Big Bear & Little Bear...

she looks like an Ewok in this picture...

hibernating...

4/29/08 - This is what happens when Mommy has too much time on her hands and Ella feels like cooporating. :)

We received this bear suit from a woman at church but it was always too big for Ella... well, she kind of fits into it now, so I took advantage of the situation...

~Ella Bella~

4/27/08 - Little Ellie all dressed up for church... I'm starting to think she has a nicer wardrobe than I do.

Two Month Birthday!

Who's that sittin in Momma's chair?
...Big Foot!
In honor of Earth Day, today Ella was sporting her lovely camo onesie...
Ella loves her Daddy...

Happy Birthday to Ella! She is now 2 Months (and 1 day) old! Mommy celebrated her birthday by going back to work. I started working from home 4/21 so I could spend more time raising Ella and being a Mom, so that was my birthday present to her.

Accomplishments this past month: Ella has been using her voice more than ever, crying less, spitting up less (Thank the Lord!) and sleeping more at night. She has officially moved into size 1-2 diapers comfortably and fits in some of her 6 month jumpers with ease. She has discovered her feet/toes, so whenever possible, she'll stick them out and wiggle them around just to make sure they're still there. She is drinking a little more than 4 ounces at a sitting. She laughs and smiles almost constantly and I've learned to distinguish her "Mommy I'm hungry" cries, from her "Mommy I want attention" cries (she is getting very good at 'the pout'). She's also growing like a weed. She has a doctors appointment coming up next week, so we'll have an update then, but I'm betting she is over 2 feet long now. She is such a good baby :)

Look Who's Talking...

4/20/08 - Today was a day of big firsts for Ella. To start the day, we got ready for church and Ella wore her blue spring dress she got from Aunt Kelly for the first time... she was also sporting a little blue barrett in her hair which was the first hair accessory she's worn. And lastly, this afternoon she was using her little voice like crazy which was the first time Dan and I heard her use it so much, so loudly, and with so many smiles. Unfortunately I couldn't get her "talking" in a video, but Dan was able to snap a picture afterwards; Ella still all smiles and proud of her achievements.

Ouch!

4/15/08 - Today Ella discovered that she has hair and she likes to tug on it. I caught her laying perfectly content on the floor just pulling away at her pretty little curls.



Ella also had a visit from Aunt Joy today. It was all fun and games until, needless to say, Ella had the "tummy-rumbles" and Aunt Joy left with a stinky lap. But we did have fun inbetween rumbles :)
"oh my tummy really has the rumbles..."

So close... yet so far.

mmmm...

We realized that Ella has learned to recognize Daddy, Mommy and her "big bear", but had no idea she was scoping out other things too. We caught her staring down her bottle in this picture - she obviously knew what it was and wanted it. She sat there for about 10 minutes just staring at it before Dan picked it up to move it around and see if her eyes would follow, which they did where ever he put it. She finally realized the cruel game we were playing and began to whimper, but it was fun while it lasted.

Sunny Saturday

4/12/08 - It was a beautiful, sunny day today (around 67 degrees with a breeze) and Ella was feeling adventurous. She had been outside before, but always in the safety of her carseat. So today, she put on a fancy little dress and braved the outdoors. The adventure lasted about 2 minutes, then she decided that she enjoyed the indoors much more and would rather lay on the floor and wiggle around in her pretty dress... so that's exactly what we did.

Also, today was the first day since she was very little that she did not wear mittens all day! We always have to keep her hands covered because if we don't, she'll have little scratches all over the place from her baby nails. But this morning, Mommy got up the nerve to trim Ella's nails so she was finally able to enjoy "finger freedom."

Fun Times on the Floor

One happy baby...

Ella doing her leg lifts... (babies can exercise too!)
Naptime with Big Bear after a long day

4/7/08 - Lately before we have tummy time, I warm Ella up by laying her on her back and letting her play on the floor for a little with me and Big Bear. She really isn't enjoying being on her tummy just yet, but after a 10 minute leg massage she's usually up for anything. On this particular day, she was especially enjoying her bears company before the dreaded tummy time.

