Teeth

 Guess what?

We've got teeth! See 'em?

 And we're feeling pretty good about it.

The whole thing was a little anti-climactic. Ella has definitely given me fussier weeks with no teeth involved. The first one broke through Saturday and the second one this morning. I can't believe it! My baby is getting so big!

Thanksgiving went by in a blur

Hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving! I just love Thanksgiving. Such a happy holiday. We stayed around home this year and ate with my cousin Jen who lives just a hop skip and a jump away in Raleigh. The food was good, the family was great, and the trip over involved no body scanning or pat-downs. Yay. The rest of the weekend was pretty low-key. I'll even call a day trip to Charlotte low-key since we had no schedule and it was very stress-free. We'd never been there before, so we just walked around downtown a little and had a nice dinner. Fun. Also. It is now really cold here. I'm not used to it and feel sort of annoyed. Hopefully I'll get over it soon, because we haven't even officially made it to the start of winter yet.

I did take some pictures this weekend. But not a single good one in the batch, hence the title of this post. I do think these testify to the constant motion of my baby and my life at this stage of the game. : )
 
Here is a shot of the end of our thanksgiving meal. Aunt Toby has a neat tradition where everybody signs the tablecloth after the meal. That's the writing you see. Good idea huh?

 
 The rest of these are just kinda Ella in motion. Off we gooooo!

I seriously took some bad pictures, and for some reason didn't have it in me to keep trying for a good one. Either that or Ella's just getting too quick for me now. (Santa, think image stabilization technology!)

Finally this morning I caught a quiet moment of birdwatching for Ella and Lucie. It was so cute. Someone was chirping very loudly outside the window and they were both transfixed.

Chicka chicka

 Ella loves rhythm. She thinks clapping is the best thing ever. (Correction: almost as cool as Lucie.) And she loooves when Paul plays the drum for her. Today she was crawling around and found the drum by the window. She was delighted.

However, let's be practical. This is not the safest toy. It doesn't exactly support a small person trying to pull up on it and stand, which is what Ella had in mind. I was very glad when she found our rhythm instruments hiding under the chair and became fascinated with them instead. I have been trying to get her to play with these for a while, but of course, they are much cooler if you find them on your own. She is still treating me to a little shaker solo as I'm writing this. So cute!

She is just in awe of how amazing these toys are!

Naptime is back!

Nap time is back! We had really had a bad few days. I think this may be due to the two little bumps in Ella's front lower gums. But I am happy to report that she is taking her normal morning nap right now, and I was able to put her down with out even a backrub. Woo! Taking care of a baby is just change, change, and change again. As soon as I think I've got a routine down, there's something new and unexpected.

Here are some sweet naptime pictures. Don't they just make you wonder why you aren't napping now yourself? Sure do make me wonder that!

Helping daddy

 Ella was so interested in what Daddy was doing to the kitchen cabinets. If only she had known we were locking her out, she might not have been so excited. But then again, when Daddy gets down on floor level it's pretty much really exciting no matter what is going on.

modern bebe

This is definitely her favorite toy.

By the way, I don't think this is related to all the problems I was having with my service last month. But if it hastens the phone's demise there won't be much love lost. ; ) Sorry, that was complaining and being ungrateful for a perfectly fine phone that looks like a really cute compact. I just kinda wish I had one of those phones where you can put photos straight from your phone onto your blog . . . Dreamy. My camera doesn't even work on this phone (and it's supposed to). When I took it in to have it fixed, they said they couldn't help me because I didn't have insurance. I thought, let me get this straight. I am supposed to have insurance against my phone just breaking, because I may have bought a piece of junk, and the company won't stand by it otherwise. Super. And that is apparently the sitch. Anyway. This post is getting a bit cranky again and I apologize again.

In positive news, I figured out a trick today! Ella has been boycotting her naps by sitting or standing up lately. But today I found that if I hold her down by rubbing her back pretty hard, she will fall asleep. It has helped us both so much. It works way better that trying to cry it out. She is down this way in about a minute, vs crying for up to 30, which we all hate. So yay. : ) Do I still sound cranky or am I getting too self-conscious? Either way, I think I better stop blogging for the night! 

Look ma, no hands!

We have just been having a really good time playing with this little singing table. Ella is so into it, as you can see. Mama is also into it in that it is fun, safe, interesting and doesn't require me to rescue her frequently, unlike so many of the other things she chooses to explore. Also important to notice is that there are a couple of spots in the video where Ella is showing off her new ability to stand, unsupported. I wasn't able to catch a really long one so far, but she has been standing for up to 30 seconds. Are we getting ready to take those first steps? Yikes!

