Elise Claire Dupuis

Swimming lessons

2010-07-28T13:58:00.000-07:00

Just in case you were worried that Elise would not get enough attention... we have taken over 200 pictures of Elise in june and just 100 of Alexander. Poor boy, we have to step it up.

Elise took swimming lessons this weeks and LOVES the water. She never misses a chance to hit the pool.

Busy Summer

2010-07-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Summer came early this year, weather and "vacation". Elise's little brother was born five weeks early on May 1st. Elise has loved him from the start. She likes visiting him in the hospital and kissing him. I think she is a little confused as to why not everyone is giving her their full attention, but she is okay with that. She has seen more of the extended family than she has in a long time. Nana took the flight out to help out for a month, ma Taunte Denise and Tony flew out for a week and even Uncle Eric and Auntie Becca made the drive up from the bay area. Of course Elise has been more excited to see Margaret and Joseph than anyone else. I guess it isn't a distance thing as much as ageism.

New YouTube Video

2010-04-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

Jessica took a great video of Elise and I posted it on YouTube. Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=befDaf1EE8c

Happy Easter

2010-04-04T10:15:00.000-07:00

The first thing this morning I taught Elise to say "Happy Easter". It was originally intended for Stephanie, but now she won't stop saying it. She is very cute though. Stephanie was already up making the quiche. She made the crust last night though. Elise was very good about looking for her Easter eggs. She did need a little help from Papa and I had to carry her basket, but she found most of the eggs, until she found out there was stuff inside them. Then she wanted us to open each one as she found them. She also says "Open no" when she wants us to close the egg. I was impressed by the logic, but I am the proud father. I think she was thinking that each one was the last one she would find, but I may be over thinking a 22 month old.
After breakfast Momma said she could have one bite of her See's chocolate... then we turned away for a second and Elise jammed the entire chocolate in her mouth. It took her 15 minutes to eat it since her mouth was so full, but determination won the day. Momma has already cracked and let Elise have another chocolate and now we are looking at a child that may reach light speed if she gets a big enough runway.

Disneyland 2010

2010-04-01T11:20:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Disneyland and I am glad to be back to work and rest. Elise took a 3 hour nap on her first day back at daycare. We are all still tired.

The day we arrived Elise was up and playing on the plane then up and running in Disneyland. We caught the Celebrate Parade, Elise caught a 45 minute nap. The fist day we mostly did a lot of exploring and hit up a few rides. Primarily took pictures though. 450 including Kirsten's, but not Jessica's. Elise loved A Small World, the Carousel and Dumbo. She was a little stunned in the Winnie the Pooh acid trip ride. Everyone fell asleep very easily that night around 10pm.

The next morning we started out around 9am and went until a late nap around 2pm. The first thing we did was to get Stephanie's wheelchair per her doctor's orders. We went to Adventure Land first and found the hit of the day right away... the Tiki Room. We almost had to drag Elise out. She wanted to stay and dance, but we had other rides to go on. We went on the Jungle Cruise next and Elise was ambivalent about it. Later we went on Pirates of the Caribbean and Elise was great. She did not know the characters, but she was never scared. I was nervous she would be because it was so dark and the ride had unseen dips and skeletons, but she took it all in stride.

The afternoon started pretty late at California Adventure and started with the Pixar Parade and Elise (and I) loved it. We went on a couple of rides in Disneyland and made our way back to California Adventure for California Screamin (the Roller Coaster.) Elise also like a Bugs World show. She even kept the glasses on the entire time. We also staked out our spot for the Electric Light Parade and that was great, but my pictures were bad. Elise LOVED the parade. She was so excited by everything, but by 10pm we were all ready for bed again.

The last day in Disneyland we started out around 9am again and Everyone went for the afternoon break around 1pm, Except Gerry. We only walked around for the first hour since we had a 10am Character brunch. The brunch was fun, but the most famous characters were Chip and Dale. Brother Bear and the raccoon from Pocahontas were there also, but I have never even seen those movies. They all scared Elise for the first hour then she was blowing them kisses and slapping them high fives. After brunch we went on Casey Jones Jr railroad and Elise Loved that. She was so excited. We also rode Dumbo again, very exciting, and wandered around Toontown in the afternoon. Toontown was cool because Mickey and Minny live there (in separate houses)and Donald has a house there. Elise broke out of prison and lifted some weights. Drove every car, skippered Donald's boat and kissed the fish. She also roamed Mickey's house like she lived there. Sat in every chair, played the piano, tried to open every door and do some laundry. Later we went to Downtown Disney (basically a mall) and bought Elise some sunglasses that she still has not broken four days later. It only took her 5 minutes with her last two pairs. That pretty much wrapped up Elise's first visit to Disneyland. I stayed until around 12:30am and go to go on every ride because the crowds clear out around 10:30pm. I also got some cool night time pictures, but like a schmuck I forgot my tripod.

