Ella's First Birthday Party!

Last Saturday we all went to Grandma and Grandpa McNamara's house to celebrate Ella's first birthday.  It was a really fun party and Ella got a lot of cool gifts!  Aunt Jessie also made fun cupcakes in ice cream cones!  Mommy doesn't want me to have my first sweets until my first birthday, but I did sneak a little nibble of the cupcake when Mommy wasn't looking.  It was delicious!  Here are some pictures from teh big day!

Having fun crawling around Grandma and Grandpa's!

 Grace and Lauren hanging out!



Crawling toward the chaos!



Ella opening her birthday gifts!



Wrapping paper is fun! 

The Weimert girls helping Ella open her gifts!



Playing with Charlie.

Lauren feeding Ella with her new cooking pot toy!

Playing with Ella and her new birthday toy!

Hanging out on the dog bed with Lucy.

Leyton enjoying his cupcake!

Happy Birthday, Ella!

Cousins at the party! 

Ella digging in to her cupcake.

A party wouldn't be complete without Mickey Mouse ears!  Doesn't he look thrilled?!

Ella in her Minnie Mouse ears. 

More ears! 

9 Month Check-Up

On Thursday, we went to see Dr. Montague for my 9 month check-up.  Overall, it was a good appointment.  Mommy promised me that this would be an easy one.  Just checking my height, weight and my ears and eyes and stuff like that.  No shots.  What she didn't know is that I would need to get a flu shot, so I'm still kind of mad at her about that.  Thankfully, the flu shot didn't hurt nearly as much as my vaccinations, and the fact that my mommies both got them too lessened the pain a lot.  :)

My 9 Month Stats:

Weight: 22.8lbs (95th percentile)
Height: 29.5inches (96th percentile)

Head: 17.72 inches (78th percentile)

Checking out my ears for infection, bugs, Cheerios, potatoes, etc.  Luckily she didn't find anything!

Next ear!

Giving Dr. Montague the stink eye while she checks out my eyes.

The one highlight of the day - shredding the paper on the bed!

Still shredding.

Pleased as pie with what I've done to the paper!

I'm a 9 month old!

I turned 9 months old on Saturday, and mommies cannot believe how quickly the time has flown! They can both remember the day I was born like it was yesterday. (that’s they’re corny line – they made me write it) Life as a nine month old is SOOO interesting. I am literally into everything. Nothing in the house is safe from me. Mommies have had to do some serious baby-proofing, and they have to keep a much closer eye on me. Long gone are the days of setting me down in the living room and expecting me to stay there. In the blink of an eye, I can go from room to room. I’m a lean, mean, crawling machine! Since we haven’t done a list in a while, Mommy thought we should recap my milestones in a list:

Things I Do at 9 Months Old…

• I eat all kinds of food now. Mommies are still making some fruits and vegetables for me, but I also eat a lot of table food. On Sunday, I tried meatballs during the Packer game and LOOOVED them!
• Some of my favorite foods are: carrots, sweet potatoes, yogurt (Yoplait, of course!), cottage cheese, cheese and Cheerios.
• I’ve now had 2 ear infections. (one in June and one in August)
• I can crawl.
• I can pull myself up on things.
• Once I’m standing, I can move around a little. If Mama puts my two music tables near each other, I’ll move from one to the other while standing. (scares Mommy to death!)
• I’m still a really good sleeper at night. (~12 hours)
• Mommies are still trying to work on my naps. If they put me in my crib, I’ll only nap for 30-60 mins. If they’re willing to let me sleep on them, I’ll nap for 2-3 hours at a time.
• I LOVE animals. I still love our puppy Joey, but I also love our cats now, Peanut & Philip. One of my favorite places to crawl is to the patio door to see them through the glass. And when mommies take me outside to pet them, I giggle the entire time.
• I’ve traveled quite a bit in my first 9 months of life. I’ve been to Arizona once, Missouri three times, Dodgeville, WI once and Superior, WI once. (and I’ve also been up to Rice Lake to visit Aunt Jessie and Uncle Dan)
• Some of my favorite toys right now are: my music tables, my cookie jar, my tow truck, Olivia, my singing puppy and my puppy puppet.
• Some of my favorite books right now are: “Buzz Buzz Busy Bees”, my puppy book, Snuggle Puppy and my kitten book. (sense a theme there?!)
• I have two teeth (on the bottom ) and a third one that's just starting to cut through.  (on the top)

Here are some pictures of me since I turned the big 9 (Months Old):

Crawling and drooling.  Two of my favorite activities.

