Monday, May 23, 2005

Revenge of the Shots

Two weeks left in the Dad Administration, and we've come full circle to that first week. That's right: today was Shot Day, the Sequel. Today's trip to the Doctor was, surprisingly enough, not as hard as that first one. After seeing how tough Ella was the first time, I was less apprehensive about taking her to get pin-cushioned this time around.

Of course, before we could get to the business of fighting off a gaggle of childhood diseases, there was the matter of the weigh-in. Here's Ella's 4-month Tale of the Tape:

Weight: 14 lbs, 12 oz (75th percentile)
Length: 26.25 inches (97th percentile)

This confirmed what Amber and I thought: that Ella's increasing girth has started to level off, even as she continues to grow taller. She's started the process of filling out some of that excess flesh. Ella's now 6 inches longer than when she was born 4 short months ago. As I type this, Amber just got out the tape measure from her sewing kit to see what that means in real terms. Put it this way: the distance from her knees to her feet is all new.

After the weigh-in came the Long Wait for the Doc, which, in pediatrics, is surprisingly not that long a wait at all. Our Doctor has some mystical quality about him, because as soon as he comes in, Ella lights up and smiles profusely at everything her Doctor does. With Ella's eyes, ears, and other faculties checked and questions asnwered, Doc left and the Longer Wait for the Nurse Bearing Needles began. Last time, Ella slept through this part. This time, she expressed her displeasure at not being asleep (her appointment was right when she is usually enjoying her morning nap). Amazing how the sound of loud screaming reverberates and amplifies in a tiny, carpet-less examination room. I'm sure everyone outside thought the wailing was by some kid who had just gotten her shots. Little did they know . . .

As soon as Ella finally calmed down, the Nurse came in. She verified that yeah, they all had heard her. Then it was Shot Time. I've now seen this procedure done twice, and still can't quite believe how quickly it's done and over with. I think this Nurse went even faster than the first one. When the first shot went in, Ella was already crying again about being awake. Even so, there was a definite elevation in intensity in her cry. But, before Ella took that first deep breath after that initial cry, shots #2 and #3 were already over and both bandaids were already in place! Carnival magicians have nothing on this sleight of hand routine. It was like watching a surveillance camera video at work, where everything is in fast forward. Unbelievable.

Once again, Ella impressed her Dad with what a tough little girl she is. Her intense wailing was over almost as soon as it started, and she quickly settled back down into the cry that merely says "I should be asleep right now!" She clearly has her Mom's high tolerance for pain . . . and not her Dad's. And no, there were no photos this time around. I caught more than a little flak from that, from multiple sources.


Ella's first trip to the park . . . and her first experience with grass.


Ella studies her new friend.

Monday, May 16, 2005

Ch-ch-changes

Sorry it's taken so long to update Ella's story; it hasn't been due to a lack of material. I've been spending my writing free-time on my blog, and Amber spends nearly every possible minute at home soaking up the Ella-goodness. The time to write about it never seems to materialize.

Much has changed since my last post. You may notice that the headline graphic now sports a new photo of Ella. We thought it would be nice to have the smiling face that greets our readers be somewhat current. This new photo was taken last weekend by Granny-T during her and Grandpa Ron's visit for Ella's dedication. As time moves on, this photo, too, will be replaced with that of yet an older Ella. But, for now, we get to enjoy what I think is the most beautiful photo in the world. Mucho Kudos to Granny-T for catching that image!

Ella's definitely starting to develop her personality. She's amazingly easy-going, usually quiet and content to just take in the world around her while either chewing on a toy or sucking her thumb. Several trips out to eat, the store, and church have confirmed this as a definite trend. She laughs and smiles often; cries and screams rarely. That said, though, she has begun developing what I call the "sharp edges" of her personality: when things do run afoul of how she likes them (most often when we make her stop eating and try to burp her before she's ready), she has discovered the "angry cry." To call it a cry is actually a misnomer; it's actually just a whining scream. While newcomers to this new phenomenon (like Granny-T) are left wondering what's wrong, Mom and Dad can't help but laugh. Get used to it, Kid.

