Ellie's Bubble Bash

We celebrated Ellie's first birthday with a big bubble bash. We started off the bash with a spaghetti dinner since Spaghetti sauce is one of Ellie's favorite tastes right now. She likes to play with the noodles and then taste some of the sauce off her hands. After dinner we had fun playing with all sorts of bubbles. I had a table of bubbles with different bubble wands for the kids, then we made bubble snakes, and we finished off by putting each of the kiddos in a giant bubble. The kiddos were having so much fun with all of those activities we didn't have time to do the bubble art I had planned, but that's okay. 

 

Bubble snakes are made by cutting the end off a plastic water bottle then securing a washcloth on the end with an elastic. You dip the wash cloth in regular bubbles and then blow to make a long bubble snake.  The plastic water bottles we happened to have laying around the house are for the sterile water we use for Ellie's trach mask and I found that gauze worked just as well as a washcloth and so we ended up using some of Ellie's extra trach supplies to make the snake bubbles. When I was getting everything ready for the party Mason said, "oh I get it, we are having a trach supply birthday for Ellie." I got a good laugh out of it.

Ellie loved the snake bubbles because she could touch all the bubbles.

The giant bubble was a hit with all the kids. At first the wind was making it hard to get a good bubble, but after we held up some blankets to block the wind then we had better results.  I made the mix using water, bubbles, and karo syrup and letting it sit over night.

Before we knew it these crazy boys were in their skivvies having a blast.

Trouble Maker

Since Ellie is not able to eat anything orally there wasn't much point in a smash cake, but she does love the taste of frosting so we gave her a cupcake loaded with frosting and helped her get her hands covered in frosting so she could get a good taste. She loved it and consumed enough frosting to make herself sick that night.

She was a huge fan of all the presents wrapped up with their crinkly bows and tissue paper. The presents inside were okay, but not nearly as cool as the wrapping they came in. Once all the wrapping paper and bows were forgotten about then Ellie really did love all the presents, especially the activity box from Grandma and Grandpa. It has been the greatest toy now that she is sitting independently.

It was the perfect celebration of our sweet Ellie and all she has accomplished in her first year of life.

All About 1-year-old Ellie

* Her favorite thing to play with is crinkly wrappers and paper. Her suction catheters with their plastic cover are especially fun. She will pucker up with the saddest face you've ever seen when a wrapper gets taken away from her.

* She doesn't eat orally, but is starting to recognize food and tries to get her hands on it to explore it. She still shutters when she gets a taste of any in her mouth, though. Some of the tastes she accepts better are spaghetti sauce, gravy, ice cream, frosting, and bananas. (by tastes I mean a wiping some on her lips and the corners of her mouth)

* Her crazy auburn hair is getting longer and thicker, but continues to stick straight up no matter what we do.

* Still loves her big green binkies as well as sucking on her fingers and hands. Those are the only things she openly invites into her mouth.

* She is fascinated by combs but absolutely hates getting her hair combed. It must be sensory overload for her because she starts thrashing around when I try to comb her hair making it nearly impossible.

* She is still a tiny peanut with tiny little feet. Size 2 shoes are still way to big for her.

* Right around her first birthday she finally became an independent sitter and can be left on her own to sit without tipping over a few seconds later. She also started to get the hang of rolling and started rolling completely onto her stomach rather than her little half roll she had become so good at. She even started rolling to get to something she wants. 

* She squeaks and squawks around her trach more, even without her speaking valve on.

* She laughs the hardest when Scott or one of the kids startle her.

* She is a solid sleeper and sleeps through the night every single night. If only we got the luxury to sleep with her, but we still have to get up at least every 3 hours to refill feeds and adjust all of her equipment. 

* She got her first tooth at 9 months, had 5 teeth (3 on top 2 on bottom) at 12 months, and is up to 10 teeth (4 on top 6 on bottom) at 13 months. Teething has been an interesting process with her because she doesn't eat. Her gums just bulge and bulge but with no chewing on things the teeth don't break through until she has almost full grown teeth and the gums can't stretch any further. It has been a pretty miserable process for her.
*Loves to be outside and swing in her swing.
 * She is adored by her brothers and sisters.

*Has the cutest big toothy grin in the world.

Warning: this may be the cutest video you have ever seen.

Happy Birthday Miss Ellie Jane.