Reading Suits Me

It began:


And grew:


And grew:


And grew:


Until it was LOVE:


Ella has no time for toys. They stay in her toy box all day. She is obsessed with books. And don't sit in one spot for too long or she will start piling the books up on your lap.

It is so cute as she brings me a book, puts it on my lap and says "more book", then she proceeds to go back to her room grab another book and put it on my lap. This continues until my lap is piled high with all the books she wants me to read. Then she stands at my feet and says "up, up, upupupupup.." (it is an emergency) and we read.

She actually spoke her first sentence not too long ago. I was trying to do the dishes and she was standing at my feet holding three books. She kept saying "book..book" but I wasn't responding. Then she did it...she said "Mommy, re-re a book". And so we did.

And with that, I dedicate this song to Ella, my bookworm:

Trip to Rochester

Last week we took a trip up to Rochester, NY. The purpose for the trip was for Chris to check out the MBA school at the University of Rochester.

The drives up there and back were pretty miserable because Ella did not appreciate being stuck in the car. She would tell us over and over again "uck(stuck)...I walk...up". We all had a great time after we got there.

The first day we were there Chris had an interview with the university. That seemed to go well. He also attended a class. Ella and I just hung out on campus, it seemed like the students had never seen a child before because I got a lot of weird stares and a lot of people asked me if I needed help. I think they assumed I was lost. After the class they took us on a tour of the campus and out to lunch. It was a nice time. The campus is beautiful but not very stroller friendly.

That evening we went to Park Avenue downtown and got some pizza from a local place. While we were waiting we checked out a record store. The pizza was amazing, it was so good that Ella even ate it. This is a big deal because she would never try pizza before.

The next day we went to The Strong Museum of Play. We drove around trying to find the place and when we finally got there we turned around in the car to see that Ella had fallen asleep. So, we went and got some hot dogs off the street. We tried the local favorite called the White Hot and it was so good. I never knew a hot dog could taste that wonderful.

The museum was definitely my favorite place we went on the trip. It was crazy how much they had for kids to do. There was a train to ride and a carousel. They had a Sesame Street Set. Complete with Elmo's World and a yellow taxi to drive. There was a Market to buy groceries and check them out. The list goes on and on. Chris's favorite room was called Field of Play were everything was an experiment in science. My favorite room was called Reading Adventureland. The had made different exhibits for different genres of books. There was an actual ship for the genre of books like Robinson Crusoe and Treasure Island. There was a castle for the fairy tales and I could go on and on. This place was awesome.

I really loved how every exhibit had a art project to do, like make a crown or a kaleidoscope. I also loved that he museum got together with the local library and had books that matched each exhibit that the kids could check out. Isn't that genius?

That night we went to a Thai Restaurant and Ella got to experience curry for the first time. She didn't like it but she was really into anything that was deep fried.

Back From Rochester

Ellaspeak

Ella loves to talk and learns new words everyday. The fun part is trying to figure out what she is saying. It is like she has her own language that we have to learn in order to communicate with her.
The way she says things make us laugh and laugh. And I love how if she doesn't know what to call something it becomes a "this". Check out some of our favorites translated into proper English:

"gink"= drink
"eww"= shoe
"ock" = sock
"ki-kik"=blankie
"Isaas"= Isaac/Elliot/Gretchen/Cousin
"pass"= pacifier
"pa-pal"= grandpa
"butt" = what
"bucko"= Michael
"bish"= fish

I think I will miss all her made up words when she learns to speak correctly.

No Trick All Treat

This was Ella's first year to trick or treat. We ended up with 2 free costumes so we decided to let Ella choose. I thought for sure she would want to be the pink octopus but no, she chose the dragon.
On Wednesday we took her to the Ward Halloween Party. As you can tell she wasn't too sure about the thing on her head:



Then yesterday we went trick or treating. It didn't take too long for her to forget about the costume. She would walk up to strangers (not an easy thing for Ella) and hold out her hand and say "UHHG" (give me candy in caveman). Then when she got what she wanted she would say "thank-you" (she is a polite caveman).



By the end of the evening the pumpkin was so full of candy she had to carry it with both hands. We tried to help but she had her death grip on it. Sturgill's don't foul around with their candy.



Then she decided it was time to start eating:




She had a great time and got a lot of candy which I am very excited about. Because, you know, I had to go through the candy and take out any pieces that "might" be a choking hazard or that I "might" need to be able to get through tomorrow.

Just for laughs

She was even wearing a bib!!!!

Gretchen and Ella

So, it looks like the girls are fast friends. Ella and Gretchen were so cute together. I found them playing hide and seek. Ella would come around the corner to find Gretchen and they would laugh and laugh. Debbie found the girls sitting in bed looking out the window and then they would look at each other and giggle so cute.
Ella really liked Gretchen and decided she needed to be big like her. So, now she sits on a chair at the table (though, just her little eyes peer over the top). She is also sleeping in a big girl bed or on the floor in her room, wherever she decides. Gretchen really liked Ella too. My favorite thing was when she walked past Ella tapped her on the head and called her "sweet pea". Check out the pictures of the girls playing:

(As you can imagine, their music was beautiful)



("Hold on tight!")



("Weee!")



("I don't get it?")