A Creature of Habit

Ellen has a thing about routines ... She finds something she likes and then does it over and over again. Here are a few of my favorites:

Piling all of her friends into the chair with her.

Sitting on the bottom step.

Wearing sunglasses around the house.

16 Months Old

Ellen is 16 months old! She's a very busy little lady with seven teeth in her constantly jabbering little mouth ... EVB will repeat just about every word you ask her to say and has also started saying more two-word phrases like "Hi babies," "Hi Momma," "Hi Dada;" "Bye babies," "Bye Momma," "Bye Dada;" and "Hotdog, peez" (Mickey's Hotdog Dance song), "Wah-oh, peez" (water), "Up, peez." Ellen still loves babies, Mickey Mouse, running, giving hugs, dancing and exploring the world around her. She's the best!

A squeaky clean 16-month-old fresh out of the tub!

No More Tears (Hopefully)!

Shortly after Ellen was born, we noticed that she had constantly teary eyes. Her pediatrician said that the tears were a result of tear ducts that hadn't fully opened up. In the majority of babies, the tear ducts open fully by the first birthday. Ellen's left eye eventually dried up, but her right eye has continued to be teary. We've been keeping an "eye" on it over the past few months with visits to a pediatric ophthalmologist and, with no signs of improvement, we decided to have her tear duct probed to open it.

Ellen had the out-patient procedure done today and she was such a trooper! Despite being woken up early and unable to have her morning milk, Ellen was a great patient. EVB (and Mom & Dad) had a difficult time when the anesthesia was administered, but that was the worst part. The procedure itself took about 15 minutes and Ellen woke up soon afterward. We were warned that Ellen would likely be upset and cranky after coming of the anesthesia, but in typical Ellen fashion, she was as happy as could be. She greeted us in the recovery room with a great big "hi" and the nurse informed us that Ellen had been chatting her up from the moment she woke up.

After a little time in the recovery room, we were on our way home and back to the normal daily routine. Unless Ellen falls into the unlucky 5-10 percent, her eye should now be tear-free, which we're super excited about.

Pre-procedure: "Dad, it's too early in the morning for pictures and your flash is too bright ..."

Post-procedure: Resting with Daddy in the recovery room.

Such a big girl sitting in the recovery room chair all by herself!

"Dickey" was very brave and did a good job, too.