Big Day!

We had a big, exciting day today. Many milestones reached.

First, we headed up to Redondo Beach to see my bestie Judy receive an award from the Wyland Foundation for being one of thirty Southern California teachers recognized for their commitment to environmental education, and for being great teachers. It was such a fun event! They had bagpipers, they had students and public figures, and Wyland was on hand to reveal his updated mural on a local power plant. Judy is an amazing teacher who is committed to getting her kids to love science, explore the outdoors and learn about the world, and Ellie and I are super proud of her, and were happy we could make it up to see her accept her award. We also brought the camera and shot pictures in a rapid fire style that allows Judy to basically make a flip book of her walk up to the stage. It's how we do.

Then we went out for celebratory lunch and a little relaxing in the shade! I'd managed to keep Elizabeth covered for most of the afternoon, and of course she was wearing her fabulous little bee hat.

Here I am, giving her a whale tale mustache

And here is the fabulous Judy with her award!

After we left Redondo Beach, we drove down to mom and dad's to make sure that Ellie got to say goodbye to Great Lisa before she flies out tomorrow afternoon. While the other ladies were getting pedis, Gramps and I worked with Ellie on her rolling skills. He'd seen yesterday that when I say she's close to rolling over, I mean she's almost impossibly close. We figured out today that the key is getting her to move her fat head, because she can get her arms and upper leg all the way over, but unless she picks up her head and looks forward, she tips back over the way she came. Today, with Gramps' tutelage, encouragement and coaching, we got her to roll over twice in pursuit of her jangly toy. The first time it was just he and I, and we immediately started yelling and clapping. Of course, the baby then began to cry. Later, we got Elizabeth to replicate her trick for Grams and Sara. She refused to make a liar out of her Gramps. However, she wouldn't do it on tape. Below, is two and a half minutes of NOT rolling over, for your perusal.

Rattling.

Today we had a very fancy day. Seriously, check out her outfit:
Not pictured: her pants have a panda on the butt.

We went out to lunch with our girlfriends (and her little boyfriend Hunter) and she was pretty well behaved. I actually got to eat my meal in good time, and then I put her in the Bjorn, stood up with her and rocked back and forth until she conked out. It's what she does, if you wait long enough! Then, off to help out with the necklace making at knitting.

She took a nap on the car ride to mom and dad's, and actually stayed asleep for a significant period of time when we got into the house, so that was nice. Then we spent a couple of hours just playing around and showing how close she can get to rolling from back to belly. Great Lisa was asking about rattles, and mom went and dug out a rattle from HER childhood. Nothing better than a fifty year old toy. So we made this video, laughing all the way:



And then, dinner with the family.
You'd think those chubby cheeks would be stuffed with solid food, but they're not! They're just full of love. She's full of love from head to foot!

Inside Voice.

The past few days Ellie has discovered that she has a voice. An outside voice. She likes to use it to yap, squawk and shriek. The shrieking is what gets to me and makes me wonder if they have baby muzzles. Instead, I just remind her that there is no need to yell.

This video does not feature her high powered yelling antics, and for that, you are welcome. It features her doing some work in her laboratory.

Dinner Plans.

We had a nice, pretty quiet weekend. Spent some time with Great Lisa, who is in town, got some good naps in, and went to dinner at the homes of two of Tim's coworkers. One couple has a two year old and an eight month old, and the other is expecting a baby on or around October 17, 2011! Ellie was well behaved at both events. It's funny how we went from having only single and a few married friends to suddenly having friends with children. It's nice!

Still no rolling over, and no incredibly humorous stories to post, but here is a cute picture of Elizabeth and the person who she always shoots a smile to:

Sadly though, I could not get a photo that featured both the baby AND Sara looking at the camera.

Noggin.

Daddy's little love bug's little hat is too small for her giant melon head. SAD!

Ladies Who Lunch.

