Holiday Parties

I had so much fun showing off my cute little one at holiday parties this year and it was really neat for me to see how Ellie responded in those situations. I find it interesting that she responds so drastically different to various people and I wonder what it is that causes it.

At one party she was not fussy, but was a little overwhelmed by all the grown-ups who speak in deep voices. I hadn't thought about the fact that, with the exception of Daddy and occasionally Grandpa, Ellie hasn't really had males talk to her before. And there were plenty of males at my group's holiday party (so is the nature of engineering). Ellie was fascinated, but for the most part she shyly clung to her mommy whenever someone else was close by.

However, there was an exception... Chuck. I don't know what it was about Chuck that Ellie liked, but instantly she was drawn to him. Maybe it was the fact that he spoke **to** her and not **about** her? Maybe it was his beard? I'm not sure, but she kept reaching up to touch him on his arm, shoulder, back, face... whatever she could reach. It was really strange, but neat to see her open up to a complete stranger like that.

At another holiday party, and ironically another Chuck's house, she was once again fun to show off. Most of the time we sat in the living room and she entertained herself with the toys that belonged to the host's daughter. Ellie was a happy baby. Then the host's daughter decided that she liked me. I don't know what I did to convince her that I was worth her attention, but there was a point where she came over and sat on my lap to show me a book of hers. Ellie was a few feet away from me and instantly got fussy and started pulling herself in my direction, as if to say "No, that's MY mommy!!" Fascinating.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun bringing her along on the parties. I'm so proud to be her Mommy!

And on that note... we leave to visit Pappy in Oklahoma so you won't hear from me for a week. Hopefully when I return, there'll be plenty to talk about.