Out for a Spin

Babci and Granddad gave me a bike seat for Ella for my birthday. Here we are on our inaugural cruise on the driveway. She laughed and smiled the whole time. She kept looking down, fascinated by the rapidly passing ground. And don't worry -- she has a helmet -- this was just a quick turn around the driveway to try things out.

The breeze felt good!

Ella's First Pedicure

I went in to schedule an appointment at the nail salon and Ella had her first pedicure. The shop had moved to a different location in the shopping center and the phones were no yet working so I just dropped in while out running errands. Nancy, the sweet little Vietnamese lady to who runs the shop, just loves Ella. She cut her big toenails and painted them. And then she reprimanded me for letting them grow too long. Oops!

As it was an impromptu pampering I did not have my camera with me. But I can tell you Ella was perfectly still for her and kept smiling the whole time. She is now officially their youngest client at 7 months! Here's a picture of the cute little results.

Grandmom's Hat!

Ella and I have spent most of the day organizing things in preparation for Granddad and Babci's (Polish word for Grandmother) visit. They'll be arriving next Thursday for a long weekend here at the Majoli bungalow. As we were cleaning out the linen closet we came across Grandmom Majoli's garden hat. As you can see we had a great time playing with it. I'm sure she was looking down from heaven with a great big smile on her face.

Today has otherwise been pretty uneventful. When left alone on the floor, Ella is able push and roll herself all over the place. She's pushing up on her arms and up on her back legs, fully extended. I'm hoping this doesn't mean she's going to be one of those kids who walks without ever crawling.

Right now she's playing in her exersaucer, having just eaten a big dinner of cereal, milk, squash and her favorite -- bananas.

We'll probably head out to the gas station to put air in my bike tires. I got a bike seat for Ella for my birthday. I opted not to get the trailer until she has a sibling. Yes -- God willing there will be a sibling. But don't worry -- I'm not going to pull a Britney Spears -- in any way shape or form.

Little Miss Fuzzy Head

Look at all the little fuzzy hairs that have started to crop up on Ella's head! We're so excited because she's been practically bald for 7 months now. Everyone keeps asking what color her hair is going to be. The pediatrician says the new growth looks blonde -- but there are days it looks strawberry blonde. We're just happy she's getting a few little sprouts!

Ella's Azalea

The airport staff gave Ella this azalea when were still in the hospital. It was in a small pot and had only a few blooms. Now it is growing as quickly and as beautifully as she is. It's now in full bloom. That's one good thing about Southern California -- something's always blooming.

Maybe Sweat is Better

So, as you may recall, I had big plans for going to the mall yesterday when the heat became unbearable in the house. So after Ella's 1 p.m. nap I fed her and loaded her in the car seat for our excursion. We were enjoying the air conditioning on full blast all the way to the mall. When we arrived she seemed happy and I was looking forward to a nice stroll. But when I removed all the straps and snaps I got a whiff of something odious and familiar. Yep, poop. So I opened up the hatch of the Escape and proceeded to change the smelly little present. Passers by got quite a treat because this was, "hey mom, I'm teething" poop. If you don't have children you won't understand. If you do you're probably giving me an audible, "oh no" right now. Anywho, with a fresh diaper and now strapped into the umbrella stroller, we were on our way. I was on a bit of a mission because as we near the end of the month it's time to buy next month's greeting cards. But our main priority was just to be cool.

We got through one department store with no problems -- and then it happened. Ella started screaming at the top of her lungs. I had given her Tylenol before we left hoping to avoid any major teething pain for the next few hours. I tried to talk to her but she just kept howling. I got out into the open mall where there is more noice but also, as I soon found out, more echo. So three tiers of mall shoppers starting craning their necks to locate the woman who was obviously brutalizing her child. All they found was me. Looking like you'd sucked the life out of me I glared back at anyone who even started to give that, "what's wrong with your kid?" look. I did the only thing I could do. I got her out of the stroller and carried her along with the diaper bag and pushed the stroller. She calmed down enough for me to buy those dang cards, which now seemed like a real priority. When we got to the checkout Ella started bellowing again. I again picked her up. The lady at the register was sweet and talked to her and reminded her, seeing the frustration on my face and the patience in my touch and voice, that she has a good mommy. I wish for every time a mommy is in a trying situation with a child someone would say those words. "you're a good mommy." It made all the difference in how I felt and how I handled the situation.

Ella fell asleep in the car and woke up a short time after we returned home in a pleasant and happy mood. I don't know what got into her. Maybe she just likes to sweat.

Whew! It's hot!!

I know for all of you suffering in the sweltering heat of Georgia and Florida, our mid to upper 80's here in Redondo Beach sound pretty good. But keep in mind we don't have air conditioning in our little cottage. Most homes on the westside of L.A. don't have central air. Team that with Ella's crankiness/sleeplessness because she's getting her second top tooth and you have a pretty trying situation. Plus -- I think I feel the heat more now -- post Ella. Anyone else feel like that?

Friday was Matt's Friday off. All Santa Monica city employees have every other Friday off. We treat it as our family day. We had breakfast together. Ella enjoyed her first fresh peach! And then we spent the day relaxing, aside from a quick trip to Home Depot for a few flowers and potting soil.

We didn't get much sleep Saturday night because Ella starting crying every half hour beginning at 3 a.m. Plus it was hot and muggy (unusual for California). But she woke up happy as a clam!

She and Daddy had a pretty good Sunday together. We're keeping her on the Tylenon and she has these neat little mesh things that hold cold fruit that she like to chew on. I think it helps with the pain of teething. http://www.mothersbliss.com/shopping/babysafe.asp

Today after her morning nap I went in to find her up on all fours and doing that rocking thing. Everyone says that's how they begin the process of crawling. I'm already starting to move everything breakable to higher ground.

Right now she's in her bouncy seat that hangs from the doorway -- making happy, sweet play sounds I might add. We're going to do some house cleaning and then go walk around the mall this afternoon when the heat gets unbearable.

Ella's 7 month birthday!

Miss Ella is 7 months old today. I'm personally celebrating by setting up this blog so that we can document all the wonderful and amazing things she does every day. My friend, Rob Merrill turned me on to the idea. He, his wife and sweet little girl Greta also live a distance from family and friends and he has found blogging to be quite rewarding for both he and his family. BTW since he always reminds me of this -- I should mention he also turned Brian Williams onto the idea (yes, the NBC anchor).

So, today was a pretty good day all in all. Ella and I had breakfast and watched a combination of Sesame Street and the morning news. Yesterday we discovered she cut her first top tooth (that makes three teeth in all) and so I prodded around in her mouth more than I should have today. The other top tooth is going to cut through any day. Unfortunately, I believe she's inherited a big gap like daddy and mommy.

We were supposed to have lunch with daddy but he got caught up at work. We played outside, inside and in the crib. She just had a bath and we're waiting for daddy to come home from work. Not exciting but at least everyone knows what we're up to. Hope you all come to enjoy this new way of keeping in touch with our prescious little one.