2-month Photo Shoot

It's hard to believe that Elsie is already two months old! We had a lot of fun doing her 2-month photo shoot, and got some great pictures to commemorate the event!

There was lots of smiling, fist-chewing, arm-waving, and gurgling. She also spend a good deal of time "talking" to Olivia, the pig we take her monthly pictures with.

By the end of the photo shoot she was so tuckered out that she fell asleep in her crib without even being swaddled. My little girl is getting so big!

Many thanks to Great-Aunt Marsha for the beautifully crocheted blanket in the pictures.

Elsie Rose's 7-week photo shoot

Auntie Manda and Uncle Matt visit!

Last weekend Auntie Manda and Uncle Matt visited Elsie for the first time. Elsie loved meeting them- she was captivated by Matt and thought it was lots of fun to stare at his face. She also volunteered to allow him to "practice" his diapering technique so that he would be ready when Baby Murray arrives this fall.



Elsie thought that Manda was a fantastic rocker/bouncer, and enjoyed the great songs that she made up for her. If you look closely, you can just barely see Manda's beautiful little baby bump underneath Elsie. Adorable! :)



Matt and Manda must have the magic touch, because Elsie was a great sleeper while they were here, and even let us take the Murrays across town to visit the two baby stores we like. Manda bought her first item of baby clothing and an owl rattle for Baby Murray. The car trip even went well...it helps to have Manda in the back seat of the car with Elsie- her little songs kept Elsie happy and occupied during the drive!

Matt and Manda made us delicious food while they were here, took care of our chores, and even went grocery shopping for us! We can't wait until they can visit us again!

Elsie is a Superhero

This morning while I was eating breakfast Andy and Elsie played on the floor in the dining room. Andy spent the majority of my meal making Elsie "fly" around the room playing "Super Elsie"(she loved it!). When it was time for Elsie to get dressed for the day (i.e., when she spit up on her PJ's), it seemed only natural that we continue her superhero theme by dressing her in her "SUPER BABY" onsie. She also put on her super-fast track shoes to aid her in catching the criminals she might have to chase on the ground (a superhero can't ALWAYS fly). Oh, and her bonnet, too, because her super powers don't extend to UV-ray deflection.



Later, Elsie helped me pick the humongous zucchini out of our garden. While I think this recent harvest proves that I do, indeed, have a green thumb, it also shows that I have been neglecting my garden since Elsie arrived (my nine ears of corn shared a similar fate as the zucchini). Luckily, there are plenty of other ripe zucchini left on the vine for us to enjoy, in addition to bowls of delicious yellow and red grape tomatoes and some peppers and roma tomatoes, too.



It seems that being a superhero is hard work, because Elsie slept more today than she usually does over the course of three days. If all it takes is a little crime-fighting to get her to nap, the streets of Madison are going to be safer than those of Gotham City!

A strolling picture from better days...

Elsie really likes to go on long walks. For the first month of life, she was thrilled to lay in her carseat in her Bob stroller and walk with me for hours at a time. We toured the entire SW side of Madison, and even made a couple of trips to get fresh veggies from vendors together (it turns out that the Bob under-the-stroller pocket is the perfect size for bringing home a big bag of corn on the cob). Lately, though, Elsie has decided that she hates to be in her carseat. She screams whenever we are in the car, and refuses to stay in the stroller on walks. After a few eventful strolls in which she happily let me push her a few miles from our house, then decided to cry (loudly) until I picked her up and carried her home (while pushing the empty stroller with one hand) I concluded that it is just easier to carry her in her baby ka'tan carrier instead of bringing the stroller along. I'm hoping that this I-hate-the-carseat phase passes quickly, though, because as much as Elsie and I both love our baby carrier, walking with a baby carrier in the 90-degree weather we are currently having gets VERY hot, VERY quickly!

Goodbye, dear Toodles.

