5 Months Old

5 Months Old

Look at what a big girl I am....sitting up all by myself in the new outfit Nana L. got me!!

Well, we officially have a 5 month old! What a joy she is each and every day! These days, Elli enjoys playing with anything she can get her hands on and typically puts all toys in her mouth! She is able to sit up on her own for a few minutes at a time. This has made feeding her solids extremely difficult! During feeding, she now always has to sit up and refuses to lean back against the highchair. Elli has also gotten pretty smart when it comes to eating. She's learned to completely turn her head and glue her lips shut when I try to get food in her mouth. We haven't found a food she just loves (except her prunes), but we continue trying. We have one more veggie to try and then we're on the fruit. I'm almost certain I have a "sweet tooth" girl on my hands and she'll enjoy fruits.


Elli is also becoming more independent with her bottle and feels like it is necessary to always help us hold it. We've been practicing letting her hold it on her own and she does a pretty good job. The other day when I was getting ready, she was doing a good job holding the bottle so I thought "Great....I'll just let her eat while I finish getting us ready." I came back to find she was flinging the bottle all around and had gotten milk all over her little dress....she's not quite old enough to be completely trusted with the bottle....I learned that quickly :)


As of today, Elli has also been trying to roll from her back to her stomach. We have been praying for this day to come (when she turns over on her back during the night, she wakes up until we come in to turn her back over. Also, at daycare they can't put her on her stomach to sleep which is her preference....so she sleeps very little at daycare....not a back sleeper). We watched for a couple minutes as Elliana tirelessly would roll to her side and push to try to get on her stomach. Scott was cheering her on like he was watching his favorite football team. Finally he said, "I can't take it anymore, I'm going to go help her....I just don't want her to get discouraged." So he gave her a little push and when she rolled over she was grinning from ear to ear!! Such a big girl we have!!


I wen t the dr. on Saturday morning and made it home just in time to get some good pictures of Elli after her nap. Happy 5 mo. birthday little lady!!

Notice she is not leaning on the back of the chair! She's just too cool for that these days!

We see this tongue quite frequently these days!

Preoccupied with the bear....

Trying to figure out how she can get it in her mouth....

Back on focus....

So easy to get a smile out of this little girl (when she is happy that is!!)

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I had planned on making a quick trip home Sunday-Tuesday; however, I got sick at the beginning of this week and just haven't gotten over it as quickly as I'd hoped. Luckily, I'm on antibiotics now and we felt that it was best if I just stayed here and tried to rest so I wouldn't be sick on our trip to FL.

We were able to meet Nana and Papa L. today (Sunday) at Indiana Lake. We toured the lake and found out that it was pretty big and relatively nice. We had dinner, went to the beach, and ate some ice cream. Scott and I couldn't wait for them to see Elli....it has been at least 3 weeks since they had seen her last. Lately, she's been so much more aware and so much fun that we couldn't wait for them to see the changes in her. Unfortunately, she choose to be relatively cranky....they did get to see some smiles. As luck would have it, she was happier than ever as soon as we got her home and ready for bed....figures....she always does that to us!

I had to post this picture! Look at her smile...haha! Usually we use Sophie (her favorite toy) to get some grins out of her!

Scott got his father's day present from his parents and this was his card. I always knew Elliana would make the cover of a card, I just didn't know it would be so soon! How cute is this Father's Day Card? Thanks for Scott's gift, Elli's new clothes/book/hat, cookbook, and bracelet!

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And because we don't have any recent picture of me and my #1 girl.....

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I'll leave you with a cute video of Elli's giggle and her trying to do what I was doing. Turn up the volume to hear the giggle....it is right at the beginning!!

Father's Day

Elliana is another week old and nearing her 5 month birthday this Saturday! We can't believe how fast our days and weekends go with her! We had a really great weekend, but it went way too fast! Scott and I got a lot of stuff done around the house and even went out for a really, really quick father's day meal on Saturday night! During dinner, we quickly remembered why we haven't gone to many "sit down" restaurants with her. She was ready to go home, ready to go to bed, and had had enough of our night out!

We celebrated Father's Day on Sunday morning by waking up and opening Scott's gift. (We had already given him his gift a couple weeks ago....a lawn cart which is exactly what he had asked for). BUT....my parents got him something, so he was at least able to open up a gift on his special day. He also opened cards from my Grandparents and from the 3 of us. Thanks Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa Zurcher for thinking of him on his 1st father's day! He appreciated it!

We then spent the rest of the day at the YMCA laying by the pool. Elli wasn't a huge fan of the cold water, but eventually she'll learn. We'll continue trying out the pool throughout the summer! Yesterday, we signed up for a membership there! I'll be able to get my workout done during the day while I send Elli to the childcare room!

All ready for church in her cute little dress Nana B. got her for Easter! It finally fits! Hoping this dress still fits Kensley, so the girls can be twins in Florida!!

1st Father's Day together!! She loves her daddy....can you tell? Elli couldn't have a better Daddy!
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We have a busy couple weeks ahead getting ready for a trip to Florida (Have I mentioned we are going to Florida in 2 weeks?)! We couldn't be more excited! We will be flying down on 7/3 (yes, we are already nervous about how the flight will go with our little Elliana) and heading home the following Saturday. We have been planning this trip since before Elli was born and are so excited that it is finally almost here! Scott was looking at pictures from Hilton Head last night (the vacation we took last summer) and talking about how he was ready to get down to the beach!
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Not as many pictures today to post! Maybe I'll have more for next week....we will be enjoying another relaxing weekend!!

