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This Christmas is a shaping up to be a little different for us.  We were planning to be gone most of the week after Christmas visiting various family.

However, Ellie has had a high fever since Thursday 12/22 at 5pm.  We visited the doctor Friday morning and discovered that she had a moderate ear infection in one ear.  Then, the worst hit later that morning.  We’re still in the midst of it, although there were a few hours this morning when I thought the worst was over and our little girl came back.  Otherwise, she’s sluggish, puny and pretty dog gone pitiful.

So, I pray your Christmas is healthy and happy.

I took both girls to the doctor this week for some check ups.  Samantha had a 4 year check up, and Ellie had her 18 month check up (is she really already that age?).  I am reminded why I don’t take them together.  I hardly remember what we talked about, and certainly didn’t remember to ask any of my questions.

The doctor tried to look into Samantha’s ears first thing, which she has always been resistant to let anyone do.  She has always been very sensitive about sounds or ANYTHING in/near her ears.  So, Ellie went first so she could be the example for Sam to watch.  Ellie is still long and tall, but is evening out a little.  She’s a little slow on speech, but can understand a surprising amount of what we tell her.  It’s surprising to me, but I’m sure it’s normal.  Just the same, it’s that amazing?  Sam was the same way.

Samantha’s check up went well too.  The doctor asked her 4 safety questions (which he told me were the top 4 unfortunate accidents – or worse – for children) like “What do you do when you get into a car?  Buckle up.”  And so on.  She knew all of the answers and gave a good High Five to the doc.

The nurse came in and gave Ellie her 2 shots.  She was consoled very easily.  Then, a strange animal that I had never seen showed up.  Was it a bucking bronco?  Was it an octopus, with 8 flailing arms?  Was it a growling wolf, showing its teeth?  Was it a screeching owl?  All of the above.  It was my Sam.  She got 5 shots (ouch).  She knew she was going to get them and backed herself into a corner, displaying the above said tendencies when it was time.  The nurse asked me if I needed some help to pin her down.  (She is surprisingly strong for her age and always has been, but at this point, I’m used to being a bit forceful when needed.)  The sounds coming out of her were from a possessed horror movie.  It was unreal.  I had never seen anything like it before.

Glad that’s over.  Until next year.

I’m behind on getting news out about Ellie.  Typical, I know.

Ellie had her 15 month check up a few weeks ago.  She’s a whoppin 19 lbs, which puts her in the 3rd percentile.  However, she’s 31″ tall which is about the 95th percentile.  She’s a regular Long Tall Sally.  I still have her turned rear-facing in the car, but Brian has yet another car seat in his car so she can ride face forward.

She started at St. Peter’s daycare in early August.  After an initial rough week or two, she’s doing just fine now.  We’ve got our routine down for drop off and pick up, and they are accommodating to my schedule.

She has a particular squeal when she sees Molly.  She can say “All done.”  She can squish her nose, which is so cute.  She knows a few body parts, like ear, eye and teeth.  She can use signs to say “more,” “all done,” and just recently “please.”  She still has only 6 teeth.

Ellie likes to play with whatever Sam is playing with.  She like cars or things with wheels.  Ellie is a Daddy’s girl and loves to rough-house with him.  She’s all ears.

Ellie is 7 months old!  She is such a happy girl.  Whenever we go out, she smiles at everyone so she gets lots of attention.  She is beginning to sit up for a few minutes at a time.  She has been wanting to sit up for months now (it looked like she was doing crunches) so I’m sure she’s glad to finally see the world from an upright position.

We went back to the doctor recently to get a check up on her ears.  There was still a little residual fluid from the last ear infection, but otherwise, looked good.  She weighed 16 lbs 4 oz.

Today, we went to the pediatric cardiologist to check up on her congenital heart defect.  She still has the ASD.  It’s very small (5 mm), but it should have closed up by now.  At this point, the only thing we’ll do is continue to get a check up by the cardiologist so he can monitor it.  Other than that, there’s no reason to treat her any differently.  If, by some reason, she is in the hospital one day and needs an IV, we would need to caution the staff that she does have a heart defect.  There’s a very rare chance that oxygen could enter the IV, and because the two chambers of her heart are connected, could make its way to the brain.  I can’t remember the name of that condition, but it’s bad.  At any rate, she’ll most likely have day surgery (by cardiac catheterization, not open-heart surgery) when she’s about 5 years old to close the hole.  The doctor said the device used to close the hole is made perfectly for her case.  Apparently, the hole in her heart is in the center of the wall separating the two chambers, so there is plenty of room on all sides to insert this device.

If you didn’t want to know all the details, I’m sorry.  I’m recording all this information because it’s fresh.  I know that in two years time when we go back for a check up, I will have forgotten all these details.  Like most blogs, I use this place as a record!

Ellie is 6 months old!

She was a sicko last week, so I was glad to get to the doctor on Tuesday.  Turns out, she has an ear infection in both ears, just like her big sister!  She has had a low grade fever, but other than that (which I attributed to teething), she hasn’t shown any signs of infection.  She’s just so happy!

We started baby food (squash) last week and added sweet potatoes this week.  She’s getting much better at eating with a spoon, but I just don’t think she’s going to be a big eater.  She’s now at 15 lbs 10 oz, which is near 40th percentile.