New Photos.

Yesterday Tim and I had a matinee date to see "Moneyball," which we both enjoyed muchly. I love baseball. I love sports overall, except for ones like basketball. Too fast paced for me, not enough fat guys. I need some big man booties in my sports. Grandma and Grandpa took on baby duty, and from all indications, they had a great time. Baby and grandparents can unite in their distaste for mom's rules!

Today it's game day, and then we're meeting up with some friends at a pub for an evening of Irish music. In one week, Ellie's done some more Oktoberfesting, and now a little taste of her Irish heritage!

And now, pictures!

I have a rule about not giving Ellie my phone, my iPod or other pricey electronics. It just seems like a recipe for breakage. She of course, is then desperate for said items. The other day after shutting down my computer, I decided to let her play on the keyboard. Yeah, she promptly ripped off a key. So, back to not being allowed to touch nice things.

We were goofing around in the backyard in our matching girl outfits, but this is the first time I've gotten her top fang on camera. Enlarge the picture and check that baby out! It is still her only top toof.

Quite pleased on her new pushcart at Grandma and Grandpa's. As you can see, it's also something she can ride on, which the laziest baby definitely enjoys.

This is my new favorite face. The accompanying noise is a happy sort of "Hmmm!" and it is done to express great delight. It happens a lot around meal times, and immediately after a nap. And when grandpa is letting her play with his chair, of course.

Up To.

I feel like Miss Moo is getting smart and more fun every day. Here are some things she has recently accomplished:

-Now she not only selects her favorite books, but she hands them to me, climbs into my lap, and waits for me to tell her to turn the page to turn to the next page. Big favorites include "On the Farm," "Mommy Kisses," "All Things Bright and Beautiful" and "The Very Hungry Caterpillar." I love that she loves reading.
-For her baptism, she got a Noah's Ark storybook that features removable foam pieces. Last week she would just open to the pages with removable pieces and cry until I gave them to her, but this week she figured out how to stick her finger in and pry them out.
-She has also figured out how to use her two bottom teeth to open her container of puffs/Cheerios. She has not figured out how to keep the container upright once she's opened it.
-She is really starting to let go of the table or my hands and balance on her own. That first step is just around the corner.
-There's a lot more talking going on lately. She's saying hello (into her remote, mostly, like it's a phone) and bye bye and she LOVES to talk about her ball (bah.)
-She has great self esteem. Yesterday after our shower, I caught her in our bedroom, totally nude, making out with her reflection in the mirror.
-She is very into the care and keeping of her baby, Lolly the Dolly. She can kiss her baby if you give it to her, or she'll have you kiss her baby, and she thinks it's most delightful when someone else rocks and cuddles Lolly. There is nothing cuter than seeing her in the backseat, snuggling Lolly up in her car seat.
-She loves the push cart at mom and dad's, and pilots herself all around the house. She's started steering it slight better and doesn't get stuck under the cabinets so much.
-She's also taken up pole dancing. For FITNESS, y'all.

Weekend Review

Another wonderful weekend in the books. Saturday we had a great time at the first birthday party for Elizabeth's best friend Lexi. Lexi and Ellie met at their first trip to Mommy Matters, when Lexi was 27 days old and Ellie was 17 days old, and Kristen and I were both exhausted out of our minds. The kids had a great time at the party - there was plenty of shade for us to put our blankets under, yummy food to share, and a bubble machine, which was just about the best thing Ellie had ever seen.

Then Saturday night she got to hang out with Grandma and Grandpa while Tim and I went to the UCLA game. The Bruins won, though we were too tired and old to stick around until the end (plus the first three quarters were sooooo boooooring.) When we got home, Missy Moo was happily sprawled out in her bed, and her grandparents had spent a wonderful evening with her. EVERYBODY WINS!

Today after a nap and some time hanging out with her daddy-o, Ellie got to go swimming in the baby pool (read: spa) at Grams and Gramps'. She is the very cutest little Bearducken - I'm going to weep copiously when she outgrows her bear swim suit. She got to hang out with Grams for quite awhile, having fallen asleep and consented to sleeping in her "fun cage," while I came home and started getting set up for Sunday Funday. We had 8 people over to watch the game tonight, which was a blast. Miss Ellie was a big hit - everyone was amazed at how good she's gotten at standing and creeping along the furniture, and she also let go of the table and balanced herself for a few seconds here and there.

She is such a sweet, happy little girl. It will never cease to amaze me that she's so content and confident and funny, considering how miserable and screamy she was for her first three months of life. I am a lucky lady, to be her mommy.

I mean seriously, look at this happy Bug, enjoying her life. She's such a blessing.

Eight Clap!

Two Bruins, one cub.

She's very excited, probably because she's unaware of the fact that we are NOT bringing her to the game with us. 7:30 in Pasadena is just too close to her bedtime and too far from her bed.

Quiet Week.

Nothing too exciting happening around these parts - we're keeping busy though. On Tuesday no one else showed up for swim class so Ellie got a private lesson. Mr. Shane worked her like a little field mule! We actually end up at the other end of the pool where there's a long step, and after every back float or bit of work, she'd have to walk along the step to get to me, and then I'd scoop her up, kiss on her, and hand her back for some more floating and splashing. She took a pretty fat nap after that one.

