The pictures above are from our family outing to Daniel's Petting Zoo. We fed the animals took a hayride, picked out pumpkins and Ella had her first pony ride. We had so much fun, but unfortunately, I let Carson get sunburnt. C'mon - it's the middle of October. You can see his red cheeks in the close-up below; he's wearing a navy shirt with striped sleeves. Dumb Mom! I felt awful.
- Ella and Carson were monkeys for Halloween; however, we did buy a kangaroo costume from Old Navy. She did not wear it and the tags were attached so we returned it on Nov 1. Ella goes into Old Navy with me and I sit her on the counter. She likes to pay. And as the associate is processing the return, she asks Ella what she was for Halloween. Ella confidently replies "a kangaroo." And I wanted to hide under the nearest clothing rack.
- I don't remember what Vic did, but it wasn't what Ella wanted him to do. She looked at him and asked "what were you thinking, Dad?"
- When we were eating out, Ella requested Sprite so they brought her a paper cup with a straw. Strangely, Ella turned it up and drank from it like it was a sippy cup. Of course, she got wet. After telling her that we don't drink from cups like that and this is how you do it, she stated that "she wanted to drink it like a beer." Vic & I did our best to not laugh and she added "I wanted to drink it like the armadillo." Texas Roadhouse has a stuffed armadillo laying on his back (upside down) drinking a beer. That's what I get for explaining too much to her.
- After preschool, Ella informed us that Grace was missing. I asked where she was and Ella replied "she was on China." Having met Grace's mom a month ago, I knew she was travelling to China to adopt a sibling for Grace. I told Ella that she was right - Grace was going to get a baby sister. And Ella said, "no, that's not right. a baby brother." I can't honestly recall so we'll wait and see.
- And this last one is strange... as we were leaving for preschool, she asked "Mommy, did our house burn down?" We have not discussed that with her, but I am sure it has been discussed with family and friends in her presence. After taking a deep breath, I explained that it had burnt down, Daddy built us a new one, and that it happened a long, long, long time ago. And on a different day, she said "maybe our house will burn down again. That would be fun." She has never used "fire" and "burnt" in the same conversation so I don't think she completely understands, but she definitely picks up on more things than I had thought.
After attempting another parent/child class with Ella, we decided to hold off on gymnastics until she was 3 and could attend without a parent. Ella wanted to do the big equipment and not the Wiggles dance and obstacle courses. But after hearing one of Ella's friends attending a dance class, we started looking into that opportunity. Vic's friend from high school has her own studio and she agreed to let Ella try the three year old class. We observed the first class and Ella was dying to join the girls. We bought tap shoes and ballet shoes for the second class and she loved it. It's a 45 minute class with tap, ballet and tumbling. She had so much fun, but it's obvious she's the youngest. We pay monthly so we'll see how it goes. The downer is that parents aren't allowed to watch, but if you watch from the window outside the studio, you can sneak a peek. Of course, we did that! Tomorrow, we are headed to a dance supply store to pick up a pink leotard and pink tights. I'll post pictures soon. Ella's in blue in the pic; they are doing ballet butterfly stretches.
Carson had his 9 month doctor visit and the doc was pleased with his growth. 14 pounds, 15.8 ounces and 26 1/4 inches in length. He is still not on the chart for weight but falls in the 8th percentile for length. His iron level was good so we can stop the multi-vitamins (one of the reasons for his constipation). He is starting to sit on his own for short periods of time, rolls everywhere every direction, starting to prop with his arms when sitting, bangs toys against the highchair tray, can pick up cheerios and place them in his mouth, pivots on his stomach and is starting to pull his knees underneath of him and move his legs to move towards an object (the beginning of the army crawl). He visited the eye doctor and this visit was much less stressful (no flipping of the eye). He looked great and we don't have to go back for another year - yippee! He had his follow-up with the NICU at Good Samaritan Hospital and he was on target for his adjusted age. He'll visit again at 15 months of age. Carson is making great progress with the physical therapist and he is starting to be more expressive. Although he uses consonants and vowels like ga, ba, da, he doesn't babble (babababa, dadada). He is starting to show different inflections when excited. He cried today when I took a tag off of his zebra because he wanted to eat it. Did I mention he mouths everything? This is so different than Ella. He has no teeth but has swollen gums so maybe soon. I think he's starting to play the pick up game. He drops a cup from the highchair and I'm supposed to pick it up... maybe Ella will want to play.
Ella had her first dentist visit this past week and she passed. I was honest and confessed that we brush her teeth once a day. Of course, he would like to see her try it in the morning on her own (at the very least) and then we should do it at night. He suggested I do a better job at the gum lines in the front by pulling her lips out. She always giggles because that part tickles. The bad news is that her thumbsucking (only when she sleeps) is affecting her bite; I could see the impact. The good news is that it is self-correctible. Dr. Bert told Ella that she needed to stop sucking her thumb and she still likes him. She has a security blanket and if she holds it, she sucks her thumb so we have new rules about Toodle-Doo:
- He can't leave her bedroom because he might get lost.
- He can't nap with her because he's dirty and needs a bath. He might get muddy footprints in her bed.
So far so good... she fake cried yesterday at nap time, but not today. I'm not forcing anything overnight because I don't want to regress on the potty training. We'll take it slow, but hopefully thumbsucking will stop before age 3.
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