The last day was shopping, which Elise likes to do. Elise picked out her princess doll and a present for ma tante Denise. The flight back was super easy. Family Dupuis fell asleep before take off and woke up when the wheel hit the ground again. A very fun vacation that Elise will soon forget, but we have over 500 pictures to remind her... until we go again next year.

Counting and ABCs

2010-03-11T09:51:00.000-08:00

Elise has been studying hard and can now do her ABCs with slight help. She still stumbles on some of the letters. It's not that she does not know them,she just can't pronounce them. She is very proud and claps at the end even.

My prodigy has also mastered counting to ten. She can actually count higher, but gets stuck on twelve. She goes "nine, ten, eleven, two, thirteen, fourteen..."

Christmas Post

2010-01-22T14:22:00.000-08:00

Christmas was very busy. Elise had three Christmas celebrations. The first one was Christmas Eve at Papa and Grandma's house. Elise got way too many presents, but loved opening them. Her favorite gift was her new baby doll. Once Elise opened the baby doll she was pretty much done with presents. The only thing that got her away from the doll was cookies.

Christmas morning Santa left Elise a ridiculous amount of presents. She still had presents to open in mid-January. Again she was done with presents after she got another baby doll, stroller and diaper bag. With no cookies to tempt her away from the doll she played with her until we left for Uncle Eric and Auntie Rebecca's house.

Christmas dinner was at Steve and Carol Geata's house. Dinner was great and Elise discovered that she loves roast beast. Elise was such a good girl and so well behaved when visiting the Geata clan. Fortunately Owen had some of the same toys that Elise owns and of course she thought that they belonged to her. Elise played with them most of the night and when it was time to leave she was very upset to leave them behind.

Halloween 2009

2009-12-14T13:50:00.000-08:00

Ok I was good for about a month then I started slacking at updating Elise's follower(s). I will try to be better with holidays coming up.

Halloween was very busy. We spent a long time looking for the perfect costume and finally decided on the first one we saw. Elise was the cutest monkey ever! We started out having dinner. Stephanie made two soups, squash and vegetable. They were both very good and Elise ate a bowl of each. Elise is eating so much these days. I remember just a few months ago we could just share our food with her and now we have to make, or order, enough for her as well. Elise's Papa (Mark), Grandma (Kit) and Auntie Jessica came over for dinner and then joined us in our tour of the neighborhood.

We taught Elise to say "Trick or Treat" (kind of), it was very cute. I also gave her a banana to finish out the costume and, being the dynamic thinker that she is, she started chewing through the skin. Fortunately this just taught her that she could do the same thing with anything that comes in a skin, like candy bars.

We went to see all of the immediate neighbors and Elise was confused at first. She did not understand why she had to say "Trick or Treat" instead of "Hi". Once they started giving her candy she did not really care. She started ringing doorbells and walking up to every house, even if no one was home. Elise also started saying "thank you" once she got her candy. When the neighbors would let her take her own she was grabbing a handful and then going back for more and she was so cute people let her. I am fairly certain she gets that from me. Once we finished the immediate neighbors Elise was having so much fun we pressed on across the street.

Elise loved all of the other kids and their costumes. We let her take her car because the slippers that she got with the costume were pretty big and we were afraid of her falling. Of course she had no such issues. Getting her to bed was a bit of an issue. It was very late, but the sugar buzz was off the charts. Upon final count she had about 70 pieces of candy in under an hour and 7 of those we chewed through the wrapper. Plastic is ok, but the chocolate center is worth the effort. I think a few times during the night she was looking at me and wondering why we haven't been doing this every night, like I was holding out on her. When we finally got home Elise ran inside and closed the door on Mark and I. When we rang the doorbell Elise opened the door, but once we said "Trick or Treat" she slammed the door in our faces. She may have an issue with sharing her candy. Getting Elise to sleep that night was a challenge. Even though it was pretty late (9:30) the sugar buzz was firing on all cylinders. The good news was that she slept in on November 1st though.

