because i need to record it somewhere

Ellie Kate hit 11 months old yesterday.  I can't quite wrap my mind around that.

It's funny reading my last post {at 3 months old, goodness gracious} and reading that I wrote that she was an easy baby.  That was true for about another month.  She hit 4 months and showed us her true colors.  It was all part of her plan- be this easy peasy, super awesome newbie... then become the rascal that you really are and we can do nothing but keep on loving you.  Your labor actually was a pretty good indicator of the crazy that was to come.

And we adore every single second of it.

So, for the sake of posterity, here are your milestones, Miss EK:

You were exclusively breastfed until 6 months old, then your first solid foods were banana, avocado, and sweet potato.

You began rolling over at 5 months old.

You started army crawling at 6 months.

You sat up at 6 1/2 months {yes, that order is correct.  you crazy kid, you crawled before you sat}

Complete crawling at 7 months

Figured out how to do stairs at 7 1/2 months

Started standing at 7 1/2 months.

Haven't taken first steps yet, but we're just waiting.  And bracing for the day when you are fully unleashed on our house. :)

We're almost one year in to having you around... I can't imagine it any other way.

3 months old

It is kind of hard to believe it has already been 3 MONTHS since we welcomed Ellie Kate into our world.  I'm so glad she's here!

She is a GOOD baby.  She is easy to love and is very much adored by her whole family, especially her big sister.  She is at a fun stage where she is waking up to her world and I don't want to forget what she is like at 3 months.

* She is a paci girl.  When you put the paci into her mouth she wraps her hand around yours as if to say "never let go!  keep this thing in my mouth forever!"
* She is a good sleeper without much fuss
* She is alert and 'talkative'- she is much more of a communicator than Brennan was at this age.  She coos, babbles, and is already responding and tries to talk back to you when you talk to her
* She is a happy, happy, happy baby.  When she wakes up in the morning, the first noise I hear is her laughing and singing to herself.  When you walk into the room and she locks eyes on you, the widest grin spreads out on her face
* She has already learned how to do raspberries.  It's her own cute, tiny version of raspberries, but it is obvious that she is trying to mimic you doing raspberries to her and she does them quite a bit after learning that it makes us laugh.
* She HATES the car.  As in, the second the engine starts, the girl starts to scream.  It doesn't matter if we're going down the road to Target, or in the car for 2 hours she screams and screams and screams.  She makes herself gag and choke she cries so hard and rarely does it end in her crying herself to sleep.  Please, Ellie, for the sake of us all, please grow out of this.

Selfie Queens

I have always loved taking pictures of me and Brennan.  It wasn't until recently when I was going through my photo library did I realize how much of an addiction it might be.

Let this post take you on a visual tour through Brennan's first couple years of life.  

This was the last selfie post we got to do together before Ellie entered the picture

And now, there is a 3rd little face that has entered our selfies!

Puppy Hat

I don't quite know how the phenomenon of "puppy hat" came to be.... but it is everywhere.  Brennan thinks that puppy hat is hilarious and does it daily.

The funniest part of this whole deal is when she tries to run, or in this case- dance, while wearing puppy heat.  Inevitably, she runs into the wall.  She ran into the fridge shortly after this picture was taken.   

Lotsa Ellison Kate

This Girl.  

She's amazing.

Just look at those fingers.

And toes.

She has the most angelic sleeping face

She is adored by all in our family

Looks super cute with a paci that takes up half of her face

Forces me to eat most of my meals with her on my lap in this fashion.  Worth it.   

Is a good sleeper and can crash anywhere despite the chaos her big sister causes 

Loves to be snuggled

The cutest little 2 month old I've ever seen

Has the cutest little side yawns

My word do I adore her.  Miss Ellie Kate is a GOOD baby.  She is fun to have around, sleeps easily, eats good, doesn't fuss for no reason.  She has transitioned into our family with few bumps in the road.  It's hard to imagine life without her now.  She really is a gem.

A Little Bit of Everything

This post is disjointed, chaotic, and is a bit of a mess.  Kind of like our life lately.  

But it is all about my girls and how we are filling our days lately.  Life with two littles is full- in every manner of the word.  Full of life, exhaustion, laughter, squeals of joy, sighs, temper tantrums, kisses, and snuggles.  I love it. 

Rocking her tutu in the grocery cart car.  She YELLS "Beep Beep!" as we go through the aisles, and as we pass by an unsuspecting fellow shopper, she YELLS "Hey, you!"

We LOVE our neighborhood park which is just a few blocks away.  Many afternoons I find myself strapping the girls into the stroller to go burn off some energy.

We sometimes go to a gymnastics gym that has an open gym for toddlers on Friday mornings and Brennan loves it there.  Especially this long trampoline.  Back and forth.  and Back and forth.  And back and forth...

I catch her reading in every corner of the house

She is big into labeling these days- in this picture she is saying "Brennan."  She had just pointed out Mommy, Sister, and Sophie

I had no reason to worry about new baby jealousy, acting out, or being angry at the baby... this girl LOVES her sister.  She stares at her, wakes her up from naps, gets in her face, and squeals with delight when she discovers Ellie in a room she has just entered.  I can't wait until they can actually play together.

I was able to catch some of these sweet early smiles

See the sister love?