Ella went to her doctor's appt. this morning where we waited for 40 minutes before we were seen...but anyway...
Ella passed with flying colors. She weighs 22 lbs. (40th percentile) and is 30 1/2" long (60th percentile). She also got three shots. Apparently she was supposed to get one of them during hr 12 month checkup, but for some reason she didn't (they say they were probably out of it at the time). So, it was the first time that I had to hold her down during her shots instead of just being the one to comfort her. It definitely wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I still felt bad for her. Thankfully, she recovered quickly and went straight home and took a nap!
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Friday, September 15, 2006
Ella's 15 Month Update
Wow, this last month has flown by! I feel like I open every update with that, but time seriously seems to be flying by, I guess because once again we're in a chaotic time in our lives where there are tons of things going on and some major decisions being made that will affect our lives for years to come. Stephen is currently in the middle of his first away rotation at the University of Florida where he's working on a surgical oncology rotation. Shockingly, Stephen has come to find out that surgery is not for him. Not because he doesn't love being in the OR or that he wouldn't be a great surgeon, because that is far from the truth. But after the first week of working nonstop, getting only 3-4 hours of sleep a night and not seeing his wife or daughter (and he's not even a resident yet), he truly feels that life is too short and to be honest, his passion for the uninsured (especially children) and his MPH from Harvard just doesn't fit with the surgical lifestyle. He feels bad that he didn't realize this 6 months ago because he feels like it's so obvious now. I am obviously supportive of whatever he does and I'm just happy that he's happy now that he's going back to his first love in medicine - Pediatrics. Now, if you know Stephen, you'll know that he's not the one to 'just be a Pediatrician', so after his three year residency in Peds, he'll be doing some type of fellowship. Now, what exactly the fellowship will be, he doesn't know. It could be anything from Peds ER, to Critical Care, to Neonatology, etc. So, he will reapply to residencies as he has to cancel his previous application tha the sent in on the 1st. The number of schools that he applies to will decrease dramamtically. He applied to 39 school for surgery, but it'll be closer to 20, possibly less, for Peds. I will definitely keep you informed as he hears back for interviews.
Now, for my usual mothly udpate, Ella is....well, I don't know how to describe her anymore. She is the light of our lives and keeps us going even when we want to slow down, which is a good thing and a bad thing. She's talking more and more and even if she can't pronounce a word right you know she's trying to have a conversation with you and wants you to understand what she's saying. I don't even know if I can remember all the new words she says, but some that she says all the time are ball, balloon, blue...I guess she's working on her b's, now that's she's conquered her d's. Ella's 15 month checkup is Fri. and I don't remember how many shot she has to get this time, but it'll be the first time I'll take her to a checkup by myself, so I'll get to hold her down this time!
Ella is still eating great, too. There's not one thing that I put on her plate that she won't eat (I wish her father was that easy to please)! Her swimming improves every time we get in the water. She's jumping off the edge into our arms now, and she thinks she can swim all by herself and gets pissed when we don't let her! She also loves running. I think in my last update I said she had started to run, but she runs a marathon every day now it seems. She could run back in forth all day long if she wanted to. Her favorite cartoon is still The Backyardigans and she also likes Veggie Tales. Every time the theme songs come on to those shows she squeals with excitement and starts to dance. Ella also loves being outside. She loves the way the grass feels on her feet and she loves picking flowers for her mommy. She's already gotten her first scrapes on her knees and I'm already worrying about her having scars!
I will fill you in on her stats when we get back from the doctor's on Fri. and maybe I'll remember some more of the many different things she's doing and getting into these days!
Now, for my usual mothly udpate, Ella is....well, I don't know how to describe her anymore. She is the light of our lives and keeps us going even when we want to slow down, which is a good thing and a bad thing. She's talking more and more and even if she can't pronounce a word right you know she's trying to have a conversation with you and wants you to understand what she's saying. I don't even know if I can remember all the new words she says, but some that she says all the time are ball, balloon, blue...I guess she's working on her b's, now that's she's conquered her d's. Ella's 15 month checkup is Fri. and I don't remember how many shot she has to get this time, but it'll be the first time I'll take her to a checkup by myself, so I'll get to hold her down this time!
Ella is still eating great, too. There's not one thing that I put on her plate that she won't eat (I wish her father was that easy to please)! Her swimming improves every time we get in the water. She's jumping off the edge into our arms now, and she thinks she can swim all by herself and gets pissed when we don't let her! She also loves running. I think in my last update I said she had started to run, but she runs a marathon every day now it seems. She could run back in forth all day long if she wanted to. Her favorite cartoon is still The Backyardigans and she also likes Veggie Tales. Every time the theme songs come on to those shows she squeals with excitement and starts to dance. Ella also loves being outside. She loves the way the grass feels on her feet and she loves picking flowers for her mommy. She's already gotten her first scrapes on her knees and I'm already worrying about her having scars!
I will fill you in on her stats when we get back from the doctor's on Fri. and maybe I'll remember some more of the many different things she's doing and getting into these days!
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Realities of first-year residents and being on-call
So, you may be wondering why I'm writing about this subject since Stephen is not a first year resident yet. Well, the past couple of weeks he's been on his Asvanced Family Medicine rotation which is the only residency program here in Tallahassee, so instead of him working directly under a seasoned physician, he's working under residents who in turn answer to an attending.
Anyway, two things have been brought to my attention in the past couple weeks. Being on-call sucks and there are first-year residents who don't know squat. Those two things are really scary to me. First, being on-call for Stephen has been very frustrating to me in the past couple weeks because even though it's only be twice a week, it was scheduled very close together the first week which ended up running into this week. Like last week he was on call Thurs. and Sat. Oh, and for those of you who don't know, his on-call hours are 8am-8am. And even though his rotation may start at 8am he'll obviously get there early in case he needs to rounds, etc. and even though his shift ends the next morning at 8am, that doesn't mean he'll leave right at 8am due to a number of reasons. So, as I was saying, he was on-call Thurs and Sat. last week and then on-call again this week on Monday and will be on-call again tomorrow. Thankfully his on-call day on Monday was nice becaues things were slow and the resident he was with sent him home around lunch and he didn't have to be back until 5pm so he could do rounds on patients and check-in with the new attending that was coming on duty. And then came home around 10:00pm, instead of staying overnight. This was vastly different from his first week when he was working with a resident who, um...I don't know how to say this lightly, but, pretty much needs to be back in medical school, or maybe just not be a doctor at all. He is very disorganized in the sense that he doesn't know how to manage his time to get things done in a certain amount of time. He's also very unsure of himself. If he would fake some confidence, I'm sure it would help him immensely! Anyway, I just felt really bad for Stephen last week because he wasn't learning anything and at times was teaching himself!! There were a lot of slow times which he did nothing and Ella and I would come visit him.
So, my point in blogging about this is to vent my frustation in the facts that I've mentioned above because it's really scary to think that all doctors aren't on the same level and it's also scary to think that Stephen is going into surgery which requires a lot more time on-call and away from home in general the Family Medicine. And after this year, being on-call will definitely not be like this year in the sense that Ella and I can go visit him OR that he'll be able to come home if it's slow. It's also going to be real hard for me to keep my mouth shut when I hear about interns who just shouldn't be doctors or are just incompetent in their areas. I'm assuming that since surgery is so competitive it'll be a lot different than Family Medicine in little ol' Tallahassee, FL. But, then, if stereo-types are right, you get to deal with arrogant pricks in surgery residencies.
Wow, this has turned into a lot of rambling. I'm sorry for that. Just needed to vent.
