Water Baby- YEAH!

We went to the pool two days in a row this weekend, and Ella LOVES it.  Yay!  She finally figured out how to walk around the baby pool in her floatie, and she zooms around everywhere.  She also goes after all the other kids in the pool...kind of like bumper cars. ;)

She kept her sunglasses on the for the first time...

On Saturday our neighbors were at the pool so she got to play with Alston and Emma...two of her favorite people.



Owen was there too...


Daddy dunked her for the first time, and she did great!


On Sunday she was Miss Social Butterfly.  She would not stay away from this group of kids...look at her looking up at them!

Then this little 14 month old boy came to sit by the pool, and Ella kept going over to wave at him (she is still obsessed with boys, which frankly scares me)...

Then she decided that waving wasn't close enough so she kept trying to crawl out of the pool while still in her floatie!  She could do it too, even with the step (oh yeah, last weekend she also climbed the entire flight of stairs in our house).


We're going to meet up with Devon and Kaitlyn at the pool tomorrow, so it will be 3 days in a row!

Homemade Baby Food?

I was never into making baby food...I just never thought it was necessary with all the healthy pre-made options out there...why spend the time, you know?  But now that Ella refuses to eat cut up vegetables, and I want to stop feeding her smooth purees (she's getting too old for that!), I decided to invent a little vegetable meal, and she loves it!  I used:

*Green beans (her favorite)
*Butternut squash
*Broccoli
*Zucchini
*Quinoa (gluten free and more protein than meat!)

I steamed just to al dente all the vegetables in the microwave, threw them in the food processor, added 1 tbsp. real butter, about 2-3 tbsp. parmesan cheese, the already steamed quinoa, a pinch of pepper and a pinch of salt and pureed until it was almost pureed but still thick and sort of chunky.  Easy, SUPER healthy, and she loves it! 

Since I have a whole tub of it, I hope she still likes it later.  My awesome eater is becoming SO finicky now!!!  Her favorite thing in the world are those Gerber cheese puff things.  Of course...she loves Cheetos (and cheese) just like mommy. ;)

Here is one of the LCBB pictures I took recently of a bunch of clips I haven't listed yet...coming soon!

The Weekend

I took no pictures this weekend!  Friday, Ella and I went to the Woodbury Commons for a little pool party with some girls from our mommy group.  Saturday, we went to really fun bbq at my parents' friends' house- they had tons of food and live music!  We had such a great time until Ella suddenly got hives and all red on her wrist (we still have no idea what from) that she would occasionally bite.  Luckily, it was gone by the next morning...weird.  Sunday, grandma and grandpa babysat because our friends Jen and Allen took us to the Angel game in the Diamond Club, and treated us to the DC's AWESOME brunch buffet...omg, it's so delicious!  I think I ate an entire wheel of Brie cheese. ;)

PLEASE Vote For Me!

Ok, I'm sorry for the shameless self-promotion, but if you read this blog, PLEASE vote for my Etsy store for "Best OC Etsy Store"!  I need all the free advertising I can get. ;)

Just go to the "You've Just Been Spotted" Website:
http://www.just-spotted.com/2010/08/youve-just-been-spotted-2010-oc-blog-awards/

Then, go to the very bottom where it says, "Speak your Mind".  Type in your Name, email (it won't show your email in the comment section) and in the big blank section, type, " Best OC Etsy Store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleChickenBaby " (you don't need to type anything where it says website).  That's it!

[You can also vote on their Facebook page by 'liking' their FB page and then commenting that my store is the best OC Etsy Store if you REALLY love me or my store!]

I would really appreciate your support!

Thanks!

Love, T

10 Months Old

That's right...we're just TWO months away from having a one year old!  This kid gets more of a personality every single day.  It's so fun to watch her grow, change, learn.

We don't have a doctor's appointment this week, but we did some unofficial measurements today, and she hasn't grown at all since last month! She still weighs 19-19.5 pounds and is 28 inches. She pretty much wears 6-12 month or 12 month clothing. She is still in a size 3 diaper. Eats the same too...four 6 oz. bottles a day and solids 3 times a day. It's so easy to give her jarred purees and pastas that we pretty much do those all the time.

She is crawling, pulling up and cruising a little bit along the couch. She is still super friendly and doesn't have even an ounce of stranger anxiety. She knows what she likes and what she doesn't like, and she gets bored easily. She is still in love with Rylee, but we're trying to teach her "gentle" because poor Rylee is losing hair in chunks.

We are lucky that she is very easy to take out with us because we really just love being with her. She is our little buddy, and we prefer to be with her than without her! I'm sure we'll eventually be longing for those dates nights alone, but right now, we just want to be with her as much as possible. :)

Birthdays and Brunches

We headed down to San Diego on Saturday for Brett's 2nd birthday (yay!), but it did not start out well.  First, traffic was horrific (as usual on Saturdays), 2 accidents, completely stopped for a majority of the drive, which meant Ella had more time to get bored and fussy.  Since we know Ella doesn't sleep well in the car, we decided we HAD to get one good nap in so we couldn't leave until she woke up at 10 (even though the party started at 11).  Because we were so late, and traffic was SO bad, we decided we had to feed her in the car since pulling over would make us even later.  Of course once she almost finished her bottle, she VOMITED e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e.  Twice.  Luckily, I had a bib on her so it mostly got all over the bib, car seat (great) and car.  It was one of those mornings where I honestly thought I was going to start crying because I was getting so frustrated!  We *finally* arrived and had a great time!

