10 Months

I took 60 of these pictures and almost every. single. one. was a blurry mess. She just kept moving.
I don't know how people get good photos at this age!! gah!

This past month was the month of being sick. and not sleeping. it was rough. Ella had a couple colds,  allergies, a fever, "teething syndromme" according to the doctor, and an ear infection, and then an allergic reaction to the antibiotics and broke out in a rash/hives everywhere.

It was sad. There was an entire week where she was so sick, she wouldn't eat any solid food, wouldn't crawl, didn't want to play, didn't sleep well, she just wanted to be held while she cried.  Thankfully this week she finally seems to be all better and back to feeling like herself!

Also, at the beginning of the month she finally learned how to get up from a lying down position and WOULD NOT lay down to go to sleep. Every time we'd lay her back in her crib she would immediately sit up, it was like she just couldn't help it. Even though she was so so tired, she just had to sit up and then she would just sit there in her crib and bawl because she was tired. The first night she was literally up until 4:30 in the morning before she finally passed out, and then she was up for the day at 7:30. Her eyes were so tired and red and puffy, but when i tried to put her down for her nap it was the same story she would just instantly sit up. I finally just tied one of her swaddling blankets across her chest to both sides of the crib so she couldn't sit up and she was finally able to nap. Once, I started doing that she started sleeping normally again, until she realized that if she just wiggled up she could get out from underneath the blanket. So we invested in a SafeTSleep strap. LIFESAVER!!! Judge me all you want for using it, but it works, Ella sleeps great with it, she doesn't seem to mind it, and she goes down for bedtime and naps usually without any fussing at all. And the last 2 nights Ella has slept thru the night!!! For the first time ever! Hopefully she keeps it up.

At 10 Months Ella:

-is apparently allergic to Penicillin

-LOVES strawberries. By far her favorite food to date. 

-has just started pulling her self up to standing, but can't cruise yet.

-Dances! It's so cute, she's does this side to side head wiggle thing and gets the upper body involved sometimes...this is such a fun age!

-Is finally starting to hold her own bottle during feedings. sometimes. but a lot of times she'll still take it out her mouth and play with/shake it/get milk everywhere

-Has to see what I'm up to at all times. If I ever try to do anything in the kitchen or anything that looks remotely interesting to her like trying to eat my lunch she'll crawl to my legs and try to climb up me and bawl until I pick her up. Which means all cooking and most eating/really everything is done during nap times and after she's in bed.

-Says mama a lot, and most of the time it seems to be directed at me, not always though--does that count as a word?

-Also she really likes to crawl under tables and chairs, but has trouble running into them a lot and her hitting her head, you'd think at some point she'd learn but it doesn't seem to be getting much better.

-Is so sweet, and fun, and curious, and I just love being her mom!:)

Ella and My mom

At Clementine's First Birthday Party!

Me, Ella, Alexis, and Trisha--
somehow I missed getting a picture with the birthday girl!:(

We gave her a lemon. haha

We were matching!

My friend Kim took these cute Fall pictures of Ella and Clementine. But this was in the midst of Ella being sick so she wasn't very happy and it was really difficult to get a smile from her that day, so Kim didn't have a lot to work with. I still think we got a few good ones:)

Love their matching cat outfits!

Nine Months

Well, it's official, Ella has now been outside of me as long as she was inside of me!! (As of 9 months and 10 days old) And around 9 and half months old she finally learned how to crawl! It has been so fun having a mobile baby and she's been a lot happier!

Also, this past month Kyle's parents were able to come visit. It was great having them down here and Ella sure loved having a couple more play mates around!

Ella had a cardiology appointment a few days after she turned nine months, and both holes in her heart have gotten a little smaller, which is good news! At that appointment we learned that Ella is 27.5inches tall--50th percentile and 16.7lbs--about the 5th percentile:( But even though she's a skinny little thing--she seems perfectly healthy.

