nose.

Ruby and I were walking through PBK when she spotted some girls at a table and heard the words "tea party."  I kept walking but her spidey sense was strong.  She turned around and asked the woman how she could join the tea party.  $10 and an hour later and we experienced our first Mother's Day Tea.

I finally cleaned out my closet.  No more maternity clothes.  No more clothes from when I was feeding Ella and never felt full (read...ate a pint of butter pecan ice cream every night).  My clothes fit again and my closet is super organized.  Ruby loves to play fashion model in the closet and Ella loves my shoes.  I think I'm in trouble when they are teenagers.

Next up...Texas, pre school graduation and The Summer of Awesome (our neighbor's words).

Spring Break

We always take our big vacation of the year during my Spring Break.  It's not as busy as the summer and since I job share, we have 11 days to schedule around.  We're boring.  Actually, it's me.  I'm boring.  Adam asked about trying another island or a new vacation spot.  I'm not going to try anything new until I have two walking, talking, potty trained kids.  So, Kauai it was =)

All the days are a blur at this point but here are some highlights:

The flight to Kauai was easy.  Ella ate, napped, played and visited Grandma O'Brien and Grandpa Gary.

 

 

 

 

I tried to keep the girls up late so they would adjust to the time change.  Ruby was so tired she fell asleep at dinner.  That has NEVER happened before.

Ella is a water baby just like Ruby.  She's smiling here but she actually prefers to be out of the ring and diving under the water.

Grandpa Tom joined us this year.  We're not quite as exciting as his airline friends but he had fun exploring the island.

Hawaii is Ruby's happy place.

Her happy and sandy place.

Took the same picture when there were only three pairs of shoes. 

Ruby and I got stuck in the rain one afternoon.  She played games with a family of six girls.  She was in heaven!

Every morning Ruby and I stopped to get coffee, smoothies and a treat and sat on the beach while Adam surfed.  It's a rough life but someone has to do it.

Someone was really happy Uncle Kevin arrived!

That same someone was really happy Grandpa Gary was on the trip.

Ruby learned how to make real sand castles.  The next day we could hear her teaching a mom on the beach.

Taking Grandpas and Grandmas on vacation is fantastic!

A log and rocks entertained the girls for an hour. If I remember correctly, it was a store and Ruby was a dog.  I don't ask questions.

Happy girl!

Shave ice is my favorite.  Ruby didn't believe me that ice cream on the bottom was delicious.  She tried mine the first day and quickly changed her mind.

This is what nap time in Kauai looked like for Ella.

There are a handful of houses on Hanalei Beach that are painted the same color green.  Adam and I call them the green houses and it's his dream to rent one.  Ella liked them too.

Ruby slept like a rock.  We could go in and out of the room and she didn't move.

Adam goes surfing.  I go to the spa. Fair trade.

Grandpa Tom brought a waterproof camera.  Great shot!  Ruby tried Adam's surfboard this trip too.

Another great shot!

We randomly took a family photo in front of this fountain on our last trip.  Ruby's smile was too cute for words so I thought we could get another family photo.  Ella wasn't having it.  As soon as Adam put her down, she was happy again.

Sandy, salty, wet and happy.

Ella's first time playing in the sand...without eating it.

This is what you get when you say, "smile."

The humidity was great for Ella's curls.

Ruby was beside herself with joy that we bought a booster for the trip.  Her exact words were, "This is AWESOME!"  She's going to be in a five point harness until she's 17 in our cars but the booster was much easier to maneuver on vacation.

Another Kauai nap.  Too bad it was on the way to the airport.

We've been to Kauai a lot.  We've been alone, with friends, with baby Ruby and with three year old Ruby.  They were all fantastic trips but our last trip seemed especially great.  Ruby didn't require extra gear, our family and friends were there, we had nine days, the weather was especially nice...you name it, it was great.  Before we left, I reread the post about that trip.  It ended with, "I can't wait to go back next year." 

Exciting, right?  Wrong.  Kauai broke Ella.  In California, Ella is the happiest baby on the block.  She eats, she drinks, she sleeps, she plays, she smiles, she laughs.  She is happy all day, every day.  In Kauai she didn't eat, she didn't drink and she didn't sleep.  She played, smiled and laughed...if I was in the room.  She was broken and it was a bummer.  Her happiest moments were wearing Ruby's Crocs and doing laps around the living room, bedroom and lanai.  We spent a lot of time letting her do it.

OK.  That's it.  I'm not going to complain about it again.  We were in Kauai for nine days, Ruby had a blast, Grandma O'Brien took Ella for a walking nap nearly every day and she was restored to her factory settings shortly after returning home.  Once again I'll end with, I can't wait to go back next year.