Battle of the Bulbs

Daddy noticed our neighbors' house was all decked out with lights so he made a mad dash to Home Depot to stock up on outdoor lights. Ella was happy to oblige when Daddy requested her help in stringing the red and white lights on our "popsicle" bushes out front. Mommy's friend Gerin says the bushes make our home look like something out of Whoville. And now that they're all lit up -- we have to agree. And now, inspired by a competitive nature or not, the sprit of Christmas is living in us all. God Bless Us, Everyone. Wait -- that's another holiday story.

Santa Clause Dropped By

Redondo Beach does a very cool thing. Each year Santa, accompanied by local police and fire, rides down residential streets in his "sleigh". He hands out candy canes and poses for pictures with the kiddies, just a few steps from their own front door. We had already lugged her to the nearby mall for pictures with Santa but you can never see too much of the jolly ole elf, can you? She did not like the loud sirens that alerted us to his arrival, but Ella was happy to see Santa again and so we snapped another photo. It was dark so it's grainy, sorry.

Her Own Sparkling Tree

Daddy calls it our "redneck" tree. It's a Martha Stewart K-Mart special. The 4 1/2 foot pre-lit artificial tree glows forth with utter tackiness, but Ella loves it. No disrespect to anyone who has artificial trees, I've just always had live ones, even if they were sparse Charlie Brown trees.

But, the fake tree does several things for us. It does not need water or shed limbs or needles, all of which would end up in Ella's mouth. And, it's charming in its own way. She adores all the lights so we had to put up something.

Ella enjoyed helping Daddy put it together and she admired it with complete and utter joy when it was in place and all lit up. Tacky or not, against my rule book or not, it was all worth this face.

A Happy Christmas

What a nice surprise -- Ella loves Santa!
This is technically Ella's second Christmas but since she was only five days old last year, it hardly counts. So, for the first time we're enjoying Christmas through the eyes of our child. And I believe it is true, the magic returns. I mean to say, I always cherish the Christmas season for the precious gift it is ~ Christ's birth. But the wonder of everything else, a grand tree, sparkling lights, a kind old fat man dressed in red, fades over time. But now it is renewed once more and creates a special warmth that just makes you want to do good and be kind.

Daddy came home for a long lunch today and we took Ella to visit the jolly ole soul at the nearby mall. I was fearful, partly because my first photo with Santa shows a bellowing, red-faced six month old. Miss Ella chose to put my fears to rest. As we approached Santa's "village" she began smiling ear to ear. Well, see for youself. What a wonderful memory.

A Step in the Right Direction

Look who decided to start walking behind her "push toy". As usual, she decided to share this first, as she has almost all others, with Daddy. I came home from work on Saturday and guess who came tearing out of her room behind the little "scooter"? It surely won't be long now until she takes those first few steps, with Daddy of course.

~Religious tangent~

I've been struggling a bit lately with many things. Occasionally I have felt my faith waver a bit. But I was re-invigorated yesterday at Church. Seeking a sign that God is there and knows my fears and worries and is real and loves me, my mind was heavy during Mass. And for some reason I dressed Ella in her little red outfit. It turns out the vestments on Sunday were red, because it was the Feast day for Christ. Then during Mass I looked down and noticed, in small script, the sleeve of the shirt read, "I love you". Some of you may shake this off as coincidence, but I believe it was my sign. What a wonderful way to begin the Advent season.

Thankful for Southern Manners

At this point, most of you have probably eaten about as much leftover turkey and dressing as you can handle. And although there were no posts from us on Thanksgiving, we were thinking of each and every family member and dear friend, near and far.

Luckily, we did not spend the holiday (Ella's first Thanksgiving) alone. We were invited by some friends to enjoy the feast at their home, just a few blocks from our own. There's a backstory here that is one of my favorites so far in the little lives we lead. ~

Early last summer Matt was shopping at the Albertsons grocery store just down the street. Once everything was loaded in the car he went to return the buggy (cart for all my Yankee friends). He saw a woman entering the store and said, "Excuse me ma'am would you like to take my buggy?" The woman turned to him and exclaimed, "Matt (last name)!" It turns out the nice woman went to Duluth High School (3,000 miles away) with us. She was known then as Aimee Planche but is now married to a very nice man she met here in California. They have a lovely home, just a few blocks from ours, and are expecting their first child in February. Of all the people in Southern California and all the places to live, what are the chances? It turns out, although we didn't really travel in the same circles in high school, we have quite a bit in common. And we are thankful for their friendship. Since Aimee's pregnancy, her mother has sold her home in Georgia and has moved out here. She is a delight. They insisted we share Thanksgiving with them and we had a wonderful time. It just goes to show you -- good manners lead to good things.

