First, the video shows Esther sitting virtually on the cat when she hears a train whistle outside. That's why she keeps repeating "tchoo, tchoo". Notice her "go?" and gesture that goes with it ("where did it go?"). I'm trying to get her to show me Sydney's ear...which she finally does with the added sound effect of "eee oohh eee". So cute! Sydney was being very accomodating through the whole thing.
I've never been a big fan of pink, but the last few days I seem to have dressed Esther in a lot of it. I do have to admit it's a pretty color on her.
"Oh no you di'n't!" 
I think Esther is so lovely when she looks down and I catch it on camera. There is something so sweet about it and it's so captivating to me.
Working with her tool set from Nana and Papa B.
They also got her this hammer that makes funny noises when she hits things with it. Here she's hitting my knee as I snap the picture. (In the background, on the table, is the stack of photo albums of E. Yes, all ten of them are of Esther. I know I could keep all the photos on the computer but I love looking through albums. The funny thing is, those aren't all of her photos as I'm trying to be more selective with which ones I print.)
Making herself crack up!!
Joe and Kris, our friends from San Francisco, were in town so they came over to meet Esther. Esther liked showing Kris all her toys, and Kris was very attentive to her.
Joe was kind enough to read Gene a new storybook that Esther's Nana C got for her. (Check out the couple on Gene's T-shirt. It's us on our wedding day, when Gene had hair and I was more svelte.)
Pretty in pink: Nana Carolyn and E enjoying each other's company. Esther would laugh hysterically every time Nana would pretend to slip on the kitchen floor. And loved it when Nana would chase her around the living room. Extra bonus: my mom watched our girl while we went out to a movie with our niece, Halie (who I didn't get a picture of, phooey).
Enjoying her Wedgit toy from her Guiping sister Meilyn and her family. Esther is really into stacking things and loves her new toy.
...and anklets.
I think Esther was trying to get to the other side of the couch without bothering the kitty. But she must have got distracted watching Elmo because she stood like this for a while.
Our sweet girl turned two years old today. And because Esther is now a big girl, we have retired her bottles. We bought her some new sippy cups and she didn't seem to miss the bottle at all.
Intently playing.
No, Esther didn't have to flash to get these beads. Her Grandpa and Grandma Morris got her lots of necklaces for her birthday. And she loved them! She wore them all day and I'm suprised she let us take them off before her bath.
First Birthday cupcake of the day.
Bliss!
Esther is very detail-oriented and I found her winding up her beads around Elmo.
We got some pictures of Esther taken at the Picture People for our "trad- ition" of getting studio photos around her birthday.
Gene jokingly said that me posting them here is illegal. I hope not. I'm not making money off these and they do give credit to Zazzle. I guess if I get in trouble I will cease and desist.
This year was completely different from last years experience. She was very scared of the lady with the camera and had to sit on Dad's lap the whole time. Yep, that's him covered with the white blanket.
This is the only picture of Esther slightly smiling. Gene was playing peek-a-boo with her. I think it's funny that you can see Gene's chin-strap at the top of the photo. (Some of you will be getting one or both of the top two photos minus the chin-strap.)
Here she was trying not to look at the camera, so she kept her head turned and would only look with her eyes. Usually we see this look when she's playing with Daddy, pretending that she doesn't want to look at him. Apparently she thought it would be useful here.
Yep, that's Gene's finger. That's as much as I would allow in the picture. Ha ha.
Trying to read while some stranger was taking photos.
Still trying to read.
I was trying to distract her with her dog puppet, but it only slightly worked.
This one's pretty cute. She's timidly checking out the camera while holding on to Daddy for dear life.
Holding the # 2 and trying not to notice the camera.
She's less intimidated with Mommy behind the camera. I was trying to get a pic of her huge hair.
Here's her new look...or is she thinking that Dad is weird. He will only embarass her more, the older she gets.Just changing the look of our blog. I was kinda tired of the bright pink.
I was cooking dinner and when I glanced into the living room this is what I saw: 
How could someone so tiny make such a huge mess? OK, so at the end of each day, Esther usually manages to leave her mark. But this time was by far her greatest effort.
When Gene got home from work, he asked me if I'd left her alone for a couple of hours. The answer is no, I was around the whole time.
I should have gotten suspicious when she was playing so quietly. I just thought she'd found something to entertain herself, and boy was I right!
Here's the "tornado" after a hard afternoon's work. 
We are in the process of trying to empty out our storage unit so we made some space for our Bowflex in our living room. Yes, it's been in storage,not being used...umm, hopefully it will be put to use now. Our little helper decided she would assist her dad in putting it together.
I have to admire my hubby for being so patient. He let Esther help him the whole time and never got irritated with her. He's definitely my role model in patience. You're awesome, Gene!
At the very end of this post is a video of E helping Daddy. Pretty cute!
Ahh...it's finally put together and Esther and Daddy get a great workout in.
She is such a ham...but usually I don't catch it on camera. Enjoy!
Esther's Orange Period. (and our elusive cat, Audrey.)
OK, so this isn't a picture of Esther, but I thought it was worthy of a post. This rather ungraceful, bumbling seagull landed on our skylight and let me take several pictures of it's undercarriage. I think this is the first time I've ever seen a bird from the bottom, not that I really feel that I've missed much. Our cat, Sydney, was going crazy with his chattering at the bird. Esther was not impressed when I pointed it out. When she's engrossed with Sesame Street it takes a lot to get and keep her attention.
He stayed for about 4 minutes and gracelessly flew off, luckily he didn't leave any birdie treats behind.
Gotta love Target for it's cheap...um, I mean affordable children's shoes. Here Esther is modeling her newest "butts" (as she so eloquently calls them). She loves jumping in puddles so we thought it would be a good idea to buy her some rain boots. I find it funny that living in the rainiest place on earth (OK, that's an exaggeration) this is E's first pair.
She is so gung-ho about new shoes so she had to wear these most of the day. She has to test out the sound they make on our kitchen floor. These made a very nice clumping noise that seemed to satisfied Esther.
She used to smile for the camera. That smile is pretty elusive these days. When she sees me holding the camera, she just wants to take it, look through it, and try to figure out how it works. I have to try to be very stealthy when taking pictures of her now.
I let her take the camera for a little bit tonight. This is her first picture that she took all by herself...of her pant leg.
