gobbling fish

Ok, so this entry is really more of an excuse to post this humorous moment I captured of Ella at the zoo the other day. As noted in the earlier post, we were in the herpetarium with the fish and lizards and such and I caught her "gobbling" at the fish. And so the hilarity ensues...enjoy...

's' is for snake

We took a trip to the zoo last week for our family day on Bryan's day off and we had loads of fun! The highlight of the excursion was visiting the herpetarium near the end of the journey. This is the building where all the snakes, lizards, fish and turtles live. Simon is 20 months now and still only has a handful of words though his understanding is pretty vast. His speech is funny though because he acts like he's really telling us something but everything comes out sounding like a bunch of s'es ("sssssss" or "thsssssss"). This actually ended up working for his favor in the herpetarium as you will see in the following video.

my little nudist

If you've ever stayed at our house, you've noticed that Simon rarely wears clothes. There are a number of reasons for this:

1. He fills his diapers so quickly, we can hardly keep up with the turnover. Keeping the clothing off reduces the number of steps needed to keep the diaper fresh.
2. He moves too quickly to get clothing on his legs. This is why oftentimes you will find him with a shirt on, but rarely pants. If you see him with a shirt on, congratulate us on a productive day!
3. He loves to be naked. It's a man thing.

Here's a little video of Simon playing on the couch. Take note that he is wearing the uniform.

* Disclaimer *
I know it is bad parenting to let a child climb on the coffee table, but we have too much fun playing this game. I promise to keep him off your coffee table if we're ever visiting.

not so hot mama

Ella really dislikes it when I wear my hair in a pony tail. In fact, I can rarely sneak one by her without her requesting that I take it down. Today was one of those days where I didn't get a shower right away and up went the hair in a pony tail. Soon after, here is the conversation that occurred:

Ella: Mommmmeeeey! Please take your hair down! I don't like it when you wear your hair in a pony tail.

Me: But Ella, it feels good to have my hair up off of my neck.

Ella: But I don't like it that way! Please take it down!

Me: Maybe in a little while, Ella. Right now, I need it up.

Ella: Maybe you could put on a little lipstick to make it better?

HA! I remember having these same thoughts and observations about my own mother as a kid! I thought, "How could someone look so completely different with make up on vs. make up off?" I thought my mom looked so beautiful with her makeup and so different without it. Fortunately, when I asked Ella if she thought I wasn't pretty without my makeup, she wouldn't take the bait and didn't answer. And if I felt insecure at all about this, she evened herself out by telling my I was beautiful in my new night gown last night. Gotta love the honesty, right?

the family bed

Ella has been sneaking into our bed at night a lot lately. She has figured out that if she climbs in and snuggles up next to Daddy, he's too incoherent to do anything about it whereas Mommy will escort her back to her own room. A good part of the week, we wake up with a third party snuggled up in our covers! Last week I talked to Ella about this:

Me: Ella, you're going to have to stop sleeping with Mommy and Daddy.
Ella: Mmmm...maybe someday.

While eating our lunch today, we talked about it again since she had pulled her sneakery again last night. Bryan was telling me he is confused on how she is able to make room since he somehow woke up in the middle of the bed as though she had made him move over. She was eavesdropping on this conversation and piped in: "I found room right next to you Daddy, and then when you got up, I found LOTS of room!" What a silly goose she is. She's a nice cuddler too, even though she should stay in her own cozy bed!

first order of business upon growing up

To begin, I must tell you of a game that Bryan and I enjoy playing. It's called Carcassonne and it's a German game, sort of a strategy game where you build cities and roads and get points by acquiring the most farms. A little hard to explain, but fun. The "farmers" in the game are made of wood and are brightly colored and small and Ella always wants to play with them. Usually when we've got a game going, Ella wants to be right up where we're at and sometimes she messes the pieces up, but that's ok. She just wants to be involved in the fun.

Anyway, all that explanation is required so that tonight's bedtime conversation has meaning. After stories were read, back was scratched and all that, I was asking Ella some fun questions, like, "Am I your best friend?" I'm delighted that she says yes! And then I inquired about what she thought life would be like when she grows up. Here's the rundown:

Me: Ella, what would you like to do when you're a grown up?
Ella: Play Carcassonne!
Me: Really??!
Ella: Yeah. When I'm big...you're already a grown up...and we can play Carcassonne and I'll be red and you can be yellow.
Me: Ok.

That sounds fun! This struck me so funny that this would be the first perk of being grown up. She also agrees that she will take on the grocery shopping, vaccumming, laundry, cooking, cleaning and other necessities. We can do it together. In the mean time, I am so loving watching her grow up!
""

modest tootenheimer (an oxymoron of sorts?)

We've been on vacation in Atlanta spending time with the Douglass clan. This evening we went to Riverside Park to play and let Simon run free and get some energy out. There were several different playgrounds and as we climbed everything, there were a couple of little kids who seemed to shadow our every move. As we moved on to the swings, the little girl followed us. As I lifted Ella into the swing I could tell this other little girl was dying to swing with us. I asked her if she'd like me to push her and she eagerly agreed. So here were the two girls, swinging in unison, side-by-side and you'd think they'd been friends since birth. The little girl told us her name was Daniella and Ella introduced herself. Then they began to sing a little song they created when I asked if they wanted me to keep pushing them...it went "Not me. Not me. Not meeeee!" And then they giggled. Then Ella said, "Hey Daniella, guess what I am?" Daniella said, "What?" " I'm a Tootenheimer! That's 'cause I toot a lot!" And then they laughed hysterically! And so did I! Man that was funny!

Later, we decided baths were in order since we all reeked of bug repellant. Ella and Keely were going to take a bath together with lots of bubbles. As they disrobed, Keely was hanging out in her birthday suit in the bathroom and Ella had to comment. Here's the conversation as it was relayed to me by Cimi:

E: I'm being modest.
K: What's 'modest'?
E: 'Modest' means covered up.
At this point, Keely is on the potty, unashamed in her
birthday suit. Ella is staring at her.
K: Why are you lookin' at me?
E: 'Cause you're not modest!

Oh dear! It's the morality police at three years old!!!