girly

So when I was pregnant, Adam and I didn't really have a preference as to what gender our baby was.  Still, I was pretty thrilled about having a little girl first.  And one of the reasons was because I could dress her up (shallow, I know).  Now that she's getting older (and thus, bigger), I can have a lot more fun with her outfits.  Some of my favorites come from tea. and peek..., which have really cute styles and super soft fabrics.  At least I've curbed my own shopping addiction to balance all that I buy for Ella.  And the pugs are definitely grateful that I no longer use them as my dress-up dolls.

I love this skirt from peek... And the toes? I nibble them daily.

lemonade

There's this restaurant called Lemonade that just opened up by us and it's my new obsession.  The food is pretty good (though pricey), but I've been craving their watermelon mint lemonade on a daily basis (that, and McDonald's sweet tea, but that's a whole other issue).  We especially like the restaurant because it's easy to bring Ella to.  She enjoys looking outside and watching the people walk by.  When she was first born, I couldn't imagine taking her out to eat (blame the post-partum hormones), but now it's a weekend adventure that Adam and I really enjoy.

Doing Time

Finally!  After three solid months of absolutely hating tummy time, Ella is finally learning to spend some time on her stomach.  She's always had good head control and strong neck muscles, so the pediatrician wasn't too concerned if she wasn't putting in her time, but I really wanted her to have the opportunity to explore the world from a different perspective.  I didn't want to push it too much because she seemed so uncomfortable every time we put her on her stomach.  The worse was when she'd throw up.  So we never forced her, but one afternoon I thought we'd give it a go again.  I anticipated her to just cry 15 seconds in, but she lasted at least 5 minutes (which is huge)!  Since then (about a week and a half ago) she's been enjoying some time just looking at herself in the mirror, smiling at the pugs and looking out the window.  Speaking of pugs, she's finally started to notice them and now is fascinated by their little furry bodies.  She has already kicked Mia in the face and grabbed Remy's fur.  She'll smile while she looks at them.  It's really sweet, but I think the dogs are starting to brace themselves for what's to come!

tete a tete

Every morning Ella and I have a little chat.  It usually goes like this:

Rock A Bye Baby

Adam and I really REALLY try to keep the baby stuff to a minimum (clothes being the exception and my obsession).  But I was getting desperate for Ella to start taking longer naps (the forty minutes here and there just weren't cutting it).  So I broke down and ordered a swing.  It's pink and bright and very "baby" but she likes it and will nap in it for a while.  I try not to put her in it too much (with fear of her getting a flat head and all), but it works in a pinch.  Plus, there's a butterfly light show that just mesmerizes her.  Heck, we kind of want one of these swings, too.  It just looks so comfy!

Thirty

When Ella was born, Adam and I accepted the fact that our birthday celebrations this year would likely be low key (being how exhausted we were with a new baby).  But for my thirtieth birthday, Adam planned a surprise birthday dinner for me and some of my good friends.  He hired an italian chef who we had met when she cooked for us for our first anniversary.  It was so great to see Danila again, and the meal was delicious.  Ella did fabulously at her first party hosted in our home.  Everyone was enamored by her.  She was able to maintain her regular schedule (with Grandma's help) and the party was a lot of fun.  I have a pretty awesome husband and am grateful for everyone who came to celebrate the occasion with me.

Mia wanted some food, too.  Remy was more clever and spent the evening in the kitchen where he actually did get food off the floor.

I always forget to take a family picture during events.  So we squeezed one in right before Ella's bedtime.

She had a super cute dress on for the occasion, but we had changed her into her pajamas already.  Next time...

Fuzzy family shot.

Three Months Old

Happy three months, Ella Bella!!

My, how quickly you are growing--right before our eyes!  Not only are you getting bigger, you're holding your head up better and your movements are smoothing out (soon your robot ways will be a distant memory).  You still hate tummy time, but you can prop yourself up on your arms and lift your head up to smile at us (right before you break into tears for being put into your least favorite position).  You're starting to try to roll over, especially from your back to your side.  You can grasp things (toys, clothes, the side of your bassinet) and you love holding your own hand.  You think your fingers are delicious (as are the shoulders and arms of those who hold you), and you like to blow bubbles with that sweet little mouth of yours.  Your panda has been replaced with a giraffe named Sophie, who you like to hug while you nap in the morning.  You flirt with the movie projector hanging from the ceiling; apparently A/V equipment makes you swoon.  Your first trip was to our cabin and you were a great little traveller.  You may have been needy and only wanted your mom and dad to hold you, but you loved the new sights and sounds.  You dined al fresco on your first boat ride, and you showed everyone that you can say your name.  Your mommy celebrated her 30th birthday and you gave her the best gift of all: sleeping in your crib in your own room all night long.  Foreign languages make you laugh and giggle with delight.  As does playing airplane with Daddy.  You still love music--made up songs are the best.  Your personality is starting to shine as you chat and giggle with all those around you.  You already have such a beautiful spirit shining through.  We love you, Babycakes!

