All New Ella

Ella has been busy learning many new things and dealing with many others.
a few days ago i took her to the Doctor because she had diarrhea, kept touching her ears, new teeth coming in, cough, stuffy nose, and a lot of crankiness. so the Doctor checked her over and told me that the symptoms could either be due to the teething, to a mild ear infection, rotovirus, or H1N1, but because she didn't have a fever it was likely not anything serious but in the meantime she would give me a prescription for an antibiotic (for the ear infection), advise me to get some Pedialyte, and to monitor Ella for fever. Three days later and nothing. Ella no longer has the diarrhea, her stuffiness and lessened and she is sleeping more at night.

Ella figured out earlier this week how to crawl. i wanted to post a picture but was unable to capture it. i will post some soon. She has also learned how to pull herself up to standing. i have already lowered her crib in anticipation of this. She is waving, well sort of. she raises her hand when she sees everyone else doing it. it's fun watching her learn new things. She will be having her first Thanksgiving this week. Sadly, we won't be traveling to Utah or Idaho to spend it with the Medina clan. the first time in a decade or so.

Ella and i are enjoying a nice day today. all day is play time, except when its nap time.

our first Halloween, with Ella.

i loved having a chance to dress Ella up. she spent the holiday being a penguin and a peacock. today she is dressed up for the Day of the Dead.
Ella and i went trick or treating at a nursing home where Ella got to show off for the residents there. it was fun to let her experience this tradition although it was obviously beyond her. she took some candies and sucked on them with wrappers on. afterwards, i got to enjoy the good stuff and gave away the stuff i don't like.
speaking of giving out candy, we had a huge turnout at our house last night. the neighbors/tenants decorated the house a month ago to resemble a graveyard and it definitely drew some attention. we had cars lined up down the street just to t or t at our place. carl had to run out to buy more candy because the 4 i had bought ran out around 7 p.m. last year we only had 4 treaters all together so it was a huge difference this year.
some children were too scared to walk up our sidewalk. two of the neighbors hid in the yard and jumped out at the children as they walked by. i saw several children run away and many end up in tears. the older ones were even frightened but they seemed to enjoy it more. i felt bad for the younger ones. i can imagine this will have an impact on how they feel about future Halloweens.

She's moving now!

Ella showed us yesterday that she can army crawl. just like every other day, we were playing around on the living room floor when Ella spotted Carl's Mtn. Dew and decided that she wanted it, now. suddenly she started moving herself along the ground using her arms to move herself forward. until now she had been pretty good at moving by pivoting on her stomach or rolling but she is now one step away from crawling. it's so exciting and frightening. we can no longer leave her in one spot and expect her to remain there or close by. we need to childproof things and keep a better eye on her (not that we didn't already). people keep warning us of how we need to stop wishing for her to be able to crawl because of all the issues it will cause but i am so happy for Ella. of course we will take precaution but it's great that she can spot something and move towards it. i know that she is feeling pretty proud of herself.

having fun

i love my little girl. she is so playful now. lately her favorite game has been tipping her head back and having me swoop her back up or slobbering all over my chest. she will do this for a long time if i play along. carl doesn't like playing the head tipping game because he doesn't want to have her hit her head on anything. this is a concern of mine also, but it is so funny to hear her laugh when she does it. other things Ella likes doing right now is splashing in the bath. we bathe her in a infant "whale" tub that Grandma Gillies gifted to Ella. we were placing it on the counter to bathe Ella but she has started splashing so much that i am now placing it inside the big tub so she can splash to her heart's content without me having to deal with water everywhere.
Ella also loves practicing her balance. she stands with assistance and loves staring out the window while leaning on the couch. she also is practicing her crawling skills. right now she can rock back and forth on her arms and legs and sometimes moves backwards but no forward mobility has been seen so far.
Last weekend Ella, and her parents, went up North on the Lake Superior coastline for a mini-vacation. Although it was very cold (we had snow on Saturday morning) Ella did well with all of the activity. Carl bought her a hat that looks adorable on her. we kept her bundled in leg warmers, sweaters, and coats and the cold didn't bother her.
now, we are looking forward to Halloween. Ella will have two costumes this year. i can't wait to show them off.