Six Months Old

Happy Six Months, Ella!

Can you believe it, Ella?  You're six months old, which means you've been here for half a year already!  (Though you have given us more than we can ask for in a lifetime.)  You are now 25 1/2" and weigh 14 lbs. 10 oz.

You've been so busy this past month, reaching milestones and experiencing so many firsts.  You are mastering sitting up which has allowed you to do so many more things!  You are now sitting in your high chair with us at the table and eating solids.  You love butternut squash, but still deciding on the apples.  We are definitely looking forward to expanding your palate!  You are definitely looking forward to feeding yourself (you already insist you do).  You celebrated your first Thanksgiving and did so swimmingly.  Another exciting first?  Your first plane ride to Seattle!  You made everyone within a 10 feet radius fall madly in love with you, and even got your picture taken by a (pseudo) celebrity!  You also met your extended family for the first time, and got to play with your cousins.

Your personality continues to shine through as you laugh and sing and chirp all day long.  You love sitting and playing with your toys, eating books, and talking to Remy (your new best friend).  You are kicking and scrunching up your butt (testing out those muscles you'll need to start crawling).  You can reach and grab and rake with your hands and fingers.  You still love to cuddle and snuggle, especially when you wake in the middle of the night.  That is also something new this month, as you have become a bit more clingy and in need of comfort.  You know who your parents are, and we love when you reach for us or nuzzle your face into our chests.  Daddy especially loves when you reach for the strings on his sweatshirt and start chewing them (we blame your best pug friend for that).

You think it's hilarious when we imitate your voices, and crack up when we fly you over head or trot you on our laps.  You love observing everything around you.  You're fascinated by the most ordinary, making every day an extraordinary experience (even for us).  My favorite development?  You are now starting to babble and, Babycakes, it is the sweetest, most endearing sound.  You have so much to say, just laying there and talking to yourself, and it's heartwarmingly cute.

We love you so much, Ella Bella!  

Smile for the Camera!

I commissioned my favorite photographer/sister-in-law to take pictures of Ella for some Christmas presents I'm putting together for the grandparents.  Ella was being a bit uncooperative that day (she was in her fussy period), but we think there are still some great shots of her.  Here are some of my favorites.  (Remy even got in on the action.)

Call in the Calvary!

Amidst all the busyness, I forgot to post about Adam's outing to watch a Civil War reenactment back in November.  Adam's a total history buff, and he loves stuff like this like I love Pinterest.  So armed with a couple buddies, he went to the largest reenactment this side of the Mississippi.  Surprisingly, it was pretty cool and quite the deal.  He definitely plans to go to more in the future, though I'm hoping he doesn't come home one day declaring that he's joining the Union army!

The camp.  The reenactors actually stayed in these tents all weekend.

Preparing for battle.

Chris, getting in touch with his Southern roots!

And the battle begins!

Meeting the 16th president.

Casualties of war.

Watching an amputation take place.  Totally gross.

What should we do next?

R&R

Calling the calvary!

seattle

Despite it being a busy time of year with the holidays and all, we squeezed in a trip to Washington to visit Adam's family and introduce them to Ella.  This was Ella's first time on a plane and our first time traveling with an infant.  We were definitely anxious and apprehensive about it, but our trip couldn't have been smoother.  Nursing her during take off and landing really helped, and on the way there she slept for most of the flight.  Returning, she decided to take in the whole experience, refusing to sleep.  Both ways, she made fast friends with the flight attendants and the other passengers nearby.

We're traveling with a lot more baggage now!

Aboard the plane for Ella's first flight.  Strangely enough this picture was taken by Steve-O from Jackass, who happened to be on our flight. 

Adam's cousin graciously opened her home to us, and provided us with many baby items so we could travel a little lighter.  It was so nice to spend that time with her and her family, and have Ella play with her second cousins.  Thanks, Jamel and Stewart for your hospitality!

With the Smith family.

Ella was greeted with presents--her first this Christmas!  Though she was more interested in the wrapping paper and sparkly bow, we loved the teapot set, the books and the Elf on the Shelf.  We are particularly excited to start that tradition next year!

Opening her gifts with her cousin, Samantha.

