Here's Ela laughing at her Daddy. I love that sound!
Friday, July 17, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Ela's First Meal
I tried to upload Ela's baptism several times, and each time got an error message in Japanese. I'm guessing it's too long. So we'll show you her first attempt with solids instead. Keep in mind that I was feeding her with one hand and taping with the other, Zack being at work.
Here it is!
Here it is!
More video to follow...
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Weekend of Fire(works) and Water
My have we had a busy week! The change of command was on Thursday, so the beginning of the week was absorbed by good bye/hello parties for the former CO and the new XO. Then it was suddenly the fourth of July. Elly has already grown out of the cute sailor dress she wore for Zack's arrival home, so she wore a cute onsie for all of five minutes before dirtying it up, leading to the use of this outfit for the rest of the day:
To celebrate, we took her to the big event at Nimitz park for dinner and then we watched the fireworks together.
Elly was really less interested in the colors in the sky than in the huge crowd of new faces to examine, but we pretend that she watched anyway. She did express mild interest in the really sparkly ones that I like. As soon as the fireworks stopped we hurried her home to bed.
Sunday was Ela's baptism. Most of the pictures are on someone else's camera, but here she is with her Daddy before the service:
After the church service, a bunch of our friends from Zack's ship came to see her be baptized in a small ceremony at the chapel, then we all went out for Sunday Brunch. It was a really nice ceremony, and it was nice to have a little celebration in Ela's honor afterwards.
Then, Sunday evening, Elly and I went to one more good bye party for the former CO's son. This one was at the pool, so we got to try out her swimsuit for the first time.
Again, we have more pictures on someone else's camera, but Elly and I did actually get in the water for a short time. I waited until she was sweaty from the heat of the room, then I got in the pool and let her stand on the edge (with a little help, obviously). Then I had her sit on the edge, and finally she came in with me. She took this dip better than her baptism, so I consider it a success. We got out when the other kids started splashing around a bit.
After that crazy busy weekend, Ela had a doctor's appointment on Monday. She has been deemed healthy. She's still way at the top of the height and weight arc, but her little data points are making a nice curve, so it's okay. She handled the vaccines a bit better this time. I suspect that this is because it was the same one as last time, and her immunity is, logically, higher. We're all very glad to have her all taken care of, spiritually and physically.
To celebrate, we took her to the big event at Nimitz park for dinner and then we watched the fireworks together.
Elly was really less interested in the colors in the sky than in the huge crowd of new faces to examine, but we pretend that she watched anyway. She did express mild interest in the really sparkly ones that I like. As soon as the fireworks stopped we hurried her home to bed.
Sunday was Ela's baptism. Most of the pictures are on someone else's camera, but here she is with her Daddy before the service:
After the church service, a bunch of our friends from Zack's ship came to see her be baptized in a small ceremony at the chapel, then we all went out for Sunday Brunch. It was a really nice ceremony, and it was nice to have a little celebration in Ela's honor afterwards.
Then, Sunday evening, Elly and I went to one more good bye party for the former CO's son. This one was at the pool, so we got to try out her swimsuit for the first time.
Again, we have more pictures on someone else's camera, but Elly and I did actually get in the water for a short time. I waited until she was sweaty from the heat of the room, then I got in the pool and let her stand on the edge (with a little help, obviously). Then I had her sit on the edge, and finally she came in with me. She took this dip better than her baptism, so I consider it a success. We got out when the other kids started splashing around a bit.
After that crazy busy weekend, Ela had a doctor's appointment on Monday. She has been deemed healthy. She's still way at the top of the height and weight arc, but her little data points are making a nice curve, so it's okay. She handled the vaccines a bit better this time. I suspect that this is because it was the same one as last time, and her immunity is, logically, higher. We're all very glad to have her all taken care of, spiritually and physically.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Daddy comes home...
Zack has been away with the ship for the last few months. Last week, he finally returned home. Ela and I were prepared with an appropriately patriotic outfit and a poster...
We showed up at the pier with plenty of time to see them pull in. The guys did it up right for their families, manning the rails in their handsome white uniforms:
I spent most of the time while they were pulling in looking for Zack. Ela spent it wiggling in my arms. About the time Ela fell asleep, I found him:
Finally, they were in and the guys came off to say hello before going back to work. Zack got to hold Ela for awhile and was amazed at how much she's grown. We had a lovely morning:
After our happy greeting, Ela and I went home and Zack went back to work. It was the first time I'd seen the ship pull in, and I'm glad we went.
