Happy Birthday Grandma!

Thanks for letting Ellie help blow out the candles!

She also tried her first bite of potatoes tonight. She was not impressed, and much preferred eating her puffs, and the envelopes to Grandma's cards.

Toofer.

It's broken through! See that little white bud on the left side of her bottom gum? That's her worst enemy, her first tooth. The whole process has been better than I expected, other than a pretty terrible night of sleep on Saturday night. She's not abnormally horrible during the days or nights, except when she's tired. And she hasn't bitten me yet, so we're still moving along quite well.

We've had a fun holiday weekend. We had friends over for dinner on Thursday. On Saturday night our neighbors came down for a little BBQ and hanging out. Yesterday Ellie was happy to spend time with her Auntie Lauren, and then we went over to Grams and Gramps for dinner and some serious play time with Auntie Sara. Busy busy busy and having fun.

Today we've got an afternoon BBQ at her little friend Dean's house, and then it's off to Yorba Linda for a birthday celebration with Grandma!

In other news, Ellie is finally figuring out how to put puffs in her own mouth and eat them. Yesterday she crammed about six in her piehole while we were having lunch. I can't wait until she can eat real table foods and I can stop dealing with the pureed garbage.

Did I mention we had some baby birds this month? They were growing up in our birdhouse. I meant to take pictures of their three little cute faces on Friday afternoon, but by the time I got home that day, they'd already fledged and flown away! They grow up so fast. The kitties had enjoyed giving them the stink eye and Ellie and I liked sitting outside and watching them peep peep peep for their mommy to feed them. Speaking of kitties, on Saturday I used the furminator brush on Lulu and groomed out a clump of fur about the size of a grapefruit. I thought I'd really done her a favor until this morning, when I realized that on one patch of her back, I can see through to her skin, having brushed out too much of the undercoat. She doesn't seem too perturbed by it though. She probably feels ready for summer.

Bonus picture of a cutie cute face. This is from Thursday, so if you look closely, you can see where the tooth has broken the gum line, but that it hasn't popped out. Her hat is the newest creation by her Grams, care of the Itty Bitty Hats book. Lulu wants to eat the ribbons.

Dog Eat Dog World.

What can I say, the kid loves pooches.

Even when they chew her whole face off. Just kidding, Henry is a love, who would never chew anyone to bits. He's Jill's dog. Being at Jill's house meant I also got to met Rocket, the mother of Rocky and Petunia. Who knew that two 25 lb cats could be born from a mere slip of a ladycat. Obviously, their father was a huge lard ass.

In addition to loving dogs, Ellie also loves when you growl at her. Weird kid.

Pachomp!

It's happening. My little gummy girl is going to lose that gummy little smile I love so much. She's cutting her first tooth on the bottom right. She's not upset about it yet, nor very fussy. I can just see a little bud beginning to form, and tonight when I was sticking my fingers in her mouth (as one does, of course) I could actually feel its sharp little edge. Dear God, I hope she's not a biter. Or that she'll contain her biting to her teether toys. My Beans is growing up! Soon it'll be steak and potatoes time for her.

Today we were back at swim class, after missing last week. Elizabeth had her newest swim suit to show off, and it helped her do some seriously great swimming.
Plus, isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen?

In other news, here is an amazingly cute picture of Ellie's afternoon nap on Saturday. She has the best daddy ever.

Tonight she had dinner with her grandma and grandpa before they leave town. I was feeling like absolute garbage about the time they arrived from a tension headache, but managed to get my neck muscles to loosen up so that my brain wouldn't explode. I think it might be time to schedule a massage. You know, now that my baby has teeth and can use a sippy cup. She showed off by eating lots of squash tonight, and then playing nicely in her high chair so everyone could eat. Nice work, Missy Moo.

Nice Work, Grams!

Last night Tim and I had one of our semi-regularly scheduled date nights. Hooray for play tickets! We drove up to UCLA to see "Kiss Me, Kate," and Grams came over to babysit. You may remember that the last time we went to see a play, Ellie went six hours without eating, because she just flat out refused the bottle, and she was too little for solid foods.

