Ellie Turns 1!

Does parenting exist without guilt?

Every time I log onto the blog I feel guilt at the time that has passed since my last post and the reality that I have forgotten something about my kids' lives that would have been fun and interesting to share. It was brought home especially for Ellie's birthday when GG gave me a copy of the past year of the blog, for Ellie, and I realized how much smaller her book was than Nathan's.....poor Ellie! So here I am, trying to catch up again, even though I am sure I will miss something.

Another interesting fact is that this is the first blog posting I have done from the air as I am currently on a flight from DC to Dallas for a work meeting! Being on the internet while in the air just feels so wrong and yet is really cool at the same time. So sad that this moment when I am captured in a plane with no place else to go and nothing else to do is when I am able to catch up. Life is crazy but boy is it fun!

So, our dear "baby" Ellie is 1. I re-read the last post and have to say that she has become significantly more "independent" which is a polite way of putting it. She constantly cracks us up with her infectious, mischevious smile, and is a lover of music. She has her own unique moves, just as Nathan does, the most recent being waving her arms up and down while swaying side to side. The music just hits her whenever she hears it....we often keep the radio on in the kitchen and as she makes her rounds she will stop by the radio, do a little dance, and keep moving. It is a riot. She loves rock (her current favorite). OH - forgot to say that she started walking while we were on vacation in Maryland. One day before her 11 month birthday, she just got up and walked. A couple of days of being wobbly and she has been going strong ever since. She is very stable and has her own particular swagger, another thing that makes us laugh. For the moment she is in love with her brother's toys, but not her brother's interference in her doing her own thing which has resulted in a couple of pretty serious bites. We try to warn him.....

For her 1st birthday, we threw her a party in our backyard (seriously just wanted an excuse to have another moonbounce and some neighbors over - I recognize it is pretty extravagant to throw a 1 year old a birthday party). Ellie had no clue what was going on but seemed to have fun making the rounds. She is pretty social. Nathan of course loved the moonbounce and the fact that "friends" came over to play. On her birthday Ellie had her first taste of cake and icing and really loved it. She is still a picky eater and still initially refuses something new until she can be in control of putting it in her mouth and trying it. She is not a fan of baby food anymore as she prefers to feed herself. Still loves all fruit, chicken, green beans, gourmet cheeses, mac and cheese/pasta, yogurt, any kind of bread product (muffins, waffles, pancakes) and recently had a first sip of orange juice which she thought was GREAT.

We still have not taken her to her one year doctor appointment because she has been sick off and on for the past few months and was sick at the time of her appointment. I am not a shot fanatic but am definitely opposed to her getting shots when her immune system is already fighting something. She has had about 5 ear infections to date so seems to be following in her father's pattern of ear infections and also is quite prone to bad diaper rash which is just awful. All new experiences that we never had with Nathan so we are adjusting and have become a frequent visitor to the pediatrician. Ellie also shows some food sensitivities, most recently to milk, so my long awaited transition to whole milk and saving money on formula has been postponed until we can get to the pediatrician and figure out what our options are. She liked the taste of milk, but it resulted in screaming and diaper rash the 3 times I tried it so we are back to formula. Another transition that didn't go so well was my attempt to get her to use a cup for formula instead of a bottle. Again, Nate had no issue and easily took a cup, but Ellie threw the cup of formula in my face and walked away. Did that twice. Can we say stubborn and determined? We will try again on a day when I have nerves of steel and am up for the battle.....

Ellie's favorite toys these days are anything that is Nathan's and baby dolls. They say that gender is not in the genes, but seriously, I disagree. She has loved baby dolls since she first saw one and hugs and carries them around all the time. It is really cute. Kiss me? NO. Kiss the baby doll? OH YES. Also likes airplanes, which could also be in the genes. This past weekend she fussed and fussed while Grandpa Wilson was showing Nathan an airplane movie on YouTube but then got so excited when he showed the movie to Ellie and she sat there and put her hand up in the sky and made the airplane noise. Also makes "vrmm" noises when she is playing with cars. Amazing. Quite the mimic and I swear she can say a ton of words...just not distinctly enough for us to understand. "shoe" has come out a few times (uh oh). She is always chattering, with inflection, and seems to have an opinion about everything. She is quite a little character, our Ellie, happy birthday!

Nathan has had a milestone as well, starting preschool a few weeks ago. He is going 3 days a week for 2 1/2 hours in the afternoon which initially bothered me but seeing as how we are not really morning people in terms of a "get up and go" type of attitude, I think it is working out great. He really likes it and I think is getting comfortable with the other kids. The pressure to have a show and tell object every day has me constantly stressed out but otherwise the transition has been smooth and i secretly think Ellie likes having a little time without her brother during the week.

Nathan also started gymnastics which he seems to have a knack for and also LOVES...it is everything he already loved to do - jumping, climbing, swinging...why didn't we think of this sooner?! Still keeping up with swimming. His third time in "pre-fin" and he is the most advanced in his class but since he still does not like to jump in which is kind of the final test for the beginnger class, we decided to enroll him a third time to get him really comfortable. He is forever going underwater while the teacher is trying to teach the class something (paying attention is not his strong suit) but really looks forward to the class and has shown great progress. I cannot believe he is swimming without floaties or anything and underwater at 3! BTW - another milestone I forgot to document...he learned to swim underwater thanks to GG and Pop Pop's patience at their house in July while I was in Orlando for a business trip....

Nathan still worships airplanes and anything to do with airplanes and can tell you more airplane maneuvers than some experienced pilots. It is really cute - quite the connection with his grandpa Wilson. He has made friends in our neighborhood and loves getting out to ride his bike or play with them. We are still enjoying the neighborhood, more and more each day, and are particularly excited about Halloween. Nathan is going to be a pirate! Our first Halloween in a real neighborhood with tons of kids. Scott and I are fighting over who gets to go trick or treating!

In other news, we have been going regularly to church, which was another one of my hopes once we found a community we liked. We found a relatively small Methodist church locally which is so far a great fit - really like the people, the minister, and the sense of community and support and structure that it provides. It is pretty small so each person makes a difference, but I like that is is not as political as some of the big churches can be and we won't get lost in the shuffle. Still undecided on membership but look forward to going each Sunday, as does Nathan.

So all is well on the home front. I will end this post now even though I still feel guilty that I haven't "caught up" on all the activities since June. Many visits from GG, a trip to Orlando, vacation week in a rental house in Cambridge, MD with Virginia, Patrick, Evelyn, and Olivia (and Gabriela and Isabella and Alex), many visits from friends, our first Nationals game as a family, Navy-Air Force, football...the list goes on and on. It has been a fun summer and now we are into fall where the days are cooler and shorter and we are preparing for what to do with the kids when it is too cold to go outside. Yikes. Also looking forward to our first Thanksgiving and Christmas at home with the kids so we can start to establish our own traditions and not have to lug everybody all over the place. Really looking forward to that actually.