Ella is fourteen months old!! Wow how time has flown. It is amazing how much she has accomplished during this time. Her newest milestone is that she has finally figured out how to go from laying down to sitting up on her own. She is really starting to pull up on things to her knees but it is hard in our house because there really isn’t much at her level for her to pull up on. Our couch has cushions that are too thick for her to grab on to so her favorite thing to use is one of us when we are laying on the floor. She still refuses to get on all fours and therefore isn’t crawling yet. It is frustrating because she has all of the components but just doesn’t want to put them all together yet. However, I am thoroughly appreciating every moment that I have before crawling because then I know my life will drastically change. She continues to be amazingly healthy. And believe me that I thank God for this every day after knowing what some of you with children with Ds have gone. I know how fortunate I have been!! With the exception of two minor colds to date, she has not had a single health problem that we have had to go in for. Of course this is not counting the biggie…..the most likely onset of leukemia….sometime in her future. We go back in another week and a half for an updated blood draw to see if any numbers have changed but for now, she remains healthy. She also continues to be one of the happiest babies I know. I am telling you, the kid smiles every time someone looks at her. Actually, she smiles sometimes just because she finds herself funny. There are so many things that we all have taken for granted with our other children that we appreciate so much more with our precious Ds children. I really wanted to thank Zoey’s mom, Heather, for pointing out something to me that I didn’t even appreciate enough with Ella. Her smile!!! Heather was telling me how when Zoey had her infantile spasms, they lost Zoey’s smile and how devastating that was. As we all know, Zoey has that beautiful smile back but her comment really made me realize how much we need to appreciate EVERYTHING our kids do.
Normally, I would have posted pics of Ella from birth to one year when she turned one year but since I wasn’t blogging then, I decided to post them now. I have taken a picture on our couch every month. What a difference a year makes!!

Birth (actually 6 days later

One Month Old

Two Months Old

Three Months Old

Four Months Old

Five Months Old

Six Months Old

Seven Months Old

Eight Months Old

Nine Months Old

Ten Months Old

Eleven Months Old

One Year Old!!

Thireen Months Old

Fourteen Months Old