We’ve started a new family blog – please go to http://garyandanna.wordpress.com for future blog updates. Subscribers – sorry, you’ll have to subscribe to the new one in order to continue receiving updates via email. Stay tuned for a few new posts in the coming days – Ella’s been a busy girl!
see you at the new blog!
Dear Ella,
“IT’S NOT LIKE EVERYBODY’S WAITING TO SEE IF I’LL GO FAR. IT’S NOT LIKE EVERYBODY’S WATCHING. THOUGH SOMETIMES I THINK THEY ARE. I DON’T HAVE TO CHANGE THE WORLD. I DON’T HAVE TO WALK ON WATER. ALL I HAVE TO BE…IS MY DAUGHTER’S FATHER“
I often feel like I need to be everything to everyone. It feels like I’m being judged, graded, evaluated, and watched everyday. But you know what? At the end of each day, when I get home all I really have to be is my daughter’s father. I walk through the door and you come running. Then we give each other the most wide-eyed smile possible. Your hugs and kisses remind me of all the good things in life. You make being your dad the absolute, most wonderful hat that I wear…it’s actually one of the hats that I never take off. Everything that I do is for you and mommy (and your little baby brother or sister…but that must wait until December).
~~
~~
One year ago, my first Father’s Day, I wrote to you about that day not being just another day, and one year later that same sentiment remains. There are so many things that you do that make me smile, make me laugh, and make me cry. There are the things that keep mommy and me up late talking and wishing your door wasn’t so loud so we could check on you. We talk about how you love to eat by yourself, we make all of your animal sounds, talk about how you can recognize the Pope and when you see his picture in church you say…Pooooope (that would be the long o sound). We talk about how you are gaining your independence (at times frustrating, like when you find it necessary to hold both the spoon and the cup of pears that is filled to the brim with pear juice), and how quickly the time goes. You are only this way for a while and I cherish every day with you.
~~
You are truly amazing, you are a gift from God, our gift. You are the most precious little girl…daddy’s little girl.
“A MAN IS OFTEN MEASURED BY WHAT HE DOES IN LIFE. IT MADE MINE WORTH LIVING WHEN I REALIZED…
YEAH ALL I HAVE TO BE…IS MY DAUGHTER’S FATHER”
~~
Ella, always know, as I tell you every night, I love you forever and ever.
Love,
Daddy
We’ve been trying to get a video of Ella identifying the letters of the alphabet, but it’s tough…she’s very distracted when she sees the camera. I tried setting it on the table behind us as we looked through one of her alphabet books, and it was mildly successful. Unfortunately you don’t get to see Ella much, but at least you can tell which letter she’s identifying. This video is a little long and frequently interrupted when Ella reaches for the camera and knocks it over, but it’s the best I could do without a hidden camera 🙂
May in DC started out with two beautiful weeks of perfect weather – warm but not hot, not too humid, clear skies – we should have known it wouldn’t last. Then we had a bunch of rain, and the month ended feeling very much like summer, hot and humid with the heat index up over 100 degrees. Thank goodness our community pool is open now, we’ll definitely be using it!
But let’s back up a bit. In early May, we had a lovely, relaxing Mother’s Day. Ella (with a little help from Daddy, I suspect) brought out a few gifts for me – a yummy smelling perfume called Wildbloom from Banana Republic, and a few new books, one just for me and a couple new books for Ella and I to read together. We also put Ella’s hair in pigtails for the first time that day, which has become my new favorite hairstyle for her.
The following weekend, we enjoyed a visit from my good friend Juliette, who was visiting all the way from Carlsbad, CA. We spent some time in DC, including the beautiful National Gallery of Art. The weekend went by way too quickly, but it was great to spend time both catching up and reminiscing with one of my oldest friends.
National Gallery of Art
loving the apps on Juliette's iPhone
Toward the middle of the month, Ella had her 18 month check-up. She cried quite a lot again – definitely gets worried as soon as she sees the nurse, the paper covered table, and all of the usual precursors to shots. She recovered quickly though, and we were told the wonderful news that she now has a break from shots until age 4!