Anyway, two things have been brought to my attention in the past couple weeks. Being on-call sucks and there are first-year residents who don't know squat. Those two things are really scary to me. First, being on-call for Stephen has been very frustrating to me in the past couple weeks because even though it's only be twice a week, it was scheduled very close together the first week which ended up running into this week. Like last week he was on call Thurs. and Sat. Oh, and for those of you who don't know, his on-call hours are 8am-8am. And even though his rotation may start at 8am he'll obviously get there early in case he needs to rounds, etc. and even though his shift ends the next morning at 8am, that doesn't mean he'll leave right at 8am due to a number of reasons. So, as I was saying, he was on-call Thurs and Sat. last week and then on-call again this week on Monday and will be on-call again tomorrow. Thankfully his on-call day on Monday was nice becaues things were slow and the resident he was with sent him home around lunch and he didn't have to be back until 5pm so he could do rounds on patients and check-in with the new attending that was coming on duty. And then came home around 10:00pm, instead of staying overnight. This was vastly different from his first week when he was working with a resident who, um...I don't know how to say this lightly, but, pretty much needs to be back in medical school, or maybe just not be a doctor at all. He is very disorganized in the sense that he doesn't know how to manage his time to get things done in a certain amount of time. He's also very unsure of himself. If he would fake some confidence, I'm sure it would help him immensely! Anyway, I just felt really bad for Stephen last week because he wasn't learning anything and at times was teaching himself!! There were a lot of slow times which he did nothing and Ella and I would come visit him.
So, my point in blogging about this is to vent my frustation in the facts that I've mentioned above because it's really scary to think that all doctors aren't on the same level and it's also scary to think that Stephen is going into surgery which requires a lot more time on-call and away from home in general the Family Medicine. And after this year, being on-call will definitely not be like this year in the sense that Ella and I can go visit him OR that he'll be able to come home if it's slow. It's also going to be real hard for me to keep my mouth shut when I hear about interns who just shouldn't be doctors or are just incompetent in their areas. I'm assuming that since surgery is so competitive it'll be a lot different than Family Medicine in little ol' Tallahassee, FL. But, then, if stereo-types are right, you get to deal with arrogant pricks in surgery residencies.
Wow, this has turned into a lot of rambling. I'm sorry for that. Just needed to vent.
Ella's 14 Month Update!
This past month has been a complete blur! I'm sure there will be many things that I forget to put in this update and it may seem like I'm jumping from one thing to another, but I seriously am just amazed at how time is flying by. It seems like Ella's 1st birthday was ages ago and I'm getting sad that we'll be leaving our new house before I know it!
So, as for Ella, since she has learned to walk she is a completely different child. She is very independent and seems like she's jumped to her terrible-two's at times in the sense that she has her moments when she purposely pushes your buttons to see how much she can get away with and then she doesn't hesitate to throw a fit if she doesn't get her way! But, even though we've had to deal with those issues, her spunk and smarts and newfound abilities far outweigh those few moments. She gets more fun every day and I enjoy being a mom more and more. And I enjoy all the new things we can do together now that she can walk...ok, I guess there's not really a lot of NEW things we can do together, it's just more adventurous all the way around now that I can let her walk on her own and just follow her. She's starting to run, but that's when she starts falling more. But, I'm sure she'll have that down soon and then the dogs will really have something to worry about!
Ella is also very much into eating! Not that she eats all the time, but when she does, she'll eat anything! And she only want to what daddy and I are eating if we're all eating at the same time. But, I'm very proud of her that she's more like me in the sense that she'll try anything at least once and has a good pallet for food. She likes everything I put on her plate...or I should say on her highchair tray. I have not yet felt ready to give her food on a plate or in a bowl because she still likes to throw things on the floor. So, right now she gets her sippy cup with her meals and likes to chuck that onto the floor when she's done drinking from it. That in itself is annoying, so I'm not ready to clean up after her when it comes to food being everywhere. She already gets it on the walls around her highchair!
Ella has started to try and put our shoes on her feet. She loves trying to wear our shoes, but hasn't mastered walking in them yet. I think Stephen's shoes will be to hard for for a while, but she'll get up in my sandals and walk a few steps, but then trips over them. She also likes to wear hats! Especially daddy's Harvard baseball cap. I need to get a picture of it and post it, it's so cute!
Ella is also very much ready to have full conversations with people...or anything that will listen (she tries to have conversations with our dogs, but they usually leave her before she's done talking)! She has mastered her first sentence: "Where did (fill in the blank) go?" This all started when Stephen and I would ask her where the other one of us would go if we would leave to use the restroom or something. She quickly caught and started asking us first. Now, she asks where the dogs went or where her ducky went. Granted, every word isn't clear, but you know exactly what she's trying to say. She's still obsessed with the word "baby" and every time we say something that starts with the letter 'b', she says "baby". She has also learned to say 'thank you'. She won't say it automatically when she should, but when you tell her to say it, she says it perfectly. But, 'you're welcome' seems to confuse her at the moment.
Also, since my last update, Ella finished swimming lessons and got her first certificate! We hang that proudly on the refrigerator. Unfortunately, soon after she finished her swimming lessons we were out of town and then she got sick and had a bilateral ear infection! So, yesterday was the first day swimming since her cold and I was worried that she might have forgotten some things that she learned, but she didn't. She was still as confident as ever and walked around that pool like she owned it! She still likes going under water and she and daddy jumped in the pool together a couple times. It's so funny to see people watching us and thinking we're crazy, which with most little ones, it probably would be a little much. But, Ella LOVES the water and she doesn't mind it at all. And as most people know, I could care less what other people think, especially other mothers (but that's another blog)!
So, as for Ella, since she has learned to walk she is a completely different child. She is very independent and seems like she's jumped to her terrible-two's at times in the sense that she has her moments when she purposely pushes your buttons to see how much she can get away with and then she doesn't hesitate to throw a fit if she doesn't get her way! But, even though we've had to deal with those issues, her spunk and smarts and newfound abilities far outweigh those few moments. She gets more fun every day and I enjoy being a mom more and more. And I enjoy all the new things we can do together now that she can walk...ok, I guess there's not really a lot of NEW things we can do together, it's just more adventurous all the way around now that I can let her walk on her own and just follow her. She's starting to run, but that's when she starts falling more. But, I'm sure she'll have that down soon and then the dogs will really have something to worry about!
Ella is also very much into eating! Not that she eats all the time, but when she does, she'll eat anything! And she only want to what daddy and I are eating if we're all eating at the same time. But, I'm very proud of her that she's more like me in the sense that she'll try anything at least once and has a good pallet for food. She likes everything I put on her plate...or I should say on her highchair tray. I have not yet felt ready to give her food on a plate or in a bowl because she still likes to throw things on the floor. So, right now she gets her sippy cup with her meals and likes to chuck that onto the floor when she's done drinking from it. That in itself is annoying, so I'm not ready to clean up after her when it comes to food being everywhere. She already gets it on the walls around her highchair!
Ella has started to try and put our shoes on her feet. She loves trying to wear our shoes, but hasn't mastered walking in them yet. I think Stephen's shoes will be to hard for for a while, but she'll get up in my sandals and walk a few steps, but then trips over them. She also likes to wear hats! Especially daddy's Harvard baseball cap. I need to get a picture of it and post it, it's so cute!
Ella is also very much ready to have full conversations with people...or anything that will listen (she tries to have conversations with our dogs, but they usually leave her before she's done talking)! She has mastered her first sentence: "Where did (fill in the blank) go?" This all started when Stephen and I would ask her where the other one of us would go if we would leave to use the restroom or something. She quickly caught and started asking us first. Now, she asks where the dogs went or where her ducky went. Granted, every word isn't clear, but you know exactly what she's trying to say. She's still obsessed with the word "baby" and every time we say something that starts with the letter 'b', she says "baby". She has also learned to say 'thank you'. She won't say it automatically when she should, but when you tell her to say it, she says it perfectly. But, 'you're welcome' seems to confuse her at the moment.
Also, since my last update, Ella finished swimming lessons and got her first certificate! We hang that proudly on the refrigerator. Unfortunately, soon after she finished her swimming lessons we were out of town and then she got sick and had a bilateral ear infection! So, yesterday was the first day swimming since her cold and I was worried that she might have forgotten some things that she learned, but she didn't. She was still as confident as ever and walked around that pool like she owned it! She still likes going under water and she and daddy jumped in the pool together a couple times. It's so funny to see people watching us and thinking we're crazy, which with most little ones, it probably would be a little much. But, Ella LOVES the water and she doesn't mind it at all. And as most people know, I could care less what other people think, especially other mothers (but that's another blog)!
