Baby is Eleven Months Old - Photos and Milestones
Last week we had a day that felt like Spring, so I dressed my daughter up in this cute sweater romper and had a little photo shoot to mark her eleventh month. I can’t believe my baby girl is eleven months old!
The last month:
This last month saw Ellena in the emergency room for the first time. She became pretty sick and was running a high fever and hadn't really drunk anything for several hours. I was afraid she'd become dehydrated and wanted her checked out. Thankfully she wasn't dehydrated, and the doctors at the ER were able to get her fever under control in no time. It turned out she had a little virus that had to run its course, but of my three babies she has been the only one to run a fever like that, so I was glad to have the reassurance she'd be okay from medical professionals. Of course her Mama and brothers all got sick in varying degrees with she and I faring the worst. Thankfully that illness has passed and she is back to being the bright-eyed, happy baby we simply can’t live without.
This month she cut her first tooth (bottom left front tooth) and had a French fry for the first time. She’s a fan. She also loves whole grain crackers and cheese as a snack. When we’re at Mass she’s sure to pay attention to the choir, she especially loves when the first guitar strums start us off. One of her favorite toys is this ring stacker. She loves to pull them off just as soon as I’ve placed them on the tube.
Ellena loves to go out for walks, and gets pretty excited when we enter a Target store. She is starting to pay attention to the television, especially when a commercial or show comes on that is musical.
Ellena adores her big brothers and they adore her. They each are developing a special relationship with her that warms my heart. For example, Michael my eldest son, has taken to playing, Madonna's Who's that Girl? and singing it to her. While Evan, my younger son, likes to play hide & seek, and do silly things to make her laugh. She also loves to FaceTime with her Daddy, and literally starts to laugh when she hears the distinct ring of a FaceTime call coming in to one of our Apple devices.
Ellena has ‘crinkled’ or wrinkled her nose for months now, but it’s become something she does a lot, from laughing to simply acknowledging something being said to her. 
Her outfit:
I am really having so much fun dressing a little girl.I found Ellena's sweater romper , knee high socks , and baby Converse on Amazon. Her headband I got at AubreyGianna on Etsy. You can also find similar turban headbands on Amazon too.
Baby's First Valentine's Day
This is baby's first Valentines Day! My baby girl is 10 months old now! It seems each month I remark about how fast the time is passing and it certainly feels like her first year is flying by. Because my husband is on a year long remote tour it also feels like time is dragging by. I hate that he's missing so much but feel so blessed that I have the honor of sharing all of them with her.She is in full on "coasting" mode - standing up and going where she can while holding on.
I'm sure she'll be walking before I'm ready for her to as I'm secretly praying she holds off on the walking milestone until her Daddy gets home. I did the same thing with her older brother when he was a baby and my husband was deployed in support of Iraqi Freedom, so "fingers crossed", he'll get to see her first steps in person. To note the month on her milestone blanket this time around I grabbed a Valentine's Day garland I had and it was the perfect prop! Some of these were snapped before her nap time and you can totally tell!Her favorite thing to snack on right now are these wholewheat crackers I love. Her favorite food is banana and strawberries blended together.
I started attending a faith study with my fellow Catholic Women of the Chapel (CWOC) and she's been enjoying going with me as she loves the attention she gets from all the ladies. This month she self weaned from the breast so I've begun putting her in her crib before she's fallen asleep and so far it's working really great. I usually read/sing her this beautiful baby book What A Wonderful Worldthen we say goodnight to all her friends which is basically all the stuffed animals and dolls in her bedroom including the Swan and Unicorn hanging on her wall. We end with the Care Bear we got her before her Daddy left which includes a good night message from him. I then kiss her lay her down with a bottle and she's been falling asleep. In a week or so I'm going to begin giving her the bottle while I read to her, as I'm not too keen on her going to sleep with a bottle in her crib.. but if that's what works - honestly I'm not going to rock the cradle too much!
The sweatshirt I wore (I love to try and coordinate our outfits when I can) was from H&M. Here are a few similiar I was able to find...
Ellena is 9 months old
Boy oh boy! These monthly milestone photos are getting more and more challenging to photograph because Ellea doesn't wish to stay put long enough for me to snap a picture! At a whopping nine months old she is pulling herself up to stand on practically everything. She’s a very vocal girl; mixing up her consonants and vowel sounds all sorts of ways. She’s developed her pincher grasp and can feed herself. She’s less and less interested in breast feeding and loves to explore all the nooks and crannies of her home. She’s picked up a whole lot of speed crawling too. Her favorite activity is taking her books off their shelves.This month I used one of Ellena's pacifiers to denote her age. Her favorite pacifier are these MAM Pacifiers. I like that they have the special ones for sensitive skin which are great when baby starts to really drool. The necklace she pulled off my neck after a feeding and it kept her still enough for me to snap this picture! It's a silicone necklace by "Chew Beads", they come in all sorts of different colors too! I like to use this when I'm feeding her as she can grab and pull on it and when I've got her in her baby carrier when we're out and about as it gives her something to chew on.
Ellena is 8 Months Old!
Where is the time going? It's FLYING by as far as how fast this little girl is growing. I'm trying to savor every single second because this time when their little really does go by so fast. At 9 months old Ellena is really enjoying dropping things and watching her Mommy pick them up. Her favorite place to nap continues to be on my chest (I don't mind at all), and she's got that crawling thing down and can now totally sit up on her own too. 
Ellena's dress and cardigan are from Gymboree. It's probably my most favorite dress she owns and I'll be awfully sad when she finally does out grow it. Please forgive the massive list of swan dresses that are about to follow. Swans are my absolute favorite (non-dog) animal and I know I'm going to have to come back and reference this for my little girl's next swan dress.
Ellena is 7 Months Old
I was a bit slow getting Ellena's baby milestone pictures photographed this month, with all the crazy holiday happenings. She began her seventh month in November by scooting and crossing real-estate on the floor by kicking out her legs much like a “donkey kick”, she could say “Papa”. Now she’s crawling and can throw kisses and open and close her hand as if saying hello and says, something that sounds remarkably like “yeah”. Though she sits like a pro - she can’t get herself into a seated position just yet.Ellena's dress is from Gymboree, I found a similiar one here, and here. Her shoes are from Carters. So much glitter! I used washi tape for the month indicator this time around. It was so quick and easy and I really liked the simplicity. One more great use for washi tape! What unexpected ways do you like to use washi tape?
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Ellena is Five Months Old
Ellena is five months old! My baby girl is giggling up a storm, babbling, and she's now rolling from her back to her belly and from her belly to her back. She found her feet this month too and she wants to touch every single thing. 
We tried her crib once so far. She did great, but I missed having her in my room so I'm keeping her in her bassinet for now. She's begun to try her first tastes of real foods. We went live on Facebook when I gave her table food for the first time. I had a ripe avocado and mashed it up and after the first few uncertain tastes she loved it.
Ellena is Four Months Old
Ellena is four months old. She's such a darling little thing and the easiest of babies to care for. She's all smiles and sugar 99% of the time. The other time, she's usually asleep or hungry. This month she began to hold her own bottle and she babbles so much. She giggles when we tickle her, and when she's tickled by something. She reaches out to grab my face and is noticing more and more of her world each day. Her favorite toy continues to be Sophie La Giraffe.
