Growing Big & Strong

Admittedly, we haven't been doing tummy time with Ella as much as we probably should be, but we have been making up for it (hopefully) with practicing her sits.  She has gotten really stable now!  She's a little more wobbly in her chair on her own, but she can still handle it.

Well, after the holidays we are getting back on track with tummy time, and, boy, has she grown! She can rock several minutes of tummy time without crying at all!! And she has learned that she can just put her head down when she gets tired. Don't ask me why that wasn't intuitive, but when she was smaller, she would just keep holding her head up and cry. Being able to think, "Hey, I'm tired, let me just put my head down and rest" is a big step for a baby.

Side note: look at the baby jeans! There are even little pockets on the back! I don't know what she needs pockets for, but they are there in case she ever needs to carry something.

Anyway, with the resurgence of tummy time, the inevitable has happened: rolling over! She has rolled over before, but it always had a little assist or was just a spazzy accident.  Not anymore! You put her on her stomach, and boop! There she goes!  We finally were able to get a little video of her doing it with the new Christmas camcorder.

And yes, getting evidence of her doing something on film is close to impossible.  I swear, she can be doing (insert cute action or noise here) all day long at the top of her lungs, but pull out a camera of any kind-- phone, real camera, camcorder-- and she instantly stops what she was doing. So frustrating!!  I think I'm going to need to hide nanny-cams around the house just to get photographic proof that my baby does things besides sleep and eat.   :(

Finally Christmas!

Well, the holidays are officially over now, and Ella had a very busy first Christmas from start to finish.  We were able to all get out right away after Thanksgiving to take our card photograph (yes, I am determined to be the lady who sends out picture Christmas cards each year).  Since there would be the three of us to arrange for the photo this time, we enlisted the aunties' help so we could focus on posing.  Overall, Ella was not sure about the wind.  We took a handful of pictures, but she didn't seem to be relaxing out of her "oh, God, why is my hair blowing? What is this tingling sensation?" facial expression, so we called it a day and bribed the aunties with Thai food.

Ella would help me move the bear on our Advent calendar throughout the month, and then came the big day!  Ella had both grandmas to spoil her rotten all weekend.  She didn't seem to mind the extra attention at all.  She did really well with the Christmas events, even when we moved on to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a second round of presents.  (She was a little fussy at bedtime because her routine was off, but overall, it wasn't a complete meltdown.)

 Opening presents is serious business!  And of course, everything has to go in the mouth right away.  "Put it in my mouth!"  She's gotta test out the new toys to see if Santa should take them back or not, don't you know

Ella greatly enjoyed reading with Grandma Mary.  Soon she'll be getting the hang of it on her own.

There were lots of holiday hi-jinks before the family got settled on presents.  Tigger is a rascally creature that she really wanted to eat! Ella doesn't have her own stocking yet, but I promise she'll have one by next Christmas. (I've already started looking at a few knitted designs.)  Daddy and Aunt Jess are always  good for a laugh, too.

 Auntie Lara sent Ella her sweet penguin Christmas pajamas and hat.  Gotta be festive when you are opening presents!

 All kinds of toys arrived this Christmas!  Ella was enchanted by the singing / light-up flowers for a long time while the adults opened their gifts.  Overall, it was a very long day, visiting with two aunties and all of the grandparents, but Ella handled it like a trooper.

Once the hubbub of the holidays died down a little, we had to get her four-month picture with her growth chart.  She is learning to sit up so much on her own, and she LOVES grabbing at her feet.  Chatting with people and wiggling are still some of her favorite things to do.

Family seflie time!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everybody! We didn't stay up to see the ball drop, but we definitely woke up with a party mood! Happy baby is ready for 2015!!

Processing...

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!