DJ Maggie J at my "mixing" table.

The smile that mommies can't resist!

Mommies bought me some winter garb recently since it's starting to cool off.  They thought it would be fun to try it on me!

Getting ready to go for a cool fall walk.

I spy Joey!

I'm so happy to see Joey!  (even though I see him all the time!)

My first Packer's party.  Melissa, Lance, Aftin and Bailee came over to join us for the big day!

Hanging out with Bailee.

Since mommies won't buy me a pony, Joey will have to do.

Showing Bailee my new cooking pot toy.

Waiting for Mama to open my peaches.

Peek-a-boo!  I see me!

Mommies' Little Climber!

As if the crawling wasn't enough, mommies' now have quite the climber on their hands.  Lately, I climb constantly and am into EVERYTHING.  Very few areas of the house are safe from my little hands and mouth.  In fact, the climbing has become so out of control that mommies had to drop my crib mattress all the way down so I couldn't get out.  It's a lot harder to put me in the crib now, but they sleep better knowing I won't fall out.

Here are a few pictures from Monday night when mommies were making baby food for me.  I was very interested in what they were doing and wanted to help!  Mommy says I can help when I'm a little older!

Trying to get a closer look at what Mama's doing.

I can help!!

One of my new favorite spots in the house - the tupperware drawer!!

Labor Day Weekend!

Last weekend we went to Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for Labor Day to see Mamma, Pappa and my aunts, uncles and cousins. We didn’t get to stay for long, but I had a really fun time! I did really well in the car on the way there and back. (pretty amazing for an almost 9 month old to withstand a 10 hour car ride each way!) On Friday night we were waiting around for people to get there, so I mostly played with Reagan. I even got to try out Aunt Gigi and Poppi’s rock pit. After being caught with rocks in my mouth, Mommy banned me from the pit the rest of the weekend. :) Such a stickler! I heard rocks are good for you! On Saturday, mommies went shopping in the morning, so I stayed behind to spend more time with Mamma and Papa.  How much do you want to bet they bought something for me?!!) :)  On Saturday afternoon, I went swimming in the lake with mommies and Mamma. It was a lot of fun. Much deeper than Cedar Lake and more waves, but I didn’t mind. Saturday night we had a Mexican fiesta. There were about 30 people over and we had all kinds of Mexican food, listened to mariachi music and the kids even had a piñata. (or so I’m told, I slept through the whole party) On Sunday, Papa took us out in the boat, then we had lunch at Fish. Overall, it was a really great weekend, and I can’t wait to go back to the lake for Christmas – I wonder what it’s like there when you can’t play outside?!! Mommies already decided they’re going to need to be very creative to entertain a 1 year-old for a week at the lake in the winter. :)

Tickling the ivories one last time on my playtable/pianos before we left for our trip.

Playing in the rock pile on Friday night.  (this was before I consumed any rocks)

Mommy trying desperately to get a picture of me and Reagan.  Reagan was being silly and wouldn't look at her.

Me and Mamma getting ready to swim!

Hanging out on the dock in my special towel after swimming.

Enjoying a mouthful of Cheerios while I dry off.

Hanging out with Katie, the only other girl cousin in the Morawitz/Berkbueglar pack!

Being a stinker for Papa.

Reagan and Aunt Lissa enjoying the beautiful weather!

Charlie hanging out at the Mexican fiesta!

All of the kids had a great time with the musical instruments Aunt Gigi provided for the fiesta.

Cale shaking his maracas.

Chilling out with Papa before bedtime.

Getting into the spirit of the fiesta with Mamma.

Reagan feels the spirit too!

Posing with Mamma.

Mamma, Papa and their babies.

Pinata time!  Dane taking a swing.