Hope you all had a blessed and joyful Thanksgiving.

Naked Girl

As we approach her first birthday, Miss Ella is more and more content to be in her "birthday suit". The other night I stripped her down for her bath and as I turned to grab something she took off, naked as a jay bird. She had a look of freedom on her face and I was happy with that so long as freedom didn't turn into release, if you know what I mean.

Story Time

Daddy came home from work tonight and Ella's love for Mommy went out the window. She climbed up his shins and whined until he picked her up. Off to her room they went for toys and stories. Daddy read her favorite Pooh story -- which you can see she thoroughly enjoyed.



Tonight after her bath we're going to attempt to put some salve on her little knuckle. She has the first of many of what Daddy calls "road rashes". She took a pretty serious tumble this weekend under Daddy's watch. She pushed on a table outside which gave way and sent her sliding on concrete. Unfortunately one of Grandmom M.'s pitchers along with some tender baby skin were the suffering casualties.

Where is the time going?

Okay -- so I've been too busy to blog lately. It seems like just yesterday we were carving pumpkins and now it's almost time to carve the turkey!

Miss Ella is eleven months old today so I thought I'd better get to tapping on the old keyboard.

So to catch you up...Babci came out to visit on the weekend of the 11th because Daddy went home for the Georgia vs. Auburn game. It's a father son weekend he enjoys with Granddad, his best friend, Miles (also Ella's Godfather) and his father. The game had a sad ending for the Tigers but I think the boys had a good time. Daddy brought back a cool Auburn bucket (used for serving popcorn at the game) which has now become one of Ella's favorite "toys". She likes putting her face inside and making noise.

At any rate, Ella and Mommy enjoyed Babci's company. It's amazing how much grandparents enjoy the feeding, clothing, poopy diaper changing, all of it. I didn't have to do much but prepare meals and bathe Ella all weekend. Ahh -- wish family could be closer so I could slack off from time to time.

Babci (and Granddad) also gave Ella her very first Elmo and a swing for the front yard. She loves them both dearly and enjoys them every day.

So, now Thanksgiving is upon us and Christmas is right around the corner. Mommy's been furiously shopping on-line and having everything shipped to various addresses back home in Georgia. We'll be enjoying Christmas back there this year. Miss Ella will also be turning one year old on December 20th so arrangements are being made to celebrate the big event. Sometimes mommy feels like a dog chasing its tail.

In the meantime -- we've been invited to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner with some friends who live nearby. I (as most news people know) will be working on turkey day and the day after. Since I'm freelance I could have kept my usual "weekends only" schedule but it's time and a half pay and who can resist that? Did I mention Christmas is right around the corner?

As for Miss Ella's progress -- she's getting more confident every day. She's creeping from furniture to furniture sometimes one-handed. She's getting faster and more stable as she's walking while holding our hands and everyone says she's almost ready to go it alone. We're not pushing her though. She's really into imitating us now which is quite cute. She dances whenever she hears any kind of music -- on the telelvision or coming from one of her toys. Her new thing is vibrating her lips -- making that "car revving up" sound. She did it the entire way through Target the other day. It's endearing to those who only have to hear it for a few seconds as they pass by.

Election Day

Hope everyone got out to the polls and voted yesterday. All I have to say is -- you win some, you lose some. But that's the beautiful thing about democracy -- the pendulum swings -- keeping everything in balance. We live in a wonderful, beautiful, diverse country and we are Blessed.

Our venture to vote became quite an adventure. The polling place was the Jewish center which is literally at the end of our street. So Ella and I strolled over shortly after the polls opened. Unfortunately, I did not see a "wheelchair friendly" entrance so I lugged Ella and the big stroller up several steps. Once inside I caused a flurry of activity when I revealed that I did not have a sample ballot because I had moved and failed to re-register and thus needed a provisional ballot. Oh, the drama. Then as I was filling out my paperwork, Ella decided to pull several of those mammoth registry booklets and some flyers from the table. Fortunately -- there was only minor drama there. But the bottom line -- we successfully voted and did our duty as citizens of this great nation.

