Hot, hot, hot!

We're in the middle of an early summer scorcher (God only knows what that means for the rest of the summer). Of course, the best remedy for such heat (other than staying indoors) is the pool. Sadly, it's hard for EM and I to fit in Ellie's pool; but, that doesn't stop her from having a good time and that's good enough for me!

-ED

One year ago today...

...this blog was born. It's hard for me to believe that in that time I've made over 140 entries, posted countless pictures, and have had over 5500 visits. Pretty cool. It really is wonderful to have this tool so that I can look back at the various posts made, and images captured, and recall certain events, etc; and, certainly, I had that in mind when I created the blog. However, an equally pleasant aspect for me has been my ability to include friends and family, far and wide, on Ellie's progress - I don't think I fully anticipated that part, and so that has been a nice, little bonus to come from this hobby.

-ED

"Shhh... use your indoor voice."

Ellie's been babbling for quite sometime - nothing new there. However, starting this past Saturday, as we roamed the toy aisles of Target, she has added yelling to her repertoire. It's kind of like "HEY DADDY, I WANT THAT TOY!" Or, "MOMMY COME GET ME RIGHT NOW AND FEED ME!" It's kind of funny and, from what I understand, pretty normal; but, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't also just a bit annoying. We keep telling her to use her indoor voice, but so far those are meaningless words to her. I just hope that sooner rather than later she gets the idea.

-ED

First Steps

While playing in her crib this past Friday, Ellie made a brief attempt at walking. She was holding onto the side rail when all of a sudden she turned let go and took two steps on her own. She then lost her balance and fell backwards, thankfulkly onto the crib mattress. Needless to say it was her first witnessed (by me only) attempt at walking. No such attempts have been made since Friday, but I know she'll have us running before too long.

Note to Ellie: Make sure Daddy is watching too next time.

-EM

Ellie Rose

I don't exactly recall how or when EM and I arrived at the name Ellie Rose, other than Rose was the name of my mom's mom - a wonderfully strong Cajun woman who sadly never got to meet the woman I married and vice-versa. I do know we agreed on the name at least a couple of years before EM was pregnant. Nor do I recall how I arrived at the name for this blog. I know "Ellie's World" was taken, but I can't remember if I tried other variations or not. In any event, we received an email from Uncle Bill the other day and he pointed out a blog that I know with certainty never crossed my radar before the creation of the blog you are currently reading. The blog is "The World According to Ellie Rose" and I'm a bit saddened to see it, but being a dog owner I do prefer it to a blog about cats or some ego-maniac.

-ED

The unofficial start...

...of summer has typically been celebrated on Memorial Day, and it was that way for us today. It was made all the more "summery" by Ellie getting her first pool time in at Nanny and Grandpa's house. She frolicked in the pool, with many toys, for a good amount of time. We have the same pool she used today so I'm sure there will be some more pool time at our house real soon.

-ED

Play date

Recently, we've been thinking about how to socialize Ellie. She's been pretty much all ours for the past 11 months and, like it or not, we know we need to start sharing her with the rest of the world. So today Ellie and EM took a local facility for an age appropriate trial run while I tried to recover from working the night before. The class was small (I think that's good), but the instructor was uninspired (I know that's not good). The price seems to be right (at least for the introductory period), but we're not quite sure the schedule will mesh with the odd hours we keep. Consequently, we rate this place as a big, fat maybe. We'll try another soon and see how that goes. Please feel free to chime in with any alternate suggestions.

-ED