Hi!

Ellie says hi and waves! Well, I am 93% sure that it is "Hi" she is saying. Though it sounds more like someone from Georgia saying hi. "Haaa." Everytime we see Ellie, we wave to her and say hi. Yesterday, when she saw Tom, she waved her arm and said "Haaaa." Then, she did it to me later. And she did it to the lady at Carmax. I am not sure why I am so excited about her waving and saying what I think is hi, but I just am. It seems like such a cool thing for her to do.

The other day, Tom was holding Ellie and he looked over at me and said, "We are no longer alone. We have another person living with us now." And I understood exactly what he meant. Like, for over 4 years it was just Tom and I, hanging out, doing our thing. But now? Now we are no longer just the two of us. And we better quit walking around naked.

I hesitate to say it

Ellie has slept through the night for the past three nights! Someone once told me that if it happens three times in a row then it is permanent. Or something like that. Meaning that maybe Ellie will continue to sleep through the night. And I might start to feel human again. And speak in full, coherent sentences. And start doing my hair in the morning. And wear makeup. The possibilities are endless...

Pacifiers and peek-a-boo!

It is hard being back at work after having such a long weekend for Thanksgiving. Ellie's first Thanksgiving was fun. She sampled mashed potatoes and stuffing at Grandma Judy's house and then we went to Grandpa Tom's house to hang out. Ellie really just likes going to new places and being around different people.

This past weekend we took her out to a Mexican restaurant. She just loves sitting at the table in a high chair and watching all the people around us. Of course, they would notice her staring and start smiling and playing with her and she would just eat it up. Our baby is such an attention-whore.

We have become big fans of Baby Einstein in our house. Those videos are really just crack for babies, but it gives me 30 minutes to get a little cleaning done. Ellie will sit in front of the TV, laughing and reaching for the screen. She likes to lean forward onto all fours and just rock back and forth. It looks like she is about to take off any second, but she hasn't quite figured out how to make her knees move.

Ellie's favorite thing right now is to take her pacifier out of her mouth and try to put it in mine or Tom's mouth. She thinks it is soooo funny and will chuckle every time she does it. No wonder Tom, Ellie, and I all have colds...we are all sharing the same pacifier! Ellie also loves to play peek-a-boo. She will pull the blanket over her head and then pull it down again...making Tom or I say "peek-a-boo!" over and over.

I love that Ellie is getting older and wanting to play and interact more. However, sometimes I miss my little blob who was content to sit in my lap. Now she wiggles and wriggles wanting to get down or be bounced or thrown in the air. It is quite exhausting!

Video clips of Ellie

Ellie laughing

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Ellie saying "dada"...a lot.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

Today is Ellie's first Thanksgiving. She had another one of her wakeful nights. Tom and I brought her into bed with us this morning. It was so funny. She kept reaching over to grab at Tom's nipple (it seems very weird to refer to Tom as having a nipple, but you know what I mean). It was like Ellie was trying to figure out how to latch onto it to get some milk. Heehee.

We are being pretty lazy this morning. My house is a disaster and I desperately need to clean, but I am just hanging out in my cozy gray flannel PJs (that Tom hates) and taking pics of Ellie. Of course, I was too lazy to dress Ellie before taking the pics so she is all white-trash baby hanging in her diaper with snot running out of her nose. Whatever, she is still adorable!

A good night

I had to work late last night so Ellie was already asleep by the time I got home (10:15). She woke up at 11:00 right as I was getting into bed. I knew she couldn't be hungry so I decided to let her cry for 5 minutes to see if she would go back to sleep. It worked! She went back to sleep and didn't wake up til 4:30 this morning! Then I nursed her and she promptly fell back asleep and was still sleeping when I left for work at 7:30.

However, I was a little sad this morning despite getting my wish for a (almost) full night's sleep. Usually Ellie wakes up every morning around 5-5:30 when Tom is getting up and out the door for work. It is like she senses there is a vacancy in the bed next to me and it is her job to fill it. So most mornings I go and bring her back to bed with me where we snuggle together under the covers. When she tires of lying down, I sit her up next to me so I can stay in bed just a little longer in my semi-sleep haze. She will talk and grab at my hair and face. And every few minutes she leans forward to lay her head on me, throwing an arm across me and squeezing me tight, all the while making this incredibly happy noise "aaaaaaaahhhhhh". And I can't think of a better way to start my day.

