1984 Rocked!

So my sister turned 25 on Friday. Aunt Susie had a party with the theme, "1984 Rocked!". Nick, Ellie, and I (as well as about 50 of Susie's closest friends) came to her party.

We lasted till about 11:30 (right before Cousin Jim arrived from NYC). Remarkably, we weren't the first to leave! Ellie did really well chilling in the carrier for most of the night.

Now, everyone got into the theme. Some people went as themselves in 1984 (ie as a three year old), others rocked serious 80s garb. Nick donned a Cubs jersey with a patch commerating the 1984 Cubs team that was NL champions. I went as a Mondale supporter. And Ellie...well she wore some 1980s gear including some Nikes and a shirt from the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History which were mine, Susie's, or both.

We all had a great time celebrating! Happy Birthday Susie!

Happy Birthday, Aunt Susie!

Ellie Stretches Her Vocal Chords

5-21-09 ellie talks
Originally uploaded by AHarrer

Since everything has been purely visual, we thought we would post some audible Ellie Content.

In this video, Ellie really, really wants out of her bouncy seat and be held by me. She is "asking" to be picked up instead of just crying about it (a big advancement in the world of Ellie lately). If you listen closely you may hear things that sound like "mom" and "up".

Now, I do not think that my three-month-old daughter is actually talking. I would like to think that Ellie is great at mimicing sounds. Future musician?

Three Month Update

Ellen is now a little over three months. I don't have an exact weight and length (as we don't visit the doctor until her 4 month check-up) but, I did weight her around three months and she was 13 lb 9 oz. Despite the fact that she is over 12 lbs most her 3 month clothes still fit. I'm pretty sure all the weight is her head (the circumference was at 95 percentile at 2 months) and her thighs (it runs in the family!).

She's been to a few more movies, including Star Trek in IMAX, Terminator, Angels and Demons, and Wolverine. She actually was awake for about half of Angels and Demons and sat on my lap and watched it. She does really well in the movies.

Work is still going well. I've started her on my material science textbooks now. There are great photos of microstructures of metals, which are basically black and white geometric patterns to her. I'll teach her about concrete next...

She has started sleeping on her side...she is just a twist of the hips to flipping to her stomach. She is sleeping about 4-5 hours, then she will eat, then she will sleep between 3 and 4 hours. It usually works with our schedule, but sometimes she wakes up at 5:30...which is way too early for us! Sometimes she has a hard time falling asleep, and we have to hold her hand until she is out. Hopefully this is a short phase!

And my 12 week vacation is over

I can't believe how fast 3 months goes by when you're having fun! So, I'm back to work now. Not full-time but as much as I can do. You see, Ellie is coming to work with me. It is take-you-daughter-to-work-day, everyday! Well, until school is out for the summer and Aunt Susie will provide childcare services.

Today was our first day back. I fully intended to just go in for the morning. But Ellie was doing so well, I stayed all day. Of course I didn't get a full 8 hours of billable time, but I was much more productive than I anticipated. Ellie seemed quite comfortable hanging out on the floor of my office or sitting in my lap while I typed. But you know, after three months of practicing typing with one hand, I'm pretty good at it! Hopefully tomorrow will go just as smoothly. The picture below is Ellie hanging out. She seemed pretty happy to be at work.

The fun really starts on Friday. Nick has a funky schedule currently where he works Sunday night in exchange for Fridays off. So, this Friday will be his first time alone with Ellie for more than a few hours. As long as he remembers that you have to warm bottles before you give them to the baby he should be fine.

And I learned today that differential equations are just as fascinating as The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Who knew?

Santa Barbara on fire...again...

Update: My family is back in their homes (except my aunt and uncle who are still in Europe). Our neighborhood is now in a warning zone. The weather cooperated over the weekend and the firefighters were able to fight the fire.

Here we go again. The Jesusita Fire in Santa Barbara has caused already the loss of 80 homes. Over 30,000 people have been evacuated and the fire is only 10% contained. Some of the over 12,000 homes evacuated are my families.

My family is safe. My father is actually in Boston right now and my aunt and uncle are in Europe. So my mom evacuated our house, my aunt and uncle's house, my grandma, and my grandparents. My grandparents are with extended family in Ventura (just south of Santa Barbara, where the earthquake was yesterday). The fire has not, so far, come near our homes but the weather can change at any moment.

We have our fingers crossed. With all the recent fires and the Painted Cave fire (which basically burned half of SB when I was younger) everyone has evacuations down to a science. All irreplacable items (family photos, etc) are all in one place and its a grab and go situation. Unfortunately, that's a reality in Santa Barbara recently.

For more information I have found the Santa Barbara Independent to be the best source at http://www.independent.com/.

Happy Birthday Nick!

Growing...

Oh my how Ellie is growing. We have switched the seat in the stroller from the bassinet to the regular seat (though it tilts all the way back and faces us).

I have no idea why this photo is turned vertical, and I don't know how to fix it. But, that's Ellie in the stroller seat with her sun hat on.

And last night we expanded her bassinet to the crib and moved her from our room to her own room. She did really well. I think it was harder for me than for her. She fell asleep by herself, as usual, and slept her usual 6 hours. She is going through an attachment phase and I was worried that she wouldn't sleep without me near her. But, as usual, Ellie is mellow and low key.

Above is the crib all set up and ready for Ellie. We did expand the polka dots, so there are now twice as many up on the wall and it extends all the way down. Ellie really seems to enjoy them and it makes the room look really cool.

Below is a photo of Ellie in her pajamas all ready for bed. When I went to get her for a 7am feeding this morning, she gave me the biggest smile. She was so happy to see me! It made waking up at 2am and again at 7am all worth it!

And of course, a smiling Ellie. She was in her crib getting ready for a little nap. (Yes, that's an alligator on her wrist. Its a rattle and its fun to watch her move her arm and it make noise. Probably more fun for us than for her right now though).