40 Weeks

We tried the swings at the park for the first time this week. The first day we did it, she seemed to really like it. She smiled and laughed and had a good time. After about five minutes she started fussing a little and reaching for me, so I took her out and sat in the big swing and swung with her. She seemed to like that too. Since then, every morning I try putting her in the swing after I jog and she cries every time. I don't know what happened. She's fine in the big swing with me, but she does not like being in the baby swing. We'll keep trying, maybe she'll change her mind again.

Ella and Cousin Maggie at Nana's house. Ella really liked Maggie's little push toy train thing. My Mom has carpet, so it worked pretty well there. I'm afraid our wood floors might be a little too slick and the push toy would get away from her.
I don't know if you can tell from this picture, but Ella has quite the farmer's tan. I usually put her in her little swim shirt when we go to the pool and even though I always put sunscreen on her, her arms and legs have gotten a little tan. My Mom got Ella and Maggie matching bathing suits, which Ella out grew almost immediately. Maggie has out grown hers too, so it got handed down to Ella. I decided to put her in that for the rest of the season to try to even out the tan a bit.

Ella helping Daddy take out the recycle. She's pulling up on everything now and will even stand unsupported for a few seconds. Most of the time, I think she just forgets to hold on and then realizes when she starts to wobble. At the pool the other day, she was standing in the shallow water and very purposefully and slowly let go of the rock wall and stood with out holding on for about 2o or 30 seconds. Even then, she didn't fall or anything, she just slowly put her hands back on the wall.

Speaking of slick wood floors, Ella busted her lip the other day. We had gone downtown to meet Jeff for lunch and then taken her to Grandpa D's office to show her off. By the time we left she was super tired, but only got a little nap in the car on the way home. So, she was crazy baby that evening. She was like a little drunk, falling down, tripping over her own feet. Anyway, she was crawling and some how just lunged forward and face planted. She started crying really hard and I picked her up trying to calm her down. I noticed after a few seconds that there was blood dripping onto my shirt. We put an ice cube on it and that seemed to stop the bleeding and distract her. Poor baby! The swelling was gone by the next day, but it's still bruised and scabbed.

We finally found some food Ella really likes. GrandMo was eating stuffed shells and gave Ella a little bite of the ricotta and tomato sauce and she loved it. Maureen couldn't give it to her fast enough. I was worried that it might bother her stomach, but so far so good. I think something must have clicked for her because she's been eating a lot better since then and she's at least willing to try anything.