Cerin Amroth

The cherry blossoms have just started blooming down by the tidal basin, so we headed out this afternoon for a stroll. It was Ella’s second time in her spiffy stroller.

“96″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella96.jpg — Earlier this weekend, Ella started getting serious about holding her head up during tummy time. She still doesn’t _like_ it, but she’s pretty good at it.
“97″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella97.jpg — She was very nearly mobbed by admiring tourists while she was balanced up here.
“98″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella98.jpg — Suanna and Ella by the water.

Ella had her first plane ride and her second trip to West Michigan the weekend before last. I’ve been remiss in posting some pictures, but here they are at last.

“85″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella85.jpg — Before the trip, a bit of fun on the playmat.
“86″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella86.jpg — Ella with her second cousin, Stephanie.
“87″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella87.jpg — Ella with all her cousins — Clara, Caleb, and newcomer Lydia.
“88″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella88.jpg — Ella and Lydia.
“89″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella89.jpg — A very important moment, and if I may say so, a very proud moment for me as a father: Ella’s first Settlers of Catan game.
“90″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella90.jpg — Ella basking in the attentions of Papa Bruinooge . . .
“91″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella91.jpg — . . . and watering the plants with Nana. What a life.
“92″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella92.jpg — Ella with yet another second cousin. Seth is younger than Ella, though, and you can tell that he’s a still a bit freaked out by this whole “life” thing.
“93″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella93.jpg — Back in Arlington, here we have evidence of Ella’s new favorite pasttime.
“94″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella94.jpg and “95″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella95.jpg — Ella with Ellie and Toby, known “elsewhere”:http://www.highclearing.com/ as The Littlest Offering and Offering Boy, respectively.

At our first visit to the pediatrician, when we were fretting at how often Ella was sucking on her pacifier (what can I say, we were new parents), the doctor said, “Better that than her thumb — at least you can take the pacifier away.” Ella’s been very close with her skeksis ever since. Part of me assumed that she would forego thumb-sucking altogether. How wrong I was.

It started innocently enough, with her general discovery that she could move her hand to her mouth and then jut it halfway in. Then she found that if she only stuck 2 or 3 fingers in, she could clamp down on them pretty solidly, unlike a whole fist. I was there the moment her eyes lit up with the further realization that a thumb-only insertion allowed for full-on _sucking_, not just vague chomping. The thumb, it turns out, also has a key advantage over the skeksis: when it falls out of her mouth, she knows right where it is and can easily move it back into position.

She’s not a _stubborn_ thumb-sucker just yet — when we catch her at it and cheerfully offer the skeksis as a substitute, she usually takes it. It may be that it’s only a passing fad, and that once she figures out how to grab the skeksis and put it into her mouth, it will fall back into her favor. But for now at least, we have entered the Era of the Thumb.

Oh the thumb-sucker’s thumb
May look wrinkled and wet
And withered, and white as the snow,
But the taste of a thumb
Is the sweetest taste yet
(As only we thumb-suckers know).

– “Thumbs,” by Shel Silverstein

“81″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella81.jpg — At long last, it’s warm enough to take Ella outside without having to bundle her up. She’s also holding her head up well enough to be facing out in the Baby Bjorn. So when our friends Matt & Sarah came to town, we knew it was time for a bit of bocce on the lawns alongside Iwo Jima.

“82″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella82.jpg — Ella helps out my bocce toss by subtly affecting my center of gravity.

“83″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella83.jpg — Another smile: not unusual, but hard to capture on film.

“84″:http://www.polytropos.org/mt-static/ella/ella84.jpg — Ella hanging out with Abhi, another member of the ‘03-’04 baby explosion at Suanna’s work. By ‘hanging out’ I mean that they ignored each other and stared at the adults. So it goes.

For a while now, Ella’s been breaking out into a big smile whenever I shape my mouth into an ‘O’ and say “Oooooooooooo!” But a few days ago she surprised me by responding with her own version: a gurgly sort of “Oooggggggggggg!” At first I figured it was a coincidence, but after playing with her for a bit it was clear she was doing her best to imitate me. Sometimes she would try to make a sound but nothing would come out, but she sure got a kick out of trying.

This morning, she started it. I was having a bowl of oatmeal and not really paying attention to her when I heard an “Ooooggggghhhhh” from the bouncy chair. I looked up and found her staring at me expectantly. When I “Ooooo”ed back she flailed her legs with glee and took a moment to compose herself before she tried to gurgle a reply.

I’m afraid others aren’t ever going to get a chance to see her so active — when we’re out and about, or when there’s people over, she clams right up. She’s perfectly content and quite observant, but won’t make a peep. She’ll save her noise for when it’s just the three of us back at home — the busier the day has been, the more talkative she’ll be.

One of the longstanding traditions in Room 19 is the reading of the horoscopes at lunchtime. They’re usually good for a chuckle. Ella was there visiting this afternoon, and her horoscope was particularly funny:

Sagittarius:
There are certain things that you like to pretend. Be warned that not everyone will understand your game of make-believe, even if you feel generous about sharing. There may be language barriers and culture shock. The real world isn’t necessarily a hostile place, although it could be difficult. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Just by looking at you, others can tell that you’re a recent arrival from somewhere else. Once you’re sure that they fully appreciate your efforts to fit in, maybe then you’ll be in a better position to talk about how your strange journey began.

Ella is .25 today. She hasn’t doubled her birthweight yet, but it often feels like it — especially since holding her these days usually means holding her upright, facing out, and moving around to give her more stuff to see. She eats a lot, and is becoming very good a sucking down bottles at incredible speed. Breastfeeding, though, she treats like a full-course meal; she’ll linger over it as long as Suanna will let her.

Drool: increasing. Farts: always. Poop: every two days or so, in significant quantities. Smiles: often, especially in the mornings and evenings. Favorite things: the Vibrating Bouncy Chair, her “skeksis”:http://www.polytropos.org/ella/archives/2004/02/the_skeksis.html, Frank the firefly. (The Swingy Chair with Lights and the Black White & Red Arched Playmat are occasionally interesting but sometimes boring.) Pet peeves: tummy time, tummy time, tummy time. Voice: still relatively quiet, though she’s gradually discovering her upper registers and true volume potential. Today she started adding an ear-piercing but congenial _screech_ to her usual “pay attention to me” routine.

“Kids grow up _so_ fast.” That’s the conventional wisdom. And it’s hard to believe how much Ella has grown and changed in just three months. But in another sense, the opposite is true. I feel like I’ve lived a whole new lifetime in the past three months — new experiences, new routines, new surprises. Lots of time each day is taken up with menial tasks, but despite that, the days feel fuller. Time goes by more _slowly_, if anything. Having Ella around makes me savor each day a little more. It’s a gift she gives without even trying.