 | Diary Navigation:
|
June 29, 2004
Father’s day ended up being a complete success. Jamie loved all of his presents (see previous entry), even the picture. He seemed very happy with it (then again, would he have really said if he wasn’t??!?) and he had been saying for a while that he wanted a picture of Ella and I for his desk at work. He has tons of pictures of Ella but none of me.
Then we did, indeed, end up going down to Fenway Park for the Father’s day walk, which ended up being a lot of fun. We got to go into the bull pen, into both dugouts, up to the Green Monster, and to check out the new seats on top of the Green Monster too, so it was a pretty up close view of everything. Plus the weather was absolutely gorgeous and Boston was alive with summer exuberance, so it was a great day to go into the city overall.
We had one interesting adventure while we were there. While Ella and I were in the Red Sox dugout I picked her up to peer over the side since I couldn’t find Jamie. There were many news crews there filming the event and one of the cameras turned on to us (I heard the guy saying, “hey, that’s cute”). So I, of course, try to get Ella to ham it up:
Me: Ella, say “Go Red Sox”
Ella (the non-socialite): NO
Me: Ella, say “Hit a grand slam”
Ella: NO!
Me: Okay, well, then, just wave at the camera.
Ella: NO!
Me: Sigh, wave at the camera, and take her down.
Gee, could she be TWO or anything?!?! After our unsuccessful moment of glory I figured that was the end of that. So I was very surprised when I got home and had a message from Jamie’s sister in law exclaiming that she has seen us on TV. She confirmed that, yes, Ella did look a little grumpy but we were on for a good 10-15 seconds and that I looked great, waving and smiling like all the idiots do when they suddenly find themselves with a big camera staring themselves in the face. The ironic part is Jamie is nowhere to be found during all of this, and he was supposed to be the man of honor. Oh well. He still said that he had a great Father’s day, so I was happy. Later in the day we were all talking about our favorite parts of the day. Jamie’s was touching the Green Monster, mine was playing catch with Ella in the dugout, and Ella’s was the ice cream!
Ella has been loving this good weather and begs to go outside every chance we get. It is all the more bittersweet to me that she loves our backyard so, and soon we will have to say goodbye to it. One of her favorite things to do these days is to pick berries off our boysenberry tree. Most of the berries are still red, and quite sour, but she will insist that she likes them, even as her mouth is puckering around the fruit. I know it’s really just the novelty of being able to eat fruit she has just picked. This, from a child that soundly rejects all but the most toddler-esque of foods. I love it when her fingers and mouth get stained from the berries, it makes me feel like we live in the middle of a forest instead of in one of the most congested areas in the country. Another favorite activity is to throw the ball for Coco. This is a perfect match, as Ella enjoys throwing the ball as much as Coco loves to chase it. Ella’s favorite thing to do, though, is to trick Coco, by throwing it somewhere the dog can’t find it. Ella screeches with laughter as Coco frantically runs in circles, desperately trying to scent the missing toy.
But the berries and ball pale in comparison to Ella’s absolute favorite backyard activity which is turning over rocks to look for bugs underneath. We have a lot of fairly large stones that I had painted and use to trim various landscaped parts of the yard and Ella likes to have us turn them over for her to see what kind of treasures lurk underneath (she won’t turn them over herself, insists that we do this for her. I think it’s because she tried to do it herself once and banged her finger but I don’t mind too much that she doesn’t do it herself since I wouldn’t wanted them all messed up anyhow). Things we see include earthworms, centipedes, millipedes, slugs, grubs, potato bugs, spiders, and ants. Ella used to just look at them, but then progressed to poking at them with a stick and now has moved on to picking them up and letting them crawl all over her. I swear, I have to consciously keep myself from shuddering to see these nasty creepy crawly sometimes slimy things on her sweet little arm. But I am also proud and happy for her, and don’t want to mar her joy in the least. Indeed, I do my best to name the bugs and show her what they are doing and talk about how they are different and the such. It really is pretty interesting and brings me back to my youth.
