Twinkle Toes

Elle's newest favorite book is Twinkle Toes by Karen Katz and I can't think of a better story to describe this angel:
"Oh, how I love to dance! I love to soar! I love to prance!"

"It’s so much fun to hop, hop, hop! Sometimes it’s hard to stop, stop, stop!"

"At the shore, I splash and splish. Look! I’m a wriggly, wiggly fish."

"I put on my boots. Then, in a snap, these cowgirl feet go tap, tap, tap!"

"With my beautiful wings I twirl and leap…Till I’m all tuckered out…then I go to sleep! Night-night!"

Daddy JP

Well, it’s been 8 months plus, and after watching Mindy have all the fun with the blog, I decided to take a moment and comment on what the last 8 months has been like.

It’s hard to know where to start. I guess the beginning is the best place. My new love affair began when my new born baby girl decided to initiate me into fatherhood by pooping in my hands the very first time her diaper needed changing (and there wasn’t a nurse around). Since then, my love has only grown more and more each day. I never expected it. In fact I had terrible fears about being a father, and how I might respond to that, but all my fears subsided when I changed that first diaper. Now she is here to stay, and I can’t be happier about it.


One of the things I love most about her is how my parents love her. They are a huge help, and having them in town is such a blessing. I can expressly remember all the times I’ve seen my father truly happy, and every time he is with Elle, I can see the love and joy he has for her and the love he had for Mark and I growing up. I can’t express in words how joyful it makes me to watch this new love story for him and his granddaughter begin right before my eyes.

I had an idea how my mother would respond, and she has not disappointed. She absolutely adores Elle, and it’s hard to imagine her loving anything else more than Elle. My grandfather has also gotten into the act. The first time he has met her in person was at their ranch in Oklahoma, and they took to each other immediately. There was some invisible bond between great grandfather and great grand daughter that happened instantly when they met. Growing up in a family of mostly all boys, I am amazed at the reaction everyone has towards Elle.

I’m also surprised by how much of an interest my coworkers have had in Elle’s life. People at work and the people I work with seem to always know more about what’s going on with Elle than I do. I am very thankful to work with such caring individuals.

Like I said, it’s been 8 months now, and she is the light of daddy’s life. She brings joy at the end of a rough day, and she always has a smile on her face. I should take a lesson or two from that. One more item I’m surprised about is how much a baby girl clothing connesiour I’ve become. I can’t help but shop for cute baby clothes for Elle. Every time I’m out, I always peruse the baby clothes store for new clothes, and I love it!

Mindy, I want you to know how great a job I see you doing with Elle. I am so impressed at how well you take care of Elle and how much thought goes into everything you do with Elle. You are such a selfless individual (even though you may not feel like it), and everyone knows what a great job you do with Elle. It’s completely apparent to me every time Elle turns around to follow your voice, crawl into whatever room you might be in, and smile at you every time she sees you. She loves and adores her mother, and she’s not the only one (wink wink).
Thank you God for such a wonderful family. You have blessed me beyond my wildest imagination, as you normally do, and I hope I can live up to the expectation of being a Godly father.

Beaba Baby Cook

I love to cook. I love to make delicious meals that make my audience’s taste buds explode with flavor! So you can imagine my disappointment, last May, when my darling Elle took the first bite of her homemade pureed zucchini and wondered why I was trying to poison her. I love zucchini and thought it tasted delicious. We struggled through the zucchini and graduated onto baby’s first peas. She gave me that same “how can you do this to me” look. This time I agreed – I hate peas in all shapes and forms – but enjoyed her reaction so much that I continued to feed her. It was hilarious! Elle shuddered with each bite and finally in protest rubbed the peas all over her pretty hair and beautiful face. Luckily I caught it all on camera!

Sweet potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, and winter squash have all been met with love and joy. Asparagus brought the same panged expressions as the peas and zucchini. Three weeks ago I reintroduced zucchini and peas, and my darling’s taste buds must have matured, because the girl loved the zucchini, and will tolerate the peas, but doesn’t ask for more.

Last week we finished round two of asparagus, but this time I added basil and a bit of butter and my girl can’t get enough of fancy asparagus! The two meats we’ve tried are ground turkey and lamb. She dislikes both of them, but is okay if I mix them both with finely pureed apples and pears.

On the fruit front she has eaten apples, bananas, pears, blueberries, cheeries and peaches. All but the peaches tickle her taste buds – but I will have to say, this is one sour batch of peach puree. Hopefully I can find some sweeter ones that will help her cultivate a lifelong love of peaches – like I have. *

I prepare all these delicious meals with the Beaba Baby Cook. I love it! It is a steamer and food processor in one. My only complaint is that all the parts have to be hand washed, and like I mentioned before, I love to cook, not to clean. Besides the cleaning part, and that it is a bit smaller than I'd like for it to be, the Beaba Baby Cook is great. It makes me feel so holistic and granola! Three stars and cheers for the Beaba Baby Cook!
*Since I wrote this blog, I’ve tried peaches again, only this time I let them ripen to pure sweetness. This gal has a sweet tooth just like her momma and loved those peaches!

