A Little Gift from NYC

When Dave and I went to New York last month, we picked up a little something for each of the kids. Jonah received a mobile from Giggle and Ellie was gifted with two flower clips for her hair (unfortunatley, we've already lost one at the pool) from Bu and the Duck. The store was amazingly pricey and a little too Tim Burton meets Gymboree for my tastes. But Ellie is completely in love with the flowers, well, at least the one that's left. In fact she won't often leave the house without it in her hair--because as we all know: you're not fully dressed until you're fully accessorized.

The New Lexicon

Sometimes you have to study the language to understand the people. In my house, the short ones have developed their own language over the years. Since I live day in and day out among the short ones, I am compelled to immerse myself in this unique dialect. As a result of my years of study I now believe I have unlocked some of this mysterious language's meaning.

Moon squirts – cherry tomatoes

Next soon later – referring to a future time (e.g. I want to go camping next-soon-later or She can come to my house next-soon-later).

Basking – what one does in the kiddie pool as one lays on her back with head cushioned on the side of the pool like a pillow (e.g., when asked what Ellie was doing she replied, “basking in the sun.”).

Messa-messa – threw this one in from way back...Ellie circa age 20 months: messa-messa was a catch-all word referring to anything and everything.

Humpty depot – for Home Depot

Nah-nah-nah-nah-nah - immediately follows the removal of the smallest one from doing something he should not be doing (i.e., climbing up the steps, dumping out the contents of the cabinet, etc.).

Marty and Us

Okay, so this isn't an adventure of Ellie Bellie and Jonah Boy, but an adventure of Mommy and Daddy. Shhh, don't tell the kids I'm hijacking their blog.

I thought I'd share some pictures of our Marty encounter at SILVERDOCS a couple months back. This is probably the closest I'll ever come to being near a celebrity. Well, if you don't count the time Dave and I walked by Gary Sinise outside of the Rainforest Cafe in Disney World, but that's another story.

Okay, so the first pic is of me smirking (Dave snapped shots of me while we waited for the A-lister to arrive), but the other shots are of the celebrity-rific and pretty much self-explanatory. The dude with the white hair that seems to defy both gravity and logic is celebrated indie director Jim Jarmusch.

Oooh, a brush with celebrity-ism...such a fascinating thing to behold

Swimming

Yesterday we teamed up with one of Ellie's best friends for a play date. When his mom called and said, "Hey, ya want to go swimming? My gym has a pool." I thought, heck yeah my little fish love the water.

Now, I have a family membership to the YMCA. So, when the word gym was mentioned I envisioned a pool and facility like the Y. You know...concrete walls painted garish white, peeling paint here and there, and a locker room that teleports me back to middle school--bleech!

So I meet up with our friend and drive to her gym. I step out of the car and gasp. This paragon of all things fitness is...gi-NORMUS! Seriously, it's bigger than a Home Depot. Heck, it's probably bigger than two Home Depots. Then she points out the pool. I see (through the beautiful black iron fence) large umbrellas, waterslides over a couple stories high and a little mushroom thingy that rains water onto the kiddies. Man, we hit the mother load.

All I can say about this incredible facility is that it made me want to jump on a treadmill, do a little resistance training, swim some fast laps in the pool and finish it all off with a round of yoga and a nice Swedish massage. And folks, this is coming from the chick who thinks a leisurely stroll from Nordstrom to Starbucks in a climate-controlled mall is all the aerobic she needs.

Let's just say, the kids had a great time, I had a great time and as we left the building I dreamily devised an elaborate scheme involving pulleys and fruit snacks that would allow me to stow away in their beautiful, beautiful building. Come on, all I really need is one locker people. You'll never even notice I'm here.

What We're Listening To

Whenever we climb into the car, the first words out of Ellie's mouth are, "Can we listen to my music?" Somewhere along the way, I found myself trading in my music for the wee ones music. As a teen of the late 80s/early 90s, this was sometimes especially frustrating. And then one day it happened: alternative music for me had become Elmo versus Raffi.

