Grandmas, Grandpas, and Aunties, Oh My!

Ella got to spend the first weeks of her life with constant attention from two of her grandmas who continue to visit her on a regular basis:












But she's also had visits with grandpas and her third grandma:














And Aunt and Uncle Sarah:













It's so nice to have all her family nearby. She's also had visits from great aunts and cousins from near and far. And that's just her blood relatives. Ella is also the lucky recipient of adopted aunties and uncles (pictures to be posted soon!). Are you a relative (blood or adopted) who hasn't met Ella yet? Schedule your visit today! Repeat visits welcome!

1st bath, 1st shower

Don't worry, we didn't wait 5 weeks to give her a bath, I just haven't been keeping up with my blog posting! Turns out Ella loves the bath. Not me, for my first bath I screamed so hard my entire body turned red. But Ella was totally calm. Good thing, because she gets lots of crud in her crease-y parts.
Recently, Ella got her first shower when Seth and I took her for a walk in the park and it started pouring. Actually, we had an umbrella that fit perfectly over her stroller, so mostly it was me and Seth who got soaked!

The Incredible Expanding Baby!

How's breastfeeding going, you ask?

Well, when Ella was born, she was long and lean--19 1/2 inches long and 6 lb 6 oz:

At her four day checkup she was down to 6 lbs, a normal loss for the first week. From there she took off and started expanding in all directions! By 3 weeks she was 8lb 7oz:

(that's our midwife Deborah, doing some wonderful tricks with Ella--she has the magic baby touch)

and by her 1 month doctor's appointment she was 9lb 6oz, 21 inches long:













Now she's almost 11 pounds. Well, a couple days ago she was almost 11 pounds, so now she's probably over 11. Little chunker. She gets a pretty good chin going and when she leans to the side she gets little fat rolls all along the side of her belly. Her thighs are probably twice as big around as they were before. Even her head is a couple inches bigger around than it was when she was born. She'll need a big brain to control that unwieldy body!

Fashionista

With a mom so obsessed with fashion throughout pregnany, it's no wonder that little Ella is quite the fashion-conscious baby.

In this little blue number, Ella pays homage to her prenatal nickname (it says 1...2...3 Scooters!).
Of course, getting into this outfit was a bit of a challenge. Daddy tried to dress her himself. From the other room I heard a wicked scream and thought "oh, that must not have gone well, I'll go help in a minute." Then 30 seconds later, Seth appears in the bedroom with a screaming baby in his arms. The problem? Where her head should be, there is a blue swath of fabric. Apparently he tried to do head and arms at once and when she got her hand inside the onesie she grabbed on and wouldn't let go. He's such an amazing dad and so good at quieting her when she's upset, it's good for my mommy self-esteem to know there are some things I can do better!

Most of the time, though, Ella sports just an enormous cloth diaper and a blanket. So this season it's all about the accessories.

The socks:
The bunny slippers:


And of course, the sun hat!
Don't worry, her nudity does not mean she's clothes-deprived. Generous family and friends have provided more clothes than a hot little baby can model! As soon as it gets cooler out, we'll have to do several outfit changes a day to show off all her gorgeous duds. And maybe by then mommy will be wearing clothes more often herself so that some of the pictures of mommy and Ella will be decent for posting on the internet!

Cutest Baby Ever, Probably

So I may just think this because I'm the dad, but I also happen to have it on good authority that Ella is a very cute baby, even as babies go. Needless to say, her mother agrees as well.

She's got Lauren's big eyes and my hair and a dimpled chin that can only have come from Lauren's dad's side of the family. Possibly when she's older and her cheeks fill out they'll have dimples too. We can only hope. I just hope that as she gets older she doesn't let her looks go to her head.

Here is her 5 day old face.


And here it is again at 17 days.



Which is cuter? You be the judge.