Rocky Top, you'll always be home sweet home to me

When I was growing up, every summer and every-other-Christmas my family would make the drive down I-40 to a small town just outside of Knoxville, TN called Clinton to visit my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins. I have such lovely memories of my family time and all the love that was showered on us when we visited. Since my grandparents passed away 6 years ago, I’ve only been back once, and have really missed being there.

When Elle was born I told her I wanted to introduce her to her Tennessee great-grandparents Byron and Muriel Johnson. July 9-12 I introduced her to them as bestasI could. All of Byron Trent and Muriel’s family joined together for a family reunion. There were 26 of us in total!

We had a great time visiting with the family and the extended family, hugging Unlce Roni, eating at Hoskins and Big Ed’s, visiting Granny and Papa, and spending time at Chris, Barbara, Hunter, and Oliver’s house.

We love Tennessee and our family! My sister JoDee put it the best, “Our Tennessee trip felt like one giant hug!”

Clapping, crawling, and Cheerios

Elle Belle is acing all her developmental milestones. Clapping started on July 7, crawling, and pulling herself to a standing position started about 2 weeks ago. She babbles mamamama, babababa, and all sorts of adorable baby babble most of the day through and I just can’t get enough of it.

Now that she is crawling I have to have superhero vision to watch her every move. Our house is not even 20% babyproofed yet and I have a baby that is exploring. Does anyone know of any good baby proofing companies? I need some guidance!

I’ve just began to introduce Cheerios and Elle does not know what to think of them. She doesn’t like the taste and inhales them instead of chewing them. The gagging frightens me so that the only time she get the Cheerios is when JP is home.

I need some brushing up on the infant CPR, but JP has it memorized. When Elle was tiny – a week or two old – and she must have swallowed her milk funny because she started to cough, JP said to her, “Don’t worry Elle! I know baby CPR!”

Happy August everyone!

Seaside – First Pittman family vacation

The travel bug got the best of me. I loaded up JP and Elle on the smallest airplane I’ve ever been on and made the trip to Seaside, Florida. This was my first trip to Seaside. It came highly recommend from my friend Abi who proclaims, “I want all my girlfriends to honeymoon in Seaside” and my sister JoDee who babymooned there and loved it so much she returned two years later with our parents and her daughter, Georgia.


Now that I have spent 5 nights (not nearly long enough) at Seaside, which is where the Truman Show was filmed, I can understand all the hype. It’s a great place – especially when one of your traveling companions insists on taking 3 naps a day. Next time we travel to Seaside we’ll plan on going for 7 nights and bringing my mother and dad – sometimes a mommy wants to stay out past 8pm!

Highlights of the trip:
-Elle in her baby swimsuit mock crawling in the sand
-Celebrating JP’s first Father’s Day
-Spinnaker house (Our adorable 3-bedroom bungalow)
-Cool evenings sitting on the beach with Elle as the Gulf waves washed up on us
-The Yummy yummy Modica Market
-Elle eating sand
-A surprise visit with Aunt Linda, Uncle Curt, Chris, Amy, and their families
-Elle’s first swim
-JP’s Great Southern steak and Gouda cheese grits
-Elle’s first airplane flight
-Watching (while Elle napped) team USA beat Spain
-All the walks Elle and I took through the adorable neighborhood

I cannot think of a better place to holiday with small children than Seaside, Florida and hopefully we will return often.

Roll Over 3 months here I come!

Elle: 3 months and 6 days old

Favorite food: j'adore milk
Favorite flavor: bubble gum
Favorite song: Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
Favorite song to sing along with: LOVE by Nat King Cole
Favorite book: I Love you Through and Through and Ten Tiny Tickles

Bedtime: 8pm
Wake up time: 7:30am
Favorite nap of the day: 11:30am-1:30pm
Dislikes: tummy time
Diaper size: Pampers Swaddlers 2; Huggies 2
Favorite store: Janie and Jack

Last social outing: G Phi reunion – Norman, OK – March 6-7, 2009
Next social outing: Uncle Mark and Aunt Sarah (to Be) wedding - March 28, 2009
Favorite time of the day: mornings
Favorite activity: laying on changing table laughing, cooing, and gooing
Most recent milestone: Rolling over from tummy to back - March 12, 2009

Elle, I’m having such fun with you. Thanks for being so cute.
Love you forever,
Mommy

A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E

I know of a girl named Ellyn Claire with bright blue eyes and strawberry blonde hair. Her peaches and cream cheeks have been kissable for many weeks!

I wrote this silly little poem for Elle over Valentine’s Day and I will say, her eyes have only gotten brighter and her complexion is just peachy! J Back in our OU days, in Crimson Club, JP was given the nickname, “sweeter than a peach without the Pitt-man.” Her peaches-n-cream complexion always reminds me of JP.

