Pushing Up

Ella's getting a lot more comfortable on her tummy and is really pushing up now on her arms, and is able to "get around" a little bit - she will roll over really readily, and reach her arms for an object that is out of reach and occasionally manage to get herself over to what she's after, just by rolling and moving her arms and legs.

Giggling with Daddy

There is absolutely nothing better than hearing Ella laugh, and Steve is especially good at making her laugh and giggle. Just look at her face in these photos!!

Pretty Girl

Here are some pics of Ella from this week looking especially pretty in her summer dresses.

I never could've imagined...

...just how messy this eating thing was going to be! When I feed Ella, there is of course all of the food that ends up on her chin and face, but there is so much more than that.

She puts her fingers in her mouth while she is eating, and even licks them one at a time. She gets excited and flaps her arms around, and then food flies all over, all over her seat and the kitchen table. She'll rub her face and eyes, touches her legs, touches my face, and because it is so liquidy, it just lands all over, even on the kitchen floor.

But, she sure seems to be enjoying herself in the process!

Busy Girl

One of the biggest changes in Ella recently is that she is VERY BUSY and always wants to be doing something - she grabs for everything, loves holding and playing with toys - talks to them, bangs them together - shakes rattles, plays with stuffed animals (especially the tags), and just generally is always doing something! Here are some pics of the busy girl.

First Vegetables

After almost 2 weeks of rice cereal, we were very excited to introduce Ella to another food. We decided to go with a vegetable instead of a fruit because they say that if you start with a fruit they'll always want the sweet taste of fruits and it will be harder to introduce vegetables later.

I definitely have a sweet tooth and Steve pretty much avoids anything green, so I thought we'd be doing Ella a favor by starting her out with a green veggie and then later introduce some sweeter vegetables and then fruits.

I chose green beans thinking they were pretty harmless and a vegetable that everyone can tolerate. Boy was I wrong!

Ready to go!


Very excited, diving in for a taste


Yuck! Not pleased at all!


Please, no more!


Click on this link to see her full reaction!

http://www.flip.com/people/flipbooks/465940

After 4 days of green beans (lucky girl) we moved on to squash, which she loves! So, she's been enjoying her days of squash and then on Saturday we'll move on to either carrots or peas...

Sitting up in the Bath Tub

Since Ella's been able to sit up on her own, she had seemed more and more annoyed with the little bathtub since she was forced to sit in a reclining position and was always trying to strain to sit up, and so we decided to give it a try with her sitting up in the tub on her own. I figured if she hated it, we'd wait a while longer and try again. We were very pleasantly surprised because she absolutely loved it!





And here is a little video clip:


Soooo cute!!

First Bowl of Cereal

We gave Ella her first solid food, rice cereal, two days after she turned 6 months. She definitely did not get it at first - she eagerly reached for the bowl and happily opened her mouth for the spoon, but then didn't do anything - she just left her mouth opened and kind of sat there looking at us, although very cheerful about the whole thing. It was adorable.

Ready to dig in, she went right for the bowl and spoon and was ready to get started!


This is fun!


All done (and ready for a bath)!


After a full week, she finally really seemed to grasp the idea, and began to lean forward, open her mouth for the cereal, close her mouth, swallow, and then open it again for another spoonful. She LOVES her cereal!!

Professional Photos

Here are Ella's first set of professional photos. They were taken when she was 4 months old, so are a bit old now, but I just got digital copies of them. I LOOOOOVE them =0).

Here she is showing off her newly acquired tummy-time skills (old news now since she can push her whole upper body off the ground!)



And this is an actual antique scale, she weighed 12 1/2 pounds at the time


Here she is in her blanket from Grammy...look at her tiny little hand


And my absolute favorite, look at that beautiful face!

Half-birthday Weekend

Here are some other pics from Ella's 6-month birthday weekend

Ella's dream-come-true - a friend in the backseat with her, someone to entertain and have fun with!




Erin feeding Ella - look at those precious legs!!


Ella's Fan Club


Erin, Josh & Ella


Me & My Girl


Kelly & Ella



What an amazingly sweet babydoll, am I lucky or what???? Not to mention how lucky I am to have such a great sister and best friend that are willing to travel and spend the weekend with us. =0)

Swimming!!

Ella turned 6 months on Saturday and to celebrate we took her swimming to the pool at Mom & Glenn's complex. There is a normal size pool but there is also one that's just 1 foot deep, so it was perfect for her first 'swimming' experience.

Erin got her the world's cutest little bathing suit, a little blue bikini skirt with red stars, perfect for 4th of July weekend.

The little butterball and Aunt Kelly. Here she is, completely covered in sunscreen, all ready for her big day.


Showing off her suit and ready to have some fun




When I first dipped her in the water she was really surprised and starting crying. It was definitely the coolest water she's even been in. It took just a little bit but she really got into and started to have a good time and enjoyed herself!

Getting used to the water


Standing up with Daddy's help


What surprised us the most was how much she liked the float we got her. Because the pool is so shallow, she was able to use the float as a little walker and took off and just started walking around by herself! She even leaned forward to eat the little hooks that the canopy attaches to. The float was definitely her favorite part of swimming.


Just look at that stunning face


Altogether she lasted about 20 minutes and really did great, when she had enough though, she was done! Here she is resting with Daddy after her big swimming adventure.


I really want Ella to be comfortable and confident in the water, so this was a great start and I'm so glad we took her!

Sitting Up Alone!

Ella has been getting stronger and stronger sitting up in the boppy, and for the past week or so I've been 'practicing' with her to sit up on her own, where I will put just barely hold her in order to support her, and then move my hands away, but then catch her as she sways from side to side, because she was really steady. On July 4th she sat up completely by herself for the first time (and thanks to Kelly we've got some great pictures of it).

Here she is right before she did it on her own...


Me realizing that she was more sturdy than she's been before and moving my hands away


She did it! Sitting up by herself for the first time :)


Here she is later in the weekend sitting up, now that she is a pro at it


Getting fancy, able to sit up and grab Aunt Erin's nose at the same time - she makes it look so easy! Who would've thought that just 2 days ago she couldn't do it at all?



Since then she's been able to sit for longer and longer periods every day, up to about 3 minutes or so. I couldn't wait to show them at daycare on Monday morning and had to show off her new trick as soon as we got there. She even tries to pull herself up to a sit from laying down, but she is not there yet. It's funny thought because she'll strain her neck and use her little "abs" to try to pull up, she even does it in the carseat. Such a big girl!

4th of July

Last Friday was Ella's first July 4th, and we had a great day. Erin & Josh, Kelly, and Dad & Donna all came to our house for a barbecue and Ella was the perfect hostess!

Fun with Aunt Erin & Uncle Josh


Sitting with Grandad - look at the hat over her eyes :)


Happy girl


So pretty


Look at those tiny hands


Playing with Daddy


Dad & Donna, me, Steve & Ella, Erin & Josh