Xmas 2009 - 19 months old

She loved Santa....

New Camera

We bought a new camera as an early Christmas gift. EG is getting used to having a camera in her face all the time now!

A Real Halloween

EG had a blast with Halloween. She was a little confused about why we were going outside after dinner (normally that is quiet playtime with moms inside - only). She caught on quickly and went to our close neighbors for some loot. Then, we returned home to serve the numerous trick or treaters where we learned that EG LOVES to put the candy in other kids' bags. She passed out most of the candy (mom helped a little). She was so overtired by bed that she woke up all night long.....too much excitement before bed!!! Here is the night in pictures.

A day in the life and recent photos

I realize that I have been posting a lot of pictures lately, but not much narrative. So, I thought I would start with a day in life of EG...

The basics of her day are she wakes at 6:00 am, breakfast at 7 am, snack at 9am, lunch at 10:30 am, nap at 11:00 (1.5 hours - 2 hours), snack at 3pm, dinner at 4:30, bath at 6:00, in crib at 6:30ish and either passes out or rolls around for 20 minutes.

We have a nanny (a local grad student) who comes to our house 4.5 hours per day, 4 days a week. This allows M to work part-time this year and gives EG a new playmate. The nanny is awesome and EG adores her. It was an adjustment, but I'd say 3 weeks into the school year everyone was settled in their routines.

The weather has turned cold here fast and forced all of us into lots of layers. Here are the latest of our little girl...









E-

This week in pictures

I am learning to color.

I am wearing all of my summer clothes as much as possible.
Mom bought me a big wheel and I love it. I don't know how to pedal .... yet.
I am still working on getting my hair right.
Mom got stung by a bee.

Things I do...

Find new places to play

Play with my cousin

Try to look like mama

Read books
Play with my hair....yes, I have some hair
Push my baby
Feed my baby

Words

I have uploaded a video of EG repeating her "words". She is consistent in her answers even if they aren't correct. Water is "lala" -- it just is. These aren't all of her words, but a large portion were caught on tape.



We had her 15 month appointment. She is 32 inches tall, 25 pounds, and has a head in 75 percentile. She was great, but a little shy with the doctor. She also got 2 shots and one finger prick.

Here is the interesting part. They give you the Denver Scale to ensure your child is developing on schedule. It measures social skills, self care, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills. We run through them..... proud parents until.....

Does your child say 3 or more words? Of course
Does your child walk backwards? YES
Can your child run across the room without falling? YES
Does your child recognize people besides immediate family members? Of course
Can your child use a spoon without help? Nope

Can your child stack 3 or more blocks/items?

What? Blocks? We are supposed to count blocks? I didn't know that? How was I supposed to know I was suppose to count blocks? What does it mean if she can't stack the blocks? I look at M and say, "Can she do that?" M also has no idea. Neither of us can remember. We are obviously bad parents because we aren't counting the BLOCKS!!!

Then....Sunday comes. We are making dinner. EG does this with no encouragement from us. I sat there talking away and then I realized what she was doing. She was stacking. See below....















So, yes, she can stack three or more items. I swear I wanted to call the doctor and tell her, "I'd like to make correction on the Denver Scale. She can stack 3 or more blocks/items. Does that increase her grade? or our grade?

It's hard to live with two teachers....

We had to take a picture

Before I begin this story, I need people to know that I am not a "buy the kid everything" type of person. I really can't stand all the toys. We have the cheap baby pool for the summer, a sandbox, lots of age-appropriate toys, and we have our fair share of baby stuff around. However, when EG goes to bed everything goes in a tasteful, beautiful, handcrafted by M's Dad, wooden toy box. Sitting in our living room at night, you would not know that we had a kid. One of our neighbors has 6 LARGE plastic objects sitting in their backyard (pool, slide, water table, burley, basketball hoop, and a sandbox) for a their daughter who is the same age as EG and we live right next to a BRAND NEW PARK! Back to the picture...

