E for Eliana

Eliana turned two on the 17th. We celebrated all day.
Ellie's favorite song is Happy Birthday... no matter what day of the year it is. So, the fact that it was actually her birthday and that lots of people would be singing Happy Birthday to her, made my little one VERY happy.
I made pancakes for breakfast... Ellie got an E pancake. That weird smile on her face means, "I am only smiling because mommy told me I can't look at the pictures on the camera until I smile and let her take another picture."


After breakfast I made Ellie's cake. Ellie not only helped stir...


but she eagerly assisted in tasting the batter.


I also made some icing.


I had a couple cupcakes that didn't come out of the pan very nicely, so I tested my decoration idea on them. It didn't work. It was supposed to be a nice looking E. I think the cupcakes were too small and because it is so warm here, the icing wasn't firm and strong.


Ellie went on a shopping trip with her daddy. We (and by we, I mean Franklin) had bought most things the day before, but we needed to buy mishti (a local sweet) and pop for the birthday party.


On the way Ellie persuaded her daddy to buy her these blue shoes. Notice one shoe lost its eye on the rickshaw ride home.

Ellie had our neighbor from downstairs come over and play for a while.



We spent some time decorating.
A sign above our table. Last year we left Ellie's birthday sign up for over three months... seriously. This year the sign is so big and flashy that I bet we take it down in less time.


We decorated our front door.



And we decorated our living room walls.


It was almost time for the party. I had asked our househelper, who usually just works a few hours in the morning, to come back and help prepare the snacks for the party and then help clean up. She brought her son, who is 10 months older than Ellie, with her to celebrate. These two caused chaos together wherever they went. Once again notice Ellie's I-want-to- see-the-pictures-on-the-camera-NOW smile. :)



Our neighbors came and brought gifts for Ellie.; a little train set, a guitar, and a noisy singing doll.


Sometimes when I am writing a shopping list for Franklin, I ask Ellie if there is anything she wants Daddy to buy her at the store. Lately she's been saying a guitar. Our upstairs neighbor got her this little play one.


When it was time to blow out the candles, I prepared Ellie. I said, "We are all going to sing Happy Birthday to you, and when we are done, you should blow out the candles." She got so excited, she immediately blew them out. We all laughed, lit them again, and then she did it right. She was SO thrilled. All she's talked about for the last two days is blowing out candles.



And a family photo... I'm not sure if Ellie was trying to put two fingers up (which we have been practicing) and she accidentally put up one, or if she was saying "wait" or what... maybe she was trying to communicate that she had just completed a year of being one. :)


So happy to have had this little to hug and love for the last two years. She is so much fun.

Scrabble

I took out the Scrabble game the other day. Ellie had fun playing with the letters. She can find Es, As, and Os.


She called the game board her computer.


Poor Eliana's name would only be worth 6 points if names were permissable in Scrabble.

And finally, I counted all the letter tiles, and they are all present. The challenge will be not losing any now that Ellie likes to play with them. :)

A visit to Ellie's castle (a.k.a. the river)

About three blocks from our house is the Ganges River, and we occasionally walk there to get out and about and relax a bit. During winter/dry season, the river pretty much dries up and you can walk far out onto land that is like sand dunes. Ellie loved to play there.
Now, though, as rainy season has just ended, the river is full, and instead of just rushing out to the sand, she has noticed the memorial by the side of the river. She now calls it her castle. She loves to run around it and play hide and seek/peek a boo with us from behind the walls.


During this month of fasting, we have been going around Iftar time, when people break the fast. A few people bring their Iftar food to the river, but most people are at home. This makes the usually busy river not so busy, and a little more pleasant. :)


Ellie notices everything. Here she's pointing to a boat I think.... or maybe she was pointing to India, which I had told her was across the river.


On our way home when we go to the river at Iftar time, we walk through practically deserted streets. This may seem normal for another country to only have a couple people on the street, but if you have ever seen the streets here at a normal time, you'd know that this sight is amazing.


The last time we walked home from the river, we asked Ellie if she knew how to get home. She said, "Yes." So, we told her she was the leader, and do you know what? Our little not-quite-two-year-old led us home. We walked at a very slow pace, but amazingly, we arrived at the correct destination!

Dresses

My friend was about to get rid of some old-but-not-worn-very-much-ahem!-at-all clothes, but I, having a vision of what could be in my head, intercepted the discardation. (I don't think that's the word, but I'm still going to use it!)
I gave the fabric to my househelper with one of Ellie's old dresses as a model, and voila, two dresses for two of my favorite girls in the world.