Brian wanted to take Ella on a bike ride yesterday so we decided to check out Discovery Park. Wasn't sure if E would even remember the bike trailer but to my surprise she definitely remembered it. As Brian pulled it off the truck, Ella immediately walked towards it and tried to get in. She cried desperately to get in with Dexter - so cute! It probably didn't help that we were trying to figure out how to put it back together and taking a long time. Overall, we had a great family outing at Discovery Park.
Video: Ella, Dexter and Daddy at Discovery Park (August 5, 2012).
Picture: Ella asking for milk after the long bike ride (August 5, 2012).
Favorite Video of the weekend: Ella standing and dancing on her own.
International Kids Festival
The 8th annual International Kids Festival was held this past Saturday, May 26, 2012 at Williams Land Park. We decided to take a family outing and checked it out. I thought it would have more interesting things to see for Ella but I was disappointed as most of the fair involved soliciting business booths and random performances. The highlight of our weekend would be walking around the garden and the pond. Ella loved looking at the flowers and watching the ducks swim around in the pond.
Pictures: Daddy giving Ella a piggyback ride around the festival (May 26, 2012).
Pictures: Daddy walking Ella around the garden (May 26, 2012).
Videos: Daddy and Ella bonding time around the garden (May 26, 2012).
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Vick's Ice Cream
We made a stop at Vick's Ice Cream parlor on our way home. Can I say how much a fan Ella is of ice cream? Brian gave her some of his mint chip ice cream and she kept signing for more. It was entertaining when she started to feed herself the ice cream with her own hand. I had to discipline her and (though it was so cute) tell her no. Her initial response was this sad, teary eye look - as if I just took away her favorite toy she was playing with. She does not like being discipline or being told no. Smart little infant this one.
Picture: Daddy feeding Ella mint ice cream
Video: Daddy feeding Ella mint ice cream
Our time as a family is always the highlight of the weekend!
Baby signing can help alleviate stress for infants and toddlers who cannot express what they want verbally yet. At least that's what all the hype is about. We only wanted to teach Ella the basics (Eat, Milk, Diaper, Finish, etc.) so that she would be able to communicate her essential needs prior to her ability to talk. A few months ago, I notice she understood when I signed to her and understood certain words as she would calm down or get excited. But she didn't show any baby signs to respond to her needs yet. All you can do is try and hope for the best.
To our surprise, she recently started to sign these past few weeks!
Video: Ella signing for milk (May 11, 2012).
Video: Ella signing for more (May 13, 2012).
Video: Ella signing for dog. (May 23, 2012)
Video: Ella signing for finish.
Video: Ella signing for book. (May 23, 2012)
Much props to those parents who are able to teach their children sign and for continuing to do so throughout their toddler years. It takes so much persistence, discipline and patience to sign every day when you get no results for months. I really get annoyed by those people who believe that they and every other parent should teach their baby to sign. There is no guarantee that your child will pick it up nor does it make you a bad parent if you chose not to do so.
For more information: https://www.babysigns.com/
*I purchased an IPhone App to teach me baby sign and bought a few books. The books didn't really do much as Ella only enjoyed looking at the pictures.
