I don't want to jinx anything, but Ella has been healthy for 9 whole days now (well, she has a little sniffle but compared to everything else...that's nothing). And I had honestly forgotten what a fun, happy, joyful child she normally is. It wasn't her fault that she was not her normal self when she was sick of course, but what a difference being healthy has made! I just wanted to make little list of some of the little everyday things that are making me smile lately:
- Getting hugs from Ella in the morning when I go to get her out of her crib. She squeezes me really tight like she just missed me so much during the night and doesn't ever want to let me go. Melt a mom's heart why don't you!
- Chasing Ella all over the house. She absolutely loves this. She'll start to crawl away, then sit down and look back to make sure I'm coming after her, and squeal and laugh in delight as she starts crawling away again as fast as she can. Then when I catch her I give her a big tickle. She's especially ticklish under her arms and that's how I get the best laugh out of her.
- Listening to her babble to herself in the car in that little munchkin voice of hers. She will carry on entire conversations with herself.
- Seeing Ella bounce up and down when she hears music or watching her "read" a book intently. She really loves music and books. Couldn't make me happier.
- Watching Ella get into everything around her. She is just so curious. Usually this means that she creates quite a mess wherever she goes, but I love to watch her explore like this.
- Being followed around the house. Sometimes it is hard to get things done with Ella underfoot, but I like that she wants to be around me and I realize that this will be over all too soon. Even when I'm showering in the morning, instead of playing with the toys I've gotten out for her she will hold vigil outside the glass shower doors just watching me. In her more dramatic moments, she will even stand up and press her face against the glass. It makes me laugh just to think about it.
- Squeezing and kissing those chubby cheeks of hers.
- Seeing Ella's big grin. She seriously has the cheesiest grin when she smiles real big but it's so adorable I swear she will spend her life getting whatever she wants if she keeps on flashing that thing around.
- Listening to Matt sing bedtime stories to Ella in her bedroom.
- Holding Ella in her rocking chair right before bedtime. It's one of the only times she will really let me cuddle her.
PS - Doesn't Ella look like such a little kid in that first picture? I see less and less baby every day. Please excuse me while I go back to working on figuring out a way to stop time.