Chew and Show

While it is impolite to chew with your mouth open, it's rather quite entertaining when you're 9 months old. Ella has started chewing solids (instead of only eating purees). She enjoys eating pieces of Baby Mum cookies. These pictures were taken today during snacktime.

Anyone Up for a Game of Peekaboo?

Ella has discovered peekaboo. She loves to watch Mommy and Daddy hide and call out "boo!" She also has discovered clapping. She has really enjoyed smacking toys together but now she realizes that her hands can make fun noises too. These pictures are of Ella laughing, clapping, and reacting to Daddy's peekaboos.

More Oma and Papa Time!

Oma and Papa stopped by for dinner tonight. Ella ate all of the dinner that Oma gave her and she enjoyed playing with both grandparents at the dinner table.

Happy Birthday Cousin Alex!

On Saturday, the family went to Uncle Chris and Auntie Christa's house for Alex's second birthday. He's such a big boy now. Alex really enjoyed his Diego rescue pack that Ella got for him along with the Deigo doll from cousin Matthew.
Here is the first pic of all three cousins together (finally!): Ella (9 months old), Matthew (3 months old), and Alex (2 years old). In 10 weeks, we'll be adding a fourth baby to the family. Auntie Christa has an active little one in her belly.


Here's Ella trying to comfort baby Matthew. She especially likes to hold his hand and to touch him whenever he's close.


Here is Mommy with her nephew, the birthday boy.

Alex really likes saying "Uncle Darren". He enjoys talking to him all of the time now. It's quite cute to hear him chatter away. What's even more amusing is that Darren is the only one who Alex has given an "uncle" title to. The rest of us are simply "Julie", "Andrew", and "Lisa". It's hilarious! We think that Alex would really enjoy a visit to Uncle Darren's work so that he can see all of the big pieces of equipment.
It was a fun day. Ella enjoyed playing with Alex's toys. She was still afraid of all men at the party. Thankfully, she slept all the wat home in the car.
Stay tuned for more pics from Saturday!

Return of the ChunkaMunk!

It's official: Ella gained 1 lb in 2 weeks and grew 1 cm. This is a big improvement considering she only gained 0.5 lb in 2 months before the change of medication. She's back to being our ChunkaMunk (okay, she's still only in the 50th percentile for weight and less than 25th percentile for height). These are pictures of her "crawling" towards Mommy taken today. We don't have to see the pediatrician for 3 more months.

Here she is tonight in some super cute pajamas.

Tomorrow we start music classes with Ella's friends Michael and Kevin!

She Sits and Speaks!!!!!

Ella is sitting now; however, she prefers to keep moving. She needs to be incredibly distracted if you want her to sit still. I captured nice pictures in a sitting pose today. She is quite good at making funny faces (hmmm...wondered who she inherited that from!).

Also, yesterday Ella started to say "Mama" all day long. She's been making lots of sounds and recently started with "M" sounds last week. She's now graduated to "Mama". We're not sure if she knows what she's saying but she only says it if Mommy is in the room and if she wants attention. And so....we think she's said her first word! We'll try and video record her saying it soon. And now, we are working on "Dada".

On a side note, the new meds seems to be working well. We see her pediatrician tomorrow and we're hoping that she's gained a little weight. She's been eating very well this week (unlike last week where the teething and reflux made her not very hungry). She seems even happier and is enjoying her newfound mobility ("crawling"). Fingers crossed, we've turned a corner....

Best Friend, Best Oma, Best Neighbours, Best Husband, and Best Hat

Another busy weekend for the family! Mommy took Ella bridesmaid dress shopping on Sunday. Mommy is her best friend Valerie's maid of honour for her upcoming wedding. Thankfully, Oma accompanied us on the long drive to North York and kept Ella entertained. Yay, Oma! Meanwhile, back in the Grove....Bill and Dar (the best neighbours ever!) helped Daddy take down a dead tree on the property along with some other tree-like trimming. Daddy had a busy day but still managed to vacuum, wash floors, and have dinner ready by the time Ella and Mommy returned from shopping. Yes, he is a super husband!!! Mommy recently purchased another winter hat for Ella (can't have enough overly cute hats). Here are some recent pics (hat pic included)....

Teeth snd Toes

We knew they were coming: two more teeth. After a week of anticipation (and drool and increased reflux), two more teeth appeared this morning (up top). We also suspect that two more are coming on the bottom. That would bring the teeth count to six. Ella's appetite has now returned but she's still rubbing her face and mouth a lot, especially when she's tired. She currently loves

her Tylenol.

Ella has discovered that she hates socks and shoes. As she obsessively plays with her feet, socks and shoes have become a distraction and a hindrance. Here she is...removing socks and shoes yet again. She also feels that everyone should be barefooted. She tries to remove anyone's socks if she's able to get close enough. Mommy has learned not to breastfeed her while she's wearing socks and shoes as Ella will not eat and frantically attempt to remove her foot attire. No obsessions with Manolo Blahniks or Jimmy Choos appear to be in her future.

Happy Anniversary to Auntie Christa and Uncle Chris!

See Ya Torticollis!!!

Today was Ella's last physical therapy to correct her torticollis (damaged neck muscles caused by the reflux)! The therapist gave us some exercises to help Ella improve her crawling and sitting (not quite mastered due to loose hip muscles - quite common and in no way connected to the reflux). Who would've thought that we would have an overly flexible daughter!? She said that Ella's social and fine motor skills are a couple months advanced - we've included a video of two of Ella's "tricks" (sorry that's sideways and a bit lengthy). She's been shaking her head "no" for a month or so and has recently been giving people "high fives". She'll happily say "no" or give you "five" all day long - quite amusing for new parents like us. The picture and video are from this evening. The pic is quite appropriate. We like to think that Ella is waving "bye bye" to the torticollis.

The Acid Reflux Monster Reared its Ugly Head

Monday night was a bad one. Ella vomited bile all night long. It was so heartbreaking and scary. We saw her pediatrician who worries about this 4th night episode of illness (last one was the night before the wedding party). She hopes with some new meds we can avoid another scary night of vomiting and improve her overall health (coughs, hiccups, restlessness caused by the reflux). Ella only gained 0.5 lb in 2 months so we're to increase her calories - bring on the protein! She weighs 17lbs 8 oz...small for her age (she's no longer in the 50th percentile for weight). We tried the new meds this morning...they may take 2 weeks or so to kick in (pray for her that it's sooner). We are also to get her tested for allergies as she's already reacted to bananas and oats. She seems happy in spite of it all. She was gagging a bit today and is still tired. We hope that these meds will be our answer. She is such a trooper! Here is a pic from this morning - what a great little girl she is!!!!