I can't get over how much Ellena has grown in the last month or two. She's taller, she's talking up a storm, she's drawing with intent (here's his eyes, his legs, this is a heart balloon) - WOW!
As cute as her little bob haircut was, Ellena decided she does not want any more haircuts and will be growing her hair out. We have been doing pigtails when she lets me. Once, she pulled the rubber bands out and her hair was a little wild. Evan looked at her and said, "Why does Ellena look soo.... soo Chinese?" Here she is modeling her Girl's Day purse from Aunty Bette. She totes along Hot Wheels!!!
Ellena has become afraid of a variety of things lately - monsters, the dark, loud sounds, bugs and spiders, scary tv shows - you name it, she's probably afraid of it. We have been struggling with bedtime and our endless methods would take up a separate blog post. But I caught the two kiddos yesterday snuggling on the couch as they watched a Halloween show, which Ellena deemed too scary. She insisted on watching it, as long as Evan protected her. Evan was thrilled to be the brave protector, but at one point, he did admit that Ellena was squishing his hand behind her back and that it was uncomfortable for him. But he took the pain and kept his hand there, just to ease her fears. I love seeing the two of them so loving towards each other - a nice break from their contrariness!
Both Evan and Ellena have Lego fever - they LOVE their Legos! Luckily, Ellena does not put the pieces in her mouth, so we can have the Legos out without worrying about choking. We got some cool bricks at the Lego store this weekend, and also found some Lego man headlamps for the kids on clearance. Could not resist!
Thanks to Groupon, Ellena got a few classes at the Little Gym. She did pretty well, considering the many little bodies tumbling and bouncing around her - she does not like people in her space and is not afraid to vocalize her unhappiness! Today Ellena practiced her forward tumbles and can now do them unassisted! She was introduced to backward tumbles, backwards walking on the balance beam and walking sideways along the horizontal bars. In the above picture, she practiced balancing on one leg.
Last night we went to the Imagination Movers performance at the Paramount Theatre. We all had a rockin' time! They put on a great show and the kids loved it! Pops and I felt so old, thinking it was a bit loud. :) There was an opening act, "Choo Choo Soul", and Evan kept turning to Pops and asking when the Imagination Movers were coming out. He was clearly not amused by the openers.Whenever they wanted audience participation, they would shine a bright light into the crowd. Ellena thought it was too bright and would make this face.
After the show, we walked over to Dragonfish and had dinner. Pops was not impressed with the food he ordered, but my meal was pretty good - miso skirt steak with tempura onions and yams. Their restrooms were located inside the connecting hotel, so we all made a trip before leaving. As we walked through the lobby to go, Pops and I noticed a few guys sitting in the couches. Hey, it's the Imagination Movers! We asked if we could take a picture and they were just the nicest, most accommodating guys. The kids were enamored and Ellena didn't want to leave. By the way, we didn't make Mover Dave take the picture, he just wasn't in the lobby at the time.) What a truly special way to end the night!
