Ella Rolls Over

Ella rolled over twice the other day...certainly the first time I've ever seen her do that. She was quickly frustrated with tummy time and promptly pushed herself over. Trying to do it a third time proved to be too much, however. She pushed and pushed but got too frustrated and cried. Click on the link below to see a quick video of one of her successful rollover attempts.

Ella hums...

Shelley and Ella share something in common - they both hum when they breathe in their sleep. This isn't an everyday occurence with Shelley, but Ella seems to be a noisy sleeper and hums quite a bit.

Ella Smiles...

Ella is almost two months old. As Shelley noted in her blog, Ella is a few weeks away from travelling back home to see the rest of the family, including her two namesakes.

Ella is growing quickly and is starting to give us some smiles. We've taken some video of Ella starting to smile...click on the picture below to check it out.

Realities of Ex-Pat Life in Tokyo

You know how you have friends that move - perhaps within driving distance - but are just far enough away that you make promises that you'll get together all the time but never do? Maybe some of you reading this are victims of my over promising. And for that I'm sorry! (Sam, I swear, we'll play golf next time we're in town. I promise. I really mean it this time.) It's funny, though, when we moved we didn't get many "we'll come see you in...uh...Tokyo." And rightfully, so.

Despite a desire to show people around our new home, Shelley and I have to face the sober fact that we won't be getting many visitors while we're in Tokyo. But that's Ok. Shelley and I have been really blessed nevertheless. We are starting our second month of a six month period where we get to see a lot of family and friends. In May, Shelley's Mom came for two weeks, followed by two weeks with my parents. We're picking up Shelley's sister Rachel at the airport on Friday and she'll be with us for a whole month. Then we head home to LA and Indiana and probably Utah for a month before coming back to Tokyo. And to top it off, in October my parents are coming back again for a week.

Just as an aside, I consider myself TREMENDOUSLY lucky that I get to visit LA for a month. Tokyo in the summer time becomes a three-month male pity party. All the women and children flee for their mother lands the very minute school lets out. The men are left behind to endure Tokyo summers alone. But I digress.

These visits have been special to us not because we're out seeing things, but simply because we're spending time with each other. The pictures in the gallery I've linked to are simply that - pictures of us spending time at the pony park, the aquarium, at restaurants, on the train and at home, etc.

Ella's Baby Blessing

Last Sunday at church we had Ella's baby blessing. I think cool that most cultures and religions have a rite they perform to celebrate the birth of a new, precious life. Even in Japan, you will see babies, dressed not unlike Ella here in these pictures, blessed at one month after birth in the shrine by a Shinto priest.

Certainly to us as Mormons, the blessing not only has meaning to the child, but it has tremendous meaning to her family. It's one of the great blessings of being a father to be able to hold your child in your arms and pronounce a blessing on this life that is so new and full of hope and promise. And to have my parents there, and my father to help me bless her, was a great thing. What a great reminder of the importance and eternal nature of families.

I should say a few things about the dress...because that too has a significant family tie. The dress was made by Shelley's Mom, Sally. As legend has it, the dress was made from 37 yards of lace. That's a lot of lace. And it was beautiful.

Here are a few pictures from that day. Click on any of the pictures to see the gallery.

Ella at one month

Sorry for the lack of updates.

Ella hits one month tomorrow and we've learned a little bit about her as a person during this time.

1. Ella's eyes are actually blue...my recessive genes are busting through.
2. Ella loves sleeping with Shelley...but sleeping in her her crib and with Dad? Not so much.
3. Ella seems to have a milk protein allergy...just like Anthon did.
4. Great eater.
5. Prolific pooper. And I mean forceful.
6. Can't stand the binky...much to our chagrin.

I've uploaded a few more pictures of Ella. Click on the picture below to see more.

Etymology of Ella Nadine

A few of you have asked, so I thought I would explain how we got the name Ella Nadine. Family names, and names of personal significance, have always been important to me and Shelley. When it came time to think about a name for our first little girl, this was the first name that was on our list.

Ella is my grandmother's name. She turns 91 this year and is one of the most beautiful and classiest women I know. She lives on her own in Northern California with a busier social life than I ever had as a single person! As an aside whenever Shelley and I wanted to drive up to see her, we had to book her weeks and sometimes months in advance because her days would fill up with bridge parties, lunches or dinners out, etc. She has a beautiful singing voice and sang with my Mom in the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. More than anything she has had to endure a lot of personal pain and trials - losing two husbands. One of my favorite gifts is a personal account of her life written in her own words and handwriting. I plan to share some of those stories to little Ella to let her know of her heritage...class and grace despite significant personal trials.

Nadine is a very special person in Shelley's life. She is often referred to as Shelley's "Fairy Godmother" - a name that I think really fits. Nadine was a good family friend, and former patient of her father's, who was so grateful of the care her father gave her, that she unofficially adopted Shelley (and subsequently her siblings) and would spoil her with jewelry or the latest fashion when Shelley was a teenager. With no close family of her own, Nadine became an important part of Shelley's life. Nadine is a naturally generous person - giving up her time to volunteer at the hospital to help relieve the suffering of the patients there.

Both of these women are important people in both of our lives and while we know that Ella Nadine has come with her own set of personality characteristics, we feel excited to teach her about the heritage that comes with her name. To that end, here is a quick little video of Shelly starting that "training" - telling Ella Nadine about both Ella and Nadine.

Ella Etymology

Here's Ella...

It's been a fast few days. Shelley checked out of the hospital today after a very U.S.-like stay of only two nights. Usually they like to keep you for 5 days. But I think she was ready to go. We are glad to have her back.

I've leave the details of the delivery to Shelley. But I can tell already that you're a different parent with number two than you are with number one. After Anthon was born we strapped him into the car seat we had purchased months before and Shelley was wheelchaired out of the hospital and we drove a good ten miles under the speed limit for the two mile drive. We were very careful. With Ella, we couldn't get out of the hospital soon enough and we hailed a cab, no car seat, and just hoped for a safe ride home. I'm sure Ella will be juggling knives in no time.

But she is certainly a sweet baby. She's a good sleeper and eater and best of all she's a snuggler...which Shelley really likes. (Who am I kidding, no one is reading this...you've already clicked on the links below to pictures and a two-minute video).

Pictures

Video

Ella Nadine Cannon is here

Ella Nadine Cannon was born Saturday, May 3rd at 4:45 PM. Both Shelley and
Ella are doing great. She weighed in at 6 lbs 14 ounces and was 49 cms...if
someone wants to convert that for us, go ahead! She came out with lots of
dark hair, cute round head and big eyes. We think we'll keep her.

I will provide more information, including pictures, when I can.

--sent from my blackberry