Great Morning to You

This is what I get to wake up to every morning. She's so happy and cute, it's hard to be my normal grumpy early morning self. The three pictures above her crib are pictures of Ella with each of her grandparents...she loves to look at them and wave. She's even stared at the one of her and Grandma and started Patty-Caking all on her own.

More Teeth

Oh, I forgot to mention yesterday, tooth number 7 is just under the gum. So far I've only seen a hint of it next to her two bottom teeth, but I'll be checking for number 8 as well. So far, her teeth have come in pairs, but the more teeth she gets, the harder it is to check them out. Grandpa let her hold his hand and when he wasn't paying attention, she chomped on his finger...ouch! For this very reason, I stopped nursing completely when we got back from our trip to the west coast. No more nursing her to sleep at night as she would bite me and smile, a little game for her to watch my reaction. After a couple of nights of this "game" I threw in the towel. She was just asserting her independence from me and letting me know she was done with that phase of babyhood.

For me it means an end of 18 months of no alcohol, caffeine, and very limited medicine options. We ran out of Tylenol and I'm still in the habit of checking labels to make sure the Ibuprofen I needed for a headache was okay. It's nice to finally be able to drink regular tea and not think about a what time is best so not to pass it to Ella and keep her up at night. Nothing worse than Ella, wide awake at bedtime and realizing that the diet coke I had at dinner is the caffeine kick she's on.

We've been helping her with her sippy cup to get her more liquids. She loves water but didn't get the whole "sip" part of sippy cup and would just open her mouth. We had to take the no-spill stopper out of the lid and hold the cup for her. She's finally figured it out now and will hold it on her own and drink. I've been able to put the stopper back in and let her drink without her splashing water everywhere.

Amy - you are so right! Where has the time gone, how come our little swaddled babies are so big, thinking they are grown now! :)

We Have Lift Off

Ella has finally done it! She's crawling! What a great way to start off the new year. Way to go Ella! She's been working at it for three days now. At first it was just one hand forward, sit, other hand forward, sit...but now she's determined to get at my bookshelf or scatter the DVD's all over the living room. She's learned that crawling is the quickest way to do this before one of us pulls her back to the carpet.

She also has become quite the little daredevil. She loves falling and diving. In her crib, she'll pull herself up and fall back onto the mattress and laugh hysterically. We still have the bumper around it so even when she bumps her head on the side, it doesn't hurt and she keeps laughing. She'll even fling herself around her crib as if she's a ping pong ball. (I'm having images of the movie "Parenthood" with Steve Martin, where the youngest kid puts a pail on his head and then runs into walls! ) When we sit her on her stool she'll dive for her toys on the floor with no concern for her own safety...we, of course, would never put her on it unless we were there to catch her launching off it.

Other news, Ella is eating more solid, real food like diced veggies and fruit, cheese sandwiches and spaghetti. I'll try to get some pictures of her "crib-capades". So funny!

Happy New Year

As I begin this new year, I, like everyone else, have set some resolutions and aspirations for myself that will probably be forgotten as quickly as the years before. This year however, I have vowed not to set limited goals of specific weight loss or vague goals of "be a better person". This year I am going to be specific.

First, I commit to continue being a great parent to Ella, to help her grow and watch her flourish. To learn as much from her as I will teach her. This year we will begin swim classes and a bit of daycare.

Second, I commit to being more patient and understanding in my marriage. To continue to support Ron in his professional goals and continue to encourage his career aspirations. Those are easy. I will work at being supportive of golf and not look at it as competition for his time. I have been free to do anything, I can concede to Ron's golf habit. I will see it as a means of relaxation for Ron, a break in his hard work.

Third, I commit to learning a new activity. I have enjoyed golf and though I am limited to going when I'm not with Ella, I will set aside a couple hours a week to practice. This year I will learn to play well enough to play a round and not completely embarrass myself. :) (keep your fingers crossed)

Finally, I commit to being healthy. To get my body to where it needs to be. Be it 5, 10, 15, or 50 pounds, I will work at eating healthier and exercising until I feel I am back to feeling great. I will join Weight Watchers this week and begin the journey.

