What's in a name

Eloise. I believe most of you know, but in case you don't, Eloise is my grandmother's name. My mother's mother. We called her Grandma Ellie and she was my closest grandma both geographically and emotionally. I was her "favorite youngest granddaughter." And she was my favorite Grandma Ellie.

My Grandma Ellie was a super star to me. She was the coolest grandma there was. She raised 4 girls all by herself when her husband passed away suddenly. She was a professional. A nurse actually, and one who used to wear one of those cool hats.

Grandma Ellie was born Ella Louise but when she started kindergarten, her teacher decided she was to become Eloise. So Eloise she became. Like Cher or Madonna or Sting - but much earlier than those super stars.

Grandma Ellie lived approximately 50 miles away from me and so this meant we could see each other often. Each time, she had a dollar for me and my brother. A dollar she would have likely rather seen in a bank account vs. down the street at the local penny candy shop. But she didn't care. She would still give us a dollar a piece. Sometimes it was even two dollars.

I remember my Grandma Ellie smoked cigarettes. She smoked cigarettes from one of those cool, and quite sophisticated, cigarette holders. I remember she loved Bob Barker and The Price is Right. And I remember she made a mean "hamburg soup." Quite a delicious soup for someone who hated cooking.

I have so many memories of Grandma Ellie. Some are mine and some are from pictures my mom would show me and stories she would share. I remember Christmas at Grandma Ellie's. I remember sleeping at Grandma Ellie's. I remember the smell of Grandma Ellie and her home.

I also remember when I was seven years old, and one month before she passed away, she gave me a book. A book that was dated and inscribed and it was called Eloise. December 25, 1982. Inside she wrote, "This book was named after me. I know you will enjoy it. Love, Grandma Ellie."

It was hard to read her handwriting because she was so ill but she did her best. It is a book I have to this day and a book I will cherish forever. I will always miss my Grandma Ellie. Little miss Eloise will never know her. But for that I will make sure she hears lots of great stories about her namesake. Because that's what would make Grandma Ellie smile and because that's what's in a name.

Maggie from the Simpsons

Uncle Todd says - "post more videos".... I'm going through our stash and finding some goodies. Here we go...this one is old but pretty funny. (from 6/30/09)

Shake, shake, shake

Another milestone in the making. Today, Eloise grabbed for her bumble bee rattle and began shaking it like mad. What?? Wait, what was that? I was sitting right next to her, turned my head for a second and then heard the rattle ....shake shake shake.... Well, I thought she must have kicked it. Oh no....that baby girl was shaking it like she had a purpose!

Not that I should doubt her but dang. The monkey has had her hands clenched in tiny fists since she arrived 7 weeks ago so when she busted those little paws open and grabbed for the rattle and went to town, I have to admit, I was little shocked. Stunned is really more like it.

Sorry monkey. Mommy doesn't mean to doubt you, I swear it. I promise to take the next milestone much better. Like the genius you are. I'll welcome that milestone and say things like, "That's my girl. Rolling over at 4 months just like you're supposed too." Or "Holding your sippy cup at 6 months just like the book says." Lol!

So of course - in the essence of full disclosure - the video includes Eloise shaking 2 rattles. Well as soon as I saw the ninja grip she had on the bumble bee, I pryed open her other tiny paw and put another rattle in there. Hilarious!

Photographer extraordinaire Bob Reed

My Dad is now safely back to Bloomington and sent along some pics from the weekend. He's way into photography so he was snapping pics like mad (and teaching Mike and me some much needed tricks of the trade). Here's a collection of some of those he sent along. At the Whitewater Park.

Also, much clearer pics of the Sleepy Wrap.

Mike and Aaron cooking lunch on Saturday.

Getting ready to walk to 24 Hours of Booty race.

Rona with Eloise

Tub time

Eloise loves her pink tub! She was smiling and kicking like mad but sadly, we didn't get those shots on camera. Next time though!

Weekend with the Reeds

Grandpa Bob, Rona and Aaron came for a visit this weekend (all the way from Bloomington, IN!) and we had a great time. Eloise loved Grandpa Bob and enjoyed lots of love and attention from her family. During their visit we cruised around Charlotte and checked out the 24 Hours of Booty bike race, the Whitewater Park and even a fun dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Lots of traveling for the little girl but she was a great baby and ate and slept on the go like she was here at the house. Perfect preparation for our trip to Lakewood, NY this weekend!

OhBayBee

Big news to announce...the monkey has become a model!

