The year in review...

...and, oh, what a year it was! Here are just some of the highlights:

January: EM could feel Ellie kick;
February: I could feel Ellie kick;
March: We began birthing classes;
April: AK threw EM a baby shower;
May: Co-workers threw EM a baby shower, and birthing classes ended;
June: This blog goes live, and two weeks later Ellie makes her big arrival on Father's Day;
July: Ellie is christened, and I go back to work;
August: I came up with "Ellie's song" (a seemingly unimportant matter, except that I used it with much success, once again, just a few minutes ago to help Ellie go down for her nap);
September: Daddy daycare opens;
October: We go on our first family vacation;
November: Ellie starts solids, NC State beats UNC, and EM makes her first contribution to this blog;
December: I am deprived of Ellie's company for one long weekend, Ellie takes on an alter ego, and she finally rolls over.

Whew! I'm wiped out. With that said, I just know that 2008 will be even more compelling. So tune in from time to time, and I'll do my best to keep you up to date.

-ED

Xmas recap

Our Christmas celebration was essentially a three day affair. The highlights include: a gathering at aunt Brandi's house with my side of the family; a Christmas Eve brunch with aunt Katie, nanny and grandpa; Christmas Eve mass; and, Christmas day at nanny and grandpa's house. Missing: my dad and stepmom in Las Vegas and uncle Bill and aunt Dani in Philadelphia (in both cases, recent moves/home purchases ate into vacation times and budgets for travel). Ellie was lavished with cool new toys and plenty of clothes. Our gift from Ellie: after weeks of anticipation, she rolled over - on her own - not once but twice (followed up with another roll over this morning). As good as all this was, I can't wait for next year!

-ED

Merry Christmas!

Lots of love to everyone from Ellie, EM and ED!

7's are wild

On Wednesday we went to see Dr. Betsy for Ellie's six month check-up and immunizations. If you'll recall, our last such visit did not have the best of results. Anyhow, Ellie was wonderfully well-behaved as usual. Her crying during/after the shots was a little more pronounced but we expected that due to her increased awareness (and it still wasn't that bad to be honest). Her stats: 17lbs, 7oz.; 27in long; and, her head circumference is 17in - all of these put her in the 75th percentile or higher. However, the best thing about the visit (and aftermath): 48 hours later and there is no fever or other concerns. Hooray!

-ED

A message from Ellie....

"Hi! I'm Ellie PantHead. I like to wear pants on my head. My nanny taught me how to do this. But, enough about me. Today my mommy is 30. That's old in case you didn't know. It's ok, though, because I love her very much. Happy Birthday, mommy. I love you! Oh, and daddy says he loves you, too."

6M

Getting better

We've had Ellie practice sitting and standing for some time now. But, it seems that just in the last couple of days she has gotten much better at both. I'm not saying she can do either on her own right now, however, the improvement is evident nonetheless.

-ED

Please don't worry

We received a call today, from AK, expressing concern based on my last two posts re: the funk. It's nothing that Ellie's fans should worry with; it's just an explanation as to why my posts haven't been more frequent or perhaps more enjoyable. It is what it is, and I was just trying to explain that nothing is wrong with Ellie - she's wonderful!

-ED

Just the usual

Nothing new to report here. Still a little funky; EM is too. Ellie is wonderful. We blew leaves yesterday... lots of leaves. Ellie napped through the first half of it. During the second half she actually sat outside, in her stroller, and patiently watched us while playing with her toys. I don't have a picture of her doing so outside, but the pics here give you a basic idea of what she was doing - for an hour-plus. She's a good baby.












-ED

Sorry

I've been in a bit of a funk lately. As such, I haven't really felt like posting anything - I apologize. However, in case you were wondering, Ellie is doing wonderfully well and my time with her is the only time I feel relief from the funk. Thank you, Ellie.

-ED

Joy(?)

I got home this morning around 1am. I stopped by Ellie's room just to look at her and stroke the top of her head. I went to bed comforted by the knowledge she was home.

Then, around 7:30am, I was awakened by the sound of Ellie stirring. As I walked in her room, our eyes met and it was impossible for us to contain our smiles - what a joy to be reunited with my baby girl! This feeling, however, changed just a bit when I picked her up... and... felt... and smelled... the present she left for me. Blowout. Back to reality....

