Finally some sand! Welcome to Ellison Beach. What? No water? Stay tuned...Tuesday, May 27, 2008
A True Passion
I know I've mentioned it a couple times before, but Ellison's vehicle interest has taking on a new meaning. Being at that assertive 1 1/2-yr-old age, she now has fits if she doesn't get her time in one of the vehicles every single day. You cannot pass through the garage or driveway without her adamently insisting, "In chuck" ("In truck"). We don't even have a truck anymore (we have a car in addition to the Pimpster now), but it's all the same to Ellison. She even has a preference for her dad's car over the mini-van now. I, for the life of me, cannot IMAGINE why. She has to sit in the driver's seat & "drive" with the steering wheel, then she pushes all kinds of buttons all over the place. We smile because every time we start one of the vehicles to go somewhere, the wipers are going, blinkers are on, etc.
Fun in the Sun
On Memorial Day, the 3 of us hung out at the Bur-Mil Park Aquatic Center. Ellison was very clingy to her mom (which I, of course, ate up after being at the bottom of the leader board for so many months compared to her dad), and very quiet for most of the time, but she did enjoy it. She let out a few squeals of delight going down the water slide several times, but most of the time she was content to quietly wade in the pool and play with her ducky watering can. She loved the various water fountains & playthings, but didn't like getting too close when the COLD water was splashing us. Here, Ellison was scoping out the lifeguards...
A Little Tease
Ellison trying out her new "tur-tle" sandbox and her very own little wagon, complete with beach toys. Now, if only we had some sand...
Memorial Weekend BBQ
On Saturday of Memorial Weekend, the Perez family came over to hang out for a mini-BBQ. Great food, great playmates, great company, and great weather made for a lovely evening.
Ellison and Caroline giving hugs
Notice the shoes - Ellison hocked one of Caroline's crocs, and the 2 chicas left them like that while they played
The proud parents of Caroline, who shocked us all by actually eating a veggie!!! Way to go, Caroline!
Now isn't this cute? - Tony pulling Jonathan in the wagon... We made some passers-by smile as the Perez-Soto parade hit Mackinaw Drive. OK, OK, so Tony was just being a gentleman for pulling the wagon so I didn't have to. Still looks funny!
The girls were getting pretty tired by this time - bedtime was approaching.
Ellison and Caroline giving hugs
Notice the shoes - Ellison hocked one of Caroline's crocs, and the 2 chicas left them like that while they played
The proud parents of Caroline, who shocked us all by actually eating a veggie!!! Way to go, Caroline!
Now isn't this cute? - Tony pulling Jonathan in the wagon... We made some passers-by smile as the Perez-Soto parade hit Mackinaw Drive. OK, OK, so Tony was just being a gentleman for pulling the wagon so I didn't have to. Still looks funny!
The girls were getting pretty tired by this time - bedtime was approaching.
Little Mother Mary
Here's the 2008 Christmas Pageant Mary-hopeful. Is it too early to start practicing?
As I was folding her freshly laundered items, Snuggle-bunny here wanted to keep getting wrapped up with her blanket.
Ice Cream Treat
Ellison got a frozen confection from the musical ice cream truck when they came down our street one evening. Mama picked out the "Dora" ice cream (Ellison likes to say her name) without paying attention to the flavor - banana & strawberry. Can we say, "Yuck!"?
Ellison didn't seem to mind the flavor, it just made us gag whenever we had to lick up the drips for her.
Ellison didn't seem to mind the flavor, it just made us gag whenever we had to lick up the drips for her.
To My Spanish Peeps
Paying homage to her Spanish family, Ellison wore her little Spanish shirt, which of course says it all.
Happy girl with her balloon from Harris Teeter
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Hail to the Plastic Throne!
Milestone moment - Ellison officially used her potty and left me a suprise in it for the first time ever!!! She clearly understood how excited I was, as she has been repeating "Potty!" over and over since it happened. :)
Snuggles
Mookie is turning into a little snuggle-bug lately, and we LOVE it!!! Ever since her illness, she asks to be rocked a lot, and just wants to be picked up so she can lay her head on you more. Don't misinterpret - she definitely is still becoming Miss Independent. Anway, she loves sitting on the sofa against the pillows. Here she is all cozied up with one of her favorite blankets made by our friend, Dawn, while watching Clifford. Of course her La-La and her Baby Teddy are snuggled up with her.
