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 :)