Wednesday it was raining so the Angels didn't garden, they just spent the afternoon knitting. Mom and I actually brought lunch provisions and we had a makeshift picnic in Jan's warm, homey kitchen. Ellie is so lucky to have a group of women who basically think she's the best thing since sliced bread, and who continue to love her even though she spent the first few months of knitting just wailing for no reason. Each week, she impresses them with new skills - this week it was her devious laughter. She has the best laugh in the world, that kid.

Tim went to see a movie with his bruddar on Wednesday night, leaving Elizabeth and I to our own devices. Of course, we mooched dinner from mom and dad, and I kept her out late so that she'd fall asleep on the drive home. Man, the convertible car seat is good because it feels so big and safe, but I really miss being able to carry her into the house in her bucket seat. I left her in the car when I first got home so I could do a couple of quick chores around the house and change into my pajamas, and then brought her in for her last meal and bed time routine. She went easy on me and fell asleep eating.

At 11 months, young miss still doesn't "put herself to bed," but we're okay with that, as limited bouts of crying it out have resulted in Ellie getting absolutely hysterical and nowhere near sleep. I'm also just grateful that putting her to sleep no longer involves Tim cradling her and letting her suck on his finger for up to two hours, after I'd already let her eat for close to two hours. Now she just sort of crawls around in her bed until she lays down, closes her eyes and sacks out. But she needs to have someone hanging out in there with her, or she'll lose her bananas. I have faith that someday in the next few months she won't need that anymore, just as she doesn't need a finger to suck until she passes out now.

Today we got to hang out and have lunch with Grandma! It's so funny how quickly Ellie is getting for real big - at lunch she sat in a high hair and quietly fed herself blue berries and puffs, and drank from her sippy. She even rode in her stroller through most of our shopping, and was able to admire the beautiful baby clothes at Janie & Jack without demanding an outfit for herself. Unlike me.

Tomorrow is our mommy class, which is one of my favorite parts of the week. And then, yet another first birthday party this weekend! All these babies, growing up.

Two Times the Fun!

While it's true that Ellie will probably get to be the baby of the Thiel side of her family until she gets a sibling, her reign as the littlest member of the Ford clan only ran about 11 months long, when cousin Jolie delivered her beauty healthy little twin girls two weeks ago. And this morning, we were lucky enough to get invited to meet them.

Chris and Jolie may be playing man on man instead of zone defense right from the start, but two weeks in they seem to be doing absolutely amazing. I mean, when Ellie was two weeks old, I certainly wasn't inviting people over, because all I wanted to do was lay on the couch and drool, and I couldn't be bothered to put on clean pajama pants unless my mom or Eileen came over to hold the baby while I stood in the shower and sobbed for awhile before getting dressed.

Nina and Talia, they are so sweet. So tiny and perfect, with their tiny little noggins and their sweet, kissable feet and their wee bitty baby hands. It was squealing central for me. And Ellie was a pretty good girl about it all, and was distracted from her jealousy over me holding another baby by Auntie Jolie offering a few bites of cupcake (sadly, I brought Jolie cupcakes while she was on bedrest, which she couldn't eat due to gestational diabetes. Today she enjoyed one, and I hear they were going to let the twins split the "birthday cake" cupcake after I left.)

Seriously, how beautiful are all these girls? Baby Nina is on the left, Talia on the right, and Ellie being naughty with Jolie (possibly stuffing in a few last minute cake crumbs?)

For the last few weeks, a couple friends and I have been meeting up in the evening to walk a couple of miles with our little ones. The other two babies usually sack out sometime during the ride, but Ellie entertains herself with the friends I bring along for her to play with. Usually I put her in her pjs before we go so that her feets and arms are totally covered, but tonight I also put her in a hoodie because it seems to have all of a sudden become fall.

Cindy Lou Who much enjoyed her walk.

Oktoberfest.

While our little lady may have some red highlights in her hair that cause strangers to ask if she's Irish, it's important to remember that have of her heritage is solidly German (hence her cankles.) Yesterday Ellie got a chance to celebrate her Teutonic heritage at the St. Martins Oktoberfest with Grandma. Tim has fond memories of Oktoberfests from years past, but I've never been. We had a great time, even though Ellie is still too small for the majority of the rides and food items. After we indulged in some funnel cakes and brats, Grandma took us on the carousel and the ferris wheel. Ellie loved both! (though it did take her a second to warm up to all of it.)



I guess in olden times, they used to take blown out eggshells and fill them with confetti, and then middle schoolers could throw the eggs at one another in some ancient Catholic flirting ritual. Now they just fill little cups with the confetti - I thought it was still fun to toss one at Tim while he was imbibing in the beer tent. Elizabeth was also amused.

Here are some of the cute pictures from our adventures!

I think Tim looks good in leiderhosen.

Happy girl on her noble steed

Snuggling with Grandma on the ferris wheel