I look back on this past year and so many changes. The birth of our daughter, the love of our life and the move to Hawaii have been the biggest changes for us. 2006 was a wonderful year and a sad year. Ella has brought us joy, like nothing else, but the move to Hawaii meant saying goodbye to our family and friends. Starting fresh is difficult, but it is what helps define us. I look forward to a year of changes, a year of new friendships and new activities, and a year of prosperity, physically, emotionally and spiritually (financially too :) ). I wish everyone the best in 2007. May it be all that we strive for it to be and more! Happy New Year!

Hanging in the Crib

So Ella is on the move and is getting stronger every day. She greets us in the morning hanging onto the side of her crib, one hand holding her for support, the other grabbing at anything she can reach...the mosquito net, her mobile... She is so proud of herself too. It's nice to see that she is accomplishing this set of milestones and is becoming so much more active. Gone is the snuggly baby. Now, she just uses us as leverage to get around or if we're sitting on the couch, we become jungle gyms for her. She's so much fun! Each stage she gets more so and we can't possibly believe she could get any better...then she learns something new and we love her even more (if that's even possible)! I've been posting a lot of videos because they sum up Ella's day and it's much easier than typing. Besides, I know a lot of people read this to see Ella so here she is!

Toy Box

Ella has so many toys, I've had to find something to put them all in. Today, I was playing around with her and put her in her toy box with all her toys. She was in heaven! She played and threw her toys for a good half hour. I was able to get some laundry and cleaning done. Ella is on the move now so it's hard to get anything done. She scoots every where and is even starting to get her knees up under her. She can't quite crawl, but she's so close. She can sit herself up, roll around, spin, and pull herself up. It's changing our routine because she needs a lot more supervision, but I am so proud of her! She greets us in the morning standing in her crib, chewing on the railing or playing with her mobile. She's quite vocal too so we don't get much sleep after 6:30am. Hope these videos are still working for you.

Erin - I can't wait! 11 days! I'm looking up all the fun stuff we can do!

Beach Girl

Today, after a lazy morning we headed into Pearl Harbor to do a bit of shopping and hit the beach on base. Ella really doesn't like waves coming towards her, even though these ones were so tiny, she was only getting her feet wet. I guess the big wave the other day traumatized her! We'll work on it.....

More Christmas

Hope these videos are working for you.....

Merry Christmas!

What a new joy Christmas is with Ella. Even though I shopped and wrapped all her gifts, I was so excited to watch her rip up paper and discover her presents, especially because we've been pulling her away from the tree until today. She was ripping paper and looking at us a little confused as we weren't taking it away from her. Santa was good to all of us. Ella, of course was spoiled: lots of clothes from Grandma and Granddad; a bracelet from Grandpa; pajamas and books from Mommy and Daddy; toys, toys and more toys from Santa.

We took a gazillion photos! She got about half way through her gifts and was overwhelmed. We ended up opening the rest as she was quite content with the first few toys. A play cell phone from Maddison seems to have taken the cake and once Ella had her hands on it, was not about to put it aside for anything else! It's proved to hours of mindless entertainment and the stacking blocks and cups have been a hit with her as well. Good job, Santa.

I hope everyone else was blessed as much as we were. What a fun first Christmas...it'll only get better!

Christmas Eve

Today, like no other Christmas eve, Ella, her Grandpa and I had a nice drive around the island and stopped at a few beaches. (Ron has thrown out his back and has been pretty immobile since Friday.) How beautiful it is here! Ella is fascinated with the ocean. The sound of the waves crashing on the North Shore was amazing...until we got too close. Ella and I were out with our toes in the sand watching the waves break when the surf came right up to my knees and up to her waist. She was so not happy having salt water splash up her nose but I was quick to pull her up and she clung to me. The water was kind of scary for her and she wasn't sure about the whole beach thing. (Check out her cute surfer tankini!)

Tonight, as Ron slept, Dad and I made Dahl for dinner and tried to capture a Christmassy picture of Ella in front of the tree. Nice try, Mommy. There are too many bows, ribbons and shinny bulbs for me to grab at! Here are a couple of ones that we were able to get. That's right Ella, one more sleep and Santa will have been here!

Merry Christmas everyone!!!