Ellie Developments

Ellie continues to grow and develop so rapidly I can hardly keep up with all the new things she does to entertain and amaze me each day. Over break, we watched her gain many new skills and interests and I thought I'd try to document them while I still remember for the most part.

Ellie continues to do better and better at tummy time. She still only rolls over occasionally, but we are trying to show her that tipping her head is what helps her roll and I think eventually she'll get it. The amount of time she spends happy on her tummy continues to lengthen and we actually get smiles during this time now as well.

Her head and neck control also get better all the time. She has started to look up and back behind her more and more and look at what is in a whole room around her as opposed to just what is right in her area of the room.

Speaking of looking behind her. One of my favorite developments just in the last day or two is that Ellie likes my singing. I know, I'm terrible, and it worries me that we may find out there is something wrong with her ears one day, but although I can't explain it, she likes it. When we sing her a primary song each night before bed she just stares at me the whole time now. Today, when I was putting her down for a nap, I sang her a song with her in my lap and she arched her back and looked up to see me immediately after I began. Then, I got a big cheesy grin and she wriggled until I put her in a position where she could watch me sing. I got smiles for the first verse of the song and stares for the rest of it. Totally made my morning after a really rough night with her. And no, this is not one of those things we'll eventually get a video of for the blog. I get embarrassed enough on here, thank you very much.

With looking behind her has come this new position:
This is how Ellie spent most of Relief Society on the 26th in Preston in order to watch the teacher and music conductor throughout the hour. This position has also recently led to her getting up on her side occasionally. Hopefully that means she'll be rolling over on her stomach soon!

Ok, not a development really, but isn't she cute! We LOVE Aunt Julie dresses in our home... And Ellie just got big enough to wear this one for the 1st time right after Christmas.
Ok, now on to Spokane developments.

Ellie's hand control gets better all the time. She reaches for more toys and almost always grabs them on the first try, even if she hasn't gotten a ton better at getting them in her mouth instead of just against her face yet.

With hand control comes bottle holding! This is still very rare, but occasionally she'll hold her bottle with her apple juice or brown sugar water bottles! (given once daily to try and counteract all the oatmeal she gets for her reflux)

Speaking of reaching out with her hands, another made our day story from yesterday: Last night we went to the Mabton basketball games. Steve was helping the senior class out with their taco feed as he is one of their class advisers this year. Ellie hadn't been to Mabton in a while, so of course a few of the teachers we're friends with just had to hold her. Ellie does great with strangers, but twice, once with Steve and once with me, after she'd been with someone for a while, she spotted us and reached out. Like, leaned towards us with arms outstretched to go to Daddy or Mommy. No fuss, just a simple motion that melted our hearts. It's so great that she is beginning to be able to express her affection. We love that little girl an awful lot.

Ok, enough sap, back to hands. They are TASTY! This is Ellie's favorite new pose. Usually it's with the right hand, but she's willing to give the left a go too. Index and middle finger together - insert in mouth. Pretty stinkin cute. Don't worry, she gives all the other fingers and both fists some quality time and slobber as well. Just, these are her fall back sucking fingers.
However cute that may be, we don't want her to be a hand or finger sucker down the road as that can be really difficult to break. So if Ellie isn't just playing with her hands, she's just wanting to suck, we have started trying to give her a passifier now and then. I know, this habit can also be hard to break, but at least we can take away a passifier without the use of amputation. Once again, I know some parents may disagree with that statement as many kids seem to basically fuse the passifier to their bodies, but hey, we'll give it a go.

She's still kind of hit and miss on it, but when she's into it, she really likes her binky. On a random note, pretty sure she's throwing gang signs here in this picture. Yup, raising our daughter in Yakima Valley all right...

