Finally, some pictures

As promised, here are some new pictures of Ella. They were all taken today. Our little family had a busy day, cleaning out closets, organizing toy bins, and giving the house a good tidy. Ella enjoyed 'helping' when possible. She also had a nice day yesterday with friend Michael. Ella liked playing with some different toys and watching Michael cruise around his family room.

Here Ella is laughing at Daddy behind the camera.

She's growing hair - it's starting to curl at the back now. She sadly has Mommy's hair (curly, frizzy, and fine). She is laughing away, playing with her toys.

Ella is checking out the TV. Like all Canadians, she is watching the final hockey game for the Olympics. It was exciting to watch the men's team win GOLD tonight. Ella loves to watch hockey but prefers curling and the Westminster Dog Show. Tonight she waved at the Canadian hockey players and blew kisses to Sidney Crosby. Yay, Canada!!!!!

And molar makes 9!

Ella is feeling better - she is incredibly funny lately. Mommy noticed a molar coming in now - that makes 9 teeth for Ella. She's had 5 new teeth since starting daycare in January. What a star! She's been so sick and she's been teething like a dentist's dream too. She is still such a happy girl. We are so blessed.

Tomorrow is a playdate with friend Michael. Mommy will post pictures on Sunday.

Hurry, March Break

It's been a weird weekend. Mommy had a lovely time at her friend's wedding. It was a super evening. Grandma's funeral was not so nice, obviously. However, the worst part of the day was that Ella was sick. She started with a fever in the morning. Then, after her morning nap, it looked like she was having a seizure. Having never seen one of these before, Daddy and Mommy weren't sure what to think. Ella then vomited, napped again, and seemed okay. Her fever continued but we tried attending the funeral. Then, Ella had more seizures. Oma and cousin Liz (another nurse) said to go to the hospital. We rushed there (thankfully, the funeral was around the corner from the hospital) and the nurses at triage took Ella's temperature. It was 38.8 degrees Celsius. They gave her tylenol right away and said that she was having seizures because of her temperature. It wasn't too busy in the E.R. so a doctor saw us right away. They swabbed her throat and took a urine sample. Both tests came back okay. Her temperature slowly went down and she was okay. We were able to go home to get some rest.

Apparantly, these febrile seizures at not that uncommon. Little ones get them if their brains can't regulate the body temperature with a fever. I have since read that a temp over 38.3 means that it could happen. She will unlikey never have another one and these seizures don't cause any brain damage (thank GOD!). Ella has a virus that she's fighting (again, likely from daycare). We gave her tylenol in the morning after the first one happened but not enough throughout the day. We were told to use tylenol and motrin at the same time.

We are so grateful that she will be okay. It's safe to say that we will be anxious for a while yet. It's also safe to say that we are tired. The past few weeks have been quite hard on us. We've all been super busy, emotional, and sick. Mommy is also fighting a bug still but can't manage to find time to see a doctor. Ella is currently napping peacefully beside Mommy on the bed now. She remains a super girl. She was tough last night - didn't even cry with the throat swab. She must be destined for greatness our little Beaners. She's so resilient. It doesn't seem fair that she's had to have the hospital time that she's had. Our hearts break because of it. However, we must remind ourselves that there are worse situations that could happen and that, at the end of the day, she is a healthy, smart, sassy, and sweet little girl.

There's no picture today - Mommy is too tired to get that going. We long for March Break (Daddy will be off too). We can't wait to have some down time as a family.

Ella will be with her beloved Oma tomorrow as she has an eye appointment. She ADORES Oma. She loves her Papa a lot too. She especially loves to say their names. However, even Mommy is chop liver if Oma is around. We're so glad that Ella has such wonderful grandparents who cherish our daughter and help us out as much as they do. Where would we be without them?

Ella continues to say all sorts of words. She says "Kaylin" (a friend from daycare) now too. She also knows how to wipe her own nose. She's a chatting one - hmmm, wonder who she got that from? She still stands everywhere she can and surfs as much as possible. She will walk with our assistance but prefers crawling. She seems too inpatient to give walking a fair shot.

We pray for a quiet, and most importantly, a HEALTHY week.

Another Yucky Cold

Ella is sick - AGAIN. She has had only one week of feeling well since she started daycare in January. It's safe to say that she has had a cold for 4 weeks now. Last week, she was finally well. Then, on the weekend, the cough began. Then, the fever came and last to arrive was the runny nose. Daddy stayed home on Monday, Oma babysat yesterday, and today it's Mommy's turn to stay home with a sick Beaners. This is a particularly bad cold. The fever was a bit high last night but that seems to have gone away today. We have never seen so much snot come out of one small baby. Ella slept 10 hours straight the other night but has been restless at night for 5 weeks now. The cold rears its ugly head especially at night - she coughs and cannot breath. Even napping is proving to be hard for her. Here she is this afternoon, finally napping. Don't let the peaceful pose fool you -- she was hacking up a lung moments earlier and had snot all over her face mid sleep. Poor little Beaners! Poor Mommy too - dealing with 90 teenagers when she's sleep deprived doesn't seem like much fun! So far, she's kept her calm.

A Mixed Bag of News

We begin with sad news. Ella's Great Grandmother passed away yesterday (Mommy's grandma). She was ninety-two years old and died peacefully in her sleep. As Mommy's aunt is away, the funeral won't happen until next week. Mommy is a maid of honour for a dear friend's wedding next week too. It will prove to be a busy time. Here is a lovely picture of Ella and her Great Grandmother together.

On the happier news front, Ella has her first pair of big girl shoes. A right of passage is going to Zona's Shoe Store and getting some great fitting shoes. Zona's staff are experts in kids' shoes so Ella has a great pair (all leather) to help her with her walking skills. She continues to cruise around the house and is starting to let us walk with her (holding her hands). Although, truth be told, she would rather crawl at lightening speed. Daycare is working on her walking daily which seems to help a great deal. Daycare has also taught her a few new things. Ella now says "chicken". She still loves to scream her own name. Her vocabulary now includes the following words: Mum, Dada, BwaBwa (Bronte), Papa, Turkey, Chicken, Cookie, Ball, and Ella. She was also taught how to blow kisses and when asked what a doggy says, Ella responds, "Woof Woof". She will attempt almost any word you present her and is extremely keen to have a "conversation" with us. She LOVES daycare. She is happy all day long and desperately wants to join in on the action when arriving every morning. She is very affectionate with the staff and enjoys the other babies a lot too. One of the boys was kissing her on Friday. Ella also tries to comfort the sad ones by giving them hugs. Here are some pics of the new shoes in action and of her blowing kisses to Daddy (we could only get a shot of that trick from the back).

Ella also enjoys standing on her head (it would appear that she is desperately trying to stand up on her own) along with brushing her own hair (okay, she does have SOME hair now). We will try to get pictures of those 2 acts soon.