5/17/11 - 18 months old
cute little Buckeye
still loving the slide
waiting for the elevator
piggyback ride with Daddy
May 21st was Annunciation’s annual dinner & auction, which was held at the Katzen Arts Center at American University in DC. It was a milestone night for Gary and I – we hired our first non-family babysitter, a family friend’s 17 year old daughter, so that I could join Gary there for the last couple of hours. Granted, I didn’t leave until Ella went to sleep…but, baby steps 🙂
The auction was a lot of fun, and it happened to fall on the 5th anniversary of our first date – 5 years and one day after the Our Lady of Malibu auction where we danced together for the first time. Gary ran the live auction portion of the evening, and did a great job raising money for Annunciation.
playing with Olivia and Robin at Annunciation Moms Group
The highlight of Memorial Day weekend was the opening of our community pool – Ella loves being in the water, so I’m sure we’ll be spending plenty of time there over the coming months.
first, we dip the feet
refused to take off her shorts or shoes prior to getting in the water
ready for day #2 at the pool
snack break
Happy 18 months to Ella Grace! I can’t believe that our little girl is already a year and a half old…it has absolutely flown by. I wanted to take this chance to document a few more of my favorite things that Ella’s been doing recently, but let’s start with a picture:
Ella’s gotten very good at nodding her head “yes” and shaking her head “no,” usually related to whether she wants a particular food/drink item. In fact, it’s pretty funny when she’s really hungry or wants a bite of whatever we’re eating – it’s the most emphatic, desperate “yes” nod you’ve ever seen.
She’s starting to make connections between the things in her books and real life…for example, after pointing to the square shape in one of her books, she pointed to the square piece that fits in her shape sorter. Another time, after pointing to a picture of a banana in her book, she pointed to the bananas in our fruit bowl in the kitchen.
In the elevator, I sometimes say hello and goodbye to the floors as we pass them, since it’s something my Grandpa used to do with me when I was younger. The other day, we were going to the basement level where my car was parked, so I said “goodbye 1, hello B.” When I said “B,” Ella made a buzzing noise like a bumblebee.
One of Ella’s favorite foods lately is goldfish crackers – I can’t blame her, I love them too. I guess I’ve referred to them as “goldfish” enough times, because she now makes a fish face as her way of asking for them.
She added a couple of new words recently – “uh-oh” and “yay.” She’s also learned a few more letter sounds, so now she can identify what the T, S, O, Z, C, and D sound like. She’s babbling new sounds all the time, so we sense that a verbal explosion is just around the corner.
We enjoyed a visit from Granddaddy and Bubbie a couple weeks ago, which was a lot of fun. After Ella and I picked them up from the airport, we stopped by the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. Their friend Marc, a songwriter who has stayed with them in Nashville, works at the Flight Center and invited us there for a tour. We spent some time exploring the Visitor’s Center, and Marc showed us around the Rocket Garden just outside:
The next day, we drove into DC and visited the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum, which is incredible – here are just a few pictures:
taking it all in at the Air & Space Museum
exploring the National Mall
We enjoyed the visit very much, and look forward to spending more time with Granddaddy and Bubbie in Nashville next month!
We’ve been enjoying some gorgeous weather here lately, which has meant lots of time outdoors for miss Ella.
making friends at the park
Ella really fell in love with the slide at the park – she became really brave really fast (and note the “I can do it myself” attitude :)):
enjoying some snacks in the car
She’s gotten really good at her name puzzle – she knows where all the letters go, and she’s developed more patience to keep trying the letters in different positions until they fit in their slots:
at the Cheesecake Factory
at Annunciation after dinner with Daddy
miss moviestar headed for the playground
We enjoyed a visit from Grammie and Aunt Caleigh over Easter weekend last month. We fit in just the right amount of sightseeing, while still allowing plenty of relaxed “hang out” time.