Last night, we went up to LA, had delicious sushi dinner and then enjoyed a great performance. When we got home, I walked into the house slowly, anticipating that I'd hear my baby crying, or that she'd be passed out in Grams' arms after a couple of awkward hours. It was neither. Grams was reading on the couch, and the baby was asleep in her crib, freshly bathed, in her pajamers. She'd had her milk from the sippy cup, she'd eaten some sweetie potatoes, and she'd had some of her new puffs (a pre-Cheerios baby food. They sort of melt in the baby's mouth so that they can't choke.) And THEN Ellie slept through until morning. All in all, a very productive evening. Inch by inch, we are getting a chance at having a regular, grown up life again.

Photo Opp.

A few weeks ago, we had a family photo shoot with local photographer Julie Dunn. Don and Eileen bought us a gift certificate for a session back around Christmas. I wanted some good pictures of all three of us, and of Ellie and I. I feel like I take pretty good pictures of the baby, and am quick to pick up the camera when she and Tim are being cute together, but there's not a lot of shots of she and I together, and even less of all three of us. I kept putting off the photo session, hoping I'd wake up one morning and have magically lost all of my baby weight, but now I realize I'm probably not going to lose much weight until I stop breastfeeding (I mean, I walk 30+ miles a week and haven't lost a pound, so there you have it) so I finally called Julie and scheduled our photos.

It ended up being perfect timing, since Elizabeth can now sit up unassisted quite well. It gave us more options that we would have had when she was three or four months and pretty floppy. I thought Julie was very nice, and am incredibly pleased with how our photos came out. Here's a few of my favorites.

This is my favorite shot of the three of us. Even Ellie is smiling!

I don't care how heavy or uncomfortable it is, I love that freaking cat couch.

Tim and Meg, sitting in a tree!

Ellie Belle in her Lulyboo, hanging out with all of her stuffed animals.

This is one of my very favorites. She is such a snuggler.

She and her cute daddy.

See? Sitting up all on her own!

She loves to make this face. I love this face.

And now, my favorite of them all:

My beautiful Baby Sequins.

We also took some very cute photos of her little baby butt (not internet appropriate) and some sweet photos of her on the quilt her Grandma Rosie made for her. All in all, a great photo session, and some memories we'll be happy to display in our house!

Seven Months!

Can you believe it? My little lady is seven months old today. I've kept her in good health longer than the average sea monkey. Pat on the back for me there.

We spent the day with her grandparents, after taking a nice long walk this morning, for the first time in a week. We met Grandma and Grandpa out in Yorba Linda for a spur of the moment lunch and some play time back at the house. Grandma has lots of fabulous, noisy toys for Elizabeth to play with. We also stopped by Gramps and Grams' house afterwards, where Ellie played on her play mat and laughed uproariously when Gramps tossed her around and wrassled with her. We are so lucky to have such wonderful grandparents nearby - they have helped me out so much over the past seven months.

She is really turning into a fun little girl. She loves sitting up. Her favorite place to sit up (other than in her giant pile of toys) is in front of our bedroom mirror, where she'll play a rousing game of patty cake with mirror baby while I take a shower (sometimes, I can hear her getting too excited and banging her forehead into mirror baby's forehead.) She adores animals and other small children. We continue to work on solids, which is hit or miss. Some days, she mows down, somedays, she twists her face away from the spoon until I give up, and resign myself to the fact that I'll be nursing forever. FOREVER. She likes getting tickled, and she likes when I pretend to head butt her and say "CLUNK!" She laughs so much now, which allllllmost makes up for the fact that she spent the first three months of her life crying. She is still my naughty baby.

We're Home!

We made it home safely last night, despite a few more delays in our travels. Overall, our visit was completely fabulous. I was so glad to introduce Elizabeth to all of her Thiel family members, and her ancestral hometown. Ellie did not embarrass us too badly during our air travels, and other than some guy who gave me a glare in the Admiral's Club, no one seemed too irked at sharing their airspace with a baby. To her credit, she probably cried a cumulative total of five minutes in 10 hours of airplane time.

Her sleeping left something to be desired on Monday night, and I finally ended up putting her in the car at 4am and driving her around town until she fell asleep. Then I got three whole hours straight. Last night she was similarly bad, but thankfully Tim stepped in and let me sleep. You know, so that I didn't eat my live young this afternoon. I'm wondering if she's seriously going to push through a tooth. I'm rather hoping she does so we have an explanation to this madness, but I'm going to miss her gummy smile.

Today we went out to lunch with the mommy crew, and then went to knitting, where the ladies were very happy to snuggle her up, after we missed last week It's almost surreal to be right back in our routine. I'm ready to get back to walking many miles tomorrow morning, but for now, I still need to try to catch up on my sleep. SO tired.

