9-24-9-29 "Dada" & "Mum"

Jeremiah says his favorite moment of this week was when Ellie said "Dada" when she saw him. He also enjoyed sleeping beside her each night. 

For me,  I must agree, on top of the "Dada", I really enjoyed when Ellie, for the first time, crawled to Jer when he came home from work! AND, she's now saying "Mum" when she wants me :) 

I also enjoyed a moment when I came into our bedroom and found Jeremiah asleep next to Ellie with her hand in his... 

Gotta love Picasa!

Ellie has started playing with toys with more of an interest and intensity lately. She really loves to explore all sides of the object she is holding before switching to a new toy. I hope that her curiosity stays with her always.

Ellie loves to chew on, well...EVERYTHING!

And she likes to climb up on EVERYTHING too!

Totally true PJs :) Well, in our opinion at least!

Here is a glimpse into a very special time of the day for Ellie and I - bathtime! Well, right after bathtime in this case.. I always bundle Ellie up in her towel, she then pushes her arm out, and then I face her toward the mirror - she then smiles the biggest smile ever... so yesterday, I had Jeremiah catch this moment on camera. She's just so happy!!!!

Such intensity!

Recently, Ellie has been really enjoying her time in the stroller while we walk around our neighborhood. She used to cry when we first put her facing forward - I think she probably wondered where we went to - and wondered who was pushing her stroller forward - kinda scary if you think about it! But now, Ellie goes on long walks with us without a peep - she tends to lean forward in her seat and truly take in everything in the world around her. By the end of our walks, she has even been falling asleep.

Due to the limited options of things to do in Porterville, we have been spending lots of time outside on this blanket pictured above - Ellie LOVES it... and so therefore we do too! She particularly likes to pull at all the grass.

Homemade Pizza night! Yum!!! Greatest Friday night dinner ever :) 

Today was Jaden's first birthday party! Diana made him angel food cake for his first taste of sugar... he definitely enjoyed it! 

 Annabelle and Ellie enjoyed playing together...

 And Ellie desperately tried to get Jaden's attention!

While playing at the party, people asked me today if Ellie was always so happy... and I proudly answered YES!!!

About the videos: 1: Ellie loves playing outside with Clara. 2: Ellie at the carwash :) 3: Ellie can now walk all around her house in her walker! 4: Ellie loves her toys! 5: Ellie loves doing the happy-dance before bed! 6: Ellie loves to play outside and pull at the grass! 

9-13-9-23 Videos

9-13-9-23 - Elllie is 8 months!

 What an exciting week of smiles, giggles, some new sounds, lots of crawling, and even the ability to stand up without holding on (for a milisecond...but STILL...)

We're noticing that Ellie's hand-eye coordination is getting better and better, she is starting to pull off the rings on her ring tower by herself, though she doesn't understand how to put them back on the tower again...

My favorite moment from the past week: Ellie was playing for awhile with Daddy, and then she she must have heard me talking to him while I was in a different room because she crawled all the way from the living room to the office (where I was) all by herself - and with the biggest smile ever, she crawled into my lap! 

The following three pictures were all too cute not to post...I couldn't decide which one I liked best...

 Smiles, smiles, and more smiles :)

 Our night times continue to be lots of fun as Ellie explores more and more of her room, her toys, and the furniture in there.

 I couldn't resist taking the above picture... but that's what she gets when she wriggles away from getting her diaper on after her bath :)

 Tupperware Party - she pulled all of those lids out of the box all by herself - definitely kept her occupied for awhile as I made some baby food!

 So now, instead of sitting in her rainforest chair, she has decided that she prefers to stand up on it and play with the dangling toys that way.

 

:) :) :) 

This weekend, Nana and PopPop came for a visit and they brought Prashant, my sister-in-law's father, all the way from India!!! We had a great time visiting the community of Exeter together, enjoying lots of yummy food, and watching Ellie crawl around everywhere enjoying the fun new toys that Prashant brought with him! We also enjoyed showing him our scrapbooks - particularly the pages dedicated to our trip to India almost 5 years ago!!!

My favorite moment of this weekend: Nana and Ellie playing peek-a-boo together - Nana would hide behind the ottoman with Ellie on the other side - and then she would pop up and surprise Ellie - Ellie would get this HUGE smile on her face. Then, right before bed time last night, Ellie decided to go find Nana instead...and she crawled all the way around the ottoman, found her, then crawled right into her lap!!!! 

 Nana definitely knows how to make Ellie smile!

 PopPop started this morning off by giving Ellie her first piggy-back ride! Ellie was a bit scared, but she started to get the hang of it after a couple of minutes!

 And Nana got to enjoy a nice time with Ellie as well... thank goodness for these memories :)

Thankfully, Ellie allowed Prashant to hold her for just enough time to get a good picture! What a great way to end his time in Porterville. Wow, from India to Porterville... crazy!

9-8 - 9-13 - Crawling on Knees!

Another fantastic and fun-filled week with our Ellie! Biggest news of the week is that she began crawling on her knees on the twelth! Also on that day, she learned how to walk forward in her walker! Very big day for Ellie! On the 13th, her sitter told me that she crawled on her knees for the first time over there, and she kept crawling to the front door (!) - smart girl, waiting for her Mama :) 

One of my favorite things that Ellie has been doing for the last couple of weeks is giving me and daddy kissies.... she opens her mouth and suctions it to our cheeks and proceeds to "eat" them - our cheeks become all wet, and Ellie becomes all smiles. She can even do it on demand (when in the right mood!) 

I took a video clip this week (below) showing Ellie shaking the rattle. I just find it amazing that a couple of months ago, I had taken a video of Ellie holding a rattle all by herself for the first time...I just love watching these little milestones take place...

1. Sandy is now permanently residing at my mom and dad's home and Clara has come to stay with us. Clara is really starting to love on Ellie, and the house is a bit calmer now without two dogs running around it  (and barking at each other) all day long :) 

This is my new favorite dress...

And this is one of my new favorite pictures (above) - I know she's not smiling, but it's just super cute and beautiful... 

Ellie loves to be in the kitchen with me. Now that she can get around easier in her walker, she pulls the towels off the counters and plays with plastic cups, plates, and tupperwares!