more than Ella's standing unsupported, starting to walk and saying a few words, what makes me really happy is that she's liking (and eating) the food we eat at restaurants.
today it was crab rangoon, miso soup, and tofu. we're no longer limited to restaurants that serve french toast.
Ella rides the truck at daycare.
she walked to the truck and explained what she wants by putting her foot on the truck and trying to climb on it... then she didn't want to go home and we had to push her back and forth across the yard for a while. 
we got another care package from Israel (actually Ella did!) including this cute book that is also a pillow, that Ella really liked (see her pointing at the balloons!)
thanks Safta Dalia!
April 24, 2010
Orly visited us for a couple of days, and after she was done conducting her business in Chicago we had a little bit of time for fun!
we enjoyed millenium park, the pretty tulips everywhere, and the art institute.
ella showed real interest in all the colors around - flowers AND art. when it came to flowers she may have shown too much interest, and we were too busy protecting the poor flower from destruction to take pictures... 
watch the movie... pushing a walker (well, one of her walkers)
notice towards the end she says "Doggie".
more little words today: this morning she picked up a circle (from her shapes puzzle) and said "kirkow" (needless to say that we were both shocked!). then this evening she played with her giant farm (present from Safta Dalia - thanks!). there's a sliding door that hides and reveals some night and day animals. she moved it back and forth repeatedly for about 10 minutes, each time pointing at the animals and looking at us for their names, and we responded with "chatuli" (kitty) and "shemesh" (sun) and owl. after a while of doing that, she said "tuli" and pointed at the cat! she's definitely figuring out that things have names.
to complete the list of Ella's words - we shouldn't forget "tot" (her word for 'sock') and of course "puff". she also tries to say some of the numbers sometimes when we count them over the changing table, and Coffy claimed that she said "apple" once.
words that she understands (but doesn't say) include "babuki" and "motzetzi" (Amit's words for bottle and pacifier which we adopted), bath time, 'jump' (she jumps up and down when i say jump), "chibuk" or hug (she hugs and taps on our backs...). she sort of understands "eyfo" (where) - when we ask her where something is, she knows that she's supposed to point at something. not always at the thing we asked about, but we're getting there :)
we've tried to capture this on camera for a while, but seems like turning on the video camera (it pings) distracted her from her goal.
so what is this crawl? the idea is, never put myself in a position that i don't know if i can get out of. (or: never end up on my tummy!)
so she keeps one foot on the floor, which helps her go back to sitting.
any naming suggestions for this funny crawl?
funnily enough she CAN sit up from being on her tummy, but unless she's distracted she's too freaked out to concentrate and put her legs where she needs them.
she's more mobile now than she's ever been, and we often find her far far away from where we last left her.
yes, already started to child-proof the house... well, the TV at least.
we were sitting on the grass in the park, relaxing from our long walk and waiting for ben to finish his run, when we got a visit from this little ladybug! Ella pointed at it on the grass, and it climbed on Ella's finger, stayed there for a few seconds, and flew away... bye bye ladybug! 
Ella: This!
Me: This is a ball
Ella: This!
Me: This is a book
Ella: This!
Me: This is scrooge
Ella: This!
Me: This is a puff
Ella: Puff!
we got these pictures from daycare, along with this message:
Ella has really been making great strides with her walking. She went from needing two handed help to needing just one! She interacts with the other children so well, easily expressing things that she wants and things that she doesn't like as a maturing child. And today she said apple! First clear word ever. Mark the date!
I took a few photos of her today and just had to share them with you.
Coffy
