reading books

I have discovered that many parents dislike reading to their children. I understand that the repetition of reading the same books over and over, day in and day out can get a bit annoying. But, I am very thankful that I don't fall into that parental category.
Now, there are times that my love of reading to Ella fails me (like the other day when she wouldn't take a nap and discovered that her new favorite toy was a bell that she rang almost constantly). But for the most part I am happy to read many books in one sitting (even the same one more than once), with her snuggling in my lap for up to 45 minutes at a stretch. Ella is, however, lacking one of the more annoying traits that many toddlers exhibit during book time: constant interjection. She does not ask me to spell our words, or threaten to tattle to her father if I skip a page (accidentally, of course), or insist that she read the story to me. Now, she does like to sign along when she sees a picture or hears a word that she knows the sign for, but that isn't quite the same as interrupting. I suppose that this trait will surface when she learns to talk, but until then, I will keep on reading with joy.

helpfull child

Today I was holding a pair of my socks in preparation for getting on the treadmill after Ella went down for a nap. When Ella saw them in my hands she showed interest in holding them, so I gave them to her. Then the phone rang and I got side tracked for a few minutes. Then the time comes for me to take Ella for a diaper change, etc. before bedtime and I notice that she no longer has my socks. I walk around the kitchen and living room looking for them to no avail. So, I give up and go to put her down for her nap. When I am done and Ella is quiet, I take another look around for the socks. In the kitchen, I get a sudden flash of an idea and decide to look in the trash can. There they are, in the kitchen trash.

I have been teaching Ella to do little things to help out lately. Having her put her laundry in the drawer, putting her dirty dishes on the counter, carrying her milk to the table at meal time, and occasionally throwing trash in the trash can.

I wonder if it is time to bleach my socks.

places to eat

Ella is not the most diverse eater. So, going out to eat with her can be challenging. She will not eat burgers, grilled cheese, or any kind of pasta (at least not more than one or two bites). There is only one kids menu staple that she does consume: chicken fingers/nuggets with french fries.

When Ella was younger our restaurant choices focused on the ideals of quick service and good high chairs. We brought all her food with us, so the menu didn't matter. Now we look for places with kids menus, and good high chairs/booster seats. We still don't have a wide selection worked out because when we do decide to go out with her, we tend to stick with what we know rather than try someplace new that will not meet our criteria.

When it comes to fast food Chic-fil-A is the best, with McDonald's a close second.

Chicken Out Rotisserie wasn't a big hit at first because their kids meal nuggets are usually dry (white meat that isn't fried), but we have found that if we cover the chicken in ketchup or bring in our own sweet and sour sauce (left over packets from chic-fil-a) for them, it has worked out great.

Our most popular place to go is Applebees because we get a wide variety to chose from, and we know she will eat their chicken with no problem.

Today we tried a new place for lunch, and I must say I was very happy with it. We went to a Houlihan's. Their menu is very diverse, and their kid's chicken and french fries was a hit with Ella. The value also struck me as fantastic. Her kids meal was only $5 and it came with veggie sticks and dip, applesauce, a drink, 4 chicken strips with fries, and ice cream for desert! Our only complaint was the seating. We chose to try sitting at a booth and having Ella on a booster seat. The booster seat did not work well with the booth seat. She was sitting way to far back, and could not move forward to reach the table without fear of falling off totally. Consequently, poor Mentalfather spent the whole meal holding her in place and eating with one hand. We plan to go again, but we are going to go for a high chair next time.

Unconventional toys for toddlers

Sometimes I find it amazing what odd things attract Ella's attention. And, of course, everytime she picks up something from around the house and gets fascinated playing with it, I ask myself why I spend any money buying her fancy toys. Here is a sampling of some of those household toys.

belts
tubes from toilet paper rolls and from wrapping paper rolls
aluminum pie plate
red string
plastic storage containers
remote control
phone
mostly empty water bottle (tightly screwed shut, of course)
twine
cat toys
rolling foot massager
shoes
DVD boxes
bowls and spoons
blankets and pillows
house plants
bungee cords
raquet balls (the bounce is amazing and lots of fun on hard floors)
sunglasses
toilet paper
combs and brushes
canned food

So, if you are running out of ideas for entertaining you little one, give something from the list a try. And if you have any other good ones to share, please let me know. I love anything that changes things up in my day, and I love great opportunities for picture taking.

