Ella had her 18 month check-up this morning. After almost getting her appointment cancelled, because we were late, we made it with 1 minute to spare. Ella had no idea she would have to get shots, or what those are for that matter, so she was all smiles to begin with.

Her stats were:
Weight- 26 lbs 10.5 oz (79.16%)
height- 2′ 8.68″ (75.67%)
head circumference – 47cm (61.76%)

She is pretty much right on track. Then, I held her down while two nurses tag teamed and gave her 4 shots. Jameson was yelling in the back, “Don’t hurt my baby!” we made it, though, and we’re all happy again.

We lost Jameson’s helmet, and had to go buy another one. So why not get him one that makes him look like the holy terror he can be on his bike? He loves it, and he never argues about putting it one. But, if Jameson has a helmet, Ella needs one too. She loves her helmet, and won’t argue about putting it on either. They just love to ride their bikes, especially if we don’t argue about how long they’ve been outside riding.

***By the way, Jameson’s friend Abby was so nice to let him borrow her bag for his bike. Don’t you love it? Kevin does. 🙂

To bring you a different update!

Ella is now 15 months! I missed her 14 month update, because we were out of town. This girl is crazy. She just woke up from her nap when these pictures were taken today. Ella is a very demanding girl. She is also emotional. She can fall and get hurt, cry for just a minute, and then be fine. But, if you tell her “No,” it’s a total meltdown. She still just has the 4 top and bottom teeth, but no longer has the long comb over hair. She got a haircut while in Vegas. If you ask Ella if she wants a bath, she will run to the bathroom, and start pulling on her clothes. She has even managed to hand me her diaper a few times. That’s a little unnerving. She loves to torment Jameson. Today, she threw my cell phone at his face. He started crying, and then she started crying. Why was she crying when she was the one that threw the phone? Because, she’s emotional. Just what I was looking forward to. She loves to hold anything to her ear and pretend it’s a phone. Her milestones are:

• Ella says “uh-oh” now (we’re a little slow on the talking part)
• She also says “Hi Diddy”
• Everything is “Mama.” Sometimes it drives me crazy.
• She burps louder than Jameson
• Ella gives high-fives
• She waves bye
• Tantrums are becoming more frequent. Actual on the floor kicking.
• She still eats certain kinds of baby foods, but is becoming picky.
• She loves sweets like her mom.
• She can’t eat a Popsicle, because she holds the actual Popsicle.
• She loves to ride her tractor, and her car
• Ella is starting to be more steady when she’s running.
• She has become very attached to her blankets.

Funny story. Monday, we were bar-b-quing with friends and Ella, being the smart child she is, put a blanket over her head and started walking. Yah, I know, smart. Well, she takes off, and walked right into the sliding glass door. Do you know how funny a little person with a blanket over her who smacks into a window is? Pretty sure she made all of us laugh. She really is a fun little girl. She loves her Daddy, and cuddles with her mom. She teases her brother, but he still protects her. It’s really cute.

First of all, do you all have your comments in here? So far it’s been fun to hear from all of you. The following pictures could possibly be items sent your way in the future.

Like I said before, we have some fun stuff planned for Ella on Saturday. Today, I started making a few things in preparation. I am planning a Lady Bug theme, so everything is red and black. Even our dessert will be… chocolate cake and strawberry ice cream.

I also got the cupcakes and cake made, so tomorrow I can decorate them. Let’s hope the idea in my head will turn into a cupcake. This can either go very well, or we might be starting over.

I also had a million bananas. Ok, not a million, but I got my order from Amazonfresh, and somewhere, my bananas didn’t get taken off. I have an order that comes every Friday, but I still had some from the previous week so I thought I took it off my order. Apparently not. So I had tons and tons of bananas. Because of this, Jameson and I made some banana bread today. Since I don’t want to eat 2 loaves by myself, we cut some up and took it to the neighbors. Yes, that loaf does have chocolate chips. I don’t add nuts, I add chocolate chips.

