Happy 1/2 Year, Ella Marlene!!!

Ella is SIX months old today.  I remember (barely!) when Breckin turned six months old and it seemed like an eternity from the day he was born until Nov 11, 2005.  So, how did this one fly by so fast?  Blink- she was born.  Blink- she's 1/2 year old.  What happened?

Ella is our missing puzzle piece.  She is the yang to Breckin's yin.  She is what was missing in our lives before we even knew about her.  Ella has a beautiful temperment, addictive giggle, sweet-as-honey smile, and endless love for her big brother.  Whenever she hears his voice- whether she's grumpy or happy, eating or sleeping- she looks for him.  As soon as she spies him, she grins.  She has her Daddy completely wrapped around her tiny finger. 

Here are the things that Ella can do:

• Sit up all by herself until she decides it's time to chew on her toes- then down she goes!
• Chew on her toes.  (Jos, you need to come teach her about stinktooth)
• Roll from back to tummy.
• Eat liquified veggies from a spoon- we've tried green beans, peas, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, and squash, and yogurt.  She wants nothing to do with liquid fruits or rice cereal.
• Scream.  Squeal.  Babble.  Laugh loudly and get hiccups.
• Hug her baby doll.
• Suck her thumb.
• Get whiplash looking for Elmo as soon as she hears La la, la la.
• Reach for me, Dustin, Breckin, Grandma, Baba, and Denise.
• Eat apple slices from the food net.... greatest invention since disposable diapers.
• Turn the pages in a book.  Ok, so it's involuntary but I hand her the page and she turns it.
• Kick her feet wildly and destructively in the bathtub thus washing the kitchen (she is bathed in the sink).

I'm so glad that I keep up with this blog because her baby book is seriously lacking.  We got a ridiculously cool journal from our fantastic neighbors ::Hi, Dicolas!!!::  that tells me what she should be doing/learning day by day with little margins for notes.  I keep up on it better than I thought I would but it's nothing cutesy. 

And, I would LOVE to include a video of her squealing at her baby doll but I am inept.  I don't know how to capture said event and even if I did, I wouldn't know how to post it.  I'm offering Starbucks money for anyone who wants to volunteer.  Seriously.