Passing the Time
I decided to take Ellison to the Natural Science Museum yesterday, as we both go a little stir-crazy if we stay at home a lot these days. We had SUCH a lovely day together! Ellison had ball playing in the Kid Zone - we even saw one of her former Mother Goose library cohorts there. After playing in there for a good while, we went outside to the Animal Discovery area (mini-zoo). The weather was perfect and gorgeous, Ellison ate lunch outside by the fountains (this was before I read that no food or drinks are allowed anywhere), and then headed back into the Kid Zone again for a little while before heading home to nap. It was such a great day!
Elli's First Pedi
Ellison had her first pedicure last week - hey, she has nothing to compare it to, so she doesn't realize her mom didn't give her the spa treatment. She was sitting so still and content on the bathroom counter one day (calm down, I was standing right there the whole time), and the nailpolish happened to be sitting there, so I thought why not? She now asks us often to blow on her toes (like I did when I was trying to get them to dry really fast).
Here she is showing off her little tootsies for the camera.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Update
Just a quick update that Ellison is doing much better now. Praise the Lord!!! On Saturday her fevers started finally coming down a lot more, so we didn't have to head back to the doctor's office. She's been very playful the last couple of days, and her appetite's improved a ton. Thanks, to any of you who prayed for Mookie! It surely helped!
Friday, May 9, 2008
Fevers and Storms
What a strange night last night...
So Ellison started with a fever Tuesday evening, and has gone down hill over the last few days. She's worried her mother and father to death! (Yes, her mom is a nurse, but let's just ignore that part, shall we?). Anyway, she went to the doctor on Wednesday who didn't find a thing wrong with her, despite high fevers & being up ALL night, so we were told to wait it out after doing a CBC & deciding it was showing a likely viral illness. As her fever was relentless and started turning into 103.4, we called to get her in to the doctor again on Thursday. About 5 minutes before leaving for that appointment, we get the phone call that a water pipe burst in the office, there was flooding everywhere, and they were cancelling all appointments for the rest of the day (honey, if you don't want to see us, just say so. A burst water pipe, for the love of Mike?!). So yesterday evening, we took Ellison to Urgent Care (where I work). After 3 solid days of relentless high fevers, we weren't willing to just "keep waiting" without them checking her urine or something. This was when Ellison started really worrying us - she had the maximum weight-based doses of Tylenol AND Motrin actively in her system for about 2 hours, and her fever was STILL 103.2! Sounds bizarre to say, but praise Jesus - we were told she has a good ear infection & she started antibiotics yesterday. In the meantime, we're killing her liver and kidneys with all of the Motrin and Tylenol this poor child is getting...
Last night, after getting home past her bedtime from the Urgent Care and waiting for her prescription to be filled, we finally put our little princess to bed, where she was sleeping pretty well. At about 11:30pm, we had to wake our sick sleeping daughter due to the nasty storms hitting our area. We waited as long as we were comfortable, but it's disconcerting to know your precious flesh-and-blood is in the farthest possible bedroom, upstairs, in a house without a basement, in a yard surrounded by several big trees when there are tornado warnings and severe storms. It is during storms like these where we catch ourselves muttering, "I really don't like this state." We were glued to the TV - no normal shows were on due to the coverage of the weather, and finally it was getting so nasty outside we decided it best to have Elli with us. What a trooper!!! She layed on us for a while, and as time went on, she just watched the goings-on around her quietly. At one point, we actually had to take shelter in our TINY half-bath downstairs: Jonathan, me, Ellison, and Bo (our 100 lb. dog)! It was quite comical. By this time, Ellison was pretty wide-awake, albeit yawning, but she was having a ball playing with kleenex and our cell phones. All we can say is, what a good baby!!! For being couped up in such a dinky place for a while, while sick and tired, she was so sweet & never whined or squirmed out of our grasp once. There are no photos of our shelter posted, as there was no room for a camera.
Well, on the illness front, Ellison's fever peaked at 104.1 today. She is still unable to go without any medication for any amount of time, she still becomes listless and gets the chills, she still has dark circles under her eyes, she's still worrying her parents to death. We know we have to give the antibiotic some time, it's just hard to do! After talking to the nurse today ('cause, you know, we needed an expert opinion...) we're praying that her fevers start trending down by morning, or otherwise we have to do further testing. Please pray for little Mookie that she has a good turnaround once the antibiotic has been in her a little while!!!
