Saturday, December 29, 2012

December 29, 2012

Well a LOT has happened since my last post...Ella has now started walking on her own and is doing the signs for "more", "eat", "milk", and "bath" all the time now.  It is so nice being able to communicate with her better (and less cries!).  It's been an absolutely amazing two weeks with family in town for Christmas and celebrating Ella's birthday as well as all the new things she's learned. 

Ella had a CandyLand themed birthday party and had a lot of fun!  She really enjoyed seeing her family so much for 5 days and is STILL exhausted!  She was spoiled with gifts and loves all of her new toys. 

I can't believe almost a full year has passed since she was born.  Not a day goes by that I don't think she's the best thing that's ever happened to me.  She makes me smile everyday and I love her so much!






Friday, December 14, 2012

December 14, 2012

I'm sorry I've been horrible about updating the blog!  It's been a busy few months.  Ella is still not walking, but so incredibly close.  She's pretty much walking on her own, but likes holding one of our fingers to make sure we are close by.  She is now eating pretty much anything you give her, and really loves sweets.  Two more teeth have broken through on the top, so she now has 5 and still working on 2 more. 

Her personality comes out more and more each day.  For the most part she is an absolute giggle monster and is the sweetest girl in the world!  However, we are REALLY working on the word "no" lately haha.  When you tell her no, she just looks at you, gives you a sly smile, and starts laughing....then goes back to what she shouldn't be doing.  Once she realizes you are serious, she folds herself right in half and cries.  Luckily her tantrum doesn't last for long.

Due to family coming in town early, we are celebrating Christmas and Ella's first birthday next weekend.  I'm really looking forward to it, because I know she will have a lot of fun.  We got her a smash cake, and hope she really goes to town on it :)  It will also be good to celebrate Christmas because right now it's hard to keep her from getting to the Christmas tree and trying to open every present!

The other thing she's been doing a lot of is imitating people.  She really tries to say the same words you say.  We try and howl to make Rocky howl, so now she looks at him and goes "ooooww" a lot.  It's really cute.  I don't think we could have gotten any luckier.  She makes me smile everyday :)




Thursday, November 8, 2012

November 8, 2012

Well Ella hasn't changed too much since the last posting, but had her first Halloween and had a great visit with Grandpa and Sharon.  Ella dressed up as a garden gnome and had an eventful weekend.  We went to the Woodlands Mall to see the other kids dressed in costume, then to the Children's Museum, and then trick or treating at a YMCA event.  She was worn out!  She picked out some candy, but only the kind that came in a bag that she could shake, shake, shake! 

Ella's top teeth are finally starting to grow in and two poked through the last week and two more are very close.  She loves to dance all the time, even if she hears the slightest bit of music.  The other day she actually stopped mid-crawl to do a head-banging dance.  It was hysterical.  She is right on the verge of walking, but scared for some reason to stand up alone.  We've tried it and she gets spaghetti legs and just collapses.  She has the balance, but just afriad.  I think it will happen any day, but I'm definitely not rushing it.  She's already growing up way too fast!







Sunday, October 21, 2012

October 21, 2012

Ella is definitely going to be a big talker!  She's constantly trying to make new noises and has a very sinister laugh when she gets things she shouldn't have!  Her personality is coming out more and more everyday.  She giggles all the time now, and likes to throw a fit or two when she doesn't get what she wants, ie the remote, computer, or dog food!  haha  She's finally signing milk and she also signed fish.  I keep working on it with her, and hopefully we will get some more signs soon.  Can't wait for this weekend, so we can dress her up like a little garden gnome and go trick or treating for the first time!




Wednesday, October 10, 2012

October 10, 2012

It has been one busy month!  Josh and I took a week long vacation to Greece in September and Ella spent the week with Grandma and Grandpa Saubers.  They all had a wonderful time other than Ella getting Hand, Foot, Mouth Disease and breaking out head to toe in a rash.  After finally getting better she got an ear infection and bronchitis.  It's been a long couple of weeks for our poor baby and can't wait for her to get fully healthy again!

Ella had her 9 month doctor visit yesterday and is now 20 lbs, 11oz (90%) and 28 3/4 inches (85%).  She's a healthy girl!  She has two teeth on the bottom and the doctor said 4 more are starting to come through.  She is now able to eat all three stages of baby food and we can start her on table food too.  We tried giving her a piece of cooked carrot last night and she couldnt' figure out how to chew it.  So after playing with it in her mouth for like 15 minutes she spit it out haha.  We will start working on that going forward. 

Ella is now saying Mama and Dada from time to time, has learned to give high fives, and wave.  She's walking great with her walker and if we are holding her hands, but hasn't really tried standing on her own yet.  She's getting there, and fast! 




Monday, September 3, 2012

September 3, 2012

Ella turned 8 months old today.  I can't believe how fast time has gone by!!  I swear she gets cuter and cuter by the day :)  She picked up crawling about 2 weeks ago and now there is no stopping her.  However, she really is not content with just crawling and has to stand up as much as possible.  Her new thing is to stand up using the coffee table and walk around it.  She's stands up about as fast as she sits up now.  It's amazing how fast she is growing and how much she is learning.  She also is trying to make new sounds and we get a lot of variations of blahs, ohs, and ughs!  She has her next doctor's appointment in a month and I can't wait to see how big she's gotten!




