Great Communicator!

This morning I feed Ella some puffs while I was eating breakfast. Shortly after I went ahead and fed her some baby food since she was sitting in her booster chair so nicely! She ate a bunch and after a few minutes she started shaking her head side to side like she was saying no. I thought she was being silly and playing a game since she likes to imitate me or Dani, but nope she than proceeded to close her mouth and purse her lips so I would not feed her anymore! She was definitely communicating and her point came across loud and clear :)

Ella cruising

Danielle feeding ella

Dani making ella laugh

Danielle feeding ella

Ella eating her first puff

Pictures - Playing Catch up

Ella Updates!

So, I am new to this so I seem to remember everything after I post :)

Here is a list of all of Ella's happenings!

1. Ella has 2 teeth and she likes to use them!

2. Ella stands up holding on to things and today has started to cruise while holding on!

3. Ella loves to dance!

4. Ella LOVES to smile for the camera and she waves to it.

5. Ella does not like to sit still, Aunt Robin's least favorite thing :)

6. Ella LOVES to bang on the computer or in the alternative grab it from you while using it!

And that folks is the latest update on Ella!

Ella's 9 month Stats

Ella had her 9 month well-baby check-up on December 18. She weighs 18 pounds, 1 ounces (39th percentile), is 28 1/2 inches long (83rd percentile, HOLY MOLY she is tall), and her head is 17 1/2 inches wide (67th percentile). Aunt Robin and Danielle accompanied her and she did really well with her shots, she only cried for about 30 seconds or so and immediately stopped once she saw Danielle. The Dr gave the ok to start giving her puffs and cheerios or any appropriate table food. I (aunt Robin) got some cute video of her first attempt with puffs and her daddy gave her cheerios which I heard she LOVED!! Later I will attempt to post pictures and videos when I do not have a 9 month old attached to my leg :)

Hi from Ella's Aunt Robin

Well, as it goes without saying I (Aunt Robin) am not going to be able to blog as well as her mommy but I am going to attempt to try to do the blog justice by at least posting the dirt I have on Ella! It has been about 3 weeks that Ella has been staying at our house during the day with Danielle and I and I can say for sure that Dani is in absolute heaven. Whenever Ella's daddy picks her up Dani cries every day that Ella is leaving and when Ella arrives in the morning Danielle gives her a big kiss and lights up. Luckily Ella feels the same way about danielle! At times this makes me life easier and at times I have to spend half my day trying to explain to Danielle that Ella is only a baby and cant play with her the way she wants her to and cant play with small toys and it is not Danielle's job to take things away from Ella or give them to her or to feed her! All in all it has been very good for both Danielle and I to get to spend time with Ella. She is so adorable but boy does she have a stubborn streak! Anybody want to guess where she gets it from? Well, actually if you ask her daddy she comes by it honestly. :)

Ella is quite the active and curious child! I remember Shelly used to always say how much Ella moved in her belly and boy was that a sign of things to come. This child does not sit still! She will not go in the swing, the bouncer, the highchair or anything that keeps her still without quite the fight! She is standing up on her own holding onto things already and crawls like she is at a race! The other day she managed to pull off one of the covers to our electrical outlets on the wall that was screwed in! Just like her momma she is a super woman already!

Well Ella's blog is going to be a collaborative effort from now on. At times, I (aunt robin) will post, her daddy will post and her Aunt Debbie is going to join in the fun too!

Seven Months Old!

I can't believe that Ella was born seven months ago already! The time really does fly, especially when you spend an entire month in and out of hospitals. We are all really hopeful that this month is the start of only good things to come. We took her picture in her Gator chair today, as always. But, we got a special treat that I just couldn't resist. I ordered an adorable Gator bow/headband for Ella last week and it arrived today - just in time for her picture! It totally doesn't match her outfit, but it was too cute not to take a picture!



