Ellie Grace: 6 months

Holy smokes! 6 months seems like a big milestone, but at the same time it feels like Ellie's been a part of our family for forever. We (probably as most parents do) think she is the cutest, smartest, sweetest baby ever. She weighs 17 lbs and is 2 ft 2.5 in tall, her eyes are still a greyish blue, and her hair is finally starting to grow in a little. Some of our favorite times are Saturday mornings- just hanging out as a family. Jake put it best by saying "I used to always try to find something to be entertained by. Now, I will just be playing with Ellie and before I know it like 4 hours have passed. I just love being with you guys." That's kind of our life these days. We spend a lot of time just doing normal family stuff around the house- going on walks, working in the yard, snuggling, making meals together, working on little projects. But we also do a pretty good job of getting out as much as we did pre-baby and taking her with us- hanging out with friends, going to church, having people over, going out to eat... Her temperament is still really easy going, although we have started to see glimpses of her little will popping up (arching her back when she's mad, expressively frowning when she's upset, waving her arms all over and swatting the binky away if we try to give it to her when she doesn't want it). Ellie has started sitting up on her own for short periods of time & she now loves to spend some time in her exersaucer. We have stopped swaddling her. Her sleep routine has thankfully taken a turn for the better and she's back to sleeping through the night (her last feeding is usually between 8:30 and 9:00pm  and she'll sleep until 6am. Then she'll eat, and go right back to sleep until about 9:30. Yahoo!!!). Ellie fought off another little cold this month, celebrated Easter in Eugene with her cousins and nonna and poppa, and went to the beach for the first time. It is so fun to see her little personality starting to shine through, and watch her learn and think through new things. Jake is the best at getting giggles out of her by shaking his nose in her armpit or under her chin.