touring Annunciation
After Gary showed them around Annunciation, we went over to Washington National Cathedral. It was a rainy day, so we didn’t have much of a chance to get pictures of the outside, but here are a couple:
We happened to walk in while a team of florists (at least a dozen people, if not more) were setting up for Easter. Even while a work in progress, it looked spectacular – especially with all of the beautiful stained glass. Unfortunately, there were signs asking that we not take pictures inside, so I just snagged a few right near the door:
close-up of the door
Ella loved the air mattress that we had out in the living room during their visit:
reading The Very Hungry Caterpillar with Aunt Caleigh
She especially loved when Daddy showed her how to bounce on the air mattress:
On Easter Sunday, we went to 10:30am Mass at Annunciation, then came back home for brunch – along with a yummy frittata, we finally used the Loveless Cafe biscuit mix that my Mom had bought last Easter in Nashville, and the biscuits were delicious and worth the wait. Luckily, there was a beautiful tree outside at Annunciation that was perfect for a few Easter family pictures:
On Monday, Ella enjoyed some quality time with Daddy while my Mom, Caleigh and I took the Metro into DC for some sightseeing. My Mom had been to DC many years ago, Caleigh had never been before, and I hadn’t seen the “downtown” DC sights yet, so it was very exciting for all three of us. We got off the Metro at the Smithsonian stop, walked along the National Mall past the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Reflecting Pool (or where the Reflecting Pool should be – more on that later), all the way to the Lincoln Memorial. Since it was a bit too warm for miles of walking to be enjoyable, we took a cab from there to the Library of Congress, explored a bit there (saw the Gutenberg Bible!), then walked across the street to the Capitol for a tour. As you may have guessed, I took tons of pictures…I’ll try to select just a few 🙂
fresh off the Metro and ready to explore
World War II Memorial
Lincoln Memorial
After walking past the WWII Memorial, we encountered the unwelcome surprise that where the picturesque Reflecting Pool should be, there was construction fencing around an ugly pit. ::sigh:: Apparently it’s under construction? Or being improved somehow? Anyway, what a glorious picture this could have been:
Library of Congress
Capitol Rotunda
On Tuesday, we went to Georgetown’s campus to explore. Caleigh hasn’t yet decided where she’ll apply for college, but Gary and I couldn’t resist showing her one of the great Jesuit schools.
Gary with Georgetown founder John Carroll
Wednesday morning came too soon and we had to say goodbye to Grammie and Aunt Caleigh for now. We had such a great time, and look forward to our next visit with them! I’ll end with one more picture of Ella enjoying a lemon during lunch at The Tombs, one of our favorite Georgetown restaurants:
Has anyone else heard of the “golden birthday,” when you turn the same age as the date of your birthday? (e.g., 15 on the 15th). Well today is Ella’s “golden month-iversary,” since she is 17 months on the 17th. I thought I’d take this opportunity to share some recent pictures and facts about Ella.
Ella’s been displaying more and more toddler independence – that “I can do it myself” attitude. This happens especially when brushing her teeth and holding a spoon. The ‘independent spirit’ also reveals itself when she doesn’t want to get into her stroller, carseat, or highchair (or doesn’t want to get OUT of one of these), and sometimes when she’s getting dressed or having her diaper changed. Basically, she’s learning to test our limits. We suspect this is only a small preview of what’s to come 🙂
helping Daddy make coffee - can you tell theres a bit of a battle going on over the spoon?
just hanging out, reading Bambi
She started walking backwards the other day – not exclusively, but just a few times. We have no idea what made her do it, but she was quite amused by it, and by our reaction to it.
Ella’s attention span has been increasing by leaps and bounds lately. We noticed it especially last weekend when she played with her big lego blocks for a good 30 or 45 minutes. Gary pointed out that it probably had a lot to do with the fact that we were both sitting nearby and not trying to do anything else…had either of us gone into another room, she probably would have followed. But anyway, generally speaking she is paying attention to tasks, toys, and books for longer periods of time.
in order to get her to look at me, Gary said "wheres Mommy?"
meeting Daddy for dinner in DC on a warm day
There were a couple of cute examples of compound word confusion lately – first of all, while looking through one of Ella’s books with her, we came to a page that had pictures identifying body parts, and I asked her to find her elbow. She started to point to her head, so I got ready to say “no, that’s your head…where’s your elbow?” when I realized that she was pointing to the bow in her hair. Then, a few days later we were looking at another book of hers that has a picture of a xylophone. When I pointed it out to her, she brought her hand up to her ear as if she were on the phone. I found myself trying to come up with a way to explain that elbows aren’t related to bows, and xylophones aren’t the same as phones…but I realized that might be a bit much for a 1 year old – I just love that she’s listening and learning.
