Welcome Moses!

Moses Harris Perin
December 25th, 2007, 9:15 pm
7 pounds, 6 ounces
Everyone is healthy and happy!



To see more of Mo check out our growing Flickr file.

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007 was our most eventful yet. But before we get to the largest events of the day here's how our regular Christmas went.

Uncle B and Ella played in the leaves. I'm dreamin' of a brown Christmas, just like the ones found in the South...

Dewey and Grammie waited patiently for Christmas morning.

Ella prepared a snack for Santa and the Reindeer. Brownies for Santa and carrot shreds for the Reindeer. Glitter on top for everyone.
Ella opened presents and had a wonderful Christmas morning...while Kelly started having contractions!

Almost Christmas...

... But Chanukah is not quite over around here.

This morning we woke up to Ella singing loudly from her bed, "Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel. I made it out of clay. And when it's dry and ready, Oh Dreidel I will play. Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. I made her out of clay. And she's dry and ready, Oh Dreidel I will play. Daddy, Daddy, Daddy. I made him out of clay. And when he's dry and ready, Oh Daddy I will play. Hey!"

And PS...no baby yet. Maybe he's waiting for Christmas.

Three is a Magic Number

PART 1: ELLA IS THREE (almost)
We admit we’re not the most objective observers, but any way you slice it, Ella is pretty darn fantastic. As she gets older and more and more fun, we just feel luckier and luckier to have her around. Put simply, Ella sparkles.
Ella is smart and creative. Her pretend-play scenarios get more complex by the day ("…and I am the mommy, and I pack my suitcase to Florida and then I check my computer to see if our plane is on time, and you are the baby and you are going to cry because you don’t want to take your shoes off and give them to the airport man, and Dewey is the big sister but he has to stay home to get the mail…") She reads constantly- to us, to Dewey, to an imaginary audience of kids. She’s crazy observant (see milk post). For some real fun, come on over and take her out to dinner sometime- an uninterrupted hour with some Ella conversation and a pancake from Elmo’s will cheer you up and make you realize how incredibly interesting the world is (especially her made-up world… ask her about the time when she was a little baby and got to drive Santa’s sleigh).
Ella is chill. That may not be a shocker to those of you who know her dad, but we’re constantly amazed by the way she adapts to new situations and stays cool as a cucumber. The potentially Terrible Twos have almost passed with only one screaming tantrum (and really, I felt like crying that afternoon in the Shoe Carnival store too). As the way-youngest kid at her new preschool, she fit right in and even took other kids "under her wing" by the end of week 1 and helps them put on their shoes. She’s even dealing pretty well with me, her 39-weeks-pregnant mom, whose patience has completely evaporated these past few weeks. .We’re beginning to think that she’ll take this new guy in stride better than the rest of us (it will help that she won’t be waking up every 2 hours…).
Ella is loving. She’s not super-snuggly these days, but even better, is just a really nice, empathic girl. It absolutely kills her to hear other kids cry (which hopefully she’ll get over once a newborn comes home). She often mentions people she loves and wants to do nice things for them ("This flower will be for Rachel, because she weally loves purple"). And we get at least a few out-of-the-blue "I love yous" every day. She’s not a bit selfish, even as a toddler. Today, she was sick and laying on the couch, and Dewey was all up in her way, and she just said, "Even when Dewey squishes my feet, I love him" and let him stay. Almost three is a really neat age- Ella’s still little, but we’re getting more and more glimpses of what she’ll be like forever. And aside from the attitude-face she made the other day that I just KNOW I’ll see again when she’s 15, we’re very glad to be along for the ride.
Happy almost Birthday, Ella Bean! We love you so, so much!

PART 2: WE ARE THREE (for a teeny bit longer)
All of the cheesy magazines say that the first few years with kids are the hardest years for a marriage. If this is true, then we sure are lucky because it has been smooth sailing over here since the arrival of our third wheel. Of course, we ARE super-lucky- for real- we’re all healthy, and safe, and have a great family and fantastic friends, and get to do really good and important work every day. And the three of us (four already, counting Dewey, of course) have figured this family thing out pretty well over the past 3 years. We take good care of each other, almost always manage to be nice to one another, and have a lot of fun. Three really has been a magic number for the three of us, for the past three years. But something tells me that four is also a really good number.

Bring it on, Mr. 4! I think we're ready!

The Truth About Milk

I don't drink milk. I don't like milk. I've actually never had a whole glass of milk in my whole life. When Ella started drinking milk when she was about 1-year-old we decided that we wouldn't tell Ella that I don't drink milk so that wouldn't have any reason to think not to drink it. I didn't actually drink milk in front of her, or even pretend, I just talked about liking it. I even made up a few songs.

The other day we were talking about milk and I decided it was time to come clean.
Me: You know what Ella...I don't drink milk and I just don't like it and that's OK. I'm glad you love it so much.
Ella: I know, Daddy. You only put milk in your coffee in the morning.

Oh. OK. On to the next conversation

Reasonable Judgment

Ella has been sleeping in her big girl bed for a few months now. We were very nervous about the transition but she has really stepped it up. She's sleeping better than ever and really, really loves snuggling into her little mattress on the floor each night. The best part has been that she has never gotten out of bed and left her room without permission. Strangely, it is as if she's still behind the bars of the crib and she calls for us to get up every morning. We get no trouble from her at bedtime, she never shows up in the middle of the night, and she waits for us to come get her when it is light outside in the morning...

...Until last Friday night, when she got out of bed without permission for the first time ever. She was having a rough night of sleep, whining a bit, and we went in to check on her a few times. We finally said we weren't coming back to check on her and she should go to sleep. We all went to sleep. About an hour later Ella was calling for us again. We were ignoring her. She was calling. We were ignoring. Next I hear some footsteps and I'm getting ready to be Mr. Tough Guy Dad. She's standing next to our bed, I roll over to tell her what's what, I start to say, "Ella, you can not get out of your bed. You march right back..." And she throws up all over me.

She was right. She needed us and she needed to break a rule to get us. She used the reasonable judgment I think we all hope our children will develop and be able to use as 2 year-olds, teenagers, and adults. I was embarrassed I was about to yell at her and it was really gross, but I was so proud of my big girl and her wise decision.