Ulta

My mom, Ella and I were running errands yesterday, and I stopped in at Ulta to buy some shampoo.

We left with a bottle of shampoo (purchased), conditioner (purchased), and two small bottles of scented body lotion in a snowman bag (NOT purchased!).

The thief strikes again!

Luckily, the ladies behind the counter thought she was a cute thief, so we all got a small giggle out of it. Little did they know...

Disney

Hal and I just booked our first family vacation. Destination: Disney.

That's right--the Denbars are invading the Magic Kingdom, and I, for one, could not be more excited! I'll admit that I'm a bit of a Disney fanatic. I realize I'm no longer twelve, but Disney, for me, represents the carefree, happy, joyful childhood that I had and remember so fondly. Plus, Hal has only been once, around age 2, and only remembers the Tea Cups--sooo not even the best ride in Fantasy Land. Hellllooo....Mr. Toad's Wild Ride??

So, for months I've been waiting impatiently for Ella to finally pay attention to a Disney movie. Every few weeks, I put one on to see if she'll bite. Finally, two weeks ago, she did. And WHAT movie did she in fact choose? Cinderella, with her Fairy Godmother, troop of eager mice and above all, glass slipper? No way. Sleeping Beauty, with her quaint cottage and three loving but overbearing Good Fairies? Nu-uh.

Monsters, Inc.

Monsters....Inc. Did NOT see that one coming.

I've now watched Monsters, Inc. at least 15 times. It's cute, I guess. I must say, however, that my heart still holds out hope for every single Disney princess.

Thief! Thief!

If I had to describe Ella in just one word (impossible, but if I HAD to), it would be sweet. She loves to give kisses--big, fat, juicy ones right on the lips. She loves to come up behind me and put her arms around my shoulders and just hug. I love that she loves to do both of those things.

Apparently, Ella also loves to shoplift. She has now shoplifted a pack of Extra Tropical gum from HEB and a rubber ducky from Pier One. I let the gum thing go because what actually happened was she dropped it into our cart at the checkout line and I failed to see it until we got to the car. Mind you, I took it home with the intention to return it on our next trip and Hal opened it and took three pieces. Oops.
But then the rubber ducky happened. Neither my mom nor I can figure out how she got the duck out of Pier One since we specifically saw her put it back into the bin. However she did it, she's stealth. I secretly think she recognized the rubber ducky from the Sesame Street Ernie's bathtime videos that we watch, decided then and there that she needed a bathtime friend, and maneuvered the duck into her jacket pocket. She then managed to hide it for four or five days, making it awkward for us to take it back and admit that almost a week ago our 17-month-old beat the system. Whatever the case, I feel it's important to note the appropriateness of the phrase, "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I need to keep a better eye out apparently. Maybe she's not so sweet after all...

Ella the Shoplifter: 1 Pier One: 0

Halloween!

Weaning

I questioned even writing this post, as it surrounds a sensitive, private, and somewhat hotly debated topic, but since this blog was created to chronicle Ella's milestones and special moments, it's a must.

Nursing, for myself as much as for Ella, has been a major part of the parenting journey so far. When she was a newborn, I felt like I'd never get my body back to myself, and there were definitely moments of resentment. However, most of the time, it was and has been just this magical continuation of my relationship with my daughter that started when she was in my belly. It was how we stayed connected to one another even though we no longer shared the same physical space. It was, overall, one of the biggest joys and blessings of the 16 months we've spent, day and night, together. I'm sad to see it go. Many tears have, and will be, shed in its passing.

But, for the first time, I'm harboring this amazing feeling that Ella is really growing into her independence, and that, in turn, means I get some of mine back too. I decided to start weaning last Tuesday, really because Ella had been very sick with a stomach bug for about 3 weeks, and once she was well, I was desperate to nurse her less often. So I decided that I would start (very slowly) cutting back her nursing sessions from 6-7 per day down to none. I would start with the morning feeding, then after several days, I would cut out any other feedings that didn't surround napping or bedtime. Then, painfully, I would cut out the naps and bedtime. I assumed this would all take about 6-8 weeks. I was prepared; I had my gameface on.

Today is day 6. We are down to one nap and bedtime--although so far today she's napped in the car for 20 minutes and with Hal while he was with her this afternoon. So really, today we're down to bedtime. I won't go so far as to say that this process will be done in the next few days. I'm not rushing it. But the funny thing is that Ella doesn't seem to mind the speed of this process one bit. So, we'll see how the next 6 days go. If they're even partly as smooth as the last 6, I'll look back and wonder why I stressed out so much. Still, any prayers and good thoughts are greatly appreciated (especially about Mommy's emotions)!

