Return of the Blog

We're back from a great vacation (work-cation for Ann) in California.. and after a red eye flight and hazy Monday.. back to our regular routine.

This morning before we took off for school Ellie took her baby to the doctor's office. "I check baby's heart and I look at her ears."









"Everything looks good, baby. Your heart sounds good and your ears are nice."

At the bus stop Ellie asked for "a special treat." On rare occasions I'll have something good and sweet for her, but that won't be happening nowadays now that I'm getting back to eating healthier. (A week of The Habit and Pink's lunches and Italian and Indian dinners prompted the switch.) Good thing Ellie's a fan of carrots and hummus, though.



At school on the bulletin board outside the preschool classroom is a sheet of paper where all the friends discussed what they can do to show they care. Ellie, maybe predictably said she could give bottles to her baby.. and Meara said she could invite Ellie to play at her house. They enjoyed their play date a few weeks back, and hopefully they have fun with some more friends at Ellie's birthday party a couple weeks from now.


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Here We Snow Again

It was another fun morning playing out in the snow with Ellie. She actually wanted to come out with me to help me shovel, but I got that out of the way on my own as Ellie watched from the window -- that is, until Mallie outmuscled her for the window seat. That, apparently, didn't make Ellie too happy.. according to Ann.

Once I was finished Ellie joined me outside on our deck / patio to see what fun stuff she could do with snow today.

"I'll clean the table for you, Daddy," she said as she walked in circles around our patio table, brushing as much snow off as she could.









Ellie also said she'd like to help recycle the snow "so me and my friends can use it again." Good grasp of the recycling concept, but I think I might have confused her when I told her that when snow melts it becomes water and, in effect, recycles itself. She'll learn.



Before we made our way to the bus stop Ellie had fun digging the clam shell we were left by a hungry sea gull over the summer out of the planter pot where we'd put it.

Forgot to mention, before all of that, Ellie noticed I was putting a banana in her lunch box and said to me, "That a banana? Can I call somebody?"







When I asked, "Who are you calling? A monkey?".. she replied, "Yeah. I'm calling a monkey. Monkeys like bananas. Bye, monkey!"

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Stretched Thin

It's another cold morning here in Boston.. and Ann was kind enough to give Ellie and I rides to Ellie's school and the train station (for me).

Ellie was very excited to bring her magic princess wand to school for Show & Tell -- singing "Bibbity Bobbity Boo" the entire car ride to school. She also said she would "Poof! Make my dress pretty," and, "Poof! Turn you into ice cream."

At school Ellie and Meara had fun stretching rubber bands into shapes on peg boards.












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En-couch-ing On Her Territory

The morning began with the customary Greek yogurt breakfast, but then Ellie, Ann, and I sat for a while on the couch watching a little Mickey Mouse Clubhouse before we had to catch our bus and train. But then Mallie wanted to squeeze in.



Now, when it's just me and Ann on the couch Mallie always finds a spot between us and settles in. Ellie, when she's on the couch, isn't too keen on this ever since a few months back when Mallie gave her a little tap on the arm saying, "I was here first."


Well, today, Ellie had the spot first, but there was no stopping Mallie.. so Ellie took a seat on my lap instead.


On our way to school Ellie noticed the snow that was on the ground yesterday is not there today. "Hey.. the snow melted! Like ice cream!"



At school Ellie was excited to show me and tell me about how she and her friends are learning about the body -- and specifically bones. Each kid was given an x-ray of a different part of the body and was asked to hold up that picture where it went. Ellis got an x-ray of teeth and knew just where they were.


Just before I left Ellie was very excited to find an "E" as she played on the magnetic white board -- "making houses and her name and rocket ships."



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Snow Day!

Not the bad kind where school is closed. The good kind when there's finally enough snow to have a little fun with.

Last night the city got what I hesitate to call a measurable amount of snow, but it was a coating at least -- only the second time it's snowed at all in Boston this winter, which is pretty crazy.

