Disturbing, but funny (link courtesy of Heather).

I had a dream last night that Ella said her first word, and that word was sleep.

A meaningful bit of dialogue from Notes from the Underground:

“How hard is it to swaddle a baby?”

“It’s like giving an angry cat a bath when you’re drunk.”

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday of the year. I love to eat, and we love to feed people, and there’s something about the simplicity of sharing a large meal with as many people who we love that we can get in one room that does it for me.

This was our sixth consecutive Thanksgiving that Heather and I cooked. I’m responsible for the turkey. She does everything else (I help).

My turkey brine recipe of choice was clipped from the San Francisco Chronicle in 2001, and is attributed toChez Panisse. It’s been our standard, except for one year where we tried an apple cider brine. Not worth the extra labor and expense. This year we changed up our basting and gravy techniques, based on tips from thedark mother herself. Chicken stock and pan drippings were replaced with butter and Riesling, held in place with a folded piece of cheesecloth. Root vegetables and a borrowed fat separator (thanks,Liz and Jer!) helped us season the roux, shaken not stirred, for our first ever gravy success! (The great homemade gravy of ’05 is an asterisk … it was made by Grandma B.)

The other breakout success this year was the stuffing. We used a bunch of artisan ingredients from some of our favorite local sources: apple sage sourdough bread fromArizmendi Bakery; Italian sausage fromBoccalone; and dried figs fromRainbow Grocery.

We made enough to feed 30 people (twice the 14 adults and 2 kids that came to dinner) but that’s as I like it. Stuffing is too rare a dish, and I’m happy to enjoy it for another week or two, especially in the killer pilgrim sandwiches like Heather made for lunch today. Think of at as a Thanksgiving dinner plate on a bun.

This was our first Thanksgiving since 2003 at which none of our extended family was present. 2004, Grandma and Grandpa B. visited. Then in 2005, my whole family—parents, brothers, and spouses—came. Last year, Grandma and Grandpa H. joined us, and Grandpa Harry’s presence doubled the actual number of Mayflower descendants at the table. This year, we missed them all, and hope that next year some of them find their way out here again. We love our life here in San Francisco, but since Ella came along, the distance to our extended families feels a little bit further, and the holidays stretches things out even more.

But our families’ absence didn’t mean that this year wasn’t very special. First of all, we had two friends who have left San Francisco for the great state of Oregon return, and it was so good to have them back.

Our friend Wayne (who used to be our standing Sunday dinner guest) came with news of his great new house, which we hope to visit in Portland soon. He’s been at all six of our Thanksgivings, and his presence is our favorite tradition.

Our friends Robert and Mahjinka (guests at I think two past Thanksgivings, and proudguardians of the teeth of Medford since 2006) made their triumphant return with now two year-old Isaac, who has the energy of ten toddlers. He and Ella made a cute pair.

Shawn andRobyn were back after a year or two away. We missed Robyn’s dad, but played Johnny Cash in his absence, anyway. Betsy was back for Thanksgiving #4, and we had some notable first-time dinner guests: Nate and Courtney made the difficult choice to take a break from family (all local) to join us. We know how important family is to them, and it really meant a lot to us that they came. They are such good friends, and we’ve always wanted for them to be there at our table on our favorite holiday. We also had Jared and Karen, newly returned from the mean streets of Brooklyn, Betsy’s new husband (and all around snake-chasing mensch) Steve, and last but not least our friend Becca, reuniting theOnce and Future Awesome.

And, of course, the most important new guest of all: Baby Ella. She did a great job helping us cook, a two-day ordeal that she contributed to mostly by napping at opportune times, and doing her best to sleep in 4 hour blocks on crucial nights. But she is the thing we are most grateful for this year. Parenthood is already kicking our butts—everything you hear about sleep deprivation is twice as true. But when we look down into that little face, we couldn’t be happier, and she made this the best Thanksgiving yet. (Now just wait until she gets to help dad with the Turkey …)

Sleep deprivation will keep this from getting too witty, but Ella’s had a lot of firsts in the last few weeks, and met a lot of people who will be a part of her life. So here’s a photo roundup:

 

Ella’s first time meeting Grandma B:

 

 

Ella’s first time meeting Nate and Courtney:

 

 

And Shawn and Robyn:

 

 

And Liz and Jeremy:

 

 

And Dyanna:

 

 

Her first bath:

 

 

First barrette (and first crazy hair day):

 

 

First trip to the beach:

 

 

And finally, first picnic:

 

Yesterday was a big day for Ella. We started out by going to lunch at one of our favorite restaurants, Yummy Yummy. This was Ella’s first restaurant in San Francisco.

She did not have the pho. After lunch we headed up to UCSF for our first visit with an SF doctor.

She wasn’t a fan. Actually, she just hates being cold. But everything was great. She has gained weight! She was born at 6 lbs 10 oz. and is now up to 7 lbs 6.7oz. just 2 weeks later. Somehow she shrunk from 19″ to 18.5″ but I think they squished her legs too much. She is doing well, eating a ton, and sleeping better. Yeay.

On Halloween night, we flew little Ella home to San Francisco. She did great on the plane. Too great, actually. She slept pretty much the whole flight, and that meant she was up all night.

But all in all, it’s good to be home, and to introduce Ella to all the other people who will be in her life.

Milo is excited, too. He’s being very good, but is a little jealous. Every time Heather sits down with Ella, Milo insists on the same treatment …