osmosis

Ella LOVES her books. She loves them so much she likes to sit with them in her book baskets. (this is about a month old now)

For the Love of Dogs

I always keep a close eye out with Ella and the dogs because A) I am trying to be a good, attentive mom and B) I try to save those poor dogs when Ella has overloved them! She lays on them saying, "Awwww," which sounds sweet, but I imagine the dogs would prefer not to have 25lbs draped across them. I think maybe they put up with it so well because A) they are good dogs and B) she shares LOTS of her food with them-3 meals a day and 2 snacks to be exact!

Ella did not go trick-or-treating, but she did help hand out candy. She showed off her cuteness to all the neighbors outside and was a hit! She entertained us, her uncle Jamie and some of our friends that came over before taking off the tutu and ballet slippers for the evening. I think she was a beautiful ballerina!

Halloween

Down on the farm with Grandma and Grandpa

We went to another farm, but this time in Winchester with Grandma & Grandpa Gilmer. Ella got to see more animals including a calf that was 8 weeks old. She picked out more pumpkins for herself, so we now have four. Her favorite part of the day was driving the tractor as you can see in the pictures. I was scared it was too high even with daddy behind her, but she loved it!

Farmer Ella

Pumpkin Patch

Ella got to pick her very own pumpkin.

Little Pumpkin

Down on the Farm

Here are some pics from our visit to Hunt Club Farm. Ella enjoyed the petting zoo, except the rooster that "cock-a-doodle-dood" in her face. This being her most recent barn yard animal noise I thought she would be pleased, but it scared her greatly (makes me think of my tragic cow encounter...).

WANTED!

Somehow I only got 4 pictures of Ella from the entire wedding weekend. I would LOVE if anyone is wiling to share some pics with me via e-mail or mail!!

Eating

The joys of eating! Ella only likes to eat things that she can feed herself now. So that makes giving her certain foods rather messy-foods that are not necessarily finger foods. Here she is enjoying some pasta rings in tomato sauce about a month ago.

walking

I think I finally got this video uploaded. It is now about a month and a half old.

walking

Ella Walking and some barnyard noises....

http://s100.photobucket.com/albums/m27/swimley/?action=view¤t=Ella1yearandwalking009.flv

And She's Off......

I know it has been forever since I last posted. Where oh where does the time go? Oh I know- chasing a toddler who is fast and into everything! But I am enjoying EVERY second of it :) She is learning so much SO fast. It amazes me daily what she understands, figures out, remembers, says, signs, does... Overall I think she has a ball every waking moment, except when I take something away she should not have (such as Ally, the cat). For those of you that still check-in, thank-you for not giving up :) So, Ella had been taking steps forever, but being the turbo crawler she was she knew crawling got her places faster! I do believe she was waiting for the perfect moment to walk. We went home to Winchester Labor Day weekend and had a little party to celebrate BT's 30th B'day. Ella decided it was her time to shine. She had an audience of mom, dad, both sets of grandparents, great grandma Swimley, Great Uncle Johnny and Janet. Too much attention was on the b'day boy, so she was off! First a few steps, then a few more, then down the hall.She has only picked up speed since.

Here is some recent pics and I am working on uploading a video of her walking, but I'm having technical difficulties.

The Power of Cheese

Quality time with the animals

Ella and Skye have shared a lot of special moments with each other. They have also shared- many kisses (germs in my opinion), food-mostly food Ella drops from the high chair, but sometimes a snack that goes in Ella's mouth to Skye's mouth and yes sometimes back into Ella's (lovely). Ella thinks the dog's water dish is a sink just her size and likes to regularly wash her hands. Skye generously shares her fur, which Ella likes to pull out in clumps. But if she just looked on the floor all around her she would find an abundance of fur there (hence why I have to vacuum EVERY SINGLE DAY)!

Frisco on the other hand, just knows to stay away from the baby. He just knows for a year now whenever he gets near that thing he gets scolded. So when Ella comes over to pet him he gets away fast. Unfortunately he forgets that when he is excited. We then have to scold him (but not too mean or he will piddle) because his super-tail, which he has zero control over could take Ella out in one stroke.

Ella's favorite animal to be near though is Ally. The one thing that really no one should be near unless they have on those gloves that animal handlers wear that go up to their shoulders is Ally. Ella sees that cat and drops everything to go get her. Most cats would run away, but not Ally. Surprisingly enough she is very tolerant of Ella, but we don't trust her for one second, so the cat gets shut upstairs a lot. BT just loves this because a) he is allergic of cats b) she lays on his desk or laptop (which is great for someone who is allergic) c)she likes to play this game where she knocks things off his desk and then he has to search for them days later and d) he really can't stand the cat but Oh the sacrifices you make for your child!