Gabriella Turns Two!

Well we have survived the 2nd birthday of our dear daughter. It's hard to believe she's two years old already. We had an unexpected beautiful day for her picnic birthday party at the playground. Most of her friends were there and Aunt Marion came up from St. Louis (Uncle Jeff came too but unfortunately didn't arrive until after the party). Ella had her pink papillon cake as requested, and seems to think that everyone wants a papillon cake for their birthday! She also got a huge Dora balloon that was as tall as she is and a papillon balloon. David and I gave her a play kitchen and she could hardly sleep for the first few days because of thinking about playing with it. We brag about finding it on e-bay for local pick-up and paying very, very, little for it. :-)

For those of you that don't recall, we have David's birthday, our anniversary and Ella's birthday three days in a row (9-27, 28, 29). Our "celebration" week was busy, stressful and fun. David's birthday consisted of a home-cooked dinner and Eli's cheesecake and by Tuesday we decided to postpone our 5th anniversary celebration until a later date. Ella took the spotlight as expected. The two year pediatrician check-up was on Monday and Dr. Clark said Ella is "absolutely wonderfully perfect". For those of you interested in such things, she weighed in at 28 pounds and is 36 1/4" long--just barely on the chart for height now (previously off). In addition to the expected blood check for lead and hemoglobin, she received her flu shot and the new CDC recommended but not required Hepatitis A vaccine. Due to Ella's constant contact with CTA germs, we decided to go ahead and have her get this vaccine even though it's not yet required by the state of Illinois for entry into school.

Speaking of the CTA, I've about had it with riding the buses and trains all the time. My specific complaint is with the 81 bus (unlike my Aunt and Uncle that just visited who had issues with the 55 bus!). As it took us two hours and forty minutes round trip to attend music class on Wednesday, I had to keep reminding myself of all the other women with multiple children in tow that are also condemned to the CTA for transportation. Enough complaining.

So just before Ella's birthday my Aunt Faith, Uncle Jesse and cousin Caelin were here for the weekend from Scottsdale. They came to visit their son Alex who is a Sophomore at University of Chicago. Jesse, a huge fan of asian food, once again loved being in Chicago where you can get it so readily. We went out for Vietnamese food with them and Ella of course told the waiter she'd like "Wonton soup with a big spoon" "please". Ella also received her very own "big spoon" for her birthday. (I'm referring to the asian style soup spoons).

We were able to sell some unused designer furniture and purchase a new camera with the proceeds. Enjoy the pictures of the birthday celebration and one with cousin Caelin and more in the future.