The Cutest Thing Ever!

2009-08-17T13:53:00.000-07:00

As promised I am delivering the story of the cutest thing ever. As a preface to this story I must tell you that Elise has a bedtime routine of getting her bottle in the guest bed in her room. After that she falls asleep cuddling with us. We sneak out and after she has been asleep for awhile we put her in her crib, so she doesn't roll off the bed. I'll tell you about the cabin story that is related after The Cutest Thing Ever!

A long time ago now Elise was put to bed in the guest bed in her room. Stephanie and I then went out into the living room to watch some TV. Around 11pm Stephanie went to bed and I went to play on my computer. As I am busy killing mutants or something I hear a soft thump and pitter patter, pitter patter, pitter patter. I figured since it was a soft thump it was a cat, but it was that super cute pixie Elise. She came running out to the living room to surprise us on the couch. When we were not there she turned and started running to our bedroom, but she saw me in the library and raised her arms in triumph with the biggest "Look what I can do!" grin. She was so proud of herself. It was The Cutest Thing Ever!

I admit it loses something in the telling, but I was so happy for her I felt bad about putting her back to bed (in her crib this time.) I only wish I had a camera handy because she was so proud of herself.

Now we know she has learned how to get off the bed or couch on her stomach. She just rolls over, droops her legs over the edge and slides off. Sometimes she ends up on her feet, sometimes she ends up on her butt, but she is down.

Elise's First Trip to Monterey

2009-08-10T13:43:00.000-07:00

We had a great opportunity to hang out with our friends Tammy, Kira and Victor in Monterey and Elise was so excited about it. We all met up in Monterey on June 6th. Stephanie wanted to stop at Anderson's Split Pea Soup, but Elise was too tired and did not want to wake up when we got there so, we pressed on. It was too bad because Elise loves split pea soup. We arrived in Monterey around 1pm and checked into the hotel. It was really nice. Tammy found it and did a really good job on that one. Since Victor, Tammy and Kira were running late we went down to the waterfront to hang our until they arrived. Elise got her first opportunity to hang out on the beach. At first the send was a little too strange and she did not want to walk on it, but after a few minutes she was ready to start eating it. It was so gross even Elise wouldn't eat it after the first sample. Stephanie brought Elise into the water to play a little before everyone else met up with us. Elise loved the water especially the waves.

After we had lunch our friends arrived and brought Kira's aunt (Coral) and her husband. We walked around Cannery Row for a couple of hours then brought the babies back to the hotel for naps. After naps we went back to Cannery Row to find some dinner. The first place we stopped at required reservations, but the second place had no problems seating us. They actually gave us the Chef's Dinning Room. It was like eating in a stone wine cellar. The food was good, wine was very good and the company could not be beat, unfortunately Elise and Kira could care less about any of that and they were cranky and wanted to eat. Considering the time it took Elise and Kira were really good girls. When dinner was over we went back to the hotel to hang out and put the babies to bed. It was a really fun night, but since Elise was sleeping and this is her blog, I will have to skip some great stories.

The next day Coral and her husband had to leave, so we went to the Monterey Aquarium before they had to go. It is a beautiful aquarium, but Elise was a little young for it. She enjoyed the jelly fish, sea otters, penguins, sea horses and some of the other more unusual fish, but she really enjoyed the kelp beds and the ocean from the balconies. Her favorite part was snack time. When we left it was time to eat or sleep, so we ate. Elise is almost eating as much as Stephanie now.

Sorry that there are no pictures with this Post but Denise is rushing me to find out what the Cutest Thing Ever was and we just got back from San Francisco.

Only a little behind now

2009-07-27T00:52:00.001-07:00

I am only a little behind now and I really have to get caught up, because Elise did the cutest thing ever last night, BUT you have to wait. This is my evil teaser.

In the next couple of days I will cover development, tomboy ways, Monterey, swimming and then the cutest thing ever.

Stay tuned.

Elise introduced to baby crack by Nana

2009-07-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

Sound like a great newspaper headline, doesn't it? Okay may a bit tabloid. Elise has had a sheltered life. Mostly organic food, lots of reading time, evening walks by the river and a loving family. That all ended when Nana and Pepe came to visit last month. Now all she wants is Abby, Murray, Chris, Cookie Monster and Elmo. Okay she still has healthy food, reading time, walks and a loving family, but it could all vanish if we don't have an intervention soon. Stephanie said to stop exaggerating, so she does not need an intervention.

