Dipping toes in the sand

Ellie and I went to the beach with our friend Anne a few weeks ago and had a blast. I had known from a previous experience that Ellie was not fond of the sand. She likes to be clean, and sand was just too messy for her. When we got to the beach she would not let me put her down on the sand. I dug a hole near the water where the sand was a little wet so she could play. She was timid at first, but then slowly inched her way into the hole to play. After about 20 minutes Ellie loved everything, the sand, the water, and the birds! She had fun running around chasing birds and letting the water hit her feet.

Summertime

Oops, I missed out on a whole month! I guess this summer is going by too quickly. Here's a list of some of the fun things Ellie has experienced this summer. She's had a lot of firsts:

Crab Feast
Hershey Park
Blueberry picking
Finding frogs in Ngoai's pond
Birthday Parties
Pool time with friends
Playing in the sand
Kayaking
Baltimore Aquarium
Pirate Adventures

Ellie has spent a lot of quality time with her Daddy this summer. They take regular walks to the playground, and Brad has even built Ellie her own obstacle course in the living room. This summer has brought a special bond between Ellie and Brad, it's a beautiful thing.

Ellie is such a little lady already, she has a silly and sweet personality. She loves mimicking me and Brad. She can also say so many words now. Some of our favorites to hear are; Mommy, Daddy, nose, turtle, eye, knee, bee, and kitty. Her new favorite game (thanks to Ethan) is "ring around the rosie," she's always the first to fall down. I'm not sure where Ellie gets it, but she has some great dance moves. She turns the radio on by herself and just starts dancing, it's the cutest thing, ever.

The other day Ellie ran into the hallway where her stroller was set up, and not even a few seconds later, Brad went to check on her to find that she had climbed up into the stroller (not just an umbrella stroller, either) and was sitting there waiting for someone to push her. We definitely have a climber! She can get on and off the sofa all by herself as well.

Eight little chompers have already sprung in Ellie's little mouth, but I'm pretty sure she will have a few molars to join them soon.