okay. i know i've been very neglectful about posting here. we've been busy. i've been back at work for a week now (this is week #2 at it) and i'm not having much fun. things aren't quite the way they used to be here, plus, i'm missing ella like crazy. it just doesn't seem right to miss more than 8 hours a day of her.
she is growing like crazy and changing like crazy. she looks different - just look at the pictures. she's beautiful! last week on wed. when elina was over visiting i was burping ella over my shoulder and she grabbed onto my shirt with her tiny fist and held on! it was sooooo cute. i treasure little things like that with her. she's smiling like crazy too. it is so much fun to smile at her and watch her smile back. she is starting to be able to mimic facial expressions a bit. sigh.
so! the big event was last saturday. the baby shower! it was quite a party. lots and lots of people came, and every one admired ella's gorgeous chinese new year dress. i loved it! her cousin sara wore a scottish-highland-fling outfit complete with a tam and almost outshone ella with her cuteness!
my mom and my brother and his fiancé were in town for the whole weekend and had a great time with ell. it was brody and tara's first time to see her - at 5 weeks old. they loved her of course, and she loved them too. she treated them to quite a few wonderful smiles. it was great to see my mom with her too. as neela commented after they left - they treat ella as if i gave birth to her myself. which is, of course, as it should be, and wonderful. they love her to bits.
the shower was wonderful - we were *showered* with gifts! hah. lots and lots of clothes and cute toys and stuffed animals. beautiful homemade blankets too. my mom made this wonderful blanket with the alphabet on it and she stitched all the Es for ella. neela's auntie linda made some lovely personalized blankets with her name and birthdate embroidered on them. very sweet. my grandma sent a lovely afghan too that her best friend iris made. (my granny doesn't sew! too "old lady" for her!) we can't wait to dress her up in all these great outfits.
we also got a wonderfully generous gift - a high chair - which we appreciate so much and the thought was really nice, but we're going to take it back!! haha. sorry auntie edna. we'll pick out just the right high chair and thank her for her contribution to it!
ella also had her first trip to the land of her ancestors... that is, ikea! we took the snuggly front pack and she was okay in it for awhile, but after about an hour and a half she started to feel very unhappy. poor baby. good thing we brought her stroller as a backup plan!
okay, that's it for now.