a little G and R

so we stopped the cry it out method and elenora has been smiling about fifty times a day. she honestly just loves to be close and to snuggle and to fall asleep in your arms. i know i am going to have to find a way to put her down after she falls asleep so that i can get showers and clean the house and make dinner, etc. but she is so much happier that i think this is the right way to go right now. eventually i'll have to teach her how to sleep in her crib. for now i'm just happy if she falls asleep.

side note: i almost wrote "you have to pick your battles," which is cliche. but the language also reminded me of all the militaristic talk christians use. it troubles me. "stand up, stand up for Jesus, you soldiers of the cross..." why do we sing that in church as if the crusades were a good thing? i like to sing the chorus of that children's song "i may never march in the infantry, ride in the calvary, shoot the artillery..." as "cause Jesus is all about war." when did Jesus get associated with war and fighting? Jesus was about peace and about bringing about the kingdom of heaven on earth. that has nothing to do with taking a very flawed sense of justice into our own hands and warring against this world. the warring against that i remember in the bible has to do with warring against our own personal sins--not someone else's.

anyhow. side note (soap box) complete.

we took elenora out to dinner last night with aunt d. and uncle d., j. and h., and mom and dad B. it was a really fancy place called victoria's station. after our success in the morning we were pretty optimistic. and ella was really incredibly good. the restaurant was all decorated for christmas, so she saw her first christmas tree ever. she was fascinated by the pretty lights and ornaments. everyone in the restaurant wanted to stop me to say how pretty she is. aunt d. held her while i went to get my salad, and when ella started fussing before the meal arrived i took her around the restaurant to look at all the decorations. by the time i got back to the table and stood and rocked her for a few minutes, she fell asleep in my arms. what a peach. i got to sit and eat my scallops with her in my arms. such a pleasant experience.

on the way to the B.'s for dessert, ella woke up and started fussing. j. decided to put on guns 'n' roses and it was amazing how quickly she got very happy as the song "sweet child of mine" came pouring out of the speakers. who knew we had a rock 'n' roll baby???