The Usual Suspects has a new member

Happy (post) Halloween!

Wardrobe malfunction

You oughta be in pictures

The first time Ella laughed, Dad and the videocamera just happened to be around (you will also see that Mom was around as well--she was instigating the laughs). They're pretty tentative at first, and she got a fit of the hiccups to boot (that often happens to this day... laughing is often followed by hiccups).

Without further ado, we give you Ella's first laugh.

I hope her life is filled with laughter (not hiccups).

p.s. - you'll need quicktime to see this.

p.p.s - if you get some silly security warning, first blame Bill Gates. Then check your security settings. Then email Kristy (not me!)

The secret ingredient

All notions of baby cannibalism aside, there really is something to the whole baby-as-food-item metaphor. There's something about them that makes you want to play as if you're going to eat them up. Secretly I'm convinced that Ella's whole "Mom/Dad, I'm now going to try to put your whole face in my mouth" thing is inherited from me. You really do have to see it; it's hysterically funny and sweet at the same time.

Anyway, in this case, Ella is the proverbial sweet pea, adding a touch of sweetness and zest in what I'm sure would have been an otherwise really boring soup.

Though I wasn't here for the taking of this photo or the one earlier in the cute green dress, I'm told that Ella was a shockingly good sport even through wardrobe changes; I say shocking because clothes changes skirts dangerously close to being Messed With, and we've previously established Ella Just Doesn't Like To Be Messed With.

File under "I would if I could"

So right now there are two things that Ella can do that her father cannot:

1. Put her whole fist in her mouth.


2. Put her toes in her mouth.

I'm quite sure there will be many more.

Something old, something new

Obviously the something new is Ella. Although she would beg to differ, saying something like "I wasn't born yesterday."

The something old is the pretty green dress, previously worn by her mother as a pretty little girl (she is now a pretty full-grown girl), given to her by her Great Uncle Joe.

the slide

one small scootch for mommy, one giant leap for babykind...



Notice how our hero's arms are wide open, embracing danger and throwing all caution to the wind!

I just realized that this was Ella's first slide, of hundreds, I'm sure. That's pretty cool.

Rockin' and a-rollin, splishin' and a splashin'

There are so many new things that Ella is doing.

splishin' and a-splashin'
For one thing, she is now heavily into splashing around in the bath. Bathtime is now wetter than going on the log ride at Disney. Nowadays there's a guaranteed Mommy shirt change after each bath.

rockin' and a-rollin'
She has also learned how to rock herself in her rocking chair thingie by doing a series of coordinated, well-timed kicks. Ella subsequently discovered that this little trick also works in her car seat when it's not in the base.

And what's more...

anticipation... it's making me wait
Ella has also learned to anticipate actions. For example, we were playing the Near and Far game (trademark 2004 Muday Enterprises, all rights reserved), and I noticed that she would hold out her hands in anticipation of me coming close so that she can touch my face (apparently she likes the feel of my stubbly beard).

first we take vegas
I'm figuring that by the time we're living close to Vegas again, she'll be able to count cards and signal me with an elaborate system of coos and gurgles and raspberries (which she also now does).

I'm going to be in trouble when she starts asking for expensive things.

Must... resist... the... cuteness...

A beautiful fall day. A beautiful, happy baby. A beautiful mom. Life is good.

I am the Lorax; I speak for the trees.

Ella is now calm enough to sit through an entire reading of The Lorax.


Even when Dad gets a little carried away with the narration.

Who says it's too early for her to develop fine tastes in literature?

Someone's Messin' With Me!!!!!

Ella does not like to be messed with.

What qualifies as messing, you ask?

• Face-washing (she's sitting there minding her own business, when out of the blue, a big wet thing gets all up in her face, it's just awful)


• Nose-crust removal


• Clothes removal, particularly onesies, which involves the face


• Putting ON Clothing (see above)


• Insertion into the car seat (though this isn't always the case)

If she had any pull whatsoever with the government, all of these things would become crimes.

Remarkably, diaper changes don't end up in this list. For some reason (I haven't quite figured out what it is), changing time is also talking time, which is just a blast. The sweetness of her voice when she's cooing kinda offsets her pterodactyl screeches; happily, the screeches are becoming much fewer and further between.

The heartbreaking part is that her cries are now somehow sadder-sounding than before. So when she begins to feel messed with, you feel bad for doing whatever it is you're doing to her.

As soon as she's able to use the phone, we're going to be in trouble... to quote one of her onesies, "That's it--I'm calling Grandma!"

Preview of a Milestone

The other day, Kristy n' Ella n' I were hanging out in the family room playing with the little girl (as seen in an earlier post, she is indeed more fun than a barrel of monkeys), when all of a sudden...

...she sits up. From a reclining position, mind you, not flat on her back, but still.

Now, the less observant of you would probably have missed that event. I mean, I almost missed it, and I was right there.

The funny part is that she did it so nonchalantly, so matter-of-factly, like "oh, I always do this". With rolling over, she practiced and practiced, but with this, it just happened. This would be the equivalent of me just happening to do a back handspring while walking to the morning train.

Needless to say, we're having a lot of fun watching her grow.