Happy ONE YEAR Birthday Ellis!

The kid is ONE!  And his parents could not be more proud...

This year has flown by.  Over the year, Ellis has proven he is a pretty mellow kid who has got some energy.  He is happy, smiles a lot, and has the patience of a saint.  He appreciates sleep just as much as his mommy and he is tough as nails...evidenced by his dealing with big brother and his ability to pop teeth like no other.  Little brother likes to eat, has shown an early love for all things train related, and enjoys a good cuddle.

This month Ellis has learned to say "uh oh!" and "no".  He also likes to call "dada" over for whatever he needs fixed.  He holds his bottle all by himself, although - as daddy points out - I still cradle him like a baby when he drinks his bottle.  Whatever, I'm 'milking' (pun intended) this baby thing for as long as I can.  This month he also began feeding himself finger foods consistently and he's a big fan of waving "hello" and "goodbye".

Ellis is still a big kid too...surprise surprise.  Here are his stats:

Height: 32.75" (100th percentile)
Weight: 24 pounds, 3 ounces (75th percentile)
Head: 48.25 centimeters (90th percentile)

Happy Birthday Ellis!!!

Here's to many more candles (that Cavin will try to blow out for you) in the future...

Happy Eleven Month Birthday Ellis!

I don't have a whole lot documented for Ellis' 11th month.  This isn't his fault though as I'm sure it was an active, eventful one.  My focus was on the fact that my mom, Ellis and Cavin's nana, died this month.

The only thing I have documented is that Ellis learned how to wave 'hello' and, well, 'goodbye'.  It is poetic really as we said goodbye to Nana for the last time.

She was a wonderful grandmother and it just pisses us off that the kids won't get to know her better.

Happy 11th to her grandbaby!

Happy Ten Month Birthday Ellis!

"Mommy I'm a mover!!!" is what that look says.  And Ellis' 10th month was all about Point B and how to get there from Point A.   He started off the month army crawling, quickly moved into crawling on all 4s, then kneeling to see the action on top of the train table, then pulling himself up to stand!  Somewhere in there he figured out how to go from all 4s to sitting up in order to take a break.

Moving like this also made him realize that what he wants, he gets.  And he's learned to express himself.  Moral of the story is brother has a personality!  He has started to scream in high pitched sounds when we take toys away, pick him up when he's not ready, or wants more food.  To compensate for this I'm pretty sure he spoke his first word: "mama" while also showing us he can clap!  So he can scream all he wants as far as I'm concerned.

So as you can see month 10 was an awesome one with a lot of action!  The only downside is croup visited us towards the end of the month with Cavin waking up with a seal like cough and 30 minutes later Ellis woke up with the same one while gasping for air.  I had my tennis shoes on and was headed to the hospital at midnight just as the doctor called back to tell us to take him outside to allow the cold air to open up his airways.  I will tell you, that was one scary night.

Happy 10 months to my little mover!

Happy Nine Month Birthday Ellis!

This month was a shaky one...literally.  It started off with two earthquakes in one day.  Very scary for these non-Californians!  Otherwise, Ellis has learned to *shake* his head 'no' when he doesn't want something...so that's been a treat.

In very exciting news, Ellis is pretty much sleeping through the night which is a HUGE milestone..well, to the momma at least.

Ellis is also ALMOST army crawling.  There's a lot of grunting and moving backwards but soon he will get where he wants to go!

Again, you'll have to wait until next month to get percentiles for height and weight.  I can tell you this much, he's put on enough lbs to support a 2.5 year old.

Happy 9 month birthday Ellis!

Happy Eight Month Birthday Ellis!

Well, hello there!  You'll begin to see a pattern in Ellis' Elmo photos...and that's a lot of smiling.  Well, except for that pesky 11 month photo - but I think that has something to do with him learning that I opted against chocolate as the flavor for his smash cake.

I digress. 

That 5th tooth finally came in this month. If you remember, we hate that tooth.  In fact, his 6 tooth followed right behind it.  Once they arrived, Ellis was able to move on to some more developments...such as pulling his pacifier out of his mouth and then finding his mouth and putting it back in.  Sounds pretty simple eh?  Tell that to Ellis at 2am when he's screaming.

Ellis also learned that he is starring in his very own show and doesn't appreciate the camera angle.  In other words, he has found his video monitor, grabs it, and moves it around.  It scares the bejeesus out of me when I click to look at the video and I see nothing but nostrils and teeth!  It is a good thing I married an enginner because Mike rigged up some contraption that will get us through the next few months - until Ellis grows a few more inches.

In other news, Ellis and I weaned from breastfeeding this month.  I was pretty darn proud of myself for making it 8 months while working a full time job that takes me away from my baby for 12 hours a day.  Kudos to us!!!  Sorry, someone's gotta give mommy and baby some credit. :)

Ellis has become quite the wiggle worm on Elmo...evidenced by the next couple shots.

We didn't have a pediatrician appointment this month so I don't have stats but I can assure you he's growing.