Totally spoiled

Oh. my. gosh. Ellie is waking up soooo much during the night now. She is killing me! And she doesn't just wake up, nurse, and go right back to sleep. No she wakes up, screams, arches her back, and refuses to go back to sleep. Tom usually ends up taking her out to the recliner and sleeping while holding her. She seems to be feeling better so I am hoping that this is just all sickness related and she will go back to her 1 to 2 wakings a night as usual. :(

I can't get too mad at her. Last night, when I walked in the front door, she kept trying to lurch out of Tom's arms to get to me. She was so excited to see me that she kept bobbing around and laughing. It is nice to be so loved. Y

Family time and ear infections

This has been a whirlwind weekend. We had a lot of fun hanging out with Jen and her family. Ellie is happiest when lots of people are around (and giving her lots of attention). Even though she was sick all weekend (fever, runny nose, cough), it didn't stop her from enjoying all the family around. Grandpa (Dad) took everyone out to dinner at Sweet Tomato on Saturday night. We put Ellie in a high chair at the end of the table next to Kolby and she had a blast! She loved being part of everything, stealing Kolby's peas, and banging on the table.
Unfortunately, when Ellie woke up Sunday morning, she was no longer happy. All she wanted to do was be held in my arms. I took her temp and it was 101.7. She wouldn't eat and spent most of the day sleeping. I took her in to the after-hours clinic to get her checked out and the doctor determined she has a bad ear infection in one ear. Poor baby. This is the 3rd time she has been on antibiotics. The doctor said that is not unusual for daycare babies. I just wish I could stay home with Ellie every day and keep her away from all those germ-ridden babies! ;) At least Tom is off work all this week so Ellie will get lots of Daddy-time.

Sick baby, new car, and lots of birthdays

Things are so crazy for us these days. It started Wednesday night with Ellie waking up every hour throughout the night. At around 4am, I noticed she was running a fever so I gave her some Tylonel and brought her to bed with us. In the morning, she seemed fine so I dropped her off at daycare and went to work. Tom and I had scheduled to pick up my new car (yay!) at Carmax right after work. I spent the whole morning at work calling about my old car and its missing title. After two calls to the Texas Department of Transportation, two calls to the Utah Division of Motor Vehicles, and about nine calls to Claudia at Carmax, it was determined that I had to get a duplicate title from Utah which would take two weeks in order to trade in my old car (obviously I was a model employee during this time and got tons of work done). Buying a new car was seeming to be more of a hassle then buying our house! I went to go feed Ellie on my lunch break, and she didn’t seem to want to nurse. I finally was able to get her to eat a little bit and then rocked her to sleep. I noticed that she felt pretty warm, but the daycare ladies assured me she had been happy all morning. I went back to work and was there for all of 20 minutes before I got a call from daycare saying Ellie had 102 fever and I needed to come pick her up. The ladies at daycare said that they never would have known she was sick since she was so happy except they tried to feed her solids when she woke up and Ellie refused to eat. And Ellie loves her food so they knew she must be sick!

The rest of the day was rushing around. We dropped Ellie off at Grandma Kathy’s and went to Carmax to get my new car. Went back to my mom’s to get Ellie. Then went to Grandma Judy’s house to celebrate Aunt Tara’s birthday. I was really worried that Ellie would be fussy since she was sick and it was past her bedtime, but she was too busy smiling and charming everyone. Happy Birthday, Tara!
We finally arrived home last night and left Ellie sleeping in her carseat til she woke up at 1:00. Her fever was back so I gave her some Motrin and brought her to bed with us til 4:00am when Tom took her out to the recliner to sleep with him so I could actually get some sleep before getting up at 6:30 for work. It is just amazing how a sick baby can affect your life so much! Tom is staying home with Ellie today and then tonight we are going to Uncle Mark and Aunt Rosie’s to celebrate some birthdays with Ellie’s cousins from Arizona! Happy Birthday, Kristen and Kaitlyn!

7 month shots and bloodwork

I took Ellie in for the second part of her flu shot and her Hep B vaccination yesterday. I took the whole day off so that I could spend the rest of the day giving her lots of love to make up for tormenting her in the morning.

Her shots went fine. She always gives a mad cry right after they do them, but as soon as I pick her up and cuddle her, she calms right down and will even smile at the nurse. Then, I took her back to the lab so they could try to draw blood for the allergy tests again. It was the same 2 lab techs and they totally remembered us. They tried both arms again, jabbing and pulling the needle in and out. They didn't get a single drop. Poor Ellie was beside herself. They told me that I would have to take her to a different place to get it done because they were just too incompetent to do it themselves. At this point, I am saying no way. Sure, Ellie has a stuffy nose half the time and a runny one the other half, but it doesn't seem to bother her so I am not going to let it bother me. Maybe when she is one we will try again to find out what she is allergic to, but for now I think I will just forget about it.

Happy 7 Months, Ellie girl!

Dear Ellie-belly,

You are 7 months old today. I just cannot get over how quickly time flies. You are growing up so fast and sometimes it makes me a little sad. Your Daddy and I went to the movies this weekend and found ourselves surrounded by overly-enthusiastic junior high girls. And I thought to myself, "Soon Ellie will be like them." One day you will scream "I hate you, Mom!" while simultaneously throwing your shoe at my head. And my heart will shatter into a million pieces. But I will know that is just what junior high girls do. And then I will pull out pics of you kissing me and laughing with me and say, "See, you DO love me!" I want to keep you my sweet, innocent little girl forever.

