i hate grey rabbit

i don't think i've explained how particular elenora needs everything when she sleeps. here are the things she has decided she can't sleep without:

1) Her favorite Bubba, who has to sleep in her right arm.
2) Her "not-my-favorite" Bubba, who sleeps in her left arm.
3) Violet, who sleeps in her right hand.
4) Grey rabbit, who sleeps in her left hand.
5) A blanket, usually her quilt or the puffy blanket, with a knit blue blanket over the top.
6) Her binky in her mouth.
7) Brahams, a dog that winds up and plays Brahams lullaby.
8) The fan on high.
9) Someone yelling "sweet dreams" at the top of their lungs.

when she wakes in the middle of the night, all of these things have to be in place before she can allow herself to fall back asleep. if she can't find one of the million necessary stuffed animals or her binky, or if the blankets are not in the right configuration, she will start crying until someone comes and puts things right again.

at 3 am when i'm in a groggy fog, i have been known to reply to elenora's cries for grey rabbit with the phrase "i hate grey rabbit... she's stupid."

then i stumble back upstairs (yelling "sweet dreams" angrily as i shut her door) and mumble something to j. about "mother-of-the-year".

this past weekend while ella stayed at her mamaw's house, momby must have decided to tuck ella's feet in tightly under the blankets, because last night she woke up and demanded that her feet be tucked in tight. i just said "enough is enough, ella. i'm not coming down here to tuck your feet under every time they come untucked!"

you have to draw the line somewhere.

tanglewood

j. and i went to tanglewood to see joshua bell play beethoven. it was absolutely wonderful. we drove out and had a picnic in the car (including the last bottle of wine from our trip to the lakes region of NY last october), then when we arrived at our seats we were pleasantly surprised to find that they've installed huge screens just in front of where we were sitting and we got to see the concert as if we were right up close. we could even see shots of the conductor's face. it was just fantastic.

since the concert went so late, we decided to stay in NY with c. as a surprise visit. luckily c. didn't mind that we only gave him a couple hours' notice. it was a nice little getaway.

all of the loud

so every night when i leave ella's room she says "say 'sweet dreams' all of the loud" and i say "can't i just say it sweetly and quietly?" and she gets a glint in her eye and says "All of the loud." so as i leave her room i shout "SWEET DREAMS" and as the door shuts i see her little eyes smiling with the joke she just played.

since we don't nap anymore, ella and i have had lots of relaxing, slow-paced afternoons full of activities (followed by early bedtimes: 6 pm). we've gone out walking from our house to the park or to the library (over a mile of walking), or we go to visit auntie h. (who is happily expecting a march baby!), or we head to appleton farms for an adventure to gather up "treasures" (rocks, acorns, flowers, etc.). it's been good, even though some afternoons i find that i wished i could have a nap, even though she is skipping one. but in those cases i sometimes just suggest that we have quiet snuggling/reading time together, and that usually gives me a burst of energy to get through dinner and the bedtime routine.

cooking dinners has been a bit more challenging, because i used to have an hour or more to prepare dinner in the middle of the day. now elenora is up the whole time, so i have to either get her to "help" me (putting chopped veggies in a bowl etc.) or something. it's kind of fun to get her involved, but definitely a change.

the past few weeks s. and i have pulled together a wednesday routine where we spend the afternoons together and then s. and i cook dinner while the girls play (or watch a shirley temple movie). then we all eat together (both our husbands go to basketball on wednesday nights anyhow) and give the girls a bath together. it's a fun time for all of us. tonight we made indian food after spending a couple hours at the park and at russell orchard.

in the mornings lately, ella comes out of her room on her own just about the time i'm heading downstairs to go to work. i see her at the bottom of the steps and she greets me sweetly. it probably adds on 10 minutes to my morning routine, because i get her a little something to eat or a cup of milk and i take her to the potty and change her into clean undies etc. she's so darling when she walks me to the door and calls out "bye mommy! see you later!" some mornings she lets j. sleep after i leave, and some mornings she goes upstairs immediately to get him up. yesterday morning she went right up and said to j. (who was sleeping) "daddy, here are your choices: you can sleep a little longer, or you can play with me."

this morning after i left, for the first time ever, elenora took it upon herself to go poo on the potty all by herself without anybody helping her! i am so thrilled because that's a huge step. she's been so good about "holding it" and not having accidents all day, but sometimes in the mornings before anyone is up and if nobody is around to help her, she has been known to go poo in her diaper. so for her to take the initiative to go to the potty all by herself is just amazingly wonderful.

york zoo

today, spur of the moment, which is how j. does it, we went to york zoo in ME. the day started out like any other weekend day (breakfast, grocery shopping, laundry, dishes) and then suddenly j. suggested we go to the zoo. off we went on a family adventure.

this was ella's first time at a zoo, so we were very excited to see lions, tigers, and bear cubs.

one of her favorite parts of the trip was when she got to go into this big yard and pat the goats and their kids. she especially was loving this little white one, who let her put her arms around him.

on the way home, after stopping briefly for lobster rolls (elenora tried some lobster for the first time), she crashed pretty good in the car.

there's nothing sweeter than your child when they're sleeping. she didn't even wake up when i got her home and carried her into the house. it was a shame to wake her to get her into pajamas.

family golf

"family golf" has become one of our favorite family pastimes.

vermont and other "old" friends

elenora and i took a trip up to vermont to see a whole bunch of friends. first we went to a.'s house and had a fun time with her children. they are so lively and welcoming, and elenora just loves having big kids to play with.


here she is with naomi.






after i put elenora down to bed, c. picked me up and we went downtown for drinks with t. i haven't seen either of these women in years, so it was amazing to sit around as if we'd never been apart. as c. remarked "we're all still the same."








the next morning, ella and i headed downtown for c.s.'s baby shower. it was a lot of fun because 2 of my high school teachers were there and i sat with them and got to catch up. the last time i saw one of them was at c.s.'s wedding, when i was almost 9 months pregnant, so it was just so fun to show her ella, who was so well behaved.









there must have been about 100 little rubber duckies around the room, and ella spent the whole shower running around collecting them.



we didn't get a lot of time with c.s., but it was good to see her. she looks so beautiful with her little round belly. during the shower elenora said "is c. going to take a shower?" and i said "it's a metaphor."





after the shower we walked downtown to check out the ethnic festival, and c. and t. showed up and we all ended up wandering around together for a bit. c. and i danced with the soap cult in the streets with our kids, and we ate empanadas before heading up the mountain to say goodbye to a. and the kids.