All Things Ella!

I figured it was time for another update on the princess of the Phillips household!

"Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning" Here is our "morning"!

--She will be 9 months in less than 2 weeks! So crazy to think we're not too far off from a birthday party

--She's eating pureed solid foods, but still figuring out finger foods. She hasn't quite connected the fact that when she grabs a chunk of food she can put it in her mouth. It's rather comical because everything else in the world she picks up goes in her mouth, but not actual food!

Giggly baby!

--We are still staying away from everything that is dairy. I plan to talk with the doctor more at her 9-month check-up to try and figure out how we determine in the future if she has a true dairy allergy or not. We tried her on a dairy formula when she was 7 months (we supplemented for just under a month) and she broke out like a mad woman. So, it was kind of a nice little test to see if the dairy would still cause her to get crazy eczema. But, now I'm wondering more about the future. I don't want to expose her to anything that could cause her throat to close up or something terrifying like that! So, we'll see what the doctor's advice is on that one :o)

Why scoot around on your tummy if you can do it while on your back?

--She has no interest at all in crawling. Seriously, she could care less about it. She still HATES being on her tummy. I can amuse her for a minute or two on her tummy before the screaming starts, but then she screams and rolls over. Haha. But, every once in a while, during her brief tummy time, she'll make some moves that lead us to believe she's about to crawl! Personally, I'm just enjoying the immobile time while it lasts. Because, I know it'll be a whole different ball game soon enough!

--She likes to sit up for a little while, but for whatever reason, likes laying on her back better. I've tried to keep her from laying back down before and she'll throw a mini-tantrum and push back on my hand as hard as possible to get back laying down. Some days she'll sit up and play a whole lot, while other days, she's on her back a lot.

Whenever she's doing something funny and we pull the camera out
she immediately stops and gives this face!

--If the sitting up versus laying down thing doesn't prove she's strong-willed, then spend a day with us and you can see all of the other little things she does that proves her strong personality :o) She keeps things interesting and I love it!

She loves to get into everything! So, she's helping mommy go through coupons :o)

--She is babbling away these days. Mama was her first word and her new word is Dada. She is also so very loud in her babbling. And, I. Love. It. She loves to talk and it's pretty much non-stop these days. It's my favorite sound in the whole world!

--Her current favorite toy is a plush doll of Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) that she got for Christmas. Even today she was crying because John was holding her and she wanted me to hold her (I had to throw that in there, because she is such a daddy's girl), then John grabbed her Aurora doll to show her and she instantly had a huge grin. But, she was still crying. So, John and I were cracking up at the smiles mixed with tears

She seriously melts my heart

--Speaking of princess stuff, any time she sees anything Disney princess she starts smiling! Her favorite book at the moment is Tangled, she smiles the whole time! I'm so excited to take her to Disney again, because I think she would be a smiling fool over meeting the princesses

She loves her daddy!

--She has gotten so ridiculously sweet. She has always been a sweet baby, but lately she just seems to be getting sweeter. So many smiles, giggles, flapping her arms in excitement, and enjoys a good hug!

--She still sleeps great and I couldn't be happier about that! I don't take it for granted at. all. And, tonight, for the first time she is sleeping with no sleep sack! She fell asleep just like normal, so I am hoping she snoozes just like normal. With the weather being so much hotter outside, it was time to ditch the added warmth.

I'm beginning to notice in a lot of the pictures I chose, she's in her carseat

--She is getting more hair! I can clip a small hairbow in it while we're at the house. I don't trust going out into public with a bow clipped straight to her hair, because it falls out pretty easily, haha. But, her hair is still pretty dark and looks curly when wet!

Those are all of the highlights I can think of for now! We are loving her more and more every day. It's hard to believe there was a time when she didn't exist in our lives. But, it's also hard to believe that she's our child! So funny all of the random emotions and thoughts that parenthood bring. She is such a joy and most certainly the greatest blessing of my life!