Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Walking Legs
The video says it all. Ellie decided it was time to walk over the weekend. Saturday we were at cousin Cecelia's first birthday and Ellie started to walk. Like let go of my hand and started to move herself forward and then turned a corner to see what was on the other side. I was in absolute shock.
The next day in the kitchen, I was busy doing something and turned around to see a little person walking towards me. So this is the first video of Ellie pulling herself up and walking all on her own.
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
A Sign - Eat More
Yesterday, we received Ellie's first message. We've been working on basic hand signing for the last 4-5 months. But very little came of it until yesterday. I was feeding her some dinner when as clear as she's even done them, she "signed" EAT MORE. As I've mentioned in other posts, food and eating often is of paramount importance to our little (or not so little) Ellie. She learned to crawl using cheerios. So I should not be surprised that the first message from her little brain would be food related as well.
I've gone out to the local library to get more videos on baby signing. It's sooo nice to finally understand what she is thinking. We'll keep working on the verbal words, but if sign language is available too, I'm all for it!
Side note on verbal words, the week of her birthday she started to say her first sound...woof. I'll see if I can post a video of it. But of course, being the only sound word she can say...most animals now say woof when asked. Although she does know it's the sound that belongs to dogs. But what can you do if you only have one word in the toolbox? :)
I've gone out to the local library to get more videos on baby signing. It's sooo nice to finally understand what she is thinking. We'll keep working on the verbal words, but if sign language is available too, I'm all for it!
Side note on verbal words, the week of her birthday she started to say her first sound...woof. I'll see if I can post a video of it. But of course, being the only sound word she can say...most animals now say woof when asked. Although she does know it's the sound that belongs to dogs. But what can you do if you only have one word in the toolbox? :)
Monday, September 12, 2011
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Today's the Day! Happy First Birthday
Dear Ellie,
You've officially been part of our crew for a year. A lot has changed for you in that time. And a lot has changed for us too. If you would've known me before you, the thought of being a SAHM (I think that's the acronym that everyone uses these days for stay at home mom) would have been funny. But I didn't want to miss anything. The chance to watch you grow was too good to pass up. And grow you have. You joined this world at 8lbs and 21.5ins and have tripled to 25lbs and 31ins. You followed your growth curve the entire year bouncing between 90 and 100th percentile the whole time. But that's the genes at work.
The real work was in the brain space. The ability to gain functioning intelligence to feed, propel and communicate was all you (with some help from God of course). You are a happy person. You want to be happy and make others happy. We saw this skill blossom in London when you would reach out to anyone and everyone on the "Tube" with a smile. And make others smile you have.
You're a thinker. You don't really run off and tackle things. You take time to observe and analyze. Then your little pointer finger pops up and you start to explore, first, with that little finger and then with your whole self.
You're generally up for an adventure. You have traveled about the circumference of the world (~25,000 miles) with 2 trips to California, a trip to Utah and then over the pond to London. You're pretty happy with speed and fast things. You've spent many hours in our BOB stroller and bike trailer as we run and bike around Ann Arbor. You even glided over the hills of Alta Ski resort with Dad at six months (we hope this is a good sign of ski legs yet to come). And you're a swimmer too! You and Dad also share a love of water. You had fun at swim class from the first dip in the water.
I imagine you are going to become some kind of chef. You LOVE food. From day 1, food has been very important to your sense of well being. You cried and cried your second night at the hospital because you were so hungry. And that has been the M.O. ever since. When you are most upset, it's generally because you are hungry or thirsty. We started solids at 4 months because milk just wasn't enough. And you've rarely been picky about the foods we feed you. You've liked them all at one point or another. Your favorite is probably yogurt/cottage cheese with any kind of berry.
You also like sleep and quiet time. We would swaddle you like a burrito and pop a pacifier in and you were out for the count. You finally started to sleep thru the night in June. It was sweet relief to Dad and I because we like sleep too.
We've classed out this first year. You have been to 2 Baby & Me classes, 2 Music Together classes, Swim Class and Curious Wiggle Worms. I think they were more for me then you but it was good fun for you too.