The perk of staying with family was that they already had baby stuff we could use.  We were happy to see they had the Jumparoo set up for Ella.  I was debating whether or not to get her one, and am glad she was able to try it out first.  She loved it, and Santa will be getting a memo that it's on top of her Christmas list this year.

Her first test drive.

Samantha was pretty fascinated by Ella.  I think the feeling's mutual.

The main purpose of our trip was for Ella to meet family, and we were so blessed that she was able to meet her great-grandfather, who just celebrated his 93rd birthday!

Ella got to meet all her girl cousins, and it was fun watching them try to play with her while being gentle and respectful of her space.  I think she was mesmerized by their energy.

The photo is fuzzy because snapping a picture of four kids and an infant can be tricky.

We were also able to meet up with some friends in the area.

With the Fike family, who had us over for a delicious lunch.

With my girl friend, Gina, who I met while living in San Francisco.

All in all, a very successful and memorable trip.  We're definitely looking forward to more visits in the future!

pin it

I tried so hard to stay away from it... but alas, I couldn't.  I joined Pinterest, an online site that lets you create design boards (AMAZING), and my new addiction has begun.  Now I'm constantly perusing websites for ideas to pin to my boards.  My current favs?  Finding ideas for my good friend's bridal shower (Hi, Kelly!), and items for our new guest bedroom and Ella's playroom.  SO OBSESSED.  I can literally spend hours pinning away.  If you haven't already discovered it, I'd recommend Pinterest.  Just be forewarned that it's completely and utterly addictive.  Adam thinks I'm crazy because I get so excited by things like this.  Apparently, he still doesn't understand my type-A, Virgo tendencies.

Leaps and Bounds

I know I keep saying this, but I can't believe how fast Ella is growing.  Every day is something new and I love experiencing it all with her.  She's been playing more with her toys and really taking an interest in interacting with them.  Here she is cuddling, grabbing and eating her alligator.

During the last few weeks, Ella's been going through another developmental leap, which has made her clingy, cranky and restless.  She's generally a really good baby, so when she makes a leap, we really notice her change in behavior.  The most obvious challenge has been her waking in the middle of night and being difficult to console back to sleep.  Having a baby who normally sleeps 10-12 hours straight through the night but then starts waking up crying at 3 am has been challenging.  I know we're pretty spoiled with a good sleeper, but it's still difficult nonetheless.  We started putting her back into her co-sleeper by our bed when she wakes in the middle of the night so we both could get some sleep, and sometimes we had to pull her into bed with us.  I've noticed how differently she sleeps now, signifying how much she's grown.  I used to have to cradle her in my arms while we slept, but now she just lays on the mattress and snuggles up on us.  She'll reach her hand out to feel us there and fall asleep next to us.  While I was pregnant, I swore I'd never sleep with her in bed with us, but parenthood makes you do a lot of "take-backs" and this has been one of them.  She's been a cuddlier since she was a newborn and it's been a bit of a challenge not to indulge her all the time.

Sleeping in one morning in our bed.

THANKFULLY, her leap is coming to an end, and she's been back in her crib, sleeping through the night, for the past three days.  It's been so wonderful waking up to find her still sound asleep in her crib and getting our room back!  I really recommend "The Wonder Weeks" for new parents because it helps to know the reason for the changes in behavior in your infant.  Knowing what to expect and understanding why Ella is acting a certain way has helped us be more confident parents.  So far, she's been pretty on schedule with her leaps, and it's just nice to have some insight in how she's growing.  The leaps are rough (and getting rougher) but it's amazing to watch her develop new skills.  That being said, I'm more than happy to enjoy this upswing until she hits her next leap.

powerless

As many know, our area got hit by a really bad windstorm last week.  Thankfully, we are all safe and sound, but we lost a beautiful oak tree in our backyard, and a few other trees and plants got uprooted.  We also lost power for about 2 days, which doesn't seem like a long time (some people are still without electricity), but was an incredibly humbling experience for us.  No power meant no contact with the outside world (unless we braved the fallen trees and debris-strewn streets all around us).  We just got our internet connection back yesterday, and I didn't realize how helpless I felt without it.  How was I going to pay my bills (which I do online)?  How was I going to book our rental car for our upcoming trip?  What about all the Christmas presents I wanted to purchase online?  It's all so superficial, especially in light of the storm, but it did put things in perspective.  Sitting in the dark, candles lit all around us, flashlights propped up, and the fireplace going for warmth, I was reminded again how blessed we are by technology and modern amenities.  Adam and I both made a mental note to be better prepared in case of a natural disaster.  I hope it makes all of us wake up a little to realize what we have, and be prepared for what may happen.

