Our Marathon to a Family

Ellies potty training progress

Potty training Owen was tough - Ellie was easy but our life schedule made it pretty tough. She learned really quick and had few accidents for the most part at home. Didn't fight it. We started because she was so interested and I am not one to tell her no. SO when we were out and about we did pull ups. She was really good and not resistant to go potty in public when I put her on the potty. Awesome. but she still would pee in the pull up just like it was a diaper.

We started at home on October 5th. Now its January 14th and she wears underwear most of the time but diapers at night. We started going out in public in underwear. I still have to prompt her a lot to not pee in her undies and let me know when she has to go. She will protest trying at times, but I just carry a back up of clothes. We've made several outings now and had no accidents. The other day when grocery shopping she even told me when she had to go. I was just so excited she let me know.

She will poop in the potty at home now unprompted. I do catch her trying to hold pee and she will grab her self. It only takes a quick "oh hurry and go potty so you don't have an accident" and off she runs. She only poops on the small frog potty but has figured out how to get on and off the big potty alone and so she can go by her self now.

Its crazy to think of her as almost potty trained. NUTS even. The boys hadn't even started at this point. Leiland kind of but definitely not Owen.

She is still proud of herself. She didn't need a lot of bribing but I wasn't at all against it. We don't need it anymore though. Im so incredibly proud of her.

Ellie turns 2

I haven't blogged in forever. SO behind. Alas pushing forward.

Yesterday my baby turned 2. It wasn't as hard as I was expecting. She's been acting 2 for quite some time now. She is so full of life and spunk. She is a little firecracker. We weaned from nursing at about 21 months when Leiland and I went away for 3 days to cub scouts camp. It took about 5 days for her to stop asking for milk but only 2-3 days to not cry when I told her no and that it was all gone. Ever since weaning she has drastically increased the amount of food she eats and greatly expanded what she is willing to try. She still has no interest in milk, but is growing just fine without it.

In April I found some decay on Ellies teeth. I took her into the dentist right away. They had to put this stuff on that turns black to reveal the cavities. It also seals and stops any further decay. She needed 2 applications 2 weeks apart. They ended up being much worse than the dentist expected but thankfully it was taken care of quickly and prevented her potentially losing her teeth. She will go back next month to do another follow up. For fear that her nursing at night was the cause we immediately night weaned. It only took a few days. This didn't immediately stop her from waking at night though. When I was gone for camp, Tim was able to just lay her down and walk out. No tears or fight. Not what I had to deal with. But once I returned I pushed her because I knew she could do it. There was some push back, but she did it. Overall since then she has started sleeping better. She was even sleeping all night consistently for quite awhile in there until her 2 year molars started pushing. None have broke through however 2 are very swollen at the top.

Currently Ellie is wearing size 2t. She seems to be on the short side so dressers are almost always long as are pants. Leggings work great though. 18 months bottoms are now too small but many 2t are too big. Making it work. She weighs exactly 21 pounds but I have to measure the height. Wearing a size 4 diaper but is showing a lot of interest in potty training. This may be a new adventure here soon. She still rear faces in the car right now and I am not sure yet when that will change. Just playing it by ear at this time.

In the last month or so Ellie has fallen in love with Mickey Mouse. She has always kinda liked him but now she will watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and its all about mickey and the hot dog song. She will watch many things but only requests Mickey by name. She also likes Sunny Day, Bubble Guppies, and most cartoons that end up on the tv before she can request Mickey. She even likes Barney on the computer.

Although she does love her some Mickey she is REALLY obsessed with baby dolls, rainbows, unicorns, dinosaurs, the playset and her roller coaster car, and is already playing make believe. I often find her off playing in the play kitchen all by herself. She is a great helper in the kitchen any chance she gets as well as doing laundry. At nighttime she loves wearing multiple blankets and has about 9 babies and multiple stuffed animals in her crib. She walks around on tip toes, or runs and jumps all through the house. Its absolutely adorable. Such a bright spirit.

Befor Ellie weaned she wasn't a cuddler. Anytime she was able to touch me she was asking to nurse. It really made me touched out and over it at that time, but also I worried she wouldn't want me as much once she weaned. Now that she has weaned she has swapped all that nursing time with snuggles. She wants to lay her face on my chest to feel my skin, as well as putting her hand on my boobs for comfort. She is such a sweet cuddler and I just love it. I never would have guessed she would wind up such a cuddler.

On her actual birthday

Ellie and Frogs

Tonight Ellie and I spotted a frog as we went to check on the chickens. It hopped right in front of us. I asked if she wanted to hold it. She shook her head no. I asked if she was scared and she said yes, scared. SO no biggie. We tended to the chickens and whatnot. Then daddy asked if she wanted him to catch it. She was ok with that. We ended up with 3 frogs in the container for about 5 minutes. Each kid got to see them but none wanted to hold them. So before heading in we set the frogs free. I poured them out and let them be free. They hopped right past Ellie and Leiland. Ellie got nervous and ran to me. When doing that she stepped on one. Tim told her be careful she was standing on a frog and she lost it. High pitched terrified screams. I scooped her up and held her as she clung for dear life. She shook and kept saying frog. We've been inside for about 15 minutes now and she won't let me put her down and she just keeps saying frog. Scared. Poor girl might be a little traumatized.

Ellie's 10 month update

10 months old. How is this even possible? She's sure growing fast.

17 pounds, 26.5"

Size 3 diapers and size 12 month clothes (getting small)

Crawling is mastered. Stands no problem. Walks 4-9 steps and is trying all day to walk. She can stand herself up unassisted in the middle of the room but doesn't do it often. Walks along the walls, table bench, and anything she can find with just one hand to hold in. She will be walking in no time. Now she's even trying to climb on the couch and coffee table. She can climb onto our mattress on the floor and the air mattress the boys are using for now. She crawls up the stairs with lightning speed and gets to them the instant she sees they are available. Baby gate installed today thankfully.

Ellie's favorite activities include emptying every and all cabinets. Dishes, food, Tupperware - she has no peference. She had me considering cabinet locks. On every single lower cabinet. She also comes running if she hears the fridge or the dishwasher open up. Adorable. She really likes playing with cars, balls, and stuffed dolls (but not stuffed animals really).

Ellie still has issues with her reflux. She has finally begun burping on her own this month but has. Even out of her reflux meds this week and is definitely having an issue with pain when needing to burp. However it's definitely getting better. Still can't have dairy. At all. I still use butter on toast or a baked potato but that's about all. She drinks from a sip cup great but if it has my milk she just tosses it. She loves water and steals the boys juice. She is FINALLY starting to eat. Her favorite is chicken. She also seems to really like spaghetti. Two nights in a row that was a big hit by her. She goes nuts if you don't give her what she wants too lol.

Sleep has been rough. The move and teething combined had been hard on her. She now has 3 teeth and the 4th is breaking through. She's so stinking cute with those pearly whites poking through. I seriously love it. Her hairs getting longer too. Except on the front section lol. Ellie's finally learned to love the bath. Too bad she's absolutely nuts and stresses me out the entire time.

Ellie absolutely loves her brothers and will follow them if she hears them playing. She gets so excited to see them in the morning too. She says a few things. Dada, hi, and kitty. I'm pretty sure she's signing all done now and maybe starting to sign milk.

Ellie still fusses a lot. Love her dearly but she can be demanding that's for sure. We nurse most the night and laying her down to sleep has been nonexistent these days. I'm ready for her to have her room again.