Snow!

OK, this is not a flurry! Big fat flakes are sticking to the grass and my front deck. And it isn't even Thanksgiving yet. Yes folks, we do get some strange weather in Maryland.

Ella could have cared less when it was just a flurry 15 minutes ago. But now that it looks more like a real snow, she is just standing next to me in the kitchen and staring out the window.

I also saw a fox in the yard a few minutes ago. All I need now is a deer in the back yard and I am good to go.

OK, I have just had a dryer ball thrown at my butt by Ella. Time to go and play.

collective sigh

Ella has started having tantrums, but today's was a whopper!

Early in the afternoon, about an hour before her nap time she started testing me. For example: she hit me in the face when I wouldn't give her something then refused to say she was sorry. So, when nap time came and I changed her diaper all hell broke loose. She ended up walking around the house screaming and throwing a book around. Eventually she started vomiting (thank goodness it was in the kitchen so it was easy to clean up) which, of course, made her cry even more. She even slipped in a puddle of it before I got to clean it up and fell on the floor. It took me forever to calm her down, but at least she was amenable to my attentions (true tantrum crying would involve her pushing me away). I had to strip her down to her diaper in the kitchen because she was covered in vomit. Eventually she got dressed again and took a nice nap.

Whew!

Hugs

One of Ella's favorite things to do is give hugs. She will even give things to me and request that I hug them (using sign language). So here is a list some of the many things that Ella has hugged.

her Mickey Mouse doll
balloons
flashlights
my leg
blocks
her Elmo doll
a container of goldfish crackers
books
pillows
a cardboard tube from the center of a roll of wrapping paper
sippy cups
and once (this is my favorite) she hugged a can of soup when we were in the grocery store

things I have gotten used to, and some things I haven't

Things I have gotten used to:
-" How old is your son?" (come on people, she is a GIRL)
- people telling me how hard it is to get their 2 year olds to string 3 words together. (Ella doesn't even talk at all)
- women at the playground exclaiming how big Ella must be for her age. (because they assume that, since she isn't talking or running, and needs a lot of help climbing on things that she must be a lot younger than she is)

I really have gotten used to this stuff. It doesn't annoy me at all anymore. Actually, this is a really funny story. The one woman who was talking about how hard she was working with her son (who was only 1 week younger than Ella) on stringing 3 words together, I ran into her a few days later at a different playground. We had been talking about using sign language with our children, and so she knew that Ella hasn't started talking yet. So, when we ran into each other again, she apologized to me for being insensitive and complaining about her son when my daughter was so much "worse off" (her words, not mine). I found myself comforting her and assuring her that we all have work to do with our children and that it doesn't really matter what level they are on, it is still work.

What I haven't gotten used to :
"What is wrong with her?"

Do you blame me for not liking that one?
How about I use this as a response: "What is wrong with you?"

sorry it been so long

Mental Father has been writing up a storm lately and I have only just started to get back into writing. So, if you want more detailed and reliable updates on Ella's progress, please check his page out.

Yesterday was a very happy and surprising day. While at the mall Ella walked about 50 feet all by herself, not touching anything. She would have gone further, but she was starting to veer away from me and where we needed to go so I called out to her to follow me. She then realized that she wasn't near anything to hold on to and she dropped into a crouch with her hands touching the floor. Later in the day she walked to whole distance of the house (also about 50 feet) from front to back 2 times without touching anything.

It is so freeing to be able to walk around with her and not have to hold her hand all the time. And she seems to like her new freedom of movement, too.

More later, including a list of all the things that Ella likes to hug.

music class

I enrolled Ella in a Music Together class. She has had 4 classes so far.

She spends most of her class time (45 minutes) trying to get at the instruments in the bins that are piled up under a bakers rack that is used for storage/desk purposes. She also loves playing with the blinds that run along one side of the room.

Her teacher (Ms. La La) says that it takes them about 6 classes to get into the participation, etc. She does participate some of the time, other times she will stop what she is doing and look at all of us, or listen to the music and dance a little.

