An Ellie Update

20 Months. I know. I can hardly believe it either, but it's true. She's 20 months old. Maybe it's time to start saying "she'll be TWO in June," but I think I'll hang on to the whole counting months thing for a little while longer. I'm not ready to give that up yet. I'm not ready to give a lot of things up yet, but she keeps growing and changing and I can hardly recognize the tiny infant in the pictures anymore.

There's something that happens as your child starts approaching the age of TWO. Maybe it's after they turn one, but for me I started noticing it when she was around, oh, 18 months. People start asking a lot of questions, people you don't even know. They start glancing at your stomach, looking for that bloated bump that signals the early stages of pregnancy. For example, I was pulled over by a Policeman today for making an illegal u-turn (don't worry...this is going somewhere). I've always had a problem getting pulled over for making illegal u-turns. Anyways, that's not the point. The police officer sauntered up to my car and proceeded to lecture me. I suppose I deserved a good lecture. After all, I've been pulled over several times for the same thing. I was prepared to remove my license and registration when he asked me how old my daughter was, pointing to Ellie in the back seat. I answered "20 months." He then asked me if she was my only child. I told him she was (thinking this was really strange all the while). He then proceeded to ask me if I was going to have more (it just keeps getting stranger). I am wondering to myself at this point if this is some kind of joke or trick question. I answered seriously, "hopefully." He replied, "GOOD." He made one last remark about driving safely and then told me to have a nice day. I think this is indeed the most bizarre encounter I've ever had with a person of the law.

Maybe I've gone a bit off topic. The point is that Ellie is now 20 months old! The point is that the days of my chubby, little infant are gone. Forever. I will never have them back and that makes me feel kind of sad. I am embracing this new stage with Ellie. She is a very sweet little girl who entertains us with her funny personality for hours on end. The point is that hopefully, someday, we will have more. They may not be chubby or have dark, spiky hair. They may not resemble Ellie at all, but until then, I will look forward to meeting him or her. Hopefully. Someday...

A few pictures of 20 Months-ish:

Fairyland in Oakland

The eight dollar Elmo Bubble Machine that offers endless hours of entertainment...no matter the weather!

Be Mine

Spending time at Golden Gate Park with her Godmother, Amanda.

Little Miss Hollywood

February Randomness

I have felt kind of boring this month. Just the usual daily happenings and routine. When I can't think of anything specific to blog about (which hasn't been much lately) I always find it easiest to use bullets. So here you go:

*We (as in Ellie) have had every kind of chest cold, ear infection, etc. run through the house this month. This meant a lack of sleep, a lot of crying, and plenty of Elmo. Fortunately, we're fully recovered now (which means a very happy mom and dad).

*I found a dead rat in the backyard last week while we were playing. It was fat with a huge tail (I'm not exaggerating). I panicked. I couldn't find a shovel, so I grabbed a rake. It's lifeless body dangled from the rake as I carried it from the backyard to the trash can on the side of the house. I'm still a little traumatized.

*I have become pretty busy in an organization called BVA (I don't want my blog to pop up in a Google search). It's a nonprofit volunteer organization that supports children's literacy through a Tutorial program. I am on the Auction committee, which basically means I get to call around and solicit restaurants for donations. I get turned down a lot. One day I even dressed Ellie up really cute and we walked from restaurant to restaurant in downtown Walnut Creek. We still got turned down. How could anyone say no to her little face? Anyways, please let me know if you have buckets of money you don't know what to do with and you'd like to donate it. Maybe you'd like to know what BVA stands for first?

*What is the deal with Yo Gabba Gabba? I don't get it. I hear it's the latest craze, but quite frankly it kind of creeped me out. I know I'm not exactly their target audience, but I still have to watch the stuff too. I find Elmo way more entertaining (if anyone cares).

*American Idol and The Bachelor are currently my favorite shows. I'm a little embarassed to say that I still am hooked on The Bachelor, but I figure I should come clean. TV is a great thing in February.

That's all the randomness I can think of at the moment. Last, but not least, I leave you (whoever you are) a few recent pictures:



Knute wanted to spend a Father-Daughter afternoon with Ellie. He took her to Pier 39 to see the Aquarium, ride the Merry-Go-Round, and eat junk. I was a little bummed to miss out on the fun, but it was nice to spend an afternoon watching some high quality Lifetime movies. There I go talking about tv again...
This is Ellie and Rudy's favorite hang out spot (our bed, which gets smaller by the day). They like to shed dog hair and dump out dry cereal all over it.

Ellie enjoys "grooming" Rudy. She even wipes off his paws.