And then back to the tummy time. Ellie has started getting her legs under her more and more. She can push off of a solid object like my arm with her legs to scoot some. This started in Preston, but the only picture we got of her sort of doing it was in Spokane. Now if only she had any upper body strength to support her giant noggin we may be looking at a crawler soon. I think we've got a while yet.
Last few happy thoughts: Ellie loves her baths! She is so big now that she's graduated from her baby bath to just lying in a few inches of water in the tub, which she likes so much better. (later blog on this as well.) We have also begun giving her more foods. (again, another blog) Our girl is a great sleeper and napper most of the time and still wakes up smiling at whoever comes to get her. She also cracks us up now by stretching after she sleeps and by often sleeping with both hands behind her head like she's using them for a pillow. She is starting to discover the toys on her jumperoo and grab them, as well as the toys she carries everywhere with her. Ellie grabs clothes, bibs, and her knees and calves quite frequently, but has not started grabbing feet yet. We are starting to introduce her to a few very basic signs for diaper and food to try and teach her to communicate down the road. We recently had to break her of a screaming habit she had developed to get attention when she felt ignored. That thankfully only lasted a few days right when we got home. She has started to laugh more and more, is becoming ticklish on her neck and sides, and is such a pleasure to be around. Since we've gotten home she's gone back to constantly making noises and babbling throughout the day. She's such a happy baby and we are so blessed to have her in our family.

Christmas: Take 3

After spending Christmas in Preston, we made the drive to Spokane on the 27th. Instead of a 9 hour drive turning into 15 hours on our way to Preston, this 10 hour drive only took around 9! So much happier than our first drive of the break...

So, we left a mostly dry and foggy Preston for this:
Yeah, we may have seen a little bit of cold weather and snow while we were in Spokane. Just maybe... This is my parents' weather vane in their backyard. By the way, all these pictures are ones Kerry took since I've learned it's hard to both enjoy time with family and get lots of pictures at the same time. Thanks for letting us steal your pictures, Kerry!

We had a great, restful break spending time with family. Wednesday morning Jennifer came over and we had our 3rd Christmas with Ellie. Here is the outfit we bought her for her 1st Christmas. We put her in it on Christmas day, but she threw up all over it before we could get a single picture, hence the Cougars gear in pictures from that day. (Santa brought the WSU shirt to her knowing Daddy would love it, so of course he had to put her in it when she needed a new outfit that day.) We figured it was still Christmas for us, so she wore it again for this Christmas with more lasting results.

Ellie got some great touch and feel board books from a series we love, some other great books like Goodnight Moon, and some really fun toys. Here she is opening a snail that sings and lights up that she can push and chase after down the road.
Steve and I enjoyed our peaceful week in Spokane, and with the bad roads and weather didn't venture out a whole lot. Instead, Steve found new ways to entertain us all.Well, some of us were entertained....

He didn't appreciate my lack of enthusiasm for his new headgear.But don't worry, we're still friends.

Other highlights from break: lots of Uno, some Farkle, swimming with Ellie for the 1st time (later blog on this), a very uneventful New Years, and Ellie visiting Grandma and Great Grandpa.

Saturday we also THOROUGHLY enjoyed an amazing prime rib dinner that has become the tradition in my family for Christmas. Afterward, we all about peed ourselves during a rousing game of Apples to Apples which involved learning from Dad that New York is the capital of the world if you're looking for a certain type of person and what Dolly Parton is known for, as well as what adjective Kerry thinks best describes Helen Keller. Basically, Apples to Apples is amazing, and gets more so the later at night you play. LOVE it!

Oh, and once again, the BEST part of the trip: watching family with Ellie. Only makes us wish we lived nearer to both of our amazing families!

Just for good measure, a picture from Preston on that same topic.

Christmas Eve and Christmas in Preston

For the last two years we have spent Christmas in Spokane, so this year we headed south to Preston, Idaho to spend the holiday with Steve's family who all live in Idaho and Northern Utah. Steve's family has a number of Christmas traditions which I loved being a part of with Ellie this year.

We spent Christmas Eve together with most of the family at Grandma and Grandpa's eating a great dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and then began the fun. The first tradition on the Bennett side is that on Christmas Eve all of the kids break a pinata. There are a few little toys or presents for each grandchild in the pinata. This year Ellie got some cute holiday socks and linking ring toys. (thanks to a thoughtful aunt and grandmother who knew we would forget on Ellie's 1st Christmas)

This year the pinata was a snowman. Tradition also dictates that Uncle Steve runs the pinata and tries to hit the older kids more than they hit the pinata. Here's Steve at the ropes.

