4th of July and other happenings

We celebrated July 4th with our team here in Wollongong. Since I couldn't dress my Texas baby in a cute All-American outfit, and she doesn't really have any red, white and blue winter clothes, I just put her in pink. Maybe one day we'll end up in the US over July the 4th.

Ella on July 4th 2009 . . . turning on the cuteness hoping it will get her over the gate . . .



Ella is very interactive these days. We'll find her laughing and talking with her baby doll, or laughing at someone in the check out line at the grocery store. This always amuses me because her nature is typically reserved with strangers. I guess if we're nearby she feels secure enough to have a laugh. Over the weekend, people were playing games at our house and she sat in on them. And for now, at least, people are very gracious about her presence. But times are changing. We can't just sit at the low lying coffee table, or on the floor and expect her to observe from a distance. She wants to be RIGHT there, touching things, eating things etc.

Hanging with the big kids . . .



Speaking of eating, all of sudden, Ella wants what we're eating. There are times when she can't have it - more often than not, in fact. And today we had our first tantrum over that. . . you know, the whole lip dropping, "you-broke-my-heart" sob, big tears, etc, etc. I gave Ella a Rusk and proceeded to eat half of a Scotch Finger cookie/biscuit myself. It looks very similar to a Rusk but my smart little cookie knew that I had something different. She wanted it and hence the temper tantrum. Growing up just seems really tough some times. I'm learning how tough it can be as a parent to stick to training and disciplining her and not giving in. And this is just the beginning . . . the "easy stuff", I'm sure!

This Monday we spent part of our family day at Carrington Falls. We took a short walk through the bush to Izzard lookout, too. Ella enjoyed the birds, the trees and the water.

Jason is going to make a rock climber out of this girl one day . . .




Is this what you're asking for, Dad? A giraffe face?



Funny thing lately is that when wanting her Dad's attention, Ella has learned that cuteness, rather than yelling works much better. So she'll pull the giraffe face and giggle at the same time until he looks at her.

We didn't make it far down the road before Ella was chewing herself to sleep with a Rusk. She's done this a few times and it it so cute . . .




And a cute picture to leave you with. What kind of parents let their kid end up like this after a meal? I really don't know how this happened but it happened fast . . .