Happy Birthday, Mallie!

It was an exciting morning this morning.

The day began with Ellie and Mommy having a Cheerios breakfast together.




After that the excitement really began. Ellie took some time last night making a birthday card for Mallie.. and hand delivered it after breakfast.




I think the highlight of Mallie's morning, though, was her next present -- an Ellie handful of new, tuna-flavored treats.




We then spent a little time encouraging Mallie to play with her final present -- a catnip-filled green mouse. She'll warm up to it.






Then it was time to head to school, but not before checking out some "men working" (construction workers) just a bit down the road. These are the guys who have busted out the jackhammer every morning, reliably, at 7 o'clock. They're replacing a water pipe from the looks of it. Ellie had fun watching and listening -- "That's a big noise!"



Ellie wanted to bring her most recent school art project with her on the ride to school. It's a necklace made from a shoestring, beads, and bigger, painted clay beads. Ellie's teachers say she was enthralled by the project -- having a great time painting and stringing the beads without any help at all. She was also apparently the last one to get up from the table because she was having so much fun. She is quite proud of her work, as you can see.






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'Tis But a Scratch

This morning Ellie took a bit of a spill on the way to the bus stop. She skidded down as she was holding my hand. A typical, small fall, but she wanted me to take pictures of her boo-boos (scratched knees, and a small scrape on her hand) once we arrived at the chairs outside the Grasshopper.






Once recovered, Ellie took interest in the truck parked near the bus stop.

E: "That's a big truck, Daddy. Somebody moving?"

Me: "I don't know. Maybe." (Looked too empty to be a big move going on.)

E: "Where are they moving? Far away?"

Again.. I wasn't sure. Thankfully the bus came soon.



Once down at Schrafft's, Ellie had a good time jumping up and down on one of the manholes before we headed into school. She sang "No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" while hopping up and down.


Ellie then had fun leaning against the window to say goodbye to me.



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Jurassic Snack Thief?

This morning was fun.. despite it beginning with Ellie making the announcement, "I peed, Daddy," while standing up and pointing at her mattress as I walked into the room. It's pretty astounding, though, how eager Ellie is to help clean up. Both in general.. and while dealing with wet sheets. " I help with laundry, Daddy. I carry my blanket."

After getting dressed, but before heading downstairs, Ellie enjoyed pretending the size sticker on her new yellow shirt was a "boo-boo band" (Band Aid).






Ellie brought her trusty Cinderella phone with her to the bus stop again.



On the way into school Ellie and I had a pretty fun discussion. She pointed to the generator outside the Schrafft's Center (leftover from Irene, presumably) and asked, "What's that, Daddy?

Me: "It's a generator."

E: "A generator? What's that?"

Me: "It helps lights and computers and refrigerators come on during bad wind and rain outside."

E: "There's a dinosaur in that box (the generator), Daddy. It wants to eat my fruit snacks. My fruit snacks?" [She got some for being a very good helper at home.]

Then she ran away from it (pictured) while I laughed.



Once at school Ellie showed off some of her ballerina moves ("I'm a ballerina, Daddy. Not you.") and sat down and talked with the baby.






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Getting to Work?

This morning was a fairly low-key one. After waking up and having some cantaloupe for breakfast, Ellie decided age wanted to wear a "pretty dress and my backpack, too."



So.. we got a dress out of the closet she hasn't worn in a while. We weren't sure it would still fit, though, but it did. Then once downstairs Ellie tossed her Illini rubber duck into her backpack and did her best to put that on on her own. A little more practice is needed to perfect the putting on of the backpack.






After a fun bus ride to school ("I sit in a different chair, Daddy! I'm on this side now! Weeeee!") where we *did* sit on the opposite side of the bus as we usually do, Ellie decided to tell me what she'd like to do when she gets a job. May not come as much of a surprise, though.

E: "I'm growing up, Daddy. I go to work soon."

N: "Oh yeah? What will you do for work when you're all grown up?"

E: "I help babies. Help babies feel better."

N: "You mean when they get sick?"

E: "Yeah, I help sick babies."

So.. smart money is still on Ellie becoming a pediatrician.

Once at school, Ellie had fun looking at me through the window and waving bye-bye.



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Dialing Up a Good Day

This morning began with a trip down to the basement for some play-time. Ellie enjoyed putting together a bird puzzle.. and building a tower all on her own, which she promptly knocked down. That's why she's looking so proud in the below picture.






We were thinking all morning about what could be good for Show & Tell today. Ellie decided she'd like to take both her new, red, squishy dinosaur as well as her Cinderella phone Susie got for her at Disneyland. That one didn't go in the school bag, though. Instead she carried it with her all morning having conversations with Cinderella about walking to school ("I walk on sidewalk, Cinderella. Be careful of cars."), riding the bus ("I sit by myself, Cindy."), and about the "spinny door" at the Schrafft's Center ("People go to work in the spinny door. Not Ellie. Ellie goes to school.").












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Play Ball!

"You playing baseball today, Daddy?"


Ellie asked me that this morning shortly after we came downstairs and I started putting together my stuff for softball tonight.



"I play baseball, too! What's this?, asks Ellie, holding my baseball glove. I explained it's called a baseball glove or a mitt.. and you use it to catch baseballs.



"I play catch! See?" She then picked up the softball I had in my bag, instructed me to put on the glove, and then tossed me the ball. We played catch for a few minutes.. with me rolling the ball back to her.



After a while Ellie also became curious about the batting glove I have in my bag. I explained to her how it's used, but then she said, "There's no bat in here, Daddy," as she went through my bag. I use bats brought by the team's manager.






The trip to school was a good one, with Ellie talking about her Disneyland pictures for show-and-tell the whole way down. Once at school Ellie did some dress up.. with some of Toddler 1's dress-up clothes. She chose the super-stylish bedazzled denim jacket.



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And we're off!

Welcome to the inaugural post of Ellie 365! Same as the daily e-mails.. but online for all to see.

This morning Ellie and I continued our start-of-the-day tradition by playing her version of Bananagrams. What happens is.. she pulls out a handfull of letters, we talk about what each letter is, and then we see how many words we can make out of the selection she's removed from the banana. Maybe it should be called BananaBoggle.



After that we reviewed Ellie's Show & Tell material. This week Ann printed out some pictures from our trip to Disneyland. Ellie is very excited. "I tell my friends about my Minnie picture! And round-and-round elephants!" (Dumbo)



There was a lot of activity at the bus stop this morning, too. "That's a big truck, Daddy. What are those men working doign?" ("Men working" = construction workers of any kind.) Well.. there was a crew unloading some drywall for the apartment building under construction there by the Grasshopper. Ellie was enthralled with the crane lifting the slabs from the truck's bed.



But.. there was still plenty of time for some funny business, too.. climbing around the chair.


Once at school, Ellie and Meara and Lilah had fun watching how tall Lavonne could make the tower of stacking pegs before it tipped over.