My parents visit was wonderful (except for the above mentioned addiction.) We mostly hung out around the house and visited. Mom (aka Nana) played with Elise and Dad (aka Pepe) helped me build stuff. As a thank you for all their help we went up to Tahoe and had dinner at Mark and Kit's (aka Grandpa and Grandma) cabin. I love the cabin, so I was really hoping Elise would not have an issue with the elevation. She is so awesome now, she did not even notice it. After that we went gambling in Nevada. Elise was hot at the craps table. Okay so she did not really play this time, but she loved the light and sounds of the casinos. It sounds like it could be another tabloid headline later.

After my parents left Elise kept walking around the house saying "Nana". It was really cute, like she thought Nana was playing hide and seek. I guess Nana and Pepe made a real impact, because "Nana" is still one of her favorite words.

Elise's birthday party

2009-07-26T23:44:00.000-07:00

Elise had her birthday party on May 23rd. A week before her birthday because her aunt did not look at a calendar before booking airfare. Not the aunt in the above picture but this aunt.

It was a fantastic day for a party in the park. We reserved a place next to Fairytale Town in Land Park and a lot of our friends were able to visit. Elise loved hanging out with all of the other kids in the park. Usually when she is around other children she is at school. No play dates yet unless you count when she hangs out with me.

She was a little intimidated by her birthday cake (thank you Grandpa and Grandma [thank you for the cake not the intimidation]). When Jessica and I tried to help her eat it she got stage fright and cried. She was alright after a moment and back at it with a vengeance. My shirt still bears the green stains as proof.

Elise got way too many gifts, some she has not even opened yet and some that she is sleeping with as I write this. I could take her giraffe away from her, but she would start screaming almost immediately. She loved all of the books and outfits. She has more outfits than her mother now. All in all it was a great day and a wonderful first birthday. Thank you everyone for coming and making it so special.

If Elise was a pirate she would be Green Beard - Scourge of the kiddie pool!

More catching up

2009-07-13T14:25:00.000-07:00

May was pretty eventful. If she can keep up this learning curve, she will be in Molecular Biology by 4 years old.

Learning to walk. Falling down a lot. I found Elise has a gift for falling on her butt. She could be falling face first or backwards stiff as a board, but she never hit her head. She has my gift for graceful falls. She did discover that she was short enough to walk under the dinner table, but once she walked between the support slats that she had to duck down to walk out. A skill that she still has not mastered to this day. She has received most of her bruises from the dining room table.

Also in May Elise proved she is our daughter and decided that her favorite toys in the world are her books. She can be in the worst mood, tired, cranky etc and be giggling and totally content once some one gives her a book. She still rips out the pop-ups, but I do that too sometimes.

Elise has said her first word. This was due to brain washing by Grandma and Auntie Jessica. She was forced to say "Flower". We have it on video for all you non-believers. She even pointed to it as she said it. It was kind of ambitious so we were obviously very proud parents. She has endeavored to eat every flower in Grandma's garden since she was 5 months old, so now she can name her favorite meal.

Speaking of food she has totally given up on baby food. Since her teeth (2) first appeared she has been working toward giving up the goop.

More to follow when I can upload pictures.

Chronological Catch Up

2009-07-13T14:17:00.001-07:00

You may have noticed that the last update was April 16th. There is a reason that I have been so busy. Elise took her first steps on April 20th and was fully walking on April 30th. We missed it, because it happened at daycare. She was grounded for two weeks. No computer and no phone because she did something so momentous at daycare instead of home. I think she learned her lesson, but that is for another blog entry.

Elise's big surgery day!

2009-04-16T11:28:00.000-07:00

Elise had a huge day yesterday. She got up hungry at 4:30, but her vicious dad wouldn't feed her so she voiced her frustration for an hour before exhaustion overtook her and she fell asleep. We woke her up at 7:00 for a quick ride to the ENT (Ear Nose and throat)doctor. Her ENT Doctor was Dr Blazen. A great doctor, but she has a super villain name. Dr Blazen just sounds like she should be fighting the X-Men.

