Remember this face?

What a mug! It's the toddler version of her classic baby smunchy face. Ellie's such a ham!

Khee caah skirt

Ellie loves this skirt for its four kitties! If you ask her what's on her skirt, she'll look down, pull out the fabric, look back up, and announce proudly, "Khee caahs!" As you can see, she also loves throwing and rolling balls. She's always looked like a lefty to us, and this middle photo shows her throwing with her left hand. She's a star!

This dump truck is bigger than Ellie

Auntie Jenny & Ellie party down in Boston!

Ellie stayed with her Auntie Jenny on Saturday morning while I attended an adoption lit workshop and Annette attended a work meeting. Jenn reports that Ellie had a great time people watching, babbling loudly, and making friends at a bookstore in Boston. I'm glad they had a fun Auntie/Baby morning! Thanks again to Auntie Jenny for caring for Ellie.

Tunnel vision

I'm not lion

Today Ellie realized that this sweater has a picture of a lion on it! She kept pulling the sweater away from her body to get a better look at it, and she imitated me when I told her that a lion says, "ROAR!"

A gift from Ellie's godparents

Ellie's godparents gave her a gorgeous charm bracelet for her baptism, and for her first birthday they sent her the first charm for it! It's a teeny tiny silver birthday cake with one candle on top. Thank you to Trista and Russ for such a sweet gift!

Working together to push a toy

Puzzling it out

Enjoying her car

Happy birthday, dear Mumzy!

Annette's birthday was on Monday, so we went out for Malaysian food as soon as the plane landed. Here are the 2 January birthday ladies with Annette's surprise dessert--fried ice cream!

Meeting Stacie Lynne

At the Andy Warhol Museum

The three of us look a little crazy in this pic, but hey! We're at the Warhol Museum! They were showing an exhibit on the cats and dogs of Andy Warhol, which Ellie loved. It was so fun to hear her say "khee caah!" when she recognized the kitties in his works.

The Warhol was also showing works by Ron Mueck, an artist I didn't know before our trip. Turns out he makes ultra-lifelike sculptures of people, only they're insanely tiny or humongous. His sculpture of an enormous newborn baby girl (it's pictured on the Wikipedia site) was breathtaking, and it was amazing to see it while holding my own precious baby girl. Ellie liked it, too--she waved hi to the sculpture and said "bye bye" to it many times. If you get a chance to see any of Mueck's work, do it--he's incredible.

The greatest roadside sign EVER

"Uh-oh!"

More fun with Auntie Betty

This pic is blurry, but I love it anyway

Meeting more friends!

Many thanks to Leslie, Jack, Larisa, and Eric for making the trek from Ohio to visit with us!

Swimming in the whirlpool

Meeting Auntie Betty

Travels with Ellie

First bus ride

At the airport

Being silly at the airport

Getting sleepy right before takeoff

Ellie was a star traveler this weekend! She slept beautifully on the plane rides and didn't fuss at all. She seems to like air travel, though we'll see how she fares during her longer flights in April.

Closed till Monday

We're off to Pittsburgh for the long weekend. Wish us luck for Ellie's first plane rides!

A v. loud lunch!

Tinker Toys

She totally did this to herself!

It's a piece of tortilla from yesterday's snack. She didn't even realize it was there!