At 9 Months (Really 9 months and 3 weeks as I'm writing this) Ella:
- Can Crawl!! Hooray!!!!
- Has tried many more foods, and seems to like just about everything, but still has a very small appetite and never eats very much. She especially loves carrots, strawberries, watermelon, green smoothies, fish and banana. She does not seem to be as into waffles or bread-type food.
- Loves to Babble and makes all sorts of different sounds and noises, including lots of mama:)
- Still loves music and singing
-LOVES me to read her books. She'll sit in my lap while I read to her, and when the book is over and I close the cover, she'll cry until I start to read it again.
- Loves seeing people and friends!
-Also loves exploring new places, especially now that she can crawl, we can take her anywhere and as long as I can set her down to explore she's totally content.
-Is really starting to hate the car, and pretty much screams the whole drive unless someone is back there with her. Which means I never want to drive anywhere alone anymore.So  I just ordered her a convertible car seat, I'm hoping that being able to sit up and see out more will help her be happier in the car!
- Still wakes up 1-2times a night, usually 2...ugghhhh. Seriously its the worst. After almost 10 months I'm tired of getting up several times a night, every. single. night. But since she eats a full feeding every time she wakes up and she weighs so little, I have hard time saying she doesn't need it.
-Still no dairy.
- I think I forgot to mention this in my last post. But I stopped pumping. I was so sick of it, and the logistics of bringing my pump on my Montana trip and trying to pump while we were there was just too much of a hassle, so I weaned her off of breast milk the 2 weeks leading up to our trip. And she hasn't had any issues or problems since switching completely to formula and my life is 10000000000x better now that I'm not pumping!! The freedom is so so wonderful! I'm glad I was able to give her breastmilk as long as I did, but my next kid had darn better be able to actually breast feed, because I never want to exclusively pump again!!

My friend Kim took this adorable picture of Ella

At the beach with Kyle's parents

Checking out the ocean with Grandma

Ella and Grandpa Poulsen

Aren't they so cute together?!

In the backyard at Grandma and Grandpa Jenson's house

Me and Kyle's 4th Anniversary, due to lack of funds and the fact that Kyle had to work that night, we kept it pretty low key with a breakfast out, sans Ella

Loving the exersaucer at Carlee's

First time in a swing at the park!
I think she had that big smile on her face the whole time:)

I just love her little baby bum in jeans!

Starting to look like such a big girl!

She was not willing to stay still for the camera, so I had to bring some playmates to the
shoot to get her to stay on the bed!

Eight Months

Ok wow this post is way overdue. In my defense we were out of town when Ella turned 8 months and we were gone for 5 weeks! We went up to my parents house and then Kyle headed to Austin for a month long orthopedic surgery rotation. Me and Ella flew up to Montana for two weeks with my parents where we had family reunions on both sides of my family. We had a great time up there and when we got back we stayed with my parents until Kyle finished his rotation and then we all stayed up there a few more days. It was hard to come home again. Ella LOVES my parents and has such a great time at their house with a backyard, so many more rooms to explore, and new things to look at, along with 2 doting grandparents who are always happy to play with her. She also slept great up at my parents house, something that she did not keep up with when we returned home to Galveston.:(

That being said 8 months was by far the best month so far, like 100x better than any month before that. She is just getting so fun, and now that she's old enough to really explore objects and play with toys she is just so much happier. As long as she has something new and interesting to play with she'll sit on her own (as long as I'm nearby)  just as happy as can be. The challenge is trying to constantly find new, safe things for her to play with. 

This month she really started to enjoy nursery rhymes and children's songs. Wheels on the Bus was a big favorite for her! I also spent a lot of time singing twinkle twinkle little star, row, row, row your boat, Old MacDonald, BINGO, Do your ears hang low, pop goes the weasel, I'm a little tea pot...I think you get the idea. But its so fun to play with Ella and watch her reaction to things, she is just so sweet and gets so excited! I am really enjoying her now, and love being her mom!

About to get on her first flight! Flying was pretty rough. I think I've mentioned a few times that Ella is not an easy sleeper. She will NOT sleep in anyone's arms. She needs to be in her own bed, with no noise or distractions. But she can't go more than a few hours without a nap, and for this flight we had to wake her up at 4am and we didn't arrive at our destination until 3pm. So it was a long, long, looong, day.

 However, she enjoyed it for the first 30 minutes until she became too tired to be happy anymore.

The retro port a crib at my grandparents house. This is what I slept in as a baby when my mom used to visit.

About to run the Got Grit! Race, it was a blast! Its a muddy obstacle course 5k, the girls dressed up as team turtle and the guys dressed as Joe Dirt.

 Fourth of July!!

 Ella and Uncle Christian!!

Ella and Grandma:)

Ella and Grandpa. He is probably her favorite person in the entire world.

 Ella and her cousin Tanner. 

watermelon baby:)

 I love this picture of Ella and my dad.

 Me and my sweet girl!

Ella and her cousin Haley.

 Just catching up on the Journal of the American Academy of Physician Assistants

Ikea date with mom and grandma

Chowing down on some broccoli

At the rainforest at Moody Gardens

 Never too early to start brushing those teeth!

 I realized after I took these that I put the 8 on upside down--oops!