Happy 8 months big boy!

12 steps forward, 4 steps back

Just wanted to give y'all a heads up that we are taking it back about 4 months.  Basically, Ellis turned 7 months old, we went on a road trip to Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, threw a Halloween party, my mom got sick and was hospitalized for over 2 months in the ICU, Thanksgiving happened, Christmas happened, New Years happened, and then my mom passed away on January 3rd.  A month later my baby turned one.  So, I've got very valid excuses for my absence BUT you people have a lot of Elmo to catch up on.

So you can start here.  And then we'll get on with the show!

Happy Seven Month Birthday Ellis!

(This post is a month and a half past due....the 8 month post is right behind this one...)

Yep, we are having fun around here.

This month was all about sitting up boot camp.  I was ready for Ellis to sit up on his own.  And, frankly, so was he.  So we worked and worked but his center of gravity is just a little higher than the normal 7 month old. That, coupled with his weight, meant it was going to take a little more work.  So instead he grew teeth!  His 4 one came in this month with the 5th one on the way.  No one in this house is happy with the 5th tooth.  We blame it for many sleepless nights and a big purple swollen spot on baby's gum that did not look pretty but did look painful. 

Ellis is all about the consonants though!  In the most exciting news this month (well, to me) he started saying "mamamama", proving he is physically able to call my name.  Now for him to do it on purpose (before he says "dada").  He loves to scream "gaga" too which I just love!  Ellis also likes to do funny things with his face, like crinkle his nose and breath in and out really fast...then giggle.

I cannot explain why...I just love this picture.  Maybe it is the look he's giving daddy.

Oh! And Ellis has been initiated into the official San Francisco bayarian club.  That is, he experienced his very first earthquake!  It was a magnitude 3.6 that happened at 11:36pm on August 23, 2011.  He and I were up just hanging out and cursing that 5th tooth.

Cavin thought it was funny to imitate baby and make fun of him for not being able to sit up on his own.  So here he is modeling cute Ellis...

And here's him modeling falling over Ellis...

Sooo hilarious Cavin.

Since we didn't have a pediatrician appointment this month I don't have stats but I can assure you, this kid is growing.

Happy 7 months big guy!

Happy Six Month Birthday Ellis!

(Yet another Elmo post that is way late!  I promise to stick to the updates that only apply to this month though.)

This kid.  He's a happy one.  He just has the time of his life!!

Ellis has proven to be a rather laid-back kid...probably b/c he's required to 'go with the flow' since our his schedule revolves around Cavin many times.  He's had to learn to nap on the go when needed, to go to sleep at bed time while Cavin's idea of "being quiet" is talking at a louder-than-normal volume, and to be patient while said brother makes comments about "Ellis drinking milk" and "Ellis is sleeping" and "Ellis is brother".  And when Cavin doesn't get his way, Ellis takes the fall in the way of a slap or kick...Cavin knows that will get mommy and daddy's attention more than anything else!  So I'd say Ellis is shaping up to be a pretty tough guy.  And if he continues to grow at the rate he is, he'll end up bigger than Cavin. And what do they say 'paybacks' are??

This month Ellis started day care at Pari's and we all know how that went.  He and Pari get along very well.  In fact, this morning I dropped him off and in true Ellis style the minute he saw Pari he flashed a big grin and started kicking his feet and arching his back - his way of saying 'get me outta this car seat mom!'.  Ellis also sprouted two more teeth this month bringing that to a total of 3 teeth.  And that 4th one...well we can see it through his gums so it is maybe a couple days away.

He has also learned that he enjoys sleeping on his tummy; however, he forgets how to flip back over in the middle of the night so we've been spending many sleepless nights running in there, turning him over, and going back to sleep.  It's not so bad b/c I know he'll figure it out soon enough and the nights will get better. 

Ellis also spent his first nights away from mommy and daddy.  Well, I guess I should say we spent our first nights away from him in the hands of someone else....nana and pa!  Mike and I had to go out of state for a couple days so Ellis hung back and was spoiled rotten by his grandparents.  Such a tough life this kid leads...

Tough life indeed!

Now for the stats:
Weight: 18 pounds, 4 ounces (75th - 80th percentile)
Height: 29 inches (100th percentile and "the tallest boy in American" according to his pediatrician)
Head: 45 centimeters (85th percentile)

Happy 6 month birthday Ellis!

Happy Five Month Birthday Ellis!

This month was a fun one!  Ellis has shown his humorous side some more evidenced by his belly laughs at himself and his brother's expense.  He also found his feet which he plays with all the time.  Forget the $20 Sophie Giraffe...he's got 10 toes...weeeeee!!!!!  We learned that Ellis not only likes breast milk, but also oatmeal, bananas, apples, pears, peas, carrots and sweet potatoes...that's right...the kid is eating solids!  He was showing a lot of interest when we'd eat at the dinner table as his eyes followed the spoon and fork from our plates to our mouths. Sometimes he'd even open his mouth as we did. So we decided to give it a go and we haven't gone back since.