We dealt with our lack of power by doing as much as we could during the daylight hours and eventually by getting out of the house so we could regain a sense of normalcy.

We sought refuge at our friend's salon while Adam was getting his hair cut.

We met up with my best friend, Kathy, for lunch and then did some Christmas shopping.

Ella and I took advantage of the daylight and did lots of laundry together. 

Ladies Who Read

I love my book club.  It's probably the only one where we don't actually read.  Well, we read, just not all the time.  Ha!  The whole premise of our book club is that we read a book that is also a movie, and when we meet up we watch the film and have discussion.  Usually, it ends up with about 50% of us reading the book, and us catching up on our lives while squeezing in a movie together.  All around a lot of fun!

Our last one was the Twilight Saga's Breaking Dawn.  We watched it in the theaters and cringed/laughed/ogled at the bad acting/cheesiness/and unnecessary shirtless scenes.  Before we parted ways, we snapped a picture.  We're missing a couple members in the shot, but at least I remembered to take a picture this time!

Adam watched Ella while we watched the movie.  Then they joined us for lunch.  She's definitely looking forward to reading with us in the future.

pals

Mia threw her back out a few weeks ago and has been staying with Grandma Donna to recuperate, leaving Remy all by his lonesome self.  To fill the void that Mia left in his life, he's been making more attempts to befriend Ella.  He'll bring her his toys, try to snuggle with her on the couch, and sit on her blankets.  Ella loves the attention and will often try to talk to him.  She has even started to reach out to him and pull at pet his fur.  Here are some pictures I snapped over the past few weeks.  I just love their blossoming friendship!  (And am just waiting for all the trouble these two will inevitably get into.)

A Solid Start

We had planned to start Ella on solids at six months, but she had other ideas.  She's been exhibiting tell tale signs that she's ready: reaching for food, beverages and utensils while we ate, showing an increasing interest in watching us eat, being able to sit up on her own really well, and losing that tongue thrust reflex.  So during our trip to the cabin, we decided to start her on brown rice cereal to see if she would be interested.  Initially she was unsure of the stuff being put near her mouth, but a handful of spoonfuls later, she was eating like a pro.  By the second feeding, she finished the entire bowl I had prepared for her!  Needless to say, she told us she was ready.

Yesterday, was her first taste of a puree.  I made her butternut squash (seasonal and nutritious) mixed with some breast milk.  She was a bit surprised that the spoonful of food going into her mouth wasn't the rice cereal she had learned to expect, but something entirely different.  She would scrunch her face up after every bite, but she ended up eating the whole bowl anyway!

Giving Thanks

Following tradition, we went up to our cabin to celebrate Thanksgiving.  Crazy how last year, I was fighting nausea and wondering what this little thing in my belly would be like, and here we are taking her to celebrate her first Thanksgiving.  It was a small crowd, but festive nonetheless.  Here are some pictures (with more to follow).

A quick family picture before the preparations begin.

Can we eat yet?

The feasting begins!

I have to admit... the BEST turkey we've cooked EVER.  We ate this for days!

After a satisfying meal; before the tryptophan sets in.

Ella got to share in the eating, too.  I'll post soon about her starting solids!

We had to walk off the calories.

I can't believe how much Ella has grown, even just in the week we were away.  My little baby is growing into a little person!

My good friend, Grace, joined us for Thanksgiving (it just isn't the same without her, anyway) and brought macarons.  My favorites were the lavender and rose-flavored ones.

A trip to the cabin (especially in the colder weather months) usually means lots of lounging about and napping.  We all had our share of it and it was great!

The pugs especially mastered the art of being on vacation.