I wish I could take really artistic & beautiful photos, but I can't. I wish I was a creative writer, but I'm not. Instead, I take my kids all over the city (& sometimes the country, too!) to experience the wonders of life. And then I slap up some point-and-shoot pictures & tell you plainly about it.
We are really lucky that we haven't had to take our kids to the ER yet. Well, until we were out of state. One afternoon as we were getting ready to head back out to the beach, Ella got a little huffy and resistant and plopped her body down on the ground while Matt was holding her hand. He instinctively pulled her up (by her arm) and she instantly starting crying. We wondered if she was injured, but at the same time it had been a long few days, she was overtired anyway, and it seemed maybe that was just the last straw for her. Matt stayed in and took a nap with Ella. When she woke up, she was still clingy and cranky. We also noticed she was not using her arm, and wouldn't let us touch it. We are out in the middle of nowhere as far as medical help goes, but there was a number at our house for a woman who makes house calls. When I called, though, I only got her voicemail that said she wouldn't return a call until the next morning. So, we packed Ella up in the car & headed to the closest clinic (45 minutes down the road) only to get there 10 minutes past closing. Another 15 minutes down the road and we ended up at the hospital where we entered the ER and had to wait another 2 hours to actually see someone.
Ella was very patient in the waiting room. Thankfully they had some toys, books & a video playing. She liked her fancy bracelets:
When we were finally admitted into a room, a Physician's Assistant came and took a look- within 30 seconds he diagnosed her with Nursemaid's Elbow. He then demonstrated to me what he was going to do to put it back in place. In Daddy's arms, she was very brave as the PA popped her arm back in- she winced, and cried out, and then was calm. So after 3+ hours of driving/waiting, we spent about 2 minutes with medical help who solved the problem.
The PA brought her some ice cream for being so brave:
Then we headed home- another 1+ hour drive. It certainly could have been much much worse.
P.S. When we got back to NY and I told the pediatrician about the ordeal, she said I should have called her- she would have talked me through the steps of putting it back in place.
This is some video of Ella swinging her right arm as she walks or runs around. Sometimes she'll wind up before taking any steps at all. And it's always just her right arm while she holds the left arm steady. We took this video at the Museum of Natural History.
On Sunday, while my mother was here, Ella decided to really test her walking skills. She's been taking a few steps here and there over the past couple of weeks, but no more than about 2 or 3 at a time before she wobbles and collapses. But on Sunday, she really had some good series of steps- 10 to 12 or maybe even more. She seemed to be back to crawling for much of Monday (maybe it was the calming presence of Grandma that urged her on?) But now, 3 days later, it seems that she is spending more time on her feet than her knees. Every day she gets a little stronger, a little better.... and a little faster! I am happy, though, that she is finally developing this skill- the ground at the park has been very hot for her little hands to crawl on and she has been easily frustrated that she can't move as much as she could during the *cooler* weather. We bought some Teva sandals years ago when we were expecting Alexis, but she never fit into them during the summer time. I was hoping so much that Ella's little feet could wear the cute little sandals, and yesterday they took their maiden voyage through the sprinklers at the Hippo Playground. Photos from that excursion are on my friend's camera, so I'll get them up here in a few days.
When Daddy left for work this morning, Ella was still trying to figure out hand-knee coordination. Over the course of the morning, she has figured it out and is well on her way to speeding around the apartment. Watch out, Lexi! Here comes the little destroyer!
For a little while, Ella was happy to sit on the couch and rock back, basically crashing into the cushions. Then she would sit up again and rock back into the cushions all over again. I got a few *rocks* on video.
I just realized I have let a month slip by without posting a single word out there in cyberspace. So, here it is. An update on some of the highlights of the past month:
Aunt Allie trying on Ella's Halloween costume: Along with Grandma Susan, we attended an activity at the Hawes' home in Connecticuit. The special speaker was Glenn Beck who basically shared his conversion story. We also ran into some old friends from our Orlando days- the Merritts. So much fun to catch up with them! The church makes this a wonderfully small world. Here is a clip of Glenn- sort of the same kind of things he shared the night we heard him speak:
Just a good smiley shot of Ella taken sometime in November: A HUGE thanks to a friend who gave Lexi & me the last-minute opportunity to attend the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. This was the 75th year of the show and it was fantastic. Lexi could hardly stay in her seat! We had seats right smack in the middle of the orchestra which made for great views of everything. The ushers gave us programs (which included a pair of 3D glasses) and little light sticks with stars on top. During the show we saw a 3-D movie of Santa travelling from the North Pole to New York City. Other features that had Lexi on the edge of her seat: snow in the theater, streamers shot out over the audience, fireworks (!), real live animals walking across the stage, and at the end, everyone was asked to light up their little star sticks and the theater was aglow with little lights. So fun! This also happened to be a preview night and NBC was filming the show for a TV special (which I believe already aired) as well as a DVD. Before the show started, a crew member came out on stage and directed us to yell things like "Merry Christmas" and also to applaud and cheer quite loudly. It was fun. And, of course, I teared up! Ella on December 5, 2007- 6 months old! And finally, this short clip of the cat at my aunt&uncle's home checking out Ella. Seems the kitty has never seen a teeny tiny person (smaller than she is!) before. She just sat and stared at Ella, who was kicking her little legs, for quite some time.
