"Woof, woof!" and Snack Trap

Ever since Ella has been able to watch and listen to Ranger, she has been completely intrigued by him. {And who wouldn't be intrigued by a 115 lb dog!} From early on she would stop whatever she was doing and watch him closely when he came near or pause to listen when he started barking. Well, for a while now she has been trying to copy him and has come up with her own version of barking. It cracks us up because she doesn't actually open her mouth and say, "Woof, Woof!", but keeps her lips tight and makes the noise inside. Every time we ask her what a puppy dog, or Ranger, says she will "bark". I was able to catch it on video the other night while giving her a bath...

The next few pictures are of Ella using her snack trap for the first time. I felt like she was strapped to her highchair all day long for meals and snack time, so I decided to try this out instead. I love this thing because it allows her to walk around and play or sit in her PB chair while eating her snack. Well, after I showed her how to use it, she tried a few times, and off she went to sit in her new favorite place, her PB chair. {Best b-day present we got her by the way!} As I watched her I noticed that she was taking every piece of cereal out of the the snack trap and putting it in her chair! Of course she would eat a few along the way, but most ended up in the chair. She was as happy as she could be sitting in the comfort of her chair and being in control of what was going on though! Oh well, it was her first time, right? :)

"Hmmm, how did this thing work?"

"Oh yeah, reach in and..."


"One for me..."


"...one {or several} for the chair."


"No, Rangie!"





This is her new silly face. :)

These Are A Few of E's Favorite Things...

I have had several friends ask about what to feed their babies lately, so I thought I would do a post on some of Ella's favorite foods. (Plus, this will help me remember!) A friend of mine, Lisa, posted something like this a few months back, and it was a huge help for me!

Ella is a SUPER eater!!! She loves most everything we give her these days and is open to trying new things as well. :) There are a few staples that we keep in our pantry all the time though. I have taken pictures of each instead of writing out a boring description.

Had to add a few other favorites too... :)

Straws


She does the best with these ' Take-n-Toss ' sippy cups.

It is so easy now when we go out to eat because I usually share what I am having with Ella or order something that she likes from the kids menu. Today, for example, we shared some Chick-fil-A nuggets for lunch and she loved them! I gave her peas and Gerber Vegetable Little Crunchies to go with it. Dinner is the same. She will usually eat what we have unless it is too spicy for her.

And this is her silly smile that she knows makes us laugh...

Other things she eats that are not pictured: grilled cheese, dry toast, pancakes, lasagna, spaghetti, beans, lunch meat, avocado, real sweet potatoes, strawberries.

With all of that said, a lot of this is easier for her to eat because she has 9 teeth!!! She just cut a top molar this week and is working on 2 more on the bottom. This has made for some sleepless nights and a lot of chewing on things. Surprisingly she has been in a pretty good mood though for the most part.

I will leave you with some pictures of Ella being her usual silly self...

She took it upon herself to climb onto the dishwasher door after I finished unloading it. She never goes around things, it's always OVER them. Scares me to death!


She always has something hanging out of her mouth as she walks around the house! Remember when she used to carry those keys in her mouth everywhere. Who knows?!?!? :)




Hope everyone is having a fabulous week!