4/11/08 - In other news, Ella slept for about 20 minutes today... that's all. She has really come to enjoy watching Mommy all day rather than take naps like she used to. She smiles and laughs all the time and crys very rarely. She's such a good baby! (now let's see if she sleeps tonight...)

Big Bear & Company

Ella and Big Bear
Ella's friend Amelia
"Look what we can do!"
"Daddy, when will I be able to walk like that?"
Amelia :)

4/6/08 - After several introductions to other stuffed animals, Ella has selected "Big Bear" to be her animal of choice. Today I caught her cuddling with him in the pack n' play. We tried bunnies and other bears in the past, but she seems to prefer the squishiness of "Big Bear" most of all.

Ella also had a visit from her friend Amelia today (Josh & Shonna's 7 month old). They had a good ol' time sitting on the floor together. Each of them showed off their standing skills and Ella even shared her toys with Amelia. Even though Amelia is about 5 months older than Ella, they are amazingly close in size. It's really neat to watch them look at each other and sort of communicate in a baby sort of way. For instance, Ella got the hiccups for a bit and began to cry. Amelia saw Ella crying and started to wimper as well. I guess even babies can have sympathy tears :)

A Visit from Gramma Moase

Laughing for Mommy...

Ella was being naughty and sticking her tongue out at Gramma!

4/5/08 - Well, Gramma Moase finally made it back from her 3 weeks away in Florida and Ella just couldn't wait to see her. Unfortunately, we found that Ella is apparently allergic to the word "Gramma" and sneezes repeatedly when she hears it... or maybe that was just a coincidence :)(*see video). Either way, we had a great time playing on the floor and posing for the 100s of pictures Gramma took.

It was a good day - Gramma & Grampa Mokwa came for a quick visit as well as Aunt Helen & Uncle Dave. By the end of the evening, little Ella was pooped and decided she wanted to sleep until midnight, then keep Mommy & Daddy up all night. What a lovely little girl she is...

Happy 6 Week Birthday

Playtime with Daddy...

Peek-a-boo!
All gums - no teeth yet!
"Get that camera outta my face!"

4/3/08 - Today was Ella's big 6 Week Birthday. She spent the day awake for the most part, playing with Mommy during the day and Daddy in the afternoon. She enjoyed an extra long leg massage, her first ride in the BabyBjorn carrier and she even played a quick game of peek-a-boo with Mommy.

She's getting more curious about what's going on around her and doesn't especially like sleeping during the day anymore. She has moved up to size 1 diapers, although they are a little big, the newborn size just wasn't cutting it anymore. She no longer can squeeze into the 0-3 month clothes because of her length (nearly 24" at her last check up) but she fits perfectly into Carter's size 3 and most of the 3-6 month clothing. She is controling her head well when picked up or when being held over my shoulder. She used to do the "turtle" a lot when held close to my chest ("turtle" = pull head away from chest, wobble it around, then face plant back into my chest), but she has learned to control her muscles a little more and also learned that it doesn't feel good when you get your nose bonked against Mommy's chin, collarbone, shoulder, etc. Her shrill, squeaky cries are becoming more robust and when babbling, she is beginning to make noises that sound more like the beginning of words than just squeals. She usually wakes us up once during the middle of the night for a feeding and she likes to eat every 3 hours (exactly) during the day.

And lastly, she has learned to recognize Dan's voice/face when he says "Daddy's Here!!!" upon arriving home from work, or "I'm gonna get your belly!!!" These phrases usually spur a fit of giggles and big smiles.

Roll Over, Ella!

4/2/08 - Ella almost rolled over today! It was during "tummy-time", she was busy sucking on her hand, when all of the sudden, she decided she didn't want to be on her tummy anymore. Before I knew it she was on her side, and quite happy with herself about it.