The Hat Basket

A couple weeks ago Ellie and I spent one of the minus gazillion degrees
wintery days warm and snug in our pjs in the house...

...and when we ran out of things to do with the toys, we pulled out Ellie's basket of hats...

...and well, this is the fun times that resulted.

That took care of about 15 minutes. :)

Hide and Seek, Mama!

Ellie's newest game she LOVES to play is "Hide the Anything." You know, hide the jar of baby food in the pot, hide the wooden puzzle pieces in a book, hide my face under a blanket...
Well my all-time favorite was the other day when I was getting Elianna ready for her bath. I had given her a couple of objects to play with on the floor by the bath mat while I went back and forth to the bedroom getting her stuff ready for her bath. Suddenly (from the bedroom) I hear Ellie doing her notorious fake-sounding laugh, "Ha ha ha ha ha!" Curious, I go back to the bathroom and see Ellie quickly pull away from where she had been bent over by the bath mat. She looks up at me with a huge grin and goes, "Hahaha!" As I get down on her level to see what's so funny, she throws the bath mat back, and hiding underneath is my DEBIT CARD. (I hadn't realized she was playing with that.) Good thing she thought it was so hilarious or that would have been the second time I would have had to cancel the thing in a month! She's got this THING for that debit card. No other card has the same effect. I pull it out at the grocery store and immediately Ellie pulls herself straighter, opens her mouth wide and goes, "Ah! AH! AHHH!" If I give it to her to hold she fake laughs, "HAHAHA!" and tries to swipe it. Or holds it out to strangers. The cashiers love it. They also love it when I hand them a debit card dripping with saliva. Anyhow, like other fun toys (baby wipes, the phone, Rob's shoe) the novelty will probably eventually wear off. Hopefully sooner than later.

She's a talker!

As of this weekend Ellie has two more new words! "Ya ya", usually accompanied by a emphatic nod that emphasizes her double chin (when she wants something or is excited about it), and "Nana" (banana). She continues to think the apples, oranges and cantaloupes in the groceries store are 'baw's (balls). Now if only she'd learn to crawl...

Ellie Graduates

This week Elianna began riding in style...in her big girl car seat! Unfortunately it still needs to face the back, which drives Ellie a bit nuts...but not for too much longer.

Regan's First Birthday!

Elianna's cousin Regan had her first birthday party last Sunday. Boy, did she ever dig her first cupcake!

Regan with Auntie Dana trying out her new xylophone. She's a natural at wacking things!

Ellie was thrilled to get to play with some 'big' girls.

...and some 'big' boys too, I guess! (I think Rob liked the Littlest Pet Shop animals as much as Ellie did :)

The fam.

It's a little late, but here's a few photos of the Hildebrandt family Christmas Eve party here in Manitoba. We had a blast, and was it ever NOISY with two hyper babies stealing the show!

Christmas in Manitoba

Dad's new and old slippers. This was a badly needed gift!

My sisters Leila and Dana showin a little love!

Dana's man, John. She painted his face with a tiny paint set from one of the Christmas crackers to look sorta like Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean.

Rob and my sister, Karla, loving wearing those wonderful paper hats.

Ellie's first Christmas cracker experience.

Ellie and Regan enjoying Regan 's new piano

This ribbon entertained Ellie for a long, long time.

Ellie and Regan posing for all the family cameras.

Nana time.

"Ta?"

Ellie has this new thing going on where everything (food, socks, toys) must go in her hair or behind her head. "Ta?" she says, when you tell her it's a hat.

This is the first time Ellie tried to comb her hair.