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
4th year
It's been a couple months since Stephen started his 4thg year of medical school and I could've sworn that people (including Stephen) told me that this was the easiest most laidback year of medical school! Silly me...things that are supposed to be easy and laidback never are when it comes to Stephen. The story now is that the first 6 months are the worst for us because of the way Stephen scheduled his rotations. So, he's been through ER, OB/GYN, and is now on his Advanced Family Medicine rotation. Tonight he is on-call at the hospital which means for 24 hours he's in-house (at TMH) waiting for something to happen. Even though he's on his Family Medicine rotation, he's working with a resident who is on his OB/GYN stint of Family Practice, so they're hanging out in L&D waiting for someone to give birth. I've been home all day dealing with Ella as she gets over a cold and bilateral ear infections. I did not mind being at home all day by myself, but it gets me wondering how things will be when it's constantly like this. Stephen intern year of general surgery will be like this all the time, most likely 7 days a week. It's scary, but at least I know that he'll be just down the road. Unfortunately, after these 4 weeks in Family Medicine he'll be leaving us for 7 weeks to do away rotations at UF and UNC-Chapel Hill. Of course Gainesville isn't far away and I'll be able to be there as much as I want, but I can't really see myself staying at my G'ma's for 3 weeks straight! And I have no clue what I'll do when he's in NC for 4 weeks! I don't know if I'm more worried about me or Ella. She'll take it really hard, too. Right now, having three dogs is a bear because I can't just follow Stephen around because I can't take them everywhere and I can't afford to board them that long either! This is my life. I'm trying to remember that it will pay off....someday.
It's In The Way She Walks
(Sorry this took me so long to post over here. I didn't realize I hadn't copied it from my other blog!)
Go figure...the day after I blogged Ella's 13 month update she started walking. I know I said in the update that she would take a few steps and then fall down and go back to crawling...well, she's taking more than a couple steps now and is definitely on her way to the next level - running. It's so funny osee her walk because her upper half wants to go faster than her legs can take her...
Ella's favorite place to walk is in front of our house on the sidewalk. I think she knows that other people can see her from their porches and she loves to show-off! A couple nights ago she had 3 houses of people outside watching her. She's definitely a ham.
As it is for all toddlers, this is a new adventure for Ella AND Stephen and I. We are very excited about all the new things that Ella can experience and also nervous about all the new things Ella can get into!
The picture I posted is of Ella right after a walk around the living room and into the hallway. She wouldn't let me take a picture of her actually walking, so I'll work on that post some later.
Go figure...the day after I blogged Ella's 13 month update she started walking. I know I said in the update that she would take a few steps and then fall down and go back to crawling...well, she's taking more than a couple steps now and is definitely on her way to the next level - running. It's so funny osee her walk because her upper half wants to go faster than her legs can take her...
Ella's favorite place to walk is in front of our house on the sidewalk. I think she knows that other people can see her from their porches and she loves to show-off! A couple nights ago she had 3 houses of people outside watching her. She's definitely a ham.
As it is for all toddlers, this is a new adventure for Ella AND Stephen and I. We are very excited about all the new things that Ella can experience and also nervous about all the new things Ella can get into!
The picture I posted is of Ella right after a walk around the living room and into the hallway. She wouldn't let me take a picture of her actually walking, so I'll work on that post some later.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Ella's 13 Month Update
I'll start off by saying that Ella is not officially walking yet since I'm sure that's what most of you want to know. I'm shocked myself, but I'm sure this time next month (or earlier) I'll be saying that she is officially walking. Now, don't get me wrong, she will take a few steps without holding on to anything or anyone...she'll even be carrying something, but then she'll fall on her butt and start crawling. So, I know it's possible and I'll just let her go at her own pace.
Ella saw her first fireworks on the 4th of July and absolutely loved them! She sat in daddy's lap the whole time and was just in awe. She didn't take her eyes off them the whole time. She had a wonderful 4th of July weekend hanging out with her cousins and especially had a fun time with her 3 year old cousin Rebekah. They played together the whole time and it was scary to see how fast Ella picked up on things that Rebekah was doing. At time I thought Ella had skipped a couple birthdays in a few days! Rebekah was frustrated that Ella couldn't talk as well as she could, but didn't seem to let that get in the way of their fun.
On the 5th, Ella start swim lessons and she learned how to blow bubbles and float on her back on the first day. The second day she wasn't much into paying attention...she just wanted to play on the steps the whole time, but at least she's having fun! This past Friday she started kicking her legs, too! Her last swim lesson is on the 18th and I'll be interested to see just how much she's learned.
Ella has also learned some new words in the past few weeks to add to the few that it seems like she's been saying f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Everytime she sees pictures of herself on the wall she'll say 'baby' and of course when she sees a baby in public she'll say it, too. She also knows how to say 'Gator' which she now calls all three of our dogs instead of just the one whose name is actually 'Gator'. But, we're happy about this because she'll be even more ready for football season since she's been saying 'touchdown' and doing the signal for it for the past few months. She loves to pick up phones (any phone will do) and say 'dad'? And she finally said 'bye bye' the other day to the store manager at Publix. She's been waving hello and goodbye for a while, but would never say 'bye' until then. But, she hasn't said it since.
Ella is officially off formula which I am sooo thankful for. It didn't take long at all to wean her from the formula...I think about 4 days, which we did right after her 12 month check-up. And she's about weaned from her bottle...when she gets tired around nap time and bed time she wants her bottle, so we're weaning her from her nap bottle first. We'll see how fast that goes. Her new favorite food is mac and cheese (surprise, surprise). She still loves her veggies and that makes me very happy to know she's more like me in that area than her father. I really hope she won't be a picky eater when she gets older.
Well, for the rest of the month Ella and I plan on hanging out by the pool and working on our tans. We're looking more and more like FL girls every day! This weekend we're going to Sea World and we're soooo excited about that. I haven't been since I was really little and I know Ella will enjoy it, too. She loves looking at bright colors and animals of all kind! I'll try and blog about our weekend when we get back! Until then...
Ella saw her first fireworks on the 4th of July and absolutely loved them! She sat in daddy's lap the whole time and was just in awe. She didn't take her eyes off them the whole time. She had a wonderful 4th of July weekend hanging out with her cousins and especially had a fun time with her 3 year old cousin Rebekah. They played together the whole time and it was scary to see how fast Ella picked up on things that Rebekah was doing. At time I thought Ella had skipped a couple birthdays in a few days! Rebekah was frustrated that Ella couldn't talk as well as she could, but didn't seem to let that get in the way of their fun.
On the 5th, Ella start swim lessons and she learned how to blow bubbles and float on her back on the first day. The second day she wasn't much into paying attention...she just wanted to play on the steps the whole time, but at least she's having fun! This past Friday she started kicking her legs, too! Her last swim lesson is on the 18th and I'll be interested to see just how much she's learned.
Ella has also learned some new words in the past few weeks to add to the few that it seems like she's been saying f-o-r-e-v-e-r! Everytime she sees pictures of herself on the wall she'll say 'baby' and of course when she sees a baby in public she'll say it, too. She also knows how to say 'Gator' which she now calls all three of our dogs instead of just the one whose name is actually 'Gator'. But, we're happy about this because she'll be even more ready for football season since she's been saying 'touchdown' and doing the signal for it for the past few months. She loves to pick up phones (any phone will do) and say 'dad'? And she finally said 'bye bye' the other day to the store manager at Publix. She's been waving hello and goodbye for a while, but would never say 'bye' until then. But, she hasn't said it since.
Ella is officially off formula which I am sooo thankful for. It didn't take long at all to wean her from the formula...I think about 4 days, which we did right after her 12 month check-up. And she's about weaned from her bottle...when she gets tired around nap time and bed time she wants her bottle, so we're weaning her from her nap bottle first. We'll see how fast that goes. Her new favorite food is mac and cheese (surprise, surprise). She still loves her veggies and that makes me very happy to know she's more like me in that area than her father. I really hope she won't be a picky eater when she gets older.
Well, for the rest of the month Ella and I plan on hanging out by the pool and working on our tans. We're looking more and more like FL girls every day! This weekend we're going to Sea World and we're soooo excited about that. I haven't been since I was really little and I know Ella will enjoy it, too. She loves looking at bright colors and animals of all kind! I'll try and blog about our weekend when we get back! Until then...
Friday, June 23, 2006
HOT!!!
