Fun with Grandpa and MeMe

Ellie is having a great time with her Grandpa and MeMe. Unfortunately, I've been terrible about taking pictures, but I snapped a few to show her new (and very appropriate) shirt -- it says "Life is great and I'm happy. All smiles. All the time." How very true that is for Miss Ellie!











Lately, Ellie has been doing this adorable thing where she sort of peers around or over things. It just melts your heart when it's you that she's looking for!

Everyone hears "Mama"

Now Ellie is saying "mama" too! Yippee!

Daddy hears "Dada"

Today, Daddy heard Ellie say "dada" several times. I didn't hear it...but I also didn't hear her say "ragu," so who knows! ;-)

Update: Today (Saturday) I also heard Ellie say "dada." She was looking at a picture of the donkey from Shrek, but I think that was just a coincidence.

Crawling: the advanced course

Ellie has been practicing crawling day and night. She can now crawl from one end of the room to the other and today, she crawled through a tunnel. Pretty impressive, really!

Gracie isn't so sure about Ellie's new-found talent. I think she liked Ellie a lot more when Ellie couldn't move very much or very quickly (she seemed relieved that Ellie got distracted by the wall here):

I absolutely love that Ellie can (and does) crawl up to me when she wants to be cuddled -- I can't imagine anything more flattering than seeing that cute little girl work to get into my lap and then give me a big smile!

Why me?

Do you ever have one of those days when you think "why me?!" I had one of those days today. I found myself asking "why me?" several times...but not because I was feeling sorry for myself. I just wonder why God picked me to lead such a charmed life. I get to stay home and watch my beautiful, funny, sweet daughter grow up. I have the most wonderful husband in the world who works so hard to provide for his family and always makes Ellie and me laugh. I have the most supportive parents who adore their granddaughter and are willing to drive all the way to Dallas just to see her; a sister who also adores Ellie and who will spend hours on the phone with me talking about nothing and everything! I live minutes away from my best friend who loves getting together as often as I do and who can always relate to my crazy first-time mom freak-outs. I live in a house that I love. And I found a 20% off Babies R Us coupon right when I was stressed about having to buy Ellie a new carseat! :-) How much luckier can one girl be?!

A not-so-fun first

Poor Ellie got her first bruise today...three of them, actually. ;-( She bonked her head against the bars of her crib. Poor baby.

It's official!

Ellie can crawl -- and amazingly I got it on video (don't mind the laughing/crying in the background)!! It was SO sweet to see her figure it out after working so hard at it. I think it's the first skill that I've seen her consciously work at mastering and it was so exciting when it all clicked for her. What a sweet, sweet little girl we have!

Tiny Tots Tuesday

Yesterday, Gaga, Papa and I took Ellie to Tiny Tots Tuesday at the Arboretum. First we went to Kindermusik and Ellie loved watching all of the older kids singing and dancing.


I love Gaga!












Intently watching the older kiddos








Checking out Papa's cool shirt






Then, we checked out the HUGE pumpkin patch. It was lunchtime, so Ellie's smiles were few and far between.












Rolling her tongue like Daddy and Auntie Jamie










































After Ellie enjoyed a picnic lunch, she took a nap in her stroller while Gaga, Papa and I had lunch at the little tea room -- what a perfect day!

Sleep, glorious sleep!

Just when I thought I was never going to catch up on sleep, Ellie slept through the night! Yippee!! She woke up once, but after a quick visit from Daddy (to rescue her leg from the side of the crib and to replace the lost pacifier), she slept until 7:00 a.m. I feel like a new woman -- thanks Ellie!

Ellie, my fierce protector!

Yesterday, I was tickling Ellie by "biting" her belly and sides. She thought it was moderately funny. Then, Damian came in and started tickling me the same way. I was laughing and yelling for him to stop. Ellie got a look of horror on her face and started absolutely sobbing! We stopped immediately and assured her that we were just playing and Damian picked her. She cried and cried and cried until I held her and assured her that Daddy had not hurt Mommy. What a sweet girl!

Ellie from a new angle

So this afternoon, when Ellie woke up from her afternoon nap, I looked on the video monitor and saw a very different view of Ellie. Instead of looking at the side, front, or back of her head, I was looking at the top of her head?! Miss Ellie managed to sit up -- we'll see if it was a fluke or not.

Here's a video of her in the swing:

Clapping and swinging

Today, Ellie clapped her hands for the first time! She doesn't really do it on demand, but she did it several times. Patty cake, here we come!

Also, Gaga and Papa are here and Papa and I put a swing in the front yard. We have a few kinks to work out (it twists instead of swinging straight -- just makes it more interesting, right?!), but Ellie really likes it. I think we will get HOURS of use out of it -- especially in the late afternoon when Ellie is just a little harder to entertain. I didn't get any pictures of Ellie in the swing, but I will tomorrow.

Moving in the right direction

Ellie has gotten very good at getting up on her hands and knees (and even gets up on her hands and feet now) and army crawls backwards, but today, she crawled forward for the first time! It was just one little step/crawl, but it was very exciting! She did it a couple of times and we sort of caught it on tape once:

In other news, Damian is back from China (yea!) -- Ellie gets SO excited every time she sees him. Unfortunately, both Damian and Ellie have colds. ;-( Hopefully they'll both make speedy recoveries and not swap colds.

