Spring is Coming

Spring weather!!!!  I sure hope it's around to stay!

Shawnee St. Patrick's Day Parade

You know you have cabin fever when you think it's a good idea to go to a parade when it's barely 40 degrees outside.  Shawnee was having it's annual St. Patrick's day parade so we decided to go.  It lasted about 30 minutes which was perfect given the weather.  The highlight for me was the Jimmy John sandwiches that were handed out by a float in the parade.  Brady got a ton of candy which he thought was pretty cool.  It was also nice that our parade spot was right in front of a QuickTrip so made it convenient to get a hot chocolate.  It certainly was not a nice day, but it was still nice to get outside of the house for a bit.  Spring weather cannot get here soon enough.  Cory was excited to see a local celebrity in the parade.  The guy with the guitar was the Little Ceaser's guy who advertised outside with a sign.  Little Ceasar's cut his hours so he advertised his services to the business next store and is now the Cash for Gold guitar guy.  If you drive down Shawnee Mission and give him a honk he'll do a little dance for you.  Personally I think he's a little creepy.

Ellie - 9 Months

Ellie is 9 months!

Official Stats:

Weight: 17 lbs 6 ounces 25%

Height: 26.75 inches 25%

Other highlights from the past month:

• Sleeping -  Sleeps from around 8pm - 6:30 am.  During the work week we have to wake her up many days.  She still prefers to sleep on her tummy. 
• Favorite activities - Crawling under chairs and tables.  Pulling up on furniture.  Eating puzzles. Trying to play with Brady.
• Dislikes - She does not like to be contained.  Both the exersaucer and bouncer had a short lifespan.
• Notable accomplishments - Tooth #2 arrived. 
• Eating - She is doing better eating baby food and regular food.  She likes cheerios, pancakes, bread and anything I happen to be eating.  Her favorite baby food is banana blueberry. 
• Other notable activities - She got ear tubes this month.  She also had her first overnight stay without Cory or I while we attended Jason Peterson's wedding.

Tubes

Ellie has had regular ear infections since she was three months old.  We decided it was best to move forward with tubes so that she is not constantly on antibiotics.  The ear infections have also impacted her hearing because of the constant fluid in her ears.  The procedure took a little longer than normal as her ears were infected the day of the surgery, but all went well.  She was upset when she came out of anesthesia but quickly was back to herself.  We feel good about the decision to move forward with tubes and hopefully will prevent her from the pain and uncomfortableness that goes along with ear infections.

Topeka Zoo

Cabin fever is hitting our house really hard this winter.  We had a fairly warm day so ventured out to the Topeka Zoo.  It is not award winning or anything fancy, but it was a good day trip.  Topeka is an easy drive from our house and a bonus is they have a Qdoba right off the interstate. 

Brady had lots of fun feeding the giraffes, feeding the fish and checking out the animals.  One of the tigers is getting ready to move to a different zoo so he signed the going away card.

When we were walking by the gazelles, Brady looked at them and said, "Why are you not galloping?  You are a gazelle."  I thought maybe they were too cold to gallop.

Ellie enjoyed the fresh air so much she slept for a majority of the time.  I think it was good for her to get a little Vitamin D in her system.

 

 

Ellie Pulling Up

Ellie has been pulling up on things for a couple of weeks so I need it was only a matter of time before she started pulling up in her crib.  Nothing like seeing a face directly in the video monitor and then hearing it fall to the ground to notify you that your baby is standing in their crib.  Now that Ellie is super mobile we have to be on our toes.  She LOVES trying to get Brady's things and he is always quick to remind her that they are big kid toys.  The other day she got into Brady's Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel game and just about ate a acorn.  AGHHH!  She is also a little like a dog in that she really likes to crawl under Brady's chair at the table to see if she can find any leftovers on the floor.

Ellie - 8 Months

Ellie is 8 months!

Unofficial Stats:

Weight: 17 lbs

Height: 26 inches

Other highlights from the past month:

• Sleeping -  We seem to be in a pretty consistent grove of 8pm - 6am. 
• Favorite activities -Trying to get into Brady's things, kissing (aka chewing) on her baby dolls, smiling and laughing at people.
• Dislikes - some days I would say food.  She still despises taking medicine.  We wish she wouldn't have to take antibiotics so frequently.
• Notable accomplishments - She continues to get faster at crawling and is starting to pull up on things.  She also had her first tooth break through on the 5th of this month.  It's not visible enough to take a picture yet.
• Eating - She still prefers milk over purees.  Just a few days ago we gave her puffs and she LOVES them.  I think she would be content drinking milk and eating puffs with no other food.
• Other notable activities - It's been a pretty low key month. We did go to the zoo one weekend when it was in the uppers 50s.  Ellie had another ear infection this month.  We go to the ENT next week to discuss tubes.