yesterday was one of those perfect weather kind of days where it’s warm in the sun and just right in the shade. ryan snapped this photo of ellie and me in the backyard as we enjoyed the last hour of daylight.

of all the pictures he’s taken of us, i think it’s my favorite.

welcome, august <3

we’ve taken ellie to tilden park several times since she was born, but we never managed to make it over to the little farm until last friday. my mom, ellie and i met our friends yvonne, tam and fiona at the little farm *first* to ensure we’d make all the stops, and just as we suspected, the girls loved it.

we saw cows, goats, pigs, chickens, turkeys, roosters and ducks. it was so cute watching the girls feed the cows. they were so brave! not at all afraid of those big, pink tongues … of course ellie has had lots of practice from giving riley so many treats at home ;)

when we reached the pigs, she snorted!

after all the farm animal fun, we drove to the merry-go-round. it was ellie’s third or fourth time and she definitely likes it more as she gets older. we rode it twice and she cried when it was time to get off!

then it was time for fiona’s nap, so yvonne and tam took off and my mom, ellie and i headed over to the steam train … because a visit to tilden park just wouldn’t be complete without a ride on the train!

we had a great time at tilden, as always, and are looking forward to our next visit <3

…cute baby not included :)

on monday i received an e-mail from barbara, my wonderful former boss and the mother of the kids i used to nanny, asking if ellie and i were free today to visit them at their incredibly beautiful orinda estate. i was excited to hear from her, as we hadn’t seen them since last summer and it was about time we got together to catch up!

we arrived at 10 o’clock sharp and spent about an hour on the floor in the foyer talking, making music and playing with the kids’ extensive collection of beanie babies. ellie was in heaven.

… and BOY, did she loooove ellie (aka: “ellie n.” or “big ellie”). she’s always fascinated with bigger kids, but it was like big ellie was her long lost sister. she followed her around like a puppy the whole time. luckily, big ellie enjoyed little ellie just as much ;)

after lots and lots of playing, barbara was kind enough to make the kids grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. it was actually ellie’s first grilled cheese EVER … i know, i know. it’s super weird that i’ve NEVER made my kid a grilled cheese sandwich. i don’t know why. but OMIGOSH she looooved it! she sat at the table with everyone (in a very big chair on top of two phone books) and ate her entire lunch with only small amount of encouragement from me. it was amaaaazing :)

after lunch the girls and i took a walk around the grounds, down past the stables and the garden (where they’re growing sunflowers and pumpkins) and over to the chicken coop to see the birds. they have chickens, pigeons, finches and even baby quails! ellie enjoyed waving to all of them and saying, “hi, chickens!” over and over again.

then we walked down past the putting green and chinese tea house to the pools. on our way we saw lots of flowers and ripening blackberries and the sun was shining through the trees and everything was lovely <3

we had so much fun with the novogradacs and can’t wait until the next time we get to see them. thank you, novo mama and kids, for having us :) we love you!

“the technical name for your child’s fascination with the word ‘no’ is ‘toddler refusal’ — and the simple fact is that toddlers say ‘no’ because they can.” -babycenter.com

stats from yesterday’s 18-month checkup: 2’7″ tall, 27 lbs., 5 oz., which puts her in the 37th percentile for height (shorty!) and the 86th for weight. that’s our growing girl.