I love this face - part triumph ("I found the remote!"), part sneaky ("I know Im not supposed to have this..")
One of Ella’s favorite books features the alphabet with a picture dedicated to each letter. The other day, she pointed to the letter “T” and made a “T” sound. We have no idea how she learned that, and it may have been an accident or coincidence, but we’re choosing to lean more toward “she’s a genius” 😉 We’ve now started teaching her more of the letter sounds when we look at the alphabet – she knows “T” and “S” so far.
a little blurry - she moves quickly!
We’ve taught her how to nod her head to say “yes please” and shake her head to say “no thank you.” She doesn’t quite understand that she can answer questions with those responses yet, but we sense that that’s not far off.
Ella loves to take out her family scrapbook – I’d say she looks through it at least once every day. She can now recognize all of her grandparents, aunts, and uncles, including “greats.” She loves looking through the pictures and pointing to the faces.
And finally, a little fact about our favorite 17 month old – after our recent trip to Missouri, I gave it some thought, and figured out that Ella has been to 7 states! SEVEN!! (Tennessee, Ohio, California, Georgia, Virginia, Maryland, Missouri – not to mention DC). And that’s just states where she’s actually spent time, that doesn’t include states we’ve driven through or had airport stopovers – that would add Kentucky, Alabama, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Kansas, and Colorado. Maybe it’s just me, but I think that’s quite a lot of travel for such a little lady!
serving tea cakes during the Masters
Ella and I enjoyed a wonderful weekend in St. Louis visiting with the Popits earlier this month. We hadn’t seen each other in almost two years, so of course our little ladies had never met before. Ella and Annie, who will turn 1 later this month, became instant friends.
if only Ella had her bunny ears too
Jocelyn and Annie took us for a driving tour through St. Louis on the way to the zoo. We got to see all the major landmarks, including the Basilica, the old Courthouse, Union Station Hotel, and of course the Gateway Arch (which is even more amazing in person than it looks in pictures).
at the St. Louis zoo
watching the ducks
phone call for Annie
blowing bubbles in the park
We enjoyed some delicious St. Louis food, including sandwiches from Mom’s Deli, St. Louis style pizza, toasted (it sounds better than “fried”) ravioli, and frozen custard from Ted Drewes:
one final picture in front of the house
Thank you so much to Jocelyn, Kevin, and Annie for showing us such a great time!
Grandpa and GiGi came to visit last week, and we the Easter bunny hopped in the car with them somewhere along the way (forgive me for the terrible pun). Unfortunately, Gary had to be in Nashville for class at Trevecca on both the first day and last day of their visit and had to work all the days in between, but Ella and I got some great quality time with them.
Shortly after Gigi & Grandpa arrived, Ella began this funny leg lift/dancing thing…no idea what made her do this, but once she knew we were laughing at her, she really started putting on a show:
exploring Barnes & Noble
Grandpa's happy helper
Another new trick that Ella introduced for Gigi and Grandpa – greeting people through her upside-down grocery cart:
Ella got to do her first Easter egg hunt during the visit – somehow, she seemed to know exactly what to do:
Gary and I got to have a ‘date night’ at PF Changs, which was super yummy.
We went to nearby Tyson’s Corner mall several times during the week, and Ella loved going on the train with Grandpa:
all tuckered out after her train ride
visiting Daddy at work
not quite sure what to make of the toddler boy mannequins at Old Navy
and of course, there was more tissue paper tearing:
Tonight, while poor Gary heads to Nashville once again for class, Ella and I are going to St. Louis to visit with our friends the Popits. We’re so excited to see them – it could only be better if Gary could join us. We’ll take plenty of pictures of course!
Ella Grace 