It's Classified

I can't show the official picture because it will be our Christmas card photo, but here's a sneak peak. 

 Ella wears bows now.  Bows are cool.

Side note - Christmas picture has been taken and cards have been ordered on time!  Decorations are pretty much all up! Go me! I will not fall behind this December.

Thanksgiving

Ella has the crucial steps for having a great Thanksgiving holiday:

Always start out your morning with smiles and wiggles and cuddles with the family.  This sets you out on the right foot for the day.  Talk with mom and dad, laugh at their silly faces, stomp your feet.  Good times all around.

 Take a bath and put on a fresh outfit.  Look adorable.

Visit with family.  Be highly stunned by the epileptic dancing dog that sings a little too loudly.  Recover, because the crazy family will think you are cute and want to show you the dog again and again.

Pass out in a food coma after the festivities.  Thanksgiving= done!  You're welcome.

So it Begins

It's a known fact that if you sit still long enough in my family, you will get a knitted item.  Hats are usually the initial gift of choice.  It was time for Ella to get another hat (I did make the one she came home from the hospital in) ... or I just needed a reason to buy this yarn.  Not admitting anything.

Ella's Day

Well, we've made it through the first week back at work and daycare.  Ella is a superstar in the mornings, I really have no reason to complain (even if I really want more than 6hrs sleep, I know I shouldn't be greedy with a new baby. I need to be grateful for that 6hr chunk that not all mommies get!).  I have time to shower before waking her up, and then she gets breakfast.  I prop her up next to me on the bed and we talk while I finish pumping and getting ready for work.

When we pick her up in the afternoon, she is all smiles to see us.  Sometimes, though, I feel like I need to cram in a full day's worth of baby-time into the few hours we have after dinner.  I guess it will get better when she doesn't take as many naps in the afternoon/evening.  Then I will have more time to play with her.

And lastly, it's off to bed.  John is a great help getting her ready in her pajamas while I prep everything for the next morning.  (There is no way I would be on time if lunch wasn't already packed and clothes weren't laid out!)  Ella seems to enjoy time with daddy, too.

Off We Go!

Bags are all packed and we're ready to go!  We even made it out the door on time!

Side note - I didn't cry when I left her at daycare, but in the efforts of full disclosure, I did choke up a little and was forced to make a hasty retreat before I embarrassed myself.

Side note number 2 - I don't know what she did at daycare today, but little Miss Ella was exhausted when she got home!  Fell asleep between Daddy putting on her pajamas and me brushing my teeth before her bedtime feeding. Flat like an adorable, sleepy pancake.

Maternity Leave

As my maternity leave draws to a close, I feel the need to pause and just soak in how far we have come in the past 12 weeks.  Part of me wishes I could go back to the beginning knowing what I know now.  I don't call myself an experienced parent by any stretch of the imagination, but those first few weeks would have been a lot smoother with just the little bit of knowledge I now have.  But I guess that's part of the adventure, right? Flailing about in sleep-deprived insanity, crippled with anxiety that you have already screwed up the baby's life. So much fun!  Haha  But I digress.

I have to express huge amounts of gratitude to the family - both John's and mine.  My mom was able to come for the first week and was basically taking care of me while I took care of Ella.  John's mom and family have been indispensable in the day-to-day helping when I needed a hand at the house.  They say it takes a village to raise a child, and boy! are they right!  I cannot say enough how much I appreciate the support given to me, even if it's "just" coming to babysit for an hour so I could sleep!  (Which is a big deal for those who remember their time as young parents)

I have loved watching Ella grow and learn about her world.  From a tiny baby that cried even though she didn't know what was wrong, to a strong little girl who loves watching everybody around her -- she's come so far in such a short amount of time.  I'm really excited to see her investigate and grow. Not to toot my own horn (our own horn?), but she is the smartest baby ever.  :)  All mommies brag about their babies, but this time it's true.  Ella is just the sweetest thing, and everyone loves her when we go out and about.

Well, Ella goes off to daycare tomorrow, and I have to  be at work on time.  That means an end to the lazy mornings and lunches with the family.  I know I'm going to miss it!!  Here's hoping that we can get a morning routine that does not involve me waking up at 4am! (and that I don't cry too much when I drop her off!)

No Swaddle for Us!

Well, we may still hate tummy time, but at least we are on track with nighttime sleeping! Dr. Cold Hands wanted Ella sleeping flat on her back and not in a swaddle before she was four months, and we are definitely ahead of schedule for both items.  She's been on her back in the pack-n-play for a while now (I'd have to look it up on the calendar, but it's been several weeks) and now she's conquered the free and breezy sleep without a swaddle blanket.  Ella needs a little more work and TLC to put her into bed without the swaddle because she has room to fidget and wiggle, but she's not startling herself awake all the time.  She doesn't want the pacifier to sleep with, either.  She has found her own hand to suck on, which leads to some crazy grunty and slurpy noises in the night, for sure!  She is working on sucking that thumb, but it's still so little and hard to find! 