She was great at the surgery center. Happy, smiling and winning over then entire staff. Just as the Nurse came over to take her vitals Elise started coughing. A sure sign that she was not healthy enough to get her tubes. When the Anesthesiologist came over she said the cough sounds deep, but since she was healthy otherwise we should probably proceed. We were utterly elated! Around 9:15 Elise went into surgery playing with the nurse's surgery bonnet since she had already taken hers off. Around 10:00 it was over. Dr Blazen said she actually had a double ear infection, so her ear discharge could be green mucus also. Yuck! She now had tubes and was pretty upset. I went to get the car. Stephanie went to sooth the baby. The anesthesiologist came out to stress that the raspiness in her lungs sounded deep and we should get a doctor appointment or at least a chest x-ray. We were a little more concerned when she mentioned the x-ray, so we got a 6pm appointment. Dr Ward is the best pediatrician in the world. She fit us in by extending her day.

Since we saw another doctor in the group on Monday we went to the zoo.

The Sacramento Zoo is okay. It's not big like San Diego or Miami, but it has a good range of animals. Elise likes the zoo, but not in her stroller. I would pay $1000 for a Baby Bjorn now that I know how much use it gets. Elise loved the flamingos as always. She seemed fascinated by the giraffes. I completely understand. I put her on a play Alligator for a picture. She dropped her shoe and went after it. Face first on the spongy play padding. I know I shouldn't have let her go, but it was for the art.

Elise is really starting to like most of the animals so we got her a season pass. Now we have something free to do that she enjoys.

We started dinner and ran off to see Dr Ward. Dr Ward was a little late, but we were making turkey thighs (about 3 hours to cook.) Dr Ward heard a little rasp but not too much. Just to be on the safe side she ordered the chest film (I watch too many doctor shows.) She figured that the anesthesiologist could hear deeper breaths and focus better with Elise asleep. We went to get Elise x-rays and then headed home expecting to hear from the Doctor today. We got home just as the turkey thighs finished. Like I said best doctor ever. Just as we sat down to eat the phone rang and it was Dr Ward! Elise has pneumonia. It is a very slight case, but she is on antibiotics again. She has been in a great mood since she got her ear inserts, so she is at daycare today. She slept great lasts night. Hopefully Typhoid Elise (grandma's nickname) will be plague free once she kicks this pneumonia.

HUGE Oversite!

2009-04-08T14:07:00.000-07:00

Elise has teeth! She got two of them in at the same time. She has had them for a few weeks now and she eats almost everything now. She still does not like meat, but she loves her veggies and desserts. That's my girl. Here is a picture of her eating black bean soup.

Please note the new haircut. Jessica calls it a mullet, but it's not, it is more like a helmet. Long all over but not in her eyes anymore. Stephanie tried to cut it a couple of times, but Elise would not hold still. This haircut was brought to you by the talented people at Supercuts. We are not considering her first haircut since it was just a trim of her bangs.

Tubes for Elise

2009-04-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

Elise went to get tubes on March 25th. I did not blog it then because she did not get her tubes. She was very cute in her surgery cap and gown. Unfortunately she had a cough and the anesthesiologist did not want to risk gassing such a young sick baby. We have rescheduled for April 15th. I will keep you posted.

Bronchitis

2009-02-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

Bronchitis?! Are you kidding me. I am trying not to let this blog deteriorate into a report of Elise's latest illness, but she does seem susceptible to everything. The good news is that now that she has the inhaler she is sleeping much better. It seems to be the vicious running joke that the nights I stay up with Elise are really bad. I took a series of 30 minute naps Wednesday night. Elise went to the Doctor again Thursday at 9:30. She got an inhaler and now she seems much better already. She is very clingy, but just wants to sleep.
Stephanie stayed home with her today. She woke up once last night. This cosmic joke is getting old.

Latest Dr Appointment

2009-02-19T14:11:00.001-08:00

I took Elise to the Doctor Tuesday for a follow up on her ear infection and the antibiotics shots worked! Elise is illness free for the first time in... I can't remember when.

Somehow she has turned in to the perfect baby again. She is still dentally challenged and climbing on everything, but perfect. She has the standing thing down cold and she is starting the stepping thing. She is going to be walking before she is chewing.

We have one more piece of news... Elise is NOT lactose intolerant. I guess her stomach is more European than Asian. I was worried that she would never know the joy of ice cream, cheese, chocolate milk and yogurt.

I'll try to get a video of her standing up soon.

They grow up so fast

2009-02-12T08:45:00.000-08:00

Okay they do grow up fast, but no that fast.