The only not so good thing -- one of the old lady volunteers thought it would be cute to give Ella an I Voted sticker which I didn't notice until we got home -- and she had already eaten the corner. Here's a picture of what was left of the sticker before I took it away from her -- creating more drama.

Crazy Granddad

We've come to call him "Crazy Granddad" because it seems he'll do just about anything to get a laught or, in Ella's case, a smile out of his grandkids. He sent Ella this picture of himself dressed up as a goofy cowboy for Halloween -- she loved it. There was also a picture featuring he and Babci, who dressed as a cute pumpkin, but that didn't elicit as much joy as "Crazy Granddad". I wish we could bottle her laughter and listen to it like you do a seashell -- long after you've plucked it from its sandy graveyard.

A Cultured Kid

Los Angeles is a melting pot. With the exception of NYC I don't think I've ever been to another U.S. city where there is more to absorb in terms of ethnic diversity. Ella has no clue about any of this yet but we love it anyway.


For example, our friend Menami just went on a business trip to Canada. She brought back a beautiful pair of Moccasins for Ella. You can't get much more diverse than that; a Japanese friends going to a French area of Canada and bringing back Indian shoes. She can't wear them yet but they're put away for another year or so. We love them.


And on Halloween Ella got to visit with our neighbors, Rachel and Nicholas. They were dressed in traditional Japanese attire. Don't they look adorable? Their mommy, Tomoko, always remembers Miss Ella. She brought her apple sauce and crackers since she can't eat traditional Halloween fare, Snickers and Milk Duds.

Catching Up

We haven't written in a while because the computer has been (and still is for the most part) on the fritz. But that hasn't kept us from staying very busy lately -- so here are a few photos and little stories to get you caught up on our lives.

On the 26th Daddy celebrated his 34th birthday. As usual, since the early fledgling days of our relationship, he received homemade "birthday cookies" from me. If I'd known this would be 'til death do us part I might have chosen a simpler recipe all those years ago. They are a labor of love. So instead of cake we enjoyed cookies -- Ella really liked them. Hmmm -- will this become a tradition for each birthday?

On Saturday we carved pumpkins. It's hard work so Ella and mommy took a break and shared a sugar free popsicle. She loves them and they're a treat for her little throbbing gums.

Sunday night we went down to Manhattan Beach for trick-or-treating. The streets were packed with princesses, animals, fairies, witches and goblins. Since Ella can't actually eat the candy we decided this was a better way to celebrate Halloween. We were one of the few families in costume but we had a great time and our photo was taken for the local paper.

For Halloween we dressed in costume and sat out in the front yard and handed out candy. The children enjoyed getting candy from the Oz family. And although the Lion head didn't last long -- she enjoyed crawling around the yard and looking at the jack-o-lanterns. Unfortunately we didn't have as many trick-or-treaters this year. Last year, when we had just moved in and I was reaching pregnant capacity, there was a non-stop stream from about 6:30 until 9:30. We very conservatively went through about 20 bags of candy before running out before it was all over. This year -- we began buying candy back in September and had 23 bags. By the end of the night we were giving two and three handfuls to the kids.

Not much on the agenda for the next few days. As for Ella's progress -- she's really getting the hang of walking while holding our hands. She's even stood on her own for a split second a couple of times -- but she gets freaked out and cries. She's also figured out how to open drawers -- which usually results in smashed fingers and much drama.

Little Gardener

Ella loves being outside -- that's no secret if you read this blog from time to time. She reminds me so much of my Granny sometimes. She can spent half an hour just pulling at weeds, playing with rocks and touching plants in the front yard.


Speaking of Grandmothers (or Great-grandmothers) Ella recently discovered the gorgeous Birds of Paradise just beginning to bloom. They were part of the reason we chose this house. This time last year I was just beginning to be really uncomfortable in my pregnancy and we still hadn't found a home to move into and await the arrival of our little blessing.

When we arrived to this little bungalow in Redondo Beach the "Birds" were blooming. We saw it as a sign from Grandmom M. that this was the place for us. She so loved the exotic and beautiful plants. They are breathtaking.

