5/6/2009 - Ella had quite the weekend. On Saturday, we attended our friends Pam & Randy's wedding. She loved being outside with all the people. and we had a really great time. On Sunday, she crawled for the first time! Check our our video page to see Ella in action.
It wasn't all good things this past weekend. After absorbing months of abuse at the hands of Ella, Sam finally had enough and bit her on the arm. Needless to say, Ella and Sam are on a break. Although, I think Mommy and Daddy are the only ones who were traumatized, because we seem to be the only ones enforcing the separation.
Easter pictures, Wedding pictures and a 46 week update are still to come.
4/21/2009 - Ella had a great Easter. She got her first sandbox. It has been too cold to setup outside, so it is sitting in our living room, filled with toys. Actually, it kind of helps to contain the chaos. Maybe we need to get her a new sand box for outside. Ella also got to go on her first Easter egg hunt at Grammie Patch's and also tried her first bit of chocolate.
We will be posting some Easter pictures soon, but first up is a couple of video clips. I have been trying to find a way to integrate video into the site without posting them to a video sharing site. We feel a little more comfortable posting videos for the couple hundred vistors this site generates versus the couple million visitors at youTube. At any rate, I think I have the kinks worked out, so please visit the Videos link that we have added to the main navigation.
4/10/2009 - Mommy is having a girls night out with her Moon Group, so it was just Ella and Daddy tonight. I'm a little worried that our daycare switched children, because I have never seen her in such an easy going mood. A little play time, dinner, tubby and off to bed. This parenting stuff is a breeze... Just don't tell Sue I said that ;)
It's looking like a busy weekend. Birthday party for Sue's brother on Saturday. Easter at Gramie Barb's on Sunday and then we are closing on our mortgage refinancing on Monday. We were able to lock in at 4.875%. We will save enough each month to roll into a new car payment and hopefully still pocket a little extra money. Sue's car has been really good to us, but it's getting about time to find a replacement.
So, I'm taking advantage of a little quiet time tonight to finally clean up the update back log. Back in February, I went to see WWE Smackdown in Burlington with our niece Kayla. Check out Recent Events for some pictures from the show.
4/9/2009 - We dodged a bullet in December when we opted to postpone sugurey for Ella to place tubes in her ears. Three months later, and she has been mostly healthy, so we think it was a good decision. Well, last week, she had her first ear infection since January. On top of that, she caught a virus that caused a fever and general grumpiness. It was a rough couple of days, but she is on the rebound. Hopefully, with spring arriving, we've seen the last of these illnesses for a while. Check out the family section for a new Ella update I posted that takes her up to her 42 week pictures.
4/3/2009 - So January seems to be the time of year when I get the creative urge to "change things up" on the website, only to over complicate things to the point where I back burner everything and don't post for a few months. So what finally pushed me over the hump? Our nieces spent the night a few weekends ago, and Madison made it very clear that she visits our website looking for pictures of Ella, and we haven't posted anything in a long time.
What's new, you ask? We changed hosting companies. We made the switch to Hostmonster.com in January, and I couldn't be more happy. We have unlimited space, unlimited domains, unlimited email, and a lot more administrative access. And the kicker? We're paying about a third less than what we were paying with the last company. I've added some new javascript code that should help us add photo galleries that are easier to navigate and easier to setup. Check out Ella's 32 week update under the Family navigation. It was 95% done when I last left off in January, so it was just easier for me to finish the update and promise more pictures later. Ella turns 42 weeks on Monday, so there are a lot more pictures on the way. Also, I'm working on a way to post videos w/o using a video sharing site. Stay tuned for that.
Ella has been doing great. She was 25 lbs and 27 inches long at her 9 month checkup (97 percentile for both) and already has SEVEN teeth. She HATES being on her stomach, so she doesn't have much interest in crawling, but the past few weeks she has started to try and pull herself up. She enjoys holding on to things to stand on her own. But the best thing in the whole world is puffed rice stars. She loves to feed herself.
She is also very interested in the cat, and beats on him pretty good whenever he gets close by. One of my favorite Ella stories to date involves Sam. He was sitting on the bed next to Ella while I was changing her for daycare. We was just out of her reach, so she grabbed her slipper and used it to beat him over the head. Poor little bastard.
