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Okay, now about my Ella...
Today my sweet Ella Joy is three months old. THREE months old.
Will someone please tell her to stop growing? I've tried. She's being very disobedient and growing more every day, despite my authoritative tone.
Ahem. Anyway, several people told us that by giving her the name Joy we were certainly to have destined her to be a joyful soul. I don't know if that equates in my book, but she certainly is joyful. And, she fills us with joy as well.
(The look on her face in this photo cracks me up.)
At three months old, I promise, Ella is progressing much faster than any of the other children. At her 2 month check up our Pediatrician said she was as attentive as a 4 or 5 month old. The doctor attributed her alertness to the fact that she always has something or someone to look at in our house. I guess I could see how that would make her a little advanced.
She has started to laugh, although she's truly only belly laughed once. So, naturally, each time I have a few minutes with just my chubby cheeked princess, I spend every second of it trying to make her giggle. Her laugh and smile are just so sweet and I cannot resist her.
In a matter of a few days, Ella not only discovered that she has a tongue but also how to blow bubbles. And, she spends most of her awake time grinning and blowing bubbles. She is finally tolerating her car seat much more often. I finally wised up and thought that maybe she was getting bored so I added some dangly things from the handle and she enjoys looking at them and grinning.
I also went to a local consignment shop and bought her a new (to us) playmat. The one we had I threw out after it kept collapsing on Aaron and Olivia. She seems to really love laying under it and looking at the things hanging above her and, of course, grinning.
She has started sitting in the Bumbo seat and at first she looked like a bobblehead doll. But over the last week or so she's doing much better controlling her head. She loves to sit in there and watch everyone and smile at passers by.
As for sleeping, well, it's going. She has slept 2 or 3 nights exclusively in her crib but usually she begins and ends the night in her swing with possibly 1 stretch of sleep in her crib. BUT, she's not sleeping stretches of the night in our bed anymore and I think that's progress! She still loves to be swaddled at night. Though, Luke and I don't give her much of a choice about it. We joke that we swaddle our kids until they are old enough to ask to not be swaddled anymore. That's totally a joke. Aaron didn't start talking until the week after we stopped swaddling him. ;) She usually has one good stretch of sleep, typically her first stretch, that lasts 4-5 hours. After that, she wakes every 2-3 hours to eat.
What I love most about Ella right now is her desire to be in the mix of everyone else. She is so content to just sit and watch everyone around her. I also love her fat, chubby cheeks. Luke and I have never had a rolly poly baby in all 5 of the previous kids. I am so loving her chubby little thighs and chins.
She is finally, finally taking a bottle semi-consistently (can something be considered consistent if it's only semi-consistent?). Wouldn't you know that she's now content to take the same bottle as all the others took? Yay! Which makes it possible for me to sometimes do this:
I just can't tell if Lucas is proud to be feeding his littlest sister or not. What do you think?
You know what though? We are all proud of our littlest girl. Each and every one of us. I just don't know how we ever managed without her.
Okay, now about my Ella...
Today my sweet Ella Joy is three months old. THREE months old.Will someone please tell her to stop growing? I've tried. She's being very disobedient and growing more every day, despite my authoritative tone.
Ahem. Anyway, several people told us that by giving her the name Joy we were certainly to have destined her to be a joyful soul. I don't know if that equates in my book, but she certainly is joyful. And, she fills us with joy as well.
(The look on her face in this photo cracks me up.)At three months old, I promise, Ella is progressing much faster than any of the other children. At her 2 month check up our Pediatrician said she was as attentive as a 4 or 5 month old. The doctor attributed her alertness to the fact that she always has something or someone to look at in our house. I guess I could see how that would make her a little advanced.
She has started to laugh, although she's truly only belly laughed once. So, naturally, each time I have a few minutes with just my chubby cheeked princess, I spend every second of it trying to make her giggle. Her laugh and smile are just so sweet and I cannot resist her.
In a matter of a few days, Ella not only discovered that she has a tongue but also how to blow bubbles. And, she spends most of her awake time grinning and blowing bubbles. She is finally tolerating her car seat much more often. I finally wised up and thought that maybe she was getting bored so I added some dangly things from the handle and she enjoys looking at them and grinning.I also went to a local consignment shop and bought her a new (to us) playmat. The one we had I threw out after it kept collapsing on Aaron and Olivia. She seems to really love laying under it and looking at the things hanging above her and, of course, grinning.She has started sitting in the Bumbo seat and at first she looked like a bobblehead doll. But over the last week or so she's doing much better controlling her head. She loves to sit in there and watch everyone and smile at passers by.As for sleeping, well, it's going. She has slept 2 or 3 nights exclusively in her crib but usually she begins and ends the night in her swing with possibly 1 stretch of sleep in her crib. BUT, she's not sleeping stretches of the night in our bed anymore and I think that's progress! She still loves to be swaddled at night. Though, Luke and I don't give her much of a choice about it. We joke that we swaddle our kids until they are old enough to ask to not be swaddled anymore. That's totally a joke. Aaron didn't start talking until the week after we stopped swaddling him. ;) She usually has one good stretch of sleep, typically her first stretch, that lasts 4-5 hours. After that, she wakes every 2-3 hours to eat.
What I love most about Ella right now is her desire to be in the mix of everyone else. She is so content to just sit and watch everyone around her. I also love her fat, chubby cheeks. Luke and I have never had a rolly poly baby in all 5 of the previous kids. I am so loving her chubby little thighs and chins.
She is finally, finally taking a bottle semi-consistently (can something be considered consistent if it's only semi-consistent?). Wouldn't you know that she's now content to take the same bottle as all the others took? Yay! Which makes it possible for me to sometimes do this:
I just can't tell if Lucas is proud to be feeding his littlest sister or not. What do you think?You know what though? We are all proud of our littlest girl. Each and every one of us. I just don't know how we ever managed without her.