Finally...Pictures and a Growth Spurt

So I finally went to my sister's house and put new pictures on the site. For those who don't know, we live out in the boonies and cannot get high speed internet so we are still in the dark ages of dial-up connection. I tried to pick a few of my favorites of all the girls. As for the girls:



Sydney: We are so proud of her. She has finished up her Kindergarten year and will be off to first grade next year. It has not been easy though. They have so much to learn in Kindergarten now, she was still in a half-day program and she was pretty behind when we came home from the hospital in January. She was still not sound blending words and could not get through the word lists that were sent home. 2 months later she was a different girl! She was sound blending, reading words on her list in a matter of minutes, reading books and more. It was amazing! We're sure a lot had to do with homelife being so unstable and Ellie in and out of the hospital. We are just so proud of how much she was able to accomplish this year. She played soccer this spring and asked to play again this summer and fall. It is so much fun to watch her out there.



President Reagan: She's always tempting us with being potty-trained but it hasn't happened yet. She sure is stubborn. We're hoping we can get her pinned down on it before the fall so she can go to pre-school. She's also going to play soccer this summer. She's a bit younger than the age limit, but we can tell how much she really wanted to be out there with Sydney. It should be entertaining. She's also taking swimming lessons right now so that is fun to watch too.



As for Miss Ellison: What an amazing couple of weeks she has had! Seems like there wasn't much new going on, then boom! she gets this growth spurt! She is sitting up now for up to 5 minutes or more at a time on her own. We have waited so long for this!! I know most kids are learning to walk by now, but this is Ellie's pace and we couldn't be happier. Sydney is so excited that she can sit up now and puts her in a sitting position to play with her all the time. And there's more, she is self-feeding now...cheetos, baby meat sticks, graham crackers...whatever I stick in front of her that she can hold and bring to her mouth. Apparently my spoon feeding wasn't fast enough for her. This kid loves food! Then over Memorial Day Weekend, while we were hosting my family's get-together, the kid starts waving using her wrist (not the whole arm wave) and clapping!! And still there's more...she is clearing saying "hi", has said "yeah" when we clapped this week, occassionally uses the sign for "more" or still tries to say "more" ("mmm", "muh"), and has started nodding and shaking her head!!!! The nodding and clapping are things she started before her gastric pull-up and is finally recovering, the rest is all new. Hopefully the spurt will continue. We are so excited at the new personality that is developing. Enjoy the pictures!

It's not just me...

Okay, so as I'm feeding Ellie, she usually likes to talk...which of course gets food all over us, but the other day I thought I heard something else. I didn't think too much of it until we were eating out with Dave the other day. She was eating cottage cheese and trying chocolate pudding for the first time. She kept getting mad and as soon as you put another bite in her mouth, she'd stop and be content. Yes, she likes her food! Anyhow, she started saying "muh, muh" (not "mah")when she got angry. I asked Dave if he thought it sounded like she was trying to say "more" too and he did. Then the other day, her early intervention teacher was out and heard her do the same thing and also thought maybe that's what she was trying to say. Yeah! It's not just me hoping for it, others hear it too. It's just nice to see signs of communication since she refuses to do sign language with me. She pulls her hands away whenever I try to get her to sign (Reagan did the same thing). But let me tell you...you say the word "eat" and she knows exactly what's coming next! Not bad for a kid who couldn't do that for 10 months of life and then had to take another month and a half hiatus from it in the hospital. She's also doing a little better on the cup. I know she definately likes the milk thick (like a milkshake) and she's not pushing it away as much. And have I ever told you how much she likes Peek-A-Boo? It's her favorite game. Anytime there is a blanket or anything resembling a blanket around, she's grabs it and starts playing. That's it for now. Thanks for all who responded to my whining about comments... or, in some cases, actually could hear me:)

My Hungry, Hungry Hippo

Not doing too good on my resolution. Seems like there is always something/someone keeping me from getting on the computer for a while to update. Ellie is doing great! She's gotten over her cold and the ped says her lungs are crystal clear. Yeah! We saw her surgeon a couple of weeks ago and he is happy with how she's doing. He seemed a little surprised when I told him how much she is eating. Our new regime is taking her off of her tube feedings for 1 hour before feedings and see if she eats more. So far, so good. I think for two reasons: 1. she's hungrier 2. we are doing more table foods. Her foods have gotten chunkier and boy does she like it. The kid gobbled done meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy and bites of baby carrots last night. Two weekends ago, she couldn't get enough of grandma's dirt cake (pudding, whipped cream and crushed oreas. Drinking is a whole other thing. She's decided lately that she doesn't like her cup as much and is pushing it away. Not a good thing. I can't wait until we get her swallow study in June. I really believe that once she can swallow thinner liquids and can get the cup thing down, we are going to be really close to eating orally at least during the day (and tube feed at night). But I don't want to get my hopes up too soon. I'll just keep pushing the cup and hoping it helps. We've moved her to the highchair for dinnertime feedings (usually I use a babyseat on the floor and feed her). She just looks so tiny in it. Oh, I almost forget, she's a whopping 17 lbs 5.5 ozs. Woohoo!! She was in the 15 lb range all of Fall and I just felt she would never gain weight. Of course, her legs just get longer and longer. She's got the same luck as Sydney there. Poor Reagan, she's going to be short like me:-)

One more thing, I never get comments anymore (can you hear the whinning in my voice?). Yes, I know I don't write as much as I used to, but let me know you're out there. It's always nice to see who checks on Ellie. Thanks!