If you haven't met Ellen, I wish you could. She is just such a neat little girl. There is something special about the way she affects people. It seems that every time we go out in public she "makes friends", as we say, with strangers. She draws people to her with her eyes, her smile and her inviting little personality. And we at home are amazed by her every day - still, after one year of living with her. She is still so, so happy. Even when she is crying because she's mad she has a hard time not smiling if you distract her.
Physically she is still similar to a tiny bird - by her size and her sounds : ) She measured in less than the 5th percentile for weight and about 40th for length. She is the size of an average 7 month old. With her small size and short, light hair she looks too young to be walking, so it surprising to see her running now. She's learning from Lucas quickly. Tonight in the department store she was running from him and then they'd both fall on the floor giggling.
Emotionally Ellen seems much older than 1 year. Her eyes are wise. She is calm and has confident expressions.
She can say da-da, ma-ma (though not really as my name), doo-tus (for lucas), hmm hmm (when she takes a bite of food) and ummm muh when she kisses you.
She nurses 5-6 times a day. First thing in the morning, around lunch, dinner, before bed and then a few times at night. She likes eating solid foods much more when she is not in her high chair - she wants to be on the go all of the time.
She nurses to sleep around 8pm, wakes up about 4 hours later and then sleeps with me on the mattress until about 7am. She wakes up about 2-3 times between midnight and 7am to nurse/cuddle with me.
She has 8 teeth - 4 on top and 4 on bottom. Her lower and upper gums are really swollen with molars that are close to poking through.
She is our lady bird and we can't imagine life without her : )