Today, Ellie and I "interviewed" a new pediatrician (we're still trying to find one closer to the new house). The doctor was nice enough, but he said Ellie had a nice "beta-carotene glow." I haven't noticed, but in response to being called orange, Ellie had carrots and squash for dinner, and tomorrow she's trying a new food -- cantaloupe. ;-)

Mom learns a new trick too

Not to be out done by all of Ellie's new tricks and talents, I unpacked my sewing machine, read the directions (gasp!) and figured out how to sew again (it's only been about 20 years since the last time I sewed...literally!). Here's my first project:

Could it be?

A mere 4 (that's right, FOUR) months after learning to roll from her back to her tummy, I think Ellie has finally learned/remembered how to roll from her tummy to her back! Two days ago, I found her on her back in her crib. I knew she had rolled over from her tummy because she started her nap on her tummy, but I figured it was a fluke; today, however, I watched her (via the video monitor) roll over several times in her crib. Then, she did it twice in the playroom (aka the dining room)! We'll see if she remembers how to do it tomorrow.

In her continuing effort to prove me wrong when I said that she wouldn't change much while Damian was out of town, Ellie started pulling up (sorta) today! She can't quite do it from the ground, but when she sits in my lap, she can do it. It's so cute to watch her try SO hard and then get really excited when she finds herself standing at her activity center. I really feel like she's changing by the minute right now. Honey, come home before she starts knitting and speaking in full sentences!

New Moms Group

Yesterday, Ellie and I went to a moms group at church. It meets every other Wednesday for two hours and Ellie gets to play in the nursery while I'm in the "meeting." She seemed to really enjoy being around all the kiddos. When I picked her up, she was in a big stroller next to a little girl who was probably 2 or 3 years old -- Ellie was just gazing up at her like "Wow! You are so cool and I'm so cool because I'm hanging out with you!"

A new use for stackers

Ellie received these great stackers from Gaga's best buddy, Jill, and I couldn't figure out why the packaging said they were for kids 12 months and older. Hhm. I think I figured it out today. ;-)

The one she has in her mouth is the top/smallest stacker and it has a hole in it, so it makes a whistling sound when she breathes in and out. She thought that was very fun!

Really, I think she's just trying to follow in JR's (big-mouthed) footsteps:

Just the latest

So lately I've been terrible about catching all of the funny things Ellie is doing on video. These videos still don't do her justice, but at least they show a few of the new things she's doing.

She loves looking at herself in this book. She just gazes adoringly at the mirrors:

It seems like she's always "talking" these days. And when she's not talking, she's working on her fake cough and blowing raspberries.

Although she can't compete with Cousin Alex's OCD, she does become a bit preoccupied with random things like the patch on her clothes:

Mealtime fun

We haven't had a very noteworthy weekend, but I wanted to post some pictures and a video of Ellie during dinner (one of her three favorite times a day):

(not) Sleeping and (not quite) Crawling

Well, Miss Ellie is still not sleeping well and I can't figure out why. :-( For the past week or so, she has been restless all night. She'll sleep for about 20 minutes, and then wake up fussing. By the end of the night, she's still exhausted because her sleep has been so interrupted. Tonight, she even fell asleep in her highchair during dinner. Poor girl!

Unfortunately, Ellie and I are on our own for the next 9 days because Damian is in China for a few furniture fairs. We're going to miss him so much, but hopefully the time will pass quickly and the trip will be really successful. I told Damian that Ellie wouldn't change much while he was gone, but Ellie isn't cooperating...right after we got back from taking Damian to the airport, Ellie got up on her hands and knees for the first time! She hasn't actually crawled yet, but she is SO close -- she rocked back and forth and scooted backwards. I think it's just a matter of days...or weeks...or, at the most, months. ;-) Luckily, our friend, JR, came over to see Ellie this afternoon and he helped me lower the mattress in Ellie's crib, so if/when she does start crawling and even pulling up, she won't be able to climb out of her crib. I'm thinking that I better get busy with the rest of the baby-proofing!

Cheerios and separation anxiety

Ellie is well on her way to becoming an all-American toddler -- she's eating Cheerios now! I'm actually so impressed because she can pick them up between her thumb and forefinger. At first, she couldn't figure out how to let go of the Cheerio once it was in her mouth, but she figured that out pretty quickly. It's so funny watching her "chew" them -- she basically just moves them back and forth in her mouth until they dissolve. By the way, Ellie doesn't really have a black eye -- I don't know why it looks so horrible in this video.

On her journey towards toddlerhood, Ellie has made a stop at separation anxiety. The poor girl cries when I leave the room, or even move to the other side of the same room. I always thought it would be fun to have a really cuddly baby, but I know now that it's impossible to get anything done! Thank goodness we have that little highchair that hooks on to the kitchen counter -- plopping her in there is the only way I can get meals together -- she loves sitting at the counter, watching me cook and clean up. Of course, what Ellie really wants is her friends and family to come visit so she always has someone to play with...so when can we expect you?

Bittersweet days

The bitter first: Gaga went home on Saturday. :-( It was so nice having her here and it's taken Ellie and I a few days to get used to her being gone -- Ellie seemed to be looking for her all day on Sunday. Luckily, Gaga and Papa will be here in a couple of weeks, so we can look forward to that!

And now the sweet: Christmas came early to Plano. It came in the form of a HUGE consignment sale with tons of baby-related stuff. Gaga and I went on Friday and we found all kinds of bargains. We ended up getting bags and bags of toys for Ellie -- all of them for just a few dollars each. I love bargain shopping! And Ellie loves her new toys -- she gets so excited looking at all of them and trying to decide what to suck on first.

Although Ellie hasn't started crawling yet, she's still working on it and she's also getting quite good at standing without support (we will obviously need to work on her treatment of animals -- poor, poor ostrich):