There are some articles out there about how these music classes can help to stimulate children with disorders and help them learn better. It is a little early to tell if it is helping Ella, but time will tell.

sensory stimulation

So, her therapists are putting more emphasis on giving her sensory stimulation. This means a schedule where she gets to spin and move around in a desk chair, swinging in a blanket, or moved around in a Billibo (cool toy that is impossible to describe) 3 times a day. Also, she is supposed to have "messy play" with yogurt, shaving cream, or something like that.

One other sensory stimulation exersise is letting them play with a container with sand, beans, rice, etc. in it so that they can feel what it is like to pick it up and let it fall, bury their hands in it, etc. We did this for the first time yesterday. We used rice in a large plastic container. It is a good thing we did it outside because her favorite thing to do was put her hands into the center of the tub and pull toward her so that the rice came up over the edge and covered her legs. She had a great time playing in this way. And when we were done, her hands and face were covered in rice startch!

New Foods

OK, so another one of Ella's issues is with chewing. So you can imagine that significantly effects the different kinds of foods she will eat. Well, that is changing. I have managed to teach her how to use her teeth and gums to chew food.

Some of her new foods include chicken nuggets from both McDonalds and Chic-fil-A (made better with sweet and sour sauce), fish sticks (also made better with sweet and sour sauce), and veggie burgers (made better with ketchup).

Notice all new foods are proteins. The only protein she got for a long time was from dairy products, peas, and the occasional bean.

I am happy that she is eating more, although this does mean that I have to cook more often.
(sigh)

Happy Accident

One of the big issues with Ella's current gross motor development is her inability to go from a standing position to a sitting position.

Yesterday she was doing her usual walking ping pong back and forth between furniture in the living room. Then, as she was going from the rocking chair to the ottoman, she discovered an obstacle. I had left a blanket roughly folded on the floor. She walked up to it, stopped, balanced for about 1 second, leaned forward placing both hands on the blanket, and then dropped to her knees from there. This is the first time she had done anything like this.

If I had realized that the best way to get her to try new things was to be more of a slob, than I should have allowed myself to be more lazy a long time ago!

Gone With the Wind

I just finished reading Gone With the Wind by Margret Mitchell. It took me quite a long time to get through, but it was a mostly enjoyable experience.

One night, right after I started reading it, I was eating alone and reading at a local restaurant. This is, by the way, one of my favorite things to do. Anyway, I was reading and the manager came up behind me, asked me how my meal was, and then asked me what I was reading. I showed him the book and looked up at him. He was black. I felt embarrassed to be reading a book that portrays such antiquated and unflattering views of blacks. This was strange for me because I can never remember feeling guilty for reading a book. Well, the following conversation revealed that the manager was more amazed that I was reading a classic instead of something from Oprah's book club. So, I got over my feelings of awkardness fairly quickly.

I think that this book was good enough to win the Pulitzer (which it did). The characters are very rich and well flushed out, and the plot is structured very well. I must admit that the attitude the books characters and author have toward black people was quite alarming and disturbing at times. There was even one slur toward Jewish people made by the main character that just blew me away when I read it. However, for anyone who is interested in reading a good novel with historical elements (the details on the Civil War, particularly the fall of Atlanta, are very good) I would recommend it.

Vacation

Matt and I went on a one night get away this past Friday. I have to say that it was well needed and deserved. And, of course, it was well appreciated. We have been having some disciplinary issues with Ella lately and I have gotten a little stressed out.

We went to a nearby golfing and spa resort and got a room for one night. We had in room massages (and my therapist was a former student of mine...such a small world) and then a late dinner. The next morning after waking at the unusually late hour of 7am, we had breakfast in room, and then spent some time soaking in our jacuzzi tub. We checked out around 11am and strolled around a nearby town after having lunch. We came home around 3:30pm and played happily with Ella for a few hours before putting her down for the night.

By the way, thanks to my parents for staying with Ella for the night so that we could get away for awhile.

You guys didn't really think that we left her alone that whole time, did you!

more signs

First of all, let me apologize for not writing in awhile. Ella was sick, then I was sick, and now she is teething and not sleeping a whole lot.

