Updates...

Ella has begun saying mama! It happens mostly when she is mad or fussing (go figure!); although the sitter mentioned yesterday to Tom that she has been saying mama a lot throughout day.
I think teeth are about to appear any day now. She is constantly sucking her gums and drooling a lot more. She has started waving, however it is backwards! I am assuming this is because that is how she sees other people wave at her. What a smart little baby she is! She is spending more and more time on her tummy playing without complaining or rolling over. She is still sleeping over 11 hours straight through the night which feels amazing. Hooray for crying it out! This weekend we have swimming again, lunch with friends Katie and Livi, and then to Botkins on Sunday for an overnight with grandma Joyce. Pics to follow.
I wanted to say congrats to Nicole and welcome to the world baby Madeline on the same day as my mom's birthday!

Happy Birthday Grandma Joyce!

Today is my mom's birthday and Tom, Ella, and I wanted to tell her Happy Birthday and have a great day! I also included Ella and grandma's first picture together! As you can see, Ella's favorite thing to now do with the headbands is rip them off and try to destroy the flower! (please ignore that the dress is too big and therefore she looks like she has no neck!)

Ella Aquatic and friends

Our friends Katie and Livi were able to join us for swim lessons yesterday! Ella continues to enjoy swimming but really is more interested in watching the people! Ella started saying baba on Friday! She now says baba, dada, gee, and gaga. Moving right along on the consonant vowel combinations! We are working really hard on Ella becoming more mobile and rolling more. We are trying very hard to encourage her independent movement and not just hand her all her toys and do all the moving for her! I think this is much harder task for mommy and daddy than Ella! Tomorrow mommy and Ella will visit our friend Jocelyn and meet baby Everett for the first time!

I couldn't resist these two quotes about motherhood and therefore felt like I had to post the first time Ella and I met face to face.
"A mother relating to her child in the private intimacy of her home, with no audience but unseen angels, is the predominant influence for all that is good and decent in the world. ~ George D. Durrant
"Motherhood is the greatest potential influence for either good or ill in human life. The mother's image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the child's mind. It is her caress that first awakens the sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affections; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance there is love in the world." -David O. McKay

Play!

Ella is such an active and happy baby and loves spending her day playing. Her new favorite thing is to have her box of toys in front of her and one by one pull all of them out and throw each one to the side. Every now and then there is one that is good enough to chew on for a seconds before she moves on to the next! She has been sitting like a champ for over a month now (boppy behind her for the moments she decides to throw herself back to see whats going on behind her). She is even going from sitting position to belly when a toy is out of reach! She still LOVES watching winston and has taken an interest in her feet again after a couple months of not paying much attention to them. She spent three days at the in home montessori last week and seems to LOVE it! She was such a chatterbox in the evenings last week. The teacher shared that Ella is captivated by the other two children in the program. Ella continues to eat just a little solids each day. She does really well with them but we're really in no rush. She seems to love veggies (aside from green beans) and hates fruits! Odd!

Happy Valentines Day!

Ella wore an outfit with hearts everyday this week leading up to Valentines Day! As you can see in most the pictures, her eczema is currently flaring up, poor baby! Other than that, Ella could not be happier. She is chattering more and more each day and seems to be much more motivated to roll from back to front. She is even spending time on her tummy these days without complaining! Ella has finally reached the stage where she is pulling off all of her hats and headbands. Daddy was very happy about this but its a sad day for mommy!

Water Baby!

Ella started swim lessons today and she is going to be a swimmer, just like her mommy! Unfortunately our friends Livi and Katie were unable to join us, but hopefully next week! Ella was so excited about the water and watching everyone else! The other kids in the class are much older and Ella actually enjoyed herself far more than the other kids did. She even let me put her head underwater several times without crying! Way to go Ella!

Firsts...

Ella took a bath in the big tub for the first time this week, took a bath with a friend for the first time (yes its ben bowsher), had her first sleepover with a friend (again ben bowsher), rode in her big girl stroller without the punkin seat for the first time, and rode in her big girl convertible car seat for the first time! Whew she sure is growing up! She was supposed to start swimming lessons this weekend, but they were cancelled due to weather. She is really into blowing raspberries this weekend (will post video) and panting like a dog. Yes i think she learned that from her best friend winston :) Tomorrow we go hang out at the new montessori/baby sitter in the morning and her first full day is Tues!