We showed up at the pier with plenty of time to see them pull in. The guys did it up right for their families, manning the rails in their handsome white uniforms:
I spent most of the time while they were pulling in looking for Zack. Ela spent it wiggling in my arms. About the time Ela fell asleep, I found him:
Finally, they were in and the guys came off to say hello before going back to work. Zack got to hold Ela for awhile and was amazed at how much she's grown. We had a lovely morning:
After our happy greeting, Ela and I went home and Zack went back to work. It was the first time I'd seen the ship pull in, and I'm glad we went.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
The Forgotten Baby
This year, I almost forgot about Dory's birthday (She's six now). It isn't the first time she's been ignored on her birthday. She's spent two of them in kennels for various reasons. So it's not like I throw a party every year, but I still felt kind of bad. The day after, I went out and got her a present. Luckily, she's a dog, so she really didn't care a bit.
All in all, Dory has adapted well to the changes in her life that have resulted from Ela. She's loved Ela from the moment she came home, so that was good. Of course, there's still some confusion for her. Mostly, this has to do with the fact that Dory believes she should lay in the softest available spot, or in a lap. So if I set down a blanket and leave it for a few minutes before trying to get tummy time in with Ela, this is the result:
Note the toy sitting there. That's Dory's too. She thinks that anyone on the floor should be playing with her. She can't figure out why we spend time on the floor not throwing balls for her. She also tries to play with Ela.
She drops her toys near Ela's arms and waits, not so patiently, for Ela to pick them up. Eventually, she'll give up and just chew them, as pictured above.
Naptime is good for both of them, though. Dory totally understands that:
And I still occasionally get a picture of my older daughter being cute all by herself:
So we're getting along pretty well. :-)
All in all, Dory has adapted well to the changes in her life that have resulted from Ela. She's loved Ela from the moment she came home, so that was good. Of course, there's still some confusion for her. Mostly, this has to do with the fact that Dory believes she should lay in the softest available spot, or in a lap. So if I set down a blanket and leave it for a few minutes before trying to get tummy time in with Ela, this is the result:
Note the toy sitting there. That's Dory's too. She thinks that anyone on the floor should be playing with her. She can't figure out why we spend time on the floor not throwing balls for her. She also tries to play with Ela.
She drops her toys near Ela's arms and waits, not so patiently, for Ela to pick them up. Eventually, she'll give up and just chew them, as pictured above.
Naptime is good for both of them, though. Dory totally understands that:
And I still occasionally get a picture of my older daughter being cute all by herself:
So we're getting along pretty well. :-)
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Cinco de Mayo with ILC
While Dad was here visiting, it was the American's turn to host an ILC event. So I saved up a bunch of milk and boldly left the house without the baby! It was quite a big step for everyone involved since I had never been away from her for more than half an hour and she had never taken more than one or two ounces of milk in a bottle. All in all, though, it was a successful experience.
The theme the Americans chose for this event was Cinco de Mayo. It turned out to be a really fun theme to run with. First, we had a marachi group from the high school come to perform with us. I didn't get video, but they sounded great!
We also had a giant pinata that the ladies took turns banging away at. It was really fun to watch them, and they're all so supportive, the cheers every time someone made contact were also a lot of fun to listen to. However, when it finally broke, I guess they missed the part about running up to get the candy, so there was more cheering, but no mad rush for candy. We passed it out in a far more orderly manner after the fact...
The food was, of course, Mexican, and I took this picture because I was amazed that anyone would try to eat a taco with chopsticks, but there they are (sorry they're a bit hard to see). The woman eating from this plate was in a lovely kimono and I shudder to think about what salsa would do to it if it dripped...
Finally, we got a dance instructor to come teach us some salsa, chacha and tango moves. It was highly entertaining to watch the lovely ladies strutting their stuff on the dance floor!
So we all had a really great time. When I got home, Ela and her grandpa were out walking doing some shopping on the Ginza. She had milk to spare, and it sounded like their day was just as fun. We'll both be ready next time we get a chance to have a babysitter.
The theme the Americans chose for this event was Cinco de Mayo. It turned out to be a really fun theme to run with. First, we had a marachi group from the high school come to perform with us. I didn't get video, but they sounded great!
We also had a giant pinata that the ladies took turns banging away at. It was really fun to watch them, and they're all so supportive, the cheers every time someone made contact were also a lot of fun to listen to. However, when it finally broke, I guess they missed the part about running up to get the candy, so there was more cheering, but no mad rush for candy. We passed it out in a far more orderly manner after the fact...
The food was, of course, Mexican, and I took this picture because I was amazed that anyone would try to eat a taco with chopsticks, but there they are (sorry they're a bit hard to see). The woman eating from this plate was in a lovely kimono and I shudder to think about what salsa would do to it if it dripped...
Finally, we got a dance instructor to come teach us some salsa, chacha and tango moves. It was highly entertaining to watch the lovely ladies strutting their stuff on the dance floor!
So we all had a really great time. When I got home, Ela and her grandpa were out walking doing some shopping on the Ginza. She had milk to spare, and it sounded like their day was just as fun. We'll both be ready next time we get a chance to have a babysitter.
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