Great Grandparent Visit

 We have been keeping ourselves busy.  I spent a lot of time cleaning the house in preparation for my grandparents visit this weekend.  They had not met Ella yet, so we were excited to have them stay for a bit.  Friday was really our only dry day, so I weeded the garden beds during nap time.  Other than that, we have had a lot of playtime in the house.  We also made one trip to Tamarack, a shop with items made by West Virginians.  Jack is in love with Maple, my grandparents dog.  She has been a real treat to have around.  You will see in the video how much he likes her!

Video Footage of Ella

I am being more proactive about taking pictures and videos of both children.  I look at so many blogs where people are great about getting footage of their children.  I want my kids to be able to look back and see how they were as kids.  Jack does so many fun things and I always say to myself, "I wish I had my camera right now."  I am thinking about getting a better phone to take more pictures on the spot, since I usually have that with me.  However, sometimes you just have those moments, for example, last night Jack ran into his bedroom after taking his bath, and put his Yankee helmet on his head while in the nude.  It would have made the perfect picture.  And Ella decided to roll over from stomach to back while we were upstairs playing in their room.  When I tried to film it later that day, she wouldn't do it.  So I guess I will just have to try and keep that camera at the ready more often!

Ella is 3 Months Old

Another month has gone by and I'm still not taking enough pictures...I think it is because my camera is not working so well anymore. I do have another one that takes pictures although it is more for taking video footage, so the pictures sometimes turn out grainy. I don't seem to get the camera out as much for Ella. Poor thing, even when I do use it I'm taking pictures of Jack. I took a bunch of him during his Easter egg hunt, but neglected to even take one picture of Ella is her cute dress. I really must get better at that. I should probably take some video footage, since she is now cooing and really getting interactive!

Nicknames: Turtle, Ella Bella

Weight: We are not going to the doctor this month, but when I stepped on a scale at my parents house with her, I estimated that she was about 11 lbs. Just the other day I was looking and thinking that she is bigger. No more newborn look for her...I have a full fledged baby!

Temperament: It seems like she cries less everyday. Maybe we are finally getting things figured out, at least I would like to think that is the case. However, she has taken to a sort of angry coo at times. If I set her down on a blanket or the play mat, and she is tired of being there she will make the angry coo. It almost sounds like she is going to make a high pitched sound, but it just sounds more frustrated that excited! I guess she just knows what she wants. I always felt like Jack was my independent little man, and she is more like my vocal child. She will let you know exactly how she feels. However, she seems like a happy baby, so we must be doing something right. She grins a lot at us and really anyone that can make eye contact with her. Sometimes she will even coo a conversation with lots of smiles in between. That is my favorite.

New/First Experiences: I am wondering if Ella will be a thumb sucker, because she is always trying to get a fist into her mouth. Now that she is becoming a bit more coordinated, it seems like those hands get into her mouth all the time. And she seems to use the pacifier less and less. In fact, I don't think she really needs the pacifier, but it helps her to fall asleep and then she will spit it out right after getting into a deep sleep. I don't think she did too much new experiences this month (expect maybe that she got her first shots...she did really well at soothing afterward). Oh, she did start to swat and then grab at the toys on the play mat. Ella must have figured out she had hands this month. She has also started to roll onto her sides...maybe rolling over is sooner than I expected.

Items/Toys That We Love The Most: I think she is especially interested in people. Since we are around toddlers a lot for Jack, she seems to really love to watch the children. Oh, and she loves to watch me when I am singing. We are still using the swing on a daily basis, but I think it might be time to start her transition into the crib for nap time. I have also been swaddling her when she sleeps, but now it seems she wants to have a hand out...I'm not sure if I need to transition to no swaddle, because those darn hands still seem to wake her up. So maybe we will stick with the swaddle for another month. Oh, and I love that I can put her in cute dresses. I just need to remember to take pictures of them!