laughter

yesterday at lunchtime i was holding elenora and j. picked up her bunny lovey and said "ready... set... GO!" and threw the bunny so that it bumped into her chest and then fell to the ground. she burst out in the most sustained laugh we have ever heard. j. did it again and again and each time she just shook with deep belly laughs.

the best sound in the world.

then today at lunch she was sitting on j.'s lap and i think i said something to the effect of "boogidy boogidy boo boo boo" and shook my head and rocked towards her and she just loved it. she laughed so hard.

she has such a great sense of humor. she gets it if we're being funny. she understands the difference between when j. says "arugula" and when he says "wiki tiki tiki." i love it.

i took ella out for a short walk today. it was sunny, but cold. she is so cozy in my arms, though, so we walked up the hill and back and enjoyed the sunshine.

the ocean

i love having j. home more. today we took elenora to the ocean for the first time! i've been saving it for a nice day, and it got up to about forty degrees so we headed out. singing beach is one of the most beautiful, and in the winter the dogs all come out to play. elenora was so good and just cuddled in my arms and looked at the waves and the sand. we walked so far down the beach that she fell asleep on our way back. it's so nice to have her sleep in my arms sometimes, since she mostly just sleeps on the bed. she's so darling. and it was so special to have j. there with us. at his last job he was barely ever home before seven at night, so this was really fantastic.










ella has been reaching for food a lot lately. the other night i was drinking a glass of water and she reached for that, too. i let her touch the outside with her hands, and then she pulled it to her mouth. she seemed to know what to do with it, so i guided it to her lips and she drank a bit. it was so cute to see how happy it made her. now she continues to reach for our glasses and even water bottles. today i pulled out a sippy cup for the first time and put a tiny bit of water in it. she loved handling that. i don't know that i've read anything about giving babies water... but i can't think it would hurt her any.

she has also been talking a lot. sometimes while i nurse her she pulls off to look up at me and smile, and sometimes she will also talk. she will then go back on and repeat: pull off, look up and smile, talk, go back on. it's the cutest thing and makes me laugh. she knows it's a joke too.

chubby

so elenora and i are both getting a bit chubby. good for her...not so good for me. all of this cold, snowy weather has moved our activities inside for all but a few days over the past couple months. it's been difficult for me to sneak away to the gym at night, and there's just no time during the day. my psyche is taking a turn for the worse. i'll be so happy when the weather is at least tolerable for a baby to be bundled and strollered in. i have big plans of jogging outside with her in the mornings.

i like working out before evening. that way it's out of the way and i can just relax all night. i used to work out every day at work during my lunch break. but my days are too full now and there's no one to watch elenora, and then i put her to bed and it's time to make dinner and then i'm full and need to digest and then it's late and the good tv programs are coming on and i just want to relax since i've been up since six in the morning. and then also, many nights j. either has a basketball game or orchestra rehearsal, so i'm really stuck at home and can't go anywhere.

frustrating. i was so fit throughout the pregnancy and dropped weight pretty quickly right afterwards. it's hard to find myself gaining weight now. if i can just hold on to my self-like for another few weeks i will be able to get outside...meanwhile, i guess i'll try to be better about getting out the body ball, yoga tapes, and three pound weights.

here's some video of elenora playing yesterday. just so darned cute.

mimi

my mom is visiting. yesterday we took elenora out for a long walk because it was fifty degrees outside. i just carried her instead of using the bjorn or the stroller. it's a good workout. ella was so good. we went down to the graveyard and climbed the marble steps. at the top we sat on the stone wall and looked out across the town and watched the train go by. elenora was so curious and happily excited. i'm so glad she's good about walks. that's something i hope to pass on to her--a love of the outdoors.



elenora can now sit up straight and balance really well for up to ten seconds without assistance and without toppling over. if she starts to sway to one side, she is self-corrective and shifts her weight so that she doesn't fall. i sat her in front of the mirror on my dresser the other night and i think that looking at herself balancing really helped her to understand what was keeping her up. plus, she's just growing into such a strong little girl. the other day i watched her from the kitchen as she scooted her body backwards on the living room carpet, then she did a full push up with just her hands and toes on the floor! truly impressive.

her favorite song of the moment is "itsy-bitsy spider." if she starts fussing while i'm pumping or something and can't get over to her to pick her up, all i have to do is start to sing "itsy-bitsy spider" (and do the hand motions one-handed) and she starts smiling and (if she's in her jumperoo) jumping up and down.

my mom brought a mechanical flamingo from my grandma b. that runs in place and bobs its head while playing music. i held elenora up so that she was standing beside it and she was so excited that she ran in place and had her arms stretched out as far as they could go to try to grab it. super cute.

sunday after valentine's day

well, i'm tired of the winter. i want so badly to get elenora outside. friday i watched penelope in the afternoon and k. came over to help out. penelope wasn't a very happy baby. it was nice outside and walking always calms elenora, so we bundled the two of them up and stepped out into the sunshine. ella was so precious and just cuddled in my arms looking around. penelope screamed for most of the walk (sleeping for just a little bit of it). at least they both got some vitamin d.

j. and i went out on february 13th to celebrate valentine's day this year. it's our own little secret; restaurants are practically empty on the 13th. plus, momB couldn't babysit on thursday because of choir practice.

