Monkey See Monkey Do!

Ila has mastered the art of clapping. She claps at Lily, at cabs, in restaurants, at strangers on the street. She just loves the sounds her hands can make. Here is a little sample.



Aside from the swings and library time, daddy returning home from work is a highlight of Ila's day. Tonight they decided to bounce on the bed together. Here they go...



She also loves to mimic noises. Her favorite is the growl. When we flew on a plane last week she growled for most of the flight. The man seated in front of us seemed concerned about where the odd sound was coming from. Then, he turned and saw the deep grunting was coming from a sweet little baby. He was surprised to say the least!

Back after a long hiatus

Well, Ila is twice her age from the last post by now. Sorry, devoted followers. A lot has happened in the past 4 months. We'll do our best to devote a post to each big event. Here is the short recap:

Mid-March we discovered that Ila's daycare was not giving her the attention she deserved. We'll spare the gory details but ultimately we withdrew her and I (Mary) have decided to leave my full time position at NYU and go to full private practice so that I can care for Ila myself. So, over the past 3 months I have been transitioning careers and setting up my business. The blog posting sort of took a backseat. Luckily, I kept taking as many pictures of my little charmer as before so you won't miss out on a day of her smile.



Once we withdrew Ila from daycare family & friends came to our rescue once again. Grandma Vivi flew up right away, followed by Grandma Dye & Grandpa Vic. Each week some days were covered by our dear friends, Sean & Allison who live in the neighborhood. Then, Margaret came into our lives. She is the nanny who is caring for Ila two days a week while I work at NYU. Ila seemed to love her and from the instant we met her she reminded me of my Grandma Myrtle. That comparison is a big deal. Grandma was such a special, strong, loving and wonderful person. So, needless to say we are happy with her.



On the job front, my hard work has paid off. As I write this post, I now have 8 private clients and have established 2 offices - one in Manhattan & one in Brooklyn. As Dolly Parton's character in Steel Magnolias would say, "I'm a chain!" Things are looking up. I'm getting to stay home in the day with Ila watching her grow and then I pass her off to Chris several evenings per week and Saturday mornings to see my clients. The plan is to keep Margaret with us one day a week so that I can have one day to offer daytime hours. Ila seems to be relishing in the undivided attention and is enjoying story time at the library and weekly play dates with her friend Georgia. The picture above is Ila with her new friend, Valentina, at "Babies & Books" - the highlight of our week at the Brooklyn Public Library.



Now that we're back, here is the run-down o the past 4 months. Individual posts to follow.

Month 4 - Grandparents, grandparents & more grandparents. Even a great-grandparent!
Month 5 - babbling like a lunatic, swinging & a visitor from Ecuador
Month 6 - the solid food adventure begins, Ila comes to Jesus
Month 7 - Clapping, waving, mother's day, west-coast friends, first plane ride and on-screen interview

4th month

Ila is now Four and a half months old! Though we will always treasure her days of being curled up and tiny, now she is really becoming her own person. She is a very happy baby who seems to be more serious than silly. Her smiles are huge and her laughs are like music. This baby is certain to smile when playing flying baby, dancing, playing in the exersaucer or seeing you for the first time in the morning or after work. Laughs are a sure bet when blowing rasberries on her tummy or attempting to eat one of her limbs. Everyday she is more fun and engaging than the last. And we swear she is bigger each morning.



Big developments this month:
Shakes a rattle and is fully aware that she is making the sound. This delights her!
Can single out her thumb to suck on but prefers the taste of her giraffe's face.
Met her Sit-Sittoo who has been hibernating in 30" of snow.
Attended her first hafli and danced the night away.
Has toys and it seems she would rather be playing with them than be held.
Flips all over the place as if it is her job.
Attends official play dates (she is on one with Georgia, below).
Gives long monologues in the language of coos.
Now goes to daycare and seems to love it.



At the same time we do miss a few of her old habits, as she no longer:
goes cross eyed
hiccups daily
does the "crab-claw" startle reflex

She is getting to be a big girl.



When we returned from the Poconos, Grandma Dye came to town to watch Ila. We had a blizzard with 19" of snow while she was here so the walks outside were few and far between. But, she and Ila had a great time together singing, playing and talking the days away.



After Grandma Dye left, Grandma Vivie & Grandpa Doug took a one week shift. They helped us begin Ila's first transition week at daycare. She started with one hour a day and is now up to full time. All in all, we've had a harder time adjusting to her in daycare than she has. The ladies there all love her and she loves the variety of toys and other babies. Here she is with Candice, the daycare director.



After them came Papa & Grammie. They had beautiful weather during their stay. Once they noticed that Ila was chewing on everything in sight they surprised her one afternoon with a variety of beautiful teething toys.



At the end of the week we packed up the car - Pop's car that is - and headed north to Sittoo's house. That's Sit-Sittoo to Ila (Great-Grandma) We spent the weekend with her and visited with our cousins Ed & Barbara, Ashley, Chelsea, Cathy, Donnie, Christy, Becky and Aunt Cathy & Uncle Tim.



Ila also met our friends Denise & Mitch who recently fled NYC and bought a home just 11 miles from Sittoo. Ila attended their wedding back in May but she was in utero, so has no recollection.



While in Worcester, Sittoo treated Ila to her first hafli (basically a Lebanese dinner and dance party) at the Syrian Orthodox Cathedral of St. George. Ila absolutely loved the arabic music and did her own dabke dance on the table with Becky's help. Guess we'll be playing more of our Port Saiid music at home for her! If only Giddoo could have seen her dance. We know it would have made him overflow with happiness.


