Elia at 9 months!

Elia officially turned 9 months old last week and had her 9 month check up today. Still much smaller than the older two, she weighed in at 16.6 lbs and is 24 inches long. However, her growth has been proportionate and she is right on with her milestones, so she got an A+ from her doctor.

This has been a busy month for her as far as figuring out how to move. She mastered crawling (thanks to her endless desire to “undecorate the Christmas tree) and is now pulling up, standing and even “cruising” a bit on the furniture. Her desire to sit and be held flew right out the window when she discovered how much fun it is getting herself into places she really shouldn’t be. Our gate for the stairs has made its 3rd repeat appearance and we are back to shutting bathroom doors…ah, the fun of a mobile baby

Elia has really taken to food the last several weeks. She eats at least 2 helpings of baby food each day and has started getting table food–which she definitely prefers. She can really do damage to a soda cracker thanks to her barely-through-the-surface bottom teeth and veggie puffs are a favorite snack as well. She still isn’t a huge fan of her bottle, so the more food she eats the happier we all are.

I wish I could report that she is sleeping through the night consistently, but that is just not the case. She still feels the need to remind us of her presence most nights, but slowly she is getting closer and closer to morning before waking up. I am trying a few different strategies lately to get her over this night time party she likes to have, but it is a work in progress at this point.

The biggest change in Elia lately is her crazy personality that is coming through. She is still a drama queen (I want what I want when I want it….and if I don’t get it, you WILL hear about it) but when she isn’t demanding something, she is so silly and smiley. When she is excited about something, she throws her head forward and bends her knees up and down, so it looks like she is doing a dance–one of the funniest sights to see. She likes to try to climb over anything in her way instead of going around it and going for Anya & JP’s toys is way more fun than playing with the ones we want her to play with.

My favorite thing Elia is doing right now is when I come in her room in the morning to get her out of the crib she is standing up in the corner waiting for me with a huge smile on her face. It warms my heart every single time!

Here are a few of my favorite pictures of Elia from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Elia is 7 months!

(sorry this post is a couple days late–Jason updated my computer and it took me awhile to figure out how to upload pictures onto the site)

Elia is now 7 months old and really starting to become active. No crawling yet, but that is not needed as she rolls (and rolls, and rolls, and rolls……) anywhere and everywhere she wants to go. It amazes me the places she gets herself wedge into and I once again discover how both exhausting and exciting having a newly mobile baby is!

She is also working on mastering sitting up unassisted and her favorite activity right now besides rolling is putting the paci in and out of her mouth over and over again. She has taken to baby food like a champ and although she is still sans-teeth seems to have a quite large “sweet potato” tooth It is a relief that she likes real food as much as she does considering it is still a feat trying to get her to drink 4oz without a struggle.

Here are a few pictures of her in the last month. Our baby girl is growing up so fast!

Happy Halloween 2011!

Sunday night was “beggar’s night” here in Pleasant Hill and the kids got all decked out in their costumes for the occasion.

Anya was “sweetie bat”, Josiah was “batman” and Elia was our little “tootsie”! They were all so cute and had fun running up and down our street collecting candy. The good thing about living on a street that most people don’t know exists is that everyone on the street gives you LOTS of candy because they don’t get many other trick-or-treater’s other than those already living here. Of course Anya & Josiah had a joke ready to tell and they did an excellent job delivering the funny!

Here are a few more pictures of our Halloween 2011!

Elia’s 6 month stats

This week, Elia had her 6 month appointment. She weighs 14.14 lbs and is 26 inches long–still the runt of our litter (both Anya & JP weighed well over 17 lbs at the 6 month mark), but growing nonetheless! She only gained a little over 1.5 lbs from her 4 month check but grew more than 2 inches, so she is putting all her growing into her height at the moment. A tall McArtor…..could it be??!!!!

Other than a double ear infection (that I had no idea she had ), Elia’s appointment went very well. She was all smile and giggles for the doctor and resident until it was time for shots. Of course she wasn’t a fan of them, but did recover faster than last time around has been back to her normal self despite the shots and ear infection!

Elia is 6 months!

Today, Elia is 6 months old.

6 months, gone in a flash. Elia seems to be growing and changing before our very eyes! She is rolling like crazy and can navigate her way around a room one revolution at a time!

She has started eating homemade baby food and really seems to enjoy sweet potatoes, carrots and green beans.

She still gets regular (and usually excessive) attention from her big sis & bro and wants to be able to see whatever commotion they are causing when they aren’t smothering her.

She loves laying under her play gym and batting and grabbing the toys that hang down.

She seems to have inherited the same trait as Anya & JP in that she must sleep with a blanket over her head.

Her sweet smile and crazy hair make me laugh out loud and our nightly powwows in the rocking chair remind me how lucky I am.

Elia is busy every day trying to learn something new, and what fun it is to be able to watch her every step of the way.

Here are a few more pictures of our sweet baby girl.

Our newest mobile device…

Elia started on the middle of the blanket and had made it this far by the time I came back in the room. Look out folks…she’s mobile!

It finally happened!!

Elia must have thought turning 5 months old was really exhausting, because, on that very night, she slept through the night for the VERY FIRST TIME!!

Too bad I woke up several times during the night wondering if she was going to wake up!!

Elia’s Dedication

Last Sunday (8/21) was a big day for Elia–it was her dedication. We had the ceremony at church and then many friends and family back to our house for lunch. It was a nice ceremony and a beautiful day outside and we all had so much fun having so many people who love Elia join us in the celebration. Elia continued the tradition and wore the baptismal gown that Papa Jim wore in 1946, I wore in 1978, Anya in 2005 and Josiah in 2008!

Thank you to everyone who came on this most special day for Elia–Jason & I feel so blessed to have so many people who love us and our children!

Here are some more pictures of Elia’s dedication and party!

Elia is 4 months!

Last week Elia had her 4 month check up. She is hanging out in the 37th percentile for both height and weight at 13lbs 4 oz and 24 inches long. So, she is still smaller than her big sister and brother at the same age, but not doing too bad either! Otherwise, we are still struggling with a few eating and reflux issues, but are trying a few new things to hopefully get a handle on the problems and make eating more comfortable for her! She again had 3 shots and was not a fan, but other than a short outburst right after the shots, slept the rest of the afternoon away and was fine by evening!

Besides her unhappiness at feedings, she continues to be a happy baby and smiles and smiles and smiles. She has started to truely giggle now and thinks it is so funny when you hold her right at eye level and proceed to have a very important conversation with her about something (why, just tonight I was reminding her of the importance of mommy getting a full night sleep and she dared to laugh right in my face ). So, as you can guess, I am still waiting for her first sleep-thru-the-night night and am hoping that it will happen any day now! She also really enjoys laying under her baby gym and grabbing onto the toys dangling down and laying directly under the ceiling fan is still another favorite activity.

Elia seems to be growing in front of our very eyes and every morning I look forward to walking into her room and seeing the cutest toothless grin in the world smiling back at me!

Elia at 3 months!

Another month has quickly passed and Elia has continued to grow like a weed! In the last few weeks she has really started to interact and smile with those around her. She really enjoys being outside and looking up at the sky–which is a good thing since we are outside a lot with Anya & Josiah. She is still waking up about once a night to eat, but otherwise is a great sleeper and still loves to be swaddled all nice and cozy at night. She is just starting to giggle at things but I think it startles her when she laughs and she usually ends up gasping and throws herself into a cough attack.

It is just amazing to see how much she has changed and grown in 3 short months. What a precious little girl she is and what a lucky momma I am!

Here are some more of her 3 month pictures we had taken today.