So Ellison started with a fever Tuesday evening, and has gone down hill over the last few days. She's worried her mother and father to death! (Yes, her mom is a nurse, but let's just ignore that part, shall we?). Anyway, she went to the doctor on Wednesday who didn't find a thing wrong with her, despite high fevers & being up ALL night, so we were told to wait it out after doing a CBC & deciding it was showing a likely viral illness. As her fever was relentless and started turning into 103.4, we called to get her in to the doctor again on Thursday. About 5 minutes before leaving for that appointment, we get the phone call that a water pipe burst in the office, there was flooding everywhere, and they were cancelling all appointments for the rest of the day (honey, if you don't want to see us, just say so. A burst water pipe, for the love of Mike?!). So yesterday evening, we took Ellison to Urgent Care (where I work). After 3 solid days of relentless high fevers, we weren't willing to just "keep waiting" without them checking her urine or something. This was when Ellison started really worrying us - she had the maximum weight-based doses of Tylenol AND Motrin actively in her system for about 2 hours, and her fever was STILL 103.2! Sounds bizarre to say, but praise Jesus - we were told she has a good ear infection & she started antibiotics yesterday. In the meantime, we're killing her liver and kidneys with all of the Motrin and Tylenol this poor child is getting...
Last night, after getting home past her bedtime from the Urgent Care and waiting for her prescription to be filled, we finally put our little princess to bed, where she was sleeping pretty well. At about 11:30pm, we had to wake our sick sleeping daughter due to the nasty storms hitting our area. We waited as long as we were comfortable, but it's disconcerting to know your precious flesh-and-blood is in the farthest possible bedroom, upstairs, in a house without a basement, in a yard surrounded by several big trees when there are tornado warnings and severe storms. It is during storms like these where we catch ourselves muttering, "I really don't like this state." We were glued to the TV - no normal shows were on due to the coverage of the weather, and finally it was getting so nasty outside we decided it best to have Elli with us. What a trooper!!! She layed on us for a while, and as time went on, she just watched the goings-on around her quietly. At one point, we actually had to take shelter in our TINY half-bath downstairs: Jonathan, me, Ellison, and Bo (our 100 lb. dog)! It was quite comical. By this time, Ellison was pretty wide-awake, albeit yawning, but she was having a ball playing with kleenex and our cell phones. All we can say is, what a good baby!!! For being couped up in such a dinky place for a while, while sick and tired, she was so sweet & never whined or squirmed out of our grasp once. There are no photos of our shelter posted, as there was no room for a camera.
Well, on the illness front, Ellison's fever peaked at 104.1 today. She is still unable to go without any medication for any amount of time, she still becomes listless and gets the chills, she still has dark circles under her eyes, she's still worrying her parents to death. We know we have to give the antibiotic some time, it's just hard to do! After talking to the nurse today ('cause, you know, we needed an expert opinion...) we're praying that her fevers start trending down by morning, or otherwise we have to do further testing. Please pray for little Mookie that she has a good turnaround once the antibiotic has been in her a little while!!!
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Our Little Troll Doll
For whatever reason, Ellison lately feels the need to put shorts, skirts, or her pants on her head. If it's laying around, it's a hat in her book. It is too funny - she gets them on so well, too!
Doesn't she look like one of those little troll dolls with the crazy pink hair in the first photo?! A way-cute one, that is!
Doesn't she look like one of those little troll dolls with the crazy pink hair in the first photo?! A way-cute one, that is!
18 Months
Ellison has a fun half-birthdate - Cinco de Mayo! Ask me why it's fun, I have no idea, as we are not Mexican, but hey...
Ellison's biggest changes this past month came in the form of her vocabulary and speech. She speaks some phrases now, has learned to pronounce some of those tougher letters, and tries to say nearly everything we say. Yes, this has been a great exercise in the self-recognition of one's use of slang! She's adding some more letters to her repertoire as time goes on, but continues to have a thing for the letters "E" and "O". Everywhere we go, she's pointing them out, and every time she's drawing, she wants Mommy or Daddy to keep drawing those letters. She is so proud now that she can recognize her name when it's written. If you ask her what it says, she'll say, "Eyisss Toto". A couple of our favorite things she says are, "Hold you" or "Rock you", "Come eew" ("come here"), and "Come on, Mama/Daddy!". Her drawing has taken on a completely different look this past month, which seems crazy to us. She holds the pen correctly, and writes the tiniest and most precise little marks and circles - it's very deliberate.
Ellison loves brushing her teeth now that we've introduced her to the baby toothpaste, she prefers to sit in her "big girl" chair attachment instead of her high chair, and she still loves cell phones (along with playing Led Zeppelin on her dad's phone OVER and OVER - she knows exactly which buttons to press), digging in purses, and accessories. On the accessory front, we can now get tiny barrettes to stay in her hair for a while!!!