We finally weened Ellis from the swaddle this month. Boy oh boy was he hooked on that thing.  I tried the cold turkey method which resulted in NO sleep.  I think Mike counted that he was up 8-9 times that night.  So in an act of desperation I fully swaddled him again.  Then we did a couple weeks with one arm out, then a couple weeks with both arms out. Finally just in time for him to start day care I was able to switch him to a sleep sack so he is swaddle-less!  Now he's hooked on the sleep sack...

We had our first small medical scare this month as Ellis' pediatrician called for an ultrasound on his left hip to check for hip dysplasia.  Turns out his thigh wrinkles (cute right?) were not symmetrical when you compared the legs.  That, coupled with his tighter-than-normal hips sent us to the hospital only to learn that he is perfectly fine!  I'm glad our pediatrician was conservative about it though b/c if he did have it and it wasn't caught early, the boy would of needed surgery.

In surprising news this month, Ellis sprouted his FIRST TOOTH!  Where in the world that came from I have no idea.  It wasn't even on my radar as Cavin's first tooth didn't come in until he was 7 months old. But there it was, with minimal signs of teething - one little white tooth.  It was bitter sweet as my 2nd favorite thing about babies (their hands are my 1st favorite) is their gummy smile. And it won't be long before that is gone.

Ellis was in quite the mood this week for the Elmo shoot.  Maybe it was because he was hungry, tired, or his brother stepped on his face earlier in the day.  Even through all of that we still managed to get some smiles.

Here's the play by play:

Ellis: "Woooooah!!!"

Ellis: "How in the @#@%$ could you let that happen to me daddy??!!??"

Ellis: "Bwahahahahaaha....Cavin is making you work up a sweat daddy!"

Ellis: "Get him Cavin!!!!! Haha!"

Ellis: "Seriously, WHY does that keep happening to me???"

Ellis: "I found my toes!!!!!!"

Unfortunately we don't have weight or height stats because Ellis doesn't have a pediatrician appointment until he turns 6 months.  However, our arms and backs can vouch for this child gaining some weight.

Happy 5 month birthday Ellis!!

Happy Four Month Birthday Ellis!



Well this is a new record. Ellis is one week away from 5 months old and I'm just getting his 4 month update posted. I will really try to do better...pinkie swear!  I also promise to keep the 5 month updates out of this post...because boy has the kid done some fun stuff lately.

At the beginning of his fourth month, Ellis started laughing (mainly for nana) and turning from his back to his tummy.  He also began handing out the smiles to his big brother.  Cavin reads this as the answer he needed to the question: "can I drag the baby around the living room by his feet?" At first we would stop this before Cavin could start. Then one time we realized that Ellis was actually smiling while Cavin harassed him...so we let it continue until Ellis' bottom lip curls down, he yells, or the tears start flowing...which to be honest, rarely happen.  Ellis is already proving to be a tough kid.  And apparently this mom needs to prepare herself for some rough-housing.

In much more important sleep news, Ellis slept through the night 5 nights in a row this month!  (This didn't last though....but is very exciting nonetheless because I know he is capable!)  We are also working on a slow transition out of the swaddle due to one night when we looked to see him sleeping nose down in the crib mattress.  He was very comfortable that way but gave his parents a slight heart attack in the moment.  So we immediately made him sleep (which he didn't) the rest of the night without the swaddle.  His startle reflex kept waking him up so we eventually compromised by swaddling him but leaving one arm out in the event he rolled himself over again (which he did...many more times).

Cavin got pretty involved in the Elmo shoot this month.  In previous months we placed him in his room with some trains and he knew no different. This month he directed the shoot...I mean he is loaded with experience!

So I scanned out to give you an idea of what Mike was dealing with.  Cavin, Toby, Ellis, the Elmo nose the prevents kids from balancing on the chair properly.  It isn't an easy job!

Now for the stats:
Weight: 16 pounds, 7.5 ounces (90th percentile)
Height: 27.75 inches (100th percentile)
Head: 44cm (90th percentile)

Happy 4 month birthday Ellis!!

Happy Three Month Birthday Ellis!

This baby? He's a happy one! At his 3 month check-up the nurse pointed out that he smiled at everyone that walked past him in the waiting room. And his pediatrician diagnosed him as "a flirt". Seriously, it isn't hard to get a smile from this one...and we are loving it!



I'm a little late (two weeks!) on this post so I'll try to keep 3 month developments in this post and save the other ones for his 4 month post - b/c there's been a lot going on with this guy recently.

This month Ellis started playing with his voice a lot. He loves to make some crazy sounds - and then of course smiles about them. He also found his hands and boy does he love them. But the big developments were that he slept until 5 am two nights and he rolled over from his tummy to his back!

And just to prove he does cry sometimes...

Now on to the 'jolly green giant's' stats:

Weight: 15 pounds, 4.5 ounces (90th percentile)
Height: 26.75" (100th percentile!)
Head: 43cm (90th percentile)

Happy 3 month birthday Ellis!