Sesame Street Fun

All eyes on the show...Sesame Street Live 2012

Ella is feeling much better and it was time to have some fun this past weekend. Erin and Lucy came for a visit and we went to see Sesame Street Live. They got all dressed up in their pretty dresses and hit the theater like the two sassy girls they are!

This was the second time we have taken Ella to a live show. She enjoyed it last year...but LOVED it this year. I don't think she blinked the entire time. She was totally engrossed in the singing and dancing and of course all of her favorite characters. Lucy was pretty happy too, but sitting still is not that fun for Lucy. She would have much rather been up on the stage dancing along side Elmo :-)




Getting ready to dig into her ice cream sundae.

  After the show, we treated the girls to dinner at Friendly's. Not the fanciest of places, but perfect for our two little monkeys. They chowed down on chicken fingers and finished off a really fun day with some ice cream sundaes. We need to fatten Ella up. She lost about four pounds (four more than she could afford to lose) while she was in the hospital. She is literally a rack of bones now, so it was great to see her dig into her sundae and finish every last bite!


 I think Ella smiled almost all day long. She was so happy to be out and about doing something fun, spending time with family, and of course enjoying a sweet treat. It put a smile on my face too and warmed my heart. I have spent so much time worrying about her and keeping such a close eye on her that you forget to enjoy the little moments. Time goes by so quickly. I need to remind myself of that constantly and take that extra moment to enjoy her precious laugh and beaming smile.

mmmm...the cone is the best part!

Tall and Skinny

It's been a busy week getting back into our routine after the holiday's. We had a check-up with Endocrinology on top of everything yesterday. I have been anxiously anticipating this visit for a few weeks now, but not because I was so curious about Ella's gains. I have been going back and forth with the doctor since before Christmas about changes to Ella's meds and some other issues I feel they have overlooked. I need her records to take to Children's Hospital in a few weeks and it seems all of a sudden the doctors here in Albany want to be extra vigilant. I appreciate the efforts, however this is the way I feel we should have been treated from the beginning. I am constantly calling for lab results and expressing my concerns about every little issue. I understand they see several patients, but I also think they are not doing their job well when I can't even get a phone call to let me know that my daughter's blood work shows her levels are low and her medicine doses need to be adjusted significantly!

Okay rant over (for now) -- As for yesterday's appointment, it was overall positive. I have seen some improvements in Ella since we increased her Synthroid and growth hormone doses. She has more energy, her skin is getting better, and she is coping with things more appropriately. She now stands at 32.5 inches tall....a jump of 2 inches in just three months! We are all very happy to see such gains. I knew she grew. She certainly looks much taller and she can get into more trouble (like pulling plates off the counter and opening doors on her own!) Her weight is another issue. We affectionately refer to her as our little rack of ribs these days. She weighs 23 lbs...a gain of only 3 ounces in three months. This too was an expected outcome. She is a skinny kid. It's not for lack of trying. She eats pretty well and we are constantly feeding her snacks throughout the day. Part of the issue may be from the fact that her meds were off for a bit. The other issue is the jump in height. She is growing so quickly that it is hard to pack on the pounds (I wish I had that problem these days, haha!) Dr. Gleason was not concerned. Ella is finally sneaking on to the growth charts in the 1% range these days.

We head to Boston in a few weeks for a consultation with Dr. Holm and Dr. Hirschorn. Hopefully we'll get some more answers. In the meantime, ice cream sundaes for everyone to celebrate progress (and maybe fatten Pnut up!)

The Dipping Queen

It has been a really busy month for us with Ella starting school, Jason's work and travel schedule has been hectic and we've had lots of good reasons to go back to Woburn on the weekends. We decided to lay low this weekend though and unfortunately that meant missing out on family fun (sorry we missed Keira and Lyla's party). Ella and I both had colds all week and I didn't want to risk spreading any more of our germs. It was really nice to not be running around and busy and definitely what we all needed. Of course by Sunday afternoon, the walls of the house were closing in on us and I needed to find something to do. Jason was recruiting in Ontario, so it was a girls afternoon!

The dipping queen! More bbq sauce please...

Ella loves to eat out and Panera is our usual go-to spot. I thought we'd change it up today and try Friendly's. It has been a long time since I have been to a Friendly's, but I knew it was kid friendly and I also knew if anything Ella would at least eat the ice cream. It was also a little treat since we try stick to a pretty healthy eating plan at home. Ella ate and ate and ate. She polished off nearly everything I ordered for her....chicken strips, carrots, and french fries and of course she saved room for her sundae. She really enjoyed dipping EVERYTHING in the bbq sauce that was served with her chicken. She used so much bbq sauce that I had to ask the waiter for a second order. She topped it all off with ice cream. I thought she would explode when I lifted her from the high chair. This was by far the most she has ever eaten in one sitting. She was so happy walking out of the restaurant.

Now if I could just get her to eat her meals at home that well, we'll be packing on the lbs in no time!