Turning Thirty

I can't believe it's been 3 weeks since I posted! We've pretty much been running on auto pilot here lately. Ella's been "off" for the past several weeks. She's been like a different girl almost! She was fussy from the moment she woke up until the moment she went to bed at night. Meal time was the worst. I would have to fight to just get a bite into her mouth! I felt like I couldn't take her anywhere because she would just be so unhappy the whole time that I would end up having to leave. Even going grocery shopping was nearly impossible because she would just cry and reach for me through the whole store. I'm really not sure what the problem was! Maybe teething? She did run a fever a few times. I kept her home from church several Sundays and a Wednesday due to fever/fussiness. But I'm happy to say that we've had 3 really good days in a row so maybe my happy Ella is back! Friday was Rusty's 30th birthday! He got the day off work and the 3 of us just spent the day together, running errands and just being together. Ella was great the whole day which was much needed, for all of us! Saturday morning, Rusty and I left for his birthday weekend in Louisville! My sister Sarah was a HUGE blessing to us and watched Ella for us from Saturday morning until Sunday afternoon. It was our first time away together since Ella was born and it was so nice! We had several nice meals out (hardly ever do that now!), went to the Slugger Museum and went to see the Titanic Exhibit that was in town along with an IMAX about the Titanic. After we checked into our hotel (got a great deal on hotwire!), ate some dinner and then went on a Ghost Walk to see supposedly haunted spots in Louisville. Of course we don't believe in that kind of thing, but it was just something fun to do. Sunday morning we got to sleep in, had a nice breakfast and stopped at the outlets on the way home. Its crazy how much I missed Ella! She did so well with Sarah though, I was so proud of her!
Its amazing how much Ella can do and say now. She is still not walking...we are very ready for her to take her first steps. She loves walking by holding our fingers but that gets old pretty quick. :) She has taken steps on her own here and there but never on her own initiative. Here's her current vocabulary: mama (or mommy or mom), daddy, duck, fishy, shoes, toes, eye, "b" (blankie), "mimi" (milk), uh-oh, GO GO GO (I'm pretty sure this means "no no no" but I'm not really sure! she usually only says it if she's mad and she always says it very loudly), yummy yummy (said when she's hungry or if she sees a food that she wants), cuppy (sippy cup with water), baby, hair, ball, cow, bye and hi.
I think that's it but there may be a few more. Seems she adds a word or 2 each day. She also knows where her eyes, nose, hair, toes and belly button are and she says "moo" if you ask her what a cow says and "baa" if you ask what a lamb says. The majority of these new words and "tricks" have been learned in the past 2 weeks or so! Its so cute and fun.
She's developed a fear of her changing table lately-that's been fun. She's also gotten extremely attached to her blankie. I try not to let her have it except for at night or during naps but she'll crawl around looking for it and saying "B"??? "B"???
I'll try to post soon with Ella's halloween costume pics! She is SO cute in her costume!