Ella- 11 months old

*She has gotten a little shy. When we are holding her, she will tuck her head into our chest. She will also start to cry (with the saddest, most pathetic looking pouty face) when people look at her. It is kind of funny though, because she will stare at a person and really examine them before she gets upset.
*She had her first baby playgroup with MOMS Club. Of course, there wasn't a whole lot of "playing" going on. The babies sat on the activity blanket and played with the baby toys while the mom's did all of the talking. Ella would cry when she would look at the other mom's, so I had to turn her away from the group and keep her in my lap. Silly girl.
*She has started "Baby Led Weaning". This is what I have just started this past month, but was recently given a name for it (thank you, McKenzie). This is a method of gradually weaning a baby from a milk diet onto solid foods. It allows a baby to control their solid food intake by self-feeding from the very beginning of the weaning process. My motivation: CONVENIENCE. Who wants to deal with baby food when they are out and about? Not this second-time mommy. That is something you do when you only have one child. So we have just started giving her nibbles from what we are eating and have mostly ditched the pureed baby food (until we use up what we have). Up until now, she hasn't had much interest in food, but she is figuring it out quickly. She knows what we are eating tastes way better than that bottle and she wants it all to herself. She never eats that much, but she is doing a little more each day.
*Her sleeping schedule has been off. She has missed a few morning naps and is having a harder time going to sleep any earlier than 10 p.m. This has only been a couple of days, randomly spread out through the month, but we are trying to keep her on a schedule as best we can. This has proven to be difficult with the nicer weather in the evenings and our busy schedule in the day time.
*She is hilarious! She has taken a while to embrace her laughter. Up until now, I would have described her giggle more like a grunt. It was pretty forced and would take a lot of work to get it out of her. This past month she has started actually laughing and for no reason at all. And she will keep laughing. It is wonderful! Jaycoby gets her best laughs. She just thinks her big brother is the funniest kid in town.


Family Dinner with Ella on the table.

One of Ella's classic funny faces.

Playing with her Ella Dog.

Little Nakey Nakey.

She had to ride home from the gym in a diaper only, because she pooped all over her clothes while mommy was working out. Jaycoby was concerned that the police man would give her a ticket "because you can't ride in a car seat without any clothes" apparently.

Ella's playgroup. Conrad & Corryn.

Two beauty queens.

I thought this picture was hilarious. Logan's dad (Greg) described it best:
Ella: "Hey did you hear what I said?? I'm TALKING to you!!!"
Logan: "Please girl... I'm over it... HEY, hold the photos please!!"

Pretty girl with her HUGE bow.