Ella's First 50(ish) Words

At the advice of another mom, I started a list of Ella's words as she added them to her vocabulary. . . for no other reason than it is fun to see what is important and notable to Ella. She started "(w)oof"ing at about 10 months although it took me a while to know for sure if that is what she was doing. I don't consider that her first word except now she calls a dog a "(w)oof" and a duck a "quack", so I think her animal sounds make it into the count. The list is more or less in order over the last 8 months and much of it would require translation. I know it isn't inclusive either; there are surely one's I'm forgetting (and I'm intentionally leaving off the "uh-huh" accompanied by a head nod I'm pretty sure I heard the other day because I'd like to believe she hasn't learned improper grammar already.)


woof      moo      roar       Da/Da-ee        Mom(momomom)         eye       nose      bye     Sneetch    mouth     bird     down    baby      hi      Jack     Marykate     no     ball     sock    shoe    banana    more    hot    milk    hat    cheese    poop    car    inside/outside(both "side")    bubble    meow    baa     water    moon   go   balloon    blueberry    rock(the verb)    help    book    door   knee   keys    quack   toes    hop(her name for a rabbit)    please    Opa    tower    clock    sun     cold   taste    ouch    leg    nest    towel    wash    pool    splash    

Quilts for My Babes



Ella's (nearly) finished quilt



     Sad to say that it took getting pregnant for me to get into gear and finally finish Ella's quilt. My mom bound it for me the summer before she was born, and since it was mostly done, I moved on to the quilts for my niece and nephew (that were born within a month of Ella) and never looked back . . . until this week. Not to say we haven't gotten a lot of use out of this quilt, it just had about 10 blocks around the outside edge that were not quilted yet. Now thanks to a glorious week of Oma stealing Ella away for walks, feeding fish/ducks, swinging. . . I am within a block of being finished with Ella's and I have the top for Wee Wiebe #2's quilt completely pieced! (Yes blogging world, there is another one on the way. I figure anyone who reads this knows everything about my life already, so I forget to mention such important things.) I'm going to try hard to get moving on this one, because I can't imagine working on a quilt once there are two little ones in our house. To top it off, my sister is expecting their second baby in two months. I've already warned her, his quilt might be a 1st birthday present.

    I chose the same pattern for both my girls' quilts because I like the size, the variety of fabrics, the lack of having to match many corners. . . the list could go on. I think they look very different already and I will probably quilt the second one in a different way.



Wee Wiebe #2's quilt top



Sleeping

    Ella spent her first 6 months sleeping wrapped up as a burrito. I would highly recommend a swaddler with velcro to any parent of an infant (or several in case said infant happens to pee on one during a diaper change in the middle of the night. A swaddler might have been so important to us, that one of us might have just wiped the pee off with a towel - thank goodness for fleece that doesn't absorb quickly - and put it back on her.)

   By six months Ella was able, although rarely, to roll over while still swaddled. I was still reluctant (not safe, I know) to ditch the swaddler. Then, by accident, I forget to take one along on a trip to Oklahoma. She didn't seem to mind, so we've been without a swaddler ever since!

   

   She quickly adapted and often slept in the (adorable) fetal position. I was thinking to myself recently though, that I don't have any pictures of her sleeping since she was a newborn. I crept in right after she fell asleep the other day, and had to laugh at my luck. She had removed both of her socks, and put one on her hand. I wonder what goes on in that little mind.

   Oma put Ella down yesterday and left her sitting on her haunches, playing with Steven (the monkey). I went up to check on her a few minutes later, and found her like this. She must not have played very long because she looks like she just collapsed forward, too exhausted to even get into a comfortable position. I've never seen her legs tucked under her like that. Oma has kept Ella very busy, and she's been sleeping well all week.

Helper

Whether it is with baking, hanging up laundry, scrubbing floors, unloading the dishwasher or doing yard work, Ella wants to be right in the middle of it.

At the mere mention of making zweiback, Ella will run to the table and pull the chair over to the counter. As you can see, her "helping" makes things take a bit more time to clean up, and we end up with less in the bowl by the end. Since this first bread making excursion (which may have been pizza dough or bierrocks, I can't remember) I've learned to let her hold an 1/8 tsp rather than a cup when working with flour.

Ella has been very interested and persistent with latching buckles. This has provided her with many minutes of entertainment at a time. Unfortunately, she has gotten much more proficient at it, and asks much more frequently for "hewl" (help) to unbuckle them so she can do it again, and again, and again. . .

