Ellie and I went to "look" at Santa today. She really doesn't know who the "Big Guy" is yet, nor does she probably care. I would imagine that he would be pretty scary though. A strange person, dressed in very odd looking clothing and wanting to hold children. Aren't these all things we teach our children not to be attracted to? :)
So any how, went ventured early this morning to the local mall, followed the arrows pointing towards the Santa area, and found ol' Saint Nick. He was amongst a briar patch of big, stuffed animals. I took Ellie out of the stroller and pointed towards the jolly fellow. Her reaction?
She looked every which way except his. She was far more excited about all the animals. "Duck, duck" she kept squealing while looking at the life sized stuffed swans.
Although her world doesn't include the man in the red suit, I was excited for her. Soon enough, she'll come to see him as the bringer of good, magical things. And we'll have a renewed sense of all the goodness in the world.
So, this Mom, is looking forward to next year...already!
Friday, December 23, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
15 Months
Another month went zooming by. I wish I posted more. I think about it almost all the time. Like "oh that would be good to post" or "that's a great video for the blog". I guess being an engineer at heart, I can't say writing is my most favorite thing to do. :)
Let's see...some of the fun things this past month. For Thanksgiving we headed to Philadelphia to visit the Hartman's. In California, they were our Thanksgiving family. Then we moved and then they moved. But traditions seem to continue on and we traveled over the holiday weekend to spend time with them and all our wonderful friends (Russ, Sean, Mary, David and Rachel).
Maybe it was being around big kids or that we finally got rid of a long standing ear infection. What ever it was, Ellie's words blossomed over that weekend. She started to say "Hi" to everyone. And was clearly saying "steps" (there were many in the house).
Ever since, she's been on a word kick. Although they aren't perfectly clear, she says: hide, off, hat, hear, whoa, help, eggs, hot, more. And she tries repeating lots of other words. And she hears everything. Even when you don't think she's listening, she is.
She's also mastered stairs. In previous months, going up was the easy part. Going down was often sketchy. She always seemed like she was on a tightrope just about to tip over. In the last week, she's mastered the ability to slither down stars on her belly. It's with much confidence and speed.
We also had our first snowfall. Ellie happily played in the white stuff. She just likes being outdoors really. So she doesn't seem to mind the change of seasons. She seems to appreciate the "new stuff" that comes along with each one.
Daycare/Preschool is another joy in Ellie's expanding universe. She's now flowing with their established routines and seeming to enjoy the structure. She only goes 2 days/week so it's taken awhile for all of us to get settled. Their day goes something like: large group time, snack, outside, family group time, lunch, nap, snack, and outside. This helps me too. I've been trying to be more structured about our days together too.
We love her school. The teachers are wonderful and sooo patient. Everyday she's there, they do something fun and messy. I'm so grateful for their explorations. I don't think I'm be brave enough to do some of the things they do in a home environment. Like food colored ice cub painting. Playing with oatmeal, rice, beans, etc. Fingerpainting that ends up everywhere.
Well it's almost bath/bed time. To part, here's a fun video of the first snow last week.
Let's see...some of the fun things this past month. For Thanksgiving we headed to Philadelphia to visit the Hartman's. In California, they were our Thanksgiving family. Then we moved and then they moved. But traditions seem to continue on and we traveled over the holiday weekend to spend time with them and all our wonderful friends (Russ, Sean, Mary, David and Rachel).
Maybe it was being around big kids or that we finally got rid of a long standing ear infection. What ever it was, Ellie's words blossomed over that weekend. She started to say "Hi" to everyone. And was clearly saying "steps" (there were many in the house).
Ever since, she's been on a word kick. Although they aren't perfectly clear, she says: hide, off, hat, hear, whoa, help, eggs, hot, more. And she tries repeating lots of other words. And she hears everything. Even when you don't think she's listening, she is.
She's also mastered stairs. In previous months, going up was the easy part. Going down was often sketchy. She always seemed like she was on a tightrope just about to tip over. In the last week, she's mastered the ability to slither down stars on her belly. It's with much confidence and speed.
