Xmas Gifts - Round One

Some photos of Ezri's gifts from us. We made a conscious decision that Ezri will receive three gifts for Christmas - one from each of us individually and one from "Santa"/both of us and a stocking for funsies. We're trying to get in the mindset of the holidays being about DOING instead of GETTING - giving her memories that will last forever instead of gifts that will last a few months. Plus, knowing we were only getting three gifts challenged us to find really special items - like some kind of crazy-crafty-online scavenger hunt with a budget.

All of our gifts came from Etsy. If you have never visited the site, click on the link at the top of the page. Just make sure you have a few hours to spend drooling over all of the fantasticness.

From Mama - handmade recycled wool puppets, Pierre the Pig and Rosalind the Raccoon.




From Papa - screenprinted onesies (soon-to-be t-shirts once Mama gets out the sewing machine and does some alterations. Note: Cloth diapers and crotch snaps don't mix.)


From "Santa" - wood block prints spelling "E-Z-R-I". We - I mean "Santa" - has had his eyes on these since Ezri was born.

New Year Catch-Up

Where has the time gone? It seems like I was just logging in to upload the Thanksgiving pictures and here we are starting a new year. Ezri survived her first holiday experience - barely. To put it mildly, Christmas was utter chaos. We celebrated more times than we can count on one hand. Ezri was a real trooper, though largely unaware of what was going on. She was far more enthralled by the overhead lighting than the gifts. Her parents, however, were very humbled by all of the fabulous gifts she received. As we continue to recover from the holiday extravaganza, we will try to post photos of Ezri enjoying her bounty.

In general baby news, Ezri is just days shy of being 5 months old. Holy crap, she has actually been here for 5 months. She is continuing to grow like a weed and in fact she is at the tail end of another growth spurt. We're estimating her weight at about 12 pounds, and she has outgrown enough clothes to constitute us uttering the phrase "let's put it away for the next baby." In my time off from work, she seemed to be doing something new everyday. She has discovered the wonder of The Thumb - a true blessing since none of us were great fans of the pacifier. She has also figured out that if she can get something into her hand, she can also get it into her mouth - bad news for Dax's tail but good news for her camera-happy parents who enjoy documenting it. Her constant babbling is endlessly amusing and she figures out new ways to use her voice everyday, though it does continue to make leaving her at daycare even more devastating - but that's whole other post.

December brought our first "proud parent" moment as she made the newsletter at her daycare. In a review of the babies in Infant Room A, it was stated, "Ezri has the biggest smile." That's right, the BIGGEST! She beat out 4 other babies for that honor. Needless to say we have gold-plated the newsletter and hung it proudly over our fireplace.


Here are some random photos taken since Thanksgiving. Once the Holiday pics are organized, we will add those as well.

Turkey Day Update

It's about a week late, but here are some photos of Ezri's first Thanksgiving. While she slept through the actual meal, she did enjoy the Tofurky and Pumpkin Pie via Mommy about 4 hours later. She also enjoyed the fancy new threads we got her for the occasion.

In other news, for those that don't know I had to return to work on November 12th. Luckily, we found a daycare that we are very happy with and who shares many of our own philosophies. Ezri seems to be enjoying it and everyday, along with her detailed log of poopy diapers and naps, we get a personal note from the teacher telling us what a happy, giggly baby she is. All of the folks at daycare are also digging her clothes - funny since most of her ensembles are put together half-awake at 5am.

At home, she is starting to try to talk to us and is sleeping all the way through the night. She can sort of sit up for a few seconds if she is leaning forward. Her growth continues to amaze us, as she is now fitting into to things that -when she born- we thought wouldn't fit until her 2nd birthday. She is starting to really check things out now, and the Christmas tree, her dad and the mirror are her favorite things to look at.

Papa Can You Hear Me?

Happy Hallo-weenie!

A few days late but here are some shots of Ezri at her very first Halloween.

Obviously, she is dressed as a vegan-veggie-hot dog - because that's just how we roll.

We're Still Standing...

So we didn't pack up and join the circus - though with Ezri's freakish strength we do have a fair shot. Alas, we've merely be living the normal life of parents to an infant. Who would have thought there was more to it than taking pictures and writing witty blog posts?

So after our long absence from the Land of Ez, Miss Ezri has aged to be 11 weeks old. Scary but true. Though we don't have any exact measurements, our best guesses put her weight at at least 10 pounds, based off of her two-month check up stats and her constant demand to be fed. She has outgrown her preemie clothes and is comfortably fitting into her 0-3 month attire. She's gone from her newborn diapers into the size smalls, but still manages to fill them throughout the day. We've also come to know that our girl is quite a gas bucket, burping and farting like a little old man. That, coupled with her pattern-baldness, will ensure that we won't have to worry about dating for some time.

While her bodily functions tend toward the elderly, Ezri's sleep habits are becoming decidely teenage. After establishing a firm 11:00 bedtime for herself, our night owl is now pushing herself until 1:00 in the morning, sleeping straight through until 7 or 8:00, then following with a 4 or 5 hour nap in the morning. I'm sure I've just opened the floodgates for the "you-need-to-get-her-on-a-schedule" lectures, but rest assured that we are slowly working toward a routine that works for US.

Which brings us to the most devasting news - only two more weeks until I rejoin the world of the working. The prospect of leaving her with someone else all day is beyond depressing but a necessary evil if we want to maintain our current, lavish lifestyle of electricity and three meals a day. We are seeking donations of my yearly salaray plus full-benefits, but I'm guessing those are a bit far off. Time to send out those head shots of Trotsky and see if we can line up some Pedigree commercials or something.

In general, Ezri is an all-around good baby - very smiley and enjoys interacting with others. She certainly has her moments and the concept of "crying it out" is completely lost on her - she has already developed a pretty impressive "you-are-the-most-horrible-parents-in-the-world-my-god-why-don't-you-feed-me-already" cry so she gets what she wants pretty quickly, though being that she is only 11 weeks old, it's not like we can spoil her at this point. Despite that, she is quite easy to get along with. Her greatest joy in life right now is her Kringelring - a German-made wooden rattle that consists of one ring with two little rings around it. We're convinced the thing is sprinkled with Ecstasy or something because a few shakes of it and she is completely giddy.

And now, without further ado, the Wonder that is Ezri. A quick glance through will prove that she is the offspring of two formerly chunky babies, with definite relations to the Bradley family.