Here is Ellie's 1st turn at the pinata. She seemed to think that little taps were ok but harder hits were not. Those harder hits brought about flinches and some crying. But all in all, she did well.

Ellie may not have loved hitting the pinata, but she did enjoy watching others hit it. She was completely focused. Aunt Lori was holding her so that I could take pictures.

What was Ellie interested in even more than watching? EATING of course!

Christmas Eve night after the pinata brought some of my favorite memories of Ellie's first Christmas. The family gathered together in the family room and then told Christmas stories. First we sang Christmas hymns and Amanda and Kathy read many of the scriptures telling the Christmas story. Then Bridget read us a Christmas story. Lastly, we read Ellie's little Christmas story board book. It was such a great feeling to be sharing stories and songs of Christ's birth with family. I love feeling the Spirit with loved ones around. There is little better in this world.

Christmas Day started with opening Santa's presents. We may look like crap, but it was important to document Ellie's 1st stocking and presents from Santa.

After breakfast we all got dressed and opened presents from Grandma and Grandpa as well as a few of the family presents.Here is a video of Steve helping Ellie open her present from Grandma that her and I found right before Christmas and just couldn't pass up! As you'll see, it's obviously just as much for Daddy as for Ellie.

After presents we headed to Lori & Curtis' house for Christmas dinner and more presents. Ellie loved her presents, but she played longest with this.
After presents we had a lot of great play time. Amanda got this gun from Steve and I for Christmas and it made for a lot of entertainment for the rest of us. Here she is at the top of the stairs waiting to ambush people sniper style.
While most of us played, a select few were hard at work preparing our Christmas feast! Here's Steve in his new Broncos cookwear his sisters got him. Steve is always in charge of the meat. I know, who would've guessed.
One of the most entertaining pictures we took that day. Here are the men not long after supper. Tyler is the only one awake, in the background on the computer. What were all the women doing? Staying upstairs, awake. Well, Ellie doesn't count. She was napping too.As you can see, we had a great Christmas Eve and Christmas. Ellie hardly napped with all the excitement but was a great girl for everyone. She showered family with lots of smiles and little giggles. We loved being with the Bennett, Mason, and Roberts clans.

Ellie's 1st First Christmas

Ok, first to explain the title: We knew that we wouldn't be home for Christmas. And it made NO sense to travel with all of Ellie's presents all over the Northwest. So, we had our own little first Christmas on December 12, 2010. Later, Santa brought Ellie presents at Grandma and Grandpa Bennett's, plus family presents there, and then we had a Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Rose once we got to Spokane.

This is what Ellie's first Christmas tree looked like. Also, our first tree over 3 feet tall...


Here are some pictures and a video of Ellie opening some of her first presents with Daddy! She did great and loved grabbing and holding onto the paper. Unfortunately for her, we didn't let her enjoy eating any.

And one of Ellie and Mom opening a gift.


We got her mostly clothing and books as we figured those were things she would need down the road anyway. Ellie was totally spoiled as we finished our shopping in November and then found things on sale we liked. Also, buying one or two things at a time adds up without your realizing it!This is what Aunt Julie and Aunt Charlie got for Ellie which we also opened as we got their gifts in the mail before our Christmas. So very cute! Thank you both!

Ellie had a great 1st first Christmas! We loved having a Christmas as a little family this year and getting to focus on Ellie and what she might like in the months and years to come!Our Munchkin the day after this little celebration. Merry Christmas Ellie!

Hands that Grab

As of this last Saturday, Ellie is beginning to understand not only that she has hands, but that she controls them! Before we've had lots of hand-watching, and she has been a grabber when something is within reach since she was only a couple of weeks old, but Saturday those little hands found purpose.