Elle is just blooming. She laughs and smiles all day long. During her naps she scoots and is often turned sideways when I go to waken her. Last Thursday we were visiting Granny and Grampy Max and as we were saying our goodbyes, Elle started cooing and gooing. It was so lovely! She carried it on for about 3-4mins and is still cooing today. My heart was so happy that she choose them to share her first conversation with.

Tummy time is sometimes still a challenge, but since she has become a thumb sucker, tummy time has become much more enjoyable. Now, instead of scooting to turn over, she just sucks her thumb until she becomes content.

This girl has stolen my heart. I can’t wait to see her in the mornings and I’m a bit sad when I lay her down to sleep. Week 11 has been fun and I can’t wait to see what she does next. To sum up Elle, she is A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E!

Dear Old Gamma Phi

Daily, Elle is the honored guest for several private concerts. I’ve told her all about me and some moments I just run out of things to talk about (and I don’t think she wants to hear about QuickBooks). I sing to her all sorts of songs like When we all get to Heaven, Amazing Grace, Ice Ice Baby, Lavendar Blue, and my favorite songs to sing are old Gamma Phi Beta songs. Last week Aunt Rebecca came by and we talked about how sweet some of those songs are.

Here are my favorite GPhi songs to sing to her.

To you my love, I’m offering my heart,
you know your momma Mindy has loved you from the start.
No words can ever express, how much you mean to me,
the time will never come when you will cease to be my heart’s desire,
the one that I adore, the one that fate has always meant me for.
Through happiness or storm or stride, I love you darling all my life.

And this song is a perfect lullaby

Good night, good night little Ellie,

till we meet in the land of dreams.
Neath the crescent moon day will come too soon, and in the pale moon bean.
Good night good night, little Ellie,

slumber on till the dawn is nigh
Send a prayer up above for the one that you love, good night good night Ellie-Belle.

Speaking of Gamma Phi, Elle is very excited about meeting all you gals in March and I can't wait to give Lindsay, Lauren, Abi, Kodi, Marcie and everyone else a big hug!

seventh week celebration

My dearest Elle,

Today you are 7 weeks old. These have been the craziest 7 weeks of my life, no doubt the craziest you’ve ever experienced as well. You are growing so strong and as of your last doctor’s appointment, 2 weeks ago, you weighed 9lbs 3 oz, and measured 21 ¾ inches long, putting you in the 50th percentile for weight and 75th percentile for height. You are long and lean, just like a Johnson.

From my perspective you are an angel baby only crying when you are tired, hungry, over stimulated, have gas, or in need of a diaper change. You sleep excellently, loving your 10:30am and 1:30pm nap time and sleeping very well through the night about 7 hours. It’s not your fault I’m tired all the time – my internal clock just has not reset itself allowing me to go back to sleep after the 1am, 2am, or 3am feedings. You certainly are a party girl loving those early morning feedings.

You bring so much joy to many people from your daddy and me to your aunts, uncles, grandparents, and great grandparents. What a gift you truly are.

I can’t wait to watch you continue to grow, loving every time you share your smiles and giggles with me, although you don’t give them too freely yet. I'm ready for the day when you can’t help but to smile. My prayer for you, my daughter, is that you come to know Jesus as your Savior early in life, have a life-long love of learning, laughing, giving, loving others, and that you marry a man that loves you like your daddy loves me.

In honor of your 49th day, I’ve made a list of 49 things I love about you, but I’ll only share the top 7 since you are just 7 weeks old:

1) I ate too much smile
2) The feel of your head against my cheek
3) After bath fuzzy hair
4) Named after my beloved grandmother
5) How much your daddy JP loves you!
6) Your baby smell
7) At 3am, when you are crying for food, once I walk in the room and pick you up, you stop crying because you know I’ll take care of you.

Can't wait for the next 49 days (hopefully you'll sleep from 7pm-7am then!)

Love you forever,
Mommy

Road Trip!

Miss Elle and I made our first road trip last week to OKC. Even though tax season is poking its head into my dad's schedule, he was kind enough (or crazy enough about Elle) to fly down to Dallas and drive the two of us home! We had a great trip. Elle got to meet her namesake, her beautiful great grandmother, Lucretia Ellyn. The two hit it off perfectly.

As you can see, Elle just melted into Granny's arms. Granny's gentle touch has soothed many a JoDee, Mindy, Brian, Rebecca, Laurie, Geoffrey, GiGi, and now Elle. It was an honor to introduce Elle to my grandparents. Grampy Max also was quite taken with his little great granddaughter. He thinks she is beautiful, and Elle can't wait to play with him like he does with her cousin GiGi.

GiGi was nice enough to share her mommy with Elle. Aunt JoDee got to love on our sweet cuddle bunny. JoDee remembers from the day of Elle's birth how cuddly she was and still is today!

We love Oklahoma City and are looking forward to our next visit!