Finally! Happy Times with Ella

I thought I owed it to Ella to tell the world that she is turning out to be a pretty fun baby.  I have complained about her colic, reflux, and poor sleep habits, so I decided it was time to celebrate the fact that we have turned a corner with her.  I realize as I am typing this that she will surely regress for a week as my punishment for bragging on her.

For so long, it was difficult to get Ella to sleep at night.  For hours on end, I would soothe her to sleep only to have her wake up five to ten minutes later and have to start the whole process over again.  It got to where eventually I was so worn out that I would go to bed with her.  In the last two weeks, I have had success 90% of the time in getting Ella to sleep between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.  Once she is down, she will generally sleep until 5:00 a.m.  Amazing, right?

Ella is clearly spoiled rotten as evidenced by the fact that she believes she should be held and entertained 24 hours a day.  So, we are trying to work on getting her to entertain herself for a few minutes at a time.  We've made some progress this week.   She has a little play center that she is willing to stand in for, oh, I'd say a good five to ten minutes before screaming to be picked up.  She is an avid bookworm and will actually lay on the floor or sit in her bouncy seat listening to the crinkle of the baby book for at least ten minutes at a time.  She will contentedly hang out on her tummy for two to three  minutes or maybe grab at her toes for a minute or two.  If you add all this time together, in the course of a day, she can easily entertain herself for 18 to 24 minutes a day.  Reason to celebrate in my book!

Here are a few recent pictures of our sweet little one!

I love her little thighs in this picture.  Doesn't she look happy?

Look at me!  I'm entertained by my sweet face in the mirror.

 Ella is working on sitting up.  She kind of has the hang of the tripod thing.

Toes!  A baby's best friend.

Did you need something, Mom, because I'm kind of in the middle of a riveting story right now and I'd really like to get back to it.  'kay?  Thanks!