Video

Cute video of Elli. She was supposed to be taking a nap!!

Our first night away.....

Elliana is another week old! There have been so many things lately that have reminded us of how big Elli is getting!

1. There are no more "newborn" inserts in her swing or car seat
2. She is getting better with hand-eye coordination
3. She has moved on to size 2 diapers
4. She is wearing some 6 month clothes
5. She is rolling onto her back like crazy these days....esp. in her crib
6. She has started on solids
6. She gets up on her hands instead of arms during tummy time
7. AND....the dr. thinks she has started the process of teething

I can't believe how much she has grown. We had to make an impromptu trip to the dr. on Monday morning for possible pink eye. She was 13 pounds 4 ounces. Wow!! She is beginning to giggle more and more these days. My mom and I learned the other night that her favorite word is "poo-poo" or "poopy." Yep, that's right....taking after her father! When we would say those words and only those words she would just crack up! She did this for a couple minutes! I tried to get a video of it, but I was a little too late!

Today, Elli and I had some special visitors come! Sarah, Sharon and my mom arrived at our house around 11:30 and stayed until about 7:30. Elli was a little cranky at first, but got better once we hit the malls (obviously, I should have known a little shopping therapy would calm her). She was quite the trooper seeing as how she missed most of her afternoon nap. We took turns (well...mainly Sharon, Mom and Sarah) took turns carrying her around! I'm hoping that when we do this next year, we will have another little one to buy for....and no not from me (hint...hint Sarah)! :) We had a great time....I think Elliana and I will try and make a trip to IN for another shopping day around the holidays!

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Papa and Nana brought me some clothes last time they came for a visit! This is one of Elli's 6 month outfits! What a pretty little model! Thanks Papa for picking it out for me....I love it...can you tell?
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For my birthday, Scott planned a trip to hocking hills. This was my first night away from Elli....I missed her, but I couldn't wait to get a FULL NIGHT OF SLEEP!! Wow...it felt great! We slept 8 hours Friday night and 9 hours Saturday night!! I hadn't slept that good since....well...probably before I was pregnant with Elli. We stayed 2 nights in a cabin. We did lots of hiking and a little shopping. We had a great time, but we were ready to see our 2 little girls!

The upstairs of the cabin....our room.

Downstairs. The stairs lead up to the room you just saw!

Outside of the cabin. On the back, we had a hot tub and sitting area.

Below are pictures from our hike. We went to 3 different caves and probably hiked about 6 miles and were exhausted when we were done!!

The pictures don't do it justice. It was a tad foggy, but we really had great weather. It rained while we shopped, so it worked out perfectly!
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Thanks Nana B. for watching me!!

20 weeks and counting

Elliana is growing more and more each day. I can't believe we have already hit 20 weeks with her! She is starting to really enjoy playing with toys and is becoming more active! She is still a WONDERFUL napper and a pretty good sleeper at night. We can't really complain too much! We are still getting up with her to put her binky back in various times throughout the night, but overall she does well going down for the night. She is a smiley little girl and it takes almost nothing to get a smile out of her when she is in a good mood.



She is starting to do better with solids. She did really well at her "lunch" today. She had a mixture of rice cereal and prune juice. This little lady does enjoy some prune juice!! Although she is doing better with rice cereal, we are taking a break as of today. She had some MAJOR constipation ( & hard stools....sorry for too much info.) today and yesterday! It was the worst that I had seen! She got many ounces of prune juice today and I think it is helping a little bit!



She had a big couple of days over the weekend! Saturday, she got to hang out with her Nana and Papa all day. They said she did really well and had a lot of fun! They took her to the park and shopping! While they were babysitting, we were at the Memorial Golf tournament with my parents and our friends! Sunday, the guys went to the tournament and Elli had her first "shopping trip" with the 3 women in her life. We found lots of gift ideas for her Papa to make her....luckily I took some detailed photos to show him :) We also found furniture that would look wonderful in my formal living room....I'm still trying to convince Scott that this is a "need" rather than a "want." Elli was pretty tired from her shopping day and had no trouble sleeping at night!



Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a picture of Elli with her grandparents....too much to do....So I've posted a picture of her with them when she was only a couple days old.



Elliana loves her tummy time! She spends a good portion of her day on her stomach with sleeping and playing!

I wish I could have gotten a front view of this picture....she was having lots of fun....mouth wide open for a smile!!

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I try and run at least 5 days out of the week. Currently, I run about 7 laps around our neighborhood which equals a little over 3 miles.

This is typically what I see when I run by our house.....

They usually come out to cheer me on!! Bella only does about 2 laps with me! Surprisingly enough....she actually gets tired!! I know....Bella? It is true!!

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Elli is putting everything in her mouth these days. Her favorite things to chew on are her hands....

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Little cutie in her outfit Daddy bought her last summer....

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We are looking forward to this weekend and the next week! Scott and I are going away for the weekend. This will be my first time away from Elli. I will miss her, but I'm looking forward to not hearing a monitor all night long :) My mom is coming to baby-sit for the weekend.

This next week, Elli and I have a couple of lunch/dinner dates with friends AND we have some special visitors coming on Tuesday!! We are looking forward to a big/busy week!!