Ten Months Old

Our blue-eyed baby girl is now ten months old. She continues to amaze us each and every day. She has gone through a bit of a growth spurt lately and is looking more and more like a little girl all the time. Along with that growth she's gaining more confidence. She's moved onto one-handed cruising. For instance, while holding onto the coffee table she'll reach for the chair and move from one piece of furniture to the other. She even stood on her own for the first time Friday, on her ten month birthday. Matt and I were playing with her in the floor in her room when she used Daddy to pull herself up and for a split second she was standing on her own. When we tried to repeat said accomplishment she promptly sat down. That's okay! I'm sure that's a little freaky the first time it happens.

She didn't have a flawless "birthday". Somewhere in her little mouth more teeth are moving in and causing major discomfort once more. But with enough Tylenol, Orajel, and Motrin she enjoyed parts of the day. Who wouldn't grin just a little on all that medication?

Priceless

A room full of toys....hundreds of dollars

An 84 count pampers purchase...20 something dollars

A Daddy propelled box ride...priceless

These are the moments that make everything worth it!

Picking Out A Pumpkin

Saturday brought a drive down to Long Beach and a visit to Pa's Pumpkin Patch. We had specific orders from Babci to buy a big pumpkin for Ella since this will be her first Halloween.

The pumpkin patch was fantastic! There were of course a great abundance of the orange gourdes in every size imagineable. And there were a number of rides and exhibits for kids of all ages. Once we roamed the pumpkins and got an idea of what we wanted we went to the petting zoo. Ella had the most fun petting the goats and touching their horns. She also liked the ducks but they weren't very playful.

We also went for a little train ride. The first few times around went well, but then Ella either grew tired, motion sick, or bored and started letting me know (by whining) she had had enough. So I glared at the man operating the ride and he let us go around 2 more times and then let us off. I felt badly for the little boy who got to be the conductor -- he was grinning from ear to ear and ringing the bell like there was no tomorrow. Sorry kid.

We watched the pony rides for a few minutes and decided it was time to go. We picked out a mammoth pumpkin and were ready to go until we found out the really big pumpkins start at $50 bucks. What?!! So we opted for a really big regular sized one ($20), two small ones and a mini one.

After the pumpkin patch daddy and I were hungry so we stopped at In-n-Out Burger for a quick bite before getting back on the freeway. Such a delicious way to end a fun outing.

Once we got back home we fixed a pumpkin display on the front porch as you can see Ella really seemed to be relishing all the holiday festivities.

She's Getting So Tall

We often find ourselves just looking at her lately. She's becoming less of a little baby and more of a little girl. I know the pediatrician says she's slightly below average for height but she seems tall to us.

This is how we know she's getting sleepy. She'll lie down, pretty much wherever she is, and start sucking her thumb and playing with the hair at the back of her head. We think it's so sweet.

A Hiccup in Plans

On Saturday we had big plans to go to the movies and see "The Departed". We haven't been to the movie theater since before Ella was born -- almost a year now. I worked a mid-day shift and got home around six o'clock. Miss Nassim came by for one last visit with Ella before returning to Atlanta on Sunday. We got to the house about the same time and were greeted by a pretty cranky baby. Matt said she had been good all day and seemed very happy. Of course that made me feel wonderful (read sarcasm). Anyway -- by the time our friends came over to babysit Ella she was in full meltdown mode and nothing was soothing her. Our friends, who are not parents themselves, urged us to go and said everything would be fine. But after a few attempts to leave -- we ended up staying until Ella had a bedtime bottle and was tucked in -- quiet and peaceful at last. We missed the movie so we just went out for a nice dinner.



On Sunday our hopes for a good time were crushed once more. On our way to Church we noticed streets were closed in downtown Manhattan Beach for a fall festival. There were pony rides! I immediately insisted we bring Ella down after her mid-morning nap (following services). Things went according to plan -- for a moment. Parking was a bear but we finally got a pretty good spot and strolled down to the action. Ella was fine until we entered the crowd of people. She started crying and whining and acting just unhappy in general. We walked swiftly past most of the vendors (although Matt managed to buy a couple of little gifts for his parents). I took her out of the stroller guessing perhaps she was disgruntled because her little head is at butt level -- and that's not pretty. But carrying her didn't work either. She refused to wear her hat and her little head started turning pink.

Finally (back in the stroller with the visor over her big white head) I suggested we just try the pony rides. I don't know why. Maybe I just saw an adorable moment, memory, photo in the mental thought of it. We made our way through the "kids" area and saw what appeared to be a decent sized line for the ponies. When we stopped to better evaluate the situation Ella let out a big wail. So we flipped the brakes off the stroller and hoofed it back to the car. Sweaty and tired we got home and put her down for a nap. I freshened up and left for a late shift at work. Maybe some of this parenting stuff works better if you don't plan a single thing.