Wow...I don't know if I'm ready for summer. It it so freakin' hot outside...all the time. Even at night it's still hot. I don't know if I'm just having a hard time adjusting after being in Boston for 9 months or if we're really starting to feel the affects of global warming, but either way, it sucks! I'm not looking forward to our electricity bill because it seems like our AC is always running. I am very thankful that we have a pool to go to because it would be rough not having the possbility to be outside and yet stay cool at the same time because we do have some beautiful Florida days when there isn't a cloud in the sky. Yet, I am looking forward to rain as well.
For the few of you that I know who read my blogs, I hope your summer has gotten off to a great start. I know some of you are starting a new phase of your life and are in new places. I look forward to hearing about your new jobs and new adventures. And please know that you're always welcome at our house if you're in the area again and hopefully we'll be able to do some traveling and visit y'all.
For the few of you that I know who read my blogs, I hope your summer has gotten off to a great start. I know some of you are starting a new phase of your life and are in new places. I look forward to hearing about your new jobs and new adventures. And please know that you're always welcome at our house if you're in the area again and hopefully we'll be able to do some traveling and visit y'all.
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Ella's Stats
Ella's 12 month doctor's appointment was today and it went very well. She was playing with all the doctors and nurses while she was supposed to be getting weighed and measured. She enjoyed getting all the attention and has fun up auntil her one shot that she had to get. But, she recovered quickly...she only had to get her chicken pox vaccine, so it wasn't too traumatic for her.
As for her stats., Ella weighed 21.6 pounds which is about the 50th percentile and she is 29 1/2" long which is about the 60th percentile. So, she has definitely slowed down in the growth department in the past few months. But, I hear that's normal once they start getting around and being more active.
After getting a few things confirmed by the doctor, Ella will be weaned off formula this month, which I am very excited about! She's already been drinking whole milk, but it's nice to know that she can switch completely over and we're going to start giving her some juice, too! She's also pretty much weaned herself off of baby food, so I'll have to get more creative when I fix our dinners and make sure she'll be able to eat stuff that we eat as opposed to just giving her bread/crackers, tomatoes, cheese, etc.
Later in the afternoon we all went to the pool and had a blast. Ella is not afraid of anything when it comes to water. Our Community Center has three pools (two of them for kids) and we enjoyed all three. Ella was able to crawl around in the kiddie pools since they were only 6" deep at most points. She even went down couple slides with daddy. Needless to say, she came home very tired and went to bed soon after. And I'm very tired, too, so I'll type more later!
As for her stats., Ella weighed 21.6 pounds which is about the 50th percentile and she is 29 1/2" long which is about the 60th percentile. So, she has definitely slowed down in the growth department in the past few months. But, I hear that's normal once they start getting around and being more active.
After getting a few things confirmed by the doctor, Ella will be weaned off formula this month, which I am very excited about! She's already been drinking whole milk, but it's nice to know that she can switch completely over and we're going to start giving her some juice, too! She's also pretty much weaned herself off of baby food, so I'll have to get more creative when I fix our dinners and make sure she'll be able to eat stuff that we eat as opposed to just giving her bread/crackers, tomatoes, cheese, etc.
Later in the afternoon we all went to the pool and had a blast. Ella is not afraid of anything when it comes to water. Our Community Center has three pools (two of them for kids) and we enjoyed all three. Ella was able to crawl around in the kiddie pools since they were only 6" deep at most points. She even went down couple slides with daddy. Needless to say, she came home very tired and went to bed soon after. And I'm very tired, too, so I'll type more later!
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Ella's 1 Year Update
This past week has been such a whirlwind I'm surprised this update is only a few days late! Last weekend we were in Jupiter, FL for my best friend's baby shower and Ella had a blast with her family! Then we drove to Port Orange Sunday evening to spend the next few days with Stephen's family who were going to fly out with us Wed to go to Boston for Stephen's graduation from Harvard. We were busy swimming, playing with dogs, shopping and celebrating Ella's birthday early with Stephen's family! I was very nervous about the flight to and from Boston because I had no idea how I was going to keep Ella still since we did not pay for her own seat. Thankfully the third seat next to us ws empty both ways so we were able to lay Ella down in between us to sleep. Granted, before she would sleep she was very antsy and loud!! But, overall it went a lot better than expected. We got back from Boston Fri around 5pm and immediately drove to Gainesville to pick up my G'ma so she would be here for Ella's party the next day. So, we didn't get back to Tallahassee until 11pm that evening.
Ella's party was in the afternoon that Sat. which was good because I had a lot of stuff to take care of before people started coming over! It was a small affair, but Ella still had a lot of fun and got a lot of cool toys that she really enjoys.
Yesterday we woke up to news about Tropical Storm Alberto. While in the process of taking my G'ma back to Gainesville, we had to decide whether we should turn around and just have her stay with us a couple more days since it was suppose to hit Cedar Key which is directly West of her, but she really wanted to get back and make sure she had her medication on hand just in case it turned out to be worse than expected. So, Ella and I didn't get back from Gainesville until 4:15pm yesterday and she and I both are ready to not travel anymore for a long while. She is so sick of her car seat and I'm sick of not being home and not getting the chance to finish unpacking, etc. So, we are here to stay for a while. I don't even want to think about going somewhere for a couple months.
Now, for Ella's official update...her 12 month doctor appt. isn't until this Thurs. so I will definitely blog again to give you those stats. But, as for her personality and social skills...she is blossoming every day and it's amazing what she's started doing just inthe past couple days! She is still not walking...I feel it could be any day now, but she is really not interested at this point. She is completely fine with crawling and cruising. She points at everything and says "that" and then we tell her what she's pointing at. She waves hello and goodbye to everyone! And just in the past couple days she has started this new belly dance. It's hard to explain, but it's pretty funny when you see it. She loves going up and down the stairs..we don't let her do it unless we're with her, but I'm thankful that she quickly learned how to go down the stairs backwards instead of head first! Ella has also learned the signal for touchdown and makes a noise everytime she does it and then starts clapping, so we're really excited for football season to come because she'll be ready!!! She's been eating weird lately. She stopped eating baby food completely...she just won't have anything to do with it. So, she'll eat crackers, tomatoes, bread, and cheese. She still only has 6 teeth...I think she's teething because the past couple days she's been a little difficult, but I can't tell where her teeth are coming in. So, we'll see if she gets some new ones here shortly.
Today, we went to the public library for story and singing time and she absolutely loved it! She enjoyed watching the other kids and we'll definitely be making this a weekly event. I just wish it was easier to get around Boston so we could've started this earlier. Better late than never I guess. So, Ella is sleeping right now and she should be out for another hour or so. You'll be hearing from me again on Thurs. and before I sign off I have to say Happy Birthday to Analise. It's a day late, but we were thinking about you yesterday!
Ella's party was in the afternoon that Sat. which was good because I had a lot of stuff to take care of before people started coming over! It was a small affair, but Ella still had a lot of fun and got a lot of cool toys that she really enjoys.
Yesterday we woke up to news about Tropical Storm Alberto. While in the process of taking my G'ma back to Gainesville, we had to decide whether we should turn around and just have her stay with us a couple more days since it was suppose to hit Cedar Key which is directly West of her, but she really wanted to get back and make sure she had her medication on hand just in case it turned out to be worse than expected. So, Ella and I didn't get back from Gainesville until 4:15pm yesterday and she and I both are ready to not travel anymore for a long while. She is so sick of her car seat and I'm sick of not being home and not getting the chance to finish unpacking, etc. So, we are here to stay for a while. I don't even want to think about going somewhere for a couple months.
Now, for Ella's official update...her 12 month doctor appt. isn't until this Thurs. so I will definitely blog again to give you those stats. But, as for her personality and social skills...she is blossoming every day and it's amazing what she's started doing just inthe past couple days! She is still not walking...I feel it could be any day now, but she is really not interested at this point. She is completely fine with crawling and cruising. She points at everything and says "that" and then we tell her what she's pointing at. She waves hello and goodbye to everyone! And just in the past couple days she has started this new belly dance. It's hard to explain, but it's pretty funny when you see it. She loves going up and down the stairs..we don't let her do it unless we're with her, but I'm thankful that she quickly learned how to go down the stairs backwards instead of head first! Ella has also learned the signal for touchdown and makes a noise everytime she does it and then starts clapping, so we're really excited for football season to come because she'll be ready!!! She's been eating weird lately. She stopped eating baby food completely...she just won't have anything to do with it. So, she'll eat crackers, tomatoes, bread, and cheese. She still only has 6 teeth...I think she's teething because the past couple days she's been a little difficult, but I can't tell where her teeth are coming in. So, we'll see if she gets some new ones here shortly.
