Friday, April 22, 2005
Shoot first, cry later
The pertinent stats: 9 lb, 6 oz (home weighing must be wildly off -- we recorded this like two weeks ago), 22 inches (she has shrunk since Monday at Children's Hospital). On the right curve on the growth chart, about 25th percentile for weight and 50th for height (or 75th, if you ask the fine folks at Children's!). Tall and skinny -- it could be worse for a young lady! Obviously, we are going to nervously watch her weight throughout life and begin obsessing over it with her the minute she can understand what we're saying. How else is she going to become a Hollywood starlet and support me in my planned life as a Stage Dad Who Can't Stay Out of the Tabloids unless she has body image issues? I sense an afterschool special in the making.
Nuggets of 5-Year-Old Wisdom from Ella:
- Lindsay tells Ella that she wants help making her tummy feel better by pumping her left leg up and down (like she's starting a motorcycle). This move prompted Ella to go wash her hands last night so she could come back and move both Lindsay's legs up and down (a gas relief trick Nicola swears by).
- Upon hearing that Lindsay was getting shots today. "I'm glad I won't be there to hear her screams. Oh, I feel so bad for her!"
It was a great but quick night with Ella...she was in full goofy mode, singing along with Ralph in the car and making funny faces and just being silly. I love that she's so un-selfconscious now -- acting crazy without any concern for how she's being perceived. That's the freedom and innocence of youth for ya! I just wish these alternate Thursdays weren't so short -- by the time I picked up Ella, we had barely two hours together. Not nearly enough to cover the time from one Sunday to the following Thursday, and Michelle has completely refused my requests to turn these nights into overnights. I'm going to have to 1) get more forceful and adamant; and 2) take this to mediation if necessary.
On a closing note, Lindsay gave me the most beautiful smile when I got home from work last night. Those little looks of recognition and little smiles are everything right now!
Later, she went through a rough patch, and Nicola and I talked about how she (Nicola) is often swooping in to rescue me when I can't seem to get Lindsay calmed down. I think I'm used to my tried-and-true tricks -- the way I hold her or talk to her as I attempt to soothe -- working, and when they don't, I get stuck. Nicola is wonderful at methodically trying many things to figure out what Lindsay needs at the moment, and I'm going to get better at that too so I can support her better.
We also talked about my blog from the other night. That's another story, I guess...but I'm realizing that the power of our love and the strength of our relationship, while both representing the essential foundation of us, are not enough when they remain silent...in the sense that we both know we have this solid foundation, but it's the little things you say and do (and what you don't say and do) that make the difference between ordinary and extraordinary.
Not sure that makes sense, but it's Friday at 5 p.m. and I'm heading "home" to help out and be with my ladies.
