My Little Reader

Ella now spends a little time on the floor of her room each day playing. I have her books spread out for her, and a couple days ago she got very wrapped up in reading :)

Here she is comparing the merits of Noisy Farm to the Dr. Seuss ABC book.


If only all of my students looked this interested in their silent reading books! Look out Aunt Sandra--Ella may just out read you someday!


Maybe she got stuck on a word . . . she has her mother's furrowed brow.


Is this the beginning of the cheesy kid smile?

Ella is Nine Months Old!

I can't believe it has been nine months since little Ella was born. She is changing so much every day. She is moving so much quicker and getting steadier and steadier on her feet. She pulls herself up on everything, bites it, and then slowly lowers herself to the floor again. She still only has her two bottom teeth, but she may be cutting a couple more soon with all the biting and fussing she has been doing lately. In the picture below, I finally captured her teeth on film!

Here Ella was climbing up on me, so I got a close-up. Now that she can pull herself up on things, no one is safe :)

Here is a video of her typical antics lately. Turn up the volume for the raspberry in the beginning--she has been blowing them all of the time now! She must like the feel, or she's just experimenting with what she can do with her mouth.

What really makes her look older to me is the fact that we can see her neck now. She still has those big cheeks, but she is losing some of her baby fat in her arms, face, and legs. Here is another video of her "cruising" and giggling too because Mom did something funny and then cheated by tickling to keep the giggles coming. Also, the cat is on the couch, and Ella's favorite game right now is "hunt the kitties to pull their tails." Luckily, Harry and Sally are very patient with her and have never swiped at her, but there have been times when she would have deserved it. She's still too young to understand the concept of "gentle petting" no matter how much we show her, so the cats are getting smarter about running away. The sad thing is that they get so little attention these days, they don't often run, opting instead to let Ella grab a fistful of fur or their tails. Poor kitties!

Ella's First Baseball Game

Last Saturday night, we attended the Yuba-Sutter Gold Sox game with the Guy family! Ella had a blast watching the game from behind home plate, meeting new friends in the crowd, and hanging out with the Guys.


Ella and Lindsey got their picture taken with the mascot. I think he's supposed to be a gecko.



Here is Ella in the stands with Lindsey--notice Mom smiling--she is enjoying the free babysitting!



Here, Bruce is giving Ella a bird's eye view of the game while he explains the rules to her. She still looks a little confused!



I think Ella is calculating the best way to get Bruce's sunglasses off his face. Watch out Bruce! She has ninja-like speed.



A better view of our seats . . .

Of course there are no pictures of Lori because she was taking the pictures! I'm discovering that's what happens when you are the mom.

Summer Vacation

Last week, we all took a vacation and drove to Willow Creek in Northern CA, about one hour east of Arcata. We stayed with my friend Natalie, her husband Brian, and her son Owen in their "cabin" in the woods.

It was a great experience for Ella because she is rarely around other little kids. She was fascinated with him! Ella loved watching Owen play, and Owen was working on sharing his toys with Ella.



Ella can now pull herself up to her knees!



Ella and Owen ate lots of meals together . . .

Here are Owen and Ella hanging out with Brian.

On Thursday we took a trip into Arcata to escape the heat. It was in the triple digits! Of course we went straight to an ice cream shop!

Ella had fun playing with Owen's basketball hoop . . . Daddy was very happy to assist her in her first slam dunk :)

She even hangs on the rim! Nice finish Ella!!!


We also went swimming in the pool--Ella's first time in a pool! She loved her little floaty animal.

Daddy was keen to get her used to splashing.

Food Gets Even More Solid

Ella is now eating Gerber Puffs, little flavored pieces of cereal-like puffs that melt in the mouth. She was very unsure at first because of the new texture on her gums, but now she gets excited to see me pull out the canister of puffs. She is so cute with her two little bottom teeth trying to gum down the crunchy puff. They also give her the chance to work on her pincer grasp. She has only once successfully picked up a puff with her thumb and forefinger and then placed the puff in her mouth. She tends to get frustrated and just grabs them up in her fist, banging them together.

If you listen closely, you can hear her crunching on the puffs. You might also hear one of Daddy's favorite movies in the background, "Notting Hill."

Catch Up Pictures

Ella is almost 8 months old, and I haven't posted much because of the big move to Yuba City, so here are some recent pictures of her in her new home . . .

Talented toes :)

She is a big girl now, sitting in her highchair in a restaurant, showing off her bottle.

She is also getting stronger and stronger.

Daddy's influence . . .

Dad was tired after a long day of moving . . .

Ella is now very interested in the kitties. She gets a fistful of fur whenever she can grab one.

George is her favorite person to take a nap with . . . other than Daddy.

Ella's first (or you might say second) baby shower

Ella and I went to Karen's baby shower a few weeks ago, and we had a lot of fun! Jenny and mommy took turns holding Ella while Karen opened her presents.

Ella had fun playing with Sammy's (Karen's neice) toys--the play cupcake was a favorite.

More crawling . . .

Ella is getting better and better at crawling. From a sitting position she will get up on her left foot and right knee and then rock back and forth until she ends up on her stomach. She still drags her body when she crawls, but she is getting faster at it. Her poor knees though! I love how whenever she acquires her goal, she will take it in her hands and then roll over and hold it above her head. She actually will hold it with her feet and play with it with her hands. What talent!

SHE CRAWLS!!!! (Kind-of)

WOW!!!!! My mother's heart is pounding!

Ella was in the car and in our arms all day today between basketball games and moving stuff to Yuba City, so when we got home tonight she had extra fun playing in her gym. We noticed she was getting up on her knees a little (as she has been doing for a few weeks now) but then we saw one key difference . . . she used her arms to drag her body forward, and then she inchwormed her legs up under herself again. It is sooooo crazy! I can't believe my eyes--she has achieved forward motion! Do they make kneepads in baby sizes?

She claps!!

Tonight we went out to dinner after Kurt's game with Aunt Nancy, Diane, and Grandma, but Ella kept cheering long after the games were over. Aunt Nancy gave Ella some encouragement. Now she also can clap for Daddy's team . . .