So that was our day. Jameson got to play with a friend all morning, and Ella slept most of the day. Literally. Neither child woke up before 8:30 am (Oh Heaven). Ella went back down by 9:30 and slept till 11:30. Then went back to bed at 1:30 and slept till 5 pm. By 7 pm she was back in bed. Those shots yesterday took it out of her.

Which, by the way, in case you were curious, her stats as of 3.2.2011 are:

22.13 pounds= 75th%

30 1/8 inches= 90th%

18 cm head circumference= 50th%

She got her Hep B, PCV (chicken pox), and MMR shot, so she was not happy. That has to be one of the worst things. To hold your child down so that someone can stick a needle in their little body. Her Ped. was very impressed with her walking while carrying toys skill. The nurse also weighed her on the big scale, because she can stand alone. No more baby scale for her. Ella has also started to grind her teeth, so I asked about that. We pretty much determined it’s only because she’s just discovering her teeth. She only does it while she’s walking around, which sounds horrible. The other news is that the doctor didn’t hear her heart murmur. We won’t know for sure what is exactly going on till next month when Ella is scheduled to have EKG and ultrasounds, but that would be awesome if the hole in her heart has closed up.

That’s right. We survived the first year = Ella is now 1 year old!

But, first things first. Did you see this post? You have till Sunday night to leave your comments. If there’s only 10 of you we might have to send you all something, but I doubt that’s the case. Anyway, on to Ella.

She no longer has the baby face as proven in this picture. Where did it go? We have a full fledged toddler on our hands. She now walks everywhere! This is her new found freedom. She loves the fact that she can now carry something while she walks. Ella is also able to stand back up after she looses her balance, rather than having to crawl to something and then stand back up. She says “Ma” and “Da,” and she actually correlates them with us. This also goes along with the fact that she yells.. aaalot. Since Jameson gets to walk around everywhere at the store, she thinks she should too. Let’s just say, shopping is not so fun. She also tells us she is “all done” in sign language. She does this when she is done, and when she doesn’t want to eat what we have given her. I gave up on not giving her peanut butter or honey. She has gotten a hold of Jameson’s sandwiches too many times, so now I just make them for her. She has also switched to milk. I was tired of buying formula, and she’s 1. She also drinks Jameson’s milk, so what’s the point?

Ella does not like to be alone. In the morning when she wakes up before Jameson, she goes and bangs on his door. You really have to watch her, or she wakes up the whole house. What would we do with out her, though? She started out a fighter…

And grew to be this crazy girl…

So today we did some pictures, including a cake smash. I can’t wait to get them back. We both looked super cute this morning, but I didn’t take any pictures, since someone else was. But, for dinner, I did give her more cake, and we took pictures.

She also got a pedicure by mom…

(Remember, we were all dolled up earlier in the day. This is right before bed.)

And that was how we celebrated Ella’s big day. Don’t worry, we have a big plans for this weekend. Tomorrow we have her one year appointment, so we’ll let you know how much she’s grown. Happy Birthday Baby Girl!

Ella’s new favorite pass time is to climb on Jameson’s chairs. Sometimes, she tips them over and falls. Other times, she actually sits and enjoys them. She loves to be just like her big brother.

She walks! I love Kevin’s face in this one… Ella had just fallen.

Want to see?

And if you need a little Jameson fix, he will sing you to sleep.

How many times will I have have to tell my children to “Get Down?” I’m guessing 5,987,305,126,580. Because as of right now, I’m only on child number 2, it’s only February, and I’ve already hit my quota for the year. I am frequently finding Ella in higher places these days. Places like this…

She uses the chairs, boxes, or toys to climb up on top of things. She will even push them where she needs them, or pull the chairs out. But she doesn’t know how to get down. So she climbs up on things, and yells for you to come get her down. When I walk in to find her on tables or couches, I look at her and just shake my head. If you try to reprimand her, she first looks at you…

And then laughs. She is so proud of herself. What am I going to do with this girl? It’s a good thing she’s so dang cute, and it helps that I love her to pieces.

