All time and eternity...

Wow it's been so long since I last posted!!!  Same old story- internet trouble (I actually already started blogging, had some kind of problem, lost the post and then had to start over!!!) along with the problem of having no really good time to blog...  actually right now Ryan is with Ella for her swim class, and someone else is cleaning our house!!!  As part of celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary, which was yesterday, Ryan decided to hire someone to clean our house- and he wants to keep it as a regular thing...  You know what I'm thinking?  I'm sooooo glad I married Ryan! : )  Hehe...  There are, of course, many more reasons but if you read the post from Valentine's Day, you already know I married my prince charming : )  Looking back over the three years we've been married, I feel very happy...  And I'm so glad that we have our little Ella Bella!

So what's new with Ella?  Her swim class that she's in now is a group class with kids up to 4 years old (I think).  At first she was a little apprehensive- probably because of her previous "intense" swim instruction by Glendy, but now she really loves being in the water.  By the way, having tried out both kinds of classes I would definitely recommend Glendy's private classes.  Ella doesn't get much attention from the instructor with the class that she's in right now- there's just too many kids and with such an age range- I almost might as well just play with her a pool by myself.  The truth is though, that I also enjoy some kind of structure and routine, so we're going to keep taking swim classes over the summer- we're just going to try out Lifetime Fitness' classes.  Ella only has one more class left at the place we're going to now...

Actually just last night we joined Lifetime Fitness, and I'm pretty excited to get back into a fitness routine!  : )  I haven't really make any effort to lose weight and I feel pretty confident that with some effort, I'll slowly see some results...  Ten pounds and I would be happy, twenty pounds and I would be ecstatic!  I actually already had a gym membership at 24 Hour Fitness, but I have used it once in the past year- how pathetic, huh?  Anyway, since Lifetime Fitness has GREAT childcare for members (up to 2 hours everyday, for free), a huge rockclimbing wall Ryan can use, a beautiful indoor and outdoor pool, and lots of children's activities- I feel a little more motivated to use their facilities...  Another reason is that I joined that hula group I was talking about earlier, and a few of the girls practice there...  Anyway, I'm glad to finally have some motivation to get back into shape! 

Back to Ella!!!  She is totally a momma's girl right now : )  Apparently she is mostly putting on a show- when I leave and when I return she turns on the water works!  In between she'll be pretty happy though...  (Well, not always!)  She normally says "ma-ma-ma-ma" but when she's upset she'll get out "mom-meeee"  Hehehe...  She's still using the potty every day- we try to do it whenever she gets a diaper change (as long as we're at home), and she'll normally go "pee-pee in the potty" at least 3 times every day.  Her record is 5 times in one day!  And once, she even pooped on cue! 

Unfortunately, Ella has been having trouble sleeping lately : (  I think it's the combination of the start of separation anxiety, teething pain, and her increased activity.  I was reading on BabyCenter.com that once babies hit new milestones they sometimes practice in their sleep and it wakes them up...  I guess I'd have to watch her sleeping to see if she suddenly started "sleep-crawling"!!!  She is crawling really well now, and she loves to pull herself to a standing position anywhere she can get a good grip.  Once she got crawling, she really started getting better and better...

Hmmm, I'm trying to think of what else is new....  Ella makes the funniest faces lately, I'll have to try to get a video of it sometime so I can post it....  : )  I have more pictures and videos to post but I'm just too lazy to do it right now....  Hopefully I won't take so long to post again!

I couldn't be prouder...

Before her lesson; after the lesson...

This is hard for a baby!!!

This past week has been very, very exciting for me... Ella has had a lot of success using the toilet (with help, obviously!), and she did so well during her swim lessons... She is floating and kicking but we'll have to help her to use her arms more. Glendy said to focus more on that- and specifically, don't do a lot of underwater stuff with the baby! Well , just once every month or two in order to maintain those skills? I better confirm with her- anyway it's not necessary to do that with her often. And as she gets stronger she should get better at holding on to the edge of the pool. We'll have to go over to Ryan's parents house sometimes to practice : ) Ryan and his mom both came to the last lesson to watch, and I was able to get in the pool to practice working with Ella myself. I was a little nervous doing it but we did alright. Ryan was so impressed with it all that he's already agreed we should have Ella spend another week with Glendy next year, to help her reinforce old skills and learn some new skills. I hadn't anticipated doing it another time (mostly because it was a little pricey for me) but we liked it so much that we are planning on doing it next year too. It was worth it, definitely.

