Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Scrapes, curls, and rain ...oh my

Ella got her first skinned knee last week, poor little lady. She's trying to run a lot lately but can't quite get all the pieces together, so she fell in the driveway when she while attempting a top speed road race. She didn't cry at all when she fell but did point to her knee and kept saying "ow" with very wide eyes...it was very cute.

Here's a closeup of the injury
Photobucket

On the hair front, here are some cute pics of her curls
Photobucket

Photobucket

And in completely unrelated news, we had a really, really huge storm the other night and took Ella out on the porch to watch it and she had fun sticking her hand into the rain...she also tried to stick her toes out there and thought the whole thing was quite funny
Photobucket

And this shows how hard it was raining
Photobucket

Pebbles hairdo and a funny face!
Photobucket

Woo-aah!
Photobucket

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Sweet Pix

Here are some pictures of Ella from this past weekend.

Looking so angelic and sweet, you would never imagine what she's capable of!
Photobucket

Hey Mommy!!
Photobucket

Very nicely playing with Nomar (yes, I write that completely seriously...)
Photobucket

Exploring outside
Photobucket

Looking very pensive...
Photobucket

Look at this face!
Photobucket

Very busy playing with HER cups on the couch - NO TOUCHING ALLOWED BY PARENTS!!! I REPEAT, THESE 4 CUPS ARE OFF LIMITS TO ADULTS AND ARE FOR ELLA'S AMUSEMENT ONLY. THERE ARE SERIOUS PENALTIES FROM ELLA'S RULE BOOK FOR BREAKING THESE RULES.
Photobucket

We went to our friends' son's birthday party on Saturday at Monkey Joe's, which I haven't been back to since taking Ella there when she had just turned 1, and Steve had never been there. She had such a blast. She was very bold, all over the place, and way more adventurous than last time. Steve took her up the biggest slide and she loved sliding back down. I took her into a princess castle which involved a little more climbing and an obstacle course that I hadn't anticipated and my maternal instincts had to be displayed when a big kid just about knocked into Ella twice (don't mess with my cub!). Then in the little monkey bounce she had so much fun, it was really adorable. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera (actually, not true - I had my camera but no memory card) so couldn't get any pics which is a shame because she was just so darn cute and had so much fun there.

We also stored away a lot of Ella's baby stuff this weekend and it was really a reminder of just how big she's getting, looking at her tiny newborn clothes and I can remember her wearing them like it was just yesterday. There were outfits that I would think that she had just worn them a few months ago and the size would be 0-3 months which means she hasn't worn them in over a year, but I can picture it so well. We also stored away a bunch of baby toys that she's outgrown. She's getting so big so quickly!

Thursday, July 9, 2009

18 Month Check-Up

Ella had her 18-month doctor's appointment yesterday. I thought she's seemed a lot taller lately, and she had grown several inches (the nurse measured her twice to make sure) and is now 31 1/2 inches, which is the 35th percentile! For her weight, she's 22 lbs 4 oz which is the 20th percentile, pretty much right where she was last time, and her robust noggin is in the 60th percentile.

She was very polite to the doctor, showed him the book she was looking at and said a little bit to him, until he dared to pull out the stethescope and had the nerve to actually touch her with it! At that point her niceties ended and she was all business...

In the category of 'what a big girl', her vaccine was in her arm this time. The nurse said we could choose her arm or leg but arm is easier for them because they're not bearing their weight on it all day, so I had to sit her in my lap and hold her hands while she got the shot...luckily it was just one. Of course she wailed for that one, but as expected. She managed to cheer up pretty quickly though and on the way out the nurse said bye and Ella even conjured up a weak little bye and a wave in return.

Here is a shot of her first-ever arm bandaid, and Ella looking like a sad little patient
Photobucket

A little Sammy-therapy goes a long way!
Photobucket

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Ella is 18 Months

Ella turned 18 months on Sunday, so it was her half-birthday!

In honor of my little babydoll, here are my 18 notes about Ella this month -

1 - Steve has dubbed her language as "Ellanese" and it is truly amazing - she can speak for over a minute without a pause, with hand gestures, movement, eye contact, change in tone and expression, and she knows exactly what she's trying to say. It's incredible. She's also really understanding how a conversation works, because whenever I ask her a question, she waits until I pause, then gives a response and waits for me to respond. I have a feeling that when she really starts talking, it is going to be NON-STOP...

2 - Although I know that potty training is still many months away, she's starting to show some signs of interest. When we were at the beach and using the changing pad instead of the changing table, she'd bring the changing pad to us when she wanted to be changed, and even tried to put a swim diaper on her stuffed bear! She also can take her diaper off now and the other night when I went to get her she did not have a diaper on, just a nightgown!

3 - She's still got the 6 teeth - 4 on top and 2 on the bottom. Her toothbrushing now ends with a flourish as she 'spits' out the water (which can be described more accurately as yelling "pah" as she leans over the sink, no less than 4 times)

4 - On her 18 month birthday she was moved into the toddler nursery class at church! It became somewhat of a joke between me and Steve as to how long they'd actually keep her in the infant class. They like having her so much in there that they wanted to keep her but finally it was just rediculous and they moved her up last week. When I brought her into the class the teachers said "ohhhh, Ella moved up!"...and I had never even met them before!

