My baby is a vegetarian?

Ellie is such a great eater. Every time I have introduced a new food, she has gobbled it down without hesitation. We have pretty much tried all the Stage 1 fruits and veggies and had moved onto Stage 2. Today I decided enough with all these boring old fruits and veggies...my baby needs some MEAT! So, I sat her in her high chair, handed her a sippy cup of water to keep her occupied while I prepared some rice cereal, and got out the 'chicken in chicken gravy.' I also decided to take some pics while doing all of this.

Notice how happy Ellie is about the prospect of food? I opened up the jar of chicken. It smelled like canned dog food. Actually, canned dog food smells a little better. And there is something just wrong about eating liquid meat. With the camera in my right hand and the dog-food chicken in my left, I proceeded to give Ellie her first taste of glorious meat.

I have never seen Ellie respond to food like this! I couldn't stop laughing. I gave up after a few bites and moved on to her rice cereal with bananas. She happily gobbled it all down so I tried to sneak in another bite of chicken. She eagerly bit into it only to recognize it for the devil-food that it was. And I swear she whispered a word that sounded like "yuck." Then, she started opening her moth wide and acting like she was going to throw up, all the while making these "bleeeeaaaahh" noises.

Journal entry from 11/16/05

I was rereading some old journal entries and came across this little gem written when I was around 4 months pregnant...

'I talk in my sleep. Reports of me talking in my sleep can be dated back to my early childhood. Tom gets a kick out of my sleep-talking and will often tell me of full conversations we have while I am sleeping. I never have any memory of them, but according to Tom this was last night's conversation--

Me: “I have to get away!”
Tom: “Get away?”
Me: *No response*
Tom: “Who are you trying to get away from?”
Me: “The baby.”
Tom: “Well, I don’t see that happening for about 5 more months.”
Me: “Leave me alone.”'

Yet another entry where I manage to include dirty diapers

Ellie is getting really mobile. She used to just lie on her back, bring her knees up, push down with her feet, and scoot herself backwards across the floor. Maybe she realized that it made her bald spot worse or maybe she got tired of backing into walls, but Ellie's new method of choice is rolling to her toys. She will roll over and over and over to get to where she wants to go. Tom and I experimented last night by placing her stuffed monkey in various places and somehow she would get to it. Here are some pics of her rolling around on the floor in her PJs.

Hmmm...just realized that these pics don't actually show her rolling. Ha! I could say she was break dancing and you would have no choice but to believe me. How about a pic of her this morning, all bundled up for this lovely cool weather we are having...

Yes, this is the sort of outfit that she gets mistaken as a boy in, but I doubt she will be in it long. When I did the dump and run at daycare this morning I smelled something decidedly foul emanating from her. Good thing I always pack 2 extra outfits. I refuse to even feel bad about leaving them with what is sure to be the most horrifying mess they will see all day because last night I had to pay $22 for being late picking her up. Daycare closes at 6:00 and I work 9-6. I always sneak out of work 15-30 minutes early so I can pick her up in time. Even though I have never been late before, my poor baby is always the last one left in the infant room when I arrive. I hate it...makes me feel like the world's worst mother. Then yesterday, we had a knitting class for the teens and I lost track of time. I thought it was 5:15 when it was really 6:15. So by the time I got to the daycare, the whole place was shut down and Ellie and 2 daycare ladies were waiting in the front office. I had to sign the paper confirming that I am an unfit parent and shell out $22 ($1 per minute after 6:00). I slunk into the office this morning to sign her in, ducking my head in shame, knowing they were all thinking "There goes the terrible mother who abandons her little tiny baby at daycare and doesn't pick her up on time."

A full night's sleep

Ellie usually wakes up twice a night to nurse. We put her to bed around 8:00 and she wakes up around 12:00 and 4:00 to eat. It has been over 6 months since I have had more than 4 hours of uninterrupted sleep (if you count my last trimester of pregnancy where I was up all hours of the night, then I haven't slept in over 9 months). When my 6 year old niece asked me what I wanted for my birthday I immediately responded with "8 hours of sleep."

