Day 5 -- More Excitement

It's hard to keep up with all of the excitement around the Barrett house these days, but we'll do our best to keep your inquiring minds satisfied. I guess it's sort of like home movies, but at least you can fast-forward....

Ellie was meeting all sorts of people today. Crystal had said that she was going to keep her cloistered for a few weeks, but it's just too much fun to show her off! We had the special treat of two midwife visits today. As I noted yesterday, Ellie tends to be well-behaved in front of the midwife -- latching on and feeding with wild abandon. But when Sharon visited this morning she gave her a demonstration of what life is normally like around here at feeding time (well, maybe not "normally" but at least "occasionally"). She was wailing up a storm, getting a few gulps and then getting tired or bored or something, with none of the standard tricks doing much good. Nothing is really wrong, but Ellie just isn't always as cooperative as she could be (maybe a little of her father's orneriness has snuck into her genes). Sharon said she would check back in the afternoon to make sure the next feed had gone better. But to our delight Margaret (pictured above), the midwife who take care of most of our pre-natal needs, popped by for a cuppa while Ellie gave a splendiferous performance.

We also had a visit with Ruth and her son Peter. Ruth sings with the music group at church so we see each other quite regularly. Peter has apparently been quite smitten with Ellie and likes to admire her on the web. Now he can see himself here too! We also had a nice visit with Amy and her son Sam (below). Amy has been a regular visitor but Sam hadn't had the opportunity to make Ellie's acquaintance. He's going on his first airplane flight tomorrow so came over to see her before the big trip.

Crystal realized that she hadn't been outside since coming home from hospital so we took advantage of the nice weather and had a little outing to the neighborhood Co-op for a few provisions. Nana's getting the hang of tea and crumpets, but I must admit it was nice to have good ol' Texas-style red beans and cornbread tonight. Ellie watched us from the comfort of her bouncy chair (thanks Ruth!).

Beyond basic health and well-being, Crystal's deep longing was that Ellie would enjoy baths as much as Crystal enjoys giving them. (Point of culture: in England you "bath" your baby, you don't "bathe" her). Ellie certainly seemed to enjoy her hospital baths but tonight was her first home bath, complete with a Pooh bear bath sponge (thanks Kathy!) and a boogie-boarding hippo with pink jams bath thermometer (thanks Sam!). Within seconds of going into the water she was asleep and snoring. I think Crystal may be even more hooked than she was before!

And what day would be complete without a case of the hiccups? It's probably not nice to giggle when your darling is confused by her body's rhythmic convulsions, but it's hard not to when you see something that's so cute! Click on the image to watch the captivating video. How could tomorrow be any more exciting??