Playing hard

 The down side to Ella's mobility is black eyes and bruises and things like that. The up side is that playtime is becoming way more fun and adventurous. These first four pictures are taken at this little playplace they have in our mall. What a great thing! We go there kind of a lot.

Okay mom, here I go!

This castle was a bit dangerous in that Ella found it very exciting to look up the slide where all the big kids were coming down. But as previously mentioned, the danger comes with the added fun these days. I had to swoop her away several times though.

 Here is Ella playing with a super-cool little table we borrowed from Pat and Brenda. (Ella is way indebted to them for her baby experience. They donated the green paci's too if you recall. : ) ) The table has little fruits and veggies that sing when you touch them and things like that. She loves it!

Aunt Megan and Uncle David

We are having so much fun with Aunt Megan and Uncle David who came to visit!

Black-eyed girl

Our little sweetheart is continuing to be into everything.

And yesterday, She pulled a little chair down on top of herself. And she got a black eye. It was horrible.  (By the way, this is not the same chair. This is long after it happened. She looks surprised though--almost like a dramatic recreation.)

We keep making these terrible jokes about how you should have seen the other guy and stuff, but really, the other guy (chair) is probably suffering more than anything from the emotional pain of banishment. It is gone, gone, gone. But too late! I hate that that happened to her.

On the move!

Sorry for the less frequent updates lately. Ella has me a little busy! This mobility thing is getting intense. I need to be in arms reach of her when she's awake these days. And then when she sleeps, I am worn out enough to need a little nappy myself. So the blog has suffered a bit. But I promise I'll keep doing my best. I really enjoy sharing these little tidbits with you all and storing them away for myself as well. : )

Here's a sweet little shot from a rare quiet and thoughtful moment the other day. Though admittedly, I bet the thought was something like, how can I get my hands on that camera Mommy's got?

Ok well, she's headed for the stairs, so catch ya later!

And then there was one.

(Look how tiny!)

It's probably obvious to people who keep up with Ella on the blog that her little green pacifier is a faithful friend. Since the first night of her life, it has been such a source of comfort to her. We initially had the one green one the hospital gave us and 2 other pink ones I got from the store, but the pink ones were never favored by Ella. (They seem to be made of harder plastic). We were so happy when a few weeks in our friends Pat and Brenda gave us 5, FIVE! extra green ones they had and didn't need. But you know how it is when you have too many pens? You just keep losing them and not worrying about it because you can grab another one. We unfortunately have had the same syndrome occur with our pacifiers. We were down to 2. One in the crib and one in the carseat. But today at Target, tragedy occured.

When we arrived, I noticed the paci had fallen out of the carseat and was on the floor of the car. I put it in the cupholder of the stroller (for safekeeping--oh the irony!) in case we needed it in the store. But when we got back to the car after shopping I forgot all about it until the stroller was tidily folded up in the trunk. Nooo! You know how those things roll once they hit the floor! I looked as well as I could on the ground, but had to give it up for lost. As I backed out, though, I saw it! I quickly parked again and jumped out of my car to get it, but meanwhile a big SUV was pulling into the spot. I had to watch in helpless horror as it slowwwwwly pulled in and ROLLED RIGHT OVER IT.

The one in the crib is now the only one we have left. ( I think they do sell them in stores though . . . : ) )

The velveteen birdie

Seeing how Ella "loves" her birdie made made me think of the Velveteen Rabbit. Don't you love that story? I think Birdie is well on his way to becoming real. : )

A little addendum to the Halloween post

Isn't this the grossest thing you've ever seen? Especially for my nurse friends? Seriously makes me want to barf. Paul brought it home from work yesterday.

Halloween costume

This weekend I went through another Mama rite of passage. I made Ella a costume for Halloween. She was a pink elephant. (Paul and I had kind of gone back and forth about whether we wanted to "celebrate" a holiday with such a dark meaning. But what it came down to is that we really wanted to put her in a costume because dressing Ella up is the most fun thing ever. I mean goodness knows plenty of people put up Christmas trees and play Santa without setting one foot into spiritual territory at Christmastime. That's what we decided to do with Halloween.) My mom helped me get started. Believe it or not, this whole entire costume is derived from one pink pant leg she found at the Scrap Exchange. Let me warn you, this is a homemade costume and you do have to use your imagination a little bit. : )

As you can see, Ella had a fabulous time too.We only made her wear the hat twice for about 30 seconds each. I know she suffered. But she brought so much joy to those around her! What a good sport, and sweet little pink baby elephant!