In any event, it's been nice to get back in touch with my little one. I swear she's taller than when she left. More vocal, too. Welcome home, Ellie. I missed you.

-ED

More sorrow

Ellie, EM and Nanny were scheduled to touchdown at 4pm today; and, though I have to work tonight, I thought there was a fair chance I could see them briefly before leaving for work. However, EM just called to say that the winter weather in the northeast has delayed their flight by an hour or more. As such, I won't get to see my baby (at least see her awake) until tomorrow morning. Sigh.

-ED

Sorrow (cont'd)

Now I can discuss...

Yesterday, EM and Ellie (and Nanny) left for Philadelphia. That's right. The mean old ladies (EM and Nanny) took daddy's baby girl, and left me here all alone (well, I'm not really alone - I've got two sad sacks for dogs moping around the house to keep me company - yeah).

The reason I couldn't talk about this cruel and senseless abduction (other than it being too painful for words) is that fact that they went up there for a surprise bridal shower. Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani are getting married in March, and so it was decided that now would be a good time for the shower.

Anyhow, I spoke with EM today and last night. Everything seems to be fine. Ellie handled her first flight pretty well. We think her ears must have bothered her a bit, though, since on the ride from the airport Ellie was a crying mess according to EM; but, other than that, she's fine albeit out of her routine.

The girls come back Sunday night, so I'm about half way through this ordeal. I hope Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani appreciate this gesture. After all, no tangible gift we give could compare to the generosity and sacrifice displayed this weekend by yours truly.

I miss you Ellie! Daddy loves you!

-ED

Oh, the sorrow

I'm not at liberty, at the moment, to say what's going on... more tomorrow.

-ED

TMI?

OK. This post, just like the one before it, probably falls under the heading of "too much information." However, it falls squarely within the "mission statement" of this blog so I don't feel too bad about posting it.

We thought we had a break through Saturday night, but that was followed by three more days of "inactivity" paired with a generally upset baby. So last night we resorted to, after consulting with Dr. Betsy's office, a suppository. The thing did it's magic in less than five minutes - pretty cool, all things considered.

Ellie seems to be in better spirits today, and I hope it's a more lasting solution to our little problem. Especially since Ellie has big plans for this weekend; but, that is for another post....

-ED

Backed up

Ellie has been trying different solids over the last few weeks... cereal, avocado, banana, sweet potato and now... prunes. It's not that we wanted to progress to prunes... we HAD to. In any event, as you can tell from the picture, they aren't her favorite. That's ok, I wouldn't eat them either if it weren't absolutely necessary. The good news: I think we can probably move on to another solid now.

-ED

Giving thanks

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou

thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthank....

5M

We had to try

New parents, it seems, get bombarded with offers for this product or that service and so on and so forth. Not much of it, in my opinion, is tempting. However, one item in particular did arouse my curiosity - a photo session. I don't know why, but I just wanted to see how "professional" photos might differ from ours. So today we took Ellie to one of the local establishments for just such an experiment.

The place seemed nice enough. I especially liked that they had what appeared to be 42" screens for customers to view, and ultimately select, the photos they wanted. Our photographer seemed pleasant enough and competent; and, we really did get some nice photos of Ellie in a multitude of poses, backgrounds and outfits. But the devil, as they say, is in the details - in this case, it's the price. To get a decent number of poses printed is going to set you back an inordinate amount of money; especially once you consider that you may not even give out all of the photos, and the poses you don't select are lost forever.

Anyhow, EM and I left with the "el-cheapo" package along with the knowledge and confidence that we can - from time to time - take photos just as well as the pros; the only difference being their superior lighting. When you factor that in along with the cost savings of doing it yourself, it seems to be a no-brainer. I'm not saying we won't go this route again; but, it will be very seldom that we do. So, without further delay, here is the final result:

-ED

For the record...

...we've moved on to bananas. She seems to be more receptive to this fruit than the other one.

-ED

Laughter...

...is such a sweet sound, especially when it comes from a baby. This video is a snapshot of a 10 minute laugh fest. Ellie was watching us eat dinner when she decided that Daddy was funny. Daddy may say that she was laughing because State beat Carolina!

-EM

Go State!