Today was a big day in Ellie's life - her first fundraising luncheon! Because of it's mid-day time slot, I hoped it would go better than our trip to the Shea Center's fundraiser on Wednesday night. She did an amazing job. Most importantly, she didn't fuss too much in the car either going up or back from Beverly Hills. First, she yapped at her toys for awhile. Then, she just sort of moaned in her sad little "you can't make me sleep" way while chomping on her own hand. Then, she fell asleep with one finger pulling at the side of her mouth.

The drive was actually a nice break for me. I listened to Jerry Jeff Walker in silence and relaxed. The baby was with me (so I didn't have to worry that she was torturing someone else with her crying) but she wasn't fussing at all! Plus, unlike when I take my walks, I wasn't panting and sweating. We got to the Beverly Hills Hotel in good time and were able to say hello to everyone and check out the boutique before it got too packed. She and I snuck away for a meal and then came back to do some shopping and hanging out before lunch. Anja (my former boss, now a member of the Guild fundraising group) had a table and invited me to come and sit with her, which was very nice. Ellie let me sit long enough to eat, and then I stood and rocked her in the Baby Bjorn until she finally, finally let her little head drop into my chest and nap. The good news is that I was able to eat my dessert standing up. The BETTER news is that I ate my dessert standing up and it made the waiters think that I hadn't been served, so I got TWO desserts.

I wasn't able to stay through the whole program (it ran a bit long) and sadly, I did have to miss out on the traditional post-event get together in the Polo Lounge. The staff celebrates a big day of work, and usually the Guild and other volunteers stay as well and buy drinks. Sometimes, we spot a celebrity or two and it's just a nice way to unwind after a busy day. But since I hadn't really had a busy professional day, I guess it's fair that I didn't get the post work drink and decompress session. It was so fun to see my coworkers though, and have a tiny taste of my pre baby life.

Afterwards, we stopped by mom and dad's to see Great Lisa, newly arrived in town. When the ladies went to go pick up Auntie Sara, Ellie snuggled with Gramps on his new chair. Those two are very sweet together!

Tonight as I was nursing Ellie off to sleep, she smiled and then started giggling, all while still asleep. She is such a sweet little girl. I am so very very lucky to be her mommy, and to spend my days exploring the world with her.

You Hear That?

...that's the sound of me being well rested. We put the Bean down at 9pm last night, like usual. Tim had to go and settle her again at 9:30 and we went to bed at 10. I figured that I should get some zzz's in before she woke up again wanting to eat. I heard her wail around 1ish and figured I'd have to get up shortly, but it was more of a "oh, I just farted a big fart, but now I'll go back to sleep" cry. The next time I looked at the clock, it was 6:30. Here's what happened - I rolled over, looked at the clock, saw that it said 6:30 and was like, "oh, hooray! She slept through the night!" and then I thought "oh crap, what if something happened?!?!?" and bolted across the hall to check on her. She was out like a light, and sleeping on her side!

They say that the four month sleep regression (which is I think what hit us, albeit a little late) happens because your baby is going from sleeping like an infant, where they drop into deep sleep almost immediately, to sleeping like an adult, where they cycle in and out of deep sleep. So it takes them longer to fall asleep and sometimes have trouble waking up. It's funny because in two weeks, she went from going to sleep swaddled up with her arms at her side like a little fleecy worm, sleeping against the bumpers on her crib to feel hemmed in, to sleeping in a sleep sack with her arms out, square in the middle of her crib. She's also taken a couple of naps in her crib and mom's portable crib, which she NEVER did before. I haven't gotten a good nap in the swing in over a week. She's a'changing and a'growing. I can only hope that she continues to go back to her 9pm-7am sleep patterns. It's good for all those in this house.

It's funny to think though - when she was tiny and Tim and I were doing shifts with her at night, and I was feeding her every 3-4 hours in the pitch blackness, we thought things would never get better. Now we put her down at 9, we have an hour to ourselves, and we go to sleep together in our own bed and are generally only woken up when the cat wants to petted. It's a good life.

And she's a good baby.