Lake Trip Pictures

More photos of our Labor Day Weekend adventures:

The water was perfectly crisp on a hot summer day.

Kathy was an excellent flag girl.

Louie's first time wake boarding.

Ashley made special pancakes for us.

Along with barking, this is what the pugs basically do the entire time we're at the cabin.

Remy found a new pillow.

Probably more physically intensive than wake boarding (that's because we have yet to really stand up and wake board).

A sunset cruise around the lake on our last night there.  The pugs really enjoyed themselves.

Ella's first boat ride.

Say Ella!

Ella loves her name (thankfully) and smiles and laughs when she hears it.  She even tries to imitate it (or so we like to think).  Here's a video* of her (warning, it's long) "saying her name" one morning a couple weeks ago.  We think it's fascinating (as most proud parents would).  :)  

* You may want to fast forward to the 40 second mark where I actually start talking to her.  I'm still figuring out how to post videos on Blogger so I didn't edit this one.

Sleeping Through the Night

As of two weeks ago, Ella started to sleep through the night consistently.  She eventually clocked ten hours by the time we were up at our cabin during Labor Day weekend.  I figured that sleeping in her Pack 'n Play up there would be a good transition for sleeping in her crib when we got home.  The first night (the night we got back) was a total fail because of the long car ride and how exhausted we all were.  She ended up waking up 15 minutes after we put her down, and subsequently throwing up all over Adam.  A quick bath later we decided to put her in her co-sleeper so we could all go to bed with no further drama.  

The next day, we tried putting her in her crib again.  I anticipated that it would take at least week to get her acclimated to the new bedtime routine.  I expected she'd cry and wake up various times through the night, and that I wouldn't be getting a lot of sleep as we navigated through this new phase.  That being said, I was pleasantly surprised that she not only slept through the night in her crib, but that she soothed herself to sleep every time we put her in it (and when she occasionally woke up in the middle of the night).

She now sleeps next to me via video monitor screen.

I can tell she's maturing so much now that she sleeps so many hours at night.  Because she gets very noisy in the early morning, I end up waking up before she does.  I have to wait until she fully wakes up before taking her out of the crib.  My favorite thing about this new routine (other than a full night's sleep) is when she sees me looking down at her and smiles right back up at me.

She some how managed to roll onto her side, then break dance her way so that her head is where her feet should be.

I wish I could taken credit for sleep training her, but she did it all on her own.  I realize how fortunate we are to have such a good and easy baby.  Ella loves routine, and is slowly developing her own (making all of our lives and schedules a lot easier).  I know that babies are unpredictable, and who knows, tonight she may decide to wake up every three hours, but I am relishing it for as long as I can!

Labor Day

I've been slow to post because we've been so busy with our first family trip together.  We took advantage of the Labor Day holiday weekend and planned a week-long trip to our cabin with some friends and family.  It was Ella's first trip (and four hour car ride), and it was a great time!

Because she's too little to participate in the water activities, Ella did a lot of lounging at our cabin.  She was unusually needy during this time, and required either Adam or me to hold her a lot.  But she did fall into a really nice sleeping routine at night, which was a great transition for when she got home (see other post).  

It was the final weekend of the summer before the lake levels would be lowered, so we took advantage of getting out on the water.

Adam and Ashley taught us how to wakeboard.  It was a pretty physically challenging task (as was tubing).  We all enjoyed it though, and look forward to more opportunities to try next summer when we have more time to spend at the lake.

Adam hadn't gone wakeboard in over 10 years.  He got up right away and was a pro.  It was like riding a bike.  As for me... it was like falling flat on my face.  I mean, literally.  That's what I did the whole time.

The sunsets there are beautiful.  I can never get sick of them.  That time of day is always so peaceful, like everything just gets quiet to watch the sun go down.

Sunset from the lake.

Dusk as seen from our cabin.

She's such a snuggle bug.

Going to the cabin always makes Mia a little anxious.  Having the baby there made it a little harder for her (no more bed privileges).  So she kept trying to hint for us to go home.