Even bigger news to announce...our friend Kimmy has hit the big time with her very own Etsy.com shop! This is huge news, y'all. Huge! You all know how I feel about Etsy.com. Huge! Check out the pic of Eloise.

See, Kimmy surprised me with one of her beautiful, homemade, super soft and lovey baby spa towels at my Lakewood baby shower. The gift also included her crazy cute homemade burp cloths and numerous other goodies. What made each so special was she created them all herself, with her own love and talent AND......each included my obsession - Amy Butler fabric!

We love all of these wonderful, crafty goodies - and wish we were even half as crafty ourselves! We were flattered to be on the receiving end of such thoughtful and precious keepsakes. You probably by now have an idea of how much we love these gifts - you've seen the spa towel a lot- we snap pics of Miss Eloise in it all the time (Facebook profile pic for weeks!) - it was even used as a prop in the Jen Hunt photoshoot!

So here is one HUGE plug for Kimmy's Etsy.com shop, OhBayBee. Order up all! You'll love and cherish the gifts you receive from OhBayBee! Perfect for your baby and all the babies in your lives. Isn't Christmas right around the corner? Best order now!

 

Go Red Sox! (round 2)

Check out these pjs. I'm mean seriously! (thanks Josie and Chase!)

More pics from the professional photoshoot

We received the disc in today's mail from Eloise's photoshoot on July 10. Here's a sampling (so many good ones to chose from)...

The Sleepy Wrap

These pics are horrible. Note to self, do not take pics of yourself in a mirror for the sake of a blog post. Nothing like a flash to show off your dirty mirrors. Agh, I'll get to those later. Anyway, here goes it - every mom needs a Sleepy Wrap. Eloise has been sound asleep in here for 2 hours. And my hands are free. Perfect combo! (P.S. I'll have Mike take real pics later.)

To save a little face on some sort of OK pic quality for today, here are some I took this morning of the monkey on her changing table.

Playdate

Today Miss Eloise and I voyaged over to Jenny's house for a playdate with Lily, Erika and Gavin.

Gavin - 21 weeks
Lily - 18 weeks
Eloise - 6 weeks

 

And here's the crew all together.

 

We had a great time. Thanks Jenny!

 

Project 'Sleep'

Ok, so I spoke too soon yesterday. Or I should say, we got one good nap in the pack-n-play (p-n-p) and the rest of the afternoon was a struggle. We'll keep trying and trying and trying...

New nighttime sleep revelation....our baby has officially outgrown the sleep positioner. Is there life after the sleep positioner??? Agh! I found her at 3:45am ready for her feeding completely balled up at the bottom of the positioner with both arms and head in between the positioner bumpers. She was fine. If anything, probably felt like a swaddle, but it freaked me out nonetheless. This was also after yesterday seeing that she can now use the side of the p-n-p to launch herself up out of the positioner where her head was the found on the other side of it, laying on the bottom of the p-n-p. Strong legs, huh?

What's the "life after a sleep positioner plan"??

Here we go:

1) Positioners have been removed from both the crib and the p-n-p. Yes, we have two. It's nice having a sleep set up both upstairs and down.

2) Babies-R-Us run today to purchase the Summer video monitor. I have to keep an eye on things.

3) Do I remove her crib bumpers yet? Strong legs yes but she's not mobile, or is she?? So after feeding her today at 6:45am, she was yawning like mad so we tried out the crib sans positioner with mommy still in the room to see what she would do. I wanted a full check-out of the scene. She's been and is still sleeping in the crib horizonally. So she squirmmed herself down to the rails and propped her legs nicely against them. This makes me think the bumper should stay for now. Her legs and arms will definitely fit between the rails and that freaks me out. So the bumper stays for now unless someone says I'm crazy and why. Or maybe I remove the bumper and have her sleep lengthwise in the crib? Once I have the video monitor, we'll try that so I can see what she does. Lord. Was there life before all of these gadgets? You mean people used to just put a kid in a crib and walk away??? Must have been nice. Now the world is full of paranoid mothers fallen prey to capitalism of the baby product industry. My head is spinning and about to fall off! Whatelse must I buy to make sure she sleeps safely and soundly???? I'll surely find it today at B R'U. And speaking of...

4) I must find and dust off my copy of "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child."

5) Do we stop using p-n-p for daytime naps? Keep all sleeping in her crib? That may help daytime sleep project. I'll try it after I get the monitor.

Ok, no she's not sleeping here. And, yes, I set this up so I could grab a few pics, but look at those pjs. They are as soft as they are cute!