Rolling

She finally did it! Backwards from what I had expected tummy to back.

Santa!

First Thanksgiving

It was Ellas first Thanksgiving and I have allot to be thankful for, I'm sure you don't need the list!

She ate "real" food today and did FABULOUS! She had cereal mixed with prune juice. I also fed her rainbow jello (good parenting...I know). I didn't think she was ready for solids but I guess I grossly underestimated her!

In true Thanksgiving fashion she promptly fell asleep after her meal. I was kind of tempted to reach over and unbutton her pants too!

We had a gingerbread house/train decorating contest while she napped...

Of course my team won. Although it may have been rigged simply because I had the 5 year old on my team, but hey I'll take it! Played a little and then...

6 Months old

I can't believe my precious little one is 6 months old. Six months ago I was likely one of the most neurotic people on the planet! Being a Mom is starting to feel normal for the most part. Our lives never quite seem to settle down completely it is always something around here. Maybe after the holidays?

Health wise Ella is really doing well all things considered. Since receiving her tubes we have been battling an ear infection that was finally cultured and is staph and strep, so that is now being treated successfully. This left us unable to get a new hearing test, so we still are unsure what she hears. As her Mother I can say with confidence she hears most things. We will look into a new test in a few weeks. We met with the pulmonologist today and he thinks she looks good. He will be teaming up with her ENT on December 20th to perform a broncoscopy (flexible and rigid) to really see if there is something wrong with her airway. Hopefully that goes well! It is only supposed to be about an hour, but that being said he underestimated my daughter, tubes are supposed to take 15 minutes, catch my drift?

Her pediatrician if thrilled with how she is developing. This month he plotted her growth on the normal chart and her head (15.4 inches) is actually on it! It is the 5th percentile. Her height (almost 22 inches) and her weight (11.8) are not actually on the chart, but they aren't too far from hitting the bottom. He was impressed with her growth curve as is doesn't curve, but instead aims straight up. He feels that if this is maintained she may actually be a petite, but "regular" sized person. Projections in the past have put her being very small. He thinks that she is ready to start trying solids. I am not ready, but I guess we'll give it a try. This is perfect timing. You see as a single Mom I have found one of the main things I'm missing is a camera crew. My hands are busy and I don't have anyone to take pictures. However on Thursday (Thanksgiving) she can have an audience (one who doubles as a camera crew!) while she gets her first bite!

What I have seen lately: she is just starting to grab toys and hold onto them. She likes linkies. She does not however know what to do with it once it is in her hand. She loves to eat, suck on, chew her hands and fingers. For a time she did allot of babbling, now she just likes to spit and do raspberries (that must be more fun). She has no interest in rolling for her tummy to back, but she is sure trying to go from her back to tummy and she will likely succeed at that shortly. She scoots everywhere on her back and she is fast. She is never where I left her. Lastly and for sure one of my favorites is she gives Mommy open-mouth kisses!!!

She hasn't changed one bit!

3 days

1 month

2 months

3 months

4 months

5 months

6 months!

Bald is beautiful?

A couple of weeks ago Ella's hair started coming out. I am not talking normal baby hair loss, but spots of smooth skin that is also loosing pigment. I tried everything and nothing helped. So today the pediatrician told me it was severe eczema. I really hate to sound superficial but as a parent the hair loss is really disconcerting. It is possible that this is so hard for me based on race. It is hard to be a white Mom with a black child. Even though I know it is not my fault I feel like I failed her. Her birth-parents didn't have a problem with my age, or me being single, but they cringed at the fact that I am blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Were they right? Would I screw up her hair and skin?

before

now

This breaks my heart. I hope we can get it fixed soon. On a much funnier side-note the following picture makes me laugh...

No, this isn't everything! Does is not scream white lady, black baby?!?!

New pictures, enjoy!