Dr. Ruiz was super impressed with Ellie's strength and attentiveness. And Ellie only cried for a millisecond during her shot... such a tough cookie.
New tricks/developments this week:
: Laughing
: Scooting (inch worming her way around)
: Rolling over from tummy to back (before she could only go from back to tummy)
: Rolling over on her right side (before she could only go left)
: Obsessed with Daddy now. Ellie will literally not take her eyes of Justin if he's in the same room. Of course Justin is soaking up the notoriety right now...
A pic I forgot to include yesterday... last week we trekked out to Lake Travis for my company's summer outing. We were about 15 minutes away from our destination when Ellie melted down and wanted to eat. Her bottle was still cold, so we improvised and resorted to this technique to warm the milk. Needless to say, it only took about 2 minutes in the blazing Texas heat, and we were in business!
Miss Ellie is pretty obsessed with putting her feet in her mouth, and she's not even talking yet! She was super close for about a week and finally made it happen on Friday. So, she now entertains herself with this new move, rolling around, and shoving fingers and fists in her mouth.
I don't work on Fridays, so we headed out to Georgetown for Field Trip Friday to visit Great Great Aunt Sally and Great Great Uncle Jim. Ellie showed off her moves, ate a little lunch, checked out her new book from Sally and Jim, and then went for her first golf cart ride. Top that off with a nice nap on the way home, and she was a happy camper!
We're off to Kansas City on Friday to unveil Eleanor to our friends and family there. You would think the Queen of England was descending upon KC with all of the preparation for this event. Let's hope that Ellie's third and fourth flights are as smooth as her first two...
This video was taken Friday morning:
Just a couple of hours later... Success! It's now safe to say that all 10 digits have made it in our daughter's mouth.
I think you get the picture.
Even though Ellie has been rolling over for 2 weeks now, she always looks up immediately after her roll as if to say "Mom/Dad, look what I just did. Amazing!"
Sleepy girl snoozing at Barton Springs
Checking out the scene at Barton Springs, nude sun bathers and all:)
Speaking of nudes... getting ready for bath time.
Pretzel Baby
First golf cart ride with Aunt Sally!
Ellie tuft of hair is officially untamable. Regardless of how much of my saliva is used to slick it down, it miraculously springs to life.
Ellie typically freezes up when we attempt to capture anything momentous... Justin caught Ellie's rolling today. You can tell how proud she is of herself when she makes the big move;)
Ok, I find it incredibly hard to believe that I can literally see Ellie growing and changing by the SECOND. I literally blink, and she does something new. Crazy, I tell you!
Last weekend, Ellie decided to sleep like a teenager and snooze until l0:00 a.m. both Saturday AND Sunday. What?!? Those sleepless nights that we shared just a couple of months ago now seem like a distant memory - thank God, otherwise Ellie would be an only child. Mommy loves her sleep!
Ellie rolled over for the first time on Monday, and it was hilarious to witness. She rolls over (only on her left side), and then gets her hand stuck under her and doesn't know how to flip back over. So, as she becomes stuck, she starts grunting until you flip her back over. Repeat, repeat, repeat - ALL day.
Last night, she decided to pull a fast one on me. I put her down for bed, and she starts shimmying all over the place. She threw in her move from above (flip over, get stuck, grunt). I run upstairs to rescue her, and as I flipped her over, she smirked at me and started giggling. This charade went on for about an hour - she clearly knew that she had me wrapped around her little chubby fingers. The silver lining was that I got a decent workout in running the stairs all night.
We've been working hard at mastering tummy time and pushing up. Justin was less than impressed with Ellie's skills and concerned that she was developmentally behind. I assured Justin that every baby develops at a different pace and that there was nothing to worry about. As of today, Ellie is a master at tummy time and pushing up. Daddy can rest easy (at least for now).
As I mentioned, we are so lucky to have our nanny, Laura, here to take such good care of Ellie. Laura accepts Ellie, quirks, crazy hair and all. We're looking forward to cooler weather so that Ellie and Laura can get out and about for daily field trips around Austin.
Ellie just LOVES being outside... we went to the pool last weekend. There are a ton of great spring fed pools around Austin, and I'm sure Ellie will soon be a regular. Our bathing beauty is great in the water and is pretty obsessed with people watching.
Some pics from the last week or so:
Deep Eddy Outing. Ellie loved all of the action.
Sunscreen hair
Pooped out
First generation Texan Thomas
Ellie's 1st 4th! She was a gem and slept through her parents setting off fireworks just steps from her bedroom.
Mastering tummy time
Ellie's happiest hour is right when she wakes up. Lots of giggling, cooing, rolling, kicking...
Ellie, show me pensive!
Ellie started to dabble in her "hook 'em" fingers
Ellie is captivated by books. Goodnight Moon seems to be the favorite so far.
Nightly bath time is a must... Ellie relaxes the minutes she hits the water.
