Play Date with My New Friend Nora

Thanks to a smart networking tool called Facebook, my parents were reunited with their friends Pat and Jaime who now have a 2 year old daughter named Nora. We were invited to their home in Severna Park for a few hours of fun, fun, fun! Nora pulled out some of her favorite toys for me to play with and she dressed up in her "Prairy outfit". That's a cross between dressing up like a Princess and a Fairy. That's me in Nora's 2-in-1 Walker and Nora in her baby swing. Nora says she is ready for a little baby brother or sister.

My First Thanksgiving

My First Thanksgiving was spent with my Mommy, Daddy and our doggie Lexie in my hometown, Washington D.C. While my parents noshed on the traditional Thanksgiving meal, I nibbled on Organic Sweet peas and milk. After lunch, Daddy decided to start a new Thanksgiving Tradition: visiting a new exhibit at one of the Smithsonian museums. He chose the National Gallery of Art for my first museum visit. We went to see the Pompei and The Roman Villa exhibit. I could overhear my parents whispering that it wasn't very exciting. They had actually seen some of the same type of art work at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles last year. I was excited about seeing all the new people and hearing all of the different international languages. Here are a few pictures documenting my day. 

My First Solids

My pediatrician gave my parents the greenlight to start feeding me solids when I was 4 months old. However, my parents decided to wait until I was 5 months old to begin. Mommy started out with the standard rice cereal suggested. I found it very yucky and didn't enjoy it at all. After a few days of trying to get me to eat this, Mommy decided to try Earth's Best Organic Level 1 pureed baby food. I loved the Sweet Potatoes. Yum! Yum! I eat about one tablespoon of food a day now. Only about one baby spoon full is normally consumed, but I am having fun practicing.

Ella Takes Manhattan!

Mommy and Daddy took me to their favorite city in the whole wide world this past  Veteran's Day weekend...New York City! We had a fantastic time and I enjoyed the city very much. I could even imagine attending Columbia, NYU, Julliard or FIT. Well, at least my parents are already priming me for those considerations.

 

We stayed at the very nice Hudson Hotel, only a few blocks away from the Time Warner Center and Columbus Circle. Here is a picture of relaxing in bed and lounging on a comfy chair while my parents took pictures of me and got ready for dinner.

Manhattan isn't nearly as loud with horns and random people yelling as my parents said it was even just a few years ago. The cities are still fast paced and packed with a lot of people. And while the city never sleeps, I became the "baby that never sleeps". I woke up at 9 AM every morning, but went to sleep every night around 1:30 AM. I just could not resist the urge to stay up and hang out. This of course was to my parents dismay. 

We met up with our friend N'Djamena at Nobu  the first night we were there. The following day we enjoyed more of my parents favorite hot spots like Jean George and Sawa Sushi. We stumbled upon some new places like Swich --a "Green" restaurant where they serve all organic food and even have cups and cutlery made from corn instead of plastic. And our friend Rich introduced us to a place called Eatery. 

We also got to go into the Hearst Tower (also known as "Oprah's building").  This is the first "green building" in NYC. 

My parents bought me a really nice souvenir: A Classic Children's Book titled "I Like New York" by M. Sasek. Mommy has read it to me about twice a day every day since we got back home. 

I'm 5 Months Old Today!

I'm 5 Months Old Today! I weigh around 16 pounds and I'm exactly 27 inches tall. Some of my hobbies include: tummy time, screeching, throwing my rattles and dolls (and watching my parents pick them up for me), playing with my new Rainforest Bouncy Seat Mobile, blowing loud raspberries, watching my doggie Lexie run around me and sniff me, smiling for the camera (especially Mommy's cell phone camera), smiling at random strangers who smile at me, playing with my hair, pulling on dangly things--especially other people's hair, sitting up (with my bouncy chair or pillows to prop me up),  bending to stretch and touch my toes, standing (with my parent's assistance) and getting really excited and laughing out loud. I'm also beginning to put my rattles and organic cotton dolls in my mouth. 

Last week was the last time my parents swaddled me before bedtime and to their surprise, I still slept through the entire night for 9 hours straight! I am a good baby. (giggle) I had already taken my day naps "swaddle free" for one month now. Mommy is planning on starting me on solids this week. She bought Earth's Best Organic Rice Cereal for my first meal, but plans on pureeing organically grown vegetables and fruits for me for my First Foods. She is really doing her part to "Raise me Green" and a healthy diet is part of that plan. 

I've outgrown the use of my binky/pacifier and haven't used it since I was 4 months old. I never liked it. I  would always make a face to let my parents know that I didn't like the taste. They experimented with different brands, but nothing really stuck.  Using my Born Free Binky helped soothe me the first couple of months, I would use it only at bedtime to help me fall asleep. 

Well, that's my update. Please let us know how you're doing!

We Voted for Change Today in our Nation's Capitol!

Mommy took me to the polls with her this morning at 9:30 AM to cast her vote for Barack Obama. Daddy plans to go tonight around 5:30 PM when he gets home early from work.

Mommy and I  stood in line with about three to five hundred others including our neighbor Arvette and her 2 year old son Kadin. Arvette was very nice and arrived there ten minutes before us and saved us a space in line. The line wrapped around a city block and the weather was about 55 degrees with overcast skies. There was a Forecast of Showers, but Mommy didn't care. She threw on a hat and dressed in a white sweater with blue jeans to commemorate the occasion. She also dressed me in a "political onesie" compliments of my Aunt Antasia that read Future President. I managed to stay awake the entire 80 minutes we were outside, but fell asleep as soon as we entered the Voting Station where Mommy cast her Electronic ballot and continued to take pictures of me while I was sleeping next to these signs. 

The group of people gathered seemed to be very unified in their choice for Obama and Mommy even saw a few people with tears of joy streaming down their faces. "We are making History" seemed to be the most popular phrase proclaimed by most of the people there. I look forward to reading about Today, November 4th, 2008 one day in my History Books at school. Until then, I hope you get out there and Vote Today!