Ella is 14 Months Old

Our silly little pumpkin is fourteen months-old today! She is growing much too quickly for me. Last night when she was in the bath tub, I was overcome with emotion as I realized just how much she has grown and changed in the last fourteen months. It made me aware that before I know it she will be miss independent, heading off to preschool, making play dates with friends, and filling up her social calendar with other important things. Children don't stay babies for very long!

Ella is starting to make more vowel-consonant sounds so I am sure in the next couple months she will be a mini chatterbox. She likes to climb on everything and has taken a liking to sitting on the hearth around the fireplace or climbing up to sit on the sofa. For Christmas we plan to get my childhood mini rocking chair out of my parents' attic to spruce up and give to her. I know she will love having her very own little seat in the living room. She has moments where she can get impatient and frustrated when things don't go her way. She is at the age where she wants to be independent, but still needs help to do things. Lately she has taken to shrieking banshee style which causes us to cover our ears and kindly ask her not to shout because it's too loud.

Last night for dinner she tried a more grown-up fare: crab cakes, gnocchi, and asparagus. She really loved the gnocchi, which is good news because I love them, but Jeff doesn't, so when I make them again I can at least count on Ella and I eating them. She still eats some baby food, because it is very important to me that she gets healthy calories, along with breast milk three times a day.

She and Jeff really bonded while I was on my California trip. She loves to crawl up on the couch and cuddle with her daddy and says, "Da-da" all the time. Jeff pushes her around the living room on her princess car which she thinks is super fun. Sometimes she will go and sit on her car and stare at her daddy until he gets up to push her. It amazes me how smart she is at this age!

Another thing she loves is to use our cell phones. We tried to give her the ones we don't use anymore to play with, but she can apparently tell the difference and prefers our active phones over the old ones. You can see in a photo above how she plopped down next to her daddy with my phone while Jeff played a game on his.

We are truly so blessed to have such a sweet, happy girl for our daughter. She is a little love-bug and a little slice of Heaven here on Earth. Happy 14 months, Ella Roo!!