And more bed issues
Ella, the little sneak, has found yet another way to manipulate me around bed time, only now we are debating when she gets up. Around here the rule is that, regardless of what time Ella gets up she cannot get out of bed or call for me until 6AM (actually she could get out of bed and play quietly in her room but she never gets out of bed without me coming in to say good morning to her. This is just how she’s been since she switched to the big girl bed and I love it and don’t discourage it since it means I don’t have to worry about her wandering around the house in the middle of the night or in the wee hours of the morning). We have bought her a digital clock and she knows how to tell when it’s 6 and will wait for the correct time before calling me (with occasional slip ups sometimes at 5:46 or 5:56). It’s been a good system that works for all (what would really be great is if she slept till 6:30-7AM but I take what I can get) however lately Ella has come up with a way to get around it and leave me with little options.
What she does is she will call for me as early as 5:20AM and when I stumble in, bleary eyed, about to lecture her on the time and what not she stops with “I’ve got a poop to do”. What can I do? I can’t very well leave her to wait out the next forty minutes, making her not only very uncomfortable but likely to just let it go into her diaper. Yet once she is up and has done the deed (which she IS able to produce, to her credit) she has been babbling and out of bed for 5-10 minutes and there is just no way she will consent to going back to bed. In a few months I think she should be able to handle this chore (going poo) by herself but right now she has trouble with the wiping and also would not be able to take off her overnight diaper, get some underwear, and get herself into it all by herself. Sigh… any ideas? 5:20 really is too early, right?
Swimming
We have been trying to keep cool by hitting the beach whenever we can. We really enjoy going to Walden pond (Thoreau’s muse) but it is often full so we also have a few other local watering holes we frequent. Ella loves it and is getting braver and braver every time. The first time we went to the beach this year she was content to just walk back and forth along the shore line. She never went above her knees, nor did she do anything but stand in the water (although she did march around in it, all the while singing the “The ants go marching one by one” song. Very cute) The last time, however, after a little walking she sat in the water and eventually lay in it and was very excited and happy to work on kicking and moving in the sand using her arms to propel her through the water. I had suggested taking swimming lessons with her earlier in the year and she wasn’t interested at all so I am glad to see her making progress on her own.
New Pictures posted on the website. http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/e/ellarosew/
One of them is Ella and I in front of a big sign that says ELLA. Those of you that know that I have been recently dismayed with the exploding popularity of Ella must imagine my dismay when I saw there was a new store going up in the mall with the same name. Ug. I don’t know what kind of store it is going to be--has anyone out there ever gone to this store at their local mall??? If so, please stop by my TTM board to let me know what to expect.
Bonnie’s book reviews:
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down (Anne Fadiman)—This book is about a little Hmong girl with epilepsy and the problems her parents had while trying to deal with the American doctors who treated her. I thought it was wonderful, especially as I have been spending a lot of time working in hospitals and studying a lot of this stuff lately. Very thought provoking—what could have been done differently? Was this inevitable?
The Bondswoman’s Narrative (Hannah Craft)—Supposedly one of the first novels ever discovered by a black woman in America, I thought this story would not be that great but that it would be an interesting book to know due to it’s historical significance. I have to say, I thought it was a really interesting story and quite enjoyed it, which only made the cultural aspect a bonus.
Well, our move is looming over us now (July 10th) so if you don’t hear from me for a while it’s either because I got crushed under a pile of boxes or our computer is strewn about in the chaos. Wish me luck
As always, thanks for reading.
Bonnie
 |  |
|
want to keep a diary on iParenting?
Authoring a diary on the iParenting network allows you to chronicle your family's story, preserving it for years to come. It's also a great way to get the most out of the iParenting community. Click here to start...
|
The iParenting Media Awards program helps parents find the best products for their families. 
