July 20-22, 2012: A Family Stay-cation!

Grant and I have always talked about how amazing it would be to take time off work, and do a stay-cation.  This weekend, we finally did it!  We both took Friday off and had a wonderful three-day weekend staying local, enjoying the weather, and relaxing.

On Friday, July 20, Harry turned 7 years old!!!  We cannot believe that we've had this little (BIG) guy for 7 years already.  He is such a joy to have in our family.  We celebrated the day by having a picnic and taking a family hike at Foothills Park in Palo Alto.  We feel so lucky to have this great park so close to where we live.  Harry enjoyed time off-leash running up and down the trails, and Ellie enjoyed a terrific slumber riding on Daddy's back.

We came back to the house after our hike and, to our surprise, a birthday package had arrived for Harry (and Ginny) from Grandma!  The doggies went crazy opening up their package, and we let them enjoy their big bones right away.  Thank you, Grandma!!!

 We continued our fun on Saturday by taking Ellie to a great community pool at Rinconada Park.  This place was awesome!  There is a "beach" for infants to roll and crawl around in, there are stationary water bikes that spray water in the air when you pedal -- it's like Disneyland for kids!  Ellie had fun splashing around with Mommy and Daddy, and playing "Ring Around the Rosy" and "Motor Boat" in the pool.  She even went all the way under water 2-3 times without crying!  She's going to be a natural water-baby.

Sunday was the perfect end to our family weekend.  We watched the British Open golf tournament (well, Grant watched, while Ellie and I slept), we did some gardening, took a trip to Target, played with bubbles, and took a 6 mile family run.  We love summer!

Ellie Has A Tooth!

That's right!  On July 7, 2012, our little girl sprouted her first tooth -- the right, front bottom tooth to be exact.  It just broke through the skin and is quite small at this point.  Of course, Ellie won't let us get near it -- so no photos for now.  Ellie continues to be a big drool-bug, and she chews on just about everything.  Here she is biting the side of her pack-n-play.

July 8, 2012: Tia Megan's Visit

We were so lucky this week to have Megan spend five days with us.  In addition to being great company for Grant and me, Ellie is just in heaven with her Tia Megan!  And I think Megan is pretty much in heaven snuggling with the Bean too!

Aside from just hanging out, taking walks, and exploring the Bay Area, Tia Megan accompanied us to Ellie's fun Music with Carl class at Day One.  We hadn't been to music class since Ellie learned to crawl, so I was excited to see how she would do.  She started out serious and shy, sitting close by Megan and me.  However, that quickly changed.  Ellie spent most of the class crawling from baby to baby around the circle, and dancing on Teacher Carl's drum.  What a ham!  I'm so glad that Megan had her iPhone ready to capture it all.

Imagine my heart's delight when Megan suggested that we try making cake pops in order to practice for Ellie's 1st birthday party!  I've been wanting to make cake pops FOREVER!  We kept them simple, and just tried to get the hang of the steps, but they turned out cute (there is definitely room for improvement!) and - importantly - they passed Ellie's taste test!  Check out the smile on this girl's face!

Thank you for the visit, Tia Megan!  We look forward to spending much more time with you soon!

July 4, 2012: Nine Months Old!

July 4 was more than Independence Day for our family -- it was also the day that Ellie turned a whopping 9 months old!  Can you believe it?!?!  We celebrated the day by running in the Redwood City Parade Run 5K.  It was a great little course that wrapped three times around the City's Fourth of July parade route -- full of spectators and fun.  We especially enjoyed having Tia Megan visiting and able to join us for the run!  It was awesome to see Megan complete her first 5K race -- she was a "stud" running the whole time with Grant. 

The next day, we had Ellie's 9 month doctor's appointment, where she weighed in a 18 lbs., 6 oz. and measured 27.25" long.  Ellie continues to measure somewhere between 45-55% for height and weight, and she is developing so well.  Ellie's latest milestones include:

• Crawling like a champion
• Pulling herself up to standing
• Clapping her hands together

Here are some photos of our cute-pie in action.

All we can say is, "Watch out, Harry!"  She is coming for you . . .

Finally, as you may have noticed in the picture of Ellie clapping above, other "new" news is that Ellie got her ears pierced.  I had my ears pierced as a baby, too, so we decided just to go ahead and get it done for Ellie.  Her pediatrician, Dr. Brown, did it at her 9 month appointment.  Ellie did great!  After a few sobs and wails, she was all better, and she doesn't seem to notice them now.  She sure looks pretty!