Today, we went to the public library for story and singing time and she absolutely loved it! She enjoyed watching the other kids and we'll definitely be making this a weekly event. I just wish it was easier to get around Boston so we could've started this earlier. Better late than never I guess. So, Ella is sleeping right now and she should be out for another hour or so. You'll be hearing from me again on Thurs. and before I sign off I have to say Happy Birthday to Analise. It's a day late, but we were thinking about you yesterday!
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
We're Home!
Well, we're officially in Tallahassee again and we closed on our brand new house on the 19th. It is so nice to live in a place where no one has lived before. We're very busy unpacking and trying to get organized but it's hard with Ella. She's very busy and wants to be doing something at all times and with all this stuff lying around she wants to get into everything. So, of course we we say 'no' and pull her away from whatever it is that she's getting into, she has a tantrum. So, a lot of our unpacking is late at night when she's asleep.
As I said earlier, we closed on our place on the 19th and we were very glad to be in town for FSU's College of Medicine graduation on the 20th. It was bittersweet as this would've been Stephen's graduation has he not taken a year off to get an MPH. But, we were very excited for all of our dear friends who graduated and are now doctors. Hopefully I can get some pointers from the wives on how residency REALLY is before I embark on that adventure myself. It's also sad that they all moving away as we're coming back. So, hopefully we'll be able to visit them in Pensacola,FL and Laurel, MD. And they all know that they're more than welcome to visit us here and stay with us when they're back in Tallahassee.
Well, it's late and I'm ready to sleep...although I'm sure I'll do a little more organizing before I actually get in the bed. I'll keep you updated on how things are going and you can also look forward to Ella's 12 month update in a couple weeks!
As I said earlier, we closed on our place on the 19th and we were very glad to be in town for FSU's College of Medicine graduation on the 20th. It was bittersweet as this would've been Stephen's graduation has he not taken a year off to get an MPH. But, we were very excited for all of our dear friends who graduated and are now doctors. Hopefully I can get some pointers from the wives on how residency REALLY is before I embark on that adventure myself. It's also sad that they all moving away as we're coming back. So, hopefully we'll be able to visit them in Pensacola,FL and Laurel, MD. And they all know that they're more than welcome to visit us here and stay with us when they're back in Tallahassee.
Well, it's late and I'm ready to sleep...although I'm sure I'll do a little more organizing before I actually get in the bed. I'll keep you updated on how things are going and you can also look forward to Ella's 12 month update in a couple weeks!
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Ella's 11 Month Update
Today was a big day for Ella! She got her first haircut! We found a place called "Snip-It's" that only does kids hair and when we walked in it was like walking into a Dr. Seuss book. Everything was kid-oriented and every chair had a TV next to it playing cartoons. Since it was Ella's first hair cut they treated her extra special and took and before and after picture for us to take home. She even got a certificate signifying her first hair cut for showing courage and bravery. She got a cute purple bow in her hair and a balloon to take home! I was very impressed with this place, but unfortunately there's only one in FL and it's in Wellington which will be 6 hours south of us! So, I don't know what we'll do for the next hair cut. But, I was very proud of her. She didn't cry even though you could tell she was a little nervous.
As for other things, this past month has flown by and Ella has become more and more independent. She is standing by herself now and loves to look out our windows that are in our bedroom. Since the window pretty much go from the floor to the ceiling she can sit or stand in front of the window and talk to the people passing by. And she definitely lets you know when she sees a dog! She gets really excited and starts pointing and saying, "da!!". I would say that's her new big thing - pointing. She's still very inconsistent with waving, but she'll point to everyone and everything, especially if she's dropped something that she wants you to pick up for her....again and again and again!
Ella has also started completely feeding herself at mealtime. She has moved up to Gerber Graduates and loves eating the vegetables and ravioli. I'm trying to wean her completely from the bottle and I'm thinking about going and starting her on whole milk now instead of waiting for her 12 month checkup. I think it'll be pretty obvious if her stomach doesn't handle the whole milk and I seriously don't think she'll have a problem. So, when I do that, I will only give her milk from her sippy cup. Right now she's only getting water from her sippy cup.
As I said earlier, Ella is standing on her own now for short periods of time. I'm sure she'll be walking 'soon', but I couldn't venture to guess what 'soon' is. Ella and I have started a new pasttime by watching The Backyardigans together almost every afternoon depending on what's going on with our busy schedules. I think I even like it more than she does!
I'm looking forward to her next doctor visit to see how long she has gotten and how much she weighs. I try to do it myself on the scale, but it never comes out right. Unfortunately, she'll be getting shots this go 'round. But, we'll be going back to Dr. Hugger's office in FL!!
As for FL, we'll be leaving here on the 16th of May and closing on our house on the 19th. I am very excited to get Ella's BIGGER nursery all set up and to get her over to our pool. And I'll be looking into Mommy and Me swimming lessons ASAP. We hope now that we'll be in a bigger place and a little more settled that we'll have a lot of people come visit. We want Ella to be able to enjoy all of our family and friends sine we've been so isolated the past 9 months. And that includes all of you reading this. Hope to see you soon!
As for other things, this past month has flown by and Ella has become more and more independent. She is standing by herself now and loves to look out our windows that are in our bedroom. Since the window pretty much go from the floor to the ceiling she can sit or stand in front of the window and talk to the people passing by. And she definitely lets you know when she sees a dog! She gets really excited and starts pointing and saying, "da!!". I would say that's her new big thing - pointing. She's still very inconsistent with waving, but she'll point to everyone and everything, especially if she's dropped something that she wants you to pick up for her....again and again and again!
Ella has also started completely feeding herself at mealtime. She has moved up to Gerber Graduates and loves eating the vegetables and ravioli. I'm trying to wean her completely from the bottle and I'm thinking about going and starting her on whole milk now instead of waiting for her 12 month checkup. I think it'll be pretty obvious if her stomach doesn't handle the whole milk and I seriously don't think she'll have a problem. So, when I do that, I will only give her milk from her sippy cup. Right now she's only getting water from her sippy cup.
As I said earlier, Ella is standing on her own now for short periods of time. I'm sure she'll be walking 'soon', but I couldn't venture to guess what 'soon' is. Ella and I have started a new pasttime by watching The Backyardigans together almost every afternoon depending on what's going on with our busy schedules. I think I even like it more than she does!
I'm looking forward to her next doctor visit to see how long she has gotten and how much she weighs. I try to do it myself on the scale, but it never comes out right. Unfortunately, she'll be getting shots this go 'round. But, we'll be going back to Dr. Hugger's office in FL!!
As for FL, we'll be leaving here on the 16th of May and closing on our house on the 19th. I am very excited to get Ella's BIGGER nursery all set up and to get her over to our pool. And I'll be looking into Mommy and Me swimming lessons ASAP. We hope now that we'll be in a bigger place and a little more settled that we'll have a lot of people come visit. We want Ella to be able to enjoy all of our family and friends sine we've been so isolated the past 9 months. And that includes all of you reading this. Hope to see you soon!
Friday, May 05, 2006
It's That Time Again!
Wow. I can't believe it's May already. It seems like just yesterday it was August and I was dreading the move up here to Boston and complaining about everything that was going wrong. Now we are just 11 days from heading back to FL and here I am again - w-a-y behind on packing and wondering why we came up here in the first place.
Yes, May 16th is the big day. Thankfully, my original plan of hiring mover (whish was snubbed for our move up here) was adopted and we're even going to have them pack the kitchen for us which will be a big help to me. I HATE packing the kitchen. So, the movers will come and pack the kitchen on the 15th (a Monday) and then they'll come back the next day and load the rest of the stuff. As soon as they're done we are outta here! I haven't been this excited since...I don't know when. I think I'm actually more excited about this then I was about the impending birth of my daughter.
