September 30th -

Ella went to her first Gymboree Play class today. Nitsa took her and they had a great time. Ella loves 

September 29th- Carseat Upgrade

Well much sooner than I had thought we have had to size up Ella's car seat. I was sure that the infant carseat would last us at least a few months longer but no. Being in the 90% for everything means you are just big for your age. It was getting uncomfortable to look at her in the tiny carseat and Matt had a hard time getting the straps buckled on Sunday when she was wearing a sweater.  Sunday I did some consumer reports research and after work today I went and bought a new carseat. Man those things are expensive.  This also means new strollers, no more sneaking her in while asleep in her seat and instead of every car just having a base, every car needs it's own carseat. So it looks like my car will become Ella's car for a few weeks until we are really sure we like this one. (Hello Turbo engine in Gigi's car. hehe)

Doesn't she look comfortable!

September 28th- Bounce House!!

Today was the Back to School Family BBQ at Mid-Pen. I was in charge of the Bake Sale to help fund Prom so we went early to set up. So getting there early means only a few people and no one in the bounce house. Perfect for introducing Miss Ella to bouncy fun.  She LOVED it. We have a little dare-devil on our hands. She may look like Matt, but she's got some of her momma in there too. :)

September 27th- Lunch and Salsa Festival

Good Morning World! 

Ella is taking a little bit longer to wake up now,

 but she is still her smiley self when she does. 

Here she is waving to the camera. 

Today we met Paul and Laura for lunch and stumbled onto a Salsa festival in downtown Redwood City. There was the salsa you eat and the kind you dance. There was also Micro-Brew tasting. So Beer Tasting we went.

September 26th- 7 months old

Today Ella is 7 months old. She is so busy. She chats all the time, with everyone (including Beaker.)  She is getting so close to really crawling, she is great at going backwards and sideways, forward is still alluding her.  She loves trying new food and likes so many things. It is really fun to watch.

She is trying out her independence everyday. She like to feed herself, play by herself, and is attempting to stand by herself.

September 26th First Swim Lesson

I (Gigi) took Ella to her first swim lesson today -  

Its a little swim school near Redwood City - a tented shallow pool.  The air and the water are both kept around 90 degrees - tropical!  No cold foggy weather at this swim school!

The changing room is designed for baby and parent.  Each cubicle has a changing table for baby and separate curtains for the grownups - very decked out for baby mermaids and their mer-people!  Here's a video tour we took to send Ella's Mommy!

We met cool kids!  This is Danniella and her mom Ginger.  Daniella is just one day younger then Ella!  And look at her hair - isn't she clever?  We hung out during class together - the rest of the kids were 12 and 14 months - so we were the new kids in the class.

The half hour went FAST.   Everything is designed to get you wet and moving in the water.  There is lots of singing, lots of moving and lots of taking turns.  Ella loved watching the other kids.  Learn by watching then learn by doing!

Chasing floating toys - loved it.  Pushing off the wall backwards and feeling the water rushed by her ears - loved it.  Floating on her back while I just floated Ella in my arms while I waved my hands singing the songs - Ella loved it.  And it was ok to do the 'elbow, elbow, tummy, knee up, knee up over and over again at the wall to start to learn to climb out of the pool.  

The hard part?  Well, the hard part was the '1, 2, 3' and somebody blows in your face and then zooms you facedown into the water.  Or sits you on the side of the pool and '1,2,3 - blow in the face' and dives you into the pool.  I did giggle when they stood Ella on the mat and did the 1,2,3 blow thing and then had her jump into the water - that one made us both smile!

So this is serious swim class - get wet and get moving!

Ella never cried.  She roared and grumbled when I took her out.  And so we're going again Wednesday.

September 25th- Eating and Story Time

Ella loves to eat. Matt always call it dinner with a show. She has started grunting when she runs out of food and wants more. Very lady like.

She loves her bread just like her mommy. 

Broccoli 

Drinking from the grown-up glasses is the best! 

After bath time stories. 

September 24th- Rock Rock

Gigi and I have been doing "Rock Rock" with Ella for a few weeks but this week she has really gotten into it. She loves it.  Every time she is in Gigi's lap and she starts to sing the song Ella throws herself backwards. She especially loves seeing me upside down. It is adorable.

September 23rd - Back to School Night

Ella got to spend some quality time at Mid-Pen this afternoon. We ate some dinner with the staff and waited for Daddy to come and pick her up.

Here she is working for a living!

September 22nd - Super Baby!

Flying Super Baby!

September 21st - Cute Dress and Church Independence

Mom Mom and Pop Pop got this dress for Ella this summer and I have been trying to have her wear it for months. It was always too big. Well I should have tried two weeks ago because it almost doesn't fit now. (But it could easily make a reappearance when she starts walking and thins out a bit.)

Ella gets a quite a few compliments out there in the world. Today she was stopping people on sidewalks to remark on how cute, adorable, precious she is. Also lots of "oh those eyes", it's a good thing she hasn't mastered language because it could have all gone to her head. 

She is also fiercely independent. Shocking I know, where did she get it from. :) This shows it self in her almost 7 month old form by not wanting to sit in your lap for long stretches.  Proving interesting in church today. Luckily the Fox twins are in love with her and they kept her company at church today. 

September 20th- Rug Shopping

Rug shopping was the name of the game today. Over the last few weeks with the addition of the piano and the movement of Ella I have really wanted to work on the living room. We haven't really fixed it up since me moved in. I got some art and photographs on the walls but it is not tired up the way I would like.  After a LONG debate we decided to get one really big rug and were ready to invest in a really nice rug that would last a long time. After a full day of shopping and totally changed our minds and went with the HomeGoods inexpensive rug and we love it. It was a great find and is the perfect size.  This is what it looks like when you put a 9 by 13 foot rug in a car with two adults and a car seat.  Ella and I are in the backseat while Matt drove. The rug won the most space.

September 19th- Dolphins and seals and sea lions - Oh My!

This is still Gigi/ Ella and I visited Suzanne today at Half Moon Bay and after visiting for awhile at her house - went for a long coastal watch to try and see some whales/  No whales today -but lots and lots of dolphins/seals/surfers/ and sea lions!

Honestly though - Ella slept through almost all of it/  She took an epic 2 1/2 hour nap/  Suzanne pointed out that since Ella sleeps with the white noise of the 'sleep sheep' maybe all those pounding waves just triggered an auto sleep response?!

It was still fun - and since Dad was late for dinner we went out for the Early Bird special at the new restaurant in town Jack's/  Ella ate EVERYTHING/  and hopefully Julia will post her pictures of Ella 'sharing' a glass of water with Nitsa/  I can honestly say I've never seen two people drink out of a glass at the same time before/ Ella continues to teach me new things everyday!!!

September 18th- Cute Kid

Just a cute kid shot.

September 17th - Wednesday's with Ella and Gigi

This is Gigi/Patt - I'm today's guest writer and photographer/  And I have no 'period' to use as punctuation - a bit of a bug has invaded my system I suspect/ So I appreciate your patience with my slash marks/

Ella and I spent Wednesday together - it's Indian Summer here so we went for a swim/ Beaker took on a life guard role/  He's not a water fan so he just paced the pool deck nervously/  I couldn't tell if he was anxious to be missing out on the fun/ Or if he thought Ella and I were crazy to get wet!  Ella loves the water - and does a natural frog kick if you float her on her back/ She also seems to think that swimming might be one big 'drinking opportunity' because she takes any chance she can get to dip her mouth in for a good gulp!

But this last picture is the rarest of rare pictures!  Here is Ella asleep - IN HER CRIB/  The sleep sheep had her way with her and Ella caught some winks!!