yesterday morning we took elenora out for brunch at the village pancake house. momB came along. ella is really able to go for long stretches of alert time now where she is so pleasant. she just looked around and played with her toys and everyone in the restaurant stopped to say how cute she is. what a sweetie she is.

last night we went to the boston symphony to hear vadim repin play the sebalius. it was so amazing. we ate at the malaysian restaurant that is next door--our annual treat. we can't wait until ella is old enough to take to the symphony with us.

books

elenora's favorite book is "too much noise." i sit her in her stroller facing me and when i get to the part that goes "the bed creaked. the floor squeaked. the leaves fell on the roof, swish swish. the tea kettle whistled, hiss hiss." she just grins like it's our secret and i'm telling her the greatest thing ever.





here's the preview on google books.


http://books.google.com/books?id=VmwJdEolY7gC&dq=too+much+noise&pg=PP1&ots=7kUG30orKr&sig=JO9jvWjcymiarMjB1sYrn-MBNo0&hl=en&prev=http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=too+much+noise&sa=X&oi=print&ct=book-thumbnail&cad=one-book-with-thumbnail#PPT13,M1


google books is my new favorite thing, though i would still much prefer to own the book and have it on my shelf to flip through the pages and write in and look at and think "i read that." but i can see how google book will help me to preview a book to see if i want to buy it in the first place.

i think "war and peace" is scanned into google books in its entirety. phew.

i just finished Tess of the D'Urbervilles. a very good story that really had me on the edge of my seat through the whole thing. it has the creepiest guy i think i've ever encountered in a novel. i wish PBS had made a movie of it i could watch on netflix, but i haven't found any. it would be hard to show Tess's inner struggle, anyhow.

i'm starting in on Dead Souls by Gogol, a russian author. this is supposed to be his masterpiece--his work of genius. it comes highly recommended by two people at work. should be interesting.

that's one of the good things about laying down with elenora as she naps. i get to read a lot.

tonight elenora jumped up and down in her jumperoo while j. played his violin. here's the footage:

sitting

elenora has been sitting up. a few nights ago she was able to sit up kind of slumped forwards, but without falling over. the last two days she has really made strides with being able to sit up straighter and balance while reaching for, and picking up, toys. it's so exciting to see her be able to play in this new position.





she is also rolling over in all directions. mostly from back to front, but she went from front to back today, too. she is pulling her knees up underneath her while laying on her belly... i just know she'll be crawling in no time.


we still have issues with the sleeping. i mean, she sleeps pretty good and goes down without a lot of crying, but it's only because i nurse her off to sleep and then often will just lay next to her and read a book or nap at the same time. tonight it took over an hour to get to where i could leave her in bed for the night without her waking up and needing me back beside her. i felt very sorry for myself for all of the time i had to spend laying in bed next to her today. some days i feel like i spend more time in bed than out of it. i'm looking forward to the day when i can just place her in her crib at naptime and bedtime and walk away and have her fall asleep easily on her own.


i think we're going to try the cry it out solution again at five months. just a couple weeks away now. i'm not looking forward to the crying. poor l'ella. but i hope that it works quickly and solves this last issue once for all.


we took elenora out to dinner tonight at woodmans, which is a famous local seafood restaurant where they serve up piles of fried shrimp, onion rings and french fries in a shallow cardboard box. ella kept grabbing onto the box and pulling it towards herself. she is definitely interested in the whole eating process now. she likes to sit with us at the table and she watches very closely as the forks go into the mouths. tonight she seemed to get rather frustrated with not being able to dip into the platter of food. as long as she was looking around the restaurant she was pretty content, but when she looked at the plate of fried food and us wolfing it down, she seemed to get a bit mad at not sharing in the fun.



just a month and a half more and we'll start giving her real food. i can't believe it's that soon.


i think we're going to do taxes now. here's hoping that economic incentive plan pans.

jumperoo

i bought a jumperoo. i'm hoping it keeps me sane while watching two babies. so far, ella isn't quite sure what to make of it. her feet don't touch the floor yet, so i think when she is a bit bigger she'll have more fun.
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my favorite part of the day is waking up to elenora. every morning at six i pick her up and stumble half asleep to her bedroom in the dark and turn on the light and blink blink blink and when the fog of sleep lifts i see her snuggling up in my arms and smiling at me in the mirror. she's just so cute. i think she's cuter today than she's ever been before.

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and she was born perfect.

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today the three of us walked downtown to pick up our breakfast and cafe lattes. it was so nice to get outside in the sunshine again. elenora loves her stroller, and i think that the sunshine is really good for her.

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i wonder how you know if your baby is teething. i tried to look at her gums, but i wouldn't really know what to look for. she's been drooling for months, now, so that's no good as a gauge. she's been whining lately and a bit more cranky when she should be all rested. so i'm wondering.

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j. had such good times with elenora today. they were so cute. j. is really good with her. i love watching the two of them interact.

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i went jogging outside today. first time since i was about four or five months pregnant. it felt good, even though i didn't go that far.

some of j.'s (ex) co-workers took him out last night for mexican food following his last day of work. i went along and we really had a great time. it sounds as if the other workers there feel the same way as j. they just put up with it for now. but all of them have plans to leave in the next year or so and go into private practice. they said they'd keep j. in mind if they were to ever open a practice. i know j. would love that kind of work more than anything.