Ellie: 8 Months

Another eventful past month for Ellie!

She is 28.5 inches tall and 18 lbs.

She has one little tooth!

She is almost walking totally on her own.
She is on the move in a BIG way. At 5.5 months the girl was crawling very well. By 6.5 months she started taking little steps while holding our hands. By 7.5 months she was pulling up on toys and walkers and going...almost running all on her own. She loves to climb up our limbs and climb anywhere she can. She has stood briefly on a few occasions without holding anything at all, all on her own. She has also taken steps forward only holding on with one hand of hers. I believe she will be moving without any help at all very, very soon. Literally every day she is stronger, more determined, and faster. I can't make this up. This girl got both of her parent's athleticism and determined & ambitious spirits. And I must say I am one proud little mama!

She started Baby led weaning at the start of the past month. It comes and goes. Some days she eats like a growing teenage boy. Others she merely looks at her food like, "What do you think I am gonna do with this?" But when she is hungry, that little girl stuffs her face very well! She loves her yogurt, cheese sticks, special muffins I make her of fruits, veggies, and oats, and she loves lots of different fruits and spicy shredded chicken. The hardest part has been with my own self and having patience and allowing her to explore her food....no matter the mess or how many scraps Blondie gets out of it. I've had to cling to what my sister and friend Karen taught me and showed me that this is NOT the main source of nutrition right now, this is a time to teach her to feed herself, explore food, textures, tastes, how to hold food, work on her pincer grasp. Her formula is still her main source of nutrition. Clinging to these facts has been what has gotten me through the anxious moments when that food gets in her hands, goes to her lips....then hits the floor. I actually literally sit on the edge of my seat...my stare upon her getting larger and wider, heart fluttering faster, i start biting my lip....and then womp, womp, wompppppp! Yes. I get way too overly anxious about it. But she is really doing well and I am so thankful for these other mamas in my life to help me to do what is best for little Ellie.  And to keep me sane.

I have been teaching her "All Done" in sign language. She knows what it means but she does not mimic it yet or rather communicate it herself. She communicates "All Done" by slapping her tray and grunting like a mad little teddy bear. But when I do the sign, she smiles and gets happy and expects me to take her tray, which I do. So she gets the concept...we will continue to teach it!

She can say "Dada", "Yeah", "Hey", and "Hey Blondie" or "Hey Daddy!" Her favorite thing to do is say, "Hey!" and wave to older little kids. She is becoming so friendly and personable with others and loves making friends and playing with others. She also knows/comprehends/ responds to "Mommy", "Cajun", "No", "Milk", and "Bite".

She loves to dance with me and jump and shake her booty!

Ellie got to have a lot of play time with her cousins and her friends this past month. Her cousins visited on a couple occasions and we soaked that up! All the big kids wanted a turn at holding Ellie. Laurel (just turned 3) was excited every time Ellie got up and crawled or stood up and walked along something. She would say, "Look! Look at Baby Ellie!" All 5 of the kids went to hear Cinderella read a story. Jayden was such an amazing and mature young sport about it. I love him so much! He just wanted to be sure Ellie enjoyed herself. And she did! I think her favorite part was sitting with her cousins.

Our friends the Hardy family came over for another dinner night and play date for the babies. Sam and Ellie get along so very well and that makes me so happy! I hope they will have each other's backs all their lives. It makes my heart flitter watching them play and Ellie learning from sweet Sam. There is something so special about seeing your childhood close friend be a mommy and the love that you possess for their baby, too!

I hiked with my wonderful hiking mommy friends one Saturday, so Eric and Ellie had their very first daddy daughter date!! How exciting and special!! Eric took Ellie to a really awesome event held by 5 Point church in Easley where there were several Disney Princesses, story time, wands, and cookie making. They brought me home a cookie which I happily devoured after a 9 mile upward trek. Ellie wore her little Snow-White dress and Eric made sure she got to be part of everything going on. He is such an amazing Daddy.

Ellie spoke her first word this past month, which was "Dada!" I previously blogged about that because it was too too sweet and special! The next day Ellie told Blondie, clear as day, "Hey!" We think she says something like "mom" when she cries and reaches out for me...but it is not clear enough to be positively sure. My time will come!

We celebrated Dr. Seuss' birthday by dressing up as Cat in the Hat, Thing 1&2 and a Fox in Socks. We read his books and listened to some that we do not own while playing.

 Can't you see how thrilled Cajun is!? ;)

We hiked and ran a ton this past month together. We saw some new places and faces which is always fun!! Blondie even went on one 6 mile hike with us and did awesome. Ellie LOVES Blondie so so much.

We spent Ellie's First St. Patrick's day in Georgia with cousins to celebrate LaLa and JoJo turning 3 this month. Ellie had SO much fun playing outside all day long with her cousins. They pushed her around in a little red car Mimi and G-Daddy brought her to play with. They took their turns holding her, helping her walk, and playing with her toys. Then Eric and I ventured off on our own with Ellie on my back to hike about 4-5 miles up to the top of the highest trail and back down. By the time we got back, are legs were jell-o and we were covered in sweat. It was SO steep but so much fun and such a good workout. Ellie slept the entire time in her carrier.

Ellie met the Easter bunny for the very first time at Chick-fil-a on Woodruff Rd. Y'all know I love my baby to take her to a FREE event, on WOODRUFF RD. after work, at the most beloved fast food place because they are so sweet and filled to the brim with Jesus up in there! We waited for an hour, it was past sweet girl's bed time (and she takes that seriously); but she was just so happy and sweet and smiley as could be. She was in her Daddy's arms and that is the best place in her world to be! She did very well with the Easter bunny. She rubbed his face like it was Blondie she was petting, then turned to look at Daddy and smile! This was her first encounter, but y'all know I had to take her to see him again at every possible chance I could get. We go to all the fun activities as possible for little Miss. My sister and parents were good about teaching me to get to every little event I could with the kids because it is so special. And while she may not remember right now, she will always know her Mommy and Daddy would do anything for her, give her the world, the shirt off our backs, anything to see her smile.

We went to Greer one weekend for Ellie's first Easter Egg Hunt and to see the Easter Bunny again. We got to see a few of our friends who live out there and they took so many awesome and memorable pictures for us! It was such a beautifully organized event and so fun!

We dyed Easter eggs with Ellie for the first time! She had glitter eggs, and glitter tie-dye eggs!

We did another Easter event for Ellie in Clemson. An Easter egg hunt, train ride, visit with the Easter Bunny, and hot dogs for Eric. Then we showed Ellie around some our favorite parts of Clemson's campus. We showed her where I used to spend my time when I was hanging out in college there, where Daddy will be continuing his chemical engineering degree there on campus, Death Valley, Howard's rock, and Bowman Field where we had a small pic-nic for Ellie. Then that evening we took Ellie to a festival in downtown Clemson. It was a really wonderful sunny, warm, and happy family day with Ellie. She loved sitting up and staring and looking around at all of the beautiful campus. There is something in those hills.

Other photos of her past month: