0-9 months

Weekday moments

I love the current stage Ella is in.  Nine-month-olds are so much fun.  They discover on a whole new level, their personality starts to really come out, and they look ridiculously cute in shopping carts.   She loves speed-crawling to the kitchen and opening anything with a handle.  She's starting to wave to people.  She loves peek-a-boo.  And she loves to dance.

And with the birth of this new stage, I started thinking about the very beginning.

The newborn stage was a hard one.  Between the challenge of breastfeeding, my husband's work schedule, and the postpartum issues, I had a hard time initially bonding with Ella.  She was the cutest baby I'd ever seen, but I was lost in the fact that she couldn't yet respond to us.  And I questioned if I was cut out to be a stay-at-home mom.  Of course I loved her with my whole heart and when she began to smile and make funny faces and do all those things cute, little babies do, I started to feel that connection a mom feels with her child.  But it didn't come easy.

With her latest growth spurt, it's been a joy to grow with her.  Her personality is beaming and she makes me laugh as much as I try to make her laugh.  I dance with her, talk with her, and hug her every chance I get.

That's what this week was about, taking in all these little, new, way-too-cute milestones.  And appreciating the little lady she's turning into.