Our Curious Observer
Weighs: 18lbs 10.5oz
Our friends and family
who spend time around Ella always comment on her curiosity and her intense
observations. By nature, babies are curious. They are after all figuring out a big world, but we have noticed Ella is
extremely persistent in her discoveries. Long gone are the days of putting
things out of reach or hiding them behind a pillow. Ella will go to any length
to achieve a task she has set for herself. Her current stage of development is
filled with daily moments of awe both for Ella and for us.
Ella has adjusted to her glasses and is always looking around to check things out. Sometimes she remains
reserved while she takes it all in and other times she chatters away. We are
starting to hear more and more language. Although most of it remains a mystery
we recognize mama, dada, Ella, Gerald, and da (that), and a version of outside on a daily basis. Distinct words will
come with time. She has started to point at things that she wants, motioning
repeatedly until we have found the correct object. When she is not pointing,
she holds her hand up with fingers spread out and uses a high-pitched chatter
to get our attention. In addition to her sweet chatter, we love her giggle. Her Pops always says that when she smiles, she uses her whole face. It is true. Her smiles and giggles are contagious.
Ella is officially a walker! She started taking
steps in mid-August and can now cruise around. When she gets excited she will
drop down to bear crawl or crawl on her knees to get to a location more
quickly.
Our little foodie eats most anything we give her. She loves guacamole, Greek yogurt, oranges, eggs,
chicken, meatballs, broccoli, graham crackers, raspberries, bananas, pancakes,
and sweet potato fries. This month we introduced the fork and she is working hard to use it all by herself. She has finally figured out how to hold her bottle all
by herself, but prefers we continue to do it for her. If you give her a cup of
water with a straw, she is all about being independent.
Baby dolls have entered Ella's
world. She loves to play with my old Cabbage Patch Dolls at
Grandma's house. Sometimes she
is super sweet and giving the babies kisses and other times she is tossing them
around. We got her a baby doll for the lake that is the perfect size for her.
The doll is 10 inches long. When she plays with that specific doll, I always
think about the fact that at birth Ella was not much longer. Holding that baby
doll reminds me of the skin-to-skin time I had with Ella in the NICU. I remember
the first time I held her and being so unsure of her positioning with all of
her tubing and lead lines. The palm of my hand covered her entire back. She may
be small for her age, but to me she is a giant. She fills up my arms when I
rock her at night.
Stacking cups continue
to be a toy favorite. Ella loves knocking down a tower of cups Ross stacks
for her. She has started to stack them on her own and can put them all together
in order to put them away.
Ella has finally made an
appearance on the growth charts! She is in the 5th percentile for length. The
extra inch has expanded her world height wise. She is constantly testing new
surfaces seeing if she can climb on top of them. This month she mastered the
ottoman at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I am sure the couch will be next. She
also mastered climbing up the play side on her activity set, all by herself!
When she did it for the first time my feelings were a combination of pride and
oh no what is she going to get into now.
Outside time is a daily
must for Ella. She particularly likes to spend time in our driveway exploring acorns.
She has stopped eating chalk (for the most part) and will now color with it. Last week, it rained all day and Ella spent a good part of the day watching out the back door motioning that she wanted to be outside. We spent a lot of time this summer swimming and we are sad to see our pool time end. Here's to bathtub playtime until summer
returns!
Here are some fun firsts
from this month:
-Trip to the zoo with
Cousin Emily
We are looking forward
to the cooler temperatures and time outside with Ella, but we are not looking
forward to going back into semi-isolation. Ella does not qualify for the RSV
shot this year. We will need to take precautions to make sure we keep her as
healthy as possible throughout the fall and winter seasons. It will be a big
shift from our summer filled with adventures. Some will say we are being too
overprotective or too cautious, but our mindfulness of exposure to germs will
help keep Ella healthy and out of the hospital.
As always, we want to thank our village surrounding us and supporting us on our journey of parenthood. We are where we are today because of your love and
support.
Baby dolls have entered Ella's
world. She loves to play with my old Cabbage Patch Dolls at
Grandma's house. Sometimes she
is super sweet and giving the babies kisses and other times she is tossing them
around. We got her a baby doll for the lake that is the perfect size for her.
The doll is 10 inches long. When she plays with that specific doll, I always
think about the fact that at birth Ella was not much longer. Holding that baby
doll reminds me of the skin-to-skin time I had with Ella in the NICU. I remember
the first time I held her and being so unsure of her positioning with all of
her tubing and lead lines. The palm of my hand covered her entire back. She may
be small for her age, but to me she is a giant. She fills up my arms when I
rock her at night.
Ella has finally made an
appearance on the growth charts! She is in the 5th percentile for length. The
extra inch has expanded her world height wise. She is constantly testing new
surfaces seeing if she can climb on top of them. This month she mastered the
ottoman at Grandma and Grandpa's house. I am sure the couch will be next. She
also mastered climbing up the play side on her activity set, all by herself!
When she did it for the first time my feelings were a combination of pride and
oh no what is she going to get into now. 