Her favorite food right now is by far Cheez-Its (or a kid equivelent), Crispix cereal, and pasta. Her favorite playtime activities: anything outside, riding on a rocking toy, drawing, Play-Doh, Ring-A-Round-the-Rosie, doing the motions to Little Miss Muffet, and being chased (hide-and-seek). Ellison continues to be a stuffed animal lover, as she needs to take about 3 or 4 of them to bed; and when you get her out of bed, every single one has to be crammed into her embrace & not left behind. Ellison enjoys shopping, too, especially when there is a rack of clothing that she can slide the hangers over on, as if she's perusing the merchandise; she does this in her own closet, too. Mookie still loves to watch America's Funniest Videos before bed - she keeps saying, "Again" after clips, as if we actually have the ability to replay some of the videos. Her other new favorite show: Dancing with the Stars. When a couple starts dancing to the music, Elli takes the milk out of her mouth, stands on our lap, and starts swaying slowly & turning her head back & forth with her hand up by her face. Of course, if it's a fast number she starts shaking her booty. Perhaps a little Latin blood running through those tiny veins???
Ellison's biggest changes this past month came in the form of her vocabulary and speech. She speaks some phrases now, has learned to pronounce some of those tougher letters, and tries to say nearly everything we say. Yes, this has been a great exercise in the self-recognition of one's use of slang! She's adding some more letters to her repertoire as time goes on, but continues to have a thing for the letters "E" and "O". Everywhere we go, she's pointing them out, and every time she's drawing, she wants Mommy or Daddy to keep drawing those letters. She is so proud now that she can recognize her name when it's written. If you ask her what it says, she'll say, "Eyisss Toto". A couple of our favorite things she says are, "Hold you" or "Rock you", "Come eew" ("come here"), and "Come on, Mama/Daddy!". Her drawing has taken on a completely different look this past month, which seems crazy to us. She holds the pen correctly, and writes the tiniest and most precise little marks and circles - it's very deliberate.
Ellison loves brushing her teeth now that we've introduced her to the baby toothpaste, she prefers to sit in her "big girl" chair attachment instead of her high chair, and she still loves cell phones (along with playing Led Zeppelin on her dad's phone OVER and OVER - she knows exactly which buttons to press), digging in purses, and accessories. On the accessory front, we can now get tiny barrettes to stay in her hair for a while!!!
Her favorite food right now is by far Cheez-Its (or a kid equivelent), Crispix cereal, and pasta. Her favorite playtime activities: anything outside, riding on a rocking toy, drawing, Play-Doh, Ring-A-Round-the-Rosie, doing the motions to Little Miss Muffet, and being chased (hide-and-seek). Ellison continues to be a stuffed animal lover, as she needs to take about 3 or 4 of them to bed; and when you get her out of bed, every single one has to be crammed into her embrace & not left behind. Ellison enjoys shopping, too, especially when there is a rack of clothing that she can slide the hangers over on, as if she's perusing the merchandise; she does this in her own closet, too. Mookie still loves to watch America's Funniest Videos before bed - she keeps saying, "Again" after clips, as if we actually have the ability to replay some of the videos. Her other new favorite show: Dancing with the Stars. When a couple starts dancing to the music, Elli takes the milk out of her mouth, stands on our lap, and starts swaying slowly & turning her head back & forth with her hand up by her face. Of course, if it's a fast number she starts shaking her booty. Perhaps a little Latin blood running through those tiny veins???
Friday, May 2, 2008
Potty Time
No, I'm not posting photos of Ellison relieving herself. She is fully clothed in all these shots...I was on the telephone when I glimpsed Elli dragging her new potty out of the bathroom. She sat on it, then pretended to wipe her hiney. She's never done this before, so I found it so cute! We're not really potty-training yet, we just have it for Ellison to get used to seeing, and in case she's interested. She thinks it's a cool piece of furniture most of the time and wants to bring it into the living room. The first time she excitedly was introduced to it, she was eager to sit on it (without a diaper) for about 10 seconds until she'd stand up and say, "All done", then I'd replace the diaper - no, wait - I'd wrestle the diaper back onto her, only to have her want it off again to sit on the potty. After about 5 or 6 cycles of this with sweat forming on my brow, I decided we didn't need to concentrate on this milestone quite yet. :)
Wiping her tooshy :)
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