Journey to the Great White North

So Mom and Dad tricked me into a car again. I fell asleep and next thing I knew I was waking up in a car far from home. But they gave me a bottle of Mom's Milk (tm) right when I got up and after a short while we stopped to play with cousins. I got to meet Cousin Sophie. She's very old...two! She sang me songs and showed me lots of stuff I can do when I grow up some more.

Esme and Sophie play Mix-n-Match parents

Oh yeah, I got to meet Sophie's Ima and Aba too (also known in grown up circles as Ben and Julie). And puppy cousin Lillabee showed off some excellent sniffing of me. Everyone else had yummy snacks and Chocolachino made by cousin Ben. After a while, I got sleepy and dozed off.

And when I woke up, I was in that darn car again! And worse, Mom and Dad hadn't brought cousin Sophie with me. It was dark out and there was some white stuff all around. But they did give me another bottle and Mom played with me. I met a new friend who always seems to be in my carseat: Mr Duck. Mr Duck and I had a staring contest for a while and eventually we stopped and got out. Guess who was there? Safta and Ronnie! I was very excited. And Mom and Dad say we get to stay for a whole week. This should be lots of fun.

Love and cuddles,
Esme

Rub-a-dub, dub...fun in the tub

Maybe I was a bit hasty to judge this bath thing. Turns out I kinda like it. I'm still not crazy about the face washing and shampooing my head, but it's not so bad that I need to cry. Just a little squirming is enough to do the trick. It can be lots of fun.

The Happy Bather

I even started to figure out how to splash a little bit. That one caught Mom and Dad off guard, and I enjoy surprising them. We'll have to see what I have up my sleeve next time. But since I don't have sleeves in the tub, that could be tricky. Hmmm...

Love and cuddles,
Esme

My Former Roommate Comes to Visit

So for the first couple weeks after I came home, I had a roommate. Sherma was a great roommate. She showed Mom and Dad how to take care of me and do all the things they hadn't done before. And she made sure I had company when I got bored or gassy in the middle of the night. But after a couple weeks, it was time for Sherma to head to California and help another baby.

The Roommates looking good

The other day Sherma was back home in NY and had a little free time. So she came over for a visit. We had lots of fun catching up. Sherma said I'd grown a lot. And I showed off my head lifting during some tummy time. We also had a good chat and cuddle. Sherma is very fun and I can't wait to see her again.

Love and cuddles,
Esme

GiggleFest 2010

Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkkah

It seems that every night Mom and Dad insist on playing with fire. And it seems to be getting a little worse each night. I mean that's a LOT of candles. When will it be enough?

Esme poses with her Menorot

But I have to admit I like the singing they do first. Especially Dad's rendition of the Shehekianu in his funny noise. That one makes me laugh.

Love and cuddles,
Esme

Rock-a-Bye Baby

So a little while ago, a got a very special chair from Mom's friend Keith and Sue. But till now, I wasn't big enough to try the chair. But after my date today, Mom and Dad decided I was a big enough girl to try out the chair.

M-o-m, I can handle this myself

It was great to relax after the exciting visit today. I'll have lots of fun with my chair. And maybe soon, I'll be able to sit in it solo.

Love and cuddles,
Esme

Gentleman Caller

So Dad finally relented and let me have my first date. He can have so many rules sometimes: regular baths, clean diapers, lots of naps,...no boys till I'm 4 months old. Well, Dad let me have a boy over a week early!

I had lots of fun getting ready and trying on outfits. I settled on the Burberry dress Great Aunt Susan gave me.

Mom, how do I look? Think Holden will like my dress?

 When Holden came over with his parents, we took it slow at first being a blind date. But in no time, we were watching my mobile and playing with my toys. It was fun.

Esme and Holden watching the mobile together

Then when Holden wasn't expecting it, I made my move and grabbed his hand. He can be my main squeeze.

Esme goes for it, surprising Holden

We then took naps and it was time for Holden to go home. We had lots of fun and maybe Dad will let me go on another date soon.

Love and cuddles,
Esme

Staring contest with Mr. WhooZit

Tummy Time

BOO!

Pebbles Flinstone (Esme) poses with some pumpkins

I’m having lots of fun with this Halloween thing even though Mom and Dad say I can’t have candy yet. So have some for me and Happy Halloween.

