Crawling & 2 more teeth!

This weekend we began packing. I had originally planned to use the holiday weekend to completely move out, but that wasn't possible. We're worried about leaving the house alone with our stuff still inside. We don't have a good place to move all of the furniture. Chris has some storage space, but Carol is worried about mice & wetness. So I don't think that would be a good idea. We just need to stay put until we get everything out. It's pretty dangerous. We don't go outside unarmed.

On Friday, May 14, we were driving home after dropping Ella off with Carol. Brad drove down Montgomery past the crappy gas station & we were stopped at a stoplight. Someone threw a rock at his car. The windows were closed, so it bounced off of the rear passenger side window - Ella's window. We turned our heads & saw someone running. There were so many people out, it would have been impossible to figure out which ones did it. I was so upset, I just began shaking & crying. I had my gun in my lap, and I just wanted to start shooting everyone on the sidewalk. That's not good. I shouldn't feel like that.

Then, last Wednesday, I was taking Ella to work to meet Brad. As I walked out to the garage, I noticed the neighbor with the white van was outside. When I put Ella in her carseat, I noticed the van had pulled out, but was in the center of the driveway. The door opened, and the guy got out & went behind the bushes. He stared at my car for a few minutes, thinking I couldn't see him. I sat frozen, waiting for him to come toward us. Again, my gun was in my lap. Eventually, he went inside & I drove off without closing the garage door. I worried all day about Brad going back there. I was worried that he would be waiting inside the garage for him to come back.

Ella now has her top 2 teeth, they came in at the same time. Brad says it was May 24. I didn't even know they had officially broken through until Carol saw them, and then Brad said, "yeah they came in." They had been trying to come in for a few weeks or so. She also began crawling on May 1. She started doing a sideways crab-like crawl for a day or so, but quickly figured out how to move efficiently. It's so funny when she gets moving so fast! Her body tries so hard to keep up with her fast little legs. She can really move!

Ella's favorite things now:
She tries to put on her clothes. If she sees them laying somewhere, she picks them up & puts them on her head. Then she pulls the sides down, like she's trying to pull over her head. She doesn't, of course, never gets the hole for her head in the right place. It's still pretty stinkin' cute!

She is still only saying DADA. I think she's trying to say dog, and milk, but can't get the words out! She says MMMMM when she's hungry, and tries to make the sign for milk. She really likes sign language, and smiles when I tell her what things are.

I got her a book with lots of textures, it's her favorite. She also likes Isabelle's old book with puppies in it. The one on the cover is her favorite. It has long fluffy hair.

She hates having her diaper changed, and tries to wiggle away once you get it off. I think she likes to be naked, she gets upset when I dress her!

She pulls herself up on everything to stand. The other day, she got on top of a diaper box. She stayed there on all fours for a few seconds, then fell off. She can now walk along the couch from one side to another. She is really trying to stand, without any prompting from us.

She understands "No," and will usually stop playing with things when you say it. Last night, I was making dinner while she & Brad were in the living room. She kept trying to graba small flashlight from the table. Brad told her "No," firmly. She cried each time he said it. She was upset that she couldn't play with it! She's learning so quickly now!