Developments

Ella had her 12-month well-baby doctor appt. on Wednesday. This visit marked many milestones for her. Most importantly, in her first 12 months she managed to have NO sick-baby doctor visits. For those of you who spent any time with her daddy when he was under 1 year old you'll especially recognize this as an accomplishment and possibly a minor medical miracle. The doc reports she's doing great and Mom and Dad seem to be OK at the parenting part as well. Phew!
Ella's Updated Specs:
20 pounds and 13 ounces--50th percentile (Here I come front-facing carseat).
29 inches tall--50th percentile (Notice the language shift from long to tall. That's what a lot of standing and walking does to your perception of baby height).
75th percentile in head size--to which I responded very sarcastically that I was worried about Ella's smarts since the percentile of her head size has gone from 90 to 75 in the past two months. To which our outstanding (no sarcasm intended) pediatrician, who happens to have no sarcasm radar and is comedically challenged, made sure I understood that head size does not in fact correlate to brain size and smarts. And, not to worry, her son has a small head but is 3 to 4 grade levels ahead in math. And again, not to worry, the chief of pediatrics where she studied also had a small head and he was totally brilliant. Thanks for the clarification. I was joking! In case you were wondering she has a small head too. That offers a curious perspective on this discussion, right?.
She assured that it is much more about genetics than head size. Hopefully she'll be smart anyway.

Here's our little 50th percentile grape!

Thanks Bubby and Zaida

Dear Bubby and Zaida,
Thank you so much for this wonderful chair. It was so nice of you to even put my name on it. I'm so grateful to have one more comfy place to rest my weary head. My bed, your bed, the couch, rug, brown cushion, and floor mats just don't offer me enough choices sometimes. This new chair is just perfect for me. Thanks for thinking of me, even though my birthday isn't even until May. I miss you and can't wait to see you again soon.
Lots of Love,
Dewey

(What? No! Really? That says Ella? Not Dewey? It just seemed so perfect, I thought it must be mine. What? I don't get presents on Ella's birthday? Really? Oh. You're right. I guess I don't always get presents on my birthday either. Ok. I'll ask nice and hopefully she won't mind if I share. Happy Birthday, Ella!)

Ella's 1st Birthday Party

Ella's first Birthday Party has come and gone. Here are some highlights: She had her first cake (sort of...thanks for the advanced treat with Anne's wonderful wedding cake). She smeared icing all over her face. She opened some presents but preferred to play with the wrapping and ribbons. She worked her way up to taking more and more steps and even fell on her head a few times. She learned two exciting birthday songs. She got some flashy, noisy toys that I can't seem to stop humming along to.
Thank you to everyone who joined the fun. She really appreciated her special day!
Happy Birthday Shorty! Welcome to the world of positive integer birthdays. It only gets better from here!

Blowing out candle(1) with Mommy.

Sharing cake with my Zaida.
Family birthday portrait.

Happy Birthday to ME!!!

A Guest Blog from "Aunt" Anna

(Anna spent all of Kelly's labor and Ella's delivery with us last year. She was a perfect help on that day(s). Thank you, Anna. And thank you for sharing your reflections.)

I first saw Ella's face during the final minutes of her birth. The catch in my throat was instant: she was so still, and so quiet, and absolutely perfect. I was stunned by her beauty, and by the fact that, in that moment, she was not yet her own person. Instead, she was still a part of her mom, caught between nine months of miracles and an entire life of them, waiting for her life to begin.

It is hard, in one way, to believe that Ella is a year old, and yet at the same time, it's difficult to believe that she has been in our lives for such a short time. I have so many memories of her that it seems that she must have been here longer than that. For example, as an infant, Ella was snuggly, burrowing down into her orange fleece pocket for a nap, warm and cozy and tucked into safety.

I also remember that, at first, she looked exactly like Kelly, and then one day, her face broke into a smile that precisely mirrored Zach's, wide and easy and natural, and now she looks like both her parents. She has spent the last year loving Dewey, knowing that he is as much a part of her family as anyone, and loves to share (kisses, lunch, secret plans, etc.) with him. And this weekend, she spent her days giggling, dancing, singing, playing, and talking, as happy a baby as I have ever seen.

Ella, to me, is simply love personified.

I remember last December 18th and the moment after I first saw her face, Ella took her first breath. And in that instant, in a darkened hosptial room high above the chilly city lights, the entire world changed. It has been a little better ever since.

Happy, Happy Birthday, sweet Ella.

7 Days to Go

It gets a lot harder to take these milestone pictures now that Ella is so much more mobile. I guess that's why we haven't done it in 40 weeks.
Happy one week before your 1st birthday big girl!

Real Snow

Friday brought our first real snow storm to the Boston area. Up until noon-time it looked like any old ambivalent Baltimore/Washington storm. It snowed in the morning and by lunch time it was raining.
Then at 1pm something strange happened to the sky. It totally blew up!
We had a thunder snow storm. We've never heard anything like it. For the next two hours we had an all-out blizzard. Luckily the heavy snow only lasted a few hours otherwise we'd be totally snowed in. We ended up with 6 or so really fun inches.
Ella and Dewey had lots of fun.

I'm wet. I'm cold. I want to go in. NOW!

I'm OK now. I've got my hat and boots on. Can we go back outside to play in the snow!

(Note: I fully realize that when the subject of this post hits her teen years I run the risk of being in a lot of trouble for this picture. I am prepared for this. I plan to teach her lots about humor and comedy so that maybe she'll understand my motives by then.)

Take Out

Thai? Chinese? Indian? Pizza? What do you guys think we should have for dinner tonight?

A December to Remember (so far)

December is our favorite month! Starting on December 18th the following incredibly fun things happen over a very short two weeks time:
1. Ella's 1st birthday
2. Christmas
3. Hanukah
4. Zachary's 30th Birthday
5. New Year's Eve (she might miss this one)

But instead of waiting until mid-month for the real fun, Ella decided to start now. On December 1st Ella Bean took her first unassisted steps (3 of them). By today she has taken 4. She's run into an odd twist where takes multiple steps with one foot before moving the other until she's doing a big split and topples over. We're working on that one. Look out Dewey, here she comes!

This morning Kelly brought Ella to bed to visit when she woke up. She sat up in our bed, grabbed my sleepy arm and said, "Dad-eee." It would have been a whole lot cooler if it weren't 90 minutes earlier than she normally wakes up and it weren't dark outside. Crack of dawn, middle of the night, during dinner. No matter the time, Ella's first word was Daddy and a really proud one of those is typing this sentence right now.

This will surely be a fun month. Keep up with our adventures. It'll be a good time.

Take Me to the Beach

Dewey was overheard saying, "Why is it so cold here in Boston? Why do these crazy people keep moving north? First D.C., then Baltimore and now the arctic--Cambridge, MA. It snowed here today. Only about an inch. On my second walk this morning I lost a foot to chilly toes. I walked home on 3 feet. It is always cold here. This may sound silly because I have a natural fur coat but I sure hope Santa or Hanukah Harry brings me a sweater for the holidays. And a hat and maybe some shoes. Then a trip to the beach please."