'i can't believe i (we) have a blog' blog

We three spent Christmas at our house in Columbia. Below are photos of mostly Ella (as usual, but she’s much more photogenic than we are) on Christmas day while we were opening presents. It took her about an hour to open the few gifts she had, mostly because she wanted to play with each one after it was opened.

(This was written at the end of June….)

… are hot. And humid. So, we don’t get out much. Ella has taught herself how to remove her diaper, pretend to eat treats out of an empty candy wrapper (and feed them to us), and put pieces of toilet paper (which she tore off the roll in the bathroom and scattered around the entire house) in the garbage can under the kitchen sink. She’s very busy.

Ella couldn’t resist touching the open oven door, so I couldn’t resist calling the nurse triage line to ask if we should bring Ella in to the ER because of the burn blisters on her right palm. We went in and everything was fine - she got bandaged up, we went in for a follow-up the next day, and we’ll go back to the doctor next week just to make sure her hand is healing without infection. Even though it was late and she was in her jammies, she was such a good girl through it all and an especially patient patient when the doctor used a needle to open the blisters. Ew.

After much coaxing, Ella finally allowed me to place her in the little pool I got for her last month. She stood in the water and didn’t move from that spot. After several seconds of wading in place, she was ready to get out.

We found out at Lone Star restaurant tonight that Ella does NOT like:

I love the camera's flash, but not broccoli!

In other news, here are just a few pictures of our house. More to follow when there are fewer boxes lying around. Click on “View with PicLens” to see the captions.

[View with PicLens]

Ella celebrated her very first birthday on March 20. She had many family members make special long-distance trips just to celebrate with her, and she had so much fun. We went out for pizza, had birthday cake, and opened presents. Ella says it was the best first birthday she ever had!

At 12/13 months Ella…

• has been sleeping through the night from about 8 PM until 7 or 8 AM, for about 3 months. It’s delightful and makes me wonder why she didn’t want to do this for the first 9 months of her life.
• enjoys bath time, and shows it by splashing so hard that the bath-giver needs to be wearing a swimming suit.
• loves eating everything. Her favorites are chicken, green beans, crackers, cheese, bread, and Clementine oranges.
• has taken up to 7 steps independently, but doesn’t seem to want to do more than that for now. She will, however, walk along furniture, walls, and anything else she can use for support for miles and miles.
• recognizes puppies and says “fff” because she knows puppies say “woof.”
• will say “Dada,” but not “Mama” yet.
  Me: Ella, say “Mama.”
  Ella: “Dada.”
  Me: Say, “Mama.”
  Ella: “Dada.”
  Me: “Mamamamama.”
  Ella: “Dadadadada.”
  Hmph.
• is so curious and into everything – sneaking open the lower cupboards just to gaze at their contents, standing on tippytoes to “play” the piano, and eating dust bunnies and hairballs from the floor (although our house is always impeccably clean, of course).
• signs “more,” “all done,” and “milk,” and has just recently been signing “please” by rubbing her tummy (instead of the upper chest area, as is the correct – but not nearly as endearing – way to sign “please”). We’re working on “thank you,” “food,” “water,” and “sleepy.”
• will play peek-a-boo with anyone, with anything, at any time. Sometimes she even plays peek-a-boo by herself. (It’s not as sad as it sounds: She’ll grab a blanket and put it over her face. Then, even if she thinks no one is watching, she’ll take the blanket off after a few seconds and giggle.) She’s the best.

(Remember: the exorbitant amount of pictures is meant for the grandparents… and anyone else crazy enough to sift through them.)

[View with PicLens]

I kinda forgot we have a blog. Not really. But kinda.

Ella is 10 months and such a silly girl. She’s so fun. She likes taking baths and playing with toys she got for Christmas (not at the same time, though) – especially her doll Chloe, her alphabet train, and her stuffed puppy Violet. Daddy especially likes Violet because Violet has a USB drive onto which he can download fun things from the blogosphere.

9-month stats from December
height: 28 inches – 65%
weight: 21 pounds – 85%
head: 17.75 inches – 80%
hair length: 87 million inches (it’s getting so long!)

Some pictures for the g’parents and other adoring fans…

[View with PicLens]

Ella is crawling, pulling herself up to stand, and taking baby steps while scooting along the edge of the couch (Ha! Get it? Baby steps?). She’s eating everything she can get her hands on, and she loves babbling “dadadadadadada.” Her latest trick, though, can be seen in the following video. We try to discourage such behavior, but it’s hard for Ella to take us seriously when we’re laughing so hard.

The flu has hit our house — but when I say “our house” I really just mean “me.” The flu has hit me. I went to urgent care today to get a doctor’s note for missing three days of work, and the receptionist wouldn’t even look me in the eye until the don’t-get-your-germs-on-me mask she slid across the desk was securely in place over my mouth and nose. Those masky things are uncomfortable. If I’d known I’d be expected to wear one, I would have remembered to brush my teeth today. No air can escape those masks, which I guess is the point, but it means that the wearer is deathly disturbed by breathing his/her recirculated stanky breath. The weird thing was that no one in the waiting area looked at me like I was a a creepy Michael Jackson fan, but I wouldn’t have been offended if they had.

Swine flu or SARS?

Update: Wittle Ewwa has an ear infection. She didn’t sleep a lick last night — all fussy and mussy — and the daycare called mid-morning to say she (uh, Ella, not the daycare) was very unhappy. Brian took her to the doctor where — behold! — her left ear was deemed infected. Four milliliters of ammoxicillan and some short naps later, she’s asleep in her crib. I hope the sleeping thing takes tonight.

At her 6-month appointment on Friday, Ella got a flu shot in addition to the usual vaccines. She also put up these stats:
height: 17.5 in (80th percentile)
weight: 18 lbs (80th percentile)
head: 17.5 in (80th percentile)

Last week Ella began clapping. Like a good little puppet, she will usually do it on demand. This video was taken in the car with a cell phone, so it’s not the greatest quality — but you’ll get the idea. More later with better quality.