This past weekend, visitors descended upon our household and Ellie met several new relatives. I think it gave her a taste of what is to come in the next few weeks, as we are leaving on Saturday for a 10-day Florida trip to be followed immediately by my family reunion in Cleveland. It will be a lot of travel, a lot of new places, and lots of new people for Ellie to meet. I hope she's ready for it. I guess it was probably good to have this weekend to ease her into it, on her own turf.
The weekend started off with a little visit from my Aunt Debbie, Gary and Debbie's sister Lori. They stopped by for an hour or two on Saturday morning before continuing on into the city for some sightseeing. Ellie blew us away with her good behavior during this visit. She was quiet, sweet, happy, smiley and all around delightful. Considering that the last time she met one of her great-aunts, she screamed the entire time, we welcomed this new approach.
Saying hello to her Great Aunt Debbie
Aunt Debbie has had lots of baby practice recently - both of her children have had babies in the past six months!
Lori, Aunt Debbie, Gary, Achilles and Ellie
Sweetness!
After the first round of visitors left, Ellie had some lunch and went down for a nap. While she was sleeping, her Grandpa W. and Grandma Suellen arrived for their visit. So as not to disturb the baby (all that "never wake a sleeping baby" stuff people always say is so, so true), Eric took his dad and Suellen into the city for a little sightseeing while Ellie napped. They saw Eric's office, Rockefeller Center and St. Patrick's Cathedral before heading back to Hoboken, where they stopped to take in the views of the skyline at Pier C.
Ellie's grandparents at Rockefeller Center!
Enjoying the view
Welcome to Hoboken!
By then Ellie was waking back up, and she was ready to meet another set of grandparents. I would say the first introductions went quite well.
Everyone getting a good look at each other
Ellie and her Grandpa
Three generations of W.'s!
After having a pizza lunch and spending an awful lot of time watching Ellie roll around on the floor, we all went out for a short walk around Hoboken, along the waterfront and over to Washington Street. We stopped for some Crumbs cupcakes then came back home for a bit before everyone left for dinner at Biggie's, while Ellie and I stayed home.
It seems that as time has gone on, I've gotten a bit more casual with how I hold her.
On Sunday, the W. Grandparents returned and we watched Ellie roll around for a while once again. That kid is entertaining! When it was about her nap time, Eric took our guests back into the city. This time they stayed downtown. They walked past the World Trade Center, through St. Paul's Chapel, down Broadway to Trinity Church, down Wall Street to the Stock Exchange (and the area where Eric filmed The Dark Knight Rises, in theaters Friday!), and down Williams Street to where Eric's dad used to work. They then walked back to the train, passing the Bull on the way.
By the Stock Exchange
On their way home, they stopped for lunch and ate along the waterfront. Ellie was still asleep when they got back, so we very quietly said our good-byes and they left for Connecticut, the next leg of their road trip through the area. It was a nice visit, and now Ellie has met nearly all of her grandparents - only one left! I can't wait for her to have met them all!
She was really so good all weekend - we could not have asked for anything more. She was an angel. Now, let's all cross our fingers that she does just as well with the visiting marathon she has ahead of her starting this weekend!
With that 12-inch+ hair cut, I can now cross item number 21, Donate Hair to Locks of Love, off my bucket list! Well, as soon as I stick that lovely severed ponytail in the mail.
It's a pretty drastic change, that's for sure. Throw that on top of having a baby three months ago and turning 30 in a little over a week, and you might say Change is my middle name by now!
And just because I don't think I can make a post anymore that doesn't involve a picture of my kid, I give you Ellie enjoying some last minute tickles from Mommy's hair before the big chop:
Huge thanks to Eric for making the appointment for me and taking time out of his work day to take care of Ellie so I could do this! You're the best, Eric! And I'm a new woman!
Ellie has been so close to rolling over the past few days. So. Close. So we knew it was coming. Another good indicator that she was close was the fact that she did it the other morning while swaddled. The only thing that had been in her way in regular, non-swaddled life was a pesky arm, so with the swaddle holding her arms at her sides, she was free to flip onto her belly at any time. And Tuesday morning was that time. I woke up to the sound of her fussing, looked over into her crib and saw her on her belly doing her very best swan dive pose to keep her head up off the mattress. Luckily, out of the clear blue sky her neck strength has vastly improved lately and instead of the "face plant and scream" tummy time strategy she's taken to this point, now she has been a mini-push-upping machine:
'Sup.
