Warning: the word cute is used more than OMG on those design shows

Newborns are a lot of things but squeezable is not one of them. Now that Baby Girl has gotten bigger she has become very squeezable. This new squeezability increases her cuddle-ability factor by 10. My adoration for Ella seems to grow right along with her. Every day, I find myself using the cute word more than I used like as a teenager. One of the things I appreciate about Drew is that he puts up with this. Even joins in, concurs that yes, her head tilt is new and it does show her shear genius ability. We must have talked about something else besides the cuteness of Miss. Ella, before her birth, but I really can not remember what it was. I am sure it was something very intelligent, like how to achieve world peace... But now it is all Ella. One day we will re-find ourselves outside of Ella, but right now I am way too busy trying to get her to say mamamamam or dadadada.

melting pot

This Thanksgiving Ella, Drew and I were surrounded by Family. Ella has met most of these folks but they were in spurts, here everyone was in one room or at least we were all in the same state. If Ella wanted to find a relative in the state of PA she would have to keep driving till she hit Dixie but in GA it is thick with kin folks. Some willing to make the trek to see her. As I look out over these folks I can not help but try and use them like a crystal ball to tell me about future Ella. Will she have MaMa's amazing cooking abilities, Memama's story telling, my Dad's creativity, Jeanerett stubborness....So far all we know is that she has some long toes. I have bets that she has my lips but I chalk up her face, eyes and hair to Drew's genes. I have been watching my friends children for signs of my friends. My nephew went through an age, where though he did not look exactly like my sister, he did have physical movements that brought me back to age 9 watching my sister play. It seems to me that no matter how close kids look to their parents, after a while the kids seem to own their features. They go from looking like their parents to their parents looking like them. They make all that crazy package of pieces given to them by lady luck via DNA their very own. I would like to go on record that her ability to look debonair in a hat....that is all Manning.

As you see my child play with an empty cheese bag, I would like to state that we have bought Ella toys. Adorable toys, toys that marketing has promised me that I need in order to keep her just as smart as all those other kids whose parents are buying them toys. However, Ella is immune to all that marketing and peer comparison and seems much more interested in a toys ability to fit into her mouth, making crinkly noises and be held in her tight little grasp. It reminds me of my nephews first Christmas, all those fancy toys and he seemed to love tearing the wrapping paper the best. It is one of the main reasons I always wrap kids presents in wrapping paper, even though I can tell you right now, I hate wrapping presents and love those present bags. I do not have the patience for wrapping presents. No patience for making those crisp corners and bows. I am too cheap to buy bows, so instead I try and make them out of wrapping paper and it just gets messy. Which brings me back to Ella and her cheese bag, the cheap part of me loves the fact that she can be entertained with a cheese bag. Ha marketers, my child is easily entertained by a cheese bag. It makes me want to try out other soft household items. For instance Fitz. I am also very impressed with her patience in trying out things like getting that cheese bag in her mouth. Patience. Patience in trying to figure out how exactly she is going to roll herself over to the toys she wants, how is she going get a hold of that dangle toy that is just out of her reach and how is she going to get those socks off. This is her fathers doing. His presents have the crispiest folded corners you have ever seen.

Plane Thankful

To squeak out a few more hours out of Thanksgiving, I stayed in GA a day longer than Drew. This meant I would be traveling alone with lovely Miss Ella Ann. Drew did this very thing himself not but a month before and he used the word challenging when he described it. Well, what he really said was more along the lines of " I am so sorry that you will be traveling alone with Baby Girl". You would have thought I would have taken that as a warning. I thought, well I will just make sure and prepare. I mean the flight is only two hours top, what is the worse that could happen in two hours? Actually, I was more concerned with getting through security then anything else. I thought juggling a baby, luggage and putting on and off my shoes would be the biggest issue. But at the Atlanta airport they have a line just for us baby toter's. There is a sign with a picture of a baby at the start of it and everything. More than 8 ounces of fluid, no problem, slow because you are juggling a baby, no problem. There is a sign, you are either in this line because you have one or you like babies. After security, I thought I was home free. Before getting on the plane, I made sure Ella had a clean diaper and one full bottle. I should have made sure that she had bio hazard tape surrounding her. My only hope was to get two folks sitting on either side of me that like babies, or at least do not mind the high shrieks that come from babies. As I sat down, the lady on the right of me informed me that she had 9 children and 15 grandchildren, I took this as a good sign. The lady on the left fell asleep immediately, I hoped she was deaf or had earplugs in. Ella proceeded to snack and then like a model baby, fell asleep. Just as I was getting out my list of things to ask a woman who has 9 kids, Ella wakes up and finishes her bottle. This is the one thing I had been worried about. Ella's only real demand in life is ready food source. About this time I realized that Ella's diaper was a quitter. Now, I have had Ella's poop escape her diapers before but I have never had a diaper just up and quit on me. Warm pee was just seeping on through and soaking my pants. As I was trying to wrap up Miss Ella in my coat to contain the leakage and figure out how to change a baby on an airplane, Ella starts vomiting everywhere. The lady on the right of me, got a good dose as well as me. Only a mother of 9 would have handled a strangers baby throwing up on them as blase. In the end I was holding a soaking wet, crying Ella, who looked like she had gotten in a fight with yogurt and lost. Ella soon went from unhappy to thrilled because she found out that she could tilt her head to the side and see the passengers between the seats. I had reverted back to the mantra that I use to say in all my math classes, this too will end, this too will end. As the plane landed the lady to left of me woke up and complimented me on how she never heard a peep out of Ella. It occurred to me that sleeping pills are way better than earplugs. So as well as being thankful for good food and family this Thanksgiving holiday, I am also thankful that of all the folks that sat next to me on the plane, one was a lady with 9 of her own and a water-repellent jacket and the other used more than turkey to put herself to sleep.