Summer means Swimming

When we were in Oregon last month Ellie had the opportunity to go swimming with my mom for the very first time. She seemed to enjoy it, although at first she mostly seemed to just be taking it all in.

On Memorial Day we had a BBQ with some friends and all the girls tried out the new kiddie pool.


We've had a few more opportunities to swim and play in the water, and Ellie seems to love it more with each dip in the pool. She kicks and splashes and really wants to put her face in the water. Our little guppy!

Can we say...bathtime?

More Babyproofing Needed

This week Ellie discovered how to pull herself up, and there doesn't seem to be anything she won't attempt to climb up, on, or through.

She started by crawling through our coffee table. This was happening at least a few times every day.





She also had to crawl through her bouncer every time she wanted to go to the kitchen (even though it's the less-direct route).



Then she realized she can reach higher places.



I was making her oatmeal and she had been playing in the living room. Within a quick minute this is where I found her (under a chair), very proud of herself:


Now she will pull herself up onto her knees to reach anything that catches her eye (especially her own reflection).



She was supposed to be napping. After I found her like this and put the gate up, she was mad (her new-found emotions could be another whole blog post) and it took her an hour before she settled down to nap (which is unlike her for nap time. She usually goes down without much of a peep within a few minutes). I guess she was having too much fun and I interrupted.


My little adventurer!

It's Always Nice to See a Familiar Face

Last weekend we drove down to LA. We had to stop in Pasadena to pick up a few things for MCC, and our 4 hour trip turned into 7 from the time we left to when Michael dropped us off at the hotel. Ellie did well considering she was in the car for most of that time.


Ellie is really learning to crawl up onto things and this week we've really noticed her become more bold every day. At the hotel she climbed up into our suitcase and "sorted" our clothes.

On Saturday we went to a 1st birthday party in Orange County. Michael and Andy went to grad school in Pennsylvania together. Andy and Heidi lived around the corner from us that year in PA, and we spent a lot of time together. Many of our friends from that year are literally all over the world: Malaysia, China, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Chicago, and at one point there were many of us in different parts of Africa. Because of that it's always fun to see friends from grad school, especially when we live in the same state! Another friend from that cohort who lives in Pasadena, Mikhal, came to the birthday party as well. Mini-reunion time!



It was fun to meet their little boy, who was turning one. The last time we saw these friends was last spring, when Heidi and I were both pregnant, though she was much further along:

(Isn't this the typical pregnancy picture? At least it was frozen yogurt.)

Momma's Helper

Thank you, Ellie, for helping me fold your diapers. We started here...

...And ended here. You were such a big help.


Life is so much more fun with you around!

Ellie is Growing

I've been done working for over a month now. I had a wonderful trip to Oregon and Idaho last month for 2 1/2 weeks. Ellie was a great traveler and continues to grow and change even daily. Instead of trying to post all the pictures I took, here is a link to the album I posted on Facebook. I had fun taking pictures of all the friends and family I visited and all the people who got to spend time with Ellie.

I can't put into words how much I enjoy being at home with her (but I can sure try!). When I put her down for her naps I look forward to the downtime, but when I hear her awake, talking to herself while she waits for me to come get her, I get excited and almost giddy to walk in her room. I know she's going to get a huge grin as soon as she sees me. I love scooping her up out of the crib, hugging her and cuddling while she's still slightly groggy, before she is back in Go!-Mode where she doesn't stop and has to explore everything.

She's eating more fun foods all the time. For quite a while she was mostly a vegetables girl, and I realized that fruit usually takes 4 or 5 tries before she likes those, especially because fruit is often a bit tart without any sugar. She eats sweet potato, squash, carrots, peas, avocado, bananas, mangoes, pears, peaches, oatmeal, rice cereal, and most recently, scrambled egg yolk.

As soon as we got home from our trip she decided she was ready to sit up, and she's a pro already.


Her personality is coming out more each day. She is stubborn (a trait from her daddy?) and curious. She is happy and loves to laugh. She loves music and "dances" when music is on with a beat. She is full of joy and smiles all the time. People always remark how happy she is all the time. She waves to people and waves good-bye to her drum that tells her "good-bye" when she stops playing with it. She loves books, both being read to and looking at them herself. She is climbing in and through and up on anything she can find.



We are so blessed! Not a day goes by that I'm not thankful for our precious daughter. We love her so.