This past month you have really figured out how to get around. If there is a toy half way across the room, you will find a way to roll/scoot your way over there. When you are sitting, if a toy is out of your grasp, you will lean forward, ease onto your tummy, and roll away! You are also "talking" a lot more. Your favorite phrase is "Ah da da da." You also make these growling noises a lot and some high pitched screeches.

Everyone always comments on how happy you are. You really are such a happy baby. Quick to smile and laugh at everyone. You love to play with your cousins and you get so excited when you see them. You have also discovered the dogs. You never used to show them much interest, but now you get really excited when you see them, flapping your arms and kicking your legs in your funny spastic way. I was always so careful to keep the dogs a safe distance from you because they are such big, wild, hyper things. Quick to jump up and slobber anyone who dares pet them. Many a grandkid has been knocked down by our overgrown puppies. But with you they are different. If you are sitting on the ground, they won't go near you (which makes me sad because I do so want a picture of you with them). When I am holding you, they come up and carefully balance on their hind legs so they can give you cautious licks. And you love every minute of it.

Every moment I am away from you, I miss you like crazy. I feel so very, very lucky to have such a great baby. Happy 7 months, Choo-choo!

I love you forever,
Mama

All about the food

Ellie is no longer a vegetarian. This morning we tried out Sweet Potatoes & Turkey and she loved it. She kept banging her hands on her high chair tray for more. Unfortunately, since we have been giving her finger foods, she thinks that she needs to feed herself her baby food as well. She keeps grabbing at the spoon and gets mad if I don’t give it to her. She is good at getting the spoon in her mouth, but inevitably makes a HUGE mess. Oh, she is much better at her veggie puffs now…consistently averaging 4 out of 5 puffs in her mouth. Such a big girl!

Odds and ends

I had to work today (Saturday, ugh) so Ellie stayed home with Tom. They both dressed up in their A&M gear as today is the big A&M/OU football game. I wonder if Ellie will rebel when she is older and discard all her A&M clothes for UT ones. I hope not...her complexion is much more suited for maroon then burnt orange. Of course, she could choose BYU and go blue, but right now when she wears blue she just looks like a boy. Hopefully she will outgrow that problem.

I no longer can just set Ellie on the floor with a bunch of toys and count on her staying there. She can roll from one side of the room to the other in no time flat. However, she seems to only be able to roll in one direction (clockwise). She gets around this limitation by maneuvering herself upside down and rolling back across the floor again. I don't think she will ever learn to crawl because I can't get her to stay on her stomach for more than 2 seconds to practice. Tonight she got caught under the coffee table and I just left her under there for a bit so that she would stay out of trouble. She didn't seem to mind.

About 2 weeks ago, Ellie woke up one morning repeating "da da da da" over and over again. It remains one of her favorite phrases and we like to pretend that she is talking about Tom. She also likes to grab my nose because I will say "honk" everytime she does it. She find that pretty darn funny. I have always been a bit sensitive about my beak of a nose, but I am glad it serves its purpose here.

I am pretty sure Ellie was going through a growth spurt last week as she was eating NONSTOP! She was insatiable. I started her on some finger foods for fun (those veggie puff things that dissolve in the mouth). She loves trying to eat them, but she only gets like 1 in 5 pieces in her mouth. The rest end up stuck to her sleeves or on the floor, much to the dogs' delight.

I can't get over how big Ellie is getting. I was just looking at this pic of her sleeping when she was only 2 weeks old and felt compelled to go take one of her now for comparisons sake. Ordinarily, Ellie sleeping is something I would never, ever, ever take the chance of disrupting but tonight I snuck in and snapped the 2nd pic below...and she didn't even wake up. Yes, I know she is still wearing her "street clothes." That's because I was too busy watching the game and stuffing my face with pizza to bother bathing her and putting her PJs on. I pretty much just told her to put herself to bed and handed her a piece of coal to suck on. I am just that good of a mom.

First Halloween!

I was ridiculously excited for Ellie's first Halloween. I took off from work an hour early and headed out to Mark and Rosie's house for a family Halloween party. Rosie had set out such a fun, creative Halloweeny food spread. We took all the kids trick-or-treating, but a lot of the candy-givers would look at Ellie and say things like "Oh, she is too little for any of this." Hello! Obviously, the candy is for me and I am just using the kid. Ok, not really, I had tons of candy at home...I just wanted the whole trick or treating experience.
Tom, Ellie, and I looked quite the motley crew. Tom was Arnold, I was a pirate, and Ellie a ladybug. We weren't clever enough to coordinate like Kolby, Sabrina, and Daniel who were a lion, witch, and a wardrobe (so cute!).

But overall I'd say Ellie's first Halloween was a success. Good food, good company, and lots of laughs.