Training for F1

Ella continues to practice walking most of her waking hours every day, and though her balance is improving daily, her confidence still overshadows her sense of balance and danger. Last week, while standing and talking to her reflection in the glass doors of the office, she fell over like a tree and bruised her temple on the edge of the metal doorframe. I came across the Thudguard and Bumper Bonnet while surfing for some electrical outlet plugs and other items needed to finish babyproofing the apartment.

Here's a photo of Ella modeling the Bumper Bonnet, which she wore after a good session on her scooter. She vetoed the Thudguard -- wouldn't allow it to sit on her head even long enough for a photo. Michael and I survived our childhoods without helmets, so we won't be subjecting Ella to the bumper bonnet going forward (she's learned to bend at the waist and fall on her bum since last week, and the number of falls is diminishing). But it did make me feel slightly less anxious when she wore it this morning for roughly a half hour while standing unattended in the living room, and it was good for a lot of laughs.

Now for some big news (cue the drum roll):
Ella slept from 630 pm until 530 a.m. last night without eating anything during the night. No night feeds. "Slept" is a slight exaggeration; she woke up at 10 pm and cried on and off for 45 minutes (a time when I would have nursed her in the past), but eventually went back to sleep and didn't wake up again til 530 this morning.

So we are finally on our way to sleeping through the night. We're expecting a few more nights with occasional protests but hope that she'll be sleeping (or putting herself back to sleep without any intervention from us) by next week.

Now, if we can figure out how to get her to eat solid food and take a bottle or sippy cup, we'll be all set!