Today, Ella had her first well-baby check-up with her new pediatrician, Dr. Faris. I like him a lot. We had a family practice doctor before who was fine, but this guy gave me more information than I ever learned all last year because, obviously, pediatrics are his expertise.

Well, Ella had it rough during the appt. She was sleepy and hadn’t had a nap yet, and just the tiny probing from the nurse to get temp. (under arm instead of ear), listen to her heart, and all that jazz really bugged her and made her burst into tears. The usually happy Ella just cried and cried and fought to keep from getting touched. Then, she actually fell asleep on me when the doctor came in. We had time to chat and catch up on records and such, and then he had to check Ella out. He was able to listen to her breathing with the stethescope without her moving a muscle..until I had to turn her around. She woke up, started balling and we had to keep her arms down for him to check her ears and mouth. But, she did pass with flying colors despite the crankiness.

That wasn’t the worst part, though. She was ready for new shots and behind on her one year ones (we moved a month after we could go to the clinic to get them–I felt like a bad mommy waiting so long to get her in to a doctor for that reason). So, she had 7 shots to get total. We did four today and get to do 4 more next month (the flu shot has two rounds the first time you get one).

Of course, due to the fact that she was already sleepy and crabby, she howled, fought and screamed through the four shots, but the nurse got the band-aids on quick and she was up in Daddy’s arms in no time. Before the nurse even came in, she didn’t want to take the grape tylenol (which she usually says, “Mmmm” when she sees the bottle)–that’s how tired she was. I just wish we didn’t have to go through this next month, too. But, the doctor reassured me that I wasn’t a bad mom and that all Ella will have to do at her 2 yr. check up is get two more shots and she’ll be completely caught up. Whew!

Now, she’s asleep–was dozing off when I got her out of her carseat. She woke up crying so I’m sure her legs hurt on top of being exhausted. I wonder how long she’ll sleep?

Tonight after dinner and her bath, Ella was wondering around the living room while her Daddy was watching tv. I eventually came in (after cleaning up the supper dishes) and sat on the floor with her. She played with both of us, every now and then coming up to one of us and laying her head on us and kissing us. Well, she went and got one of her books and brought it over close to Stevan (who was laying on the floor). She then proceeded to hit him with it, causing him to say, “ouch!” At first, I don’t think she knew if what she did was bad or if it was supposed to be funny. She just sat there listening to Stevan moan and groan. He started to pretend that he was crying….she still just sat there and looked at me and then back at her Daddy. I told her to kiss Daddy and make it better. When she didn’t move, I came over and kissed Daddy and then she burst into tears! Daddy’s tears caused her to feel bad and cry, too. I picked her up and then Stevan took her and she immediately laid her head on his chest and tried to quit crying once she knew he was okay.

Bless her heart….I think she felt bad because he was hurt, but I also think she felt instant remorse for having hit him, too!

This new age is amazing to me!

Stevan’s version is quite cute, too!

I have to tell my cute Ella story that happened this afternoon.

Some background info first, though: Ella likes to help Mommy clean her high chair tray when she is done with her meal. She also likes to wash the entire bath tub with her washcloth during bath time. She washes all of her toys, as well, and will even try to wash Mommy or Daddy’s face if we get too close.

Well, today, I had to clean the inside of the oven where some stuff dripped down over the weekend. I was bent over scrubbing when Ella waddled into the kitchen with her wash cloth (that she had swiped from the clean laundry pile on the couch–she takes them every time I fold them in front of her). She opened her mouth wide in utter amazement since she had never seen the inside of the oven before. She bent over, like Mommy, and started ‘cleaning’ the glass on the oven — since that’s all she could reach (which I was thankful for–ugh, all the stuff inside the oven that she could have tried to get to makes me cringe). It was adorable! She just smiled at me when I asked if she was cleaning like Mommy.

Maybe by the time she’s five, she can take over the dusting duties–I hate it!