The following pix are from moments in December that we never got around to sharing. I found them tonight, and wanted to share.
Ella is one cute little 19 month old! Her hair is one of the cutest and most crazy things about her. :) This was a day when Sally enlisted one of her friends to help teach her how to do Ella's hair. It has been really fun. I (Joe) have even learned a thing or two. Nothing impressive, but at least I try and occasionally I even get two thumbs up from Sally. It's kind of like when I dress Ella. I'll usually pick at some random things I haven't seen her wear before and try to mix and match. Then I send her scampering across the house to find Mommy for her approval. Most of the time that trip ends with Sally laughing and sending Ella back for a new outfit. She loves looking cute and changing her clothes, so it works out. They both put up with my funny attempts at trying new things. Just like the hair, though, on the rare occasion I get a satisfying gasp of approval from Sally, amazed that I actually succeeded making our Ella look cute for the day. I love being a Daddy.
Below is a family stamp party...another one of Sally's random fun activities she comes up with for the kids. Again, butcher paper on the table and tons of ink and stamps and fun. The kids loved it. Ella was the first to stamp her hands and arms, and Caleb, of course, followed suit a bit. Mostly they just had fun seeing Mommy's random collection of stamps.
Of the three, this was my favorite moment. I got home post-call (after being at the hospital overnight), but I had slept a bit at the hospital. Sally had a few things planned for the day (I forget what exactly), so we did some quality Daddy and the kids at the zoo time. This is the train that circles the huge park next to the zoo. Caleb LOVES it. He always asks to go and I rarely give in. So this time I caved, and we went. It was a chilly 20 minutes, but they got so excited about everything from dead trees to stray cats in the park. Below Ella was most enthralled with my iphone as is obvious by her cute little stare. Caleb is just the king of photogenics. He loves flashing that smile. On that note, a funny story that happened yesterday...
...we were at Sea World for the first time EVER as a family this weekend, and we were riding a Sesame Street ferris wheel. So of course, being the typical Dad, I'm trying to take pictures (I don't do it incessantly like I'm tempted...I try to put it away sometimes in order to just enjoy the moments together :). So I hold up the camera and say, "Caleb smile." He then rewards me with the biggest frown possible. So I follow suit and frown huge to make him laugh, snap the picture, and right at the last minute he flips his frown into the cutest grin of all time. Classic Caleb. So now I look like the grumpy one in the picture. He got me good. ;)
