Two Years

It is hard to believe that it is two years since we made our journey half way round the world to meet Ella. In some ways it is hard to remember our lives before she was home. Although at times (mid-tantrum - they are rare), it is a bit easier to remember those carefree days.

Ella is doing well. She is an emphatic dancer. She goes to a dance class on Saturday mornings and loves her Angelina Ballerina stories. Hanging out in her dance outfit is another manifestation of the penchant for dance. She is also big on mermaids (her Halloween choice) and princesses. The combination of the three is also popular.

This year has been a bit difficult on our family. Julia took a different position. She is now at So. Illinois University in Carbondale. It was a great move for her professionally, but since I (Kent) am in my last year at the University of Minnesota, I am still spending most of my time in Wisconsin. It has been hard on Ella as well. She has two houses - brown house, Carbondale and green house, Menomonie. I have been able to make it down there every two to three weeks. It is wonderful to go and incredibly difficult to come back. Although I look forward to the accomplishment of my graduation in May, I am really looking forward to our being able to get our lives back as a fulltime family.

We have been using the internet and video conferencing as a method of staying in touch. Thank heavens for the technology. I sometimes think what it would be like if it were still the days of letters - people were tougher then, I think.

We all hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Since Ella can't yet read, she is getting a basketball hoop, basketball (little, pink and purple) and a Wonder Pets flyboat. I'm sure there are more gifts coming, but she is doing pretty well at the moment. I will be headed to So. Ill. next Thursday. I can't wait and we will be putting up the Christmas tree and doing some decorating. How fun. Having a three year old in the house puts a little spark back in to the season.

Merry Christmas. Kent.

Ella on a great Spring day!

The weather has finally warmed up, and Ella and Julia enjoyed a wonderful day out in the yard.

In this first one, Ella is eating a chocolate covered strawberry on the front porch.


Ella is drawing with her sidewalk chalks that are in the shapes of vegetable characters.


Ella dances and sings on the driveway.


Ella rides her rocking lion and sings "I had a little turtle."

Ella bonka head!

Ella and I (Kent) took a trip to the Como Zoo a week ago. Saw great animals had a bunch of fun, but I'll post the video of her hitting head.




More stuff later.

All da peoples love Ella!

Oh, she's talking up a storm! Ella has always been highly verbal, and small wonder, given her parents are pretty talkative folks too.

I (Julia) must confess I am finding parenting easier and more fun now that Ella can tell us what she wants. Of course, this also means she knows just how to NOT tell me what she needs, in the way best designed to get under her mother's skin: by whining.

The Whines come in several forms, all kid-perfected, mother-detested: there's the Classic (w/w/o foot stomp); the Heap O' Bones (w/w/o dramatic flopping to the floor) and the ever-grating Slow Simmer (w/w/o full tantrum at end). I'll have to see if I can get some photographic evidence here to support my typlogies.

Other news: This spring, we've been spending lots of quality time with Auntie Heather in St. Paul. Here's a pic of Ella and "Andie Heder" riding in the little race cars at the new amusement park at the Mall of American. Sorry for the grainy texture-- I was pretty far away when I took the pic, but I just loved the looks of their faces after the ride had just whipped them around the corner.

Ella's language abilities are tremendous. Last week, I had my first parent-teacher meeting with Ella's awesome pre-school teacher at the Child Development Center. The little written report on E. describes her vocabulary as 'vast,' and notes that she 'readily contributes to group discussions.'

That made us laugh- we've been working on learning not to interrupt at home, because she does, indeed, contribute readily to conversations.

A few fun little verbal quirks she has developed (along the lines of, but nothing quite as cute as "Hepaloo," described in an earlier post):

Her toddler egocentrism and uncritical self-esteem are in full flower, and show up in proclamations like the one in the title to this post. She announced that at a party. She also sometimes announces, upon re-entering a room, "Here I am! Here is Ella!"

She sometimes transposes the first letter or sound of two words in a phrase. So she'll enthusiastically praise her Auntie with "Jood gob, Andie Header!"

With the colder and nastier than usual winter we've had, the kids at her daycare have spent a lot of time indoors, using a well-padded and supervised room at the Child Development Center called the "large muscle room," AKA the "marge luscle room." Kent says, if we had the money, he'd like to endow the U of M's snooty Carlson School with the Marge Luscle Room, and let future generations of MBAs wonder who the old lady was who donated the meeting room....

As promised: A March update

In my posting at Christmas, I thought I was being funny saying we'd post in March. Guess that turned into a prediction. We have been doing well. Ella continues to grow like a weed and be a joy everyday, although her fantastic lion’s roar can be a bit trying at times. Ella really enjoyed Easter. She has cleaned out Julia and my baskets and is looking at the last feeble bits of her own. Yesterday that she asked for Julia’s basket first, found it empty. Then she asked for mine and turned her nose up at the last few black jelly beans and then she reluctantly asked for her own. She knows how things work, doesn’t she?

The big news here is that Julia has taken a job at Southern Illinois University – Carbondale (home of the Salukis). So we’ll be moving . . . kinda. I still have a year left at the University of Minnesota. Therefore I will be trying my hand at being a long distance dad. It will be tough, but it is just too much an opportunity for her to turn down.


Our task at the moment is trying to get the house ready to put on the market . . . doing all the jobs I should have done months, years ago. Julia will be teaching summer school down there in July and I will be going to school here for that month. At least we’ll have August together . . . I’m looking forward to my first month in So. Ill. being August . . . at least I’ll have a better definition of what humid is;). And, maybe we’ll update before then . . . put your bets in now. I think you know which way to lean on this one.

The pics were taken at Ella’s UW-Stout daycare. The first one she is "going to work." Next pic, just playin' with a truck and finally a bit of snoozle.


Kent.