Such a happy girl
Right after her first full roll over - she looked up with a "holy crap, look what I just did" face. Photo courtesy of Laura;)
Ellie's buddy, Laura. Such a lucky girl!
Ellie has spent the last few days rolling over. All day, every day. But when we have the camera on her, she refuses to roll over. Here's a video of her NOT rolling over.
OK, I know that many of you are silently (or audibly) cursing me for my lack of posting. It has been a BUSY couple of weeks, preparing for our Chicago trip and then skirting around the city with Ellie for 8 days.
There are honestly hundreds of pictures I could share, but I'll spare you with the Cliff's Notes version.
Ellie has changed SO much in the last 2 weeks - her transformation and development has really been incredible to watch:
- She now sleeps 12-13 hours a night. Thank heavens! It has done wonders for my daily demeanor. The fact that Justin and I can eat dinner together without having to "relay" eat with Ellie in hand is just wonderful.
- Ellie is a now an ambidextrious thumb sucker. She dabbles with both thumbs while the other hand MUST be touching her face or the back of her head. She also moans as sucks. This little self soothing quirk is oh so cute.
- She is obsessed with sitting up (with only a little help) or standing up. Being horizontal while awake is unacceptable. She has to make sure that she can see everything that goes on - doesn't want to miss a beat!
- Ellie is a slobbery mess these days. Constant drool and sucking on her hands makes me think she might get her first tooth early... we'll see.
- She's very close to laughing. We'll get a half laugh and lots of smiles. She really is a happy baby, which we are extremely grateful for.
We rented a condo in Chicago last week, and Ellie was a rockstar traveller. She did well on both flights, and really went with the flow the entire week. In order to see all of the friends and family we wanted to, we carted her around from ~9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. almost every day. She absolutely LOVED the sounds and action of the city. We were graced with beautiful weather the first couple of days and then, somehow, Austin weather followed us... what?! Record highs in the triple digits made it for a steamy trip.
I am officially back to work now, and it is very bittersweet. I have loved being with Ellie over the past 3 months, but I'm also ready to return to the working world. I'm incredibly lucky to have a job that I love and fortunate to have the flexibility I do.
While Justin and I are hard at work, Ellie gets to spend Monday-Thursday with our wonderful nanny, Laura. Laura recently moved here from LA and is amazing with Ellie. I know Ellie is in good hands, so it makes the return to work that much easier.
Disclaimer: In the interest of time, most of the pictures below are not in any particular order.
First Father's Day: breakfast tacos, a balmy hike, and a homemade dinner completed the day.
Our little thumb sucker.
One of my favorite pictures of Ellie. She doesn't always look this angelic;)
Tuckered out at the pool in Chicago
She didn't get to ride the El, but we thought she should at least get a pic as though she did.
Front stoop hanging at the condo we rented in Chicago. Being in Old Town, we were able to walk everywhere all week.
Justin & Olivia Clancey at a picnic in the park
The Lews with Ellie at the picnic
Erin & Ellie
Ellie loved sitting on the stoop and checking out all of the foot traffic.
Daddys and Daughters: Justin/Ellie with Eric/Olivia
Ellie and Jack Hale hanging. Well really it was Jack crawling around like a wild man and Ellie observing his skills. He's a mover and a shaker!
Thanks to Clay's rooftop pool, we were able to enjoy this beautiful view
Ellie turned 3 months in Chicago. Here's to a quarter year!
More thumb-sucking-hand-on-face action
Ellie was a rockstar on the plane. She LOVED the hustle and bustle of the airport.
Bama with her granddaughters - she was in heaven.
This lovely lady inspired our 8 day vacation. Our friends Jeremy and Lindsay got married, and we decided to make a vacation out of the trip. Congrats to the Shulls!
Mommy and Ellie relaxing at the picnic.
Ellie and Jack Hale sizing each other up at their first meeting
Jack and Olivia are buds, even though they try to clobber each other most of the time.
Grandpa and Ellie at the picnic. I think Ellie likes that Grandpa is so tall so that she can get the best view of whatever is going on.
Notice that our picnic in the park was heavily male dominated. Nothing like a bunch of fellas with babies;)
Ellie was impressed with Dede's silly faces
More rooftop pool action
Ellie's face says it all - she loves Jenny!
I was surprised and impressed with how comfortable Roz was with the little lady.
Hanging at the park with the Clanceys
Justin entertaining Olivia and Ellie
We had to make a stop at the old stomping grounds, Kincaide's (a Chicago KU bar)
Bama and Auntie Val doting on Ellie
Cousin Elizabeth was pretty obsessed with Ellie. She loved patting her on the head and helping to change her diaper. These two are going to be trouble in the years to come....
Ellie loved swinging on her tummy with Bama. Elizabeth insisted that she partake too. I think both grandparents got a workout...