Last night, Ellie and I watched our first State-Carolina game together (it was actually a noon game, but I recorded it while I did some yard work). She's gotta be a good luck charm because while we were watching together, the Wolfpack surged to a big lead. Then when she went to bed the lead evaporated. Fortunately, the better team did prevail in what was a nerve-wracking, heart-stopping finish.

BTW, thanks to Becky, Jonathan and Payton for the pretty wolfpack dress. Oh, and one last thing:

We're the red and white from State,

and we know we are the best.

Hands behind our back,

we can take on all the rest.

GO TO HELL Carolina!

Devils and Deacs stand in line.

The red and white from NC State.

Go State!

-ED

What do you think?

Last night Ellie tried her second solid food. I think the jury is still out on whether she'll like this one - we'll try it a few more times over the next few days. Anyhow, would anyone (other than Nanny, Grandpa or EM) like to take a guess as to what her second solid is? As a reminder, her first was rice cereal.

-ED

Resemblance

We're not sure who Ellie looks like. I guess, mostly, she looks like EM. But there are definitely instances where she favors me. Some people aren't sure either, while others claim she's the perfect blend and still others claim she clearly favors EM or myself. Judge for yourself:

Me (w/ Grammy) at 4mo

EM at 2mo

Splitting the difference... Ellie at 3mo

-ED

Perhaps one day...

...Ellie will forgive me for this.

This is about two and a half minutes of video that EM shot the other night while I was at work. The high marks, if you will, are at roughly thirty seconds and sixty seconds.

The first moment speaks for itself. The moment is followed by EM referring to our baby girl as "El-boo." That is a variation on our nickname for her - boo. Sometimes she's Ellie-boo, other times she's El-boo, but most of the time she's just plain boo or boo-boo.

The second moment actually consists of two items: 1. Ellie grabbing her toy, and 2. Spunky whining, ever so faintly, in the background. I guess the Spunky thing really isn't a moment; but, in case you can actually hear the noise he makes, I thought I should at least explain what it is you are hearing.

Note to Ellie: Everyone, and I do mean everyone, has an embarrassing story or picture or video in their past. And, more often than not, that embarrassing item or moment does end up being shared with others. So please, please don't be upset with daddy. I love you!

-ED

Happy Halloween!

Remember... you can't spell Shalloween without Halloween! And in case you are wondering... that's a pumpkin hat on Ellie's head (courtesy of one of Nanny's knitting/quilting friends).

Ellie is doing wonderfully well. She's such a pleasant baby - I guess she gets that from EM. She's doing really well with her naps. The cereal is going down just fine, and she loves to grab your hand and help you get the spoon to her mouth. She's talking and laughing lots; in fact, there's been several nights when EM and I have been awakened by her chatter - it's nothing that she needs as far as we know, so we let her talk herself out and she goes back to sleep without incident. We think Ellie will roll over any day now; and, from time to time we try to get her to put more weight on her feet. That's it for a developmental update.

It's such a joy to have her in our lives! Love you baby girl!

-ED

Happy Shalloween!

The town of Lewisville doesn't advertise it well on their website, however, the signs posted at Shallowford Square - hence Shalloween - do a wonderful job of promoting their Halloween celebration slated for tomorrow, if our much needed rain comes to an end.

While Ellie will not be in attendance, she will be there in spirit. Nanny bought this costume for her when EM was still pregnant, so I have to give her props for nailing the size. As for the costume itself, I think it's supposed to be a dalmatian which ties in nicely with our love for dogs. On the other hand, if you look at her little friend, Clarissa the cow, I can't help but wonder if it doesn't make a better cow costume. By the way, the backside of the red ears are black.

In any event, I'm sure we'll celebrate Shalloween - in person - next year.


-ED

Still learning...

...for example, I wasn't aware that a baby isn't really considered to have a fever until it's above 100.4. With that information in place, I can still say that Ellie was running a fever over the weekend but it wasn't as bad as I thought. We had an upward trend, starting Thursday night, that peaked at 102 on Saturday night and we've been on the downward trend since. In any event, she's doing fine and I think that's all that needs to said about that.

On a more entertaining note, Ellie ate more cereal today. She's also grabbing at things more, including my hand that held the spoon that held her cereal. Pretty cool.

-ED

Two things...