Elise was getting her first tooth Tuesday night. Stephanie and I decided to take shifts since we both had to be at work on Wednesday and I took the first shift. The first shift had a whiny, crying, pained baby. She would sleep for 15-20 minutes then start screaming until 2:30 in the morning. Poor baby, we gave her Orajel, teething tablets and finally infant Tylenol. She was having such a rough time with her tooth. She would bite down on her binky and it would hurt so she couldn't sooth herself, so I had to hold her for 4 hours. - Side note: 17.4 lb is heavy after an hour. - She finally fell asleep enough for me to put her down at 2:30 and I was ready for the shift change. I was so tired I could feel my skin weighing me down.

Stephanie had the second shift and I felt bad for her, but not so bad that I stayed up. I was asleep in 20 seconds; if it took that long. The next morning Stephanie made me get up and in the shower first because she was so tired. When I got out of the shower she was already making bottles for daycare, such a trooper. I asked Stephanie how many times she had to get up during her night of horror. She looked so tired as she said "Once at 4am for 15-20 minutes for a feeding".

I am still stunned at the unfairness of life two days later. I would cry, but I still don't have the energy.

It seems that Elise's tooth was actually an ear infection and she was fine once the eardrum burst and the pressure was gone. I swear I felt a tooth, but I was REALLY tired. Elise is back on the drops, getting antibiotics shots and is getting a ENT referral for tubes.

She is back at daycare and still dentally challenged.

I'll post another video or pictures soon.

Crawling Video

2009-02-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

I promised a video and here it is.

Elise is crawling

2009-01-29T11:01:00.000-08:00

Can't write the blog today. I have to catch Elise before she reaches the cat food.

September fast forward

2008-11-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

I have fallen really behind so I am going to do September and October in one entry each and start fresh for November.

Reality Returns:

Life returned to normal when we got back from Maine. Elise had no problems adjusting to Pacific Time. Her sleep went back to normal and she was just fine. Stephanie enjoyed her last week off and enjoyed coming back to work even more. Elise was finally able to start wearing her warmer clothes. We were thinking that she would never be cold enough to wear them, but the weather turned pretty quick. It never rained during September or October, so if we bundled up a little (it was only in the mid to high 70s) we could still walk down to the park.

September 22 – D-day:

In this case the D stands for something “Daycare.” Stephanie finally goes back to work after 4 months off. Elise is finally going to meet some new people that are not family. We made a movie of her first day at daycare. You will never see it because we screwed it up. Elise loves daycare. She sleeps most of the day, but she has always done that. We pop in unexpectedly for random inspections, because we have been made paranoid by the media.

More Daycare:

Elise has made some girlfriends already. Evie, Claire and Remy seem to all like each other and the older girls (they are all older) will actually bring Elise toys to play with. Fortunately there are still the stereotypical boys in the room that crawl in a straight line and if Elise is in the way she gets crawled over. Usually the daycare ladies are there to save the day, but sometimes they are not. It does not hurt Elise because she rolls mostly out of the way, plus she is super tough like her father. Elise is also learning from the older kids. She has learned to roll, attempted to crawl and can almost hold her bottle. They have a mirror near the floor, kind of like a dance practice mirror for babies, that Elise loves to talk to the baby in the mirror in the mornings.

Four Month Check-up:

Another Doctor's appointment and more shots. Elise actually loves the Doctors office. She has not learned to associate it with shot, illness and pain yet. Stephanie had a meeting during the appointment, so Mark and I are going instead. Don't worry Stephanie gave me a list of things to ask. The appointment is going great. Elise is now 50% height and weight for her age group. Her head is only 40% but it is up from her 25% at the last measurement. She is generally very average. We like average. Dr Ward was checking her out when she asked if she can roll over yet and on command she rolled over in front of the Doctor. She may have a small head, but it is stuffed with smarts. During the appointment Elise was getting hungry, but I only have one bottle and I wanted to save it until after the shots. The plan was scrapped because Elise had already made a lunch date and I was late. the good news is that we didn't need it. She was fine about the shots. After the first one she looked at the Medical Assistant and the look conveyed "That really hurt! What did I do to you?" The next shot Elise looked at the Medical Assistant and the look conveyed "One day I will be older and I will hunt you down and will pay for this indignity". Then Elise fell asleep and it was over. Dr Ward was pretty impressed with Elise. She said her motor skills were ahead of the curve and everything else was progressing normally.

Elise's First Flight to Maine

2008-10-08T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ok I am bad at blogging. I need to keep this more curent, but I will add a couple of blog entries to get you up to date.

