Ella {16 Weeks}

We had another chilly but fun week around here. 

Earlier this week Ella was playing on her mat just like usual... kicking the keyboard, looking in the mirror, grabbing the dangly toys. Then several minutes later she had kicked off a sock, spun almost 180 degrees around and rolled onto her tummy! She still isn't doing it consistently, but now she has done it twice all by herself! 

And this weekend she went to her first home men's PSU hockey game. She had a great time, and [mostly] didn't freak out when the goal buzzer went off.

Other than that, we had a fun week playing...

 And sleeping! [she normally doesn't sleep with a blanket, except for an occasional chilly day nap. snuggling with her puppy blanket!]

Ella {15 Weeks}

Not much new going on around here! Just patiently waiting for warm weather. 

Ella is still growing and giggling! We're working on Tummy Time more in hopes of learning to roll over soon. She's eating less this week (they say that's normal around now), so waking up once or twice a night to eat. She still loves bath time an a few certain toys, which make their way quickly into her mouth these days. And she got to meet Mary, a friend of mine from high school who lives in DC. She rode the train here from DC, so we ventured to a new town and experienced an Amtrak station.. that was kinda fun. She even brought Ella an Ellaphant [haha] all the way from Africa! Of course she loves chewing on its ears.

first visit to a sports bar restaurant to watch some college basketball

**The week-by-week pictures will be posted when Rachael gets back from London, if you're wondering where they are for the past couple weeks!

Ella {14 Weeks}

We've had a fun, relaxing week around here.  It's been rainy, windy and too chilly to do anything outside yet, so we've just been hanging out.  

Ella has been playing, pooping & outgrowing clothes.  She has learned how to grab a toy with her hands and bring it to her mouth, and she's interacting with toys more. She now recognizes things as familiar to her, so she gets so excited when she sees certain things. Right now she's playing with a ball that's easy to grab, she LOVES a little rattle bug that she got for Christmas, and she has just started sitting in her jump-jump-walker-thing. [what on earth are those called, anyway?] She can't sit up in it very well, but we put a pillow under her feet so she can push with her feet, and a blanket in front of her as extra support. She just loves being upright and looking around.

She doesn't have a doctor's appointment until she's four months old, so I'm not sure how much she weighs.. but she's definitely growing! She's sleeping through the night most of the time [knock on wood], and her hair is even starting to calm down![a little anyway...]

Holding onto the ball

I'm not sure if it will work, but this is a funny video of her newest friend... a phone jack! She smiles every time she sees it

Sitting in her walker and playing with keys

She's three months old!!

Ella {13 Weeks}

It's been another fun week in our house! The biggest even was Friday morning when Ella rolled over for the first time! She rolled from her back to her belly but couldn't roll back, so she got mad. I think she did it on accident and she hasn't done it since, but it's only a matter of time! Now we just have to get her rolling from her belly to her back so she doesn't get so mad.

Another fun thing she's learned how to do is look toward a voice and find that person. She seems to recognize Mike's and my voices, which is fun, and she'll look towards a sound that she recognizes, like a rattle.

She's also [pseudo-]standing with help, [pseudo-]sitting with help, and holding her head up much better. She's slobbering like crazy, but no sign of teeth. She's chewing on her hands but really nothing else. She loves bath time but hates to get out. She's smiling and giggling a lot, and making more sounds than ever before. She enjoys reading books and now looks at the pages. She's awake much more of the time, and she's again sleeping for [usually] 8 hours at night! She's so much fun!

A friend of Mike's from St. Cloud brought his girlfriend to town for a basketball game and New Year's Eve. We joined them for the game and dinner, then we came home to watch the Jays game and barely stay up until midnight. I think we're officially old and lame.

That's about all we've been up to this week. We've done a lot of relaxing and playing and avoiding the cold weather. We're really not sad that we're going to miss Minnesota's state-wide shutdown due to the frigid weather tomorrow. We hope you're staying warm wherever you are. Sending hugs from us all!