Let the Potty "Training" Begin

A few weeks ago, my mom bought Ella a potty. It sat in the guest bathroom, and Ella seemed vaguely interested in its presence. Before her bath some nights, when I remembered, I'd sit her on it for a second and ask if she had to go pee-pee (pardon my French). She'd say, "Yes", do nothing, and then she probably went while in the bath.

Until yesterday.

At some point during the evening, Ella meandered into the bathroom, sat on the toilet (I then picked her up and took off her diaper and returned her to her throne), and went to the bathroom. She then stood up, looked at me with expectation of praise, and boy did I ever praise her!

Two hours later, before her bath, she did it again.

I titled this post Potty "Training" because we're not actually training Ella to do anything. I hadn't meant to even consider getting her to use the potty for many months. But since she seems so interested, we'll see how this plays out!

Sidenote: Ella has FINALLY been sleeping 10 hours a night and until 6:30 or 7:00!! This is a HUGE change from 4:45 AM, which has been the norm for months. So happy. :)

Mommy and Daughter Time

Just wanted to post this memory so that I don't forget it down the line.

Today, Ella was watching The Wiggles so I decided to sit on the couch near her and catch up on some reading. After a few minutes, Ella looked up, saw me reading, and asked to be picked up to sit on our adjoining couch (clarification: Ella can only say, "Up", but I consider that a full statement). There we sat, each on our own couch, just relaxing a bit on a rainy day. She continued to watch The Wiggles until sometime several minutes later, I looked up and realized that she had her Baby's Spanish Dictionary in her lap. I watched as she turned each page slowly, making sure to point out to herself every picture she knew--la vaca, el perro, etc. My little copycat sat there for a long time, just catching up on her reading like Mommy. Sometimes when kids copy you, it's really annoying. Sometimes, it's the most precious form of flattery.

Early August...

Picked up my camera for the first time since Ella's bday...

Gammaw please

My mom came with Ella and me to Target today to pick up a few things. Ella has been teething (or so we think), and so she's been having a bit of a hard day at home. Thus, we decided on an outing with Gammaw.

We had a great time, and Ella's mood was seeming to improve as the afternoon went on. Until we went to drop Gammaw off at her house. Ella started bawling in the carseat and reaching for my mom. And what grandmother can resist the outstretched arms of a crying grandchild? Ella's can't.

So, we went inside to visit Pop for awhile and play. 15 minutes later, it was time to try and go home...again. This time, Ella was much more blunt about things. She reached OUT of my arms for Gammaw's and when I tried to take her back, she turned and rested her head on my mom's shoulder, refusing to make eye contact with me. At that point, I left. And Ella stayed.

And I realized that Ella has never picked someone else to hold her over me until today. I spent the last 13 months carrying her around (and far too often) wondering when she would be less needy of mommy. The day has come, and my heart is torn. On the one hand, I said goodbye to a certain "babyness" in Ella today, and I'm a bit sad. On the other hand, WOOHOO! She's branching out! I'm gonna ride this wave and focus on the latter hand.

That's not my puppy

Ella has a book that we read before bed sometimes. Each page has a different puppy and a reason why that's NOT your puppy (example: That's not my puppy. Its paws are too bumpy.) The final page says, "THAT'S my puppy! His nose is so squashy!" Each time we find Ella's puppy, we kiss his squashy nose.

Today, Ella was playing with her toys and books. She gingerly took out the Puppy book, opened it straight to the last page, and gave her puppy a kiss. Then, she closed the book and returned it to its place on the shelf. No need to read each page--she just wanted to love on her puppy for a second and then move on.

Baby cousin...

Ella is expecting her first cousin sometime in the next two weeks. Hal's sister Erin is due any day now, and we are all SO excited to have another baby girl around. Two little girls, one year apart, what good friends they'll be!

It makes me think back to having Ella last summer, and what an amazing journey this has been and what a blessing she is to us. It also makes me look at her closely and really try and catch all the new things she's doing now that toddlerhood is upon us. New words, new emotions, new experiences and feelings, all wrapped up in one little no-longer-a-baby girl. Our precious girl.

A real boo boo

12:34 -- I sat down on the couch to quickly eat my lunch; Ella was holding onto the coffee table.

12:36 -- Ella tries to sit down from standing, loses balance, faceplants into the coffee table

12: 36 1/2 -- I pick up a bawling Ella from floor to find blood oozing out of her mouth, split upper lip, seriously pained disposition

12:45 -- After a call to Grandaddy (dentist), lots of hugs, kisses, and tears, and some disciplinary measures for the coffee table (including slapping it while saying, "Bad coffee table!" followed by petting Ella and, "Sweet Ella"), we survived.