Now, once we get to FL we'll still be busy for awhile. We first have to drive to Daytona to drop the dogs off at Stephen's parent's house because our fence won't be up yet. Then we'll drive to Tallahassee on the 18th so we can walk through the house before we close on the 19th at noon. At this point, we don't know when we'll have our furniture delivered. We have a window of anywhere between the 19th nad 26th. So, in the meantime (besides putting up a fenc), we'll be putting in light fixtures, fans, blinds, etc. That'll be fun. We like working on stuff like that. I'll be painting, too, which I'm not fond of because I feel like that's all I've been doing for the past 4 years, but it needs to be done for me to have the house the way I want it. We also have to buy a refrigerator (it doesn't come with the house) and furniture (couch/chairs and a dining set). The problem is: we can't really afford any of this, but we need it...so where do you draw the line? That's kinda stressing me out and I usually don't stress out about money.
So, we'll have a couple weeks to get the house organized before Stephen starts his ER rotation on the 1st. Then we will be flying back to Boston on the 7th for Stephen's graduation on the 8th. On the 9th, Stephen will fly from Boston to Chicago for an AMA meeting that he will attend until the 14th. The baby and I will fly back to FL by ourselves (soooo not looking forward to that) and prepare for her birthday party which will be on the 17th (a week after her actual birthday). So, my life won't be settled for at least another month, but right now I'm just trying to look at it as what I have to go through to get back to FL and so far, it's worth it!
Yes, May 16th is the big day. Thankfully, my original plan of hiring mover (whish was snubbed for our move up here) was adopted and we're even going to have them pack the kitchen for us which will be a big help to me. I HATE packing the kitchen. So, the movers will come and pack the kitchen on the 15th (a Monday) and then they'll come back the next day and load the rest of the stuff. As soon as they're done we are outta here! I haven't been this excited since...I don't know when. I think I'm actually more excited about this then I was about the impending birth of my daughter.
Now, once we get to FL we'll still be busy for awhile. We first have to drive to Daytona to drop the dogs off at Stephen's parent's house because our fence won't be up yet. Then we'll drive to Tallahassee on the 18th so we can walk through the house before we close on the 19th at noon. At this point, we don't know when we'll have our furniture delivered. We have a window of anywhere between the 19th nad 26th. So, in the meantime (besides putting up a fenc), we'll be putting in light fixtures, fans, blinds, etc. That'll be fun. We like working on stuff like that. I'll be painting, too, which I'm not fond of because I feel like that's all I've been doing for the past 4 years, but it needs to be done for me to have the house the way I want it. We also have to buy a refrigerator (it doesn't come with the house) and furniture (couch/chairs and a dining set). The problem is: we can't really afford any of this, but we need it...so where do you draw the line? That's kinda stressing me out and I usually don't stress out about money.
So, we'll have a couple weeks to get the house organized before Stephen starts his ER rotation on the 1st. Then we will be flying back to Boston on the 7th for Stephen's graduation on the 8th. On the 9th, Stephen will fly from Boston to Chicago for an AMA meeting that he will attend until the 14th. The baby and I will fly back to FL by ourselves (soooo not looking forward to that) and prepare for her birthday party which will be on the 17th (a week after her actual birthday). So, my life won't be settled for at least another month, but right now I'm just trying to look at it as what I have to go through to get back to FL and so far, it's worth it!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Ella's 10 Month Update
Another month has flown by! I can't believe we're going to be back in FL in 6 weeks. I am thrilled to get Ella down there for good so she can start wearing less clothes and we can start doing more things outside, like swimming! Ella is still infatuated with water, probably even more now than ever before. She loves taking baths and she loves crawling into the bathroom and pulling herself up on the tub to see if there's any water in it. We definitely have to be very careful with her! Thankfully we're going to have a brand new YMCA in our development in Tallahassee and I plan on getting her into swimming lessons ASAP.
As for other things, I'm sure she is officially over the 20 lb mark by now. She is eating well and enjoying trying new solids. I've been letting her try more and more kinds of foods since she has 5 teeth now, but some of her favorites are still the kinds of food that she doesn't need to chew on. As I was saying earlier, she is cruising around the place like she owns it and would love to just crawl around all day long if I let her. I will be very happy when we have a bigger area at our next house for her to be adventurous in, but I'm sure she'll be walking by then. She is getting so steady on her feet and loves to pull herself up on things and then let go to see how long she can stand up by herself. Thankfully she mastered the proper way to fall on her butt.
Her hair has gotten long and it looks like I can actually start doing things with it now, but every time I put a barrett in it falls out or she pulls it out and tries to eat it. So, nevermind. But, I'm thinking about getting her hair cut soon. It needs some shaping.
As for words, she's still saying 'mama' and 'dada', but she's started saying 'da' when she sees dogs. I purposely stopped saying our dogs names to her so she would learn that they're dogs first, so now she says 'da' whenever she sees any dog, so apparently it worked.
Ella is also enjoying meeting other kids. She's been like this for the longest time, but now that she has been around them more, she is just so tickled to be able to watch them or touch them, or 'talk' to them. She has a friend at the gym who she gets to play with in the nursery and it helps a lot because she doesn't realize I'm not there.
She is about to celebrate her first Easter and I'm looking forward to when she's old enough to dye eggs with me and have Easter egg hunts. But, for now, she has baby Easter gifts to enjoy that are overflowing in a cute Easter basket. Until next time, we hope all of you have a wonderful Easter, too.
As for other things, I'm sure she is officially over the 20 lb mark by now. She is eating well and enjoying trying new solids. I've been letting her try more and more kinds of foods since she has 5 teeth now, but some of her favorites are still the kinds of food that she doesn't need to chew on. As I was saying earlier, she is cruising around the place like she owns it and would love to just crawl around all day long if I let her. I will be very happy when we have a bigger area at our next house for her to be adventurous in, but I'm sure she'll be walking by then. She is getting so steady on her feet and loves to pull herself up on things and then let go to see how long she can stand up by herself. Thankfully she mastered the proper way to fall on her butt.
Her hair has gotten long and it looks like I can actually start doing things with it now, but every time I put a barrett in it falls out or she pulls it out and tries to eat it. So, nevermind. But, I'm thinking about getting her hair cut soon. It needs some shaping.
As for words, she's still saying 'mama' and 'dada', but she's started saying 'da' when she sees dogs. I purposely stopped saying our dogs names to her so she would learn that they're dogs first, so now she says 'da' whenever she sees any dog, so apparently it worked.
Ella is also enjoying meeting other kids. She's been like this for the longest time, but now that she has been around them more, she is just so tickled to be able to watch them or touch them, or 'talk' to them. She has a friend at the gym who she gets to play with in the nursery and it helps a lot because she doesn't realize I'm not there.
She is about to celebrate her first Easter and I'm looking forward to when she's old enough to dye eggs with me and have Easter egg hunts. But, for now, she has baby Easter gifts to enjoy that are overflowing in a cute Easter basket. Until next time, we hope all of you have a wonderful Easter, too.
Tuesday, April 04, 2006
It's Great To Be A Florida Gator!
WooHoo! UF kicked UCLA's butt last night! For those of you who may not have watched the game (sinners!), the Gators won their first National Championship in basketball last night. It was a great game (if you're a Gator fan) and was pretty much over by halftime. I would've loved to be able to be in Gainesville and watching it in the O'Connell Center with the rest of teh Gator Nation, but it was still a sweet moment watching it on my couch in front of the big screen. And hopefully this is just the beginning to our winning ways in all sports...can anyone say National Championship in Jan '07?
Friday, March 17, 2006
Update on Ella's 9 Month Update
We're in DC right now and I'm just getting time to sit down and give you all the stats from Ella's doctor's appt. from Tues. So, here they are...she weighed 19.9.5 lbs. and was 28 1/2" long. Both of those are in the 75th percentile. She's slowed down some in the growth dept. but for all we know she could be back in the 9th percentile on her next doctor's visit! We also were told that we could turn her car seat forward-facing because her legs are already getting bunched up from hitting the back of the seat...so...we put it forward-facing for our drive to DC Wed. night. I think it might have been a little much for her. She was a lot more fussy on this drive then she usually is....actually she usually either plays or falls asleep in her carseat, but she fussed and fussed and finally fell asleep and then would wake up intermittently (sp?) and scream and then go back to sleep. I don't know if the different direction she was going in and the fact that she could see more was too stimulating for her or if she was just overly tired from the days events of cleaning and packing that she didn't get a nap or what. But, I'll be curious to see how she does on our way back...
