December 2011

John takes a family picture every Christmas - since it was Sunday at least we're all dressed up! I love Levi's face on this one :).

Ellie fits in the stocking! I couldn't find pictures of her brothers in the stocking from when they fit......

She apparently is trying to recreate last year, when she was the gift under the tree (see next picture). Actually, she wasn't too interested in the tree, which I was surprised. She did go over and take ornaments off a few times, and felt it, but mostly left it alone.

Our 2010 Christmas present :).

We got some firewood, just to be prepared if we needed to heat our house with our fireplace. Ian and Levi were good little wood carriers!

This is how Ian spent most of December :). When he has a good book, he just reads and reads. Sometimes it's hard to keep enough good books! When he reads shorter chapter books, he can be done with it the same day we get it from the library.

Ian earned his Wolf Badge!! Okay, he really finished it the beginning of November, but they didn't have pack meeting until December. And, the badge hasn't come in yet so he doesn't physically have it....but this is him looking up at the Cubmaster who was announcing his awards. He earned his fourth bead, his Wolf, and a gold arrow point! Way to go!

Caleb, trying out the rocking chair Grandpa and an uncle made. It's for Ellie, but is the right size for Caleb and Levi. Levi loves to rock, he really likes it. Ellie sits in it and rocks, but she's sitting straight up and so the back of the chair comes and hits her in the head. And the cars were handmade made by Grandpa/uncle, too, they're pretty fun!

This is my attempt to take a cute Christmasy picture of Ellie in her pretty dress someone gave her. She wasn't too happy on Christmas, this is the best I got.

It's a tight fit! Hopefully Caleb doesn't move too much in the night, there's no room between his box of books, Buzz, and stuffed friends! At least we talked him out of sleeping in the "nest" he made that didn't even allow him to lay down.

One day I put out a couch cushion to see if Ellie can crawl over it (she can, if she wants to). Now her brothers love to try and entice her over. But they put toys, especially music ones, that she can just sit and watch over the cushion! It's not very effective.

Gingerbread houses! We invited a family over to make them with us, it was fun. I didn't get a picture of John with the stable he made, however.

Happy One Year, Ellie!

Ellie is one year, again! Today is one year from her due date, meaning that at her young age we can only expect her to be like a 12 month old, and she's actually mostly behind that. But she makes up for it in cuteness!





She's finally getting some hair! These little piggies didn't stay in very long at all, since one of her main modes of transportation is rolling, and you couldn't see them from the front of her head, but it's progress!

I had to take her back to the hospital she was born in (all the pediatric specialists are there) to see a nutritionist, to try and get her to gain weight. In the two months from October to December, she gained 7 oz (not good). At the nutritionist she had gained 12 oz in just the first two weeks of December. I'm still a little skeptical about that, we'll see what she weighs at her pediatrician appointment this week! This statue of Ronald McDonald is by the pediatric specialist offices, and by the Ronald McDonald rooms inside the hospital (different from the Ronald McDonald House, at a location a mile from this hospital). I stayed in these rooms a couple of times (and in the House for three weeks).

As far as eating goes, Ellie really doesn't like it. Really. And the more you try and get her to eat, the less she likes it. This picture was taken after a meal - I feed her still, no self-feeding (except crackers occasionally). This shows what the battle looks like. She's like an octopus, guarding her mouth with what seems like eight arms, with a high pitched squeal and head dodging to go with it. I can usually convince her to eat, but it's really not a pleasant task. Even more unpleasant when it comes right back up. We're working on that.....hopefully the doctor will listen to the nutritionist and the therapist who both say she has reflux, since he doesn't seem to believe me. While gaining weight is a huge part of feeding her, she also needs to become a little more age-appropriate at some point, her eating skills are probably that of a 6-8 month old (oddly enough, she's the weight of a 6 month old, and the height of an 8 month old.....).

As far as physical development, I don't know her age, the score we got from the therapist is a number that I have no idea what it represents. But she can sit, and get down from sitting (but not up to sitting), she can roll, she can pull herself forward on her tummy, she can get on her hands and knees, just doesn't know it can get her someplace. She has the mechanics of how to pull up to stand, but needs to get stronger to really be able to do it herself. And yesterday, for the first time, she was on her knees, not hanging on! It only lasted a minute, before she lost her balance, but it was a good start! Her fine motor skills are probably behind, too, but nobody is concerned about that! She is finally, in the last week or so, discovering the rest of the house outside the living room. She's realized she can leave the room to explore! I guess we'll need to baby proof one of these days :). Thankfully our baby gate is good and strong, as she has tested that with her kicking many times.

Her speech was tested, along with her oral-motor skills. Last month (at 11 months adjusted age)her speech was at an average of 12 months! Hooray! She's ahead of the game on something. The SLP didn't see any problems with her oral-motor skills, either, meaning she can eat, she just doesn't want to, and can't keep half of it in.

We sure are happy to have Ellie around, even with her eating troubles.....she's a sweet little girl, and really quite happy most of the time. Her brothers adore her, and she loves them! We're pleased with how well she is doing after her early start. She's truly a blessing.

Video #4

While I'm putting up videos....here is Levi reading! His teacher sends home books to read every week, and he had read this one a few times and so doesn't have to sound out all the words anymore. At the beginning of the school year I thought he'd never get what it meant to sound out words or letters, but he has really caught on! I always forget, though, that videos can only be in one direction, so it's sideways.....

Video #3

Ellie is finally taking off - she has realized she can get somewhere without a toy luring her along. We now find her all over the upstairs!

Video #2

Here's another sweet song.....