Baby Speak

Ella has always been a very verbal child, not afraid to tell us how she feels and such, but lately she is actually using some real words. It is nice that not everything that comes out of her mouth is cries. Here is a list of the things she says:

Mama
Papa
Hi
Cat
Baby
Oh yeah?
What's that?
Jack (Grandpa Haley's dog, Ella loves him but he is terrified of her)

Everything else is babble, which I am sure makes sense to Ella, but we don't have a clue what she is saying.

Ah Sick

Today Ella is at my parent's house and I am continuing to pack. I have decided I am completely sick of packing, especially when moving things in and out of our coat closet unearthed a ton of little bugs! Kyle bought some barley for brewing beer which was in a cooler in the closet. It got buried and we both forgot about it for quite some time. I took it out of the closet to organize and pack stuff up. Then I put it back in on top of another box. When I went back to add something to that box I could see tons of little bugs crawling out of the cooler and up the wall. That is probably the grossest thing I have seen inside this apartment! So I put the cooler inside a garbage bag and put it outside and starting vacuuming up the bugs. I go back to the closet every ten minutes or so and find more that have climbed out of their hiding places. There are several boxes in there and I think it will be impossible to find all the bugs. I feel like we are going to wake up tomorrow covered in bugs! I had obviously gone too long without cleaning that closet!!

Warm Weather

I have a new found appreciation for warm weather since Ella was born. I have always preferred it over freezing cold winter, but I wasn't always crazy about summer. I like fall because it isn't super cold yet but I am not hot and sweaty all the time. Anyways- this spring has been great for Ella and me. Yesterday we went for a walk before her morning nap and after lunch we went to the park. It is so nice to get out of our tiny little apartment. I don't know how we survived being couped up for the winter. I found this great little park with a playground just down the street from our apartment and Ella loves it! I will need to bring our camera with next time I take her because she is supremely happy when we are there. She likes to swing and go down the slide. She is learning to climb up the stairs too. The best thing about this park is that it is mostly deserted during the day so I don't have to worry about older toddlers knocking Ella over when they run past her. It will be nice when we move to have our own backyard.

Oh yeah, we are moving! I don't think I have posted anything about that yet. Kyle graduated so we are no longer stuck in Menomonie. He likes his current job and will be able to go full time there, so we are moving to Eau Claire. That is where his job is located, along with our church and many wonderful friends from church. We are moving to a duplex which has a lot more space than where we are now. The main living space isn't a ton bigger, but it also has a full basement and a garage, so all around we will have much more space. It is also right next door to one of the couples in our small group at church, so that makes it even better! We are looking forward to moving sometime around June 1st. Ella and I are planning to spend most of the summer in the backyard, or at the pool or one of the many great parks in the area. Maybe she won't get so sick of her toys if she doesn't have to play with them all day everyday. We are sad to be moving farther away from family but this move will mean that Kyle doesn't have to commute to work and we will be able to spend more time with friends. Our group of friends in Eau Claire are all married and many of them have babies around Ella's age, so we have been able to really connect with them. It is nice to have a group of really awesome people who are in the same stage of life as we are. It is also nice for Ella to be making friends. It is fun to see her playing with other babies. Just a few months ago they all pretty much ignored each other but now they play together and get really excited to see each other.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day weekend was a busy one for the Haley Family. Kyle graduated Saturday from Stout. He still has some finals left, but the ceremony is the weekend before finals so that people will actually be n town for the ceremony. I was so proud to see my husband walk across that stage. Graduating from college is a big deal, but doing it with a wife, daughter and working mostly full time is quite the accomplishment. After graduation we went to Woodbury. Kyle's sister had prom so I went with my mother in law to grand march. Let me tell you Rachael was one of the best looking girls there! Her dress was beautiful. After grand march Kevin and Loretta treated us to dinner at Outback Steakhouse for graduation/Mother's Day/Kevin's birthday. it was yummy! Then Kyle took Kevin to a movie to celebrate his birthday and Loretta and I went home to get Ella to bed and we watched a movie too. Sunday Kyle made us breakfast, coffee cake, which is my favorite. Then we went to church and headed over to see my mom for mother's day. My brother and sister were home too and we had fun just hanging out and grazing on food all afternoon. When we got back to Menomonie I put Ella to bed and Kyle went to the library to work on some finals stuff so I went to bed early. I love sleeping! It was a busy weekend, but a good one. Its hard to believe that this is my second Mother's Day as a mom. Time has gone by so fast.

Temper Tantrums

Lately Ella has been very sure of what she wants and if we take it away she throws an absolute fit. Today we got back from running errands and she was playing with a thing of baby motrin that she pulled out of our shopping bag. It was still sealed so I let her play with it for a minute while I put everything else away but it was time for a diaper change and nap, so I took it away. And she absolutely freaked out! She actually wasn't even holding it at the moment, she had dropped it on the floor and was playing with something else. But when she saw that it was going away she started her tantrum. Then all through her diaper change she was screaming and trying to get up and arching her back so it was nearly impossible to change her diaper. She drank her bottle well but when it was gone she started screaming again. I rocked her for a bit and laid her down like I always do before naps and she started screaming again. Normally I would let her cry in her crib for a bit because she falls asleep so quickly but this screaming was more than I could take. So I held her and rocked her some more. It seemed like she fell asleep so I tried to lay her down, and more screaming ensued. I gave her some more milk thinking it would calm her down, which it did until it was gone and she started screaming again. So I gave her some more thinking she was just extra hungry. At this point she had drank 12 ounces (she normally has 5) and had been screaming off and on (mostly on) for an hour. I rocked her some more and rubbed her back until she calmed down. Then I laid her down again, she cried some more and she is finally quiet after 1 hour 15 minutes of craziness.

I really don't know what to do about these temper tantrums she is having lately. Normally she freaks out over diaper changes but stops as soon as I am done. If she gets mad because we took something away she usually stops as soon as we give her something new. But this time she was already playing with something new when I took the motrin away. So what gives? Was it just extra aggravated because it was nap time? She slept fine last night and actually napped well yesterday at my parents, so I don't think she was overly tired. She hadn't even shown any signs of being tired before I started this whole process. I have been reading online and everything is saying to just replace the object you took away or remove them from the situation and they will calm down. Give them a hug and everything is just dandy. But you know what? That doesn't always work. So when it doesn't work what do I do? I am glad that I didn't give in to her screaming and give her the motrin back because then she will think she is in charge, and in essence would be. She has been testing me a lot lately to see who has the power. I have not given in and she has been doing better, but today really caught me off guard. She woke up happy and was in a good mood all morning. She was her normal friendly self at the bank and Walmart. I don't know what happened. She continues to be a mystery to me...