21 Months Old!

Fall is in the air. I cannot believe how fast time is going by! Elaina turned 21 months old on the 11th. She is doing SO well! The last couple months have been crazy busy. Ben and I finally moved closer to Elaina. We're just a few minutes away now, and I LOVE IT!!! It has been SO wonderful to be able to spend more time with both of my kids. Ben started 1st grade this fall, and he's loving it. He turned 7 on the 21st of September, and is now missing his 2 front teeth. Since he's in school all day, and we live so close, I've been able to have some visits with Elaina in the afternoons, pick Ben up from school and take him to South Davis to have a visit as well. There are also days that I go visit with Elaina while Ben is at school and then can have some quality 1 on 1 time with him as well. Ben is adjusting to homework and the move. It was hard on him to leave friends and his comfort zone, but he's resilient and seems to be adjusting well.

Elaina is just getting so big! She's decided that she wants to be mobile. She spends her days rolling around in her crib or a playpen by the nurses station. She can roll all the way over, from front to back and back to front. Once on her tummy, she'll push up on her arms to check out her surroundings. The nurses have told me that they've caught her on her hands and knees rocking back and forth, attempting to get ready to crawl, but as soon as she realizes that she's being watched, she stops doing it. I've never been there to catch her in the act, but I will keep trying! One of these days I'm bound to walk in and see her in action. I've taken to walking in with my camera in hand so that I can capture those kind of moments. And moments like this:


A lot of Elaina's energy is also going to teething! She's now working on 10 teeth! Seems like they all decided to come through at the same time! She's cutting 3 on the top, 3 on the bottom and 4 molars, one in each corner. Poor baby! But she's chewing on everything in sight and still smiles all the time.

I tried to get a picture of the teeth, but got this cutie smile instead. :)

She's thinking about rolling over.....

Ben's first day of school. The timing of our move was not the best. Ben started first grade at his old school in Orem, and then we ended up moving 2 weeks later. I debated keeping him out and having him just start once we moved, but decided that he would miss so much review in those 2 weeks that it would make it harder on him in the long run. He's a trooper, and did really well with the transition. It's always hard to be the "new kid", but he's starting to make friends and seems to enjoy the new school.

We were able to get one last weekend in with the family at the lake. I think Ben could live in the sand and water! He's fearless, and that scares me! Bear Lake stays shallow for quite a way out, and there were a couple of times that he really freaked me out because he went so far away. I had to haul him back to shore and threaten loss of water privileges if he didn't stay close. All in all, I think he had a wonderful time and we loved being able to spend time with family as well!

One of the advantages of living closer to Elaina is being able to participate more in her daily activities. Ben and I were fortunate to be visiting one night when it was bath time! Since I didn't have to worry about an hour drive home, we were able to stay and help with her bath. They put her on a gurney and basically shower her with a hand held shower.

She loves bathtime! She tries to eat the washcloths and splashes in the water!

All clean and pretty after the bath, she's showing us her tricks. If they put her pulse ox probe on her right foot, she pulls it off. For some reason, she'll leave it alone if it's on her left foot, but her right foot is the one she puts in her mouth, so she pulls until the probe comes off. Then she eats it. Of course it alarms, so the nurses come in and tell her she's a stinker for pulling at her probe and making it alarm, but she flashes a smile or two and since she's so cute she gets away with it!

Elaina continues to make so many improvements in her development. She's making up for lost time! She LOVES to be upright. She has fun in her saucer, she loves to sit in it and play with the toys. But she loves, loves, loves to sit in her Bumbo seat in her crib and watch Little Mermaid. The nurses will put her in the seat for a couple of hours at a time. Her back and neck muscles are getting so much stronger. For the longest time, it was difficult for her to hold up her head, even when she was upright. Her head would lean forward, with her chin on her chest. Sitting in the Bumbo has really helped that. She's got much better neck control and is sitting taller every day.

This picture was taken about 5 weeks ago. Notice how she's upright, but leaning forward a little bit?

This was taken a couple of days ago. She's much more upright and is holding her head up better.

Such a happy girl! She's even started laughing out loud! Not every time, but if she's in the right mood and feeling ticklish, she will give a giggle or two! She loves to play pat-a-cake, she loves to read books, she loves to play with her finger puppets. She likes to watch her movies! She's such the couch potato! Nemo is still a favorite, but I think that Little Mermaid is a close 2nd, if not tied for favorite movie. It's funny, if other movies are on she'll still play and interact and fall asleep if she's tired. BUT, if Nemo or Mermaid are on? NO WAY! She gets grumpy if you try to play or sing or take her attention away from "her" movie. It's cute. Kinda. Unless Mommy wants to play.......

And her newest accomplishment? See for yourself:

That's right!!! Sitting up, un-assisted! She lasts anywhere from 1 to 5 minutes. It was hard to get this picture, because she kept trying to grab the camera and it would make her fall over. She's so proud of herself (and she should be!) whenever she does it. Too cute!

Elaina has a cardiology appointment at the beginning of November. They are going to do an Echo this time, so I'm a little nervous. She seems to be doing great. Her sats are high, she ranges from 82-93%. I have noticed that her fingers and toes go blue on occasion, but she pinks back up within a few minutes. Its usually when she first wakes up from napping, so I don't know if that's anything to be concerned about or not. I'll talk to her Cardiologist about it, just for my peace of mind.

Well, thanks for taking the time to check in on us! Most of my boxes are finally unpacked, I have a few to sort through in my closet and some pictures to hang, but then we'll be all moved in. I'm hoping to be in a better routine soon, so hopefully I'll be able to post more often. Not having to drive so far really has it's advantages.

Hugs!
Hollie, Ben and Elaina