When we registered for our baby gifts we signed up for two strollers. The traditional Graco with the cup holders, storage below, and car-set attachment. We called it the SUV stroller.

We also registered for the cheap umbrella stroller.

When spring rolled around we needed a Burley to use with our bike and as a stroller in cooler weather. She can be completely protected in the Burley and we can take walks down to 30 degrees.

Then her birthday rolled around and a aunt/uncle gave us the "pink car", which EG fell in love with and still loves. It entertains her for hours.

Finally, after a few days at Ninna's house where there was a little red wagon to push and pull around we knew that one was in our future. This week M came home with a perfect Radio Flyer.

One little, sweet, girl who can walk and run has 5 modes of transport. It is actually hard to choose which one when we take a walk.

Burley: cooler or with the bikes
Umbrella: quick trips to stores or quick visits
SUV: MALL and daily, nice weather walks (this one gets the most use)
Pink car: short walks, kite flying (the kite is in the "trunk"), and great for pushing around the yard
Wagon: not sure yet

So, here they are EG's rides... and she loves them all!

"words"

EG has her own language - it is out job to try and understand it....


ma-ma = Mom or grandma
papa = grandpa
bye-bye = bye bye
nana = banana, Ninna, and it is an all purpose word
lie = light
sssss = Summitt the dog
paa-paa = up or help
pes = please
lala = water
dado = bottle
bebe = blanket
peep peep = birdie
da = thank you

She also spends a lot of time getting cleaned up.

Vacation 2009

We just returned from our vacation. We went out East to see my mother and family. EG had a great time. She loved all the attention, she stayed on schedule (for the most part), and we actually had a our first night away from her ever! She had a lot of first including going to the beach, going to my mom's property on the water in North Carolina, talking to her great-grandmother, and sleeping in a crib held together with zip-ties....yup zip ties...it was actually quite sturdy...





E-

It's been forever...

Yes, we haven't posted in awhile because of the end of school, beginning of summer, 1st birthday, and just plain lazy. Here the quick update....

EG is dropping her first nap. The morning nap that used to occur around 8am is now gone. We are having her "rest" during the time, but she won't sleep. Her afternoon nap is sssslllooowwwllyy getting longer. Research shows that the morning sleep will either join her nighttime sleep or her afternoon nap. We are hoping for a little of both. She is in transistion. She may start with morning nap again, but we doubt it. It is another family adjustment to make.

The bottles. She is taking about 12ozs of formula a day. She has a short bottle prior to her afternoon nap and a big bottle at bedtime. Doctor said not to worry too much about it, but to keep making efforts to no formula. We are going to wait until her naps are settled and then work harder on the weaning.

She is walking, running, and today climbing on the furiture. She is tall, strong, and funny. She is also learning more words. I use the term "words" loosely. We can understand her, but I am sure no one else can. Today we confirm she can say "banana," but it comes out "nana." She also said "blankie" today.

Words (clearly said)
Ma-Ma
Mom
Bye-Bye
Done


Words we understand (Again, no one else would):
Summitt
birdie
blankie
belly button
bubbles
baby
Up
Help
Banana
hat
Night-night

There is the update!

A few pics...

I love pasta!

My first cupcakes!
My rocker from my Ninna...

My birthday dress...

May 14, 2009

Happy Birthday EllaGrace

Photo Story

Dear Miss Austin, Loyal Blog Reader

Yes, we have been tardy in our blogging lately. April seemed to fly right past us. I can't believe that tomorrow is May.

EG was sick, again. Second ear infection and then a reaction to the meds caused some drama at our house last week. She switched meds and seemed to heal quickly. She is now back on schedule and doing great!

Her first birthday is just 2 weeks away...amazing. One full year with her. This time last year I was as big as a house lying on the couch watching my belly, and M was so bored she was vacuuming the basement.

EG has some new skills that M has focused on over the past few days...
1. She now goes to her high chair when she is hungry.
2. She can climb down the stairs on her belly (thanks to M doing some guided practiced today).
3. She tries to "go potty" after each nap. She rarely does, but she thinks it is fun.
4. She knows when we hand her a bottle it is time for nap and she carries the bottle upstairs.

