Picky eater?

We now officially (in my eyes) have more of a toddler in the house than we do a baby! Ellie has her own opinion about almost everything!  It's fun in many ways because she is already beginning to make choices and I think she enjoys things more when she's made the choice to do them.  This also means however, that she has an opinion about everything including what she wants to eat/drink.  

Ellie has been doing baby signs for several months now, which I've been extremely thankful for.  It has solved many a question about what she actually wants ("more", "done", "play") and it has (I think) decreased the amount of whining we may have experienced.  The problem is, the signs only say so much.  So now we know she wants to "eat" but WHAT does she want to eat!?! More importantly, should she have an opinion about what she wants to eat!?! Ellie has begun to reject certain foods one minute that she will proudly eat the next.  Sometimes she wants cheerios, sometimes she wants chicken, sometimes she wants peanut butter and jelly and sometimes (though she's saying "eat") she wants a drink!  ARGH! It can be quite aggravating! Many of times it is solved with giving her a simple choice, cheese or chicken.  Though today for example, she finished her cheese and all she had left was chicken.  She began whining for "more" when the cheese ran out.  So she ate nothing until she realized, "oh yes, I like chicken!" and then finally finished her chicken!  

This has brought about many conversations about how much we should expect out of our 1 year old! Should she be able to chose at this young, tender age(mom's opinion= YES)? Or should we make her finish what's in front of her no matter how much she cries(dad's opinion=YES--bias making it seem worse)!?  She is getting her protein, she loves chicken when in the mood and eats plenty of peanut butter (not to mention the cheddar cheese, cottage cheese and yogurt).  She's getting her carbs, no questions (cheerios and wheat puffs for breakfast).  She's getting her vegetables, steamed chopped mixed veggies--Loves the green veggies best! And she's getting her fruit-lots of natural apple sauce and bananas!  So do we let her scream and make her eat what's in front of her? Or do we give her a choice between two heathly, equally "good-for-you" meals? 

A side note, this increased fussiness about food has come at the same time we've begun to only nurse once a day--bedtime.  She refuses whole milk which has been the supplement!  Has the weaning made her emotionally unstable?  Has the option to refuse whole milk led her to refusing other things as well? And that's another problem, she won't drink milk (though mixed 50/50 with breastmilk she will chug-which will soon not be an option as I'm running out of milk)! How does one fatten up a picky, weaning one year old!?!

Better--Sick--Better!

So thankfully, Ellie took a nice long nap that day she was sick and then went to bed a little early and woke up her perfectly happy little self!  Her appetite was a little sluggish for a day or two after, but at least she was only puking the one day....THEN yesterday, I got sick! I was at work yesterday (Saturday) and I was feeling really gross off and on all day and by 5pm I was ready to puke! So I told my charge nurse and she was able to let me out by about 6:15.  It's a good thing too because as soon as I got home I got sick! So I went to bed and actually had a fever.  Though a little sluggish today, I'm feeling much better this evening.  I even had a full dinner meal at Panera Bread! Yummm! Needless to say, I've heard from several people that something is going around...gotta love daycare once again! :) Now let's just hope Joey doesn't get it!

Sick

Last night we got Ellie to bed kind of late. Ok, a lot late! She did fine with it and then slept in until 10am!!! WOW! That's a new record.  So when she woke up, I put her in her exersaucer with a baby einstein signs video and went upstairs and took a shower.  I came back to find her little food compartment full of puke! She had hardly ate any of the cheerios I had put in front of her. They were either on the floor or soaked.  I didn't know what that was all about but decided it was time for a bath.  So she got her bath, I got her in her nice clean clothes and....she puked again! She was looking really tired and at this point it was 11:15, so I put her in bed.  I went in to her door to check on her and I could hear puking noises again! So I came in and there were several wet spots all over her bed! When I came in she was retching! So I picked her up to console her and she wouldn't let me put her down.  So she is now downstairs with me playing very slowly, quietly and gently.  Poor girl! She had her Dr. appt this Monday and got four immunizations which she's never had any reaction besides a low grade fever.  She also had daycare on Tuesday.  She usually wakes up Thursday with a cold, but today it's puking! Our poor little one year old!

On another note, at her Dr. appt Ellie weighed 20 lbs 2.5 oz.  She is officially in a car seat that is forward facing, which is really exciting! That puts her in the 23rd percentile for weight, so a little tiny! She is 28 3/4 inch long which puts her in the 30th percentile for height.  So with that said, we have started whole milk (which has taken some getting used to) to see if we can puff her up a bit.  :) She is developmentally right on target! :) We are just so thankful for her health!  Up until this point the nursing weaning process has been very natural, which has made it nice and easy.  At nine months, I started nursing her three times a day; for the last month I've been nursing her twice a day.  I've always said I would stop at a year and here we are! So last night I skipped the night feeding! So we are now moving into once a day.  In many ways I'm excited about this transition, but in many other ways, this is really hard! I told Joey last night that he was going to have to help me wean!  I love the bonding! I will definitely miss it!

eating cake

Here is the video of Ellie eating her first cake! She pretty much loved it, huh?

Birthday Party!

     So Ellie turned one on Friday! YAY! It's so hard to believe that it has already been a year but at the same time hard to believe that we've known this wonderful person for only a year! Ellie is doing so well and we are so incredibly thankful for her and for her health.  Work for me has become a spiritual time of thanksgiving in my heart for the health I have been blessed with for so many years as well as for the health of my husband and our families and now even our child. It has been an amazing year! I would say the best in my life! Ellie has already changed so much and she is becoming more fun everyday! Ok so now for the birthday party pictures!

