Sometimes I Wake Up Crabby

Sometimes I let her sleep. That's Pete's favorite joke. He's sooooooooooooooooooooo funny. Crab fest at Scruncle and Aunt Julie's marina gave Ellie her first boat ride! An important rite of passage in this family. And resulted in one of my favorite videos of her.

The "wee" is so convincing, don't you think? Anyway, we all had a good time, and overdosed on crabs and old bay.

Yum.

July 4th

I wrote down all the things we did over the missing months and there are a TON, so I figured I'd better get to them while I have a free minute. And in this house, Pete doing the dishes while Ellie sings to herself in bed is a free minute, so I give you Ellie's second 4th of July, including her first set of fireworks!

Scruncle invited us up to Baltimore where they had harbored their boat for the holiday to wine and dine with the marina crowd. First, hanging out in the cabin and having a few pre-dinner drinks.

Then it was out to dinner for mussels and other things Ellie refuses to eat. Fortunately she's a good sitter like her mom.

Then it was back to the boat to get settled before the big show.

{cheers}

And, finally, it was fireworks time! Ellie did really well, especially given it was well past her usual bedtime. She seemed to really enjoy watching the explosions. And I really enjoyed her willingness to snuggle on my lap.

Happy very very very very very belated Independence Day!

A Shower

Ellie absolutely hates getting her hair wet these days. I have no idea what happened. But it's made bath time unbearable. So, instead of sad showers that end with "no mommy no!" let's talk happy ones.

Pete's cousin is having a baby. Any day now. I'm surprised he hasn't arrived yet. But he hasn't. Which means this isn't as out-of-date as it could have been.

His aunt and uncle held a nice little baby shower for her right before Easter.

It ended up being a little surprising for us because I decided to make a diaper cake at the last minute, having never made one before, and it actually came out kind of cute (if I do say so myself). And because Ellie suddenly decided that maybe Scruncle (Scruncle = Scary+Uncle) isn't so scary after all.

{awwwwwwwww}

She still doesn't like sitting on Grandma's lap. Sorry, Grandma.

Grandma Gets A Visit

We try to make it up to see Pete's Grandma about once a month. These visits have been a fun way to track Ellie's growth since Grandma moved down by us about 2 days before Ellie was born. In the month since we last saw her Ellie has gotten really good at both walking and communicating. She doesn't have a lot of words, but she points and has a few signs, and definitely has a way of getting her point across. It made this visit particularly fun.

She played peekaboo and touched pointer fingers for a bit, then sat down and rolled the exercise balls around with Scruncle.

And she practiced the piano. Got to get her started early.

She also noticed some birds hanging out in the trees by the feeder (this was our first measurable snowfall of the year, by the way). She called them "kitty" as she does with all animals except dogs which she calls "woof".

We usually stop by Starbucks on the way and pick up Grandma's favorite treat...and we might as well get something for us while we're there, you know.

{Grandma sneaks a frappuchino break}

Ellie didn't really want to sit on Grandma's lap for the obligatory "sit on Grandma's lap" shot. This isn't saying much because she doesn't like sitting anywhere for long. I got one tolerant picture of them.

And then it was time to say good bye until next time.

Christmas Part 2

The symphony I'm playing with uses a local church for their performances, and as a trade they ask for a couple of musicians to perform during their larger Christmas and Easter masses. This works out really well for us because Pete is Catholic and I'm not and this gives us a good reason to all go to Mass together. So, after opening gifts at home we all headed out for Christmas Mass.

After that it was off to Scruncle and J's house for Second Christmas. One of Pete's other aunts and her 3 kids came down as well. And of course Grandma (a.k.a. Queen Dorothy) was able to come over. One of Pete's cousins is expecting her first baby in May! So, she was excited to get some practice at the whole "Mom" thing.

Grandma picked this outfit out special for Ellie and she looked adorable in it. Again, I think the hat makes the outfit. She also spent a lot of time showing off her newly honed walking skills. Everyone was very impressed.

Santa had come to Scruncle's too! So, another round of gifts to be opened.

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All the grown-up women got fuzzy socks.

After gifts, we had a marvelous dinner that Ellie napped through, and really enjoyed a wonderful evening with family.