Wednesday, August 22, 2012

August 22, 2012

It has been a long couple of weeks...Ella had two visits to the ER within three days and was finally diagnosed with Salmonella.  We aren't exactly sure how she got it, but so thankful she is almost 100% again.  It was a very scary week. 

During the week that she was so incredibly sick, Ella did the unthinkable, she just got up and started crawling!  She's now 7 1/2 months old and moving all over the place.  She still likes to stand as much as possible, so she crawls to the closest thing she can use to pull herself up.  She is such a strong little girl :) 

Ella also moved up to the next class at daycare and is now with kids ages 6 months - a year old.  The teacher today told me that she is actually the youngest in the class right now and is surpassing a lot of the other kids with how much she pulls herself up and stands.  That's our little rockstar!!!


Friday, August 10, 2012

August 10, 2012

Ella is growing like a weed!!!  She is getting so big and so close to crawling.  She's now eating only 4 meals a day (trying to transition her to a regular 3 meals per day for later) and eats solids 3 times a day.  She is now eating all of the stage 2 foods, and seems to like everything except for her Mama's cooking :)

She is close to crawling, but just seems too lazy!  She is constantly going to crawl position and then right back into sitting up.  If she really wants something, she now gets to crawl position so she can launch herself towards it.  She doesn't care if she face plants, just as long as she gets close!  Josh and I think she will skip crawling altogether and one day just get up and walk. 

She is already 7 months old and time has flown by.  I'll have to post some more recent pictures soon.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

July 12, 2012

Ella is over 6 months old already!  For her six month checkup she weighed in at 15.7lbs and 27.75 inches long.  She is growing so fast.  It's 95% for height and 85% for weight.  Then the poor girl got thrush and went back to the doctor 3 days later to find out she gained another 1/2 pound!

She is almost done trying all the first foods and ready to move on to the next stage of foods.  So far she loves pretty much any food (she's just like her parents), except for homemade green beans!!!  She sits up completely on her own a lot and tries to crawl a bit, but really loves to stand instead.  She is starting to now learn to grab things and try and pull herself up into a standing position.  We need to baby proof the house fast!

The three of us vacationed in Cabo last week and had a great time.  Ella got to touch sand for the first time and felt the ocean on her feet.  She loved swimming everyday and had no problems when we dunked her head for the first time.  She's a little water bug!  She does so well travelling, but she was happy to be home in her own bed.





Thursday, June 21, 2012

June 21, 2012

Ella went to the doctor yesterday for her second ear infection (poor girl!).  She now weighs 17lbs, 11oz at 5 1/2 months.  We take her back for her 6 month appointment soon and will see how tall she has gotten.  She is already too tall for 6 month pants.

Ella has learned a lot over the past few weeks.  She is really sitting up well on her own now, and can take baths without the little tub insert.  After watching Daddy jump a few times, she learned what the jumper was really for and went crazy this weekend jumping around!

She has been eating some solid food every night now.  She has tried rice cereal, oatmeal, green beans, sweet potatoes, bananas, and squash.  The bananas didn't do so well with her belly, but we made some fresh green beans and sweet potatoes with our baby food maker.  Sweet potatoes were a hit.....green beans, not so much!  She kept trying them over and over agian and making the best faces!  We got a great video on this and I'm sure she will love to see it when she's older!

Grandma and Grandpa Saubers came to visit last weekend and we all had a great time hanging out at the pool and playing around the house.  They also did some fingerpainting together.  We are hoping they come back to visit again soon!





Sunday, June 3, 2012

June 3, 2012

Today is Ella's five month birthday!  She is so stinkin' precious!  Over the last month, she has really learned how to roll over front to back and back to front.  When we put her in her crib at night she just moves all over the place.  She still gets mad sometimes when she lands on her belly because she likes to be lazy and not roll back over.  She is also sitting up really well on her own now.  However, then she tries reaching for things and falls right over! 

She took her third trip over Memorial Day weekend and we went to Michigan to celebrate my mom's 60th birthday.  She did very well on the plane, and had a great time seeing Travis and Kristine's new house.  She's becoming a lot more aware now, so it's a little tougher travelling with her becuase she likes her routine at home.  We are so lucky that she does so well and is just such a calm and relaxed baby!

Josh was finally home for a weekend, and we spent it as a family hanging by the neighborhood pool!  Ella LOVED watching all the other kids!  I think she'll be ready for Cabo next month :)




Saturday, May 12, 2012

May 12, 2012

Ella is now over 4 months old!  She is growing soooo fast.  She went for her 4 month check up and has doubled her birth weight already.  She is about 15.5 pounds and 26 inches long.  She is now allowed to eat rice cereal and loves it! 

Since my last post, Ella has done quite a lot.  She is now able to roll over front to back and back to front.  Although she doesn't always roll because she seems to be a lazy baby and stops halfway and falls asleep!  We have found a way to lower her little car walker and she can get around pretty good backwards already.  It's amazing to see how much she has learned. 

We are still working on sign language and really hoping she'll be able to do it around 6 months.  I think she understands a lot already.  When she's really upset after a bottle because she wants more, I can see the "more song" to her from her sign language video and she will just sit and smile while waiting for another small bottle. 

She is still a wonderful baby and rarely cries.  I don't know how we got so lucky, but it was like winning the lottery.  We love her sooo much!  Tomorrow is my first mother's day and she got me a picture for my desk and a new phone cover.  She's pretty darn sweet :)