We also had our first snowfall. Ellie happily played in the white stuff. She just likes being outdoors really. So she doesn't seem to mind the change of seasons. She seems to appreciate the "new stuff" that comes along with each one.
Daycare/Preschool is another joy in Ellie's expanding universe. She's now flowing with their established routines and seeming to enjoy the structure. She only goes 2 days/week so it's taken awhile for all of us to get settled. Their day goes something like: large group time, snack, outside, family group time, lunch, nap, snack, and outside. This helps me too. I've been trying to be more structured about our days together too.
We love her school. The teachers are wonderful and sooo patient. Everyday she's there, they do something fun and messy. I'm so grateful for their explorations. I don't think I'm be brave enough to do some of the things they do in a home environment. Like food colored ice cub painting. Playing with oatmeal, rice, beans, etc. Fingerpainting that ends up everywhere.
Well it's almost bath/bed time. To part, here's a fun video of the first snow last week.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Stationery card
Calendar Year New Year's Card
View this season's most popular holiday card designs here.
View the entire collection of cards.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Movie Monday - Happy 14 months
Ellie's a very active 14 months (today!). Here's a sneak peak of how our mornings go.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Ain't fall great
Today mom and dad took on the leaves. It is great living in a wooded area but every fall we literally get buried.
This is my first year as part of the clean-up crew. . . And I have to say, it is pretty fun.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Friday, October 28, 2011
The Best Part of Fall
Today I got to go to the cider mill. Dad tells me it is a right of passage for anyone who lives in michigan. I have to say that Cider and Doughnuts may be my new favorite meal.
I have to say though that I like being outside as much as the doughnuts ~ which is a lot!!!! Did you see how pretty the leaves are?
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Ellie's Pumpkin
Setting the stage for the video. Ellie's school/daycare invited us to join them on Monday for their pumpkin day. They dotted the garden with pumpkins (think easter eggs but using pumpkins instead) that the kids then could go find. Once chosen, said pumpkin was painted a rainbow of colors.
Also attached is the finished product proudly displayed on the porch ready for Halloween.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Nom, Nom, Nom
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
Monday, August 29, 2011
Movie Monday - More Flashback
We're continuing to visit the archive of videos. This one goes way back to October of last year. As the countdown to Ellie's first birthday continues (just one more week), it's fun to recall where the year started and how far she has come.
Just to note, Ellie was never big on tummy time. Maybe why she didn't start crawling until month 9. So we don't have many pictures or videos of her on the belly which is why I chose this one for today's post.
Just to note, Ellie was never big on tummy time. Maybe why she didn't start crawling until month 9. So we don't have many pictures or videos of her on the belly which is why I chose this one for today's post.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tough Love
So work has begun to teach that striking people is not the most effective long term solution to communicating. But until her words come, I'd suggest everyone keep their heads at a distance.
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Bling Bling
Don't the look pretty? I feel like a big girl now.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Movie Monday Flashback
Per Fan request, I'll be working to add more video. There's lots of old footage (smile) I have't posted. This clip takes us back to January 30. Ellie is almost 5 months old.
Car Sleep Gene
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Baby No More
Something changed for Ellie last week. Thursday was different than all her previous days. Her actions were very intentional and she was aware of herself and surroundings in a way I have never seen before. She knew what things (food, toys) she wanted and which ones she didn't. She explored the household landscape and picked up non-toys that she never noticed to that point.
I say it's the day she left babyhood. She looks, acts the part of a toddler now.
I see the walking legs coming online. Yesterday she stood unsupported and balanced for at least 20 seconds. So I know the skill is there. But Ellie is not someone to be rushed. She likes to do things on her own timeline. And shows quite a bit of resistance to being pushed.
Only one more month until the big ONE (haha, the first birthday that is)!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Movie Monday
I've been meaning to capture the advancements of Ellie's mobility. She's cruising using things like walkers and push toys. Balancing on two feet isn't there but otherwise all other elements of walking are ready to go! The countdown to the big birthday is starting...only 5 more weeks.
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