Ellie is 7 Months!

Ellie is 7 Months!

Holy smokes, this year is flying by!!

 We took her 7 month pics with her elephant on two different days...the one above on her actual "birthday" and the ones below on the 29th.  She was not in the mood on the 28th!

 and she was so distracted through the majority of these...and found playing with her elephant much more enjoyable than smiling for me!

 Ellie's 7 month schedule hasn't changed too much from her 6 month schedule...

7:30--wake up and bottle

8:30--breakfast (oat/barley cereal + fruit)

9ish--Nap #1 (lasting from 1-2 hours)

11:30--bottle

12:30--lunch (rice cereal + veggie)

1ish--Nap #2 (lasting 1-2 hours)

3:30--bottle

sometimes will have "dinner" and/or cat nap

7:00--bathtime/pj's/bottle

7:30--bedtime!

5 oz/bottle

 Ellie is wearing 0-3 and 3-6 month clothing

Size 2 diapers

I took her yesterday to the doctor for her flu shot booster and I asked the nurse to weigh her just for my records.  She plopped her on the scale with her clothes on and a very wet diaper--so I have taken this weight with a grain of salt but she weighed a whopping 14 pounds, 14 ounces!  

 Clearly (from the above weight), she LOVES solids.  I have to just stop feeding her sometimes because I'm afraid she's going to make herself sick.

She has loved every single food that we have put in her mouth.

Some new foods that we have tried are parsnips, carrots and prunes.  

I still give her lots of foods that I have made with the Beaba but we also use Earths Best, Plum, Sprout, Ella's and Peter Rabbit pouches with their combinations.  She's obsessed.

 We are still working on her getting the hang of the straw cup.  I think she will be much more motivated when we start giving her juice.

We also give her organic "puffs".  The texture is strange to her but she does "chew" them and seems to like them, even with a look of confusion on her face.

 She sits up in the high chair at restaurants now and loves it!

She responds to her name when it is called (most of the time).

She is constantly babbling...mostly /b, m/ consonants with lots of vowels

She says "mmmmmmm" when she is eating and gets SO excited when the spoon is coming towards her mouth.

Blowing raspberries lots!

 She has finally found her feet and loves them.

She is grabbing at everything...all her toys, books, food, cups when Josh and I are drinking.

Ellie is SO ticklish--feet, hands, under her arms, her neck

She kicks her legs like crazy when she is excited or mad!

Nicknames: Scoots, Scootboots, Bugsy, Bugs, E

 She's taking her baths in her duck tub and loves splashing.

She bangs her left arm/hand down in the water and on her nap nanny...in a very robotic motion.

Ellie loves song and music along with books.  She has a great attention span to listen and look at the pictures.

"Wheels on the Bus" continues to be her favorite song.  She can be in complete meltdown mode and she can hear that song and start giggling.  Josh calls her bi-polar!  Sometimes I hear or sing that song so many times in a day I feel myself going slightly crazy.

Her Sophie giraffe is her favorite toy although she loves all her teethers...anything and everything goes in her mouth these days.

We love you to the moon and back, bugsy!

Christmas Day and Night

After we looked at Santa brought us at home we loaded up the car and hit the road to Columbia.  We left Ellie in her pj's until we got there in hopes she would take a nap in the car!  We made it to Dad and Kim's around lunchtime and Ellie saw her big surprise!

 my dad has been building her this doll house since she was born...I hate I didn't get a picture of the inside.  It's filled with furniture, flooring/carpeting, a nursery that is the same color as Ellie's, rugs, lighting and doors.  It will be a while before she will play with it but I know she will love it!

Dad had built me a doll house when I was a little girl but never finished it so he always told me that if/when I had a girl he would complete it for her.  He started from scratch though on this one but it's incredible.

 She also got some new pj's, books, a penguin from Happy Feet 2 and a tractor with farm animals...completely rotten!

 Getting some Christmas snuggles from daddy

 and then we went on to mom's for Christmas dinner.  We ate unbelievable steaks with baked potatoes and salad...a bit untraditional but they were the best steaks we all had ever had!

 Ellie got lots of teethers and books, a new pink coat, a toy that you walk behind, and a barn from Grammy.  

Uncle Bubba got her a new baby doll.  She pretty much just eats and gnaws on her head but she does seem to love her.  We have been playing around with names but haven't made anything official yet! :)

 Can you tell she is absolutely exhausted by this point in the day?  She is over Christmas and ready for her bath and bed!

 a little alpine skiing...

 Then...we got back in the car and drove to my Aunt Reenie's house where I didn't even bring the camera in the house.  Aunt Reenie goes to market in Atlanta several times a year and always comes back with treasures for Ellie.  For Christmas she bought her a Rosalina dress for Christmas in a couple of years (its a 2T), a precious Rosalina baby doll (complete with a smocked gown and bonnet that she would have fit in when she was born!), an ornament and a stuffed lamby that plays music.  

To say this baby had a great Christmas is an understatement!  She herself was the best gift for us ALL though.  

Next up...Ellie's 7 months!!!!

Santa Came!

We woke up Christmas morning and saw that Santa had come!

No idea why Ellie had a meltdown...but clearly she was ready to move on past picture time!

Here's what Santa left for bugsy...yes, we wrap Santa!  Santa always wrapped for me and Banks growing up...one year, he decided to change it up and just leave it out for us to see...and we were NOT happy.  Santa didn't make that mistake again :)

"hmm.....whatcha got there daddy?"

 "Wow!  My very own purse?"

 "AND a cell phone?"

 The lamb mat is fantastic...love having it so she can sit on it and play with her toys!

and I guess all this craziness left her in a state of thoughtfulness!

Next up...christmas in Columbia!  (did I mention Ellie had a total of 5 "Christmases"?  a bit out of control!)

Christmas Eve Night

We moved our Christmas Eve celebration to our home this year due to Ellie's bedtime schedule.  She had fallen asleep in the church nursery and was so grumpy on the way home but she was tolerant for eating and opening presents!

 Grandma and Grandpa loaded her up for her first Christmas!  She opened her chair first and she sat in it the rest of the night while she (we) opened the rest of her presents!  It's just her size and is adorable.

 checking out her new elephant 

 and what's a baby's first Christmas without eating some of the paper?

 Ellie checking out her new Bitty Baby...it's the same size as her :)

 and a new piggy bank!

 She loves her new bunny towel...I tried so hard to get a picture of her smiling and she just wasn't having it.

 The best we got!

Merry Christmas Eve!

Lights at the Zoo and Christmas Eve day

Ellie and I went to Lexington last week for a night and we went to see the lights at the zoo!

 Let me be honest...the lights at the zoo?  They are a bit anti-climatic.  I just don't see what the big deal is.  I didn't in 2006 (last time I went) and I didn't in 2011.  

 Oh well...Ellie seemed to enjoy being strapped into the Bijourn and looking at all the sparkles!

 Santa was there with no line--so of course she sat on his lap for a 3rd time!  The best part was we were allowed to use our own camera!

 We used the same tactic that we used the previous time and she wasn't traumatized in the least.

 and we stayed busy Christmas Eve cleaning, cooking, last minute shopping and wrapping for Christmas!

 I think I changed her clothes 4 times Christmas Eve as I was trying to squeeze in one last wear of all of her Christmas duds :)

 Ellie remained in a pretty good mood...she knew Santa was watching! 

 and below you will see a new found fascination...her feet.  Why it took her 6 months to find them I have no idea but she pretty much is now obsessed.

 and one more before we changed her for church :)

We went to Christmas Eve service at John Knox and then came back to our home for the annual celebration with the Vickerys...pictures to come tomorrow!