Well Summer 2010 has come and gone and us Cook folk have been rather busy. While most of our time has been spent working and raising Ella we did manage to include some other things in this summer. We decided since we didn’t write a lot of posts on our happenings this summer ((we actually think Ella wrote more)) we’d write one entry outlining our summer of fun!
With Ella being born in May, the majority of our time this summer was spent with her. Watching her grow, magically transform from an newborn into a little baby girl with her own individualized ways was probably one of the summers highlights! Nothing really beats watching your child grow and learn things on her own. Through the course of her first 4 months of life Ella learned and developed many skills.
Beginning in month one, with staring and observing, probably wondering what this big world is all about and why she had to leave her nice warm nook. Ella started to smile, and while the smiles weren’t at anyone or anything specific it was still great seeing her smile and happy! Dr. Kromash insisted that we spend time each day on our belly — Belly Time– so we started this and after about 30 seconds Ella would start to scream and cry…so our Belly Time continued to be limited for some time. Belly Time wasn’t the only thing that made Ella upset, being in her bouncer or her Pack-n-Play really got her going as well… she preferred her Boppy ((her best friend)) or just being held! At her 1st month checkup Ella weighed 10 pounds 4 ounces and was 22 inches in length.
Going into month #2, Ella continued to change daily, developing the ability to focus better on things and make eye contact with Mommy and Daddy and those close to her. She made a very special friendship with “Phil” ((as we nicknamed him)) our Philodendren. Smiling and cooing at Phil she’d light up and go into a trance whenever Phil was in her sight. Cutest thing…and while she isn’t as engrossed with Phil now as she was then, she still smiles when she sees him hanging out in our kitchen. The one thing Ella did and still does that I have never seen other babies do as much is stretch. This little girl loves stretching. Now I myself am a big stretcher when I wake up so this must be where she developed the big arches and arm stretches that she gives after she wakes up from a nap. Give her room because she’ll knock ya out with her arms and legs! Ella also started to hold her head more steadily.. while support was needed she kinda reminded us of a Weeble Wabble head and we were hoping we wouldn’t find her in a McDonald’s Happy Meal!!! At her second month checkup, Ella weighed 12 pounds and was 23 1/2 inches in length. This appointment Ella received a total of 5 shots! She handled this like a pro and squealed as the needle plunged into her thigh each time, but experienced no additional pain or discomfort following. She ate about 4 ounces every 3-4 hours and normally would sleep 4 hours straight each night before waking for a feeding. This worked well for we fed her around 10pm and then she’d sleep until 2-2:30am and we’d feed her and she’d then sleep until 5-5:30am. Josh and I were both very happy as this only caused for 1 awaking during the night!
Ella’s 3rd month was the month when a lot of noticeable changes occurred. The biggest change at the end of the 2nd month was that Ella moved into her own room and started to sleep in her crib. This was a big stage and hurdle as it seemed very easy for Ella ((she handled it without any difficulty)) it was a bit hard on Mommy. I teared up as Josh and I laid her down in her crib that first night. Something about not having her right next to me in our room was hard. After she slept well that first night in her room it became nice having our own room again and Ella seemed to like the extra big mattress = stretch, stretch and stretch! She also slept through her first night in early August, what a grown up little angel we have, sleeping through in her 3rd month of life!!! Eye contact and focusing on smaller objects like toys and people on tv became more regular and noticeable. While the Boppy still remained Ella’s favorite she also enjoyed swinging in her swing, and still does. Nightly swings really soothed Ella and gave Mommy and Daddy some time together but she was still part of the family swinging right next to us!!! Ella did not have a checkup this month as Dr. Kromash gave her two months off after doing so well with her shots.. he said he’d see her in September!
Bringing us to th 4th month… what a change in our Ella, what a little girl we have 🙂 she now does not like her Boppy as much. Morning feedings she’ll sit and relax but as soon as she is done eating she wants out of that Boppy. She enjoys sitting in her bouncer and laying on the floor much more than being in that Boppy! Morning naps often happen on the living room floor after some play time with some of her favorite toys – Sunshine Flower, Jerry the Giraffe, Ginger the Giraffe, Spot the Dog, MooCow, and Booger Bear to name a few. Smiling, laughing and talking “Ella Talk” is a morning, afternoon and evening routine. When she gets sleepy however she now makes a little constant ’emememememe’ noise — very adorable! Sitting up is a must! While we have a “Bebe” Ella would rather be held in a sitting position as she enjoys pulling herself into a standing position! I really think that she may walk before she crawls!!! This girl loves to be up on her feet, once she gets going no one is going to keep her still! When she is laying she begins to roll herself over but just hasn’t been able to get herself all the way on to her tummy. The day that happens I think everyone will hear her as she still does not like Tummy Time so being on her tummy will probably not have the best reaction, especially since she will have put herself onto her tummy!!! One other big happening was Ella holding her bottle by herself for the first time. She has since gotten really close with Josh or myself barely assisting her. Soon she’ll be holding it all by herself all the time! Ella now eats 6 ounces every 3-4 hours! Ella has also made a new best friend… Ebony bring such a smile and laugh out of her. She smiles and giggles – when Ebony is around, Ella is all eyes!!!
That about sums up Ella’s first 4 months of life. She is such a special little girl and continues to change and learn new things.. in another 4 months I can only imagine what she’ll be doing! I hope to now keep up with writings of her happenings more regularly – so stay tuned!
Aside from Ella’s changes, we did do some fun things this summer as a family.
In June we took Ella for her first camp visit. Last year we camped at French Creek State Park with my parents, but due to Ella being so young we did not camp but joined the fam for the day. MoMom and PopPop watched Ella for a few hours so Matt, Josh and myself could play Disc Golf… I did not improve at all! HA! Hopefully next summer we’ll be camping again. Josh and I would like to take Ella and make a little camper out of her!
July brought my girlfriend Sarah, her son Samuel and her mother in from Texas for a week. We had a nice time visiting and playing together. Samuel brought Ella a gift that we gave him last year. He returned it to Ella thinking she could use it. He also brought her some of his favorite books! It was fun watching how much Samuel had grown in a year. We reminisced and talked about visiting Texas next summer!!! We also took a trip to NJ for Jacob and Jackson’s birthdays. We had a nice time and Ella got to spend time with her Aunts, Uncles, cousins and her Grandparents. Living in PA we don’t get to see the NJ family often so it was nice to have the day together! We also went to the Philadelphia Summer Ale Festival. Josh and I attended last year, but this year we had company. My brother and Josh’s sister and her fiance joined us. It was a fun night and we ended up spending the night at my brothers house in Manayunk. Ella had her first sleepover at her MoMom and PopPops house. She did very well and enjoyed the time with them!
August was a big month as we had our Renninger Family vacation to Myrtle Beach, SC. We drove the 10plus hours to SC. Ella did really well and we had a nice week together. It was nice to get away and enjoy the time together and have Daddy with us for the full week! Ella got her first toe dip in the ocean and walk on the beach!
With this summer being one of the hottest summers in recorded history, we managed to still do a number of fun things! Having Ella as a part of our lives has been such a tremendous gift and we can’t wait to see what new changes and adventures happen this fall and winter!