11/9/2008 - Can't believe that another 10 weeks has gone by already. So much has changed, it's getting hard to remember the little, 7 pound peanut that we brought home from the hospital. At her 4 month checkup, she measured off the charts in height (26.5 inches) and in the 95th percentile for weight (16lbs 10oz). For the most part, she is still a spirited child that needs constant attention, but we are rewarded with so many more smiles than the first 10 weeks.
September was an especially big month. Ella learned to sleep by herself in her crib. What a treat it was to sleep in our own bed after 10 weeks! Ella also started daycare in September. She loves daycare and she loves her "teacher" Bridget. When we drop her off in the morning, the first thing she does is look around the room for Bridget and give her a great big smile.
In October, Ella learned how to sit up with a little support. She is able to sit in her bumpy seat and in her high chair. She also started to eat solid food. Mostly rice cereal mixed with applesauce. She loves anything with apples. We give her frozen apple slices to help soothe her teething. Ella is also becoming much more vocal. It is really funny to watch her when she really gets going. The more she talks, the louder she gets, and every muscle in her body is in constent motion.
Check out our Family section for loads of new pictures from the last 10 weeks.
8/27/2008 - Knock on wood, we seem to finally be turning a corner. Ella is still a little fussy, but there are definate signs of improvement. She seems to be settling into a better napping routine that keeps her less cranky and more alert and playfull the rest of the day. Hopefully the doctors were right all along, and we will have a different baby by three months!
What else has changed in the last couple weeks? Smiles seem to come more often now. She seems a little bored with her light and with the tongue game now. She thinks that Daddy making fart noises is the best thing going. She can mimic us nodding our head "Yes", but doesnt seem to be able to do "No" yet. Tummy time is also improving, as she can lift her head and shoulders off the floor.
We are also getting a little more brave in terms of going places with her. Just this past weekend, we took her to the Champlain Valley Fair, and it turned out to be a fun day out of the house. Sue has even brought Ella by my work to have lunch together. Be sure to check out all the new updates to see the most recent pictures of Ella.
8/10/2008 - I can't believe that summer is almost over. It seems like we just opened the pool, but I don't think that we have used it more than 5 times this year. So much for the dry, hot summer that people were predicting. I think it has rained just about every day this past month. And since running out to buy an air conditioner four weeks ago, I don't think the temperature never has gotten above 85 degrees. In fact, most nights seem to drop off into the 50's. In three weeks it will be Labor Day, and time to start thinking about closing the pool again.
Ella has been doing great. Still colicy, and still not sleeping on her own, but otherwise great. We took her to a GI specialist a couple weeks ago, just to confirm that the colic wasn't anything more serious. They told us that she was perfectly healthy. At her last doctor visit, she weighed 10lbs 7oz, and measured 22.5 inches tall. Both are good enough to place her in the 50-75th percentile.
It is easy to get stuck in the moment with the colic and think that she isn't progressing, but looking back over the last month, Ella has really accomplished a lot. We have posted pictures from Ella's second month under the Family section. Check out how much she has changed!!
7/20/2008 - It has been a remarkable first month with Miss Ella. While she is gradually increasing her happy / alert / playful time each day, she still suffers with bouts of fussiness. We have been through about every colic remedy, and though some work better than others, nothing seems to be a sure fire solution. I think the best we can do is try to comfort her when she needs it, and wait for her to out grow this stage of development. (We are told that 3 months is the magic number).
Her doctor is very happy with her weight gain. She had a little problem gaining weight at first, but after switching to formula, she is back on track. Ella weighed 8lb. 10oz. at her last checkup. Good enough to place her in the 25th percentile.
Ella is already starting to hit some of her second month development milestones. We continue to be impressed with how strong her neck muscles are. And in the last couple days, we have noticed that she is trying to find her voice. She seems to really enjoy "talking" to the light that hangs over her changing table.
We have posted a bunch more pictures from Ella's first month under the Family section. Check them out.
6/29/2008 - I hope this comes as old news to most of you: Susan and I welcomed our baby daughter, Ella Elizabeth, to this world on June 16th. Both Mommy and Baby did incredibly well, and I couldn't be more proud of my two girls. Thank you so much to everyone who has sent along well wishes or stopped buy to bring us food. I wish I could get a couple of you to cater for us on a more regular basis ;)
I took two weeks off of work to be home with Sue and the baby, and sadly, that time ends tonight. Before things get even more hectic than they already are, I have posted baby pictures. Look under the Family navigation for pictures of Ella from the past two weeks. Also, I finally posted an update on the completed nursery under the Home Projects Navigation.