She's on the move!

At 10.5 months, our little Ella finally learned to crawl! I say finally because she has been frustrated at not being able to move for what seems like forever. Up until this point she was rocking back and forth a lot and doing a lot of faceplanting. A frustrated Ella is not always the most fun to be around!

She took her first tentative "crawls" about two weeks ago and now there is no stopping her. She is so much happier now that she can get to the toys and places she wants, whenever she wants. This will of course come with some new challenges for Andy and I, but for now she seems to be a very purposeful crawler, in that she only moves to get something and not just for the sake of moving. She's also not very fast so she can't escape us, yet!

With this new major skill development I thought it timely for a new "Ella update", she is now nearly 11 months old.

Ella loves:

• Crawling. Obviously.
• Eating. Anything and everything. Mostly she wants whatever we are eating. She likes putting food in her mouth herself, but she still doesn't mind being spoon fed which is helpful. And she is a lot less messy than she used to be.
• Balls. She giggles with delight anytime she sees one, and she seeks them out when looking through her basket of toys. She's actually pretty good at rolling a ball back and forth with us. I think she inherited her dad's hand-eye coordination!
• Dogs and other animals. She is super excited whenever she sees a dog and loves when they lick her hand. 
• Swimming lessons. She is so engaged in these, I wish we could take her swimming every day.
• Sleeping through the night! Whoop! Maybe this is more of a "Mommy and Daddy love" item, but she must love it. Who doesn't love a good nights sleep?
• Playing peek-a-boo, although this is much more effective than when you hide behind a door or something and then pop out, rather than the usual hiding behind hands. I'm thinking she is much too clever to be tricked by just hiding behind hands. 
• Talking to her grandparents on FaceTime. She recognises the ring sound now and gives them a big smile when they pop up on screen. I am really curious to see if she will recognise them in person when we see them in June.
• Playing at the park. She loves the swings and going on the slide and watching the other children. 
• Going for walks. She can handle a very long walk in her pram as she is busy taking in her surroundings. 
• Seeing her daddy come home from work. He gets the biggest smile on the days I am home with her when he walks in the door. He shouts out "Hello!" and she instantly gets excited. 
• Other people's houses - especially ones with toys. So much more fun to explore than our house. 
• Music videos. Especially Pharell's "Happy".

Ella does not love:

• Waiting for food. God help the person who puts her in her high chair before her food is ready. A trick from a fellow mummy friend of mine is to put some peas on her tray to play with while food is being prepared. She loves squishing them and a few even end up in her mouth, so a double win. She has also developed a very high pitched scream when her food doesn't come fast enough that we are not quite sure how to deal with. I am desperately hoping this phase passes before our flights to the UK next month.
• When I sneeze. It seems to terrify her and she cries whenever I sneeze. 
• Some of our friends. Lately she will burst into tears if a friend comes over. Even ones she sees often. It is random, we can't figure out why as she doesn't always do it with the same people. She becomes very clingy and snuggles up to me or Andy for a while before she gets used to the new person. I'm not going to lie, I kind of love the snuggles.

Things Ella does:

• Did I mention she can crawl now?
• Claps
• Waves - this is pretty hit or miss. She doesn't wave on demand yet.
• Passes you things when you ask. This is so cute. And she loves when you give it back.

Things We've Learned:

• Not to worry about her eating so much. It has sorted itself out and some days she eats more than others, but that is ok. 
• During the height of a cold, don't expect to get a good nights sleep.
• Staying at home all day is BORING and will result in a whingy baby. Getting out, ANYWHERE, is a much better plan.
• Folded laundry is a good toy. Actually anything that is not really a toy is better than what you can buy at Babies R Us.