Nonna and Cookie Time

"Hmmmm, not sure what to do with this."
"Oh, this tastes good. Where have these been?"
It looks like she's sucking her thumb, but really she's jamming the cookie in her mouth.
"Hey, I want more!"
Our little genius is trying to crawl and carry on a conversation at the same time!
Close-up of Ellis chewing on the string from her sweatshirt.
I still love the profile shot.
She loves her Nonna.
Hanging out with her Nonna. She's a professional when it comes to having her picture taken.

Some updates on Ellis:
1. She is not yet crawling, but she's really close. She can do a full body plank and hold it for more than 30 seconds. Then, she gets on all fours and moves backwards around the room. Almost there, and I'm dreading the childproofing stage.
2. She can now go from laying on her stomach to sitting up on her own.
3. She had her first taste of cookies today, and she loved them. We might not look alike, but she's definitely mine.
4. She currently has her first ear infection. She's on antibiotics now. So sad :(
5. She and Nonna have had a great time together, and she's going to miss her when she leaves tomorrow afternoon. But I have a sneaking suspicion that Nonna might just miss Ellis more!!!

NYC and a few other things...

Vimal's birthday gift...not the car, just driving it.
View from the best cafe in Columbus Circle.
Hanging out in Central Park.
At Sarabeth's for brunch with our friend Cairn.
The best gift ever! Our friends Aimee and Ryan bought Ellis this shirt.
It has a picture of Ellis' namesake on it.
Playing in her crib. She's getting so big now!
Love the hair flip after a bath.

Well, first off, I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to post. The last few weeks have been really busy and the time seems to have gotten away from me. My mom is here now, and Ellis is having so much fun with her. Vimal and I were able to go away for a weekend for the first time since January. So, of course, we headed off to one of my favorite cities in the world, New York! For starters, Vimal finally got his 30th birthday present which was to drive 6 super cars for 30 minutes each. The picture is of him in a Lamborghini Murcielago, but he also drove a couple of Ferrari's, a Bentley, a Maserati, and a Mercedes. For those of you that know Vimal, you can imagine that this was the third best day of his life! (You can also probably guess the other two!)

Anyways, after this, we spent the weekend in New York. We had lunch in Columbus Circle, drinks at the Mandarin Oriental, and hung out in Central Park. On Saturday, we had brunch with our friend Cairn who goes to school in New York right now. We had a wonderful time, and it was so nice to remember what it feels like to just be the two of us. But, I think we were both ready to get back home to our little monkey...

Erin

Highchair Time

"I hope my parents read all of these instructions thoroughly before they gave me this paper."
"YUM...this paper tastes good."
"Hey! Where did the paper go?"
"Oh good, dinnertime. She's got the bowl ready."
"Hey, that's just an empty bowl!"
"Maybe there is some food on the other side."
"HEY! This bowl is empty!!!!"
"Seriously you guys, don't you see there is nothing in this bowl?"
"WHY AM I IN THE CHAIR IF THERE IS NO FOOD????????"
"Okay, fine, I'll just eat the bowl."

This past weekend Vimal and I finally bought Ellis a highchair. I have to admit that it took this long because I was waffling back and forth between one highly overpriced chair and another. After a day of actually going and seeing all of the super expensive versions, I realized that I definitely didn't want to spend hundreds of dollars on a highchair that would soon be coated in sweet potatoes and prunes. That being said, IKEA came to the rescue and sold this modern chair for less than the gas it took to get there! Ellis loves it, and I like how easy it is to clean. A perfect solution...

L.A. Pictures

These shoes were a gift from Danielle...Vans!
Ellis and Uncle Bro!
Her second skateboard ride!
Love that face!
"In Residence...don't I wish."
I think she wants to crawl soon.
Sleeping by the pool. It's a tough life, but someone has to do it.
You can see her tooth in this one.
She loves her daddy!
Supergirl!

Pictures coming soon...

Well, we just got back from our 10 day trip to Los Angeles, and we came home to no internet service and no cable. (Right now, as I write this, I am using my laptop and stealing internet from my downstairs neighbors...shhhhhh!) Anyways, we all had a great time. I was a little nervous about being on a plane for over 5 hours with Ellis, but she didn't cry once. We were also really lucky because, even though we hadn't splurged for an extra seat for Ellis, both ways the plane wasn't full so we scored one for free! We were able to take our car seat on, and Ellis was able to nap and play in her own space. Thank God for that...I don't know what it would have been like if that hadn't happened.

Anyways, we spent the first half of the trip in Claremont, a small town about an hour northeast of L.A., with my brother. We stayed at the Chateau Bro, and Ellis really enjoyed hanging out with her Uncle. As is almost always standard in L.A., the weather was perfect and it instantly mellowed us all out. I probably had the hardest time of all releasing my inner New England angst, but after the first day even I had generally relaxed.

For the second half of the trip, we moved into Hollywood...literally. We stayed at the Chateau Marmont, and our friends Robert and Susie (from Texas) joined us there. Talk about the luxury life. Oh, and star spotting galore! Before we even made it out of the car, as we were waiting for the valet, I saw Diana Ross. DIANA ROSS! And then, while I was at the front desk getting our room key, Patrick Dempsey walked by. It sounds so made up now that I write it, but I swear it's all true. By the end of the trip, I had also spotted Eric Dane, Balthazar Getty (Sienna Miller's new beau), Mary Kate or Ashley Olsen (not sure which one), 3 members of Radiohead, Melina Kanakaredes (from CSI NY), and a video shoot involving a topless actress (just weird)! All in all, I'd say it was a successful star spotting trip.

I have a lot of good pictures of Ellis in our room and at my brother's house, but there is no photography allowed at the hotel ( I'm sure you can guess why) so I don't have a lot of pictures of our trip. However, seeing as my internet is still technically out until Thursday, I'll have to wait to post pictures. But I did want to update the blog and hopefully, as soon as Comcast leaves, I'll be able to post update the pics as well. More soon...

Erin