Waiting on Mom

Mooooom! Dad and I are ready for bed. What is taking you so long???

(Get used to waiting on Mom, Ella baby.  This will be your life from now on) 

Look at these adorable hands.  So precious

Cracks, Crevices, and Crawlways

Whew! Was this weekend busy or what??  Ella and I were running and doing all weekend long! I just have to brag about her because she was such a trooper with all the craziness and new people.  First off, Ella and I traveled down to Grandma Mary's house on Saturday.  Ella has never been on a car trip for more than about thirty minutes, so driving four hours was a new experience! I was hoping that she would sleep most of the way, and she did fall asleep quickly in the car.  She was very good for the first 75%, but then she woke up hungry and needed a new diaper.  Driving the back road that is quicker meant that there are no rest stops or major public areas like that, so I had to pull over in a gas station parking lot in a random town that we drove through.  Thankfully, a cleaner, well-lit gas station was available and we didn't have to stop at the Unsafe Gas & Creepy-Mart! But I did learn that I can change and feed a baby in the back seat of the car with only moderate levels of awkwardness.  Once at Grandma's house, we just ate dinner and crashed for the night after a little playing. That drive took a lot of effort for the small baby.

 Considering she was in a different bedroom and routine, Ella did well with the guest accommodations and only woke up once in the night.  Sunday was our big day, because Mom and I wanted to drive to Williamsburg to meet the Girl Scout caving group and help with the annual workshop.  I have been caving since I was a young Girl Scout, and we really enjoy visiting with the caving "family." Plus, this was the first time I was able to show off the baby! Obviously, having Ella with us meant that we couldn't officially help with the stations, but we floated about and visited with everyone while we were there.  Of course, Ella had to show off her mad caving skills.

While we were in Williamsburg, first we had to do a little shopping and to get lunch at the Cheese Shop! Yummy yummy, Cheese Shop!! I think all William & Mary Alumni agree that they miss the Cheese Shop the most since graduation.  It's "just" a little sandwich shop, but they have fancy ingredient and make the best House dressing. (There were no bread ends available, but of course I didn't forget to put House on my sandwich!)  We also bought Ella her first pieces of W&M swag.  How cute is that baby letter sweater?? I just can't get over it!

All the excitement was very tiring for Ella, but she was an excellent baby, like always.  After a selfie or two to show off her bat hat (appropriate for the caving group), she didn't fuss or cry.  Ella just flopped over in Grandma's arms and took a little nap when she could.  We seriously have the best baby ever! 

Mechanically Gifted

Ella got this play arch for Christmas and she loved it right away.  There is a butterfly, a rattle, a crinkly sun, and a pinwheel that all keep her amused for long periods of time.  She has always been focused on things dangling above her, but she like it especially now because she is strong enough to stretch out to grab things.  Well, now she has figured out how to work the pinwheel.  That one was tricky because you have to pull and then release the string to make it spin, not just repeatedly grab and tug. I hadn't really noticed her playing with it much, until the other day when I saw the little hand reaching up out of the monkey like it was no big deal.  Just a mechanical genius, Mom. No worries.

Matchy Matchy!

Have we shown off our matching Mommy-and-Baby hats yet?  I finished mine just recently, so now we can both wear them and be adorable.

Seriously, how cute is this girl?? I love her!

Mr Giraffe

We love Mr Giraffe. We love snuggling him, and biting him, and grabbing him by the throat to shake him around. He's the best! Giraffe lives upstairs in the bedroom, so she gets to play with him at breakfast and at bedtime.  I don't know if that makes a difference, but Ella sure loves playing with him.

Seriously, we shook him like this for about twenty minutes while I got ready one morning. I don't know what Giraffe did to deserve such treatment, but she was very determined to get him.

Baby Kisses!

What is the point of having children if you can't giggle at the instinctual reflexes that they are born with? Tongue thrust is how babies give kissies!

Happy birthday!

Like we've noticed before, babies get a lot of birthdays. Today, Ella is five months old! She is so active and alert, just looking around and taking in the world around her.  Clearly, she knows how to sit up (mostly) on her own and how to roll over -- you've all seen the videos by now.  She loves talking with us in the evenings and sometimes is just amazed by the noises she can make.  We took her out to Rita's for some ice cream; it was her birthday, you know. You've got to have ice cream on your birthday.

She got a cookie and some ice cream to celebrate.  

(She thought the ice cream was okay, but strangely cold) 

Giggles

Ella here with your deep thought for the day: Do you know how weird parents are? I mean, really know?? They do some crazy stuff, that's for sure.  I mean, just look at these videos of the crazy noises that parents make.  They are so silly, I can't contain myself! (Each video is less than a minute because of upload capacity limits, but they all should flow together.)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

31 Party

 We decided to go out and be social today!  My friend was hosting a 31 Party, so Ella and I went to interact & make friends.... as well as do a little shopping.  Baby Carter was there as well, and he was a little unsure about sharing his mommy and grandmommy at first, but he did very well. Ella was a perfect doll, and everyone loves her (of course, they would!).

Learning to Share

I'm not quite sure who was more frustrated with this learning experience... Martin or Ella.  The story goes like this -- Daddy was playing with Ella, when Martin jumped up because he is a sad middle child who doesn't like to share attention.  Unfortunately for Martin, he did not warn Daddy about his arrival and ended up landing in the blanket-hammock between John's knees.  As baby pondered the new arrival, Martin slipped further and further down into the hammock abyss before finally giving up and leaving.  It was a pretty funny display of jealousy on part of a cat and confusion on part of a baby.

Ella is really noticing the cats more and more each day.  She watches them as they walk across her field of vision and can really fixate on them when they stay within focus.  I may have arranged the scene below, but Ella really did show interest in Winks as he lay beside her.  I placed Wink's tail in her hand, and Ella was very good about not pulling or chewing on him.  Nevertheless, Winks was not pleased and grew quite cranky.  Ella reached out a few more times, but Winky just wouldn't have it; he hissed at her a few times before finally walking away.  I think it'll take a while for Winky to warm up to her (i.e., when Ella starts throwing her baby food on the floor for him to clean up).