Thursday (Day 4 of lessons)

Friday (Day 5 of lessons)

Back to why this week has been so exciting! In addition to learning to swim and using the toilet a bunch, I think that I might be able to officially say that Ella crawled! She really wanted to get to those things she can't play with (the remote control, a tray for drinks) so she did some forward lunges utilizing all her limbs and made her way to those "fun" adult things! And then I put them farther away, how frustrating! So I think she just needs motivation to really get moving... She also has her first tooth coming through her bottom gums! You can hardly see it, but you can definitely feel it! Ryan just discovered it this morning. Everyday it seems to be something new now! I know teeth are inevitable and nothing to be proud of, but somehow I am!!!

Ella's comprehension of things is starting to amaze me too... Like today I asked her, "do you want to read a book?" And she immediately looked over at the books on the shelf next to the bed, where I keep some of her books. This actually happened twice today, so I don't think it was a mere coincidence or that I was mistaken (Ryan was there one of the times, and he agreed she clearly understood what I was talking about.) I'll try to incorporate some signs for things we use/say a lot: book, duck, milk, potty, lights on/off, etc - I don't know if that's helping but she does look intently at my hands when I do- and when I'm signing duck she smiles with amusement : ) I think it's because she likes to play with her rubber duckies in the bath tub, and there's also a cute stuffed duck from Ryan's parents that makes a quacking noise- she likes that. Anyway, I can't say that she's signed anything back yet- sometimes it looks like she might be signing milk but I think she's just wiggling her fingers... Still, I think that it's helping her to develop language comprehension skills... and eventually it may lead to some preverbal communication!

Here's another, AMAZING thing I don't even expect you to believe it but I'm going to tell you anyway.... Ella watches a DVD everyday (once or twice daily) that is ultimately supposed to help her learn to read. The written word comes on the screen, it's spoken, there's some image to associate meaning to the word, and there are parts to make it interactive also- the multisensory approach. Anyway, so Ryan was watching the DVD with her Thursday evening and the word "kick" came on. Ryan encouraged Ella by saying the word himself and demonstrating the motion. In response, Ella said "kick"! Clearly. This isn't the only instance either. About three weeks ago she clearly said "cat" after seeing and hearing it- and later in the week she attempted to say "dog" after seeing and hearing it (she didn't get the "g" but her attempt was right on cue). It's so exciting to see that she's really tuning in to what she's learning- and yes, she does enjoy it!

Well, I can't wait to share more of Ella's accomplishments- but I think that blogging 3 times in one week means I probably won't blog at all for the next week. It takes me longer than I'd like to spend doing it!

Amazing Baby!!!

So here's another video to freak you out. I do feel a little bad watching Ella do this, but I know that her having developed some survival skills is a worthwhile thing. I wish that the video didn't show a freeze frame of Ella the way it has it set though- face down in the water! I did not do that on purpose! Anyway, her lesson went okay today. She seems to be picking things up pretty well. I guess I might sound a little less than enthusiastic just because I know that it's stressing her out- however temporary it is. Just as soon as I handed Ella over to Glendy to get started, she cried in protest. But then afterward, she calmed down pretty quickly and smiled at Glendy a couple of times. And the rest of the day she was a pretty happy camper. So I know she's okay. I thought I was totally okay watching her swim lessons, but it does still make me hold my own breath a little!!!

If you're reading this and thinking I must be a crazy nut, then you might as well stop reading now because here's some more craziness... Ella used the toilet 4 times today! I know I said earlier that we're not potty training but now it's seeming like it's just naturally happening, honestly! When I changed Ella's diaper this morning I held her on the toilet, and without much urging at all, she peed! Then while I was feeding her breakfast, it seemed like she had to go number 2, so I took her out of the highchair and took her to the toilet. No luck. We went back to eating breakfast. Just a little bit later she farted (big time), so I took her out of the highchair and took her to the toilet again. It was just the right time- I don't think I needed to do anything- she immediately pooped in the potty! It may sound weird, but it was soooo exciting when it happened! Then later on in the day, after she'd had lunch, nursed, and napped for 2 1/2 hours, I thought we better do a diaper change/go to the potty. Her diaper was dry! After lunch, nursing, and a long nap? I think she must have held it. Once I put her on the potty, she peed liked she'd been saving some up! The last time she went, was with Ryan while he was getting her ready for bed. This has just been so amazing... She still does have dirty diapers, but I think if we just keep up with watching for her cues, I don't know, maybe she'll be out of diapers sooner than we'd anticipated. Anyway, I'm thinking of taking a video of Ella on the toilet- would that be weird? I don't know if I'm a good judge of what's weird anymore (or ever.)

Okay, well I am awake at 2am. Too much to do.....