Ellie is now 6 months old (actually she'll be 7 months old in just over a week). We started solid foods about a month ago. I was going to wait until she was 6 months old but one day, I was holding her and eating an apple. She kept watching me eat it and so I took a slice and held it to her mouth. She started sucking on it/gumming it and I could tell she liked it. I took it away from her then and she started to cry. So the next day we started her on some apple puree. She LOVED it. It's still one of her favorite foods. She's a fantastic eater and getting better by the day. Every thing we've given her so far she's like (apples, peas (both her top favorites), pear, sweet potato, butternut squash, avocado and banana). The only thing we tried that she didn't like is yellow squash. But we have enough of it so we'll keep giving it to her. We're going to start her on yogurt, meats and legumes in the next couple of weeks.
We had our first Thanksgiving as well. We went over to Matt's mom's house. Ellie loved seeing everyone and she even got a few new toys to play with. We gave her a little bit of mashed potatoes but she didn't really like them (we think it was the texture, she doesn't really like anything that isn't REALLY pureed yet).
She had her 6 month well visit with the doctor. We had a couple of questions and one of them was if she might be tongue-tied. Every time she sticks out her tongue, it looks like its being pulled in the center. So the doctor looked at it and sure enough, she is! She said it's actually pretty late to be realizing this, that it's usually caught within the first few days of life. I had thought there was a chance she was MONTHS ago but I looked it up and all of the symptoms and they didn't apply to her (like not being able to take a bottle well). So the doctor that we had that day actually said she's the only one in the practice to fix it. So she went and got her tools. Matt and the nurse held Ellie down and I just touched her belly (to help calm her as well as me) and I looked away. Then the doctor cut the little strip of cartilage that was holding her tongue down. I'm sure she cried like crazy (and Matt said she did) but I think I just blocked it out because I can't remember. Matt immediately fed her (per doctor's instructions). That helped her heal and stop the bleeding faster. Then about 15 min. after getting that done, they gave her 4 shots. Poor kid did NOT have a good day. :( Other than the crying, she really was a trouper. She went to the babysitter's for the rest of the day and Carol said that she was a happy baby (as always) and that she kept sticking her tongue out and giggling. I just imagine her thinking "Hey!! This is cool! I can stick my tongue out further and it feels different!"
November 21st was one of the best days of my life! It was our finalization day!! We had my mom, Matt's mom and step dad, my brother and Carol there at the courthouse. We had a 9:40 court time. We went in and the lawyer told us what to expect. We were called to the stand to answer questions. I went first and the lawyer and then the judge asked us questions. Our social worker and the lawyer told us to just say yes to everything so they weren't hard questions. Just things like "Is this the correct amount you paid to the adoption agency?" "Do you plan to care for this child as if she were your own?"
After the court appearance we went to Rachel's Creperie with our families for breakfast. It was probably the best breakfast EVER!!! Then we went home and just enjoyed ourselves and relaxed for a bit. In the evening we went out to the Symposium for dinner with our friends and family. It truly was an amazing day and we will NEVER forget it. We plan on celebrating it every year as our Forever Family Day. We're not going to go crazy but just make sure we do something as a family. Go out to dinner, a movie, play a board game. Something fun and just to make sure we celebrate when we officially became a family.
About a week ago we went to the Agency's Christmas party in Harrisburg. We met up with S. & E. for the party and S. brought his mom along to meet Ellery. S's mom didn't know about E. being pregnant at all (he just told her that he had a daughter only a month or so ago). We were very surprised at how well S's mom took the news and took to us and Ellery. She loved just watching her and she took probably 100 pictures. She also brought 7 bags FULL of gifts for Ellie. She got so many things! It was a nice visit and we had a great time hanging out with S. & E. Our next visit with them will be closer to her birthday. Probably at the Agency's summer picnic.
In just a few days it will be Christmas. I'm so very excited. We bought some things for Ellery but not too much. She's never really had presents before so I'm just so excited to see how she does. I'm sure she'll love the wrapping paper the most ;P
And I know I said I'd post pics last post but I obviously forgot. So here are all of the ones I haven't posted in a while.
3 month pictures
4 month pictures
5 month pictures (she just discovered her feet and all she wanted to do was play with them!)
6 month pictures
Halloween
Our Finalization day!
Ellery's first Thanksgiving
