A fun morning for our little Capricorn

Playing with her balloon

Reaching out for Mama's hand

Drawing with a crayon

Getting a check-up from a friend

Falling asleep at the table after lunch (sleepy bubeleh!)

A v. kind gift

Ellie's 4.5-year old friend made this crib mobile for her! He came up with the idea and designed the mobile himself; he began working on it yesterday at preschool and brought it here today to complete it. He was very proud once it was finished, and Ellie loves it. Seriously, does it get any sweeter than that?

Ellie loves khee caah library books

All the cool kids are wearing them

New table skills

Ellie's been using her fork a lot this week and today she used a cup with a straw, too! She was delighted that today's lunch was leftover mac & cheese--"pasta," as she calls it--and salad. She even gave the carrots a try, though they're difficult to eat since she only has 6 teeth. She's getting to be such a big girl!

A serious moment

She loves this book

Ellie with Cleo the Cat

The reading tent

Painting on Monday

Relaxing in Salem

After brunch, we went for a walk around downtown Salem. Ellie snoozed as we strolled, but she woke up when we sat down in a coffee shop for snacks and drinks. She loved watching all the dogs walk by the shop--she even yelled, "Come!" to some of them.

The largest baby in the world!

Another day, another brunch

We had complimentary tickets to a fancy jazz brunch in Salem on Sunday, so we took advantage of the nice weather and made the drive up. We all enjoyed our meals, but the highlight of the morning was watching Ellie eye the upright bass. She loved it!

At our brunch group

Ellie as Zoolander

One More New Word

Camera

Do you think we take too many pictures of her?

The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

Ever mindful of photo opportunities, Ellie waited till she had the right clothing on to take her first unassisted steps this evening. Yay, Ellie!

Ellie was cast as "The Monster" in today's Indoor Playhouse production

This just in

Ellie is one year, one month, one week, and one day old today. Hooray!

A khee caah shirt from Grammy & Grandpa

Thank you for this nice gift!

Another word

After saying "Gram" last night, Ellie added "Grandpa" to her repertoire this morning!

Ellie's words

Ellie said 3 new words today. I'm so excited for her! Here's a list of her words to date:

Khee caah (kitty cat)
Claaah (Clara)
Gog gog (dog dog)
Num num (said when eating)
Yum
Da da (thank you)
Vuh vuh (love you)
Buh bye
Diaper
Uh-oh
Uh-uh (for "no")
Yeah
Meow
Quack
Rarr! (roar, for what a lion says)
Hey (a greeting)
Bath
Mama
Mum Mum (Mumzy)
Water
Come
More (spoken and signed)
All done (spoken and signed)
Pasta (new tonight)
Again (new tonight; till tonight she just said "'gain")
Gram (for Grammy...new tonight!)

Feeling better

As you can see, Ellie is feeling much better. Thanks to everyone for your concern!

It had to happen sometime...

Last night we had our first emergency room visit with Ellie. Annette noticed that Ellie's breathing was a little labored after her bath last night, so we phoned the nurse on call. After asking many questions, she directed us to the pediatric emergency room at a local hospital. We were there from 9:15pm last night till the same time this morning; after several exams and 2 chest x-rays, it was determined that Ellie has bronchiolitis from RSV. She had a couple of breathing treatments and oxygen most of the night, but she felt much better this morning. She's still not completely out of the woods, but she's able to be watched at home. We feel very lucky and grateful that this wasn't more serious.


Here's Ellie just after check-in. She was pretty sick; her breathing was shallow and rapid and her chest was junky. The hospital was great about getting her triaged quickly and into the ER for care.

Ellie got hopped up on her second albuterol breathing treatment! It was just before 2am and she was hyper and manic, literally climbing the walls of her hospital crib. At this point of the night, she thought the whole hospital experience was a riot.

By this morning, Ellie was sleeping comfortably from the oxygen she got during the night. Her breathing was much less labored, thank god. Seeing her on a monitor again reminded me of her infancy, though. Poor little baby!

Shortly after this photo was taken, Ellie woke up, had a bottle, was examined, and got discharged! We're watching her for signs of breathing distress, but so far, so good. Knock wood, okay?

Still sick

At least she's resting right now. I propped her up on a small pillow to help ease her ear pain and coughing, but she's still uncomfortable and quite ill. Not such a happy Valentine's Day for Ellie, I'm afraid.

"Small but intelligent"

Though she looks adorable in her new t-shirt from H&M, Ellie feels pretty crappy today: She has an ear infection and a nasty cough and cold. Fingers crossed that she'll feel better soon!

Josephine to the rescue

Today Ellie woke up crying from her afternoon nap and couldn't get back to sleep. Between Ellie and the other child she woke up, things were LOUD this afternoon! Remember how Josie used to comfort Ellie when she cried? Well, now Jo comforts me when Ellie cries. Today she even gave me a kiss, which I captured on camera. She's such a sweet, affectionate little cat.

Flower child