Elise (with Stephanie and Gerry) went to Maine for Labor Day and the Corn Roast. The first flight, Sacramento to Chicago was pretty easy. It was so easy in fact it lulled us into a false sense of security. The second flight, Chicago to Manchester, was rough. Elise was tired of flying and got very fussy. Fortunately she was not one of those babies that cried the entire 3 hour flight. That was mostly due to Stephanie's efforts. Once the flight was over she slept for most of the two hour drive to Maine.

The first day that we were there was the Corn Roast. She slept through the early part of the day. Apparently even babies get jet lag. The family was great with her and they gave us some really good advice. Elise has no issues with strangers and my family is pretty strange.

The next day(s) Nana took over. My mother was obsessed with her new granddaughter. We have seen it before with Margaret, but this time it was my daughter and even more sweet. We were not allowed to take our daughter without my mother's permission. :) Fortunately she let elise go to Boston for the first time. Elise saw Fanuel Hall, the Boston Commons, Boston Gardens and a few other historic places. We also got our picture taken on the site of the Boston Massacre. We also got a less macabre picture site: where Daddy proposed to Mommy. Nana was a bit posesive of elise, but we understand she doesn't get to see her as often as we do. She did try to make up for lost time though.

The flight from Manchester to Chicago was really easy. Elise slept most of it and the businessman that sat next to us said she was perfect. He also said his 10 year old is usually mre disruptive on a flight. That made Stephanie and I very proud. Pride comes before the fall. The flight from Chicago to Sacramento was not good. Elise's ears popped painfully for the first time and she was tired so it was a very long flight. Again we were still fortunate enough not to have the baby that screamed the entire flight. He was about eight rows behind us and that boy (and his parents) were misserable.

All and all a very nice trip that forced us to let go of Elise and trust others with her care. Elise loved the attention and Nana and Pepe loved giving it.

Mommy's comment

2008-08-23T17:23:00.000-07:00

I did not even know my daughter had a blog. She's sleeping right now and Gerry is in the shower so I thought I would say a few words. Wow, raising a baby is not easy. We definitely didn't get the Gerber baby, but she is 3 months old yesterday and every day is an improvement. She's smiling and cooing all the time now. Although, she's still the fussiest thing I've ever seen. I spend morning noon and night trying to please her so I'm actually looking forward to going back to work. I'd like to know when this gets easier because it must or else people wouldn't be having children right and left.
Although, she's been pretty wonderful this last week. Gerry and I were able to take her to the mall and we plan on taking her to the State Fair tomorrow. She enjoys looking around which she never did before. When we used to take her out, and it could be anywhere, she would without fail have a meltdown. However, these last few days have been amazing. She even lets me lay her on the floor and she'll entertains herself. She started liking her mobile which I thought was a big deal. Ok, gotta go she's awake. Gerry can update later...Steph

Elise Smiles

2008-07-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

Elise has started to smile. I know that this is not exactly new, but she is now smiling when Stephanie and I talk to her. It is the first time that she is actually reacting to us without crying. People told me that it would be exciting, but it is even better than they said it would be. It is always such a thrill to see her looking at me and smiling when I say something. It is even better when she hears me across the room and smiles while she is looking for me.

She has also been VERY fussy the last week. I think she learned the smiling a Mom and Dad trick as a survival instinct. She knows as long as she is cute she won't be donated to Brad and Angelina's rainbow tribe. She has been very difficult to sooth, but everything we have read says that 6 weeks is a growth spurt and this should be the peak of fussiness for awhile. I just hope the peak does not turn into a plateau. I am becoming more and more impressed with all you lunatics that have done this and survived.

She now knows the difference between night and day. She goes to sleep right after a feeding at 2am now, so when she didn't last night and cried and cried and cried it was a bit of a surprise. This morning she was up at 6am and wide awake. Stephanie was not however. Steph was up but wide awake would be a bit of a stretch. I feel very bad for Stephanie, but I am trapped in my cubicle , so I am of now help until this afternoon.

Why Start a Blog

2008-07-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to create a blog. I have never been a fan of blogs to be honest; too much information and all of it personal opinion. Today however my mother has asked me for something and I must comply. I will try to update it weekly for the first few months at least, and then I will transition to only when Elise does something that people will want to know about. The last thing I want to do is spend days boring you with Elise's latest bowel movement.