Month 3

It is so crazy how much Ella has changed in the last month!

Big Changes:
- Ella now coos and laughs a lot now! It is so adorable and I enjoy it so much. We have discovered that her favorite show is Super Why. We have watched Mickey Mouse Club and Little Einsteins, but none of them make her laugh and talk at the tv like Super Why. Whenever I need to keep her awake or need to do something I can just turn on the TV and find time to do things.

- Ella now plays with toys. She has yet to start playing with hard toys but she loves her crab and bunny toys.

- At the beginning of the month Ella had to wear a harness because she had a mild case of hip dysplasia. It was this full body harness and I hated it! She had to wear it for 24 hours a day and had to be sponge bathed. It was awful. The worst part too was that when she pooped (all over the place) it got on her harness dying it a nice shade of yellow. She only had to wear it for 2 weeks. She is now out of it and kicking up a storm.

- Ella still sleeps through the night. Sometimes 9:30PM - 6:00 or 7:00 AM. It is phenomenal!

PROUD MOMMY MOMENTS!

-We went to a Mr. HAB pageant and she sat through the entire hour and a half program without crying! I know that doesn't seem like a big deal, but it is a far cry from what she originally would have been like.

Month 2

Where do I begin? Looking back at the month it is crazy how much my little princess has changed. Starting at the beginning of the month she was still cranky and cried all the time when she wasn't asleep, now she is such a pleasure to be around when she is awake.

Ella's Changes:

She now smiles! It's amazing how that little thing can make you feel like you can make it as a mom. Ella has now been smiling since 6 weeks and when she isn't tired or hungry it is relatively easy to get her to smile. The funniest thing to her is tapping her nose. Every time her little face lights up! When she is having a rough time and it's not nap time we go outside and lay on a blanket. She loves to go outside and look at everything and she loves the breeze on her face.
(Ella Outside)

We are now working on getting Ella on a schedule and she is doing so well. Our goal is getting her to eat every 3 hours with at least an 1.5 hour nap between feedings. Nap time is going so smoothly. We put her in her crib (swaddled and with white noise) and she typically doesn't cry for more than 5 minutes before she is out! I never thought I would say this. Not only does nap time go well but she only wakes up once at night for a 15 minute feeding and then she is immediately asleep again. ***MILESTONE*** Ella slept all the way through the night on January 28th, from 11:00 PM to 7:00 AM!!!

A few of Ella's favorite things:
-Ella loves to lay on the floor and kick her legs. She just kicks and kicks and kicks. I always wondered what she was doing in the womb and now I know. She kicked!

-She loves to smile! This is such a nice change to the constant crying.

- She loves bath and lotion time. What I mean by lotion time is I turn the lights down in her room and turn on some soothing spa music, then we have a 10-15 minute baby massage. She loves her feet and legs rubbed.

-Ella still loves to be swaddled and wants her white noise machine. It is going about 23 hours a day.

-Ella loves to be independent from us. She loves to spend the night at Granny and Granddaddy's house, hang out with Granddad and Grandmom and hang out in the nursery at church. I love that she loves to cuddle with Kyle and I but I am also thankful that she seems to have an independent spirit, which hopefully means that she will be a leader when she is older and have the strength and courage to do what is right.