(Please disregard the towel over the fireplace. We don’t have firewood, so we don’t use the fireplace, but it’s really drafty. If you come to our house, there’s towels everywhere. Older homes aren’t so well insulated.)

It’s official… We have a walker. Yesterday, Kevin and I were trying to get Ella to walk back and forth. She finally did it. It wasn’t steps like she was trying to catch herself on the way down, but actual steps toward each of us. Here’s our proof…

(It’s hard to record and catch her at the same time. I apologize for the not good video.)

So there you have it. We have a walker. Now she just needs to practice. She can still get places lots faster by crawling, so this is the preferred method. Won’t be long.

Where has the time gone? Ella is now eleven months old. Crazy, huh? We celebrated today by going to the park. It was a BEAUTIFUL day. There was not a cloud in the sky, and you could actually feel the sunshine.  I put both kids in the stroller, we met with friends, and walked to the park. Ok, I really didn’t remember about her 11 month mark until tonight when I started updating our blog. But we did go to the park.

Jameson and “A” had a blast. We had some friends that interned  here for the summer, but then had to go back to BYU to finish up school. They moved back in January, and live just a few blocks away…  and up one hill. It’s not too bad of a walk. So they came with us to the park.

(In the summer, these whales squirt water.) “A” and Jameson ran all over the park together. The went on every slide and climbed every rock. So I guess it’s only appropriate this picture looks like an engagement picture. Sorry “K,” Jameson might be cheating on you.

Man, that’s one big rock! Oh, and the one they’re sitting on is big, too.

They continued to take over the park…

Check out that BLUE sky! And guess what was even better? We could feel the warmth of the sun. Finally! These two took one last trek up the back of the whale, then it was time to go.

Meanwhile, the babies hung out and ate crackers and pretzels. Ella was so happy to be outside.

Can you believe we are one month away from celebrating a first birthday?

Ella’s milestones so far are:

• She has 2 complete teeth in. The upper right and bottom left. Yes, she looks kind of funny. The other two front teeth have broken through the gums, but have not come fully in.
• She can stand for a few seconds until she realizes nothing is supporting her. Then she gracefully sits down.
• She has learned to climb. I have found her on Jameson’s bed, trying to climb on the nightstand. She also frequently climbs on the small chairs, and bugs Jameson when he falls asleep on the couch. Today I watched her climb from chair to chair, and onto the small table where she looked at me and laughed.
• She has been attached to my side, which is not always fun.
• She spits raspberries in response when you do it.
• She will walk if you hold her hand. Really, she just needs one of your fingers to hold onto.
• If you laugh at all, she laughs. She can’t stand to not be part of something.
• She still takes her baby food, but loves lunch meats, bananas, yogurt, potatoes, and anything anyone else is eating. She especially likes when Jameson leaves his food on his table while Mom takes him to the bathroom. I found her with only a 1/4 of a sandwich left which means she ate 1/4 and was working on the other. It was a peanut butter and honey sandwich. Yup, #1 Mom right here. Honey and peanut butter before age 1.
• She hates being strapped in her carseat, but she is still in her infant carseat. This is only because that is the only way she will sleep if we are out.That is changing soon. Just have to do some washing.
• Ella will pretty much sleep only in her crib.
• As of today, she is 21.5 pounds.
• She loves to bug her brother. Yesterday, I could hear her laughing in the other room while I was making dinner. I look in, and she is standing on the small chair next to the couch. Jameson had fallen asleep (miracle) and she was pulling his hair, pulling his ears, sticking her finger in his ears, etc. He would roll over, and she would laugh. Poor Jameson. But I have to say, he probably deserved it.

We absolutely love this girl. I get stopped every time  I’m out and told how cute she is. She adores her brother, and he tolerates her. If anyone else tries to do anything to her, he comes to her rescue. He loves to point out his baby sister now. Hopefully, next month I will be able to post walking pictures. She loves to be upright, but is not quite steady yet. So, hopefully.