TONS of Pictures - Long Overdue

Okay, so here's what Ellie has been up to for the last couple of weeks.

First the Idaho pictures:

Kisses from Grandma B.

More Grandma Kisses

Happy girl after a walk with Mama

With cousin Kieron

I can almost crawl!!!

What are those pokey things? Daddy doesn't have those...

Happy with Grandpa B.

Let's see... can I pull off Grandpa's hat and pull something off the table at the same time?

We gave Great Grandma E. a big surprise when we showed up (unannounced) at her door.

Some cousin pictures. Grandma B. wanted to get some shots to have made into an 8x10 of the three cousins together.

Kieron feeding Ellie dinner.

With Aunt Brigette (or Aunt Sis, depending on if Ellie will be able to say "Brigette." I couldn't...)

Talking on the phone with Daddy, who missed his little girl (and her Mama, but mainly his little girl) very much while we were gone.

One final cousin picture.

Now, back home, on another hike.

Then Ellie and Mama went to "gymnastics" at a local gymnasium. They were having "open gym" day, and I thought Ellie might like to play there.

Sitting on the trampoline.

A few days later Ellie met her Great Aunt Janice for the first time. Janice was visiting Grandma and Grandpa W. so we all met for lunch.

And finally, yesterday. Ellie helped Mama clip coupons. You can never start teaching the value of a dollar too soon!

Eight Months Old

Wow! What a month it has been! So busy, in fact, that this post is almost a week late. Ellie and I were in Idaho a week and a half ago and I haven't quite gotten caught up on everything!

How Ellie has changed:

• Babbling up a storm.
• Almost crawling.
• Pulling into a standing position in front of the couch.
• Teething again.
• Down to two feedings at night (or at least we were before the Idaho trip... here's hoping it returns soon).

Events of the last month:

• Ellie and I made a surprise trip to Idaho for a few days, just the two of us. Ellie did fantastically in the airport and on the plane - I had been worried since I wouldn't have Daddy for backup!
• Ellie (and Mama) had a bad cold. Two days after we quit giving her a decongestant/antihistamine the news came out that the FDA is considering banning the medicine's use in infants...
• More hiking and lots and lots of playing!

Pictures will be posted soon. We will be heading to see Tim's mom and step-dad in a couple of days, so I will try to get some new pictures up before then.

Splish, Splash

Ellie has always really enjoyed her bath. She tolerates the washing part because she knows the playing part comes next:

Singing in the tub:

Some serious splashing occurs:

Notice the plastic bucket in her right hand. That is her favorite bath "toy."

No, this was not posed.

Yes, this is what typically happens when we get Ellie in the bath.

Lots of Stuff

Ellie has been very entertaining this week. From the "talking" mentioned in the previous post to her trying desperately to crawl, she has been quite a handful!

Ellie also had her first "play date" at our house. The neighbors asked us to watch their daughter, Anya, who is two while mom and big brother went on a preschool field trip. Ellie had a fun time playing, though she has definitely developed a sense of "MINE!" She did not like when Anya, who also has a well developed sense of "MINE!" would take something she was playing with. Ellie would look at her and scream!

During bath time Ellie has discovered the bucket we use to rinse off her head. She holds onto the bucket and pushes it under water, watching it fill up. She has even put one of her toys in it and taken it back out again. This is very fun to watch. It is also fun for Ellie... until bath time is over and mean old Mama takes it away... then the screaming begins (remember her newly developed sense of "MINE").

Ellie has a new favorite toy. It is called freezer paper. She loves to crinkle it, and the great part about it is that the paper is plastic lined, so she can't break off little pieces and chew on them. I know, this probably makes me a bad parent. At least we have moved on from letting her play with sandwich bags...

Finally, I took a picture of (almost) all of the kiddos that live on our alley. These are the munchkins Ellie plays with each evening while we all wait for the daddies to get home from work. If all these kids end up staying in the neighborhood this will be a great shot for them to look at when they all get to high school!

Singing!

Freezer paper...

I want to crawl!!!!

Ellie and Anya

11 of the 12 "alley kids"

Language Explosion

Ellie has been "talking" a mile a minute the last few days. She says "mamamamamama" a lot, and yells "Mama!!!" when she wants milk or to be held and comforted. She has also started saying the following sounds: /b/, /y/, /rrrr/ (yes, the girl can roll her r's!), and the long /i/ sound. She says something that sounds a little bit like "hi," but it comes out "yi". She yelled "yiiiiiii!" all through the grocery store yesterday. People kept laughing at her. Getting groceries goes much slower when everyone wants to stop and talk to your baby! (But... it is much better than hurrying through the store because your baby is wailing!)

Seven Months Old

Yesterday Ellie turned seven months old! It seems like she does something new each day. She has really started looking more like a little girl and less like a baby this month. We haven't weighed her recently, but she seems to be growing in leaps and bounds. Over the weekend she said "mama" on three different occasions. They were all when she was upset and wanted to be picked up or nursed. It may have been coincidental, or she may just be playing with consonant and vowel sounds, but I am going to assume she has said her first word!

How Ellie has changed over the past month:

• Ellie now has two teeth - both bottom front teeth have popped through the gum line.
• Ellie is down to three wakings at night (trust me, this is HUGE). If you have a baby younger than Ellie that sleeps, count your blessings!
• Ellie has dropped her evening nap. She now naps only twice a day (roughly 9:30-10:30am and 2-3pm)
• Ellie can stand up on her own in her bathtub, so we have to pay very close attention.
• No crawling yet, but lots of scooting and pivoting on her tummy. It won't be long now.
• Ellie had meat for the first time and seemed to enjoy it. We backed off though because it gave her a bit of an unsettled tummy.
• Ellie has added corn, watermelon, and cantaloupe to the list of foods she has tried. We haven't found anything she doesn't like. At first she wasn't keen on carrots, but now she gobbles them up.
• Ellie makes lots of sounds. She has been experimenting recently with very high pitched squeaking and humming. She also makes a lot of consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel patterns. She makes the /m/ sound, /h/ sound, and sometimes the /d/ sound.
• When she gets bored or frustrated she rocks and sticks her bottom lip out and blows air forcefully through her nose. It is adorable!
  

Events of the past month:

• Ellie has gone swimming twice. She didn't enjoy the outdoor pool much, but a couple of weeks later she really had fun at the indoor pool.
• Ellie went on two hikes, riding on Daddy's back in the carrier. She enjoyed herself both times and was a really good baby in the car on the way to the trail and back. After the second hike she was very tired and only woke up twice during the night.
• Teeth!

Now a few pictures:

Mama trying to get a peek at the teeth:

Blurry look at the two teeth:

Lots of Seconds

Over the past week and a half Ellie has experienced several things for the second time.

We took her to another city pool, this one inside, and she really enjoyed it! That was quite a relief for me since I would like to enroll her in "Mommy and Me" swimming at the rec center, and didn't want to spend the money to have her cry the whole time.

Last week Ellie got her second tooth. Now she has both bottom center teeth, though neither one is completely in yet. She still hasn't let me snap a picture of those pearly whites, but once she does I will post it!

Over the weekend we took Ellie on her second hike. We went to the same area as we did two weeks ago but on a different trail. We were able to do about 5 miles (round-trip) and would have gone further but the clouds moved in. Though we have a rain cover for the carrier, we didn't want Ellie to get scared by the rain or thunder. We are still being very careful to make sure that hiking is only a "fun" experience for her!

Sorry there aren't any new pictures. I will try to get some up in the next day or two.