It was so fun to see her study the elephant rattle on her playmat and then reach out with purpose! She played with that same toy for a good 15 minutes or more. It may have been like watching someone with Parkinsons, and I would have been frustrated in her situation, but she stuck with it. Today after church we got a few pictures of her playing with another toy on her playmat. This one works even better with the multiple flat surfaces for her to grab.
If you look closely in the close-up picture, you can also see another new development. (Or maybe you'll just have to take my word for it...) Today she rolled over onto her side a few times from her back. Rolling all the way over can't be too terribly far behind. Hooray for someday having a rolling machine to chase after around the floor.

We're so proud and excited each time we can see Ellie figure out something new.

Lots of Ellie Videos

So this blog is basically just playing catch up on some of the cute videos we've taken of Ellie in the past few weeks. Unfortunately, between my being too slow to grab the camera at times, and the fact that Ellie is always distracted by the camera and tends not to react as much and go spacey while it's on her, none of these are the greatest videos of what we're talking about, but at least they give you a sense of the joys of Ellie.

This first one is supposed to show how focused Ellie gets on her night-time stories. This girl LOVES her books. She stares at the pages, tracks the books when we move them to turn the pages, and sometimes joins in the telling of the story by adding her own side comments. This night she was a little floppy and distracted, but you still get the basic idea.

Next we have the kicking game. If Ellie is upset, you can almost always make her smile and stop crying by doing this with her legs. Even on her stomach! Too bad she appears to either be taking a break from this game or outgrowing it. Either way, I'm glad we got it on video, even if she's not smiling nearly as big as usual.


Next, laughing! This video makes me both very happy and very sad. Happy, because I love to hear Ellie laugh and she's not doing it all that often still and I'm glad we got her early laughing on video. Sad because Steve had her laughing hard for like 5-10 seconds at a time right before this and I didn't even think about videoing it until he told me to get the camera and she's already had her best laughs. But still cute! Enjoy the winding down part of this game with the ever entertaining Daddy.

Lastly, our video of her falling asleep in the jumperoo. I love the random movements as she fights to stay awake, as well as the hand sucking. Oh yeah, and that's our Christmas tree!

Do you see how we can't help but be in love with this adorable funny girl?!

Thanksgiving

As Steve only had a couple of days off work for Thanksgiving this year, we decided to go and spend some time with Grandpa and Grandma in Spokane. We always love visiting family and it was great to spend time relaxing.

We have let Ellie try little tastes of things in the past, just a tiny bit on our finger tip of things like soft-serve ice cream, chocolate pudding, etc. However, Ellie isn't supposed to eat solids till she's 4-6 months old, but we figured that in the spirit of Thanksgiving we would try giving Ellie some mashed potatoes as every kid seems to like them - so we've been told as we obviously lack that experience.Ellie staring down the mashed potatoes in her "my first Thanksgiving" outfit Grandma Kerry got for her.Now for the video, which most of the experienced parents out there probably expected - mashed potatoes did not go over well. We know, silly parents, all she has had so far has been sweet. When we put her on actual solids in a few weeks, we'll keep this in mind.

And what comes after a Thanksgiving feast? A nap where Mommy and Ellie both crash.
And as soon as you've eaten leftovers once, everyone starts thinking about Christmas. Grandma Kerry got Ellie a Christmas dress and needed pictures before we left, so we had a little photo shoot.
And guess who showed up??? Santa!
Or maybe not... Steve says that Ellie gave him such a confused look when his voice was coming from a totally different looking face.
And, once we got home, our tree was already up and waiting for us. Ok, so I may have been excited when we got our first full-sized tree the weekend before and put this up the Sunday BEFORE Thanksgiving. Before you all cry blasphemy, I have an excuse that even made Steve ok with this. We're going to be visiting family for all of the holiday season and I wanted to be able to enjoy our tree for more than two weeks between trips. So up it went!
Thanks to my Dad and Kerry for a great Thanksgiving trip! They also got Ellie a fantastic new convertible car seat which will make our holiday travels much nicer for everyone. We loved spending Ellie's first Thanksgiving with them and are always grateful for the hospitality and generosity of both our families!