Fifteen Months Old

Ella weighs: 16lbs 10.5oz

Ella measures: 29 inches

Milestones this month:

-crawling up the stairs (all of them)

-crawling on/up anything really

-standing/balancing all by herself for moments of time

-sidesteps holding onto furniture

-feeds herself using a spoon

-using baby sign language for "more"

-beginning to eat more solid pieces of food 

Ella loves: 

-playing peek-a-boo with blankets

-books
-reaching the keys on grandma's piano

-pulling open pens

-the outdoors

-exploring anything she can get her hands on

-smiling when she gets a hold of something
 she isn't supposed to have

-people watching

-playing in the water

-pulling any folded laundry down from the couch

-chasing Mom

-Gerald, yes still

Favorite foods:

-greek yogurt

-potatoes 

-cauliflower and zucchini

-avocado

-banana

-blueberry applesauce 

Health and Doctors: 

It is officially known at all of the doctors' offices that our precious baby does not like being anywhere near a medical office. We are those people. The ones with the child screaming because she is being placed on the scale to be weighed. I don't blame her one bit after her season of shots. Her doctors deserve a shout out for being AMAZING! 

EThis month Ella was cleared from her pulmonologist (lung doctor). Since being taken off of oxygen in September she has not needed any interventions. During her NICU stay, her lungs were constantly referred to as, "wet tissue paper," so to hear that they are rebuilding their strength was music to my ears. Not to mention that this means one less doctor's office on the rotation.

Days later we visited the cardiologist. After an entertaining ultrasound, due to Ella's endless protest against it, we received more great news. Her pulmonary stenosis is continuing to grow with her at a normal rate. We will return in 9-12 months. If you are in need of a cardiologist, Dr. Kliewer is fantastic. She calmed both Ella and myself down after that ultrasound experience. We were all laughing by the end of the appointment. I am grateful for her understanding and calming presence. 

Ella is still rocking those two bottom teeth! They are much taller now and the cutest bottom teeth I have ever seen. 

What we have been up to: 

Now that we have cleared what is deemed as sick season, we have been out and about all around town. First up on our summer to-do list was Ella's first lake trip.  Grand Lake is the backdrop for some of my most favorite memories. As a little girl, I spent my summers there fishing, tubing, exploring, watching Fourth of July fireworks. As an older girl, I was proposed to there by the love of my life. I was excited to share such a special place with her. She was apprehensive at first, but turned out to be the cutest lake baby ever! I mean it really was not an option for her to not like the lake... but I love that it was her choice. 

Ella is content when she is playing in any kind of water environment. Splash pad, bath, small pool, big pool, lake she loves them all. When we approach any of them her eyes life up and a smile spreads across her face. At the splash pad, she stares as the big buckets of water fill up and drop down from above. She giggles as the water splashes down and goes across her toes. She has spent a lot of time in her baby pool outside and visited two different big pools. When she is in the water she kicks her legs constantly. We definitely have a little fishy on our hands! 

At 14 months old, Ella experienced her first trip to the grocery store with me. Thank goodness for Tulas! She loved it and it was one more thing on the list of things making me feel a bit more normal in the parenting department. Since then, she has been on multiple trips to the grocery store. And... wait for it... Ella has taken her first trip to Target! Doesn't get more normal in the mom life department than a trip to Target, right? 

Another big first for all of us this month was our first weekend away from Ella. Yes, you heard that right, our FIRST weekend away. Thank goodness for Ross's cousin having a wedding out of town because we needed a little push to get away and have some time to ourselves. Ella stayed with my parents and reminded them of what it was like sleeping with a baby in the house. Let's just say Ella is lucky she is so loved by them. They adore her. I adore them because they are my parents, but also because they constantly are helping us out. 

Ella is becoming much more social as we spend more time around other children. She has started to interact more with her cousins when they are around. When we have visited friends with babies she immediately crawls over to them and wants to see what they are all about. Or at least to see what kind of paci they are in possession of. She believes any Wubbanub in sight belongs to her. 

Ella is quickly becoming a book worm. We are participating in the summer reading program with the library and reading as many books as we can get our hands on. She has come a long way from barely being able to sit through Goodnight Moon. One of her current favorites is Madeline. 

As always, we want to thank our village surrounding us and encouraging us as we continue on our journey of parenthood. We would not be where we are today without you.