Love and cuddles,

Pebbles (Esme)

Jailbreak

They thought they could contain me. Ha! First the regular swaddles. Easily escaped. Next it was the SwaddleMe. A bit of a challenge, but I managed to wriggle free. Then they broke out the big guns...the Miracle Blanket. This thing was supposed to keep me wrapped up? Not likely.

Esme celebrates her escape with a grin and a thumbs up

Rumor has it they will stop this silliness about swaddling in about a month. Can't come soon enough for this little Houdini. But in the meantime, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve in case Mom and Dad try any other fancy blankets. Hehe.

Love and cuddles,
Esme

What's in a name?

This past weekend Mom and Dad took me to shul for the first time for my naming. Now, if you read this blog regularly, you know my name is Esme. But this was for my Hebrew name, Esther Sh'Tira. They decided to name me after two of my Great Grandmothers. I never got to meet either of them, but I learned about them at the naming. Grandma Esther was my Dad's Dad's mother. I was named for her because she was wonderfully kind and remarkably creative, both qualities that Mom and Dad hope for me. Sh'Tira is after Mom's Mom's mother, Stella Wise. It was her tremendous strength and independence that Mom and Dad wish for me. I'm a really lucky girl to have such a special Hebrew name.

Esme bops along to the musical stylings of Cantor Jodi

And I had lots of fun at Shul. I got my own special service with the family. It was run by Rabbi Joel and Cantor Jodi. They both married Mom and Dad and Cantor Jodi Bat Mitzvahed Mom. So we like them both a lot. And I loved the singing. Cantor Jodi sings such great songs.

Esme, wrapped in a special Talit, takes it all in

I got to be the center of attention and was all wrapped up in Mom's Talit. They say it was the same one she used for her Bat Mitzvah. That was too cool.

Esme enjoys a Rabbinic cuddle while Mom and Dad look on

Then we stayed for Shabbat services. I was on my best behavior and really impressed everyone by lasting the whole service. Afterwards, we went back to Safta and Ronnie's for a special dinner which was lots of fun too. They said the food was super yummy, but I stuck with my usual milk since Mom's the very best caterer of all in my book. I got to see lots of family, including all my grandparents. I can't wait to see everyone again soon. But since my Bat Mitzvah is still a little ways off, next time will have to be someone else's party.

Love and cuddles,
Esme

Hard to get good help these days

Well, my dad is doing a good job as a parent. But wow does he stink as an administrative assistant. I mean, seriously, it's been almost a month since he's put up some of my posts. I know he's got the pictures cause I had to tolerate them being taken. And I dictated the written parts to him already.

So I'm cracking the whip and he should be putting up a big backlog of pics and posts. If he doesn't, I might have to fire my dad...just as my assistant.

ASSISTANT'S NOTE: After profuse apologies to my employer (Esme pays me in smiles) and posting her backlog of entries, it looks like I'll get to keep my job. I put the posts on their actual dates, so you'll have to look below.

Kickin' Off the Weekend

So I'm back in Weston with Mom and Dad. They listened to my complaints about the last trip and we took the train this time. I like the train much better. Mom and Dad can pick me up and sooth me without having to stop. We all like that. After we got to Ronnie and Safta's house, we settled in. After we had a chance to rest, we went over to Dorothea and Shelly's for dinner. It was really nice of them to invite everyone over. I got to hand out with Bubbie Lindie and Neill too, since they are staying with Dorothea and Shelly this weekend.

Look Ma, no hands!

I decided to show off for everybody. I can now support most of my weight with my legs. So I hung out standing for a little bit. All the big people were very impressed.

Esme cuddles with Bubbie Lindie

We all had lots of fun. And tomorrow I get to see my Aunties (Julia and Emily). I'm really excited and can't wait.

Love and cuddles,
Esme

Grandpa Comes to Town

So I had a very special visitor the other day all the way from California. It was my Grandpa! He's always so excited to see me and it's lots of fun when he visits. We had a really nice time. Dad promised that I'll get to see him a couple more times at least before he goes back home to San Frisco.

That's one happy Grandpa!

After Grandpa left, we just had a relaxing rest of the day at home.

Mother and daughter lost in each others' eyes

I got to spend some time on my changing pad (it's my favorite place). And Mom hung out with me there for a while. I like looking at Mom (Dad says he does too). Well, I'm off to sleep.

Love and cuddles,

Esme