Oh Sunday

Zach wants to be a farmer.

In Wisconsin.

With cows.

My primary presidency is full again! Granted neither of my counsellors were there today.... ;)

Maybe next week.

We're bottle weaning and I'm doing everything wrong, again.

I'm not so patiently awaiting the day I can put the Christmas tree up.

Zach's working full time.

In the rain.

Ellie taught herself to twirl. It's adorable.

I'm doing my first craft fair in two weeks. And I'm up to my armpits in sewing, feather boas, and glue.

Ellie's Antics

Our little moose!

For Halloween this year, I made Ellie a moose costume (aka a brown fleece with glove antlers).

No, not just because we're in Canada.

She tolerated it, but I loved it! We took her to the Cumberland Halloween parade (a bunch of kids trick or treating to the businesses on the only street with businesses in Cumberland) and she thought that was great, despite the pouring rain. She almost walked the whole way.

Zach was going to go as a hunter too, which would have been funny, but like always, we couldn't quite organize ourselves to get our own costumes.

I really don't like Halloween - but it might be growing on my now that I have a cutie to dress up :)

Lately... {13 months}

Ellie....


Walks (for a few weeks now) and is just such a big girl these days! Her favorite things to do are 1. Pull all her books off her shelf 2. Stand on her head 3. Play with cell phones 4. Go down the slide on her tummy.

She is hit or miss these days with milk (teething molars) but still eats pretty much everything, except my homemade fruit snacks (which just means more for daddy).

She woofs at everything these days and lives to dance, dance, dance. She even dances in her carseat, and it's adorable!

errr... 8 months old....

Ellie will be NINE months old next week... Oops... Where did month eight go? I lost it somewhere... 

Well, she's got SIX teeth now so month eight hasn't really been a huge blast.

After much anticipation, Noelle started crawling right at 8 months.  I thought that maybe she'd be content with her new-found freedom for at least a couple of months... but no... Wednesday I went to fetch her from her nap and there she was STANDING in her crib smiling across at me.  Now she's a standing machine {though she's still too wobbly and either gets stuck and cries or falls and cries or gets "rescued" and cries.  Oh what fun!  And today, she climbed her first stair!  I feel like we need to go and live in one of those bouncy house thingy's until she's a bit steadier... 

and I need for TIME to SLOW DOWN! {That's not too much to ask, is it??}  When Ellie was born, our neighbours gave her a sleeper.  I remember pulling it out of the gift bag with Ellie sleeping on my lap the day we got home from the hospital {she was 5lbs 1oz} and thinking this wont EVER fit her.  Well, it does.  Daddy put it on her last night after her bath.  Sigh.

I promise to do better with the 9 month update.

and... 7 months old!

Big Smile for the camera!

Noelle is 7 months old! {Well, 7 months and 4 days...}... And she:

... NAPS! Wahoo! She usually goes down every 2 hours still, for an hour to 2.5 hours each. And, she falls asleep on her own! {We're bring our Dr. cookies at our next appointment.}

... Pushes herself around on her tummy.  Ellie is really good and turning and rolling over to get what she wants but she hasn't actually "crawled" yet.

Fuzz-head

... Is SUPER CUTE! Her hair stands straight up (obviously), she has hazel eyes (just like Dad) and she has two little teeth! 

... Loves to roll around, chew on everything, sing with Mum, eat {everything}, practice using her sippy cup, swing at the park, have her picture taken, play with grass, and spin around on the wood floor.

Striking her "Model Pose"

April Photo Bomb!

Giving the Giant Monkey Kisses

Eating the Giant Monkey's Banana

We can't always be glamorous!

Easter Sunday

With Daddy

Flying Baby!

Look Mum, one hand!

6 Month Update

In celebration of Noelle's half birthday (6 whole months old!),

we went to the park and played

 on the slide

 ... in the gravel

 ... on the tire swing

 ... and the swings

We also went to the doctors.

Ellie is healthy and usually happy.  She's doing great.  She's 14lbs 2oz and a whooping 27in long (she jumped up to the 90% for height and jumped down to the 15% for weight... Zach says she's not growing anymore, just stretching out!)  I think it's official, we have a bean pole on our hands.

Ellie's just dying to get going.  She rolls around like it's her job and has started to push up onto her knees.  She loves to stand (with assistance) and to blow raspberries.  She's got two teeth and more are coming soon!

We also celebrated her half-birthday by....

Sleep Training!  

As per Dr's advice, we've started to "train" her to fall asleep on her own.  She sleeps through the night so that's not the issue (thank goodness) but until today, she had yet to fall asleep on her own without Zach or I marching her around the house endlessly, swaddled tightly, usually with the water running and the bathroom fan on.  It would take us about 1/2 an hour to put her to sleep (putting her down usually 4-5 times unsuccesfully before we could leave her in the crib)... and we have done this 5-6 times a day for the last 6 months.  Part of me is very happy that it's time to sleep train her.  The other part aches as she screams away in the crib until she falls asleep.

I know there are lots of approaches and opinions about sleep training, but because of Ellie's colic and temperment, we felt like the gradual approach would be confusing for her.  And if our first three attempts at sleep training are any indication of how this is going to work out, I think we're on the right track.  My baby put herself to sleep three times today without too many tears (at least not hours worth....), though it is much harder to let her cry than to get her and walk her around.  Oh well, I hear consistency is the key.  So... here we go!

New Toys!

1. A keyboard, resurrected from the computer graveyard.  Look at that grin!  She loves her very own keyboard way more than the "baby" toys we give her.

 2. A toothbrush, to brush that brand new tooth with!  Or... just to chew on...

5 Whole Months Old!

Last week, Noelle completed 5 whole months of being alive.  We are so happy to have her in our family and love to watch her grow and learn.  She is definitely growing (in length) and in character.  She is such a ham most of the time that she constantly cracks us up.

Some of her new favourite things this month are:
- Standing (supported)
- Her Jellyfish (pictured above)
- When you whisper in her ear - it's kind of weird but it just makes her giggle
- Her feet
- Teething Biscuits
- Her Bunny
- Stories and Lullabies
- Typing on the computer
- Going for walks

 This is how we found Noey one morning when I went in to get her.  She was just cooing away in her crib (well, half in her crib anyways).  This is NOT how we put her to bed... She is such a squirmy little goose!

Getting an Early Start

Happy Valentine's Day Ellie!

Watching the Jazz Game with Daddy

She is still working on those first teeth but they're being stubborn going up and down and then up again.  She now naps in her crib and generally going to bed is much more pleasant than it used to be (except when the teeth are moving up ferociously) and she'll even play by herself for a little bit.  She still screams her head off when it's time for a bath, but other than that is a pretty fun little girly to have around!