5 - Ella definitely has inherited Steve's Mexican skin because even with gobs and gobs of sunscreen, she is getting quite the tan.

6 - I gave Ella her first official time-out on Sunday. She pulled Sammy's tail 3 times in a row - on purpose, and after I had said 'no' - so I sat her down on the floor for one minute. She looked at me pretty curiously but did wait until I told her she could get up and hasn't pulled his tail since (which I'm sure is a coincidence, but I'll take it.) Tonight she got another time-out, this time because she was furious when it was time to stop playing with legos and eat dinner, and threw a flailing and screaming fit.

7 - Although she has many faces and expressions that I love, she has one in particular lately where she scrunches up her face and smiles and her eyes crinkle and she's just so happy and a little mischevious at the same time - it's so sweet that it's just about heartbreaking.

8 - She just becomes more and more affectionate. Her hugs are the best thing in the world and she holds on to us so tight, leaves her arm around my shoulder, and gives lots of kisses. She is my snuggly bunny.

9 - Ella has cranked up the volume this month - she likes to yell, holler, scream, all kinds of noise. She shrieks and carries on, and laughs so loud, she is so animated!

10 - Ella loves saying "all gone" when things are gone...she lifts up her hands and will say it several times in a row.

11 - She's getting good at holding hands when we're walking, and she'll put her hand up in the air for us to grab on. I love holding her little tiny hand in mine.

12 - For the most part Ella is pretty decent about listening to 'no'. She will hover her hand above something she's not supposed to touch, waits for us to say no, and then will back away from it (unless it happens to have 4 legs, fur and a tail, then all bets are off). At the risk of jixing my good fortune, I will share that she hasn't done any of her diaper kicking-fits in several weeks...

13 - Steve has a really funny way of brushing Ella's hair after a bath where it's pretty much plastered to her head and then a long tail in the back...it's so rediculous looking (and reminiscent of Pony Boy from the Outsiders), I must take a picture the next time he does it.

14 - Some of Ella's favorite toys right now: balls (she has several sizes and loves throwing them all), legos from Glenn that she's been playing with every day for days, her shape sorter box which she carries like a purse and stores things in it, and her airplane from Erin and lion from Dad & Donna that she's now able to touch her feet to the ground and push her self around on them(although she can only go backwards, not forward).

15 - Ella loves music and will try to sing a few notes together at a time. The other night she did it with Steve about 10 times in a row but as soon as I got the camera she was done...one of these days I'll catch it!

16 - Although I've been doing it for 15 months now, it seems to get harder to leave Ella to go to work instead of getting easier. It's really just extra bad on Monday mornings after getting to spend the whole weekend together, I just want to stay home and play with her all day.

17 - Another one of Ella's new tricks this month is that in addition to high fives, she now does a 'fist bump' - Mom & Glenn taught her this one - she curls her fist up and pops it against your first. So silly!

18 - She folds herself over to do a somersault, with her hands and head on the ground, but then instead of rolling forward, she rolls to the side - and thinks she's actually done the somersault! We're working on saying "ta-dah" at the end :)

So, that's my 18-month update for my little angel. I know I say this every month, but it's truly just stunning how fast the time goes, I can hardly beleive I've got a little girl, not a baby anymore, and that now she's technically closer to 2 than 1 -- yikes!!

Here are a few pics that we took on Ella's half-birthday
Photobucket

Photobucket

Monday, July 6, 2009

Beach Trip

We went to Carolina Beach last week and had such a great trip. Mom rented a condo right on the beach and as much fun as Ella was at the beach last year, she was even more fun this year! Being able to walk, and also me not worrying quite as much about the sun (although she was covered in a 1-inch layer of Baby 50+ SPF at all times!), and her exponentially increased interest in everything, just made the whole thing so much fun.

We were able to walk down to the beach or pool so easily, it was perfect to be there with Ella because we could spend time on the beach, hop in the pool, and easily get back up to rest for meals, Ella's naps, and to get out of the sun. We spent lots of time on the beach and in the pool, Ella was quite the water-baby. Mom and Steve each watched Ella several times so that I could relax on the beach, and I actually read my whole book-club book for July in 3 days!

Here are some of Ella's top activities on the beach:

- Walking in the waves



- Throwing shells into the water when the waves came up (she actually waited until the minute they touched her feet, then yelled and threw in little shells)

- Scooping sand up with shells and giving her treasures to us

- Yelling, hollering and enjoying general revelry in the ocean



We spent many, many hours in the pool. One really funny thing Ella did in the pool over and over was dipping her head back in the water. One of the main "skills" she learned at swim lessons was dipping an ear in, her chin, cheek, etc., and she must have retained it - she would stand on to the ledge of the pool, close her eyes very tight, lean back and dunk her hair in; she also did the same with one cheek at a time. She probably did this 100 times throughout the course of the week. She was VERY proud of herself.

Here's a video clip of some Grade A hair dunking in the pool with Grammy.



Also, here are a few other "firsts" from the trip:

- Glenn gave Ella her first creamsicle pop, it was orange sherbert and took her a few tries to figure it out but she loved it (see pics below)

- First fireworks! We were able to see them from the balcony over the ocean and it was the perfect distance for Ella (and us) to enjoy them

Here is a scrapblog I made with lots of photos from the trip:



It was such a great trip - fun, relaxing, and a terrific break from work and the 'real world'!!