Making Angels Proud

Granny Nellie, Babci Mary and Grandmom Albina were probably all smiling down on Ella from heaven when this picture was taken on Friday. Perhaps following in their footsteps -- Miss Ella seemed right at home and very content playing with the pots and pans.

A Visitor from Georgia

Miss Nassim (Uncle Richard's girlfriend) arrived around 7:30 last night. Ella had just taken her "before bed" bottle and was enjoying a bit of a second wind. Poor Nassim is staying in Redondo Beach but spent the day working in the northern San Fernando Valley. She learned very quickly what all locals already know -- you can't expect to get anywhere fast on the 405, through the Sepulveda pass during rush hour (a collective sigh just went out from anyone who has ever driven that nightmare). But -- she got here safely and that's what matters. It took her about an hour and a half to go approximately 25 miles.

Ella was happy to see her and they played for about half an hour. Uncle Richard sent her an adorable little cow -- whom we haven't yet named. Any suggestions? My little brother is the only person I've ever known to play that "claw" game (the one where you direct the claw with a joystick over a pile of toys) and win something cute!

After Ella went to the land of nod we had dinner and nice conversation. We talked about coming home for Christmas and how much fun it will be to see everyone and let everyone see Ella. We have been home already once for her Baptism. She was just four months old and slept through everything! Our usually very alert, very verbal child saw the mass hordes of strange people with outstretched arms (and occasionally too much perfume) coming at her with outstretched arms and effectively conked out. No one got to see her do anything but snooze.

I have great hope that Christmas will be different. Otherwise I'm convinced she's already trying to defy me.

Today I think we may go for a bike ride at the beach if it's not too cloudy. And we're headed to the mall for a little greeting card shopping -- so many birthdays in October!

More Teeth

Ella's getting two more bottom teeth at the same time and the fourth top one is trying to break through -- needless to say life has been challenging. However, my sister-in-law Durene suggested we switch from Tylenol to Motrin and it really has made a difference. And -- with the confidence of a more seasoned mother, my friend LeAnne admonished, "those new teeth are mean." Yes, they are!

The latest and cutest new thing she's doing is imitating us when we eat -- particularly the chewing action. When we rarely have a meal together during Ella's waking hours -- she watches us from the comforts of her exersaucer or high chair. Paying close attention -- she starts moving her mouth like a hungry calf who has just happened upon a lush patch of clover. Is that what we look like?

She's also cruising now. For those who are not "in the know" (as I was just 9 short months ago) that means she's pulling to a stand and then walking (often sideways) while holding on to something. She's becoming a pro on the coffee table.

Today we're headed to the costume store to get the "family" costume. Yes we're going to be that family. And maybe to the YMCA -- but I've been having a problem with my equalibrium and am not sure if it's best I get on a treadmill.

Later today Uncle Richard's girlfriend, Nassim is coming for a visit. She's in town on business and should arrive shortly after Ella's dinner and before her bath. That's usually a fun time. After Ella's nods off to sleepy time we'll have dinner and that should be nice. We'll take pictures and post them, hopefully tomorrow.

Girl Wrestlers

Got your attention!
No this was really funny. Little Ryann came over to play in the front yard with Ella yesterday evening. Ella was very interesting in trying to push Ryann so she'd fall backwards. She had almost accomplished her devious plan when, teetering a bit, Ryann maneuvered a very skillfull take-down. In the blink of an eye Ella was on her back looking up at the blue sky -- dazed and confused. We were laughing too hard to catch the moment but here's a nice shot of them playing nicely.

No!

"No!" Sometimes I feel like I don't say anything else all day long. She's testing her limits and equally testing my patience at times.

Yesterday -- after having pulled her out of the fake ficus at least ten times I removed it from the living room and put it on top of the washer and dryer. Later -- Ella made her way into the laundry room and managed to get hold of a branch and nearly pulled the whole thing down on her. So -- I put the stupid thing on the back patio. When daddy came home he went out back and exclaimed, "Have you had it with the ficus or what?". The wind had knocked it over making it look as though I had just opened the back door and thrown it to the four winds. Which might have crossed my mind. He returned it to the living room and said, "she has to learn what's off limits." He may be right -- but we'll see how he deals this weekend when I'm picking up an extra shift at work!

