1O Months

So much has happened since our 9 month post, where do I even begin?! We've had a lot of challenges in our family in a few short months and it has really helped us to keep a healthy perspective on life and focus on the positives. Ella is amazing and every day I think that I can't possibly love her any more than I already do, but somehow I seem to continue falling more in love. At her most recent doctor visit (9 1/2 months), she weighed in at 21.5 pounds and was just over 29" tall. That placed her in the 80th percentile for weight and 95th percentile for height. Everyone always thinks that she's way older than she is and they are always shocked when I tell them her actual age. 

Her top FOUR teeth have come in (that makes 6 total) which is very exciting! I'm really lucky because teething hasn't seemed to really affect her that much. She has developed this new high-pitched scream which I could do without, but she absolutely loves to hear her own voice (can't even fathom where she got that from)!

I'm slowly accepting the fact that her "scooting" is what it is and that my little munchkin is most likely not going to crawl correctly. She has now mastered the scoot and, although hysterical to watch, I've made every attempt to try and encourage traditional crawling. I even brought her to a physical therapist to make sure she wasn't in any pain and, come to find out, she's pretty much just extremely stubborn and is adamant about staying off of her knees. I missed the window of opportunity for her to crawl correctly because if I lay her on her stomach, she just simply sits back up. That being said, Ella's new favorite activity is manipulating any adult or random child in the mall to walk her everywhere her little heart desires. She selectively and intentionally grabs anyone's pointer fingers within reach as she props herself to a standing position so that the chosen individual will walk around with her while holding her hands. At least she knows what she wants :-)

We had such a blast this month having many play-dates. My best friend from Jr. High came over with her twin girls who are just 2 weeks older than Ella and it was so adorable to watch them all play together. She loves interacting with other kids, I definitely need to sign her up for more activities with babies her age. We also played a lot with Kimi and her son Luke. Ella and Luke love playing in the play area of MV mall so that is our new, fun weekly event! We've visited the zoo and countless parks too! 

I'm taking advantage of every moment we have together because time is moving way too fast. I actually LOVE my job and it really makes me appreciate my Ella time. I really want Ella to go to my school, so that is the ultimate goal :-) I've applied to teach summer school (which is only 19 days and ends at 12:30pm) but that will give me all of August to have quality time with my munchkin. I'm obsessing over ideas for her first birthday party and trying to think of all kinds of summer activities to keep us busy (wish we had more local water parks). 

 I know I'm so unbelievably lucky to be married to my best friend and to have such an incredible family. So excited for the next couple of months and the birth of my little nephew, Joseph Kelly, in September :-)