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo!

What a fun day! Gramma is here and we took a trip to the zoo. Do you know that song? "Mama's takin' us to the zooooo tomorrow and we can stay all day . . ." Anyway, it was one of the most relaxing trips to the zoo I have ever had. Sidenote: when I was growing up we lived in Florida and we went to Disney World all the time. It was always super exhausting until I realized, it is an amusement park. I started just coming in with the same attitude I take when I go to the park, you know just hang out and find something fun to do. And wow, there happen to be these great rides! It was so much better than having a frantic to-do list of all the rides we had to hit in the allotted amount of time. Back to main story: It was like that at the zoo today. We just treated it as a cool park to hang out in where they happen to have elephants

and zebras

But also, nice wooded spots to spread out blankets, crawl around and eat cheerios

while Mom and Gramma play papparazi. : ) (Check out the double camera action!)

 

We had a really nice day and we got home in time for dinner and we are not exhausted. Plenty of energy for more fun tomorrow. Woo!

Oh my goodness she's getting tall!

A couple of days ago, I realized that our tall little girl is at least an inch and a quarter too tall for her infant carseat. We are going to have to get a new big-girl one. In some quick online research, I found out most people say that for leggy babies whose heads are more than an inch from the top (like Ella), it's ok to use the seat past the height limit. But still, we need to start looking.

I know you all know of my little love affair with the Orbit Baby travel system. But in some more reading I did, I found that the infant seats actually failed some Consumer Reports safety tests. So that is helping me to know that I really should not even contemplate trying to afford one. But what to get? I really want to get something good. At the state fair, at a super-duper pots and pans demonstration, they had a little sign hanging up that said "The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of the low price has faded away." That little mantra keeps running through my head as I fight with a broken plastic mop handle (a deal from a while ago) and keep rearranging my cheap area rugs that continually bunch up on the floor ($3.99 for the one in the bathroom!, perhaps that sweetness hasn't yet faded . . .yes it has). I'm also thinking about quality a lot with this next purchase. I think this does go along with the simplifying theme. Hopefully some of the extra cash for this needed purchase can come out of my old cheap clothing budget.

Anyway. I am trying to read up on car seats. Britax sounds like they make a good convertible seat. Anyone have any recommendations?

Waking up

This is how we wake up. If' we're lucky. If we're not lucky it looks much more frowny and whiny. But it always involves standing up tall, these days!

State Fair

The trip to the state fair is starting to feel like a fall ritual for us. I guess North Carolina is really starting to get into our blood. When I went to the fair the first year I was here in Durham, I thought, please can I go home? It is just a huge maze of gross food, packed to the gills with people, except in the areas where people exhibit their best squashes and stuff (oooh!) where you have to park a mile away and just come home totally exhausted and broke. But every year, people kept convincing me to go back using arguments like, you have to go! it's fall! it's the state fair! And now, 6 years later, the force of those arguments has sunk in, and I subscribe to them wholeheartedly. Today, we just had to go to the state fair.

We parked, I think, the furthest we have EVER parked away, but put on our happy faces and trekked our couple of miles to the gate. I was really (really!) excited to see the gourds, the livestock, and the humongous pumpkins.

Big pumpkins huh? Taking this picture is part of the ritual, so you know. I have many of these shots, but I think this year, I look like I'm really getting into it. I am.  : )

Also, I have never understood why people would dare to consume all the fried you-name-its they have at the fair. I mean candy bars, peanut butter sandwiches, even coke!  And it's all so expensive! I still know all of this to be true. But like I said, the fair has seeped into my blood. Look what I paid $6 for today . . .

A burger sandwiched between 2 Krispy Kreme donuts. This is the first wild fair food I have ever tried. It was gross. Maybe I need another year to actually enjoy it.

This year we found some new things at the fair too--the art competition (very interesting), the folk arts pavillion (think 10-year olds tap dancing and singing solos), and the building where people have booths to try to sell you super hose nozzles and super steam mops (I got called on stage to try the steam mop! Paul didn't take a picture, doh!) All in all, it was a fun day. Ella enjoyed it too. This picture was taken in the flurry of a jostling crowd and you can tell, but I love this smile.

True to the pattern, we left exhausted.

Here we are about to embark on our 2 mile hike back to the car. Do you see the car from the demolition derby in the background? He drove all the way to the gate with a bumper dragging and making the most horrible noise. It finally fell off just as he was leaving. Maybe I'll appreciate that stuff too in a few years.