Video!



After about two hours of fun she feel asleep in our arms and slept the rest of the hafli. She was peacefully passed from one set of arms to another.Ila did wake up back at Sittoo's long enough to watch us all devour the baklawa we had brought home from the event.

Ila's first Holiday Season

It's been a long, long time since we've posted. This is partly because we spent over two weeks in Virginia for the holidays. Ila met so many friends and family members. Here's how it all went down. First, Abe, Ally, Eli & Sebastian came to NYC to meet her at last! Here are the three cousins in Rockafeller Center.



After a day in the city we all drove down to VA in the Swagger Wagon. It was only Ila's third time in a car. When she was strapped in she started to cry. That made Seb cry. This made Ila cry harder. Then Seb had to cry louder. Ila wanted to stop but had to try and outcry her cousin. You get the idea. Now, imagine it going on for nine hours. Here is a small taste.



Eli deserves a gold star for putting up with the two of them. All he said was "Boy. These babies sure do cry a lot." Yes Eli, they sure do. We did make it to VA. Sadly, our hearing did not.

Unfortunately, Seb got sick the night we arrived. He was soon followed by Eli, then Mary, then Ally, Vivian, Candie, Pop, Wendy, Penny, Gina, Ginger, Michael, Scotty and Jerry with the 10 hour bug that swept the nation. This made for a less formal Christmas with many canceled plans and botched tablescapes. Luckily, Ila still seemed to think Christmas was pretty nice. She started the festivities by visiting Santa.

She spent time lounging at Papa & Grammie Candies meeting new family members, such as Wendy, all the way from Vancouver.



Ila slept through the candle light service at Epworth Methodist Church on Christmas Eve and made the rounds to friends & family wearing all of the silly outfits we had chosen for her. We have a feeling this picture will live in the family forever as evidence of what we subjected this pair to for their first Christmas. Consider them bonded forever.



Seb looks like he could use a drink.



Then, she got to open presents at Grandma & Grandpa Dye's.



We were snowed in at Gradma Vivie's. Ila loved seeing the snow. She also liked the photo op with the Gordon Fisherman in crazy 80's gloves. Hey, who knew we would need snow gear in Virginia Beach?



Most of all she loved playing with Sebastian. He is pretty much her idol. They had matching whale PJ's which would have made for a cute photo. On the first night they both had them on, Seb peed in his before a camera came out. On the next night it was Ila with the leaky pants. Oh well, they still look adorable together.



She met many more cousins (Alora, Elijah, Isreal, Grace & May) and could not believe that there are so many kids in the world. And they are all related to her!



She visited Grandpa Dye at work and melted the hearts of all his female co-workers. He showed her off and took her to lunch. She slept the whole time.



Ila also paid a visit to Title Express and met Susan, Megan & baby Lily.



On New Year's Eve Ila partied with our friends Eric & Ashley all the way from Hawaii. She crashed around 11 pm and got New Year kisses in her sleep.



Ila also spent time with Rev. Jim Earley. He's the guy that married us almost 7 years ago. Since then, he has become Doug's BFF. So, now he & Phyllis are a part of the family for better or for worse. We consider Ila highly blessed having ended 2010 and began 2011 in the arms of not one, but two, ministers.



It is confirmed. This little girl loves to party. She attended baby Ewan's 1st birthday party with Uncle Tony. She is quite excited to try ice cream cake and rub it in her hair the way Ewan did. It was pretty awesome.



She got to meet some of our oldest friends. Here she is with Chris O. Whitey & Eric. Apparently, she has heard stories & she is scared.



Then Ila had dinner with some more of our closest friends: Stacey, Jessica (with baby Elin yet to be born when this photo was taken), Jackie & Tanya. She listened to Tanya read old notes that we use to pass each other middle school. Apparently we were bored, obsessed with boys and highly concerned with finding each other in the hallways between class. Such is the life of a sixth grader.



Ila took a Three girls trip with me (Mary) & Vivian back to NYC. As soon as we returned, I had to go back to work. Gone are the days of long mornings, getting dressed only if I want to (or if the spit-up soaked through enough to bother me) and snuggling with my baby all day. Now I go to my office and stares at pictures of Ila. I miss her dearly, yet I will admit it is nice to take off the burp cloth for a few hours and have some adult conversations. The work day is a race to get home to Ila just as fast as I can. It makes her smile that much more endearing. There is nothing like walking in the door to those big dimples and holding her after 9 long hours knowing that we get to spend the next 15 together. To ease my transition to work - and to stall the daycare payments - Grandma Vivie took the first nanny shift. Ila didn't seem to mind the transition and I was comforted knowing that she was home with her grandma who loves her intensely and appreciates every coo and smile.



Like a great nanny, Grandma Vivie kept us posted on everything Ila did during the day. So, just what has the little one been up to while Chris & I work? Training for the exersaucer! Step one was the bebo chair. At first she would make uncoordinated karate chop moves at the toy. Now, writing this 3 weeks later, she is a pro. Isolating the toy with both hands and stopping it to gaze at the parts. She also practiced her floor routine and made sure that Grandma Vivie spent most of the day holding her.



Grandma Vivie went back to old Virginia before Grandma Dye came to take over. Then, it was time to get back to nature with a trip to the Poconos. This was the 4th year of our annual MLK weekend Snowstravaganza with friends at Cory & Emily's cabin. Ila was a lovely guest. She enjoyed bowling, playing in the snow, dominating the New England Village and spending diaper-free evenings by the fire.