So, last night Ellie seemed tired earlier than usual so I put her down in her crib around 7:30. She fussed for a few minutes then went to sleep. When Tom's alarm went off at 5:15 this morning, I sat straight up and started saying "oh shoot" over and over again (if I was Tom, I would have used a different choice of words). Tom asked what was wrong and I said, "Ellie never woke up" implying that there must be something horribly wrong. I bolted out of bed and raced across the house to her nursery with Tom just a few steps behind. I was so worried that something had happened because our little piggie would never miss BOTH her feedings, but there she lay (lie? whatever) sleeping peacefully. As we were walking back to our bedroom, Tom turned to me and said, "Ellie slept through the night." We stared at each other for a moment until the meaning of that simple statement sunk in. Then we high-fived each other.

Ok, so Ellie sleeping for 10 hours straight may not seem noteworthy enough to dedicate a whole entry on, but this is what all new parents dream of. I don't even dare to let myself hope that this might become a recurring event. I am just going to revel in the fact that I slept for 6 1/2 hours last night with NO INTERRUPTIONS!

I wonder if her trip to the Oil Ranch yesterday had anything to do with her sleeping through the night. If so, I need to find out if the Oil Ranch has daycare facilities...

Happy 6 months, Choo-choo!

Dear Ellie-girl,

Happy 6 month birthday! Right now you are sound asleep in your car seat, exhausted from this morning's traumatizing doctor's appointment. I look at you now and wonder how on earth something so perfect could have come from me.

This past month you learned to sit up on your own unsupported. You started drinking water from a sippy cup, which you love even though you are still very clumsy at it. You are learning more and more consonant sounds and love to talk, screech, complain, and laugh. My favorite thing right now is your hugs. You grab on so tight and bury your face in my shoulder. Sometimes you will even pat my back with your chubby little hand and give me slobbery open mouth kisses. When I pick you up from daycare each day you always reach for me and hold me tight, laughing and smiling all the while. You are so, so, so cuddly and I love that.

By the way, when you were just brand spankin' new your Daddy started calling you little Choo-choo. The darn thing caught on and I found myself calling you it too. Since it was such a ridiculous nickname, we decided to keep it just between us (kinda like how your Daddy calls me **** at home, but NEVER, NEVER in public or else I would die of embarrassment). Well, we apparently used it once too often because members of the extended family have begun to call you Choo-choo as well. The final straw, though, was today when comforting you at the doctor's office, I inadvertently referred to you as Choo-choo several times. When it was time to go, the nurse said, "Bye mommy...and goodbye little CHOO-CHOO!" So, I am very, very sorry if when you are in junior high all your friends and teachers are referring to you as little Choo-choo. Blame your Daddy.

So happy 6 months, little Choo-choo.

I love you forever,
Momma

6 month appointment

Ellie’s doctor’s appointment this morning was a nightmare. Everything started out fine. She was her usual cheerful, happy self, with snot running down her nose and coughs interrupting her smiles. She weighed in at 17 lbs, 1.5 oz and her height is 26.5 inches. She was 75th percentile for height and weight. The doctor decided to prescribe her another round of antibiotics and a nasal spray to try for a week since Ellie has gotten worse. Ellie then got her vaccinations and flu shots and she cried briefly but stopped as soon as I picked her up.

Then came the worst part…the allergy test. The doctor wanted to get some blood to test for common allergies that might be making Ellie so congested and prone to colds. The phlebotomists came in to draw blood and I held my baby girl down while they unsuccessfully attempted to draw blood first out of one arm, then the other. I watched as they kept pushing the needle in and out, trying to get in the vein. They made three attempts and then were not able to do anymore since both of Ellie’s arms were starting to swell from the blood leaking out under the skin. Her massive bruises are already starting to appear on each arm. This whole time, Ellie is just crying and crying and looking at me as if to say, “why aren’t you doing something?” I was so glad when it was over because I was on the verge of tears myself. Then they told me I had to come back in 30 days to try the whole thing again. Ugh! I was ready to start jabbing needles in their incompetent arms.