Toddlerhood scares me. And excites me. But mostly scares me right now.

1 year

It's still hard to believe that a year has gone by. Ella turned one on Wednesday, and we had the best day together. It rained hard most of the day, so we stayed in bed and snuggled, napped, played for more time than usual, and I lived it up with her--cherishing the closeness with my now toddler who wants more independence each day.
She is becoming such a big girl, and each new phase really does get more and more fun.

A few favorite memories from this week:
-Hal put a little velcro toy shaped like a U on Ella's head (like a headband), and instead of taking it off like normal, she petted it on top of her head as we told her, "Oh, Ella! What a pretty girl you are! You're so beautiful, and what a pretty crown on your head!" I swear she would have batted her eyelashes had she known how.
-We tried out the neighborhood pool for the first time. It took her a bit to get comfortable, she clung to me for dear life for about 20 minutes. Then, finally, emerged a quiet "Ahhh" as her hand rippled through the water.


We're having a small, family party to celebrate her bday tomorrow. I'm excited to have everyone there together to spend time and enjoy Ella. My sister-in-law is due in 3 weeks with her first baby, a girl, so we're on our way to baby girl-bonding time!

Quick update

Ella walked across the living room yesterday. And she's off!...

So much new

It's hard to put into words the amazing things Ella has learned in the last four days. I'm actually a bit in shock at what she's been up to.

I have to preface this list of accomplishments by saying that Ella has always been determined to march to the beat of her own drummer. Not ONE SINGLE thing has been done on anyone else's timeline but her own. It took her 11 months to sleep through the night and she never crawled--not one time. Just when we start to become a little anxious about her development or those stupid (yet important) "milestones" which she takes at her own pace, she'll have a week like this week has been.

In the last four days, Ella has:
-tried and loved whole milk--took it like a champ.
-gotten from lying down to sitting up after months of REFUSING to try
- pulled up onto everything about 1 million times and cruised across countless pieces of furniture
-WALKED!! up to 6 steps at a time, multiple times today
-learned to say "Teddy", which is more like "Tuh-duh" at this point, but still awesome.

All of a sudden, a fire has been lit under this little girl and she is raring to go. I honestly think she might have been lacking confidence to do things (walk, most notably). She's been walking holding our hands for over 2 months now and JUST yesterday took off on her own.

Exciting times ahead...1st birthday in less than 2 weeks!

Curly mop

The hair is starting to get out of hand. It's glorious.

My two front teeth

And just a pretty face...

Butt scootin' boogie

Ella is finally showing some signs of moving around, and we couldn't be happier to have our little gal movin'. Everyone has said, "Count your blessings that she's not crawling yet, because once she does, there's no stopping her." I agree that that is probably going to be very true, but I'm also glad to see her taking some interest in getting herself where she wants to go. Until now, she has been a permanent fixture on my right hip, and it was starting to get sore way back at 18 lbs, so by now it's seen better days.
The interesting thing about Ella is that she thrives on all things unconventional. She has two teeth now, but unlike all her other baby friends, she decided to get the top two teeth first. I always heard it was the bottom two that come in first, but far be it for Ella to be too conformist. Moreover, she has also refused to crawl, and instead, has become a full-fledged butt-scooter. In the last several days, she has slowly realized that sitting on her butt, pushing her heels out in front of her, and then whipping them back towards her body propels her forward...and so we're off on new adventures, feet first (literally).

Ella in the bluebonnets

These were taken at Grandmommy and Grandaddy's house this weekend. I have removed Hal's rant on why no one should take highway bluebonnet pictures, although he is accurate that the bluebonnets were MUCH more plentiful 15 years ago. It turns out you can have too much of a good thing-who wouldn't want a beautiful picture of their baby in said highway bluebonnets? It's understandable to want the picture, just unfortunate that the bluebonnets won't bloom again afterwards. So, thankfully, we had the opportunity to use private grandparent bluebonnets, because I was gonna get those bluebonnet pictures somehow.

one last one....

New pics...

Some pics on Easter

Less of a girly girl, please, Mom

Ella loves the outdoors--anything outside, and she's there with bells on. I, in turn, am not a huge fan of the outdoors. As ridiculous as this sounds, things like camping and swimming were never awesome to me because of my eyesight.

Fact: I have horrible eyesight. It's so bad that I wear the same pair of contacts 365 days a year until I can afford to buy another $400 pair because only two companies even make my prescription. Yeah, I'm cool.