Four generations of Melonheads.

Auntie B with her two favorite little ladies.

Ellie and Auntie Kari enjoying Uncle John's beautifully manicured lawn.

Sweater and a tutu, is there anything better?

A little loving from Grandma Rosie

Ruining a moment with Grandpa Howie because she was exhausted

Thanks to Gramps for helping making our trip so great!

Quick Hit from Wisconsin.

Well, we got here, after our flight on Friday was canceled and our flight on Saturday was delayed a few hours. Elizabeth was great on both flights - in fact she slept the entire way from Chicago to La Crosse. And she's been pretty well behaved thus far, meeting all of her family and hanging out with everyone. It's been a relief, though it takes me almost two hours to get her to fall asleep at night. Bedtime has been Tim's domain since Ellie was maybe three weeks old. He can get her to sleep in ten minutes on a good night, after I feed her. I have missed his help, though she and I are definitely managing.

Ellie is much in love with her cousin Hailee, and the feeling is mutual. Grandpa Howie is completely smitten as well. It's been one big love fest since we've been here, and it's been wonderful.

Getting some love from Grandpa Howie

Getting tickled by her cousin Hailee. She was giggling and it was beyond cute.

Doing a little early afternoon quilting with Grandma Rosie.

Almost Zero Hour!

The time is finally here! Ellie is ready for her very first trip to her ancestral homeland of La Crosse, Wisconsin. Will she and I survive the trip together? Will we manage four days without our helpful, hands on Superdaddy? Will Grams make it through four whole days without her little girlfriend? Stay tuned to find out!

New Favorite Toy.

She loves staying hydrated. If she's been fussy over the past few days, all I have to do is hand her the water bottle. Will she drink out of it though, if I squirt it into her mouth? Of course she won't.

Oh my goodness, have we had a busy, tiring weekend!

Friday Elizabeth did a little hanging out with Grams and Gramps while Tim and I went out for a sushi date. It's so strange to me to be out without her now. It's like I'm undercover and no one knows I'm a mom. And after almost seven months of being her mom basically around the clock, it's weird - it's like I'm incognito or something. But Tim and I had a great time, and Ellie enjoyed partying it up with her grandparents and Auntie Sara, so everyone wins!

Saturday morning she and I went for a walk, and then got ourselves ready to head out to Yorba Linda to FINALLY meet Ellie's true love boyfriend, Logan. Logan belongs to Cory and Natalie, Tim's best childhood friend and his Scottish bride, and man, is he ever cute. It was so darling to see the babies finally together. And as you would expect, they are in love. We had to head out to Chino for an interlude of family, celebrating a First Communion and a Confirmation, but then we were back and hanging out with the babies until WAY past bedtime. It was great to catch up with Cory and Natalie, who we haven't seen in almost two years. The kids were fun together - Ellie is better at sitting up, while Logan was rolling all over the floor and crying when they kept him from clunking himself into the coffee table. Natalie sang cute little Scottish songs to both kids, and they enjoyed their Sophie's together.

A funny story: we were out at dinner, and Logan had been eating some delicious baby food squash. He was full, so I asked if I could try feeding Ellie a bite, thinking that she'd make her horrible disgusted face and start gagging and it would amuse the other guests at the table to see how dramatically she hates human food. Of course, the little turd had to make a liar out of me, and it turns out, she LOVES squash. Loves it. Gladly ate several bites, and had some more this morning when we bought her a small supply. Further proof that she is not my child - hates avocado and pears but loves squash? The exact opposite of me.

We left Yorba Linda after eight and had a rough ride home. Elizabeth was so tired that she cried the entire drive, which she hasn't done since she was wee. Usually now she just falls asleep after a little fussing. Uff da. She slept okay once we got her home and fed and cuddled.

And then today I awoke to my first ever Mother's Day. Ellie and her daddy got me cards and a very pretty bracelet, and Tim went and got us bagels for breakfast (though the first thing I did this morning was give the baby breakfast in bed. She'll repay me next year, I'm sure.) She and I went for a nice walk and then we went over to mom and dad's to hang out for the afternoon. Don and Eileen came over and we had a great time just spending the day together. Ellie was still pretty overtired, so we resorted to having Tim drive her around the block so she'd conk out in her carseat and at least get a little napping done. Ugh - at six and a half months, she will NOT go to sleep on her own if there's action around her, no matter how bad she needs the shut eye. After some rest she showed everyone how much she likes to eat squash, she played with her toys, she cried when everyone laughed loudly, and she was generally the best little entertainer in the world. It's amazing to think that a year ago we were announcing to the world that Wolfie Von Focker was in fact a baby girl, and 365 days later, that same baby girl is sitting on the dining room table in her bumbo, chatting at us through dinner.

