Isn't it almost April?

So what's with the snow? (Notice Esther slightly droopy eyelid? She gets that when she's tired. The funny thing is, so does her dad. And I think it's even the same eye.)

This is such a typical Esther expression, that's why I love this picture. She does this if it's sunny, raining, snowing or windy.

Trying to catch some snow in her mouth.

Trying to pick up a snowflake.

Eating crackers with Nana.

Playing with one of Esther's favorite books with removable pieces.

Our girl loves to jump, so when we brought out the mini-trampoline, she went to town.

Maybe this will save her bed from total destruction. In her crib, she usually jumps for half an hour or so before falling asleep.

Happy Easter!

We had some nice visits with family this weekend. On Saturday, Gene's parents came over and played with Esther. Look at the cute dress Nana made for E! Isn't it so sweet!!

Esther of course loved all the attention. She liked to swing between Nana and Daddy.

And used Nana as a swing...what a good sport Esther's Nana is.

Sharing her Mr. Potato head parts with Papa.

Snuggling with Daddy.

My dad and step-mom stopped by for a few hours before they headed off for the airport. Three weeks in Ireland, England and Scotland!! I'm jealous.

A rainy Easter can't dampen Esther's spirit. She found a puddle to splash in (even though it was tiny).

"Whatcha mean I have to go inside?"

Looking so pretty in her Easter dress from my mom. (By the way, my mom is Nana Carolyn and Gene's mom is Nana Marilyn. Esther will probably think everyone has grandmas with rhyming names.)

Mid-jump. Her feet are off the ground.

"And I'm spent."

Getting ready for Easter with Esther

Esther has figured out if she sticks her fingers in her ear sounds aren't as clear. Pretty soon she'll probably use this to avoid listening to Mom.

Creepy critter I found stocking me while I was cooking dinner. I don't know exactly what it's supposed to be except that it's from the Spiderwick movie. I always find Esther toys in very strange places; Elmo lurking under my side of the bed, mr. penguin looking out from the chair slats, a marker in the dirty clothes, a Wedgit laying in wait amongst my flowers pots.

This is the first year that Esther got to dye eggs. I let her "paint" them and I have to say she did an "egg"cellent job. (That one was for Nana Marilyn.)

"Hmm, what color should I use next?"

Gotta love stickers!!

Here she's checking out her handy work.

Tasting one of her creations. She wasn't too sure about the yolk, but the whites were yummy.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

After several days of drizzle and clouds, this afternoon the sun showed itself for a few fleeting moments. So Esther took advantage by playing on our deck. Apparently oven mitts make good hand-warmers.

Playing peek-a-boo with me behind the sliding glass door. There wasn't much hiding involved due to the fact that we could see each other through the glass. It was fun anyway.

"Here I am!"

Now she's "hiding" behind the screen door.

She made me crack up with these faces.

Pushing Daddy's cheeks to make a funny sound.

Trying to poke his eyes out.

Checking out the moon through the sky-light. It kept playing peek-a-boo behind the clouds. Esther loves the moon, or "moonie" as she likes to call it. Whenever we're out when it's dark she looks for it. So tonight was special because she could see it from inside our apartment. It confused her a bit.

Stuff and things...

Esther continues to get braver and braver around Sydney. She is still weary of him but, as you can see, he will allow her to place toys on him...as long as they are light-weight.

He still managed to get in a good cat-nap with stuff on top of him.

Our little body-builder.

Her hair was staying out of her face nicely in this shot. We are still trying to avoid bangs...so far, so good. Her hair is almost long enough to put in a ponytail.

The shirt E is wearing is from a friend (actually my principal from Alaska) who brought it back for her from Bulgaria. So cute!

Esther takes after her Mommy when it comes to mornings. We are most definitely not morning people. And although she doesn't drink coffee (unless she finds my cup unattended), after"Little Einsteins" she's good to go.

Warning: Toilet talk ahead!!

I would like to preface this video by explaining why we have a potty chair (never been used) in our living room. Esther isn't really interested in potty training yet, although she is close. She understands the concept and knows when she is going to go. We bought one of those training seats that fits on the regular toilet but she is scared of it, so we thought we would try the little plastic kind (that has music and lights). She still is scared to sit on it without a diaper but after playing with it for a while she's warmed up to her little potty. In fact, we had lots of fun with it!

Eating and playing...what more can you ask for.

We let Esther feed herself
...and as you can see, it's a messy enterprise. Independ-
ence can be messy at times. I sometimes resort to stripping her down to just her diaper so I won't have to wash yet another outfit.

I've also started putting newspaper under her highchair to try to save the carpet. She's trying to share her "mmm goodie" yogurt but Mommy was having none of it.

Esther's playing has definitely gotten more involved lately. She still does a lot of exploring and satisfying curiosity. But she also gets really involved in pretend play now, too. I love watching her. Although her vocabulary is expanding like crazy, most of the time when she's playing she's in her own little world and I can't understand much of what she's saying. (Check out the video below if you want to glimpse some E play time. Warning: it's five minutes long...but like I said I love watching her, so deal.)

Cleaning up is still a subject E would rather not address. We've starting picking up two times a day now, before nap time and before bedtime. I say "we", but it's usually me and/or Gene with Esther supervising. She will help, but only if told specifically what to do..."put the crayons in the box", etc.

Enjoy.