When we first saw Dan Zanes on Noggin, Dave turned to me and said, "Hey, it's music for the cool kids." I was excited. Music that I could listen to with the windows rolled down. Music that I could, potentially, listen to over and over and over again? Because, let's face it, when you're under three feet tall and there are errands to run, you pretty much dictate what gets played on the dial. Surprisingly, after listening to Dan Zanes House Party, I have discovered he is one of those very rare artists that I will actually listen to even without the kids in the car with me. House Party is a fave of mine and is perfect for almost any occasion.

So when I saw his new album in Starbucks, I snatched one up. After the first listen, I thought it was a little too Americana for me. I loved that House Party had a nice world influence which really got me in the toe tapping spirit. But after a second listen, I realized that Catch That Train! was just as catchy and toe tapping to boot.

The thing about Zane's music is that it's so much more sophisticated than the normal kid stuff. It has many different layers of sounds, changes and is quite lyrically beautiful. I find myself humming Mariposa Ole quite often--even the fact that I can't speak a word of Spanish hasn't gotten in my way.

Next time we all pile into the car and Ellie says, "Mommy can we listen to my music?" I will turn to her and say, "No honey, we can listen to our music." That is until she starts asking for Kidz Bops. Then all bets are off.

A Boy, A Girl and A Bike

Today, we were hard at work all day on the Ellie Bellie Kids website. So we decided to take a break and go out for a little ride. Here's some pics from our outing. Jonah was quite taken with the streamers and bell on Ellie's bike. He also tried to get on it at one point. Too bad the little dude is too short yet 'cause he totally looks the part in his little yellow jersey.

Our Gal Ellie

Ellie loves her room. She spends her nap and most of her bedtime pouring over her books, playing with her toys, trying on jewelry, jumping on her bed and singing. Basically, everything but sleep.

Lately, she's taken to getting out of bed and yelling down for us from the top of the steps. While this isn't entirely new, her explanations for why she's out of bed have become much more sophisticated over time. Here's a random sampling:

Come quick Mommy and Daddy, there are fireflies outside!...It's amay-zing!
My room is too noisy.
I need a drink of fresh water. This water is bad.
The wind knocked over the trash cans. You have to go pick them up right now!

I could go on and on, but you get the gist. She's a crafty one that Ellie!

The Baltimore Aquarium

The Inner Harbor is a great destination for millions. It's funny because growing up in the central MD area and going on all those field trips to the same places year after year makes you a tad jaded. Take for instance the Aquarium. It's a pretty penny to get in (especially for families), but it's got a ton of attractions. Okay, so I've been looking at those same puffins and sharks since I was eight, but if you're visiting B'more, it's totally worth it.

We decided to go with a family membership which pays for itself within two visits. Given that Ellie is in love with dolphins and the fish seem to keep Jonah entranced, we figured it'd be money well spent. Plus, they've opened up the new Animal Planet Australia exhibit. And while I was a tad bit underwhelmed since only the top floor is the actual exhibit (you see there's three floors: the first is the membership only entrance and the second is the gift store), we're looking forward to going back soon.

What We're Watching on the Telly

One of the cutest and most adorable children's shows that we (Dave and I are actually in agreement on this one) enjoy is Charlie and Lola. It's about a brother and his pink-milk drinking sister set in the UK. It airs on Playhouse Disney and abroad on BBC1.




Here's why I love it:
Lola's wardrobe (seriously, I love her little clothes),
Charlie's rockin' raglan tees,
Lauren Child's inspired illustration,
the imaginative stories,
and most of all the British accent Ellie feigns after catching an episode.

This is one of the only children's shows (besides Noggin's Pinky Dinky Doo) that I have set to TiVo. And it is one of the only ones I can think of that Dave and I love to sit down and watch too.

Better run, I think I hear the theme song now!

Good Morning

Most mornings the kiddies pile into our bed while Dave and I try to catch a few winks. Well at least we try to inbetween the frequent elbow and finger visits to our eyes.

But some mornings, Ellie can't wait to team up with her little bro. That's when the little monkeys like to keep to themselves. Quietly drinking their milk, while shaking off the last of the sleepy haze, they are completely mellow. Well for a good 10 minutes at least.