Happy 1/3rd Birthday!

Dear Ella,

Yesterday, my little Valentine, you turned 4 months old. Sometimes I try to imagine what you’ll look like when you’re a little girl… with longer hair (and not just on the top of your head) and longer legs… what color eyes you’ll have… and what your personality will be like. But I realize that you’ll grow up so fast – and I want to savor each lovable baby moment. The way you nuzzle into my shoulder when you’re tired. The way you laugh when I kiss your belly. The way you squeal in delight when we put you in your exer-saucer. The way you babble on your changing table like it’s a podium and you’re delivering an important speech. I want to remember it all. There are times when I don’t want you to grow up. But then I think about all the joy we’ll have watching you learn to walk and to talk -- and a lifetime of dirty diapers -- and I change my mind.

You haven’t learned any new tricks this month – you’ve just enhanced old ones. A single raspberry has turned into a raspberry chorus that can last fifteen minutes. And you’re discovering your tongue – how useful it is for making different sounds – and for sticking out. And your lungs. You’ve discovered how useful they are for screaming. Now at naptime, when we walk away from your crib, you SCREAM. And scream and scream… until you find your thumb and then it’s ok.

I love you!
Mama

IPO (Identified Playing Object)

Ella has always been one happy camper, but nowadays she even has more reasons to entertain us with her shrill shrieks of glee – and one of them is her new Excer-Saucer®. Upon first glance at this unusual object, it’s not difficult to understand why.

Imagine a world where everything you could possible want (aside from a milk-engorged breast) are put right out in front of you, in ready reach of your motor-skilled-challenged arms. The Excer-Saucer fulfills this fantasy in spades, not too mention spinning objects, noisy stuff and rotating thingamajigs. It’s a little slice of heaven, right in our tiny living room, crammed between the dog bed and the sofa chair.

When we first put Ella in the Excer-Saucer, a look of pure baby consternation came over her that seemed to communicate, “Well bless my binky, there’s so much! Where does one start?!” The consternation soon transformed into concentration as she tried to figure out the entertainment value of each object. Now, she’s got it pretty much figured out, but each time we put her in it, she slowly rotates around making sure that all the “objets de saucer” are still working to her satisfaction.

Ella is certainly an inquisitive little girl, always looking around and carefully surveying and assessing her surroundings. From the day she was born, she has had this intense look when she would try to figure something out. A furrowed brow has always been the hallmark of this expression, but her recent propensity for drooling has added another feature – the spit bubble. Who can resist a picture of a baby blowing a spit bubble? I can’t.

I Lied. THIS is cuter.