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Ella's 9 month Update
Ella has changed so much this past month...
The biggest thing to me is that Ella is always standing in her crib when I come in to get her in the morning or when she wakes up from a nap. This is also a problem when we put her down to sleep because she knows she can get back up, so she just stands up in the corner of her crib an cries for us. I would have to say that her ability to do this and the freedom that she gets from crawling around is really making her happy and and turning her into 'Curious Ella'. Her favorite things now is to be on the floor and crawl and pull herself up on things. And once she pulls up on the couch or the playpen, she likes to walk herself from end to end. She also likes crawilng after a toy and picking it up and throwing it a little farther out of her reach and going after it again and again. This new level of freedom that Ella has has also diminished my level of freedom. Besides the fact that I have to watch her at all times now, she has also developed separation anxiety and does not like me to leave her alone at all. She really doesn't ever want Stephen to hold her either. But, we don't always give her her way. We can pretty much tell the difference when she's really upset about it or if she's just trying to get attention. But, it is difficult to get anything done and it's hard to get to do little things like check my e-mail or go to the bathroom without her having to sit in her exersaucer or playpen and just cry for a couple minutes; although half the time she'll settle down quickly and just start playing by herself.
As for food, she loves to feed herself. Whenever we got out to eat, her favorite thing is the bread! She's also a huge fan of Cheerios, but what baby isn't?!?! I can definitely use Cheerios as a distraction tool if I want/need to get something done. The dogs also like it when I feed her Cheerios because she usually gives them some, too. As for her main meals, she has moved into the Level 3 area and is enjoying more varieties, buther favorite food is still sweet potatoes. She is not a fan of anything green (she must get that from her father!) and she won't eat meat by itself. She likes it better when it's mixed with something. Her three and a half teeth help her chew on everything, not just her food! She loves playing with and gnawing on drawstrings that are either on our waistbands or on our sweatshirts and she still has a fascination with keys; unfortunately not hers, but mine!
Ella's hair is getting very long and I'm excited about bein able to put barretts and bows in it, but what's weird is that even though it's gotten longer and it totally looks like I could do that, I really can't yet. But, I also need to go get some more hair accesories. She won't keep the headbands on and the clips I have now just don't stay in her hair. We got her 9 month pictures taken last night and I wish there was something that I could've put in her hair...it would've looked better I think.
As far as speaking, Ella hasn't learned any new words. She's still just saying "mama" and "dada", but at least I think she's knows what's she's saying now. Stephen was holding her the other night and she looked overat me and said "mama" and then reached for me. So, either that was a major coincidence or she's actually understanding who's who and what's she's saying. I'm definitely ready for her to start talking. I can't wait to have coversations with her!
Ella's favorite pasttime is still taking a bath! She loves the water and I can't wait to get back to FL and start her in swimming lessons! We have a lot of bath toys that she and I play with every other night and she's started crawling in the bath now...so, I don't put as much water in it and I need to get little sticky things for the bottom of the tub...I suppose I should just not let her do that, but since I'm in there with her it doesn't seem like a big deal.
I'll be back later to post her stat's from the doctor's appt.
The biggest thing to me is that Ella is always standing in her crib when I come in to get her in the morning or when she wakes up from a nap. This is also a problem when we put her down to sleep because she knows she can get back up, so she just stands up in the corner of her crib an cries for us. I would have to say that her ability to do this and the freedom that she gets from crawling around is really making her happy and and turning her into 'Curious Ella'. Her favorite things now is to be on the floor and crawl and pull herself up on things. And once she pulls up on the couch or the playpen, she likes to walk herself from end to end. She also likes crawilng after a toy and picking it up and throwing it a little farther out of her reach and going after it again and again. This new level of freedom that Ella has has also diminished my level of freedom. Besides the fact that I have to watch her at all times now, she has also developed separation anxiety and does not like me to leave her alone at all. She really doesn't ever want Stephen to hold her either. But, we don't always give her her way. We can pretty much tell the difference when she's really upset about it or if she's just trying to get attention. But, it is difficult to get anything done and it's hard to get to do little things like check my e-mail or go to the bathroom without her having to sit in her exersaucer or playpen and just cry for a couple minutes; although half the time she'll settle down quickly and just start playing by herself.
As for food, she loves to feed herself. Whenever we got out to eat, her favorite thing is the bread! She's also a huge fan of Cheerios, but what baby isn't?!?! I can definitely use Cheerios as a distraction tool if I want/need to get something done. The dogs also like it when I feed her Cheerios because she usually gives them some, too. As for her main meals, she has moved into the Level 3 area and is enjoying more varieties, buther favorite food is still sweet potatoes. She is not a fan of anything green (she must get that from her father!) and she won't eat meat by itself. She likes it better when it's mixed with something. Her three and a half teeth help her chew on everything, not just her food! She loves playing with and gnawing on drawstrings that are either on our waistbands or on our sweatshirts and she still has a fascination with keys; unfortunately not hers, but mine!
Ella's hair is getting very long and I'm excited about bein able to put barretts and bows in it, but what's weird is that even though it's gotten longer and it totally looks like I could do that, I really can't yet. But, I also need to go get some more hair accesories. She won't keep the headbands on and the clips I have now just don't stay in her hair. We got her 9 month pictures taken last night and I wish there was something that I could've put in her hair...it would've looked better I think.
As far as speaking, Ella hasn't learned any new words. She's still just saying "mama" and "dada", but at least I think she's knows what's she's saying now. Stephen was holding her the other night and she looked overat me and said "mama" and then reached for me. So, either that was a major coincidence or she's actually understanding who's who and what's she's saying. I'm definitely ready for her to start talking. I can't wait to have coversations with her!
Ella's favorite pasttime is still taking a bath! She loves the water and I can't wait to get back to FL and start her in swimming lessons! We have a lot of bath toys that she and I play with every other night and she's started crawling in the bath now...so, I don't put as much water in it and I need to get little sticky things for the bottom of the tub...I suppose I should just not let her do that, but since I'm in there with her it doesn't seem like a big deal.
I'll be back later to post her stat's from the doctor's appt.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
Skiing sucks!
My husband did something really sweet this weekend. I'm always on him about not taking the bull by the horns and just planning something on his own. If we talk about doing something for the day or even somewhere to go on vacation he always ask millions of questions and ultimately wants me to plan the whole thing. So, finally, when he asked if I wanted to go skiing and whether or not I would be comfortable with Ella being watched at the daycare at the ski resort, I said, "Just plan it yourself!" So, he did.
We traveled to Loon Mountain in New Hampshire early yesterday morning. I was excited to go skiing for the first time and I wasn't too nervous about leaving Ella with total strangers since I knew that they had a policy that only 6 infants were booked for a day and once we dropped her off, the people were really nice and took a ton of information from us because they wanted to be sure that she was fed properly, changed when she should be, and napped the way she was used to napping. So, after we dropped her off we went to rent our ski equipment. We then went to the ski lift and that was the last fun I had for the day. As soon as I got off the ski lift I fell. Then I fell again. And again. And again...so and so forth. Obviously I knew that I wasn't going to be great since this was my first time, but it got old real fast, especially when you have 4 and 5 year olds zooming past you like they came out the womb skiing!! Oh, and I was on the easiest slope there was...it took me over and hour to get down the thing. By the time I was down the slope I was so sore and knew I had bruises all over my body. I alos twisted my knee really bad on my last fall which sucked because I was getting the hang of it right at the end. But, I was too worried that it would just take one more fall for me to really hurt my knee or to break something and I didn't want to chance it, let alone I was already exhausted and in pain.
So, yes, I stayed at Cafe' and read a book for the rest of the afternoon while Stephen skied by himself. I felt horrible because this was supposed to be a day for us to hang out without the baby which has yet to happen since she was born. But, if I had decided to ski more, it wouldn't have been any fun for him because I would've been stuck on the green slope all day going REALLY slow. At least he got to go on other slopes and get his money's worth.
So, I'll leave the skiing to the yankees and I'll stick with the warm water sports that I'm a 'pro' at.
