A trip to the apple orchard

Yesterday we went to a local apple orchard to pick apples. When we got there, it was about an hour before their closing time, so instead of taking the wagon ride out to the Honey Crisp apple trees to do our own picking, we bought a peck of pre-picked apples and enjoyed their wildflower garden.

Ella loved inspecting the flowers, oh-so-carefully, before gripping onto them and attempting to rip them from their roots. We had the most perfect weather, which we've welcomed greatly after the incredibly hot summer weather we've experienced over the past couple of months. We plan to go back in October for some pumpkin picking!

She's on a Roll

Ella first rolled over about a month ago, but we never actually saw her doing it. She would be on her tummy when we went in to her room in the morning, after putting her to bed on her back. She likes to sleep on her side, and will easily roll to her side in front of us, but never will roll all the way. This morning, I watched her roll from her back to her tummy, and then almost immediately after from her tummy to her back. I got another roll on video soon after. Here it is:

She now loves practicing her new trick while she's in her crib going down for a nap. She rolls from her back to her tummy, but has more trouble rolling to her back. She only wants to sleep on her back though, so she'll cry like crazy, like "who the heck put me on my tummy?! It's nap time, and I want to be on my back! Help!".

Ella is 5 months old today!

Wow, another month has gone by, and Ella is now 5 months old. Amazing how quickly time flies with a little one. Ella is doing great - she's more and more smiley by the day, and really loves to use her voice. She coos and likes to squeal loudly, attracting a lot of attention when we're out. She really likes to sit up (with some help), and especially loves to stand (with support). Ella loves playing with stuffed animals now, and is also enjoying her new jumperoo. And of course, everything goes in the mouth. No teeth are popping up quite yet, but lots of drooling. We're still enjoying that cute toothless grin.

This past week Ella started at daycare. It's located at Jamus's work, so he can go by on his lunch break to spend time with her, which is really nice. It's been a little bit of an adjustment (and will continue to be) for her napping, but hopefully this will only get better. She didn't have any stranger anxiety, which I was particularly worried about. In fact, she went right to them with a big smile on her face. Each day, they send Ella home with a "report" on what activities they did, and how her mood is, etc. This is nice for us to read so we can know what she's doing, and how she's adapting. We're sure she'll soon be making lots of new friends at school!

31

Happy birthday to Jamus, who is 31 years old today! I am so lucky to be your wife, and Ella is just as lucky to have such a great daddy. We love you!!!

Summer Vacation

Last week was our summer vacation. It started out with a visit from my friend Kim, who had yet to meet Ella. Kim brought Ella her very first Red Sox hat! We're very excited for her to wear it, and cheer on our favorite team!

That Friday night, our friends Sarah and Wes, and their baby London came down for dinner.

We also had our friends Leti and James, and their baby Finn, visiting from Virginia.

It was fun to see Finn, who is almost 1 year old, and to imagine that Ella will be sitting, crawling, and walking within the year. I think Finn was smitten with Ella, and she seemed to be playing hard-to-get.

We've given them the celebrity couple name "EllaFinn". While the Hansens were here, we went to a local winery, and got a great Reisling and a White Sangria. It was almost like living in California again, being near Napa...almost. EllaFinn also had their first dinner date, but Ella slept pretty much through the entire thing. Finn just was not keeping her attention!

Sunday we made the trip up to NH. It took 8.5 hours to get there - much longer than the typical 5.5 hours! We hit some torrential downpours in NY and CT. And, of course, we had to stop a few times to feed and change Ella. Ella tolerated the trip pretty well for about the first 6 hours, and then was definitely ready to be done with our travel. We were exhausted by the time we got there, but glad to be back.

The week started off cool and rainy in NH, but we welcomed the weather as we've been used to high 90's and high humidity all summer.

We had a great time visiting with family, and we certainly ate well - all of our favorites (homemade Spaghetti, Lasagna, La Caretta, blueberry oatmeal pancakes, lobster, the list goes on and on)!

The weather got much nicer towards the middle and end of the week, and we got to go for a nice walk around Dorrs pond. Ella got to see all of her grandparents, Aunt Mary, her uncles, cousins, a great-grandmother, and lots of other extended family members. It was a week full of fun visits!

We took a visit up to Maine, and Ella "met" her first lobster, and also had her first trip to the beach. We dipped her feet in the water, and she didn't seem to mind it at all.

On our trip back to PA last Sunday, we got into a fender-bender. We were stopping in Lowell, MA to get lunch, and while stopped on the road, someone rear-ended us. Luckily we were all unharmed (Griffin included, even though he didn't have a safety belt on), but it was certainly a scary thing to experience. I was terrified that Ella might be hurt. Ella slept through the entire ordeal! We were so relieved that we were all safe.