Baby's First Tears

Not tears of joy, nor tears of a clown... Just tears. Nine weeks old and the ol' tear ducts are finally working.

O Christmas Tree

Today my family and I started the day off with a little holiday shopping at University Village. My mom spotted an opportunity to have my photo taken with Santa, but I passed because I heard the Santa at Westlake Center is cooler. We all opted for some nice chocolate truffles instead.

After U Village we went to Swanson's nursery to buy our tree, my very first. There were a pair of actual reindeer on hand to help us select our tree, poinsettia and wreath. At home Mom continued one of Daddy's favorite traditions (that I'm not privy to divulging details about) while decorating the tree... He was a happy camper! This whole business of getting and decorating a tree is all new to me, but I'm surely a fan based on smell alone.

My First Thanksgiving

Today marks my first Thanksgiving Day. Really though, it's not the first nor the last time that my family has given thanks for how we've been blessed. I was born into a tradition that involves rotating the venue anually between Papa Jack and Grandma Cynthia's with their good friends Bob and Mary Wildenhaus for the holidays. This year Thanksgiving was at Papa Jack and Grandma Cynthia's.

In attendance were: Mom and Dad, Ben Wildenhaus, Dan Wildenhaus, Geoff and Miyuki Ott, Sandy and Mike Houston, Joe and Ashley Wildenhaus, Bob and Mary Wildenhaus, and Papa Jack and Grandma Cynthia of course. We had a big o'l turkey with all of the fixings and the adults consumed a lot of wine. Dessert consisted of one's choice of apple pie, pumpkin pie, and/or pecan pie. Mega yums!

Dinner with Joe and Ashley

Last night was a lot of fun. Joe and Ashley Wildenhaus came over for dinner. Besides being excited to meet them, I was also excited because they arrived with present in hand. I received a new elephant buddy to add to my collection and a really cute back-to-school outfit. Now many of you are probably saying, "But Ella, you are only 2 months old and will not be going to school for quite some time," but Joe and Ash know that I am quite advanced and want to make sure that I am adequately equipped. OK... Enough joking around. Let me just say 'Thank You' to the two of them for thinking of me. And just a reminder to check out the picture of me with Auntie Ashley before you log off... I sure like her!

Luau in November

I just never can tell what my parents will have in store for me. Today we drove to Covington, WA to the home of The Anderson's (Jeff, Jessica, Brenna and Audrey) for a Hawaiian Luau. The party was in celebration of Audrey's 1st birthday. Their house looked so cute with all of the festive decorations. And the food, well let me tell ya about the food! Jeff made a traditional dish called "Kahlua Pig" that was to die for! Accompanying the pork was Hawaiian sweet bread, rice, pineapple and some yummy teriyaki chicken. And to drink? Pina Coladas all around! Later on during the party, we did our best to knock open a pinata and Audrey was allowed to devour an entire cake all by herself. I can hardly wait to do that! Aloha!

Mom and Dad Date Night

I'm being babysat for the very first time by the glamorous Ms. Laura Velkers while Mom and Dad are away on their first solo date since I've been around. This is a big event! They went to La Carta de Oaxaca,their favorite Mexican restaurant, with friends Chris and Lucy of the band Kinski. Laura and I are having a great time, but I'm truly looking forward to my parents getting home soon. Mother's milk is so much sweeter from the source than from the bottle!

Let the Travels Begin

Well this past Saturday Mommy arranged for the three of us to stay overnight at the Salish Lodge at Snoqualmie Falls for Daddy's birthday. I was so excited to take my first overnight trip somewhere that I hardly slept a wink the night before! And let me tell ya, I was not disappointed. Our room may not have had a view of the Falls but it did have a fireplace, a jacuzzi tub and the option of 16 different pillows to choose from!

Once we got settled into our room, we decided to go for a walk down to the base of the falls so that we could take our Christmas photo. Whew, what a work out. Here I am just 6 weeks old and my parents have me walking a mile just for a cute photo. Needless to say, I was exhausted!

Rere (Anne-Marie) and Brett came over for the evening and we had a jolly good time sitting around the fire playing Uno and eating hamburgers. Oh what fun!

Mom's Gettin' Reel

You all know my mom is a bit of a busy body. Today Dad suggested that she and I stay home as the weather was quite dreadful but no, the busy body had discovered that it was Reel Moms at a movie theater downtown. This meant that she could drag my warm and cozy self to see the new Nicole Kidman movie called "Birth" without people bumming out that are crying babies in the audience. It's also cool because they only partially dim the lights so parents can see to feed, change diapers, etc.

Of course for the first 20 minutes of the movie I decided that it was important to tell her how I felt about the whole idea (which was not much so I demonstrated it by full-tilt screaming), but once I realized that a getaway via automobile was impossible since I am still too short to see over the steering wheel, not to mention the fact that I can't even hold my head up by myself, I gave in and piped down. She now tells me that we will be going to see the movie, "Polar Express" with Tom Hanks in a few weeks. Hopefully I will be warmed up to this whole movie thing soon.

PEPS PEPS Hurray!!!!

Today has been a very memorable day... I encountered my first baby! Yes I know that I am a baby myself, but who is keeping tabs??? His name is Luke and he is really cute! We made eye contact and then I could not help myself but to throw my hands up in the air above my head with excitement. Fun! You may be wondering how we met... My Mom joined a group called PEPS which is a support group for parents and their babies. We will meet weekly for the next 4 months. Perhaps my Mom and I will make some lifelong friends. Boy, oh boy, I hope I am likeable!