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Don't be angry!

Don't worry, folks! Christmas details are coming soon!!  I just need to process / organize / collate all the photos from the various cameras.  We had an awesome time with the Virginia family; we even got time to video chat with Auntie Lara out in Texas! However, all this family meant more than one camera taking pictures.  I probably won't get to the official Christmas post for a few more days- Grand-Mary is visiting still.  Don't fret, I promise it will get done!

Selfies

Ella's new favorite thing to do is to take her own picture.  She can identify the camera / phone in front of her and reaches out to get it, so she taps the screen and takes her picture.  We've gotten some really silly expressions from her this way.  :)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

It is Mommy's birthday weekend, so while Dad took her out, I got to spend the night at Grandma and Grandpa's house! Whoa!  It was pretty awesome. First, I crawled over to the Christmas tree and unwrapped a present of mine.  I knew it was mine because I could read my name on the label.  :)

Pretty cool bouncy chair, huh?  I was getting into it so much that they had to buckle me in so I wouldn't bounce right out!  I like the dangle things all within my reach.  I would kick them and hit them and try to put them in my mouth. So much fun!

 Though all this play with Grandma and Grandpa got me really tired and I had to take a few naps.

But I slept through the night and woke up a bucket of sunshine, like I always do.  Even with my stuffy nose, I still had a great time

Mom says she had a good time with Dad, but it couldn't have been as good as my night.  Mainly because I didn't see her come home with a bouncy chair.  What kind of birthday is it if you don't get a bouncy chair?  Anyways, she kissed me big and said something about how I announced my arrival on her birthday last year.  I guess I would be a good birthday present, but I still think she could have asked for a bouncy chair of her own this year.  Sigh.  Adults are weird.

Silly Baby

Just a quick collection of Ella being silly!  As serious as she is outside of our house, she is a giggly little goofball with us at home.  People find it hard to believe us, but she really does love to laugh and wiggle.

John took this "tummy time selfie," and Ella seemed a little surprised.

  It's now John's new favorite picture of her

In my attempt to not force Ella in gender stereotypes, I bought her some "boy" pants because I wanted the neutral blue and gray colors.  Well, even in infant sizes, boy pants are much larger than girl pants! I'm pretty sure Ella will be wearing these 3-6mo pants when she is a year old!!

 Here, John is having her do a little M.C.Hammer dance in her over-sized pants.

Ooops! Wardrobe Malfunction!! Or else, Ella is just practicing her Geordi LaForge cosplay ideas.  (Yes, I'm a nerd, spawned from a long line of nerds.  Pray for Ella, there is no hope for her.)

Day Care Routine

"Let's go, Mom! I've got the bags packed and everything!"

I think Ella is getting the hang of getting ready to go to daycare in the mornings.  She even has to rush me out the door some days!  Seriously, though, she is so awesome.  I really don't want to get complacent or jinx myself, but I think we have a feasible routine worked out now.  I can shower, feed her, and pump each morning, all without waking up before 5am! ... I don't have a spare nanosecond of time in the morning, and food & clothes have to be laid out the night before or else it all falls apart, but we can do it!

She seems to be doing well at daycare.  They really like her there.  Today she got a gold star for being the sweetest baby ever (but didn't we already know that?).  Several of the other babies were having fussy days today, and one of the workers told me that she just wanted to cuddle Ella all day because she was so calm and sweet.  I know.  I get that feeling a lot, too.  She is the best baby ever, you can't really help yourself.  :)

They Grow Up so Fast

Ella has really been working on her talking. It's amazing how far she has come in just the last few weeks.

Holiday Portrait

We took Ella to get her Christmas portrait done this weekend; she is about three and a half months old now. She did so much better sitting for her portrait than she did sitting for her Santa picture! I guess that's because I was holding her rather than a strange man in a red suit, and Grandma was entertaining us rather than a pair of elves. Go figure.  :)

We went to a local portrait artist who John's mom used for her kids 30 years ago. The lady is still working at the farmer's market during the holidays, so we were sure to track her down this year.

Here is John's baby portrait (also about 3 months old) next to Ella's portrait. Ella might be just a few weeks older, but there is definitely some genetics at work here!

Feet!

Discovering and reaching for our feet. Lots of determined grunting happening....

Santa

We went and saw Santa Claus today! Ella got her picture taken with the Jolly Old Elf himself.  I had a day off from work and figured that it would be better to visit the Big Man on a random weekday rather than try to fight the weekend crowds (I was right).  Considering our realistic expectations, Ella did very well.  She was concerned about all the craziness, but there were no tears.  Seeing as how she is a very serious little baby around new people, I think we did just fine.  Sure, she's making her "I'm not sure about all this" face in the picture, but let's be honest -- there are millions of worse baby-with-Santa pictures out there.  I can accept her funny face since we weren't screaming bloody murder. (John says I can go back and try again, but I really don't want to set precedent to be THAT crazy mom that goes multiple times to get the perfect picture.)

Speaking of realistic expectations, I've got real-world examples of good and bad.  The lady a few people in front of us held the line up for at least twenty minutes because she wanted her young (under three years old) son to have a glamour shot with Santa.  She did all she could to get the PERFECT picture: trying to make him laugh, checking the photo, making funny faces, checking the photo, changing his shoes, checking the photo, smooshing his cheeks, checking the photo.  You get what we were trying to tell her telepathically?  There is no such thing as a perfect smiling baby with Santa! Give up! Move along! Try again tomorrow!  Sheesh.... The flip side was the couple directly in front of us.  They had a daughter a little bit older, maybe around 4-5yrs.  They waited very patiently in line behind cuckoo-pants lady before handing their girl over to Santa. They stepped back. And when they saw that baby girl was starting to tear up, they swooped in and said, "Nope, not happening, we'll try again another day."  See? Responsible parents exist out there!! I love it!  I hope they were able to come back and get good Santa-karma by getting a good picture.

Working on our Sits

Ella is getting so big!!  I know this is common theme, but it's amazing how much stronger and steadier she is when sitting up.  She still hates tummy time, but we do a lot of sitting and squats for exercise as well.  She's pretty calm, too, not flailing about when she sits up.  The first photo shows her helping me make some Christmas gifts, and she was calm and steady enough that I was able to paint without catastrophe.

She is so funny, though.  When she's with us, she's all smiles and giggles. But when strangers ask her to smile (a common thing to do when greeting a baby), she's serious and won't budge.  It's like she has to approve of the person / situation before she will crack a smile. Like, "I am not a trained monkey. I will not smile on command!"  Such a silly little goober.