We traveled to Loon Mountain in New Hampshire early yesterday morning. I was excited to go skiing for the first time and I wasn't too nervous about leaving Ella with total strangers since I knew that they had a policy that only 6 infants were booked for a day and once we dropped her off, the people were really nice and took a ton of information from us because they wanted to be sure that she was fed properly, changed when she should be, and napped the way she was used to napping. So, after we dropped her off we went to rent our ski equipment. We then went to the ski lift and that was the last fun I had for the day. As soon as I got off the ski lift I fell. Then I fell again. And again. And again...so and so forth. Obviously I knew that I wasn't going to be great since this was my first time, but it got old real fast, especially when you have 4 and 5 year olds zooming past you like they came out the womb skiing!! Oh, and I was on the easiest slope there was...it took me over and hour to get down the thing. By the time I was down the slope I was so sore and knew I had bruises all over my body. I alos twisted my knee really bad on my last fall which sucked because I was getting the hang of it right at the end. But, I was too worried that it would just take one more fall for me to really hurt my knee or to break something and I didn't want to chance it, let alone I was already exhausted and in pain.
So, yes, I stayed at Cafe' and read a book for the rest of the afternoon while Stephen skied by himself. I felt horrible because this was supposed to be a day for us to hang out without the baby which has yet to happen since she was born. But, if I had decided to ski more, it wouldn't have been any fun for him because I would've been stuck on the green slope all day going REALLY slow. At least he got to go on other slopes and get his money's worth.
So, I'll leave the skiing to the yankees and I'll stick with the warm water sports that I'm a 'pro' at.
Monday, February 13, 2006
Blizzard '06, NetFlix, etc.
So, I'm stuck in the house today thanks to a 'blizzard' that we had yesterday. I don't really think that our area officially went through a blizzard which is considered a snow storm where the winds are at least 35 mph for at least three hours straight and visibility is 1/4" of a mile or less. Anyway, I think the officially tally for Boston was 17", although I think we may have a gotten a little more than that. Most schools are closed today, but of course Harvard isn't. So, while all the other kids are sledding with their families, Ella and I are stuck inside with three hyper dogs and nothing to do. We've played with all of Ella's toys and she's taken two naps so far, although they haven't been long enough (for her or myself). Stephen isn't going to be home until after 9pm (guess I'll be TiVo-ing 24) and I'm trying to plan out dinner for Valentine's Day evening. We decided to stay in since Ella is getting increasingly harder to deal with at restaurants. She's not bad, she's just curious about everything and it's really hard to enjoy dinner and each other's company when she wants to stick everything in her mouth, her attention span in close to nil, and service in Boston is not great anyway.
I also haven't gotten my UsToday yet which means I haven't done my daily crossword puzzle or Sudoku puzzle, so I feel a little dumb right now. I'm assuming that we are getting mail today...I guess it's just running late since we have mail carriers on foot. I am looking forward to Wed. and Thurs. when it's supposed to be in the low 50's again.
Oh! I have to talk about NetFlix. If there are people who are still using Blockbuster, you need to wake up and smell the cheaper rentals that are delivered to your front door! We love NetFlix and we're also loving watching seasons of television shows that we never got to watch such as Arrested Development. This is seriously one of the best comedies ever! Unfortunately, it's been cancelled from Fox after only three seasons. There are rumors going around that Showtime or some other cable network might pick it up, but if not, we'll have three glorious seasons to laugh at. I seriously recommend this show for anyone who loves to laugh at most anything.
OK, I'll get off my soap box and go tend to something....
I also haven't gotten my UsToday yet which means I haven't done my daily crossword puzzle or Sudoku puzzle, so I feel a little dumb right now. I'm assuming that we are getting mail today...I guess it's just running late since we have mail carriers on foot. I am looking forward to Wed. and Thurs. when it's supposed to be in the low 50's again.
Oh! I have to talk about NetFlix. If there are people who are still using Blockbuster, you need to wake up and smell the cheaper rentals that are delivered to your front door! We love NetFlix and we're also loving watching seasons of television shows that we never got to watch such as Arrested Development. This is seriously one of the best comedies ever! Unfortunately, it's been cancelled from Fox after only three seasons. There are rumors going around that Showtime or some other cable network might pick it up, but if not, we'll have three glorious seasons to laugh at. I seriously recommend this show for anyone who loves to laugh at most anything.
OK, I'll get off my soap box and go tend to something....
Ella's 8 month update
Originally posted on February 10, 2006.
Wow, I'm actually going to get this update done on time! I guess I'll start out by saying that we took Ella to see "Curious George" for her 8 month brithday. And I'll just say that she's in an awkward stage to see a movie at the theater...the last movie we took her to was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She was very good during that movie and either sat and watched it or ate and slept. At this movie she watched it off and on and then would start play screaming, etc. which is cute, but of course we're always worried it might annoy someone else (even though there were only three other families there at the time). She also got tired near the middle of the movie and she would not settle down and fall asleep even if I took her in the back and walked/rocked her. So, it'll probably be a while before we take her to another movie.
As far as her milestones are going, she's still on track. Stephen says he thinks she's a little ahead, but he's biased. I mean she could be, but how do you really measure that? Anyway, she's still enjoying her solids. She's about ready to start on level 3 foods and is also enjoying feeding herself. Now, when I say this I don't mean with a spoon. But, she loves Zwieback (toast for babies) or any onther bread that tough enough for her to suck on and let it melt in her mouth (like French bread). She's almost got her pincer grasp down, too.
Ella is also VERY close to crawling. If she hadn't been so sick for a over a week, she would probably be crawling already. She loves being on the floor and she's been rocking on her hands and knees for a while now; she gets so frustrated because she can't get anywhere. She starts moving forward and falls on her stomach. She also loves to pull up on things. Thankfully she only does it on things that are very sturdy like our couch, ourselves, and in her playpen. I'm actually surprised she hasn't started pulling herself up in her crib, but I am glad about that because I hear that once they know how to do that they'll wake up in the middle of the night and do so and that's just not good for me! She hasn't seemed to pick up anything language-wise. She still says 'mama', 'dada', 'baba'...but again, I don't think they have any meaning to her, yet.
I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting. I'll blog again if I think of any, but I'm so tired right now. We're supposedly getting a blizzard late tomorrow evening through Sunday morning, so we were out all day today preparing for that. Ella went down 30 minutes ago and I'm not far off.
Wow, I'm actually going to get this update done on time! I guess I'll start out by saying that we took Ella to see "Curious George" for her 8 month brithday. And I'll just say that she's in an awkward stage to see a movie at the theater...the last movie we took her to was Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. She was very good during that movie and either sat and watched it or ate and slept. At this movie she watched it off and on and then would start play screaming, etc. which is cute, but of course we're always worried it might annoy someone else (even though there were only three other families there at the time). She also got tired near the middle of the movie and she would not settle down and fall asleep even if I took her in the back and walked/rocked her. So, it'll probably be a while before we take her to another movie.
As far as her milestones are going, she's still on track. Stephen says he thinks she's a little ahead, but he's biased. I mean she could be, but how do you really measure that? Anyway, she's still enjoying her solids. She's about ready to start on level 3 foods and is also enjoying feeding herself. Now, when I say this I don't mean with a spoon. But, she loves Zwieback (toast for babies) or any onther bread that tough enough for her to suck on and let it melt in her mouth (like French bread). She's almost got her pincer grasp down, too.
Ella is also VERY close to crawling. If she hadn't been so sick for a over a week, she would probably be crawling already. She loves being on the floor and she's been rocking on her hands and knees for a while now; she gets so frustrated because she can't get anywhere. She starts moving forward and falls on her stomach. She also loves to pull up on things. Thankfully she only does it on things that are very sturdy like our couch, ourselves, and in her playpen. I'm actually surprised she hasn't started pulling herself up in her crib, but I am glad about that because I hear that once they know how to do that they'll wake up in the middle of the night and do so and that's just not good for me! She hasn't seemed to pick up anything language-wise. She still says 'mama', 'dada', 'baba'...but again, I don't think they have any meaning to her, yet.
I'm sure there are things I'm forgetting. I'll blog again if I think of any, but I'm so tired right now. We're supposedly getting a blizzard late tomorrow evening through Sunday morning, so we were out all day today preparing for that. Ella went down 30 minutes ago and I'm not far off.
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