Ellie | Eight Month Update

9:50 PM

Time is flying by and Ellie is now eight months old. And she is too acting too big for her "briches" She wants to keep up with her brothers so badly and I'm pretty sure that part of her thinks she is also 2 1/2 just like Will and James.

Height: Approx: 27.25in

Weight: approx. 17.2 lbs

Sleep

Sleep has had its ups and downs this month. Ellie continues to sleep in our room in her crib. Chris was gone for two weeks earlier this month and while he was gone Ellie actually had an improvement in her sleep waking only twice a night. This actually allowed me to have a few decent chunks of sleep which was much appreciated. When he returned however her sleep resorted to waking every two to three hours. Making me once again a very tired momma!

I redid our night time routine while Chris was away because I needed to be able to wrangle all three kids on my own and hadn't found system that worked, but I finally found a groove and we have been sticking to it!

Night Time Routine

5/5:30 dinner

5:45 Ellie gets a bath in the kitchen Sink

6:00 Bath time for the boys

6:15/6:20 Jammies for everyone and pickup any left out toys

6:30 Boys watch a little Umizoomi and Ellie goes down for bed

7:15 Brush teeth, read stories, Bedtime for Will and James

Just in the last few nights Ellie has started sleeping until approximately 1-1:30 and then waking again between 4-5. So We once again are making improvements in the sleep department

Napping has had a huge improvement this month. Up until two weeks ago Ellie has napped laying in my lap while I sit in the boys room while they nap. But two weeks ago we had a play date with a friend who has a daughter about Ellie's age who also sleeps in the zippadee zip and my friend put her down for a nap while we were there and put her into her zippadee zip sleep sack for her nap. I don't know why but I never thought to put Ellie in her sleep sack for her nap (part of me thought it might confuse her and I wanted to keep it just for night time.). But I went home and put Ellie in her sleep sack, nursed her and laid her in her crib and she napped for 2 hours, no joke! Since that day I have done the same thing and Ellie has napped for 1.5-3 hours every day in her crib! It's just crazy!!

Eat

Eating has become a whole new world for Ellie. A world she most certainly enjoys! She has got to try a lot of new foods this month.

New Foods:

blueberry
raspberry
eggs
almond butter
plum
applesauce
cheerios (stealing from her brother)
peas
smoothie
watermelon
cantaloupe
pork
yogurt

One of Ellie's favorite things to eat is a scrambled egg! If it is on her tray it will be the first thing she goes for. She gets excited when she sees me bringing it over to her.

Besides eating new foods Ellie continues to breastfeed throughout the day. She nurses when she wakes up in the morning, once or twice in the mornings, before nap time, when she wakes up from nap, maybe once in the evening and then before she goes to bed. She will also nurse if she wakes up in the middle of the night.

Development and Play

What a month Ellie has had in this department. I swear she is so active and shows me something new almost everyday. She surprises me with what she is able to do and how strong she is. She is still a little peanut though: wearing size 6 month clothes still and 3-6 months from some stores like Old Navy and Gymboree.

New Things this month

Will lift her arms to be picked up
Can walk while pushing a chair around
learned to shake her head No
Learned how to clap
Is able to drink from a straw
Will climb up on the little tikes trampoline
Learned how to bounce on the trampoline (this is her favorite and she does it several times a day!)
Can climb the stairs
Is able to stand unassisted for a second or two
Can get into a standing position without pulling herself up

Ellie has two go to moves right now: One is when she is getting off the trampoline with will basically tuck and roll head first off of it, kind of like she's doing a somersault. The second move is when she wants to stand up she throws her hands above her head while she balances and then plops down on her bottom.

Dear Ellie,

Oh my sweet Ellie Bellie, you are growing so quickly and I can't even handle it. Your sweet personality continues to grow and develop each day and you bring a smile to my face almost constantly. You want to keep up with your brothers so badly, I'm pretty sure you think you are as big as them! You have learned to climb the stairs this month and that makes me just a little nervous, I'm going to need to invest in a gate. You have also learned to climb up onto the little trampoline and will bounce until your hearts content! You are so proud of yourself and will giggle and smile away while bouncing. Ellie you are so strong and crack me up because you are so petite, it is hard to imagine that a tiny little baby can have so much strength and control of their body but you do! You have been enjoying trying new foods and getting to have meals with us, you love scrambled eggs and will eat those first if they are on your tray. I can't wait to continue to watch you grow, what a pleasure it is to get to be your momma!

I love you so much my sweet Ellie