Thanks Nanny

Daddy daycare had to take a break yesterday and today since I haven't been feeling well. Fortunately, Nanny was able to look out for the little one thereby allowing me to rest and EM to not miss work. Ellie enjoyed the change so much that whenever Nanny had to leave her with me (bathroom breaks, etc), she expressed her displeasure.

-ED

It took a while...

...but, we finally got a picture of her teeth:

Just call her bulldog:

-ED

BFF?

Our darling Ellie has been inundated with toys (and really anything else a baby could want) since day one. Some toys, etc., have resonated with her more than others. However, over the last few days we have noticed that one "toy" in particular has commanded her attention unlike any other to date - she travels with it, sleeps with it, nurses with it. Which "toy" you ask has captivated our little one's attention?

We like to call him Mr. Boogs (as in booger). Mr. Boogs is Ellie's aspirator. Don't ask me how or why this relationship developed because I don't have an answer. We are just coming to terms with this odd matter ourselves. In fact, about the only thing we can think of at this point is just how mortified will we be when the time comes, out in public, that people stop and stare at the strange little family with the strange little girl hugging... and loving... and otherwise enjoying... her aspirator. Sigh.

Sorry this photo isn't the best; for some reason, I haven't had the opportunity (or is it the willingness) to take many pictures of her and Mr. Boogs.

Care to share any similarly strange attachments?





-ED

Too cute for words:

10M

What's new Ellie-boo?

Between recounting our trip to Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani's wedding, and slacking somewhat on posting, I've failed to mention some of the things Ellie has been up to. Here's an update:

- Intentionally dropping things. Ellie has discovered gravity is pretty cool. She likes to pick up things and drop them. This applies especially to food (her favorite item to drop is cheerios), which is made extra cool by the fact that she has two dogs ready, willing and able to gobble up anything edible that she drops.

- Pointing. She does this almost exclusively with her right hand, and with her thumb sticking out a bit. We do our best to tell her what it is she's pointing at even though sometimes we aren't really sure if she's pointing at anything at all. Of course, we are looking forward to the day (or is it dreading) when the pointing is followed by "what's that?"

- Pulling up. She is pulling herself up on just about everything. So between her crawling and pulling up, we are starting to see more bumps and scratches. Cruising and walking can't be far off now. Once that happens we are all in trouble (the dogs in particular as she is becoming more and more interested in them).

- Sleeping well. The first two months were difficult. The next five months were great, followed by another difficult two months. We discussed Ferberizing her, but that never really took off; that is, EM and I never truly committed to it. As it turns out, I guess we don't have to. Our best guess is that month eight was difficult due to some motor skill development and month nine was difficult due to cutting teeth. In any event, the last two weeks (wedding included) she has slept really well for us. Now going down is another story...

- Rebelling. Ellie is starting to voice her dislike of certain things, be it getting her diaper changed, going to sleep, sitting in her highchair, getting in the car, etc. It's not a big deal right now. It is, however, quite a change given she has been such an easy-going baby up until now; and, she still is an easy-going baby, but this is definitely a different side of our angel that we are just now starting to see.

-ED

Su., 3/30

This is the final part in a series of posts to recount our time attending Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani's wedding in Philadelphia, and travels to and from there. I'm sparing you most of the details:

We all gathered for brunch at the hotel. Afterwards, we checked out and went to Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani's home to spend some time together before we hit the road. The plan was to travel at least half way home and then assess what to do next. Ellie did well the first half of the trip, so after dinner we decided to go all the way home. Since it was bedtime for her, and she fell asleep fairly easily, the hardest part of the rest of the drive was staying awake. After roughly ten hours on the road, we were home and all was well. It was a good, but short, trip made all the better by the way Ellie handled it all.



-ED

Sa., 3/29

This is the third part in a series of posts to recount our time attending Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani's wedding in Philadelphia, and travels to and from there. I'm sparing you most of the details:

The big day. Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani get married. They were engaged for, if memory serves, approximately 19 months. Put another way, they got engaged before Ellie was conceived. If this sounds critical, it's not meant to be - EM and I were engaged nearly as long - I'm just pointing out how it relates to Ellie. That is, while they weren't married, Dani was still Aunt Dani in Ellie's world.

The day started out with breakfast and friends, again. After that there was a lot of waiting around at the hotel as the wedding was scheduled for 6:30; but, as part of the wedding party, we had to be at the Knowlton Mansion by 4. During the wait, we started discussing the pros and cons of leaving Sunday as opposed to our original departure date - when we were flying - of Monday. Uncle Bill came by the hotel around lunch time with food for everyone. All in all, Ellie did well throughout and the day was nicely uneventful - the way it should be, in my opinion.

When we arrived at the mansion, Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani were already taking pictures. The rest of the wedding party was there along with some family to help watch Ellie. All the picture taking went fine and everyone looked wonderful and before we knew it the ceremony was ready to begin.

