We Come Bearing Gifts

After having two beautiful sons and two even more beautiful grandsons, is there any doubt that Grandpa and Grandma Cederbaum were ready for a baby girl? Here they are, meeting Ella for the first time, with the sea of pink, purple, and polka dot baby clothes they brought for her.

Rob and Ella and I are so appreciative of all the help and support the grandparents have given us. We're also learning that each grandparent brings unique and valuable gifts to their relationship with Ella. Their spiritual, intellectual, and caring gifts and personalities have been reflected clearly in the actual gifts each one brought.

Grandma Cederbaum had a wonderful time finding just the right playful and fun outfits and also buying pink towels and washclothes for bathtime. Grandpa Cederbaum very carefully selected one pink and white bunny for Ella.






Granddaddy Rybolt, on a trip to Babies R Us with Auntie Sara, showed off his unique grandparenting style. While Sara was looking for onesies and baby socks my dad came up to her and asked, confused, "where's the baby electronics aisle?" Sara gave him The Look and said that there was no such thing as a baby electronics aisle. My dad responded, "Oh, I find that hard to believe," and wandered off in search of items that plug in and/or require batteries. Sure enough, he arrived at our house with a digital baby scale so that we could keep track of how well Ella is growing.



Those of us who know Granddaddy Rybolt will not be surprised to learn, however, that even once he found his digital scale, he complained that the standard deviation of the scale was not printed on the box and what kind of idiot would keep that valuable information off the box.



Thoughtful gifts aside, we would not have made it through the week if it weren't for the support of our families. Rob's parents stayed with us the past few days supporting us and making sure Ella did not want for attention and love. My dad has been back and forth from Wellesley three times in the past 7 days to help us out. Uncle Neil has been our on-call pediatrician answering our questions and offering suggestions to make our live easier. Auntie Sara (completely abandoning her strep-throat stricken husband) has been back and forth from her house to ours running errands and doing laundry for us.