1. Ellie's fever broke, briefly, yesterday and today; however, for the better part of the last 72 hours she has not been at her best. As per their instructions, we will be in touch with the doctor in the morning; and
2. Ellie tried rice cereal today - a first. She did alright with it, so we'll try again tomorrow.

-ED

Poor baby

Yesterday was Ellie's four month check up. She was also due for her second round of immunizations. Ellie is 25 inches long and 14 pounds, 15 ounces - this puts her at roughly the 75th percentile for both. During the examination, she babbled a few words of wisdom at Dr. Betsy and tried to eat the stethoscope. Ellie also did wonderfully well with her shots - she didn't notice the first two (EM did a good job of distracting her) and the third resulted in only minor, short-lived crying.

Ellie was a little fussy for the rest of the day, but it was really no big deal. Things changed around 12:30am. Our little princess, who does a great job of sleeping through the night, woke up very cranky and with a high fever. Those conditions, unfortunately, have persisted throughout most of the day. We've been in touch with the doctor, and we are monitoring her and comforting her the best we can. So we'll see how it goes. But, right now, all I can think to say is poor baby.

-ED

4M

We're baaack!

We spent five days (albeit two of those days were rather short) and four nights at BHI. Fun was had by all. Actually, it's more like rest and relaxation was had by all. There was a moment or two when Ellie wasn't at her best, but those moments were eclipsed by her overall good behavior. Thanks to nanny and grandpa for coming along and helping out.

The getaway included several firsts: it was our first family vacation with Ellie; our first trip to BHI; Ellie had her first boat ride (you have to take a ferry to get on the island); EM and I had our first "date" without our little one; and, Ellie went to the beach for the first time (she didn't like it when I dipped her toes in the ocean).

Anyhow, here are some pics:

Ellie's first view of the ocean

Ellie and grandpa check out the waves

Ellie napping on nanny

This did not go over well...

Our little beach bum

-ED

Her first trip

Soon we will be going to BHI for a wedding. Since the timing coincides with our wedding anniversary, we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. Nanny and grandpa are coming to help watch the little one, so we are renting a house. We're excited about dipping Ellie's toes in the ocean!

-ED

One month ago...

Daddy daycare opened one month ago. It's been harder than I thought it would be but it is, without a doubt, an honor and a privilege to stay home and care for our baby girl.

-ED

All is fair

Dixie Classic Fair, that is. After a bit of a challenging day at daddy daycare we went to the fair with Nanny and Grandpa.

We (mostly me) ate lots of junk food, looked at lots of odd people and interesting things (this includes visiting with AK and giving her a birthday present), and went home without incident.

Actually, Ellie slept during much of it; but, she awoke just in time for a stroll through the midway where she was dazzled by the lights.

-ED

All is well

After some trying episodes with Ellie on Monday night and Tuesday afternoon, things settled down. The rest of the week was pretty easy by comparison, and that's that.

-ED

It finally happened...

Ellie's been a wonderful baby thus far. We have no complaints whatsoever. With that said, EM had to work late last night and I ran into my first real tough time with the little one. I didn't try any new tricks to work through it, I just waited for EM to get home and do what only a mother can do. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a very long and painful wait.

Today, Ellie revisited last night's ugly pattern. This time I lasted about an hour before I decided it was time to try a new trick. I've read about it, I've heard others talk about it and I figured it was just a matter of time before I had to do it myself... the car ride. So screaming and fussing, I put the little one in her car seat and off we went. Once the car started, the fussing stopped. Then, after a few miles, she was out. We came home, I put her in the crib and all was right with the world again.

It's trying times like today and last night that really test a parent's resolve. However, I then read the paper and everything was put in proper perspective. Please hug and love your children more and, as you do, say a prayer for Keri, Copeland and Kellyn.

-ED

The week in review...

For some reason this was a week in which I just couldn't get my blogging done. It wasn't especially busy or anything like that, I just couldn't get it done. So here is a very brief overview of what happened during the second full week of daddy daycare: we went to EM's work and had lunch with EM as we celebrated Ellie's three months of life; AK came by with some great clothes for the birthday girl; we went for a couple of walks; Ellie spent some time with Nanny; and Ellie, EM and AK, among others, went to Rock the Block. I think that's it... those are the highlights of the week that was. Again, not overly busy and nothing real exciting... just a nice, full week... which is fine by me.

-ED

3M