We had a babysitter lined up to watch Ellie - so as not to interrupt the ceremony and in light of the fact that the reception would last well past her bedtime - in one of the upstairs rooms at the mansion, so we handed our darling baby off to her (Ellie's first hired sitter). The ceremony was short and sweet and the officiant did a wonderful job of making the vows personally relevant by incorporating their avocations - something to do with him being an engineer and her an architect and, therefore, they know that a relationship, like a structure, must have a sound foundation, etc.

After the "I do's" there was a cocktail hour so EM and I went to check on Ellie and she was crying her eyes out. We calmed her down and then went downstairs so that everyone could lavish attention on her. After cocktails, the wedding party was introduced. We had Ellie with us for that part of the reception as well as the first song or two. In fact, Ellie fell asleep on one of our shoulders as the band played away - pretty remarkable, if you ask me. So I took the angel upstairs to put her down for the night.

Well, somewhere between the reception and the room she woke up, and I could not get her back to sleep. I tried and I tried, but there were too many distractions. EM checked on us, and eventually took over without success. From there I think it's safe to say we were both a bit on edge, which made it difficult to fully enjoy the rest of the reception - the food was good, the band was good, the company was good, the cake was good, but our little Boo was on our minds. Fortunately, at some point, Grandpa took over and Ellie was able to get back to sleep. I just hope our problems with Ellie didn't impact the bride and groom (no word yet as they are still honeymooning).

I guess given our problems, I'd have to say that the evening thankfully came to an end around 11:30. We thanked, and paid, the sitter for the roughly five hours she was there even though we did the heavy lifting and were with our daughter much of that time (I know, our choice not hers), and we went back to the hotel. I seem to recall Ellie woke up when we got back to the room and there was some trouble getting her back down, but it's too fuzzy now for me to say with certainty. The bigger point is, we mostly survived the big day, and our thoughts could now turn to the trip back home.

-ED

PS - I don't know why, but I can't get Grandpa's pics to show up any larger than what you see here. Sorry.

Fr., 3/28

This is the second part in a series of posts to recount our time attending Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani's wedding in Philadelphia, and travels to and from there, this past weekend. I'm sparing you most of the details:

In my opinion, this was the best day of the trip. We started the day with breakfast with friends. Then Grandpa and I went to the location of the rehearsal dinner to confirm everything, and drop off the wine. By the way, I miss dining at BYOB establishments; I truly think that's the way to go.

Anyhow, from there we were off to visit Philly's finest - Tony Luke's. It was a longer drive than I anticipated (or perhaps the anticipation made it so), but my chicken cutlet supreme was soooo worth it. My recollection from there is that Grandpa, Ellie and I put it on cruise control while the ladies went to get their nails done.

That evening about thirty of us gathered for fine "eurasian cuisine" at the rehearsal dinner. The food was good and plentiful (as was the cake that EM had designed and delivered to the restaurant), and it appeared that fun was had by all. Ellie was super, well-behaved the whole time due in part to the yummy (and different than I am used to) Chinese noodles that were served. Eventually she fell asleep on EM's shoulder. EM and I left a little bit before everyone else, as a result, but that's the way it goes with a baby and, truthfully, we didn't mind as we were still in need of catching up on our rest in preparation for the big day and from the day before.

The noodle

The cake

The hosts

-ED

Th., 3/27

This is the first part in a series of posts to recount our time attending Uncle Bill and Aunt Dani's wedding in Philadelphia, and travels to and from there, this past weekend. I'm sparing you most of the details:

We awoke sometime around 3am so that we could be on the road no later than 4am. Our plan was to be at the airport by 4:30am since our flight was scheduled to depart at 5:45am. Everything went according to plan, until we arrived at the airport.

The five of us (me, EM, Ellie, Nanny and Grandpa), with all of our luggage, were standing in line (ok, Ellie wasn't actually standing) to check-in when the news started to spread... first a whisper... then a roar: the flight was canceled. Ugh! I wanted to get mad. I wanted to rage. I probably did both for a minute - inside; but, at 4-something in the morning, with a baby, and the need to come up with a plan B, it wasn't a luxury I could afford.

Speaking of affording things, we quickly realized re-booking the flight was something we could not afford, and taking their next offered flight - Friday morning - was not an option. So as a group we retreated to a seating area, dumbfounded and seemingly defeated. We kicked around several ideas, and vented and watched others vent before we settled on a plan: drive to Philly. However, that meant renting a large enough vehicle to carry all of us and all of our stuff. Fortunately, we were able to wake Uncle Bill and have him make a reservation for us since we did not have a computer and the rental booth at the airport was not yet open.

By 7am we were on the road. Grandpa and I spent most of our time up front, taking turns driving. Nanny and EM spent most of their time in the rear caring for Ellie. Including stops, we were on the road for close to ten hours. Ellie did remarkably well for the bulk of that time minus a few bouts of fussing around nap time. That is due in large part to EM's efforts to play with, and otherwise entertain, her in every way imaginable. We even stopped at a Target to reload on toys.

Once we arrived at the hotel things were significantly easier. We tended to some business, visited with friends and family, and eventually collapsed in our beds still in disbelief as to what transpired earlier in the day.

-ED