She's so good at it, she even shocked herself!
When I realized that she was belly-side-down in the swaddle I immediately rushed to her rescue, of course. Unfortunately this means the cold turkey end of the swaddle, because since then I have been too afraid she will end up in a face plant she can't get out of. I have been dreading this day because Ellie has been such a great night-sleeper, which I credited to the swaddle, and I was kind of hoping she would never roll over so I could swaddle her till she leaves for college. But alas. However, now we're two days into our Big Girls Don't Swaddle policy, and so far it's going pretty well - she has woken up once each night, but otherwise has slept pretty normally, praise be.
But anyway, I digress. Today, she rolled over FOR REAL! No swaddle needed! Of course she did it the one time that I did not have my video camera at the ready, because that is her style. I did manage to get a blurry "after" shot with my iPhone, though!
Ellie's first roll!
Wait, what just happened?
I had been very curious to see what her reaction would be if she ended up rolling back-to-front before she mastered front-to-back, as she is a known hater of tummy time. I figured she'd be livid to realize she had done all that work only to tummy time herself. She mostly just seemed stunned this time, although my complete FREAK OUT may have distracted her from her rage.
And then, she DID IT AGAIN! And I got it on video! Hooray!
VIDEO: Ellie rolling over for the second time ever!
(Please pardon my ridiculous excited voice)
I'm so proud, I'm bursting at the seams.
Not only that, but I have been watching her learn to reach for things before my very eyes. As she lays on her play mat, you can see the wheels in her little brain turning away as she wills her arms and hands to reach for the toys above her. Honestly (and this may be inappropriate, so my apologies), but it kind of reminds me of a drunk trying desperately to will his finger to touch his nose so he can pass his sobriety test. SO MUCH CONCENTRATION. But she does it! She's getting so much better at it and it is just so cool to be able to watch it happening.
Plus, yesterday she tried out her stroller without the car seat and adapter for the first time, like a real live grown-up:
Where did my little baby go? It's all just happening so fast!
A week or two ago, there was a free New Jersey Symphony Orchestra concert at Pier A Park on a lovely Thursday evening. So, I decided to treat my kids (and myself) to a very nice musical evening in the park.
Ellie, Achilles and I walked down to Pier A and found a nice spot under a tree. We laid out our blanket in the grass and waited for the concert to begin. I thought it was supposed to start at 7:00 p.m., but it didn't actually get going until 7:40! Luckily, both kids were in good spirits so we killed time just relaxing on our blanket.
Crowds gathering for the concert at Pier A
Happy baby, ready for her first concert!
Happy to be out with his family
My kiddos
Just lounging around!
Such a nice night!
Just as the concert got started, Eric arrived home from work and came to join us. After a 40 minute wait for the music to begin, Ellie was getting a little wiggly so she and her Daddy shared a lovely waltz in the park.
She's always so excited to see Daddy when he gets home from work!
Sharing a delightful dance
The concert was quite nice but we only stayed for a few songs before packing up and heading back home. We probably could have stayed longer Ellie-mood-wise, but we wanted to get home and have dinner before starting Ellie's bedtime routine (oh, parenthood!). Although she didn't say so, I think Ellie agreed that this was a good plan, as concert-going is clearly an exhausting activity for babies.
Passed out on the short walk home
Although we didn't stay for the entire concert as we would have in our former pre-baby life, it was a perfect evening, and just what I always dreamed of for my little family: a gorgeous summer night, beautiful music, and the four of us happily passing the time together in a cozy spot under a tree. Perfection.
I hope you all enjoyed your Independence Day! We had a fantastic day and I think Ellie's first Fourth of July was a smashing success.
I love the Fourth of July. I love the parades, the fireworks, the cookouts, just the overall summery feeling. It's one of my favorite holidays. However, this Fourth of July we weren't really sure what to do to celebrate. We have done lots of fun things each Fourth since moving to the city, including the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest, a Revolutionary New York Walking Tour, and last year we watched the fireworks from the west side of the Hudson on our first Hoboken Independence Day. But, none of those outings included a baby. This year, we are plus baby. So what to do?
Our day ended up being pretty low-key but super fun. After breakfast and the Ellie/Achilles photo shoot, we went out for a little family walk around town.
It was nice and sunny, so naturally we all wore our shades!