However, I have spent the last two weeks outside--jogging with ella and the BOB (aka amazing stroller), going to Town Lake to walk, strolling through the Austin Lawn and Garden Show, etc. I just know that if I don't start now, one day Ella will look up at me and tell me to be less girly. So, I'm sucking it up and finding fun and exciting things to do outdoors--that don't require 20/20 vision.

On another note, we are having such a great time these days. Ella is happy and healthy and loving all the new experiences we're trying to bring her. Good times.

Almost 10 months old...

Ferber

We've been employing the Ferber sleep training method for several weeks now, and something always seems to interrupt the process (sickness, possible teething, etc.) We're now on night four--again--and no major obstacles so far.

The only interruption that could have led to a breakdown in the system was from Ella: Two nights ago, she was in the process of "getting herself back to sleep" (aka crying it out), and just before Hal went in to comfort her, she gave a brief, pained pause from crying and let out one solitary, "Mama". HEARTBREAK, people. You could have heard my heart shatter. Luckily, Hal is stronger than I am--physically and emotionally--so he reminded me that this is for her own good, so that she will sleep better and I will sleep better and we will both be better, all around, for having done it.

Blah, blah, blah.

9 months!

Ella turned 9 months old yesterday, so we had her wellness checkup today. She did swimmingly, despite having missed her morning nap. She's in the 75th percentile for height and weight and 95th for head size (insert Mommy-biased comment about what a genius she is). Really, Denbar children just have giant heads.

Ella and I have started to "train" for the Capitol 10K. Every year--and by that, I mean the last two--Hal and I have participated. I wish I could say that ever year we've both run it, but last year I was 7 months pregnant, so I walked the trail and cheered him on while he ran it. It's kind of the one tradition we Denbars have created so far. So anyway, I'm trying to get back into running shape, and Ella is trying to love her jogging stroller. So far, so good. We made it a little over 2 miles the other day, but in case anyone is wondering, running with a jogging stroller--even an amazing one like the BOB--is freaking hard. I thought it would anchor me into prime running position and not let me lose my form, so I could keep my head up and shoulders square, etc. Instead, it anchors me down and makes me feel like I'm running with my arms tied together. We've got a long way to go to be ready and one month tomorrow until the race. If anyone is interested in running or walking it, feel free to join us--it's really a very fun time!

On another note, Ella finally pulled up to standing on her own, using the crib rails. She's done this several times with the littlest boost from Mommy, but this was independent. She immediately realized what she had done and fussed for me to lift her up to reach the book she wanted. I have to stop doing what she says. She's never going to move anywhere. On the bright side, she has quickly learned to communicate very well using differing degrees of fussing and talking, and since I'm a pushover and respond to her, she keeps getting more feisty and demanding.

The first step is admitting I have a problem; the second step is not giving in to her every whim. But she's just the coolest person I know...

More to come on this battle.

Second times the charm...

Ella wasn't so sure about the swings the first time we tried them out. She hung onto one chain for dear life and had a very uneasy look on her face the whole time. Today was MUCH different. She loved it.

Mama

Let me preface this short story by saying that I tend to not be one to believe other parents when they say that their child does something which I, in fact, know to be waaaay beyond that child's developmental age. When Ella turned over on her 1 month birthday, I was beyond thrilled. Almost 8 months later, I now realize that she accidentally moved too quickly, and without much ability to control her body, the flip was inevitable. Not an act of genius, just gravity.

HOWEVER, I will now ignore what I just wrote and say that I'm 90% positive Ella called me "Mama" last night. Not just once--Hal and I tested it 3 times. She was lying on the changing table, ready to take her bath, and in a fussy state, she reached her arms out to be picked up. She does this regularly (I suspect the reason she hasn't crawled is because I give in, pick her up, and carry her around with me most of the day), so I thought nothing of it. Until...she reached up and with the sweetest, most pained voice said, "Mama". I picked her up; she stopped crying. I put her back down, crying commenced, and again, "Mama". Two more times sealed the deal. No additional sounds, like dada or bobo, and no other baby talk--just a clear, plain appeal.

Now, with that said, she has also said, "Mema, meme, mame, etc." over the last several weeks--she's a talker--so I'm not quite convinced that it was purposeful, but even Hal agreed that it was pretty surreal. We'll see how things go over the next several days/weeks. At what point will I be totally convinced? And how exciting will that be?? Anyway, good times at the Denbar house.

Early Saturday morning...

Pretty Princess

Why are hoods with ears so darn cute on babies?

Pretty in Pink