the ELLA echo

5 reasons this will be my last post for project blog 2004

1--a baby suffering from seasonal allergies who feels terrible, can't sleep, and just wants to be held.
2--my sudafed/tylenol/ibuprofen cocktail is not affecting my own allergies at all.
3--the aforementioned cocktail is, unfortunately, blunting my muse.
4--i don't have any sponsors so there is no money on the line.
5--my other blog is getting jealous.

5 more traits i hope ella gets from rudi

1--his eagerness to try new foods
2--his sense of adventure
3--his intense curiosity about the world
4--his ability to read any given situation
5--his superhuman distance guessing accuracy

5 toys i dislike

1--toys that encourage violence.
2--toys that promote TV shows or movies.
3--toys that promote the interests or hobbies of the giver, even though the child has not expressed an interest in those hobbies.
4--toys that hypnotize the child into passivity.
5--toys that come in excessive packaging.

5 intangible ways ella has changed me forever

1--i feel an intense need to repeatedly apologize to my mother for every day of my life up to the age of 30, and for those first 4 days after ella was born.
2--i cannot hear about a house fire, a car wreck, or any natural disaster without worrying if any children were involved.
3--every soldier, every homeless person, every rude driver, every telemarketer that interrupts my dinner....to me, they are all somebody's children now and i wonder if their mothers worry about them.
4--i never fully sleep anymore, instead i just hover at the edge of wakefulness.
5--i will never again be able to say no to any child who comes to my door selling cookies/candy/magazine subscriptions/car parts/state secrets.

5 places we went as kids that i'm not sure about the names of and i don't think they even exist anymore but were too cool to forget and i wish ella could see them

1--that place on the drive between wise, VA, and myrtle beach, SC, where there is a building with mechanical fiddlers and square dancers on the roof.

2--that place in sevierville, TN, that had scenes from fairy tales (the storybook garden?).

3--the house in florida.

4--rim rock railroad, norton, VA.

5--the land of oz theme park, beech mountain, NC.

5 things about toys that annoy me

1--battery operated toys that turn on by manipulating some part but that don't have an off button.
2--battery operated toys that don't have a volume button.
3--toys that require a special area to play in.
4--toys that have decals you have to apply.
5--riding toys that are all pretty and decorative on the side that faces the parents but the side that faces the baby has nothing to look at except the screws that hold the thing together.

5 worst baby purchases

1--under $5: baby bath tub--she only took one bath in it, and she cried so much she threw up--since then she has just been taking baths with me.
2--under $10: a brand new, adorable pink romper with an apron skirt that fit her for one whole day.
3--under $25: jogging stroller at consignment sale--i don't jog, what made me think i would start jogging if i had a special stroller???
4--under $50: mechanical baby swings--tried three different models--the lights and sounds just annoyed her.
5--under $100: bassinet that i won on ebay--i loved it, i was so excited to get it, i made a custom cover with hand-dyed fabrics--she hated it, wouldn't sleep in it, it is now a terrific, custom magazine holder.

5 cheesy roadside attractions that i have loved and look forward to taking ella to see

1--the cars and music of yesterday museum, sarasota, FL
2--the world’s largest concrete prairie dog, oakley, KS
3--the garden of eden rendered in concrete in a guy’s backyard in lucas, KS.
4--fick fossil museum, oakley, KS
5--the burial site of buffalo bill, golden, CO.

5 dissertations based on ella's current research projects

1--fall down, go boom: the persistent nature of gravity
2--don't you go messin' with my fling-fling: newton's laws of physics and their application in the baby food delivery system
3--can you hear me now?: the infant vocal apparatus and the amplification of sound
4--i can't take it anymore: the effectiveness of 'the wheels on the bus' in modern psychological warfare
5--the willing suspension of disbelief: reflections on the majesty and drama of 'peek-a-boo'

5 adulthood memories i wish i could download into ella’s brain

1--my wedding day (1994)
2--the day she was born (2003)
3--the last performance i did with howard merlin (1982)
4--watching the ringling brothers/barnum & bailey circus elephants get a bath in the street outside our apartment building in downtown nashville (1992-1996)
5--playing in the tricky fountain with my sister sabrina, summer palace outside leningrad (1987)