Equestrian

Sunday we went to a horse birthday party where they put 2 and 3-year-olds on real, live horses with no belts or anything.

Marina picked a horse named Princess. She rode it long enough for us to take this picture.



After two minutes she said "I'm done." And later confessed that riding horses made her bum hurt.

After that, we spent the party watching lady bugs, chasing Ella and eating hummus and pickle sandwiches. . . yummy!

When we got home, Marina got a fever and Ella crabbed out.

Attention:

We've reached the terrible part of the terrible twos.

Word

Ella's word of the day: Olivia.

As in, the mischievous little piglet who paints Jackson Pollock art on her walls and dances instead of taking naps.

Oh. No.

Update

The bed is no longer in Ella's room.

Marina is back in the crib.
(Because she fell out a few times.)

We'll try this again in a few months.

Quiet!

This song literally means, "Quiet, please" and it's the most popular tune in all Jewish schools.


Quiet, Please from Nina Hall on Vimeo.

Singing and Sleeping

The big news! Marina slept in a toddler bed last night!

I am not foolish enough to dissect how it went, whether or not she liked it and stayed in it all night and all that because I know it will all change once the novelty wears off.

The other news: the bed is in Ella's room!

Since, lately, Marina has been having a hard time going to bed by herself, insisting that we stay in her room until she falls asleep (and by insist I mean: screaming like a horror movie, taking the sheets off the crib, taking off her pajamas and pull-up and peeing on the bed), we thought maybe her sister would keep her company and calm her down.

Well, it didn't really work out like that.
But they did giggle and giggle for about 10 minutes while I was out of the room, which was probably the cutest thing they've ever done as sisters.

And so here is a video that has absolutely nothing to do with any of this.

It's Marina singing her favorite song, Slippery Fish.

This was back in September, when she didn't really know the words:


Sleeping Fish from Nina Hall on Vimeo.

And yes, that's Lambie.

A dose of Ella cheer

As most everyone knows by now, I've had bronchitis these last few weeks, which I totally blame all those Casbah shows.

It's actually sort of depressing. I mean, I used to go out almost every night, smoke about 12 cigarettes, drink 4 cocktails (at least) and then still get to work by 10 a.m. But now, I go out maybe five or six times in one month and I come down with bronchitis. Pathetic.

Anyway. Because I've been so grumpy, I decided to share some Ella cheer.
She gets so happy doing the littlest things, including eating this ridiculously expensive ORGANIC orange from the La Jolla Farmers Market.





Or better yet, just watch:


Car Seat Fun from Nina Hall on Vimeo.