A Letter to my six month old

A very excited Ella and her aunt Rebecca

 Dear Ella,

A couple of weeks ago you turned six months old.  It is very very hard to believe that you are already six months old, and that you have been in our lives for over a year already!

You continue to astound me with how much you are growing and learning all the time.  You are still my baby girl, but you are no little baby anymore.  Some of your more recent accomplishments include:

• Sitting up. You do an awfully good job at this by yourself, and only tumble occasionally.  Sitting up by yourself playing with toys is now competing with the Jolly Jumper as your favorite thing to do.
• Talking. You often say 'mumumumumum',  and we are just working on getting you to say 'dada'!  You are constantly telling us happy (or sad) stories.
• Walking. You still want to be on your feet, all the time.  You have a gift for 'walking' while holding onto someone's fingers.
• Your social skills.  You love being with others and making them smile - whether it be your Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, your aunts or uncles, your cousins, or those playing with you in the nursery, you are always very good for them and don't seem to miss your father or I at all.  I even catch you looking at strangers in a store, just waiting for them to turn and look at you so you can smile at them, and brighten their day!
• Your empathy. Whenever I am sad, you give bigger hugs, more frequent kisses, and are very accommodating to the many kisses and hugs I give you! 
• You know where your food is.  This is a good thing for you, and a not so good thing for me.  You are constantly trying to find your food and get your mouth to it, which means I have to be constantly watching my shirt!
• The end of the swaddle.  Recently, we stopped swaddling you.  I used to love to see you all bundled up in bed, but you wouldn't have it anymore and wanted to roll around and be mobile, which is another very indicative sign of how much you have grown!

Sleeping Ella

You love your toys.  Your bunny is by far your favorite, you always reach for it when you see it, and you cannot sleep without it.  You also love playing with hard toys, hitting them on things, or eating them!

You also love your father, and he loves you.  You and him get to spend about three mornings a week alone together while I am at work, and I know he makes you smile like no one else can.  You guys play together, and you laugh and smile all the time for him.  Seeing the bond you two have makes me extremely proud.

You are the light of my life.  I wouldn't give you up for the world - even when I am exhausted, and the house is a disaster, and all I want to do is have some time to myself, I am so glad to have you.  Your smile can dissipate all my stress and worries, and I am so thankful that God has given us the great responsibility of caring for you.

I have already experienced in great vividness the many ways I will fall short as a mother. I am sorry that I won't be able to be the mother you deserve.  I am worried about the day where you will wake up and not want me around any more, but I just pray that no matter what that you will know that God in his infinite wisdom created you just the way you are, and will love you no matter what - and that I will too.  I love you more than you will ever comprehend and I cannot wait to see the beautiful toddler, child, teenager, and women that you turn into!

Love,

'mumumumumum'

Mmmm Rocks

A Letter to my Two Month Old

Photo taken January 27, 2012.  9 days old.

Ella,

Today, you are 9 weeks and 2 days old.  Nine weeks seems like such a short period of time, and yet I feel like you have been a part of our family forever.

I remember the first time I saw you.  I was so absolutely ecstatic to meet you, but one of the most wonderful things was seeing the look on your daddy's face as he held you.  It was instant love.  That night, they took you to the nursery to sleep, and I remember waking up the morning and not being allowed to get out of bed, but wanting so badly to have you there with me.   Your daddy slept in, and so I couldn't ask him to go fetch you, but I just had this huge desire to have you close to me.  After all, you were mine.

Photo taken February 11, 2012.  3 weeks, 3 days old.

You have done so much growing since you were first born. You weighed in at 11 lb, 4 oz at the doctor's today.  This is a far cry from the 6 lb 10 oz that you were when you were born, or 6 lb 5 oz that you were when you left the hospital.  You have chubbed right out which I am happy about.  I am glad you are healthy.

I now know the answer to many of the questions I had in my last letter to you:

Photo taken February 3, 2012. 2 weeks, 2 days old.

You absolutely love the bath.  You have one every night before going to bed, and you start crying as soon as we take you out.  You haven't learned to splash yet, but I am sure the experience will be all the more enjoyable for you once you figure that out.  After your bath, we get you dressed in your pj's, and read you a Bible story.

You love to look at the pictures of the story when you are not too preoccupied being upset about getting out of the bath or it being bedtime.  After that, we swaddle you up so you are cozy and pray with you.  I think you have yet to not scream through a prayer, but I cherish that time tremendously anyways.  You go to sleep fairly fast after that though, which is nice!

Photo taken March 17, 2012.  8 weeks, 3 days old (1 day shy of 2 months!)

You also love church.  For the most part, you have slept through every service, but whenever you are fussy and we go and listen to your daddy practice with the worship team you always calm down.  You seem to love the music.

I hope you always know how beautiful you are.  Everywhere we go, people tell us how pretty you are.  And they are so right.  Your collection of small features (inherited equally from your father and I) make you absolutely stunning.  And I know you will just become more and more beautiful as you grow.

Photo taken March 9, 2012.  7 weeks, 2 days old.
Her headband is a Posie, they are so cute!

You are kind of sassy.  I never knew that a 2 month-old could have so much personality.  But yours bursts forth from you!

You love the mornings.  Lying beside you and smiling and having fun with you just after you wake up is my favourite part of the day.  I am going to miss this when you move into your own crib for the night.

Photo taken February 3, 2012. 2 weeks, 2 days old.

Before you were born, I wrote about how much your daddy loved you.  But at that time, I really didn't know how much he would love you.  You are the light of his life.  He comes home from work and asks to hold you immediately.  And I know you love him.  You look at him, and smile at him, and have so much fun with him.

Photo taken March 19, 2012. 8 weeks, 5 days old.

Ella, you need to know that I love you more and more every day despite believing that there is no way I could love you one bit more than I already do.  I don't think you will be able to comprehend how much we love you until you have your own little ones, but I hope that someday you do.

Photo taken March 19, 2012. 8 weeks, 5 days old.

I thank God daily that He lent you to us.  We love watching you grow, and cannot wait to see all the things you will accomplish with your life.

Love always,

Your mom.

Some Of My Favourite Pictures From Your First Two Months

Photo taken March 21, 2012. 9 weeks old.

Photo taken January 21, 2012. 3 days old.

Photo taken January 27, 2012. 9 days old.

Photo taken March 14, 2012. 8 weeks old.

Photo taken March 22, 2012. 9 weeks, 2 days old.

Photo taken January 27, 2012. 9 days old.

Love,