Jon Heads to Germany

Sunday morning Jon woke up and made coffee and pancakes for breakfast. Ellie used to love pancakes but now she hardly touches them, I am not sure why. We went to church for the first service and Ellie once again received a glowing report from the nursery volunteers. Actually, they said they were disappointed that she wasn't remaining for the second service hour. I'm glad to hear she is a good girl.
We went home before the second service since Jon needed to pack and make sure everything was ready for his trip. I tried to put Ellie down for a nap but she fought it until it was time to leave. At 12:30 we headed over to Nana and Poppop's house since they had invited us and Peter and Brittany over for Rueben sandwiches.
Peter and Brittany are housing a foreign exchange student from China so I met her for the first time as we all ate together. Donna offered grilled meat and cheese sandwiches for those opposed to the sauerkraut but Jon ate it up to prepare for meeting the motherland (Ellie and I also at it, if you care. We are true Germans).
We said goodbye and left by 2:00 stopping by Fenton's to pick up a book for Jon's trip. Ellie and I left him at the office then went home for her nap. She was so tired after her long day that she was but by the time we passed Joanna Store. She took a nice nap before we left for church. Instead of a typical praying meeting we had communion and Matt Carter led. It was interesting. Fortunately Dad was my table leader and the majority of the time was spent as small groups at the tables.
Following church Ellie and I came home and she went to bed after a bit. I watched a movie then also went to bed early.

Walking around the kitchen

This morning Ellie and I woke up and it was rainy and dark. I had thought that I might try to go out after Ellie's nap in the morning and stop by a used furniture store but Ellie just wasn't cooperating! She was acting tired but refused to fall asleep. After feeling as though I missed my opportunity I changed Ellie into a cute outfit and we headed to Grandma's house. We stopped by the bank before going to Grandma's and we were still the first people there. Eventually Kelly, Clark, Maya, Mimi, Pops, Daniel, and Corinne joined us for lunch. Grandma made sandwiches, pasta salad, a delicious breakfast cake, and served cookies, watermelon, and more. Ellie really chowed down on the pasta salad which was surprising since she has not been eating well lately (her diet has been basically yogurt, chips, and milk). She played a lot with Grandma's toys but was obviously tired when she was laying down in the middle of the floor. I set up the pack'n'play and put Ellie down. While she slept I went to Walmart since I needed ingredients to make a meal for a friend who I had texted earlier and took me up on my offer.
I called Grandpa on my way out of Walmart and Ellie had woken up so I went and picked her up before heading back home. She went back to bed upon arriving home and I put together dinner for the Rus family.
Sarah Rus had her baby Thursday morning and I was so excited to hold the little guy! I dropped Ellie off with Mimi while I went to Morgantown and met little Teophil Graham (Teophil is after his father). Little Teo has more hair than Ellie does now a year older than him! He was so small and it was fun to cuddle with a newborn again.

Teo

I had to rush off after a bit because after picking Ellie up I had to be home to teach a piano lesson. Ellie had a blast playing with Brenda during the lesson and was laughing and crawling all around. She's getting so big! No walking yet, though.
Ellie and I ate dinner together and played in the living room until bed time. We read a book after putting on her PJs and her new favorite is "Pat the Bunny" which I didn't know was actually a fun book until Ellie pulled it off the shelf a few days ago. The bunny is not named Pat - you are actually supposed to pat a bunny. Ellie scratches it but she has the right idea.
After Ellie went to bed I did a load of laundry, watched my favorite TV show, and started cutting out a dress for Ellie. I realized I needed to wash the lining fabric so I didn't get very far but part of the boring part is done!

Ellieisms:
Ellie likes to be chased. She will crawl away and when I stop chasing her (on all fours) she looks back at me and laughs, mouth wide open, ready to crawl away quickly. She is also ticklish on her tummy, thighs, and feet. 

Reading books while lounging on the Leaf