I am a very lucky mommy. And a very lucky daughter.

Can you imagine how melonheaded their babies are going to be someday?

Bob, Natalie, Cory, Tim, me and Jake, plus babies.

"Mmmm... squash!"

Ellie and some of the lovely ladies in her life.

Ellie and the Fockers/photographic evidence that sometimes, sometimes, grandpa gets to hold her.

We do not gnaw on our kitties!

Though sometimes, they kind of ask for it.

Sophie.

Have you met Sophie? If your children are in their 30s, you probably have not, though allegedly, Sophie has been around since the 1960s. But up until recently, she lived exclusively in France. She's supposedly the most amazing toy for babies, because she's easy to grip, she has contrasting colors that catch a baby's eye, and she's delicious to chew on. Since Sophie costs about $25, she better be the most amazing toy ever, amirite?

Ellie LOVES her Sophie. She likes to chew on the legs, or stick Sophie's snout in her mouth for some French kissing action.


They are true loves. It especially makes me laugh because when I'm out with my mommy friends, someone always comments on how their kid doesn't go to town on Sophie the way Elizabeth does. I have to remind them that their kid takes a paci. When my kid gets fussy in her stroller, I can't stick a binky in her mouth. Instead, I jam a giraffe leg into her pie hole.

Tim took the day off today (and tomorrow too) because our friends Cory and Natalie and their son Logan are back visiting California while Cory's on leave from the Marines - normally they're all the way in Japan. We'd hoped to meet up with them today but plans did not come through (understandable, as both sets of grandparents are just meeting Logan for the first time - Natalie's parents flew all the way from Scotland!)

This morning we had a professional photo session with a local photographer, thanks to a gift certificate from Don and Eileen from Christmas. I'm glad we waited so long to use it - at Christmas time I did not have my bananas together enough to do a good photo session, and now that Elizabeth is big enough to sit on her own, it gave us a lot more options for photos. We did a lot outside, we did some in her bedroom, but it turns out our bedroom had the best lighting. We did some cute family shots of all of us sitting together in bed, and then a lot of our little sweetiebean alone, including some of our little roley poley in the buff. Is there anything cuter than a baby butt? It was funny - the photog asked if we wanted Elizabeth's strawberry mark airbrushed out of the photos (it's a little red splotch on her back) to which we said of course not! It's her cute little birthmark (though it's allegedly going to go away as she gets older.) I cannot wait to get the photos back and see how cute she looks. It'll also be nice to finally have some great photos of the three of us as a family, and some of the baby and I together. I feel like I catch a lot of good moments between Elizabeth and Tim, but there aren't very many between the two of us together. Mostly because I look so dang haggard all of the time!

Tricked Ya!

Haha, tonight we got Elizabeth to eat something other than cereal. By pureeing the heck out of a couple of slices of pear and mixing the pear with the cereal. I tried giving her a few bites straight up, and she gagged, spit it out and then glared at me. But mixed with cereal, it was palatable. Not sure how much pear she actually got, but hey, it's progress, and we'll bust out the magic bullet again tomorrow and try again. I also got some ice cube trays in the dollar section at Target today, so some weekend soon I'm going to puree the crap out of a bunch of vegetables and freeze them in batches... to eventually be refused by my willful daughter who's perfectly happy to just nurse.

This is her favorite new face to make. The crinkle nose smile. Kills me!

Here she is with her favorite rattle, thinking about her favorite team.

And lastly, here she is yesterday at MY favorite restaurant, Bottega Louie in downtown LA. We went up and met Ingrid and Emily for lunch and some wonderful chatting, and had a fabulous time. She sat with the girls so I got to eat a whole meal without once holding my baby! Emily is expecting a baby boy in August, so pulling her plate out of Ellie's hands while trying to steer food into her own mouth was good practice for her.

The Poor Kid Stands No Chance.

Her weird parents are totally going to turn her into a weirdo. AKA: this is how we amuse ourselves. By amusing our baby.