Mittens!

This is what happens when the sweet baby won't quit pulling on her g-tube, trach, and glasses (sometimes all at the same time).

Ellis outgrew her baby mittens a long time ago, so don't tell her these are just socks.

Rescheduled

Ellis's surgery has been rescheduled for July 21st. There was a conflict on the hospital's end, but we don't mind so much because it just gives her more time to get bigger and stronger before the procedure. Also, Ellis's birthday is coming up and we did hate for her to feel bad on her very first bday!
Speaking of birthdays, last weekend Ellis helped her little buddy RJD celebrate his first one! It took a lot of planning and several extra hands, but Ellis was able to attend the party for a little while and she loved it. She's never been around so many kids at once, and I think she was a little intimidated because she played shy quite a bit. But she enjoyed watching the bigger kids play in the yard and clapped as little R opened his presents.

Ellis thinks everyone needs superhero pajamas, especially a boy with this much energy!

She just had to see the fish up close. If I had let her she would have gone swimming with them.

First Crawl!

I am a little late in sharing this. Ellis has been crawling for almost two weeks now and now is so efficient at it that Mama is having a hard time keeping up. I managed to grab the camera for her first official crawl, however. In this video she's wobbly and easily distracted, but I can assure you all that she now reaches her targets with the proficiency of a heat-seeking missile.

Ellis had been scooting across the floor on her belly for many months and we thought she might skip crawling because she learned to stand up and take steps around the furniture pretty quickly. Her physical therapist educated us on why crawling is so important and gave me exercises and activities to do with her to encourage that. It worked! After a short time, she learned how much fun it can be and how easy it is to get away from me.

Ellis has also enjoyed visits recently from pretty Miss B, a BFF in the making, little Miss L, who was very concerned that Ellis was missing her froggy pacifier, and the hilarious E&T, who are endlessly entertaining. We love company!

Fun in the Sun

Ellis had a great weekend and has enjoyed getting outside in this nice weather. We found out she will have her surgery July 6th, just in time to get home for her birthday. We thank everyone in advance for all the prayers.

Ellis is Eleven Months Old!

Ellis turned eleven months old yesterday!  She celebrated by playing, clapping, and dancing until 2:00 am. Baby bear is bouncing off the walls again today, but Mama Bear is tiiiiiiiiiired. I just have to laugh about it because we are so grateful that she is feeling well and has so much energy.

Ellis gives us a good view of her pretty brown hair, which is getting thicker and longer. Mostly on top.

Ellis loves wearing pretty dresses and silly hats. She does not love putting her toes in the wet grass.

The Cutest Raccoon in the Forest

We had another eye checkup today, and it was all good news. In fact, Ellis's doctor says we only have to patch her eye two hours a day now instead of three like we have been doing. When we started it was six hours a day, so she is definitely making progress!
Ellis was so happy to hear the news she put on her new raccoon hat and did a happy dance. (Thanks Joe & Mo!)

Sorry this one is sideways. That's Mama Raccoon's fault.

Barefoot in the Park

Ellis is feeling much better this week, and we are just waiting now for her surgery to be scheduled. In the mean time we are enjoying walks when it's not too hot, playing with some fun new toys, and tasting new treats like pretzels and, yes, cheetos. Some days Ellis prefers to lick the furniture, but we are working on that.

Ellis loves playing with pretty Miss B! Thanks, Amy, for these great pictures.

Ellis Has a New Trick

 She has learned how to stand up in her pack & play all by herself! What are we going to do when she starts walking any day now? Oh my goodness. We need a bigger place!