Ouch Mommy, it hurts!!

Poor Ella Bella. Tonight she started fussing and working her gums with her hand in one particular spot. She finally fell asleep while I ran out to the store for some Orajel. She was not at all pleased when I woke her up to dress her in a diaper and PJs. She was even less pleased when I applied the Orajel but she's now resting peacefully.

Did you know that the nighttime Orajel formula with "added teething pain reliever" has all of 2.5% more benzocaine than the daytime formula? The difference is 7.5% and 10% and it's almost 1/3 the amount for the same price. Nutty!!!!

Play Time

She loves her activity gym. (Thanks to the HR ladies.) It keeps her entertained for a good 30-40 minutes at a time, giving me some much needed down time. Today she started reaching up and grabbing an animal with both hands and tugging. It was a great fun to watch. When she got bored she started to practice rolling over. Every time she'd roll to her stomach she'd start to fuss. Apparently it's easier for her to roll back to front than front to back. Go figure!

UUUGGGGHHHHHH

OK, it's 1:30 am and "Ella Bella" isn't so bella right now. She's decided that it's wide awake time. She's fussing a little in her crib and then grinning when I walk into the room. she wants me to pick her up and play with her. She has her Binky and she just ate. She currently is rubbing Seymore and fussing. It would all be very cute if I could only go back to sleep. Twenty minutes ago she decided that it was time to practice rolling over. What ever else would one do in the wee hours? She kept rolling from back to side to belly. She'd then fuss until I rolled her back to her back so she could do it all over again. Anyone want to babysit?

I like this one Mommy

This one is my favorite so far even if you put it on me crooked!

Amy Gets Her Groove On

Today Amy shook her groove thing. We went to the Ali Wai Challenge, a series of canoe races with food booths and Tahitian style dancing. At the end of the dancing they asked for volunteers, Amy went up to shake her groove thing. The girl can shake!! As the drums beat the volunteers dropped off and soon she was the only one left. The male dancers the started to join her. At the music's end she was surrounded by five, almost naked, sweaty, Hawaiian men. Life is rough in the islands!

Ella and Seymore

Ella has a stuffed musical donkey that "she" named Seymore one day while I was out shopping and Dad was babysitting. It seems that she only tells Dad the names of her stuffed animals and only while I'm away from her. Hmmm, isn't that interesting? Seymore sleeps in the crib with Ella. The morning she kept reaching rolling on her side and touching him while making irritated noises. I picked him up, pulled the string, started the music and put him back in the crib. Ella promptly rolled onto her back, grinned at me, relaxed and began staring at her mobile. It must be frustrating to be unbale to do the things you want.

Seijin shiki

Today Mom, Ella, and I went to a "Coming-of-age"/Kimono dressing at the Lab School in Honolulu. Mom and I "came of age" long ago and Ella has years but the Japanese there women dressed us in kimonos. It was quite an elaborate process. We started with tabi which are divided toe-socks. We were then dressed in multiple layers with a variety of ties and different padding. Our obis (belts) were wrapped, kanzashis (hair ornaments) were then placed. We then stepped into our zoris (thong shoes.) It was fascinating watching the women choose different accessories with a variety of colors that I thought would be quite awful but which were beautiful when put together.

We even got to talk to a reporter! Thanks Mom. It was great fun!!

http://starbulletin.com/2007/01/28/news/photofinish.html

That's Better...

Mommy, I like this hat so much better!!! Less pink is good.

Farmers Market

Gigi insists on stopping at every farmers market known to man. Today we went down to the local one. It's once a week, for only an hour, and they have them all over the island. I find myself asking what things are at almost every stand. The fruits and veggies here are different from any I've seen. I just need a cooking class for the local veggies.

Mommy, not again.

I’m not sure what the hat obsession is all about. To top it off, they all seem to be pink!

OUCH

Last night Jake and I decided to go for a roller blade. Unfortunately it was getting dark and he decided he needed to chase EVERY shadow. He took off when one of the shadows decided to bark. His leash got caught on my fingers. He ran in front of me and I went flying. To top off the humiliation, I had three witnesses!! Anyone want to buy an eighty-five pound, male, yellow Labrador Retriever?

Obsession

My mother and I are a bit obsessed with getting a PERFECT picture of Ella in this hat.

Escape

"If I fall asleep I can pretend my mother and grandmother have not put me in this silly hat!!"

Can this be comfortable?

What is it with cats and their ability to sleep anywhere? Apparently
"Running with Scissors" makes a better pillow than it does a read.

Daddy Time

It was wonderful having Rob home early today. Ella was the center of his universe. She was read to, thrown into the air, and cuddled with. I'm dreading his departure this Sunday.

Daily Exercise

After a looooong nap (Rob came home from work early so I could sleep) we went for a quick roller blade. As you can see, all were excited about the quick trip around the neighborhood. For some reason I returned home in a sweat and Rob was nice and dry.

New to This

Forgive me, I’m new to this. I never thought I'd have the time or the energy for a Blog but my life has changed dramatically in the last few months. The birth of “Ella Bella” has made me a bit crazy and quite sleep deprived. Last night the little charmer was up, almost hourly, screeching at the top of her lungs. So much for sleeping through the night. Can a 3+ month old have night terrors? Because of the crazy sleep schedule I’m now up at midnight and she has been sleeping peacefully for the last 3 hours. I’m not holding my breath; she’ll be up any minute. As my friend Amy says I’m “in the sleep obsessed stage.” How can one be obsessed with something one gets so little of?