You like all the animals that roam around our house but your favorite are the dogs. You squeal with great joy when you see a dog walk by.
Can't forget to talk about family. You are VERY blessed to have a really wonderful family. Starting with the blessing of a cousin that's only 36hrs older than you. You and Maddy have been together from your first day. We have pictures of you both in the hospital hours after you were born. It's as close to having a twin without having a twin. It's been neat to watch you both grow into your little selves.
Speaking of cousins, in total the "Class of 2010/2011" includes: Riley, Maddy, Caden, Cecelia, Alex, Jacob, Addison, and Brendan. You will never be bored at family events.
Your second year promises to be just as eventful as the first. You have become a toddler in every way these last few weeks with tantrums, communication frustrations, and demands. But you also have a sense of humor and can make us laugh for hours. So here's to our next year together...may it be graced with patience, faith and love.
Love Always and Forever, Mom
You've officially been part of our crew for a year. A lot has changed for you in that time. And a lot has changed for us too. If you would've known me before you, the thought of being a SAHM (I think that's the acronym that everyone uses these days for stay at home mom) would have been funny. But I didn't want to miss anything. The chance to watch you grow was too good to pass up. And grow you have. You joined this world at 8lbs and 21.5ins and have tripled to 25lbs and 31ins. You followed your growth curve the entire year bouncing between 90 and 100th percentile the whole time. But that's the genes at work.
The real work was in the brain space. The ability to gain functioning intelligence to feed, propel and communicate was all you (with some help from God of course). You are a happy person. You want to be happy and make others happy. We saw this skill blossom in London when you would reach out to anyone and everyone on the "Tube" with a smile. And make others smile you have.
You're a thinker. You don't really run off and tackle things. You take time to observe and analyze. Then your little pointer finger pops up and you start to explore, first, with that little finger and then with your whole self.
You're generally up for an adventure. You have traveled about the circumference of the world (~25,000 miles) with 2 trips to California, a trip to Utah and then over the pond to London. You're pretty happy with speed and fast things. You've spent many hours in our BOB stroller and bike trailer as we run and bike around Ann Arbor. You even glided over the hills of Alta Ski resort with Dad at six months (we hope this is a good sign of ski legs yet to come). And you're a swimmer too! You and Dad also share a love of water. You had fun at swim class from the first dip in the water.
I imagine you are going to become some kind of chef. You LOVE food. From day 1, food has been very important to your sense of well being. You cried and cried your second night at the hospital because you were so hungry. And that has been the M.O. ever since. When you are most upset, it's generally because you are hungry or thirsty. We started solids at 4 months because milk just wasn't enough. And you've rarely been picky about the foods we feed you. You've liked them all at one point or another. Your favorite is probably yogurt/cottage cheese with any kind of berry.
You also like sleep and quiet time. We would swaddle you like a burrito and pop a pacifier in and you were out for the count. You finally started to sleep thru the night in June. It was sweet relief to Dad and I because we like sleep too.
We've classed out this first year. You have been to 2 Baby & Me classes, 2 Music Together classes, Swim Class and Curious Wiggle Worms. I think they were more for me then you but it was good fun for you too.
You like all the animals that roam around our house but your favorite are the dogs. You squeal with great joy when you see a dog walk by.
Can't forget to talk about family. You are VERY blessed to have a really wonderful family. Starting with the blessing of a cousin that's only 36hrs older than you. You and Maddy have been together from your first day. We have pictures of you both in the hospital hours after you were born. It's as close to having a twin without having a twin. It's been neat to watch you both grow into your little selves.
Speaking of cousins, in total the "Class of 2010/2011" includes: Riley, Maddy, Caden, Cecelia, Alex, Jacob, Addison, and Brendan. You will never be bored at family events.
Your second year promises to be just as eventful as the first. You have become a toddler in every way these last few weeks with tantrums, communication frustrations, and demands. But you also have a sense of humor and can make us laugh for hours. So here's to our next year together...may it be graced with patience, faith and love.
Love Always and Forever, Mom
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