Needless to say, Ellie was pretty excited when I showed her out her window after she woke up. Maybe even more excited than the time it rained last week.

We hurried downstairs, ate a quick breakfast, then got dressed to go outside.





Ellie enjoyed using her new, waterproof mittens to make snowballs "so my hands don't get all wet and cooooooooold."

We had a mini-snowball fight in the apartment building parking lot just down the block, which was cleared out of cars.






Ellie also observed, "There's lots of snow for snowballs, but not enough for a snow man unless he's very, very little."






On our way to school Ellie told me, "I'll ask my teachers very, very nicely if I could play outside in the snow. If they say 'no' I can play in the gym with my friends."

She may get her wish since it isn't very cold outside at all. We'll see.

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Martin Luther King Jr Day

Well, Ellie and Aunt Susu didn't have school today (although Nick and I had to work). Aunt Susu came over in the morning and took Ellie to a special brunch and both got stuffed full of pancakes!

After nap I came home and what else do two girls do on a day without school? SHOPPING!! I took Ellie jeans shopping because she said she wanted jeans like mommy wears.



She found Cinderella pajamas on the sale rack in her size so we got those too.

Now, although she isn't three, I didn't know what size jeans she was...so we had to try them on.







And who'd have though they would fit in the thighs, be too long, and too big in the waist...she's not related to me or anything. But wait...they make adjustable waist jeans...perfect. Why don't they make these in my size?

The next photos are from the birthday party Ellie went to yesterday, where the girls got glammed up a little bit...including blue nail polish for Ellie.













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Date Night!

Well, maybe it was just a girls night. Nick had a guys night at the Celtics game, so Ellie and I did a girls night.

After I picked her up from school we went out to dinner. She had a grilled cheese and I had mac and cheese. It was a comfort food, girls night!






She was amazing at the restaurant. Other kids were loud or running around...not Ellie. She stayed in her seat, ate her dinner, and we had a nice conversation. Yes, a conversation about bees, ladybugs, hats, and the stickness of glue. Towards the end of dinner we practiced making mustaches with the wax toys that the restaurant gave her.



Then, because the night was going so well and she was awesome at dinner...we went to get ice cream. She couldn't decide between vanilla and candy cane ice cream (she's my kid) so we shared a double scoop!













As soon as we got home she asked to brush her teeth...aparently she was plum tuckered out.

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Hats Off.. er.. On

This morning before we left for school Ellie had a good old game of make-believe.

"I'm the Fairy Godmother, Daddy. See? I make Cinderella a pretty dress. Poof! Bibbity, boppity, boo!"










The Cinderella she was helping out was one in the form of a Pez dispenser. It's too bad she couldn't make my memory that it is Hat Day in preschool reappear, though. More on that later.

First, though, Ellie was again quite excited for the chance to use her new umbrella, as it was coming down again as we made our way to school.



Once inside I remembered it is Hat Day. Sort of hard not to remember when seeing the kids. Paris had a cowboy hat, Chadwick wore a fishing hat (without the lures), and thankfully since I forgot, Ellie was more than happy to pop on her winter hat and tell everybody, "My Grandma Pam made this hat for me. It's pretty."

Phew.

Below you can see Kiernan in the hard hat and Joe in his Red Sox cap -- though he kept trying to take it off just as I snapped the picture. Chadwick didn't feel like standing still long enough to join the group shot.




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Rainy Days & Thursdays...

...always get Ellie pumped up! The good news kept on coming for her this morning. Ann went in to help Ellie get dressed and told her it was raining.. which caused Ellie to spring from bed, run to the window, and begin a stream of consciousness involving all the things she liked about that fact: "It's raining!.. Yea!.. I can use my rain jacket and my new rain boots and my hood up for the rain and my new UM-BREL-LA!" Add that to the fact that today was already pizza day for lunch at school.. AND the show & tell day Ellie had been eagerly awaiting so she could show off her new camera.. and, well, it apparently just doesn't get any better than that. These pictures speak largely for themselves -- yes, that is somebody happy about the rain...














...and about her camera.


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