Tuesday, August 22, 2006

There hasn’t been much news on this end of late, and the blog and emails are getting weak. I apologize. For those of you who really want to know about our days, you are being seriously short-changed, and that’s not good. I’m going to try to make amends here.

Miss Ellie Bee keeps us happy and fulfilled. She is quite a busy girl and sooo happy! She’s such a joy! Whenever she’s with one of us and she catches sight of the other, she breaks out laughing and flapping her little arms…or if she’s trying to walk, she comes running! She still isn’t walking on her own, but she can and will pull up at every opportunity. She is also starting to “cruise.” Last night, we watched her delighted progress as she made her way down the length of the coffee table. Then, she got stuck at the end and didn’t know what to do…which led to great baby frustration. Oooo…she does NOT like being stuck. Being stuck also happens in her crib. Ellie has taken to sleeping on her belly. From this position, it’s easy to push up to sitting and then pull up to standing…at which point she gets stuck and becomes excessively indignant about the whole situation. Partly because of this, she is not yet sleeping through the night. Jennifer is still pulling all nighttime duty, largely because Ellie hasn’t weaned yet but also secretly because Ellie has her papa completely wrapped around her baby fingers. After only a few minutes of her crying, he can’t take it and he surrenders, usually bringing her to Mama or insisting Mama go in to her. Many men can’t take the crying because it makes them irritated or mad. Markus can’t take it because it breaks his heart. Oh yes, she has him whipped!

Our routine has become just that. During the week, Markus heads out by 5:30 or so, squeezing in a brief swim or some other exercise at the club before he heads to the mines. After having awoken three or four times during the night (only twice on good days!), Ellie wants to get up at around 6:30 or 7. A bleary-eyed Jennifer begs her to go back to sleep, which Ellie always finds very hilarious. By 9 o’clock, the two girls are out the door in search of adventure. Our favorite hang-out is the Landmark Mall, where there is a large, well-lit, relatively clean soft play area Ellie loves. Fortunately for us, she’s still so small that they don’t charge us admission yet (all kiddie play areas have fees), so we find ourselves there multiple times each week. Jennifer has taken to consuming more coffee than she has ever consumed in her entire life. This could have something to do with the fact that even in college, she usually got more than four consecutive hours of sleep at night.
We always try to be back home for naptime. Ellie’s favorite new game is testing how short an afternoon nap can possibly be. This is proving to be an exciting new challenge for her mama as well.
In the afternoons, we try to meet Markus at the club at least two or three times a week. Ellie really likes splashing about in the pool, especially when we’re all there as a family. She has quite a fan club at the Four Seasons. One pool attendant in particular—Jamal—has a big crush on her. He always comes running over when he sees her, and he plays with her as often as he can while we’re there.

Ellie’s fan club is both a blessing and a curse for her. People here are incredibly loving and friendly to babies, usually to the extent that they want to hold the baby, snuggle and play. Sometimes, they don’t take no for an answer, and therein lies the trouble. Ellie is often not a big fan of being snatched away by a (smiling and cooing) complete stranger. This is something her parents have no trouble understanding, but the complete strangers can’t seem to comprehend. We ran into this very problem today at City Center. A shop girl was very insistent about taking Ellie away to another part of the store, even though Ellie was very tired and became teary at her approach. She tried repeatedly to heft Ellie from Jennifer’s arms, although Jennifer tried to kindly rebuff her. She meant well, we have no doubt, but the opposite effect was achieved.
At times like those, we try to explain to Ellie that this is just what happens when one is truly irresistible. She then looks at us as if to say, “Why do you think I employ two full-time staff?”

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