You've Been Away Too Long.

She's been on the move. A lot. And she's also been really ornery about shutterbug mama trying to snap photos - more than a lot. The combination of the two has made for radio silence from us.



We're getting our last solid dose of picture-perfect weather in Ella-land before the snow flies. (And according to an article in today's paper, predictions of top ten worst winters are coming at us. Just think of all the blogging time I'll have on my hands. Perfect.) We rallied our co-pilots, KatieRoz, and about eight other mamas and kids in the neighborhood and hit the nearby metro park. It was big fun, big sunshine and a big picnic.



A very big deal to be in my car, sans the constriction of a car seat Can you blame them? 

Steering wheels also a HUGE deal right now.

Ella decided to take the leap and sit in the big girl swing all on her own. To her, the rest of the park became meaningless. We were there nearly two and half hours and she spent most all of that riveted to this swing telling me her belly button tickled, grinning like the cat who swallowed the canary.

Roz joined in for a bit, with big smiles. But she's been rockin' a big girl swing for months now :)

Really. The grinning lasted forever. No kidding.

As if this wasn't big enough, last night Ella went to hear her daddy's band at a kid-friendly/pet-friendly bar. (Don't cringe.) We were home before 2am (more like 9:30pm), the noise level was perfect for her ears and she fit in perfectly. It makes me so happy to watch her enjoy music, especially live music, as much as she does.

Have a great weekend.

PS On the potty training front? Well, not so great. I'm not bribing her with candy but hand-drawn animal tatoos on her arms and hands when she does go. We like to encourage art around here. :)