Left: My sweet patriotic girl, enjoying her day!
Right: Our happy little family!
After our walk we stopped back home for a bit, changed our clothes, then went back out - this time to Newport Green, that park along the Hudson River where we took Ellie to the beach on Memorial Day. This time we didn't go for the sand, however, we went for the water features on the playground. They're very cool - all sorts of different fountains, buckets, sprays, etc. Basically, lots of different ways to get soaked! When we got there we had to wait a bit for Ellie to finish up a little stroller cat nap, but once she woke up, she and Daddy hit the water.
Resting up for play time!
Let's hit the water!
Uh oh, not sure what to think!
She was not a fan of a stream of water splashing her arm.
My loves!
Eric said the water was colder than he expected, but Ellie really did really well. I thought she would, though. She's usually a hot, sweaty little baby (poor thing!) and she loves being in the water at bath time, so I thought she might enjoy it. I think the splashing was still a little much but she had no problem getting wet! And I think she had a nice time with her Dad.
Left: Looking back at the park where they played
Right: Ellie and her Daddy sharing a fun afernoon
After the water park fun, we went back home so the little one could take a good nap. And nap she did - for almost four full hours! Somebody was all tuckered out! When she woke up, Eric and I had hot dogs, watermelon and macaroni and cheese for dinner, and then got ready for the final part of our fun day: the fireworks! We got Ellie dressed in yet another adorable patriotic outfit (that girl loves her some red, white and blue in her wardrobe), strapped her into her carrier and off we went!
Casual and comfy for the fireworks!
We're ready to go!
Honestly, we really debated whether or not to take Ellie to the fireworks. For one thing, with their 9:20 p.m. start time, she would be out way past her bedtime. I was also worried about the noise bothering her. But, we decided to just go for it. We got some of those moldable earplugs for her just as a precaution, and timed her long nap to be later in the day so she could last longer into the night without a meltdown. We also kept her in her carrier in the hopes that being close to me would comfort her if she got scared, and I could put my hands over her ears as needed. We put her in there facing forward for the first time so she could watch the action, because that girl is all about checking everything out these days.
Ellie is sporting ear plugs, but I'm going for noise reduction the old-fashioned way.
I am so glad that we decided to go for it and take her to the fireworks, because she loved them. She was far more offended by me putting her earplugs in her ears than she was by any of the booming noises. As soon as the show began, she was entranced. She just stared up at the beautiful fireworks above her.
Ellie at the fireworks
Mesmerized.
And a beautiful show it was! Naturally, NYC always puts on a great show. I have to say that we had a much better spot this year than last. We learned our lesson last year and this year knew that to have a good view, you really have to go further north in Hoboken. The fireworks are set off from four barges lined up along the Hudson River, and last year we miscalculated our proximity to the lowest barge and ended up being further south than we wanted to be. This year we were up by Maxwell Place (around 11th Street or so), and we had a perfect spot between two of the four barges, with the Empire State Building lit up in festive red, white and blue directly in front of us. I believe people had started camping out for spots there early in the day, but we were able to just walk up about five minutes before the fireworks began and still have a clear view from the sidewalk (what a change from being in NYC, when we had to go hours early!). Our timing was perfect - we left the apartment with just enough time to walk up to a good spot, and as soon as we settled in the show began. We were in a perfect position to see a great display.
Fireworks, with the Empire State Building in the middle!
Saturn fireworks!
So pretty
Smiley faces
Three barges and the ESB
Hearts!
The big finish!
In addition to our pictures, I took a short iPhone video of the finale:
VIDEO: 2012 Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks finale (taken on an iPhone)
Did you notice how the fireworks really stopped bursting and just sort of fizzled out at the end? They also left some really black smoke. I'm thinking that's not what's supposed to happen, no? We watched it on TV when we got home and you couldn't really tell in the broadcast, but it was definitely noticeable in person. Only one of the four barges seemed to really keep firing. Oops.
However, the full display was made even more amazing by an unbelievable nearly-full red moon rising above the city just as the show began. Spectacular!
See the red moon there at the bottom? So cool.
All in all, it was a fantastic Fourth of July! And as soon as we got home, Ellie posed for one last picture then passed right out for bedtime. My poor, sweet, tired American girl!
Her First Fourth was a great one!
After a fun day like that, I'm still on a high today. I'm just so in love with my little family.
