11 Months

Ella-bells is 11 months old and her birthday will be here before we know it! I always talk about how fast time flies but babies change so much in the first year, it can make a new mom very emotional :-) This month she has become an expert at "pulling-up" on everything in sight and loves to cruise around the couch and coffee table. Her proudest achievement has been getting out of the play area (we have a step that has served as our baby gate for the past 6 months :) and scooting down the 4 steps into the family room. She actually "scoots" up steps too, which I never could have imagined until I saw it with my own eyes. She will prop herself up into a standing position and turn sideways (in a very lady-like manner) and sits her little bottom on the step. Then she throws her legs over and repeats. It's hysterical but potentially very dangerous if she falls back.
Luke was practicing scooting down steps with her and when she did it successfully, he screamed with joy. She was so happy with his reaction she got overly excited (arms flailing),  squealed with happiness and fell head-first down the remaining 3 steps. Thank goodness Dad saved her head with his quick response time but she was hysterical. Since she ended up being okay, it will definitely go in her baby book :-)
Ella's favorite thing in the whole world is playing with her sparkling soccer ball (thanks to Uncle Johnny) and new hand ball. She will sit for half an hour just throwing them back and forth and trying to eat them. I actually found one that rolls by itself (battery operated of course) and even sings the ABC's. I thought it was a pretty great find. What I really need is a baby-friendly printer too. As soon as we head downstairs, scooting to the office and turning the printer off and on is her primary objective (thank you to whoever designed the blinking power button). My next goal is to teach her what to do with the bottle when she is done with it. Somehow she got the idea that throwing it was appropriate and I'll hear a crashing sound after I put her to sleep because she throws the bottle and the hardwood floors make everything seem even louder.
We had a wonderful Mother's Day having my family over for brunch and then sailing with friends in the afternoon. It was more stressful than I had anticipated having babies on a sailboat but we all survived and it was an incredible experience. Julian was such a trooper and Ella loved the wind in her face. The seas were pretty rough though and on the way back I would have given Ella anything to keep quiet ;-) Lindsay, Manuela and I had to focus on staring at the horizon so we didn't get sick :)
I couldn't be more thrilled to spend the summer months with my baby girl teaching her to swim, watching Daddy surf (maybe mommy again too), playing in the sand & Aunt Katie's new pool, and just enjoying the beautiful weather. We start swim lessons in two weeks, yay! SO much to look forward to!