We Got a Walker!!

Well as you can see Ella has begun to walk and our lives have been forever changed :). She is walking up to about 10 feet max now, but average of about 3-5 feet. She walks away from furniture on her how and likes to walk hand in hand with us across the room.

She has also begun to talk and sign to us which is such a great thing, especially when it comes to eating and drinking. She says "Ma-ma," "Da-Da," "Da-ba" a.k.a. Diaper, "Nigh-Nigh" a.k.a. Night, and while in the bathtub/sink she will say "Duck" while playing with her rubber ducky. My brother is working on her saying Uncle "Bu-bba," but has been not so successful thus far. She is able to sign "more," "milk," and "num-num" a.k.a eat.

She is also eating a lot more solids. She loves pancakes, Grandma Hedlund's chicken noodle soup, sweet potatoes, apple sauce, pears, and peas. She also loves the Gerber Puffs, we have yet to find a flavor she doesn't like.

She just started daycare last week and absolutely loves it. She plays so hard that she crashes now at 8:30 at night verses 10:30 which was pre-daycare bedtime. There are two other children, they daycare providers daughter, Kendell who is a year, and Kian who is 6mo. so they are all great playmates and ironically all the same size right now. Needless to say I think Ella is probably the bruiser out of the group :).

As you can see Daddy wasted no time corrupting our little girl into becoming a Cheddar Head. I had to promise her that this was the only time that I would put her in a cheerleading outfit. Let's hope the next uniform we put on is a jersey!!

Ella is also coping with the arrival of her two top teeth. These two seem to be taking forever to get in when compared to her first two bottom teeth. She has been struggling diaper rashes, rubbing her ear (not an infection...have brought her in twice to make sure), and drooling like crazy. She even ran a temp this last Saturday which was cured with Tylenol but still was bothersome to see her as miserable as she was at the time.

She is still the very happy baby that she was from the start. She is always smiling it seems (except when changing a diaper rash diaper....then it is hysterical screams) and is great playing with others or just entertaining herself. Gabe continues to find it amusing that she can completely entertain herself with a couple of pieces of clear Tupperware and our kitchen floor.

It's hard to believe that she will be 9 months in 4 days! She is growing so fast and we are literally trying to keep up with her at times. It's so amazing to see her personality grow see little traits from each Gabe and I come out. She continues to surprise us all the time and we are so lucky and thankful to have such a beautiful, healthy baby girl.

She continues to have the milk allergy as far as we know and will be re-tested at her 12 month visit to see if she has outgrown it at that time. Fortunately we have not had any problems with her having any sort of reactions since her initial problems which is great. We will be sure to keep everyone posted on that is well.

Family vacation in Hayward, WI for Grandma and Grandpa's 30th Anniv.

Watching ships in canal park with Grandpa Hedlund