As usual, Brett was very sweet and shared his toys with Ella (we have now accepted the fact that we have to get one of these music tables...I thought I could get around it)...


Ella isn't quite ready for the bounce house yet...

Ella spots a balloon...

And must have it...

Brett knows a good thing when he sees it...


Happy birthday Brett!

It turned out to be a good thing that we made Ella nap at home before we left because traffic was also awful on the way home, and Ella only slept for about 35 minutes!

On Sunday, we went to brunch with Kevin, Devon and Kaitlyn...Ella ate lots of my scrambled eggs and didn't throw up...yay!

Ella is 10 months old today!  I'll do her 10 month recap next. :)

Planning, Panting and Pulling (up)

First, Ella's birthday party planning is well under way, and I'm SO excited!  I won't bore you all with the details, but it's going to be so adorable.  For our friends that read along, please mark your calendars for October 9th (I think at 11:30 a.m.)!

Second, Ella can't talk, can't identify 'mama' or 'dada' but on top of the ability to identify Rylee, she can now PANT like Rylee!  I really need to teach Rylee to talk because anything Rylee does is fascinating and copy worthy to Ella.  We caught a little bit on tape, although she does it much better than this...


Third, Ella now stands up in her crib so it's pretty easy for her to grab her monitor camera...and completely wrap herself up in the cord???

The Happiest Weekend on Earth...

On Friday, Kaitlyn, Mason and Logan came over for a little playdate (and some adult time for the moms!).

On Saturday, we were all over the place, including dinner at Zovs (best meatloaf and potatoes ever!), where Ella drank from a straw in my water glass (thanks for the tip D)!  She also pulled herself up to standing in her crib and on the couch for the very first time!!!  It was a BIG learning day for Little Miss E.

On Sunday, we had our annual firm attorney lunch at Club 33 in DISNEYLAND!  We usually do dinner with just the attorneys and their spouses, but this year, the kids were included for lunch.  We had SO much fun!  It doesn't seem possible, but D-Land is even better with kids!  Grandma and Grandpa met us there too.  We thought it would be awful since it's a Sunday, but the rides had barely any lines at all...it was great!

Ella did not close her eyes the entire time we were there, and we we didn't leave until 5:30.  No nap from 10:00 a.m. until bedtime at 7 p.m., and yet, she didn't even make a whimper all day...ahhhh, the magic of constant stimulation...

Naturally, the requisite photo op at the front of the park...

Julie, Ava, Ella and I at Club 33...

All the attorneys at my firm, minus one...

Mickey and Pluto came to visit us at Club 33, and we were SO happy because getting photos with them in the park is a nightmare!  Look at Ella's face...what ARE those?


Ella's very first ride was Pirates of the Caribbean, which just happens to be my personal favorite. We were so worried that she would get scared or cry, but she just stared and stared at everything going on inside!

Next we went on the Jungle Cruise, which was just ok. Ella was great, but it was hard for her to see anything so I'd probably skip it next time.  Here we are with grandma and grandpa in line...

Another required photo op...the castle...

Our next ride was It's a Small World, which Ella LOVED...that's how she sat the entire time...

This is what you spend most of your time doing when you bring a baby to D-Land...parking the stroller, getting her out, strapping her in, over and over and over...we had another step since Gary LOCKED our stroller with a bike lock at each stop (yes we are that dorky)!

We toured Toon Town, and visited Mickey's house first...Ella and I sitting at the "Mouseway" Piano!

Ella sitting on Mickey's rockin' washing machine with daddy...

Our attempt at a photo with Goofy without having to stand in line ;)

And finally, what D-Land does to adults...poor grandpa!

The Orange County Fair

We took Ella for her first visit to the Orange County Fair!  I heart the fair.  It reminds me of childhood.  I want to take Ella every year.  The funny part was that she was not so sure about the animals in the petting zoo, but she LOVED all the people walking around!

Very tentative while grandma feeds a goat...





We caught big mama during feeding time...the little piglets were SO cute!

Ella watched from afar...

Gary had to milk the giant cow...

My dad and I got those giant turkey legs for dinner...

We found a booth with tons of stuffed animals, which Ella found much more appealing than the real animals!



Ella's typical stance...feet up on her stroller bar, laughing at all the people!

Applause Please...

Ella is officially clapping!  She has been slapping her hands together once at time for a while, but yesterday, she would do it 3 times in row at once...this morning, she was a clapping fool!  It's so cute!

Ella Today

• For the past 3 days, Ella has slept in until 7 a.m., and this morning we had to WAKE HER UP at 7!
• Her right top tooth cut through today, and she couldn't be happier...maybe we'll make it easily through both top and bottom teeth!  
• She tried to eat her first piece of dog food today...how nice of Rylee to share...I pulled it out of her mouth before she swallowed it, but hey, it still counts as practice with finger food, right?