I wrote a few days (weeks?) ago that Ella had started pulling to a stand. She then decided to pull herself up at nap-time. Which created a big deal when she grew increasingly more tired but didn't yet know how to sit back down in order that she might go to sleep. My friend Rob told me she would figure it out -- it was just a phase and she'd grow out of it. Yeah! She has. But now she's started a few other things....

Yesterday -- while we were outside chatting with several neighbors -- Ella started screaming. Every few seconds her face would get red and she'd yell at the top of her lungs. I was so embarrassed. Everyone else seemed to think it was funny. Please tell me this is just another phase.

She's banging on her highchair top and it has become a real problem. We used to say "no" and she'd stop. Now she seems to be intentionally trying to defy us. Any suggestions? We tried hand squeezing.

Every time we put her down for a diaper change she rolls over and pops up into crawling position. She's fast! We flip her back which is usually met with a great tantrum. I've tried using those flimsy straps on the changing pad but they don't do anything. My sister-in-law said she had to resort to changing cousin Zach in the floor because of his rolling over antics. Anybody else have a better idea?

Okay -- enough of that.

We have been having lot of fun too. Today she's wearing her pink sparkly pants. I love them! You can sort of make out the sparkly silver stitching on the pockets -- but the camera didn't pick up the glittery effect on the pants. They remind me of B.B. Harris Elementary night at Skate-Along U.S.A. Such fond memories of disco lights and sparkly pants of my own. Oh -- and trips to the concession stand during couples skating.

This afternoon before nap time we took a stroll to the local Burger King play place. After I scarfed down some food and Ella ate a Gerber "pinwheel" we hit the play area. Ella was very interested in playing with a cute little girl -- maybe 14 months. I guess my stroller was the wrong brand because the mommies quickly packed up and left -- taking Ella's playmate. So all alone -- she and I crawled through the giant steps, bubbles and slides. It was fun until we started inching towards nap time. Now she's napping -- and hopefully she'll sleep well having played, played, played.

Things I Know So Far...

Time goes by faster once you have children -- or at least it seems to.

Children really do give you grey hair. I got my first one while I was pregnant. Years of newsroom deadlines -- and a baby gets the prestige. That first one now has a few more friends.

"Come to mommy!" still sounds funny coming out of my mouth.

Any child's laughter is precious. Your own child's laughter is the warmest and sweetest things on earth.

I love my husband more each day seeing the father he is becoming.

Mommies really do have a special "healing" touch. Sad, grumpy, in pain or tired -- she reaches for me and my hugs and kisses seem to make it better. Not yet sure about the eyes in the back of my head.

New parents develop cat-like reflexes without even trying.

Daddies can play a little rough and instead of crying -- there is great laughter.

Kids seem fatter than when I was a child. There was usually one chubby kid in any given neighborhood posse but now it seems to be the norm rather than the exception.

You can bond, if only for a brief moment, with a complete stranger while discussing your children.

Every day is a new challenge -- and every day is a blessing.

Life -- goes on.

Her First I.D. Card!

Miss Ella is now the proud owner of her first i.d. card. Crazy huh? Last Thursday we joined the local YMCA as a family. Ella and I went on Thursday (having already gone for a tour and rundown of activities) and filled out the paperwork and paid our fee. Then on Friday daddy returned with us to take a look around and have pictures taken for our i.d. cards. And yes, Ella had to have one too. They have a great "child watch" program where you can leave the little ones in a type of daycare for up to two hours at a time while the adults work out. The i.d. cards help them make sure no crazy person comes in and takes your child. Not much else has happened. I worked as usual and she and daddy had a pretty good weekend. They strolled down to the park on Saturday where I met them after work. Ella crawled around and got nice and dirty before her bath. She's still actively teething so today was a real challenge but we got through it and she's sound asleep now, thanks in part to our friend Motrin. I'm off to try and eat something healthy and watch some Monday Night Football (isn't that kind of sacreligious...I mean shouldn't I get to eat buffalo wings?)

A jungle gym...of sorts

Why is it -- you can give a child all the latest and greatest toys and learning activity mats, books, etc. and they will find something else to play with, in or on?
For instance, she loves the cardboard boxes daddy's beer comes in. She absolutely adores the broom (and yes I know it's germy and gross) and she's drawn to that darned haylike stuff in the fake ficus!

