Hemoglobin, hearing and What Ella can do

Ella's hemoglobin looked much better on the last lab (the anemia test), it had reached mid-range, so hopefully we can breathe a sigh of relief! She's still eating paper. I have no further explanation on the issue found with the white blood cells, yet.

We had a very frightening experience with Ella yesterday, I am thankful to Heavenly Father that he protected her from harm! She definitely had angels with her that time! I can't go into it, it's still giving me shock waves and makes me want to heave great sobs, but I want to mark it here in time and express my gratitude for her safety. She is so very precious to us!!!

As far as Ella's hearing goes, we think she hears more but doesn't pay attention because she hasn't had hearing so much of her life. Once again, she is getting an ear infection/sinus infection and is being put on antibiotics. Ella receives hearing therapy at school. She has to be taught to listen. She doesn't respond to her name well, or to questions or directions and tantrums a lot, screaming very loud and high. We're thinking that because she has lost so much of her developmental hearing/language time, that she doesn't understand English yet. Realizing this has helped us a lot. And we still have so much more to learn. Her signing hasn't progressed well due to her difficulty with language and her vision. She won't wear her glasses more than a minute and then proceeds to bend them up and throw them. Ugh. So she's still looking sideways at everything because of her astigmatism (see the top photo of her, two posts back).

What Can Ella do?

• Climb up in your lap and give great big hugs
• Bring me her sippy cup or plate for a refill
• Dance on her own or holding hands with Timmy-- she moves her hips more than the boys do
• Find her favorite dolly in nursery at church and carry her around
• Climb the stairs forward crawling and go down them on her belly crawling backwards
  
• Eat fruits & vegetables like crazy (ate an entire bowlful of veggies at the Mongolian Grill), bread and peanut butter, eggs, yogurt, cheese sticks, but doesn't like mashed potatoes or mac and cheese.
• Eat most times with a utensil
• Smile and be cheerful
• Do some song actions
• Sign "more"
• Say "no!" (at least I think that's what she's saying)
• Watch movies with a smile on her face
• Lie on a blanket or rug in the middle of the floor with a blanky balled up in her arms
• Sit with a big book across her legs and turn the pages
• Use her thumb to splay through a chunk of pages
• Make dots and scribbles on paper
• Rip and eat paper and chew on book corners
• Play with fabric
• Spin to try to twirl her dresses out (who taught her that? She just knew it)
• Recognize familiar people and show her joy in being with them, especially if they hold her
• Tuck her hands under her chest and flap her elbows like little wings when you pick her up (because she's so happy!)
  
• Eat her own kid meals when we go out
• Get underfoot or sit in the corner of the kitchen when I'm cooking, always anxious for a taste (so I try to sit her at the island)
  
• Laugh and giggle
• Sit on the potty chair and go potty if you catch her in time in the mornings (brand new!)
  
• Jabber and wave her arms, like she's giving an important speech, or sometimes scolding us
• Take a bath or shower and enjoy it