7 Months Old

 Ella was 7 months old on Saturday, but I forgot to post her monthly update!  You'll notice the monthly sign isn't in either of the photos above...that's because this is what happened the second I set the sign down...

Ella weighs about 17 pounds now.  She eats 5 bottles a day, all about 6 oz. each except her 11 p.m. dream feed, where she will only take 1-3 oz.  We try to give her solids at least once a day- so far, she's had peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots and pears.

She wears a size 2 diaper and 6-9 month in most clothes (although she still easily fits into 3-6 month sizes in Gymboree and Naartjie).

She sleeps through night, 6:30 p.m. to 6 or 6:30 a.m.  No matter what time we put her to bed, we cannot seem to get her to sleep past 6:30 a.m.!  And at least once a week, she'll wake up at 5:30 a.m. for the day.  Luckily, she'll just quietly talk to herself in her crib until daddy gets her up around 6:15.

She loves dogs and loves to people watch.  Even when she's tired, if you walk her around somewhere like the Spectrum, she won't make a peep while she stares at all the people walking by.  She loves to laugh and is a truly happy baby.  She will let anyone hold her and remains calm and happy even if Gary and I leave the room.  Even though she doesn't have any sort of separation anxiety yet, I think she's a mama's girl right now because she gets exceptionally happy when I come into the room.

She 'talks' more and more each day, and I swear I heard her say 'mama' twice when we were in Vegas!  She is sitting up unassisted all the time now, and only tumbles over occasionally.  We wonder if she will ever crawl because she seems to use rolling as her mechanism of choice to get where she wants to be...she rolls all over the place!  Every time she gets up on her knees, she rolls over.

She brings so much happiness into our lives, and every single day is better than the last.  We feel so blessed to be the lucky ones that get to be her parents.  Life is good.