Ella Update

I know it has been a while since I updated, but I caught the Murray Cold from Christmas, and have spent the past few days getting over that. I am much better today, but I still can’t breathe through my nose. Lets just keep our fingers crossed that Ella and Joe don’t get it.

On Tuesday we took Ella for her 18 month appointment. This gave us both good news and bad news. The good news is that she’s grown 1 ½ inches, which explains why her 18 month pants are getting short. The bad news is that she’s lost almost 1 lb. Of course this was not the news we wanted to hear, but I am convinced that the loss is due to all of the Christmas hustle. With so many new people around and so much activity, Ella was easily distracted when it came to eating, and I already mentioned in my previous post that eating in Colorado was much worse than typical, ie pumpkin bread and chocolate chip cookies. Now that she’s back in the comfort of her own home, we are all hopeful that Ella’s weight will pick back up. Please just pray for her weight. Of course the worst case scenario was the first thing that went through my mind. A lot of kids with Ella’s type of EB end up having to get a G-Tube (Gastric Feeding Tube) because they can’t eat enough calories for their bodies to grow and heal at the same time. So, being the worrying mom that I am, I of course started thinking about that having to happen. I honestly don’t think we’re to that point yet because I really do think that all of the activity around the holidays was our main problem, but I’m going to keep shoving food at Ella until our follow up appointment in 6 weeks where we’ll have her weighed again.

Of course the best news of all was that the doctor said to me, and this is a quote, “Typically girls advance faster than boys do verbally, but Ella is even advanced for girls her age.” See…I told you she was a genius. She is really into 2 word sentences and is even testing out 3 word sentences like “Bless you, mommy” when I sneeze, and “Thank you mommy.” And she repeats EVERYTHING! The cutest is that she has this dog and when you press its nose it sneezes, so she presses it and it will sneeze, then she repeats “choo” followed by “bless you.” She has also really started to figure out the power of tears, which is cute, but bad in the long run. When she wants to watch Elmo she will put both of her hands on my cheeks and turn my face to hers, then she’ll say, “Elmo” (she’s advanced to the full word now, not just Mo). When I say no she gets a sad face and says “Please.” When I still say no (because there is only so much Elmo a mom can handle) she starts crying and says “Elmo please. Movie. TV. Barney. Doggie. BOTTLE!” Then I get her some yogurt and we’re usually good…for awhile.

I can’t let the day pass without giving a shout out to my boyfriend, Elvis. Yes, today is his birthday and I hope you all go out tonight and celebrate in his honor. As soon as I get home I’m putting on my Elvis t-shirt.