These four things have come together in the last week. She is learning so fast now. She is able to follow 1-step directions like, "bring me the ball" or "go find Summitt (the dog)."

So, there is the quick update. We hope to post more later.

Growth

This is a VERY long video made for our families. Enjoy.

E-

Walking

First major illness

We haven't posted in forever because we are just recovering from EG being sick for the first time. Here is the play-by-play...

Sunday: Wouldn't sleep at night. The only sleep we got was all of us in the big bed together.
Monday: Better, tired, but had a hard time sleep that night too.
Tuesday: Fever. Fever. Fever. Calls to nurse lines and doctors. No sleeping.
Wednesday: Fever. Doctor's appointment. Raging right ear infection. Pink medicine.
Thursday: Fever. Some improvement.
Friday: A little better. Still struggling to sleep. Second cold is full force.
Saturday - Wednesday: getting better. sleeping is a struggle and eating is totally optional.
Thursday: much better. slow eating. cries for a little during the night, but sleeps by herself.
Friday: sleeping through the night again.
Saturday: Decided to make her bottles cold - she is now sucking them down. Sleeps through the night. Done with the pink medicine (all thirty doses).

It was a very, very long two weeks. It throws the entire family off. It also reminds you how precious sleep and routine are to everyone in the house.

Coming soon....see our little walker

E-

the kid can't catch a break...and neither can her momma

It has been a tough week for little EG.

First, she is teething. She is always teething (has 6 already) and it is never easy for her. It causes disrupted sleep, poor eating and lots and lots of drool and finger chewing. She has her first incisors on the bottom and next she was supposed to get the teeth next to them, also incisors. But, I swear to you she has skipped them and is working on the canines. (I don't know any of this without looking at a tooth development chart.)

Teething and drooling leads to diaper rash. On Monday evening, we were playing before bed and she started to cry and throw what looked like a tantrum. E and I looked at each other like "This is fun. What is this??" We decided it was bedtime. When I picked up EG she started really crying and I realized her little butt hurt. When we changed her diaper, she had the reddest, angriest diaper rash yet. Poor kid. She got herself so worked up that after E fed her part of a bottle about 20 minutes later, she threw up all over E, herself and the chair. It was the first time it's happened to her and she was scared...which led to more crying.

Tuesday she was clingy and needed lots of "derriere to the air" time.

Today she woke up with her worst cold yet...sneezing, obvious congestion, a little coughing. Combined with the teething, she is just a faucet...and she's still trying to get rid of the diaper rash.

Poor kid....we still have Thursday and Friday to go.

m-

Update: So, in addition to getting thrown up on earlier this week, E had a tough time tonight while I was out for a while. EG was getting some time with her behind to the wind, when she pooped on the kitchen floor. E put EG in the sink to clean her up while trying to keep the dog out of the way. EG reached over and grabbed a glass and dropped it in the sink, breaking it. It's been a tough week for both my girls.

Spring?

The weather is breaking. It is a miracle. In the depths of winter you never believe that this weekend will ever arrive, but it did. We are in the 50's. When I grew up in the South, the 50's were sweater and fire weather, however I now live in the upper mid-west and the 50's are flip-flop summertime.

Because the weather has been so great it has been a big weekend for EG. We started our weekend at the local canoe and bike show. We met up with our friend L. EG was great with L and didn't seem to mind being toted around the arena. She took a stroll for the first time in her Burley. She went down the slide at the park for the first time. She got her first bike helmet that we will break in the afternoon and we got her first pair of shoes.

She is walking across rooms now. She is still a little unsteady, but she is doing it. We went to the park yesterday and realize the child needs some shoes, so today we went to StrideRite and got her first fitted pair of shoes. She put her little foot on the measuring device and the sales lady said, "What a fat little foot. She is a 4.5 extra-wide." Let's just say she doesn't have the feet for ballet.....

