Then the weekend before Halloween, Todd's family's friends, Craig and Fay, came into town for a visit. We had a great time! They both loved meeting Ella and Ella loved snuggling with them too.
On the 27th Ella also had her 6 month check-up where she weighed in at 15 pounds (almost tripling her birth weight) and 25 inches long!! Ella's pediatrician also proclaimed that she is a healthy six-month old! You have no idea what a wonderful phrase that is to hear!
Dr. Trask also gave us the go ahead to start her on rice cereal while pushing breastfeeding to every 4 hours. Ella is doing great waiting for the four hours. Eating the rice cereal is not her most favorite thing to do, but she is getting the hang of it. Todd seems to do better feeding Ella than I do!
In addition, Dr. Trask encouraged us to try to have Ella go without eating for 8 hours at night. She suggested that I feed her before I go to bed around 10:00pm and then let her go until 6:00am. So you know what that means...a good ol' cry-it-out session!! She woke up around 1:30am the next night and I decided at that time that I would lie on the floor while she wailed away so I could peek in on her if I wanted to without disturbing her. Ella successfully cried for 2 hours until 3:30am. At that time she fell asleep and did not get up until 5:30 or 6:00am...she (we) did it!!! The next night she woke up at 4:15 and 5:15 but got herself back to sleep each time before waking up at 6:00am to eat. Every night is not a perfect 8 hours, but as long as I'm getting up only once, I honestly don't mind. So in the end her sleeping schedule looks something like this...
~6:00pm - begin nighttime routine...feed cereal, bath, pjs, breastfeed
~7:00pm - in bed
~10:00pm - wake up to breastfeed
Some time between 4:00-6:00am - wake up to breastfeed
~8:00am - wake up for the day (although she is known to sleep in until 9:00 or 9:30 some days!!)
Ella's naps still are not hours long, but I've come to the conclusion that since she sleeps pretty well at night, her two 45 minute naps and one 30 minute nap late in the day must be working for her.
On Tuesday the 28th, Ella and I attended the Elm TWIG Women's Auxillary Dinner for Women and Children's Hospital. I was asked to say a little bit about our experience in front of the 300 attendees. I took this opportunity to thank all the donors from last year since with their donations the TWIG group was able to purchase medfusion pumps (which were used on Ella to administer the chemotherapy, blood products, and antibiotics) and a Giraffe Isolette (the bed Ella was placed in to keep her in humidified air and to keep germs away from her while going through chemo). We had a great time especially since my step-sister-in-law, Barb, won two baskets and Mom Rassman won a basket and a wine fridge with a dozen bottles of wine!
Developmentally wise, Ella is doing many new 'tricks.' It's been neat to read, see, and hear how the twins are developing and then see Ella do the same things a few weeks later. Ella officially rolled over on her own today!! The first time she did it was in her crib early this morning. I could tell her cry was muffled but I thought it was because she was sucking on her Flatophant. But when Todd peeked in on her, she was on her tummy! Ella then proceeded to roll many more times today all by herself!! Although she originally seemed like she was better at rolling from tummy to back, she now rolls back to tummy easier. And, therefore, has difficulty getting back to her back without help.
Ella has also been sitting up pretty much on her own (with someone spotting her from behind) for a couple weeks. She loves to watch Maggie or knock down blocks while sitting. Ella's arm and hand control improves by the day! She also now loves to feel the texture of just about anything that is within hands reach. Therefore, I have gotten out the touch-and-feel books to read together too.
Ella is also much more interested in her feet than before. It's so interesting because Carol, her physical therapist, had said that when she started to bring her feet up to play that it would help with her rolling over...and it sure happened that way! In fact, Ella now loves to roll all over the place especially when we are changing her!
Finally, we celebrated Halloween by going in to Ledgeview to visit for the afternoon. I was able to show-off my little flower to many of my friends, students, and their parents! We then spent the trick-or-treating hours at one of our neighbor's house (we are humbuggers when it comes to passing out candy!).I think I've caught you all up on our doings. New pictures are now posted to the left. Don't forget to click on the speech bubble next to the word 'share' while viewing the slideshow. In the meantime, don't forget to vote!!!!
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