Toodles had to be put to sleep on Wednesday due to an undiagnosed blood clot disorder. It was extremely unexpected, and very heartbreaking for Andy and I. So unexected, in fact, that only a week ago I took this picture of Toodles after he jumped onto our kitchen shelf just a foot shy of the ceiling. He was so proud of himself after this- he was purring up a storm up there! I guess we'll never know how he managed to get up there now...it will be one of the unexplained mysteries of the amazing Toodle-boy.

For those of you who never got the chance to meet him, check out the video we posted a few weeks ago of Toodles and Andy playing with a laundry basket.

Toodles was such a silly, silly kitty, and I am a better person for having had the privilege of his companionship these last ten years.

Elsie at 6 weeks

Dad has discovered that Elsie is very helpful when he wants to carry a snack downstairs.



Elsie likes spending time playing on her mat, especially when she rolls from her belly to her back.





Elsie loves when Grandma RJ visits. She gets lots of hugs and kisses, gets rocked to sleep for every nap, and gets to go on long walks. She especially has fun making silly faces with Grandma RJ.

Elsie at one month

At one month, Elsie weighs just over nine pounds and wears size NB or 0-3 clothes. She has given her dad one "social" smile- a big goofy grin when he came home from work one day. She holds her head up for minutes at a time when being held, and for 30-60 seconds when having "tummy time" on her play mat. She loves bouncing on the yoga ball when she feels colicky, preferably in the guest bathroom with the vent on. She generally has one 4-hour stretch of sleep a night, but sleeps for less than 45 minutes at a time during the day. She prefers to be held 24 hours a day, and protests loudly (or wakes up) when laid in her crib. She adores being outside, but only likes walks in her carrier, not her stroller and car seat.

For comparison, Elsie at one week.

Elsie likes flowers.

Elsie snoozing in the sun while Mom works in the garden.

Toodles is keeping us in line

So even with the new baby Toodles still gets some attention. Here he is being entertained.

Workin' Hard

Working on a "Project" - this went on for ~2 minutes or so.

A valuable skill is learned

A friend visited and Elsie did nucks _with_ explosion on the very first try! She is quite advanced.

Elsie Rose at one week

Elsie at the hospital

FIRST MOMENTS WITH MY MOM


THREE GENERATIONS MEET


MEETING GRANDMA ANN


GRANDMA RJ THINKS LILAC IS MY COLOR...


SPENDING TIME WITH DADDY AND GRANDMA

Elsie's Almost-Birthday Post

Since today was Elsie's official due-date, I thought she deserved a little post celebrating the fact that she was one of a very select group of first-born babies to be born six days early.



Elsie's best frowny face.



Cuddling with Daddy.



One very happy milk-drunk smile.

Elsie

Here she is!

First trial with our new Flip...

...in which Toodles leads his brother and sister in asking for dinner, and Ms. Ping tells Pongo in no uncertain terms that she does not want help taking a bath before she eats.

A bit more of NZ

Here is the garden at the B&B we stayed at in Westport, it went all the way around the house in a horseshoe like this. Apparently it takes almost zero maintenance! Very few weeds/pests in NZ.

Seal colony south of Westport! Here is a momma and baby getting along.

And here are some seals fighting over a sunny spot. I did not understand the battle as they did not ever touch. The one on the right seemed to "win."

Down the west coast another 40 minutes are the Punakaki (sp) Rocks, aka the Pancake Rocks. Basically the ocean tides slam into channels in the rock and can explode like a geyser! This was the best one in the 30 minutes we were there watching (high tide):
After the geyser there was also this cool fine mist for a bit:

More from NZ!

These are some rocks on the west coast - right near the seal colony. Very harsh ocean. A beach near Westport, this shot shows blowing sand, and some of the mountains inland.

This a view from the top of the Mountain across from our B&B at St. Arnaud.

This is the base of the same lake as the above, just amazing to see soo many mountains right to the base of this lake (lake seemed sea level).

View from a kayaking break from our day kayaking at Abel Tasman National Park.

Back from New Zealand!

We are back and slowly recovering from the 18-hour time change. Lots of great memories,beautiful hikes, and new animal friends (and some human ones, too). Here we are in the mountains of Arthur's Pass the day before we flew home.