Ella in Action

Grandpop sent evidence that this cheeky monkey is feeling much better. That’s the camera strap she is carrying around in her mouth (proof to my earlier point that she imitates the dogs).

The fourth tooth came in on Friday, and she has been testing them out on everything – including me. Until Saturday, she hadn’t bitten me since the day the first two teeth showed up. She bit Grandma yesterday. She is biting her clothes, particularly her socks, which she tries to remove with her teeth. She had shredded a blanket – with her teeth, while riding in the car where I couldn’t see what she was doing. The other night I gave her a piece of raw bell pepper, and she practiced biting bits off of it while I made supper.

Because it seems to be a common question, let me clarify that she does not bite my nipple while she’s nursing. She has bitten it before, when the first two teeth popped through, but she’s no fool. It didn’t take her long to connect that biting = no nursing. The mechanics of nursing aren’t really conducive to nipple biting anyway, so paying attention usually prevents it. Ella really only did it at the end of a nursing session if I tried to latch her back on when she was finished.
She attended her first kid birthday party Saturday and received a short lesson on sharing during what I like to call the Cheese Puff Conflict. She and the birthday girl, who was turning 1, were sitting in the floor eating cheese puffs. The birthday girl kept taking Ella’s out of her hand. The look on Ella’s face when this happened was priceless – a cross between confusion, hurt feelings, and anger. It happened about four times before Ella decided to take the cheese puff back. Birthday Girl had it clamped in a fist of steel, but that didn’t stop Ella from trying to pry her fingers off of it. It was cute, and I think she’s going to be a scrappy one when the need arises.

Last night I saw her take her first real steps while holding onto the furniture. Sometime over the weekend she learned that her finger fits up her nose, and she thinks it’s funny. Monday, she started trying to pick my nose, too. She is getting so much better about petting the animals with her soft touch. She loves, loves, loves Georgia – her eyes light up when you say her name, but Georgia is still keeping her distance. She has learned to sit and spin herself in a circle with her feet. This new trick resulted in a splinter in one heel and a wonky diaper situation. She spent Sunday afternoon with Dave while I helped with a bridal shower, and they had a blast together. He said he felt really proud and excited when she was reaching for him (like she does for me) while she was upset at one point. They played and played, and I think he really enjoyed the time with her. I need to make that happen more often.