Ella's development in what educators would call "gross motor skills" has been even more amazing. Where just a short time ago, Ella's hands were simply the balled-up knobs on the end of her flailing arms used to bat at things, they are now the grasping tools God meant them to be. Anything she can get her hands on, she grabs and escorts to her gaping, drooling mouth. She loves stuffing wet washclothes in her mouth and sucking out the water. It's her new favorite bath-time activity, along with kicking her feet and splashing Mommy. Among the many things that have found their way to Ella's mouth, none is more enjoyed than her thumb; specifically, her left thumb. (A southpaw, she might be!) This has really been a great development, for it enables Ella at such a young age to "self-soothe," which is just a fancy way of saying "get herself back to sleep." Whereas before Ella might wake up early in her nap because her pacifier fell out before she was completely zonked, now her initial wimper is quickly followed by the Maggie-Simpson-esque sound of her sucking the fingerprints off of her thumb. Here, you see Ella enjoying her tasty digit while reading her favorite book, "Squishy Turtle."

It's not just her arms that are stronger and more under Ella's control. She's really close to being able to sit up by herself. She never wants to lay back or be cradled like a baby anymore. Even in her car seat or bouncy seat, she grunts with effort trying to sit up. It's like she knows it takes effort to do it, but doesn't yet know which muscles will get the job done. Give her just a little bit of support for balance, and she sits straight up. Ditto for standing, which is a huge help to Dad as he tries to get her dressed in pants. Here's a couple of examples: the first is of Ella "just chillin'," using the Boppy as a recliner while watching Veggie Tales; the second is Ella standing (mostly) in her ExerSaucer, which she has only just started to enjoy.



Of course, Ella's Granny-T and Grandpa Ron from Oklahoma and Grammy and Aunt Becca from Arkansas all know this because they got to see it for themselves firsthand over the last two weekends. For the rest of ya'll, a slew of new photos has been (and will continue to be) uploaded to our photo albums at the Kodak EasyShare Gallery. If you haven't received the emails inviting you to view them, let me know and I'll send you one.

Also, a few new videos have been added to our building video clip library. I have started to list the date I upload the new ones so that it'll be easier to figure out which ones are new for you. For those using dial-up connections, the sheer size of most of these files will probably prohibit you from accessing them, and the ones you can download will take a long time. Sorry 'bout that: nothing I can do since I don't have the video editing software to reduce the filesize.

Finally, we would love to hear from any and all who are reading and enjoying this site. For the blog novices out there, that means posting comments to particular posts. "How do I do that?" you ask? Simple - at the end of each post, you'll see the following: "Posted by [author] @ [time] 0 comments." Click on the "0 comments" link (hence the pink color), and you'll be taken to the comment form where you can post your thoughts, or simply say "Hi." Once you do, that "0 comments" will magically become a "1 comments," and we'll know that somebody was here.

Ella's Dedication

Just about 10 days ago now, on the weekend of Mother's Day, Amber and I took little Ella and publicly dedicated her life (while we are stewards of it) as a gift back to the Lord who gave her to us. More importantly, we dedicated ourselves to be, as her parents, the Christ-centered Guardians that God calls us to be. We pledged to raise Ella to know her Creator and Savior, so that when she is old, if she chooses to live her life without Christ, it will not be the result of ignorance as to what she is missing. Finally, we promised to model for Ella what it means to be a follower of Jesus, rather than just a believer, so that when she is old, she will have all the inertia we can give her to help her walk the same path.

It was so wondeful to have some family here to celebrate Ella's dedication with us, as Granny-T and Grandpa Ron drove up from Oklahoma for the weekend. Unfortunately, we were unable to get any pictures really showing off Ella in her dedication dress because soon after the ceremony, she . . . well, let's just say she had to go to her backup sleeper for the rest of the service. Luckily, though, it wasn't during the ceremony.