Blue Coat and Stockings

I would like you to notice that this is the 7th post in a row that has not contained a single picture of Ella in just her diaper.

Boom.

I'm really proud of that right now.

But maybe that's because fall is here and I am so happy to get to dress her in stockings and coats again. 

We regularly go on walks with our gigantic double stroller (that we repeatedly knock into things because it is so crazily long I can't keep track of where it ends) and Ella just sits there in her seat, thumb in her mouth, and watches the houses pass by and I soak in the silence and perfect weather and Fenton happily drools.

Sometimes we walk downtown.

Sometimes we walk to the toy store.

And when I say, "Ella, time to say goodbye to the toys, let's go-de-go (a phrase I got from her)," she is so good at waving goodbye to all the toys and getting back in her stroller and we go.

But her favorite is when we go on walks with her grocery cart and she pushes it up and down each and every street and waves hello to the kids and dogs in their yards. 

And she chases after pages of newspaper ads that go skittering down the street in the wind and then she stuffs them into open parcel compartments of mail boxes and I just laugh as I watch her because what a fantastic solution! 

Fenton gets slung to me in the baby wrap and sleeps, only waking when neighbor dogs come up and lick his little feet poking out the sides.

Something that happened yesterday:

We were at the park.

She was going down the slide over and over again (over the weekend we went to a small water park and she learned how to go down the water slide on her own and she loved it so now she's all about going down every slide she sees on her own).

And suddenly she stopped, looked at me and said, "Shake a bum!" and proceeded to shake her bum in the cutest little dance I may have ever seen, it involved some side-ways hip action and turning in a circle.

Also, if I run out to the car to grab something I'll tell her, "I'll be right back," and she says, "Yeah. Back. Bye! Soon! (as in "see you soon")" 

And after I grab whatever I needed I'll be walking back to the house and notice a little gap in the horizontal window blinds and two little eyes peeking out through the gap and realize that Ella is standing on the couch inside so that she can watch me through the blinds.

And she talks with her hands, which is way cute. 

They are always flying all over the place.

Love her.