We also had the pleasure of attending Noah's bris this afternoon. Noah was a total champ. He only cried for a few seconds and then slept for hours (of course, that could have been the Manischewitz that made him sleep). Tom and I were given the honor of carrying Noah into the ceremony. We were very happy to play such an important part in this milestone. It was great to hang out with Traci and Peter and their parents, Lauren and Ike, and all the kids!

I got a few good pics while were were there, too. The first one is Ella and Ike. I was hoping Ike would crawl all over the place and inspire Ella, but no such luck today! They just chatted, instead.


The second one is Ella and Benjamin. Benjamin is holding my keys and right after I took this picture, I got a series of pictures showing Ella going after the keys. She eventually gave up and settled for Benjamin's shoe instead. It was really funny!

Jumping Around

Danielle was nice enough to lend her Jumperoo to Ella. Ella is very thankful to Dani, as this is Ella's new favorite toy. Ella wanted to tell Dani just how much she loved the Jumperoo, so I got it on video for her!

Pretty Kitty Plays with Pumpkins

We took Ella to Berry Patch Farms today, after I got home from the hospital. They have a huge pumpkin patch and it's only 15 minutes from our house! Ella had a blast, even though it was a chilly day. Grandma Peggy came with us and helped keep Ella entertained. It was a great start to my homecoming! There were so many pictures, that I had a hard time choosing just a few for this post. If you'd like to see the rest, shoot me an email and I'll send you the link to the photo album. I can't wait until Halloween - Ella will be trick-or-treating with her cousin Danielle and some of Dani's friends. It will be so much fun!







I remembered to bring the video camera with us, and managed to get two videos of Ella in the pumpkin patch. The first one is really shaky, b/c I was holding the camera and Ella.

Do the Hustle, Sort of...

Ella is desperate to be on the move, but she hasn't quite mastered the crawling yet. The other day, we watched her scoot on her back to get where she wanted to go. Today, I was able to catch her doing it on video. It is absolutely hilarious!

Ella's 6 Month Stats

Ella had her 6 month well-baby check-up on Wednesday. She weighs 16 pounds, 6 ounces (53rd percentile), is exactly 26 inches long (54th percentile), and her head is 17 inches wide (67th percentile). She definitely takes after her daddy with that big head of hers. She did really well with her shots, she only cried for about 30 seconds or so.

The pediatrician told us that Ella is ready to move on to stage 2 foods, which means more texture, so we'll be trying that out soon. He also told us to start introducing her to a sippy cup with water. She took right to it!

Ella is Six Months Old!

Monday was Ella's 1/2 birthday. I can't believe that she has been in our lives for 6 months already. These last three weeks have been especially hard on me, since I haven't been home to see her. I miss her so much! Tom still made sure to take her six month picture on Monday afternoon so that I could do a post and so that I could get an extra peek at her! She has her 6 month appointment at the pediatrician next week, so we'll post her latest height and weight then.

S'not for Public Consumption

Ella woke up yesterday with a very runny nose. The poor little thing was so stuffed up, I suctioned out her nose 4 or 5 times. I took her to the pediatrician's office to make sure she didn't have an ear infection or anything else. Good news is that it's just a cold, bad news is that I still have to clean out her nose every few hours.

While we were at the doctor's office, the nurse weighed her. Ella weighs 15 pounds, 7 ounces (give or take since she was dressed when weighed).

I am spending as much time as I can with her this morning, as I have my surgery this afternoon. I am looking forward to the procedure, but not looking forward to being without my little girl for 2 or 3 days.

Eat Your Vegetables - Or Just Talk About Them

Tom was convinced she would hate green beans, so was really surprised when she made happy noises when I fed them to her last night. I gave them to her again this afternoon and she decided to tell me just how she felt about them.




It is amazing how much more she is talking these days. Last week, she was talking every now and then. Today, she is talking constantly. She definitely has some great stories to share!

Are You Ready for Some Football?