Ella helped me plant the pansies, and ever since she is all about being in the dirt and watering the flowers (or just the dirt as you see here - there is nothing but weeds growing in that pot, but boy, are they growing thanks to her!)

Yep, that would be a power tool she is reaching for while daddy is looking the other way and mama is taking a picture. We are great parents.

Zoo

In February we took a trip to the KC Zoo with Dave, Jen and Jack. They are great to have around and it was a blast to see the kids all excited about animals. 

Here Jack and Ella are enjoying the polar bear. 

Here is Ella in the petting zoo. Once she warmed up to the animals she was very excited about touching the ends that would not sniff or look at her. Needless to say, she did not touch a lot of animals.

Here is Jack. He is a happy fellow and walking quite well. 

Let's Pretend . . .

. . .that it hasn't been almost two months since I've posted anything. Here are some photos of one of our celebrations of Ella's first birthday. It was a small "party". Ella, Dad, Mama, Oma and Opa. We will have many years to go all out (or at least further out), but while the birthday girl doesn't care if there is a big shindig or not, we'll keep it small. 

Opa helping Ella put her shoes on.

The library bag I made for Ella. She proceeded to carry it into the living room where she "snuggled" it. (She snuggles her stuffed animals by wrapping her arms tightly around them and then laying right on top of them on the floor. Interesting kid.) I'll take it that she likes it. 

Ella carrot cake, cut into the shape of carrots. 

Eating the cake. Frosting was okay for a couple bites; who wouldn't be intrigued after never really having sugar before. Though soon it was cake = good, and frosting = bad in her book.

Our Little Girl

Our Ella turns one! These days she is seeming much more a little girl than a baby. 

Here are just a few things she has been doing as of the night before her 1st Birthday:

*She loves to be chased. Give her the right look, or take a step towards her and she's likely to squeal, turn the other way, and toddle off. Once she gets around a corner, she'll peek back to make sure you are indeed coming after her. She loves this game.

*She doesn't really say words yet, but she "moo"s when she sees a cow or hears the word "cow" and "(w)oof"s when she sees or hears a doggie. She doesn't say dada only for Jon, but she usually reserves a "DA!" (with arms flapping or signing "please") for him when he gets home from work. She gets so excited to see him.

*Since taking up walking, I've noticed our rooms being rearranged. We have wise men, and camels strewn about (baby Jesus had to be taken out of commission as she was pulling the yarn "hay" out with her teeth.) Her shoes (which she has never worn, but are within reach in her closet) made it to the kitchen (via a laundry basket; she loaded it up and pushed it around the house.) I know I saw her with our camera case the other day, but I can't find it. There is a pile of lids in our bedroom right now. I must say, it was much harder to relocate things while the hands were occupied with crawling. 

*It is amazing to me how much she understands. Some of the ones I've noticed more recently: "come back where mama can see you" and "can I have a snuggle". She is usually willing to comply with both requests. 

*She's just decided it is super awesome to feed herself with her spoon. A couple months ago, I started sticking a Cheerio to the last of her cereal stuck to her spoon. She used to laugh like that was the funniest thing ever to put the spoon in her mouth all by herself. Now she wants to dip the spoon in the food too. This results in hands in food, spoon on floor, food in hair. . . I made the mistake of rolling her sleeve up to avoid getting in the mess; she just took her other really messy hand and pulled it down. 

*She just added "putting in" to her repertoire of things to do. She's been a pro at "emptying" for so long, I was afraid she would never catch on to the opposite. She drops her peas into a bowl; she puts shoes in a laundry basket (as referenced above); she'll hand over what ever "neat" bit of trash she picked up off the floor. I am liking this skill. 

*She is an avid reader. Perhaps more interested in flipping pages at the moment, but she spends a lot time with books. We have several shelves in various rooms with her books on them. At any given time, there are probably a few (or a bunch) of books in a pile around her or around where she just has been. I've had to tape up a few, but with how many hours she's flipped, inspected, sat on, crawled over those books, I'm happy to do it. 

Thoughts on staying home with Ella for most of her first year:

I am conscious of time. Sometimes time seems to drag on, but mostly I enjoy not having to rush around to get things done. We have time to feel and sniff all (ALL) of our fresh produce at the grocery store, we have time for her to "help" fold the laundry, we have time for her to feed herself. Thank you Ella for giving me a reason to slow down. (And in some cases, since you are now walking, speed up.)

Happy Birthday Ella!