9 Month Appointment

Well, it's official. Ellie is a shrimp. She's a whopping 16 pounds 4 ounces. She's grown an inch in three months. At this rate, she could stay in her infant carrier until she's 18 months. She doesn't crawl, but Dr. L wasn't concerned about that. She's a real chatterbox when we go to the doctor's office for some reason. She is healthy, alert, and LOVES the paper on the table. So, I think he was satisfied that she is mentally stimulated and well loved.

As usual, he gave us a laundry list of things to do; adjust the water heater to 120ºF, baby-proof the house, bolt all the tv's and shelves to the wall, secure blind cords, etc.... I thought for sure we'd get out of there for once without a shot, but I asked about the flu shot and so she got part 1 of 2. She almost didn't react to this one and recovered quickly. Maybe she's getting used to the pain. Or, maybe since it was just one she thought it was a cake walk.

We only had a couple of issues to ask the doc about. Grandma and Dad have noticed Ellie grinding her teeth. She really only has half of one on top, so I wonder if she's just getting used to it. Dr. L said his son used to do that too and there's really nothing you can do about it. A mouth guard would be more of a choking hazard than a help. The other issue had to do with a particularly painful poo-sperience this weekend where she actually cried as she was using the potty. She's been eating lots of fruit, but I picked up some prunes when we were out and have been trying to get her to eat one at each of her two meals. So far, she's still straining, but nothing nearly as bad as Saturday.

We've been doing more floor time trying to work on our crawling skills, and I've been throwing in a few more diaper free periods while I can before she starts crawling around. She seems to have the strength and mobility, she just isn't interested enough to go after anything yet. I try to put toys just out of reach, but she is a very easy-going child. She decides that her hands are suddenly fascinating or the people walking by are more fun to flirt with. I wonder what will finally inspire her.

Lovin' on her clouds 

Taking a bath in the BIG tub!

We're Having a Potty!

Potty time = Story time

Ellie has been practicing her potty skills for a while now. We started with a potty-tunity before bath once Dad mentioned that she wasn't peeing as soon as he put her in the tub. Turns out, she pees pretty reliably before bath. So, once she could sit unassisted, it occurred to me that we should try her on the potty other times we had her diaper off. She has taken to the potty very well. She's excited by the attention and the sense of accomplishment. And, it doesn't hurt that she gets a string of books read to her until she gets tired of it. Favorites include; Baby Giggles, Once Upon a Potty, Duck Goes Potty, and the simply titled, Potty. Mom has just about got them all memorized because we sometimes read them twice per potty. Luckily, Ellie is making herself useful and has started to help turn the pages.

While she doesn't go every time she sits on the potty, we do get lucky more often than not. And, we've been catching almost every poop for the last week. We've only had a couple poopy diapers, which, since she's started solids means that there is very little scraping of the diapers anymore (Yay!). The next step(s) are for Mom to get better at reading her body language to anticipate and for her to start signing when she realizes she needs to go. Easy, peazy....

She's still "sleeping through the night". At minimum, she'll go 6 hours altogether. Last night, she went 10. Generally, she gets about 11 total per night. Currently, we're still doing about 3 naps, usually about 2 hours apart. She gets 2-3 hours per day. We've got a regular babysitter, E, who comes in two afternoons a week so I can go work out. Ellie wouldn't nap for her the first time she sat, so we've moved her to a non-nap slot and now, they get to do supper time together. Since E is still in high school, I've got feelers out for supplementary sitters since I seem to have a lot of appointments/meetings that crop up. An old roommate recommended care.com and I've started combing through the listings. I've got a short list started and may start contacting them here soon. Still, Grandma is our preferred sitter, so she gets first shot.

We're still not mobile. Baby Center indicates that she should be crawling by now, but then, she's never been on schedule for much so far....

8 Months and Counting

We're through the busy busy travel month of July and finally getting back into a routine at home. Ellie now has 7 states down. We slipped in a day trip to St. Joseph, Michigan with Aunt Cat. I really liked it and am planning to go back next summer when Ellie can play on the beach. I also found a little pottery studio that has all sorts of artists I really like, so I might have to make a trip back before next summer ;)

It's been a while, so I'm not sure where to start really. Ellie is sitting unassisted. She (mostly) eats two meals a day, breakfast and dinner. She eats mostly purees and mashes, but we offer diced fruit and cheerios at every meal so she can practice feeding herself. I plan to start making some soups and casseroles so she can work with more diverse textures and foods. So far, no allergies, although she had a splotchy face tonight at dinner. It cleared up in about a half hour though, so we think it was probably just that she rubbed food in her eyes. 

She is sitting on the potty almost every time we change her diaper and today she peed three times in it. She always goes before her bath, so we just started offering more opportunities. I'll be working on getting her to sign potty so maybe we can start being a little proactive. 

So far, no crawling, but she is growing stronger daily, so I think some sort of movement is just around the corner. She certainly scooches all around the crib when she's trying to get to sleep, so she's mobile when she wants to be.

She hasn't been sleeping through the night. Generally, she wakes every 3-4 hours. However, last night, we tried an experiment and let her soothe herself back to sleep the first two wake-ups. She ended up sleeping from 7-5. I finally went in at 5, but she didn't nurse much and then went back to bed for another hour and a half. We're going to try it again tonight, so cross your fingers....

She is cutting another tooth (top center). She's been very secretive about it, so P had to hold her upside down (which she likes a lot) to be able to look along her upper jaw for a tooth bud. There is tooth visible, so hopefully her eating will get back on track here soon.

We have her 9 month wellness checkup in three weeks, so it'll be interesting to see where she is by then. I anticipate that we'll have to move up to the next size carseat and that she may weigh as much as 17 pounds.

She posed so pretty, it's just too bad my phone focused on her hands :(

She loves to watch the dogs...

Big blue eyes

Ellie with Aunt Cat at O'Hare

Ellie in her new favorite toy. I promise the house doesn't look this cluttered from most vantage points.