Happy Fourth!

Lee and I were very excited that it stopped raining just long enough for our neighborhood to have their annual Fourth of July Parade. Ellie was awake and alert for every single bit of it. I don't know how much she could see or if she actually enjoyed it, but she sat on my lap most of the time watching all of the entries passing by. She even had a special red, white and blue outfit for the occasion.

We took the dogs to the parade again this year. If you read last year's post about the parade, you'll remember that Morgan was so bothered by the fake machine gun fire that came from one of the army-looking vehicles rolling down the street that she hid under a car. There were no automotive fallout shelters around us this year so Morgan was forced to take cover elsewhere. Here's what she came up with:

That's right. Our 65-pound dog hid under our daughter's stroller. I am a little embarrassed for her. She could not be a bigger weenie if she tried. Then there's Lucy totally hamming it up for the camera. They couldn't be more different. That night, we grilled out hot dogs, brats, corn on the cob and enjoyed some Matanzas Creek wine.

I didn't know if she was ready for it or not, but I put Ellie in her Bumbo chair on Friday and she loved it. She much prefers being up on my shoulder looking around to lying on her back so sitting up really suits her. She was in a smiley mood so she stayed in it for a few minutes while I shook her little multi-colored elephant around for her to look at. She has her two month check-up and shots this Friday. I am not looking forward to her screaming bloody murder while they stab her in the leg. I'm going to ask the doctor about dropping the late-night feeding. Not that she's ever been hard to deal with during the 3AM wake-up, but she's getting a lot easier. I was back in bed in 25 minutes last night - that includes a diaper change and feeding. She usually goes right back to sleep which is nice, but it would be even nicer if she wouldn't wake up at all!