Two For the Price of One

Ellis figured while she is going through the discomfort of teething, she might as well make it worth the effort. TWO little teeth are now peeking through. When they come in fully, they are going to be the cutest things ever. But for now, Ellis is not very happy about showing them off.
We really appreciate people praying for and thinking about Ellis this week. Unfortunately, we did not get to go to her appointments and tests because Greg got sick. It always takes two of us to travel with her, so the appointments got postponed. Her swallowing test will be next Thursday, so we are using this extra time for additional practice. (Greg is feeling much better now, by the way.)
This week Ellis has started sharing toys with me, which just tickles me to death. She likes to pick up a block or doll and hand it to me with a big grin as if to say, "Have you met my giraffe Sophie?" I thank her for it, make it dance, then hand it back. Then we repeat the process twenty times. You would think I would get bored of this, but so far I have not.
Also, Ellis recently made her modeling debut on the blog of the very talented Ellen Gormley. Ellen made her the lovliest little cardigan, which Ellis proudly shows off at GoCrochet  Check out the February 11th post!

Here are some pictures from a few weeks back, when our good friends Ben and Amy came over to visit with the adorable Miss Beatrice. Ellis is so excited to have a little friend and playmate!

Judging by the size of their sweet feet, our girls are going to be tall!

Ouch!

The sweet baby has her first tooth! She's not too happy about me trying to open her mouth to take a picture, so maybe we will wait until she can smile about it to show it off. Aside from some crankiness, Ellis is handling her first teething experience very well. She decided to use my fingers as a teether this morning and now I have a little baby tooth bite mark to prove it.
Tomorrow will be another big day for Ellis as we take her for a checkup, eye exam, and swallow study. We are praying for good results in all areas.

Ellis loves her snuggy bear jumper! Thanks Auntie Carrie!

Ellis Loves All the Love!

Ellis had a great Valentine's Day and felt very loved. We could tell.  

This week Ellis will continue her exercises and sign language lessons, but the special focus for us for a few days is extra practice swallowing. She will have another video swallow test done next week, which will determine if she can begin taking more food by mouth. She has been tasting tiny little bites of baby food for a while now, and we have mostly given her the basic apples, bananas, and sweet potatoes. She seems to like them all but I'm really trying to find something she LOVES to make the swallowing test a little better for her. Today we are trying apples with blueberries. Tomorrow, pears. If only we could find a way to put barium in a dum dum.

Ellis Is Seven Months Old!

And she says, "Bedtime, schmedtime! I've got to dance, Mama."

Bouncing Back

Ellis is feeling much better now after fighting off that nasty virus and ear infection. She's still not completely back to her normal routine, but we can tell she is on her way because she is smiling and playful again. There were several days of nothing but tears and sleepy whimpers. Poor baby. She's still not napping well, so I just have a quick second to share a few pictures.
Also, I checked our blog stats for the first time a few days ago and we are astounded and humbled by how many of you there are out there keeping up with us, praying for us, and pulling for Ellis. Since we started this little blog, we have had over 14,000 page views from 9 different countries! I don't think that even counts how many times someone opens the blog and just scrolls down to see older posts. (Also, we know who our international friends are, so it's not as if some random computers have been opening the site.) We can't thank you all enough for supporting us and praying for us through a difficult time. Someday soon maybe Ellis will be able to thank you herself.

While recuperating, Ellis has enjoyed some quiet activities like watching her favorite Baby Einstein videos.

Here she is waving at the puppets. I tried to catch her in the act but it got blurry.

Playing with her new dolly. Thanks Bess!