Here is Ellie and her daddy eating pizza.  

And this is Ellie's friend, Gabe.  He was the only friend her age at the party! :)

Ellie is trying to get the hat off and Gabe is being good and keeping his on.

Here is Ellie reading her cards

I thought this was so cute! Gabe eating fish and Ellie opening her presents one small piece at a time in the background.

This is a good shot of the party guests and you can see some decorations in the background. (And our nativity scene is up!)

Ellie and her cake.  She did try several times to grab the enflamed candles despite my warnings that it's "hot."  

Of course she wouldn't keep that hat on for anything!

This was Ellie's point of view during singing.

And finally her first cake eating experience!

Yes, she pretty much stuffed her mouth!

And finally in case you all forgot, Ellie is "so big!" (notice her foot)

Thank-you to all who came to Ellie's party and for all the gifts (even the one from grandpa Steve and grandma Merrilee in Hong Kong)! She had a wonderful time and although SHE won't remember it, WE will!

Proud Mommy!

She did it! She did it! One day shy of her first birthday Ellie walked on her own! AND I got it on camera! Woohoo! These are exciting times in the life of a mother who spends her days following her little one around wondering where she lies on the Denver II test (develpmental testing for children).  hehe. Ok for real though I'm quite excited. So here's the video: 

Happy thanksgiving...

I know it's kinda late but, Happy Thanksgiving!  We had a busy thanksgiving this year. I worked thanksgiving day and then we headed straight out to Chicago that night when I got off.  Then Friday morning the whole Toter crew and we headed out to Michigan for my cousin's wedding. Lot's of weddings, I know! Ellie did awesome the entire trip.  We dragged her around everywhere we went waking her up from her naps in the cars and putting her to bed way too late.  Poor girl! But she did great! :) We got many compliments, not that we have much to do with that! :) 

I have spent the last few days putting Ellie videos onto DVD with my mac program.  It's been fun except extremely time consuming! Now that I've got it figured out, I don't think it should take as long...haha we'll see about that!

So Ellie will be one in two days and we're going to have a small little party for her.  It will basically be an opportunity for her to try some cake! Yummm! I will definitely post pics of the party! :)

Not yet walking!

Ellie is becoming more and more expressive everyday! She is getting so big! She's a little less than 2 weeks away from the big Zero-one (it sounds better with two syllables like the big two-five)! 

This is Ellie making a funny face on command:

She is not yet walking on her own.  She just won't let go of my one pinky! She's kinda girly and timid in that way, she doesn't really like to fall and tries to avoid it at all costs! She is getting everywhere she needs to (and is not supposed to) go. She is climbing stairs like a crazy woman and cruising around all the furniture.  She also was pushing a chair in the annex of church this morning! 

Ellie has a little "snack trap" that she got from her friend Gabe and she loves it! We put her little Cheerios in there and she goes in and grabs them one at a time! (Not sure if I've posted a picture of Ellie's sweater and matching hat from Grandma Kim but it's a favorite!)

The other day we went on an adventure outside to look at the leaves.  Ellie had tons of fun and was trying to give me all the leaves she was finding! So cute! :)

Today for church Ellie wore her new dress that she just received from her grandma Merrilee in Hong Kong! She looked so cute in it and it's cotton so she's able to cruise! 

After church and a small nap Ellie and I went with Gabe and his mom Sarah to the mall to get a few things.  This is right before we left for the mall:

And this is after:

Cute Picture

This is Ellie's bed she sleeps in when she stays in Chicago.  She's almost completely grown out of it! Her little bear that she loves so much is in the pic with her! Every time she sees it she giggles and gives it hugs and kisses.  She LOVES that bear! Anyway, just thought this was a cute picture taken by my brother. :)

Monica's Wedding

This weekend we headed up to Chicago for my cousin Monica's wedding.  This is the second wedding amongst us cousins on my mom's side of the family.  We (Joey and I) were the first. It was so wonderful to see everyone and meet the groom, Don! :)

We had to wake Ellie up after about 45 minutes of her afternoon nap so we could get to the wedding on time and we paid! She was quite crabby that evening.  And finally at about 7:30 she just started whining and didn't stop until we got in the car and started driving....then she conked!

The wedding party.
This is Don, his daughter Emerald (Emmy) and Monica. The new family! :)

The Mrowiec side of the family.  I think Wil, Matt and Haley are the only ones missing... 

Ellie can drive

So I forgot to mention....

Ellie can drive! :)

Cake walk

Ok here's the same video, but a little bigger! Sorry everyone, bear with me! This is for grandpa Bill's sake (ok, and mine). :)

Halloween

Ok this is a real post with ANOTHER video and pictures! :)

On halloween night we went to our church for a little harvest fall party.  Ellie got back into her purple butterfly costume and went to church for candy (which mom and dad proudly ate!) and friends! :)  Ellie LOVES her friend Gabe.  When she sees him first she laughs and giggles then she hugs him and tries to kiss him! It's really funny to watch! :)

Ellie and Gabe switched costumes...

Ellie loved the little dog that was there despite its attempts to wrestle with her! :)

This is a video of the cake walk.  Ellie won a cake!! It was really good too! And no, she didn't eat any! :)

Another video attempt

Just trying to figure it out! :)

Ellielaughing

Just testing out video capability on the new website! This is an oldie but a goodie! :)