So, if you read Matt's blog you know that her walking has improved to a point where she will walk a few feet from one stationary object to another with no problems. Example, she will walk from the couch to the music table we have in the center of the living room. Still no stopping and balancing, and still no sitting down in a controlled manner. But we are working on both of those.

I have been much more diligent in the sign language department lately, and she almost has 4 new signs. I say "almost" because she either doesn't do the sign consistently, or because she only does it if you help her out a little bit. These new signs are cracker, milk, book, and open.

I also recommend the "Signing Times" videos for anyone who wants to teach their child to sign. I was skeptical as to how much they would really help because just watching someone else do a sign doesn't do anything for Ella. You have to physically make her do a sign multiple times before she comes close to getting it. But the videos are entertaining, and give you lots of time between new signs so that you have time to do the signs hand over hand multiple times before a new one comes up.

more walking updates

She will now walk, going from parent to parent, as far at 17 steps/9 feet.

We have to do this in the hallway of our house because that is the only space long enough.

She will occasionally, and more often than before, let go of a hand early and walk the last few steps to get to an object (usually the keyboard or the couch). She will also, more rarely than the former, let go of something and walk a few steps to get to a person.

She also has better control of her walk. She can slow down, speed up, make small changes in direction, and can correct minor problems with balance. When she gets to a person she no longer falls into them but lightly takes and hand.

the 3 day experiment

One of the many issues surrounding Ella's learning disability is her resistance to making certain changes.

Up until 4 days ago, she was still drinking 3 6oz. bottles of milk a day. She would not consistently drink any large amounts from a sippy cup and that made we wary of trying to "force" her to quit the bottles all together.

So I decided to try an experiment. For 3 days I would only give her fluids in a sippy cup. I would try additional tactics to get her to drink from them, but no bottles. I offered her a sippy of milk at every meal, and numerous times during the day when she requests that I read to her (which is VERY often, she LOVES to be read to), and whenever we went for a walk and she was in the stroller.

I figured that, if she didn't drink enough, that 3 days of minimal calcium intake would not damage her in any way (she does eat plenty of cheese and yogurt so it wasn't like she wouldn't be getting any!) So, if she didn't get with the program by the end of the 3 days, I would just go back to the bottles for awhile and try it again later.

Well, I am happy to say that it worked. I have spent a lot of time with her on my lap, reading books because it takes her longer to drink the same amount from a sippy than it does from a bottle. But it still worked!

And, now I am selling the bottles on craig's list. One first for Ella, one first for Mama!

test or torture?

Today was Ella's hearing test.

Since she still isn't talking, it was decided to get her hearing tested just to make sure that a hearing problem wasn't contributing to her other issues. Ella has a fantastic receptive vocabulary for a non-talking child, so we thought that she probably didn't have any major hearing problems, but it is better to cover all the bases.

So, Ella and I are sitting in a sound proof room and they are pumping different sounds into different areas of the room and then lighting up toys as a reward when she turns her head to look for the noise. She didn't make it very long before she started wailing and squirming around. The more we tried to get in a few more tones/sounds the worse she got.

Now, I have to admit that sitting in a sound proof room is a bit creepy. I think I would have started crying if I was a toddler, too.

Next, we sit in an office (not sound proof) and they use a machine to, what they called, take a picture of her middle ear/ear drum. Of course, this involves putting something into her ears. Not a good idea. I ended up having to "bear hug" my daughter (restrain her by hugging her tightly with her arms pinned up against her sides) while an assistant held her head as still as she could so that the audiologist could hold this wand in her ear for at least 3 seconds. Mind you, they had to test both ears. Ella was screaming bloody murder and I was trying to calm her down by singing "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" in her free ear.

Needless to say, they didn't get enough testing in to pass her with flying colors. So, we have another appointment to go back in 2 weeks. I do believe that we will only have to be in the booth again, and not have to deal with the ear drum picture thingy because they said that that test came out "within normal ranges".

All in all, this was worse than when she got 3 shots in one day at the doctors. So, I say (dripping with sarcasm) that I can't wait to go back!

Really, it wasn't all that stressfull for me. I just felt sorry for Ella. I guess all her crying was easier for me to handle because I knew that I wasn't the cause of it.

