Active Ellie

Ellie has become even more active in the past couple of days. She literally does laps in her crib, and when I put her on her tummy, she looks like a fish out of water. Ellie has also been practicing her vocals lately too. Since our nanny is on vacation, I was at home with the little nugget today, and she was "talking" practically every moment she was awake.

Here's a video of Ellie in action... excuse the giant mosquito bite on her forehead;)

5 months

How can it be that 5 months have gone by in a flash? Ellie continues to amaze us each and every day. She's almost able to sit up all by herself, has mastered holding anything and everything with 2 hands, puts anything and everything in her mouth, and has almost lost all of her dark hair (which is replaced with adorable, blonde, peach fuzz). So, the signature duck tail has disappeared.

Ellie was joined in the new generation of cousins (on the Fisk side) with the birth of Miss Joslin Carmila Shipley this week. My cousin, Katherine, and her husband, Joe, became first time parents this week. We can hardly wait to get the girls together - they are exactly 5 months apart! I have so many fond memories growing up with my sister, Katherine, and Elizabeth. Even though The Shipleys live in California, I hope that our daughters experience even a fraction of the amazing memories the 4 of us girls built over the years. Congrats again, Joe & Katherine!

We broke down and bought a grown up camera last week. We found that our iPhones aren't fast enough to capture Ellie's constant movements. We're still learning all of the tricks, but overall, we're pretty happy with the crisp quality of the photos... The first 2 photos below are not from the fancy cam.

First swim class this week. Ellie loved the water and was mostly interested in watching the "big kids."

Deer in headlights

Hanging with Uncle Andy

And a couple of videos showing Ellie in action...

Video Dump

I know, I know... It's been 12 days since my last post. Life has been pretty chaotic as I "birth" my 4th PSW baby (aka our Forest Trail community: www.foresttrailhomes.com). While Ellie is my first human baby, I am very proud of each of of the PSW babies I've carried, and this one is no exception. I've been working on this community for about 2 years now, and I am so anxious to get our well-deserving and very patient homeowners moved in. So, that's the back story on the blogging lapse.

At every stage Ellie is in, we think "This is just the BEST!" And then we graduate to the next stage with new developments and tricks, and think "Now THIS is just the best!" Basically, life with Ellie just keeps getting better. I'm really not sure how we lived our lives without this little nugget. We are grateful that she is a champion at sleeping. Ellie sleeps a solid 11-12 hours at night, wakes to quickly feed, and then sleeps for another 2-3 hours. I'm waiting for this blessing to come to a grinding halt - for now, we'll soak it in;)

Ellie's newest developments:
: Loves to put anything and everything in her mouth (her feet are her fave)
: "Squawks" all the time - basically gets herself so excited that she squeals, but it's a cross between a quack and a squeal.
: Ate her first solid food - homemade applesauce
: Simply being outdoors will entertain her for hours
: Obsessed with people watching. The busier the venue, the better...
: Holds her own bottle now
: Drank from a cup. Yes, you read that correctly. We put a cup of water up to her mouth for her to chew on it, and she actually started swallowing. Can we please just stop time? My baby is growing way too fast for my comfort!

Such a happy baby girl:)

Manages to get her feet in her mouth, even when strapped into her stroller. Talent, I tell you.

First play date with Nora, except neither of them were awake at the same time during a 5 hour stretch, except for a few minutes to capture this photo.

First spin in the Jenny Jumper

More foot-in-mouth action

Do you see a trend here?

Papaw was in town - Ellie loved people watching at the grocery store.


Videos!

Ellie Kisses Daddy (well sort of)

Ellie is still pretty obsessed with our faces. She likes to get in real close, closes her eyes, opens her mouth, and slobbers all over us. She's either trying to kiss us or eat us - whatever it is, we can't get enough of it;)

You'll also get a glimpse of her grunting... lots of grunting all day long. Such a lady.

Sip & See

We had a whirlwind trip to Kansas City last weekend. Grandma Betty and Mom hosted a Sip & See for Miss Eleanor, and what an event it was! I was mentally prepared for about 30 guests casually stopping by, some lemonade, some sweets, and perhaps a meltdown or two from Ellie. Instead, we had almost 60 people join us and a showering of gifts - Ellie was a gem and stayed awake (and happy) the entire time.

Ellie is officially obsessed with people watching, so she was in heaven at the airport and on the plane. We had smooth sailing on the trip to KC but dealt with annoying delays on the way back. When all was said and done, it took us over 9 hours to get back to Austin. Ellie was a trooper - I'm still uncertain of how she survived the day with only two 15 minute naps (she just couldn't stand to miss out on all the action and people watching). Needless to say, she napped like a rockstar the entire next day.

As you can see from the pics below, Ellie is all about fingers. She literally sucks on fingers all. day. long. She's also in love with faces - it's her new toy. She'll touch, grab, scratch, pinch every inch of our faces. And many times, it's accompanied with a laugh.

Her single syllable laugh is so cute - ha. ha. ha... throw in a simultaneous nose scrunch, and we're toast. Adorable!

Ellie has her first play date on Saturday with Nora, who was born just hours after Ellie. Stay tuned!

Goofy Girl loving the airplane.

First stop, Winstead's with Dad, Grandma Pat, and Auntie! We hadn't been there in years, and it did not disappoint.

Rockin' the cool shades, courtesy of Aunt Katie.

Pool time at Nana's

The bath contraption we borrowed was a little unstable, so I joined in the bath fun.

4 generations

4 generations

Ellie already loves the crack.

Grant and Lucy Dreiling giving Ellie a squeeze. Ellie LOVED Lucy and showed her love by feeling up her face for what seemed like 10 minutes.

Hook 'Em fingers with Great Grandma Pat

OK Joe's ribs - yum

Only Grandma Betty can serve up BBQ with such style and grace;)

A little light reading - Ellie loves her Cuddly Animals book from Great Aunt Sally

Some new toys, thanks to the Hookers

Cool Cat

Last stop on the KC tour. Flat nacho with peppers and extra sauce? Yes please!

Story time with Auntie. Note how Ellie is reading, sucking fingers and holding her foot all at the same time. She's all about multi-tasking.

And a little video to end the evening...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LENRreoSu4