Because I find it so funny...

Check out the mohawk!
Originally uploaded by AllEllie.

Click on the picture for comments on why I love this picture!

Yellow duckies and dirty diapers

The past 2 mornings, Ellie has slammed me with huge blowouts...so huge that I can't pretend not to notice them. *Psst, I would only do that to the daycare ladies...not to you, Sabrina or Rosie!* Yesterday morning when I dropped Ellie off at Aunt Rosie's, I took Ellie out of her carseat only to discover that the oozy goodness had oozed out the back of her diaper, through her onesie, through her cute jeans, and all over her carseat! Flash forward to this morning when I am dropping Ellie off at daycare. This time it had gone up the FRONT of her diaper, through her cute long-sleeved pink onesie, and through her even cuter Baby Gap overalls. All 3 of the daycare ladies and several moms just stood by in awe as I went through a whole box of wetones cleaning everything up. Why, oh why, did I choose this week to introduce applesauce?




On to more fun and less gross news. We bought Ellie this super cute yellow duck tub. She LOVES it! And if you squeeze the bill it even quacks! Very fun.

Tomorrow is Ellie's 6 month doctor's appointment. She is getting her flu shot, vaccinations, and bloodwork to test for allergies. Poor girl. Plus, (big surprise) she is really congested and has a bad cough. I am taking tomorrow off from work so Ellie can get lots and lots of mommy-time after all the annoying doctor stuff.

Babysitting rotation

My two brothers and I have started a babysitting rotation. Each weekend one couple babysits all the kids while the other two couples go out. Tonight was my night to babysit. Ellie really loves watching her cousins and playing with them. She looked like such a big girl just sitting and playing with the toys right along with the older ones!


Ellie's 2 year old cousin, Aidyn, kept asking to "hold Ellie, please" so I sat Ellie on the couch next to her. Ellie would lunge for Aidyn...it was so funny! Aidyn was so patient and sweet, even with Ellie pulling her hair. I love that Ellie has all these cousins living so near us.

Just like her daddy

Everyone who sees Ellie always remarks on how she looks so much like her dad. I love that she looks like Tom, but I will admit that I have spent a good amount of time staring at her trying to find some trace of me. Because after 9 months and one C-section later she darn well better look a little like me! So, here they are...the baby pics of Tom, Ellie, and me...which I will be examining under a magnifying glass to point out all the features Ellie got from me...proof that she is MY child and NOT the lunchlady's.

Breaking all the rules...

This recent "Ellie sleeping in our bed" stuff got me thinking about all of my "rules" I have broken so far:

Do not let baby sleep in your bed
Do not give baby a pacifier (rule broken within 24 hours of birth)
Do not put pacifier in your mouth to “clean” it
Do not reach back to put pacifier in baby’s mouth while driving
Do not pick baby’s nose in public
Do not become a boring mom who talks endlessly about her baby

Growing so fast

Ellie seems to finally be recovering from her illness that was not strep throat (the doctor called to say they ran a morning after strep test and it was negative). She ran really high temps for 4 days and then suddenly it went away. But she still has her congestion thing going on. While she was sick, I let her sleep in bed with us. Now I need to bite the bullet and start keeping her in her crib again. I just never realized how much easier it is to nurse when the baby is right there in bed with you! You can basically just keep on sleeping while feeding...brilliant! Of course, not so brilliant when she is 15 and still wanting to sleep in our bed.

As to milestones...Ellie is sitting up unsupported! She has been working on it for quite some time now, but I never felt like she was stable enough to step away from her to take the picture! Now she can just sit for long periods of time and play with her toys. She is also getting really good at drinking water from a glass. She thinks everytime I have a glass in my hand that it is hers and will get mad at me if I don't share. I wonder if I will get as excited about these little milestones with my second child?

I am also getting excited for Ellie's first Halloween. She is going to be a little ladybug and she looks oh so cute in her costume!