Ava goes to the Dentist Round 2

Ava had her first dentist appointment back in November.  (See blog post here.)  While Round 1 wasn't a huge disaster, I don't really consider it a success either.  Round 2 this week was GREAT!  She sat perfectly and listened to the hygentist and the dentist.  There were only a few tears towards the end when she said, "I'm all done, Mommy."  But I assured her they only had three teeth left and she let them finish.  They were able to do a good cleaning using tools and all!  She was thrilled with the goodie bag they gave her!

Afterwards, we had to stop by Hy-Vee for some groceries so I let her pick something for being such a brave girl.  Cookies, of course.  We brushed right after!

9 months!

Ella turned 9 months on the 17th.  We have her baby well check coming up on Monday.

Ella currently weighs 22 pounds.  She dropped 3 oz from last month, probably due to her constant moving!  She is a little go-getter and likes to be right where the action is!  Nothing is safe in this house anymore!  Cords, a dropped puff or cheerios, photo albums, dvd's, mommy's purse... she's going to get it!

Ella is wearing size 9-12 month or 12 month clothing and when wearing disposable diapers, she is in size 3.  We still are still consistently cloth diapering and loving it.  Her eyes are blue!\

At 9 months Ella:

• can crawl.
• can pull herself up and stand alone for long periods of time.
• is showing interest in shows Ava is watching like Bubble Guppies and Team Umizomi.
• entertains herself and plays by herself fairly well.  She is definitely mommy's girl though and when mommy comes in the room she often whines for me to pick her up.  
• plays patty cake/claps.

We haven't introduced foods with meats yet, but I am thinking after getting the go ahead from her doctor on Monday we will start doing that.  I have made all of our baby food this time around, so I am still finishing up what we have left and have even made a little more of some things we were running out of.  The other day I was making apples for her, so instead of blending them all up I cut them up in little chunks for her.  She loved them!  I am still nursing, but we have also started introducing formula mostly at daycare and sometimes in the evening when I'm at work.  

We are still struggling with naps, especially at daycare.  She has been back to sleeping better at night, with only the occasional restless night.  

Really trying to eat that sticker!

Mommy, I'm done!

Happy Birthday, Kai!

It's hard to believe my nephew, Kai turned one on April 9th!  We celebrated his birthday over the weekend. He demolished his cupcake!

Kai is such a happy little boy and the girls love playing with him.  I can't wait to watch them play together even more as they get older.

Ella even got to have her first taste of ice cream at Kai's birthday party. We weren't sure she would like it because she is very sensitive to cold food.  Darren always says that her bottles have to be just the right temperature or she won't take it!  She made a funny face at first, but kept going back for more.  Of course, Nana loved the honor of giving her her first taste!

Easter (a little belated)

We woke up Easter morning to discover that the Easter Bunny had left our baskets with mommy and daddy.  We had to make a late Saturday evening phone call (per Ava's request) and tell the Easter bunny not to come in our house and to leave the baskets by the door.

We spent Easter Sunday with the Malcolm family this year.  We went to church in Geneva with Wes and Cindy and then out for lunch in Hampton afterwards.  Ava enjoyed a quick egg hunt and then several smaller egg hunts inside (we took turns hiding them and looking for them).

It was a great day!

8 months!

Ella turned 8 months on the 17th.  This month seemed to go by more quickly than the others.  I'm amazed at how fast this year is going.

Ella currently weighs 22 pounds 3 ounces.  She is currently wearing mostly size 9-12 or 12 month clothing.  We are still consistently wearing cloth diapers, except at night which then she is wearing size 3.  Her eyes are still blue.

At 8 months Ella:

• Can feed herself Puffs, Mumm Mumm's, and we've even given peas a try.  She does very good.
• "Yells" at you if you aren't feeding her fast enough.
• Likes everything we've tried feeding her so far.  Makes bad faces with pease and green beans, but still eats them.
• Looks for a dropped object. 
• Gets into sitting position from tummy/back
• Rolls over extremely well.
• Hasn't crawled (she is on the verge) but can manage to get where she wants to go just fine.

She is still strictly on breast milk and baby food.  She has mastered eating this month and we are now doing three meals a day.  She has oatmeal with sometimes apples or bananas mixed in for breakfast, either a vegetable for lunch and then the same for supper.  Today she tried apple juice for the first time.  She is extremely constipated and I am trying everything!  She loved the apple juice!  We have introduced a sippy cup, but only occasionally as I think she just likes to chew on the spout and ends up soaked.  She still has no teeth!  

We had a rough night last night, but other than that she has been back to sleeping pretty consistently through the night again.  She is now a tummy sleeper!  I was pretty nervous about that at first, but then realized she sleeps so much better.  Her nap schedule has been pretty inconsistent.  They have been having a hard time getting her to sleep at daycare since we are no long swaddling.  She naps much better at home.  Usually a shorter nap in the morning and a 2-3 hour nap in the afternoon.  

Our 8 month photo session cracks me up.  This is how it is with an 8 month old!

Give me that camera, Mommy!

Hey, what's this on my shirt?

mmmm.... tastes good.  

Hi, Mommy!

Back to the sticker again.

Gee... I'm getting kind of tired.

There's my happy girl!

She is the light of our lives.

7 months

Ella turned 7 months on the 17th.  They day almost got away before I got her weighed and took her monthly pictures.  She has finally gotten over the cold and cough and lingered for all of January and has been her happy self lately.  She is such a joy.

Ella currently weighs in at 21 pounds on the dot.  No doctor appointment this month, so not sure of an accurate height measurement.

She is currently transitioning to size 9-12 month and 12 month clothing.  We still have a few things in size 9 months that we are squeezing into, but I've already packed several outfits away.  We are still using cloth diapers, but when she does wear a disposable it is a size 3.  Her eyes are still blue!

At 7 months Ella:

• Can feed herself puffs and Mumm Mumm's fairly well
• Babbles/sings constantly
• Turn herself in a circle when sitting
• Acts like she wants to crawl.  She has gotten on her knees a couple times and tries really hard to get objects just out of her reach.
• Also acts like she wants to pull herself up.  Often grabs for the edge of the couch when she is sitting on the floor next to it.  

She is still strictly on breastmilk and baby food.  She is getting better at eating, but still pushes a lot out with her tongue.  We haven't offered a lunch time meal, but looking back at Ava's notes we were at 7 months so I will probably start introducing that.    I will also  introduce a sippy cup with water in the next week or so.  She has no teeth.  

Ella is consistently getting up again during the night.  She was sleeping so well, but ever since that horrible cold we haven't recovered!  She has been waking up around 2/2:30 and sometimes again at 4:30.  Mommy is getting tired!  I'm hoping this is just a growth spurt??

First Field Trip!

Last week Ava took her first field trip with her class at school.  They got to ride a school bus and go to the GBPAC to watch a play based on one of our favorite children's books "Guess How Much I Love You."  I would have loved to go, but there was a waiting list for parents and unfortunately a spot never opened up.  When I picked her up at the end of the day she told me, she got to ride a blue school bus to the movie theater and sat by Zoe.  Sounds like a good day to me!