Video and Pic

A few points before the video

1. If you needed another reason that spring should hurry up......EG has spent the winter wearing fleece one-piece outfits. I am very tired of seeing her in the same ones day after day.

2. The fake cough. Anytime some coughs, sneezes, or burps EG gives a fake cough. She thinks it is funny. It cracks us up as well.

3. She has a new noise (see video). She makes this noise all day long. Tonight, I swear she did it for 20 minutes straight as she pushed her choochoo around.

4. We went and visited EG's three cousins. It was very fun. EG was great, but had to sleep with us, which was an adventure. She ended up sleeping on M's chest most of the night.

The Sleeping

Reflecting....

Phase I
The first four weeks of EG's little life she co-slept with us. She snuggled up to M and was slid over to me to nurse and then slid back to sleep with M. I will never regret co-sleeping with her when she was so tiny. It just felt right to have that little animal nested in between us.

Phase II
We moved to formula and the co-sleeper. EG would sleep for about 3 hours and then eat, rock, and then back in the co-sleeper.

Phase III
The move to the crib. As an infant, she slept like jesus, arms straight out to her sides and the co-sleeper wasn't wide enough to accommodate that position. So, then it was feed, rock, and put down in the spacious crib. This is where the 7:40 p.m. started. She slept well and mainly woke to eat. Around 10 weeks, she slept all night for about two weeks.

7:40 p.m. (DST) / 6:40 p.m. (CST)
At seven weeks old EG started predictably falling asleep at 7:40 p.m. Feed her, rock her, and she would pass out at that time -- everyday. When the time fell back, so did EG to 6:40 p.m. It hasn't changed in over 7 months.

Phase IV
This was by far the hardest phase. Around 3.5 months, EG's sleep went to hell. She was ALWAYS asleep by 7:40 p.m., but she woke up, ate at crazy times, had periods of awake time during the night, etc... It lasted until about 7.5 months. Now, during those four months there were periods of calm and progress, but it was very unpredictable and stressful.

Phase V
After one night of CIO (30 minutes of fussing...not screaming), EG slept through the night. She has done that for almost two months now. I would say that every 2 weeks or so we have a night that isn't perfect, but overall they are great. She still falls asleep 6:40 p.m. every single night.

The Rocking: During phases II and IV the rocking was constant. It would take hours to rock that girl to sleep. Feed, rock, change, repeat. At times it felt like you were chained to the rocker. However, I still rock her to sleep.

It doesn't take more than a few minutes and she easily transitions to her crib from my arms. I read about 100 books that told me not to rock her, but we are only having one child, we have the time, and we all enjoy it. We will continue to rock until one of us decides that it is time to stop. I assume that will be Phase VI.

E-

9 Month update -- 1 week late

EG is so close to taking a few steps you can feel it. She has take a step or two here or there, but she really doesn't get it yet. She can stand still for 15 seconds by herself. She can climb the entire flight of stairs quite proficiently. She has gotten taller and she has grown some hair, mainly in the back. She has six teeth and she is working on 7 and 8. She is very good at feeding herself. She can squat to pick things up and stand back up. She will look in things and under things for hidden objects. She has speeds of crawling. There is slow. There is purposeful. Then there is duck the head and haul booty.

She gives hugs to everything thing. She waves and says, "bah". She is in love with the dog. This is the most important develop lately. She stalks the dog every moment of the day. She will follow the dog into a dark room to pat her and give the dog hugs. The dog is trying to handle this well. She knows the garage door means someone is home.

She is trying to become a dishwasher repair person. She must inspect each corner of every rack. She can hear the dishwasher open from several rooms away. This results in the head down haul booty crawl to the kitchen. She is loving taking anything and everything out of its container (drawers, laundry baskets, boxes, cabinets, etc...). She loves to stand in our front windows and watch all the people in the neighborhood.

She sleeps through the night. She eats much better with more food variety. She thinks her passie is funny, but still only uses it to fall asleep. She loves to smile for the camera.










E and m