It's been a while, no?

Over a month. And there I said I was going to keep up with this! Ah well..

Not a whole lot going on. I'm kind of in a weird place, but I won't get into that because frankly, I don't feel like it. Ella is going through some sort of phase, or at least I hope to God it's a phase! She's been incredibly difficult and throwing tantrums. I thought it was her teeth, I thought it was her ears, but she's been to the ped and her ears are fine (tubes still in-yay) and while it *could* be teeth related, I think maybe it's just early terrible twos? I've read that it's normal for tantrumming to begin around 18 months and I'm hoping that's all it is. It's hard to think "oh this is normal" when #1-you have no idea what normal is since you're a first time mom and #2- you see other children her age NOT behaving that way. But then I've talked to many others with little ones Ellas age and many of those moms are experiencing the same thing. And the ped says it's normal. So maybe it's normal after all? Or maybe it's just her little personality? She's definitely stubborn and OVERLY sensitive (gee, I wonder where she gets that?). I don't know if I was that way as a child, and my mother in law SWEARS that Mike was NOT like this (but I'm not sure how much she remembers!-sorry, Mooneian, you really don't remember a lot! ha)

Anyway, it is what it is. We're trying to work through it. I'll be ordering a book about parenting a sensitive child, because I do think she's highly sensitive.

*sigh* Who knew it would be this difficult and exhausting at times?

Despite the issues, she of course is my sweet little Ella and can be the most loving, sweet, happy, funny girl you've ever seen (just ignore the moments where she's throwing herself to the ground or swatting at you because you won't give her another cookie because she has already shoved 30 into her mouth). I don't have a lot of new pictures, but I'll add a few I do have. This little girl makes my world go round, sometimes too fast, sometimes too bumpily, but she makes it turn always. And she never fails every day (multiple times a day) to make me smile and to be thankful I even HAVE a child to be frustrated with. I will never take for granted that I might have never had her (or her brother). She is that special and I am that lucky and I won't ever forget that.

Now for photos....

whatchoo talkin' bout Willis? (this was at the city Easter Egg hunt just before she grabbed the camera, slammed it to the ground and broke it - thus we are reduced to pictures via only our cell phones now-thanks sunshine!)

Ellas signature face. She squenches (is that a word?) her lips up like that ALL. THE. TIME.

here she was wearing daddys (yes, dirty) socks and it was so funny!

Oh, at Ellas ped visit, they did the ritual weighing and measuring, of course. She weighs 28 lbs. 8 oz, which is about the 92nd percentile for her age, and she's grown to 32 and 1/4 inches, which is about 63rd percentile for her age (up quite a bit from her last appointment, so she's grown quite a bit taller) and 19 inch head circumfrence which is the 89th percentile. So my big baby with the big head! I love it! Healthy as a horse!