Feeling left out, but in a good way

I currently know 5 women who are pregnant. I also know one woman who recently gave birth, and one other woman who is trying very hard to get pregnant.

I have been wondering since my daughter was born if I wanted a second child (before I had her, I had always thought I would have one child and maybe two, but no more than that). Many different issues have been considered: will it be fair to her for her to be an only child, cost, life changes and stress. And, since she is now a "high needs" child, I also wondered if I could give her the attention she needs with another sibling to take care of.

I know that my decision is a personal one and some of you may be wondering why I would write a post about it. I did this to send a message. It IS a personal decision which means that those of you out there who feel the need to voice your opinions about what my family should do need to think before you speak. I don't want to hear about how lonely you were as an only child ( my brother is 7 years older than me so I have a fairly good idea about what it feels like to be an only child) in an attempt to guilt me into having another baby. I also don't need your theories about how it would be better for Ella to have a "normal" brother or sister to motivate her (are you serious!?!)

I would never think of saying to one of my pregnant friends, "what are you thinking, having a second child?" And no one ever does this (not that I have seen) because it is considered normal to have more than one child. Well, I was always happy being the weird girl, the "odd one out", and I must say that I plan to continue doing things my own way.

how do I do that?

OK, Matt and I have decided to keep Ella as an only child.

So, it is now time to figure out what to do with all that old baby stuff. The clothes will mostly be passed on to my new niece (I will probably keep one of those tie dyed outfits that were made at my baby shower for nostalgia). But how do I get rid of the big stuff like the baby swing, co-sleeper, breast pump, etc. I would be happy to take any suggestions. I have never sold anything online and if that is a good way to go, I am happy to get any advice you readers can give. I am sure my parents will be happy as well, since I am now storing most of this stuff in their basement (we don't have a basement OR an attic).

insane or creative?

The other day I found myself making up nonsense words that rhymed with "cheese". I also made up a song about cheese to the tune of "Camptown Races".

All of this was done to make eating more entertaining for her. But I think that I was keeping myself from getting bored, too.

Cheezy peezy maneezy, anyone?

18 month check up

23 lbs. 15.5 oz. (lets just call her an even 24 lbs, shall we!)

50% weight (same %)
50-75% height (gone up from 50%) maybe she will get my above average height!
50-75% head circ. (same %)

surprising news: she can have peanut butter, just not peanuts. Doc says they are a choking hazard but no longer an allergic issue.

reassuring news: Doc asked if I was planning on going back to work any time soon. I said, "No".
Doc then said that I was doing a great job with her (she sees a big difference in her development since last visit) and that I should keep up the good work. I always felt that it would be harder for Ella to catch up if she was in a daycare, now I guess I get a bit of reassurance on that front.

All in all, it was a good visit. She only had to get one vaccination and stopped crying immediately after I picked her up. Horray Ella!

photographs

OK, one of our favorite new games is to roll these balls up and down the hallway and chasing after them. I just thought that it was time to post another picture and this one seemed really cute.

On the subject of pictures: I finally got her into a studio today to get professional shots taken. She hasn't had any done since she was 9 months old. That was half her life ago!

To anyone who doesn't like to get professional shots taken because of the price: learn to work the system! I got 5 sheets of pictures in 3 different poses for less than $13 today. That is a hard one to beat. Here are some rules to follow:

-Don't get roped into their special combinations. They are never worth it.

-Don't get any special borders. They can double the price of a sheet of photos.

-Always bring coupons.

-Buy into the portrait club if you plan on going at least 2 times during the duration of the membership (2 years @ JC Penny). It will pay for itself that fast.

So how did I save so much money today? Well, I belong to the club so I didn't have to pay a sitting fee. I brought a coupon that got me a free 8x10 and I used an extra on my membership to get another sheet of photos for free. That takes me down to 3 sheets of photos left to pay for. My coupon also allowed me to get them for $4 a piece.

Now, if I had gotten the special borders on even one of the sheets of photos then I couldn't have used the coupon the way I did. They tried to talk me into a "package" where the special borders are included but I would have gotten 6 sheets (just one more than I actually got today) for around $60!

By the way, the best deal is to only choose one pose and get the $7.99 package deal where you get about 5 or 6 sheets of pics. But who can chose only one pose when they are so cute!