Ellie's 9 month check up

Today is Ellie's 9-month birthday. We had a check up with her doctor that included 1/2 of a flu shot (we go back in a month for the second 1/2) and a prick of her finger for a blood sample to test for iron & lead. So she cried a few times during today's visit.

Our big baby is slowing down in her rate of growth. While her head is still in the 90th percentile, she's now 50th % in height & weight. She weighs 19 lbs, 1 oz and is 28 " long. She has also sprouted her first tooth on the bottom right, and the doctor says the second one is not far behind. Ellie is crawling, pulling up & "cruising," waving hello & goodbye, clapping, giving kisses and high fives. She continues to be a very happy baby and loves to laugh (both real & fake).

Tonight she dined on her first home-cooked meal of lasagna. It was her great, great Aunt Ruthie's recipe and she finished a good sized piece. You can see from the picture that she enjoyed feeding herself. Aunt Ruthie would be so proud!

Ohio Road Trip

Ellie ended her summer with a visit to Ohio to see her Hankins relatives. Jim had to go to San Francisco for a week of training, so Ellie and Rachel decided to hit the road! It began with a girls' road trip from DC to Loveland, OH with Aunt Sarah joining us for the 500-mile trek. Ellie was a great traveler and we made it there in about 9 hours.

Ellie and I stayed with Luke, Pam and the boys for 4 days of fun & lots of football! Ellie's first football experience was watching Cole's 4th grade Loveland Tigers play the Kings Knights.

We also enjoyed taking walks over to watch both Cole & Zach practice during the week. Pam (and Kay) watched Ellie while I worked. The boys had their first day of school while we were there and you can see Ellie was eager to walk them to the bus stop.

Next, we traveled to Centerville to stay with Sarah & Dave for a few days. Grand Jane came down from Lima to play nanny while I worked. Ellie enjoyed the playground near Sarah's house.

We also got to visit with Papaw Tom and Linda at Sarah's house as they returned from Arizona, taking Andrew to college.

Lima was the last stop on our Ohio tour. We picked Jim up at the Dayton airport and spent Labor Day weekend at Grand Jane's house. Ellie went to the pool at Shawnee Country Club daily. Even though the water in the big pool was cold, it didn't bother her to practice her swim stroke. The baby pool was good for longer play and kept her laughing. She also loved the swing, as you can see.

After a wonderful trip and fun with family, it was time for the long drive home and another day in the car. Again, Ellie was a good traveler, but did insist on driving at one point :-)

You can click here to view all of our Ohio Road Trip pictures.