As you can see -- our living room furniture is standing in as a jungle gym for the young adventurer. Look at that smirk! We've pretty much taken everything down, within reason, and accepted the fact she's going to try to go everywhere and touch everything.

The Next Cher...

Since my mom can't be Cher (yes, sometimes I think she's a gay man trapped inside a 54 year old grandmother's body) it appears she's going to do everything she can to influence Ella in the ways of leopard print. Although I would never have bought these for her -- Matt and I both had to admit the p.j.s are pretty cute.

At Nine Months...

Every parent says it, "I can't believe "so and so" is "however" old!" But it's true. I can't believe Ella is nine months old. It's also cliche to say how quickly time goes by when you have a child -- but perhaps it's a cliche because it's true. For nine months this little creature lived inside me and now she's been around for everyone to share for the same span of time. That's amazing to me.

What's also amazing is -- well Ella herself. I spent a lot of time just watching her today. When we were playing at the park, when we were sharing snacks or a bottle of water (because she prefers mommy's big jug over her pint-sized sippy cup) and found myself in wonderment. In just nine months she's come to learn so much and become such a little person. For instance:

At nine months she loves to walk if you hold her hands. She likes to crawl but must be motivated by something interesting -- and then she's off to the races.

At nine months she will stand in her crib at naptime until she's worn herself out. I'll go in her room to find her standing, cheek down to the crib railing, eyes shut, thumb in mouth.

At nine months she loves crawling underneath things and looking up at what's above her. This became a problem yesterday when she realized the swing actually moves when no one is in it and during her exploration she got bonked in the noggin.


She enjoys a big bath with mommy. We started this a few days ago and although I believe I may be getting a UTI we have had a blast splashing and playing in the "big tub".

At nine months she says mommy or mom mom to almost everything. Despite my efforts she does not yet associate it with me. She has not yet said daddy or da da but she's starting to learn "D" so it's coming very soon.

At nine months her first bite of food is always a small bite just in case she doesn't like it. If she does the mouth comes wide open and she emits an "mmm .... mmm". I think that's because I often make that sound when feeding her.

At nine months she will laugh almost any time she hears someone else laughing. To me -- this is a precious part of her personality.

At nine months she likes sitting up on her knees and has what I believe is tremendous balance.

At nine months she has her favorite "off limits" items. The straw in the fake ficus tree, tennis shoes, the toilet seat (the door stays shut whenever possible now), grass and any sort of plant. Today she ripped a leaf off a gorgeous and well manicured plant at the nail salon. I apologized profusely -- I think that's supposed to be very offensive to Buddhists. Suddenly there were plenty of little figurines of a happy fat man staring at me.

At nine months she LOVES it when daddy makes her fly like an airplane over Mount Mommy. She erupts with laughter.

At nine months she's fascinated with our mouths. Everything about them. She enjoys sticking her fist in our mouths -- feeling our teeth, playing with our tongues. And sometimes when I'm speaking I notice she's watching my mouth. Eveything is learning.

At nine months she hates shoes and only tolerates hats long enough for a trip to the park.

At nine months she has discovered dogs/puppies and LOVES them. The other day we were out in the front yard. All of a sudden Ella took off -- crawling as fast as her little knees would take her (it's cute she sort of swings her butt from side to side really sassy). I hadn't noticed, but our neighbor had brought their little dog out for a walk. Ella got a chance to pet the dog and she got a nice licking in return -- which ended in sweet giggles.

At nine months she loves Elmo and Cookie Monster. Nothing else really grabs her and I'm totally fine with that. We don't watch much television together. Sesame Street is about it. Although on weekend mornings we do turn on Thomas the Train -- but I find it more entertaining than she does. She does have a Pooh book that prompts you to make certain sounds with the accompanying music panel and she does like that. But it's the book and sounds not Pooh that captivate her.

At nine months she still has those beautiful blue eyes. And her hair -- which has just started to grow is blonde and fine. She has four teeth. Two little ones on bottom and two bigger ones up top -- complete with a big gap. Just like mommy and daddy.

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The other day we were down at the beach -- walking back to the car. A mommy and her little girl (maybe 3 or 4) were approaching when the mommy said, "What a cute baby!" We said our thank yous and crossed the street. Still within earshot we heard the little girl say, "Not as cute as my baby brother!"
Maybe not kid -- but at nine months, our Ella is pretty darn cute and -- oh what a joy and blessing.