Eldy, here's your post

My friend Laura told me that blogger should kick me off for not being a prompt updater of our blog. The guilt trip won me over and I finally sat down to upload pictures and make a re cap of our last few weeks.

We've had some emotional last few weeks (that I didn't mention in earlier posts). Lee's grandmother passed away on October 14. She is the wonderful woman Elle is named after. By the time I came into the family, Eleanor (Grandmother Lupher) was already battling Alzheimer's. The first time I saw Eleanor light up was when she met Elle for the first time. It was Elle's first birthday and as soon as Elle was put in Eleanor's lap, all traces of that horrible disease left and Eleanor was the vibrant, beautiful, happy, caring woman that I had heard stories about. Lee equated her reaction to meeting Elle as a little girl opening up the perfect gift on Christmas morning - that was the type of sheer joy Eleanor was showing when she met Elle for the first time. I will never forget that moment.

Eleanor and Elle meeting for the first time

March 27, 2010

Fast forward a few weeks and we received the horrible news that Elle's favorite nurse, Wendy, was leaving TCH. Wendy was an exceptional nurse and she will be greatly missed. I cried as we said goodbye for the last time. I'm sure if Elle would have realized what was going on, she would have cried too. To this day, she still looks over at Wendy's desk to see if she is sitting there. We were on the emotional roller coaster for a few days and then we were hit with the news that Elle's Occupational Therapist was also leaving TCH. This news came out of left field and I was completely thrown for a loop. We had been with her for 16 months so it was hard to receive the phone call that she was no longer with TCH. I hate change and all this happened within 2 weeks of each other.

Elle bored at the dinner table wearing her "Mommy's sugar and spice" apron.

I told my friend Meghan that ever since Eleanor's passing, I have felt like I am struggling to keep my head above water. I kind of feel that now, a month later, things are starting to calm down and we are getting back into our normal routine. Starting next week, Elle will be getting feeding therapy from her speech therapist. I am looking forward to this and hoping she can help come up with some new and exciting ways to try to get Elle to eat food.

Elle eating broccoli or cheesy trees as we call them to entice her to eat

Elle is still blowing and going. She is getting so brave now and will walk from the island to the kitchen cabinets and then to the hallway and will eventually make her way to our bathroom where she has successfully figured out how to turn on both the cold and the hot water in the bathtub. Her record for outfit changes in one day due to being soaked is up to 4.

The Bathtub Bandit caught in the action

Trying to get a picture of this go go getter is getting to be pretty difficult

Two weeks ago Elle had her yearly evaluation for ECI (Early Childhood Intervention). While her communication skills are through the roof, she is still struggling with fine motor and gross motor. She was actually "rated" as having the fine and gross motor skills of a 9 to 10 month old. That day, my mom and I headed to the re sale shop to load up on blocks and other toys similar to the ones the therapist used when evaluating Elle. We have so many toys and blocks and shape sorting things and you name, we probably have it but the more practice Elle has and the more stimulation she has, I feel that the better she will get at both gross and fine motor skills. The abundance of new toys did create a slight clutter problem in Elle's room. After finding a free small bookcase that someone was giving away and a few coats of spray paint, the bookcase is the perfect holder for Elle's new toys.

Elle's room after she discovered the bags of toys

Thanks to the free bookcase everything has a place! The angel picture was hanging in Eleanor's room and I am so glad we have it in Elle's room.

We have a fun filled weekend coming up and I am so excited that Elle will get to wear her new Rebels cheer leading outfit for the first time! Maybe it will help our Rebels beat the LSU Tigers! No matter how badly we lose, this is always my favorite game of the year...and can you believe it...next week is Thanksgiving and there are only 38 days until Christmas. Crazy how time flies.