Part headband, part headlamp. All “Adventure Ella.”
(Hearing) safety first when building rockets with magnets
Winter movie matinee with Yellow Submarine
Mom and dad clearly forgot just how scary the music-hating Blue Meanies were
Dad’s getting pretty decent at making Pad Thai
Yum, noodles!
Firmly in the “I do it!” stage of life, Ella is pretty good at getting socks on and off
Beyond adorable
Brought some welcome gifts over to meet grandma’s new pup, Bella (that name won’t be confusing at all)
Doesn’t everyone strip down to drink hot chocolate? (Clothing) safety first.
With mom’s best friend Melissa in town, Eleanor has a new adult to ask to read Daniel Tiger books
Des showing off some old toy, cause that’s what you do when there’s company
“I going now. Bye-bye.” -Dr Ella
Pit stop for playing on brother’s computer
Good grief! Somehow Christmas slipped by without watching A Charlie Brown Christmas. Better late than never.
Watching an episode of “Inspector Gadget” (thanks grandpa!) before breakfast, definitely a bit of nostalgia for dad
Time to roll out the pretzel dough, Des definitely has the yolk step down (splat)
In an exhibition-style format, Ella bags the grand slam of puzzles
Bonus movie night: The Muppet Christmas Carol
Des tending to his stuffy flock, everyone is tucked in and there’s even a little room for him to ball up near the crowd
Daniel Tiger and friends laying some early morning mind grapes on healthy expression of frustration and problem solving. And the kids just think they’re watching cartoons…
Oddly enough, Des thinks the frog blanket is his (Ella got it at pa’s union hall when she was an infant and Des annexed it). The construction truck blanket actually was Desmond’s, but Eleanor has clearly claimed it as “her” blanket. A surprising symbiosis has emerged, possibly their first successful trade.
The good kind of buttons to push…
Ella, pizza artist
Des and Cal busy as beavers building damns
“Beep beep!” (as all tractors go?)
Ella getting in on the water play action, getting only slightly drenched
Pushing the button to talk, Cal respectively asks “Please give me some of your money.”
She’s definitely got part the bottle part down…
…giving medicine is a different story.
Likewise, the boys nailed their blood pressure testing
Slide! She sprinted back to go again about a dozen times.
Ella doing her signature dance move with mom
He’ll play with legos with a mouse, in a house. Or on the floor or a wall-
The crayon equivalent of dumpster diving
After Des is done assembling his creation with wood, nails and tape, Calvin quietly turns to suggest, “Uh, but it doesn’t look like an AT-AT walker” That’s ok.
“Game on!”
As he grows taller beyond the toddler days, a real Mavs hockey jersey puts it all in perspective
Game face.
Some kids like to kick around the soccer ball. Others enjoy collecting and stacking field cones 🙂
Excited to stop in and see aunt Kelli and uncle Mike at the restaurant
New favorite past time
A spaceport crane, naturally
Movie night: How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Rest well, little pretzel dough balls
Hanging out under the tree while dad cajoles into lighting one final year
No, she’s not sleeping. Her “put ALL the things to sleep” hobby has evolved into herself as well.
“Awake,” Ella joins the rest of the family decorating the tree.
Desmond now has about a 50% accuracy rate, where only half need resetting by mom or dad as he fetches the next ornament.
Practicing a strict “look, but don’t touch” policy, Ella gazes at one of eight Snoopy ornaments
Des placing his special Darth Vader ornament
Des placing the star upon the tree
First viewing of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
A brisk November morning at the outlet mall for new shoes, Eleanor her eclectic outfit
Des “presenting” (?) the tree
Yup, someone really understands what that bright box is. Eleanor wakes up from the nap and starts talking to the monitor
Eleanor lounges back for Saturday movie night, The Sword in the Stone
Apparently she’s found her new style
Ella snuggles
Special treat- Salween Thai!
Yeah, everyone was pretty stoked
Eleanor susses out the new crow on ma and pa’s front porch
Literally years in the waiting, Desmond finally gets to watch to watch Star Wars on the eve of his fourth birthday. In all of history, there has never been a more well-informed pre-schooler on the primary and more subtle plot points. Beyond general knowledge, Desmond and dad had even been re-reading/studying the stories before bed in preparation. With Eleanor spending the evening with grandma, and having borrowed a subwoofer from pa, it was finally time for the opening score and crawl-
A boy first seeing R2-D2 and C-3PO landing on Tatooine
Ok, the first scene or two with Darth Vader may have been a bit intense…
…but there’s comfort and support
After the first intermission, reinforcement stuffies arrive
“The Force will be with you. Always.”
After morning plans changed, it seemed like just the right cloudy, autumn morning for a movie at the zoo’s IMAX theatre. Not only was this Eleanor’s first non-sleeping-infant movie experience, the concept of 3D glasses was especially perplexing
It’s like it’s coming right at me… ready.
Dad may have been a sucker while running out the clock in the gift shop before the movie seated. Des introduces his new Nemo to real-life Dory
The littlest fishy, getting taller
Deep
Rewatching Finding Dory for the umpteenth time, much to dad’s approval. No you’re crying…
