March 2004

Phoebe has gotten even more teeth at the end of February.  She has 6 teeth in her mouth now.  In like a lion...

On Phoebe's birthday we began the day with breakfast and present opening.  Ellen had to help, but not as much as you would expect.   For dinner we made one of her favorite meals: black-eyed peas.  Papa and Gramma (Jada's Parents) came for dinner.  After dinner we decided that cupcakes were in order.  Jada mixed some green food coloring with the frosting and before we knew it, Phoebe was colored green.  She does not devour cupcakes the same way that Ellen does, but she seemed to enjoy it nonetheless. 

Ellen and Phoebe's friends, Emily and Clara, had a birthday party this month as well.  The garden themed birthday party included making visors, re-potting plants into pots with the kiddos' names, and children eating dirt.  Phoebe's dirt eating experience occurred during the re-potting of her plant.  Dave had both Ellen and Phoebe on his lap and was attempting the transfer.  Phoebe seized this opportunity to make a grab for the left over soil on the table.  She was irritated when we cleaned it off her tongue.   Ellen also enjoyed some dirt.  Luckily, this time is was of the dessert variety.  Each child could choose between cake and ice cream or a cup filled with chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo cookie crumbs, and gummy worms.  Ellen chose the dirt cup and enjoyed it immensely. 

Phoebe developmental update:  Phoebe is really starting to make the most of her "wares".  She can point, show a "1" with her finger and wave "hello" and "goodbye."  She seems to understand what it means when someone says bye because she starts waving.  She also enjoys enjoys singing Twinkle-Twinkle little star with Ellen.  Well, Ellen sings and Phoebe does the twinkling with her fingers (by next month she should have the "spirit fingers" down).  She also says "gaa!" which means "Savannah," "cat," "Grandma," or "I sure do like that!"  On March 10 she began drinking whole milk.  She didn't notice a difference between the formula and the milk-we did heat up the bottle.

March 27, 2004:  Phoebe walks on her own for the first time.  She pulled herself up on mom, transferred to dad and then took two steps on her own to get to the table en route to the back door.  She let go of Dad's leg, and the table was a little farther away than she intended.  Dad was the only one to actually see it, but we were all excited.  Since this date, Phoebe has taken a few tentative steps here and there.  Usually she figures out that she can move more quickly if she just gets down and crawls.  We try to use incentives of reaching higher objects by walking.  Also, Phoebe will use furniture and walls to continue cruising for long periods of time.

Ellen:   Ellen made it through the whole month without pooping in her pants.  Starting with the first week of March, she pooped without a fight (after some struggles the first time).  She's even started pooping in the potty at her babysitter's house!  She has had some pee-related accidents though, but they aren't as often.  Now we just need to get her to start telling us that she needs to go or just letting her figure it out on her own without us telling her every hour to try.  Another annoying thing that she has started doing is picking up and carrying Savannah around...much to Savannah's chagrin.  She's also learned how to work the gate and the door covers.  The fun thing that she does is she tells stories.  When she gets started talking about her day, some times, she just keeps going.  If she didn't clam up every time the camera was on, I'd film our bedtime "how was your day" segment.

Doctor appointment:  Both Ellen and Phoebe had their annual doctor appointments on March 10.  Ellen performed well, showing off her language skills, physical development, and new illness.  Ellen talked up a storm about everything and hopped up and down on one foot.  We were disappointed when it was discovered that she had an ear infection beginning in her right ear.  Dr. Bledsoe prescribed chewable antibiotics, which Ellen ate without argument.  Ellen also peed in a cup at the office.  We were all impressed...those of you wondering how she held the cup, well, Dave took care of that!  We found that Phoebe's ear infection was getting better, and then she had to down some Tylenol, receive two shots, and then a finger poke.  Poor kid.  She was pretty upset by the end and took an almost four hour nap in the afternoon.  (Ellen also had Tylenol and one shot.  She wasn't pleased when she felt the shot, but she cheered back up after she chose a sticker.)  The stats are:  Ellen is 37 inches tall, weighs 29 lbs. 4 oz., has a head circumference of 19 1/4 inches, and a good blood pressure.  Phoebe is 30 inches tall, weighs 19 lbs. 9 oz., and has a head circumference of 17 3/8 inches. 

Jada's spring break was in the month of March as well.  While she was off, she took the girls and her mom to the beach for a morning.  All had fun.  Ellen and Phoebe played in the sand (Phoebe got a nice little sand-wich...get it?  she ate sand...yeah, ok) (she takes after her auntie Mandy with the dirt eatin'), and played on the swings.  The Zoo, OMSI, playgroups, and a lunch with Daddy rounded out the week's activities.  Then on the weekend, Ellen and Phoebe's cousins, Nyssa and Marissa came over with Grandma for dinner.

Thanks to Grandma again for letting us go out a couple nights to some parties that our friends had.  It was nice to get out and see our friends again.

A final check up at the end of March:  all four ears are clear of the infections.  Ellen is up to 30 lbs. and Phoebe is tipping the scales at 21 lbs. 

Journal Update : April 1, 2004