Ella is! The Atlanta Gator Club has a kick-off party every year just before the football season starts. We took Ella to her first AGC event and she had a great time. We stopped for dinner at Goldfish before the event (the party was at the restaurant right next door). The weather was so great that Tom and I decided to sit on the patio. Ella was enjoying herself before she decided to take a nap.

Ella is Five Months Old!

Today is Ella's five month birthday! I can't believe that she has been a part of our lives for five whole months. It really feels like just yesterday that she entered our lives! Ella decided to mark this milestone by getting stuck in the corner of her crib twice last night. I went in the room to check on her and found her face planted in the bumper. I rolled her over and moved her back into the middle of the crib both times. I decided to take the bumper off the crib this morning to be safe. Of course, during nap time, she managed to get BOTH of her legs stuck between the bars on the crib. UGH! So, Aunt Robin has (hopefully) saved the day by lending us her breatheable bumper. Hopefully, this will solve both of our issues and allow me to sleep easier at night.

Ella Loves the Video Camera

Actually, she stares at it whenever I turn it on which makes it hard to catch her doing anything on video. Today, I made funny faces over the camera and managed to get her to laugh at me. The video is really shaky b/c I'm holding the camera and making funny faces at the same time - a talent I haven't yet mastered!



Tom took this next one. Ella's newest thing to do in her bouncer is to grab the monkey and swing it back and forth as hard as she can. She hits it pretty hard, too!

Sitting Up with Help

We have been putting Ella in her Bumbo seat for a few days now, trying to see if she's ready to sit up in it. Last night she stayed in it for the first time without flopping over to her side! I got it on video and took some pictures earlier today.

Butternut Squash and Rolls

Tom was finally able to get Ella rolling over on video yesterday. She's playing with her favorite froggie blanket and having a great time!



We have moved on from rice cereal - Ella wasn't too thrilled about it. Last week, Ella tried sweet potatoes, which she liked, but her tummy didn't agree. Unfortunately, they made her very gassy and she had a really hard time passing it. We have never heard her cry as hard and as long as she did that night. It was very sad. The next day she was all better!

This week, we've moved on to butternut squash. So far, her tummy is doing much better with the squash. She ate quite a bit of it this evening. It was actually the first time that she opened her mouth really wide when I put the spoon in front of her. She was very talkative and smiley tonight, too.

Lights, Camera, Action!

I got a new video camera today. It is the Creative Vado and I got a fantastic deal on it from Dell.com. I tried it out in an attempt to get Ella to roll over on video. The good news is that the quality is much better than my Blackberry, the bad news is that she wouldn't roll over for the camera! I did manage to get Ella to talk to the camera and play with a toy. She also rolled onto her tummy and I got her pulling up. So, here is what we have so far!

Rice Cereal!

We started feeding Ella rice cereal last week. Of course, we took some pictures. She still isn't sure whether she really likes it or not, but she has learned to open her mouth when the spoon comes her way. Next week, we'll try sweet potatoes or carrots - yum!

Ella Meets Bella

After Stacey's birthday party on Saturday, I met up with an old friend from middle school! We realized that we hadn't seen each other in almost 20 years. Annie now has a 4 year old daughter, Isabella. I made sure we got pictures of the two girls together.

Ella is Four Months Old!

Ella arrived at her fourth month on July 21st. Since Ella and I were still in Florida then, we took her picture a little later than usual. Her four month appointment with the pediatrician was on Tuesday, July 28th, so we took her picture that day, too. Ella now weighs 14 pounds, 4 ounces, is 26 3/4 inches long and has a really big head!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Stacey!

My niece Stacey turned 3 while we were in Florida. Her birthday was on Tuesday, July 21st, and her birthday party was on Sunday, the 26th. My sister, Debbie, bought some cupcakes on Tuesday to celebrate her actual birthday.

Her party was at My Gym in Coral Springs. Stacey started out having fun, but was so exhausted that she ended up in a very sour mood by the end of the party.

By the end of the party, Stacey finally fell asleep in the middle of the room, while everyone else played around her. It was really funny!