Needless to say, when a baby has free range to flop around in, them seem to take up as much room in the bed as they can.  And Ella's not even mobile yet!  How wiggly is she going to be when she's rolling over and more active?

Throwing Momma a Bone

Even though my girl is growing up so big, she still likes to cuddle every now and then. I think it's part of the infant survival reflexes: "be nice to mom once in a while to balance out all she does for you." (Also known by the variant, "...and she won't sell you to the gypsies.")

We went to the Mommy Cafe on Tuesday after I had been sick all weekend, and Ella decided to toss me a little tidbit of affection. We don't really cuddle tree-frog style anymore; she's too curious about the world and wants to look out at everything. But today we weren't in a rush at the Cafe and had a little time to cuddle after she ate. It's amazing how much better you feel after some baby cuddles!

And yes, Ella's hair looks a greasy, hot mess.  She's got some dry skin patches on her head that we are trying to moisturize.  Coconut oil is great for her skin, but is a little too heavy for her baby hair.

She even snuggled me while awake for a little while!

Outings to Appomattox

Today we got all dressed up to visit Mommy's coworkers at the school. A whole matching outfit with accessories!  Goodness gracious, we are getting fancy.

Mom seemed a little frantic getting us out the door.  She said it would be a long trip and that we wanted to be there on time.  It was the longest car ride I've been on to date, but that part wasn't so bad (I like to nap in the car, so it went by quickly).  And then I think Mom bribed me with an extra-large lunch once we got to the school.  I don't know her motives, but she is a tricksy one, that momma of mine.  It's entirely possible that she pulled a fast one.

I feel like I met a thousand people!  Mom carried me around for hours! It was very tiring.  I actually fell asleep in her arms for a little bit.  But everyone loved me, as they usually do.  They all seemed very nice, very eager to see me. Mom tells me that her coworkers at the school were all very friendly while she was pregnant and that they were just excited to finally meet me.  I even got a few presents!  Two nice and fluffy fleece jumpsuits that will be great if the winter is as bad as they say it's going to be.  I haven't seen snow yet, but Mom says I'll really appreciate fleece when it comes.

I napped on the drive home (I love car rides), but all the excitement did get me off my usual afternoon schedule.  No naps for this baby!  Got to keep mom and dad guessing.  Can't let them get complacent, you know.

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween, everyone!  We didn't make it a full family costume set this year, but I think Ella's costume turned out exceptionally well.  She was the only two-month-old that I know of that had an outfit, accessories, and a vehicle! Can we present to you.... Bat-baby! With her very own Batmobile!

With all the Batman onesies she has received from the baby showers, it seemed a little silly to dress Ella up as anything else.  We even got a tiny Batman mask from one of the great-aunties!  I was really surprised that she tolerated the mask, but after a little time adjusting, she wore it for most of the night without complaint.  John had the great idea of tricking out her stroller to be the Batmobile, which looked awesome when we were done with it.  Extra awesomeness was propelling her up the street through the jet-pack rocket boosters.  Vroom vroom!!

We took a walk around the neighborhood, obviously we didn't collect any candy from neighbors.  That would have been a little weird -- "Hey, here's an infant who can't say "trick or treat" or even eat the candy yet... but give us candy!" Also, it was a nice walk through the neighborhood.  It was a little chilly, but we weren't out after dark when it got colder.  The neighbors seemed to like our stroller, and we even impressed one of the little kids we passed! It takes serious talent to impress the young'uns, I'm just saying.

The family came by to man our house and candy bowl while we were out walking with Ella.  I have to say, though, that I'm really disappointed in my street.  There were large packs of kids one block up from us (where we were walking), but they didn't come down our street because only a few other houses had their lights on. Booo!  Halloween Scrooges!  Needless to say, I have a metric TON of candy leftover because hardly any kids came to our door. Next year we are going to rethink our trick-or-treating plans to factor in our stingy neighbors.

Overall, Ella seemed to enjoy Halloween.  She wasn't forced into any extremely uncomfortable outfits, she got to take a walk / nap in her stroller, and she got grandma cuddles.  What more could a baby want? Below are pictures of Bat-baby before her night out, and then after.  Bat-baby needs her rest after fighting crime, you know.

....Also, if we shortened the rocket boosters, do you think I could keep them on the stroller all the time?  It's a good accessory. (Credit goes to Aunt Jess for the flames.  I tried to quickly cut out flames, but my first one looked more like a deformed dinosaur footprint.  John was nice and said it looked like a maple leaf.  Either way, it was definitely not flame-like. Jess's were much better.)