Fun with the VanDerBears!

Ellie has been enjoying time spent with her cousins Jane and Lukie.  They moved up from California a few months ago and now Ellie gets all kinds of cousin play time!

 Just hanging in jammies after dinner.

 Mommy and Cousin Laura taking a mom break :)

 A gorgeous sunny fall day at the zoo...these are rare, but we are making the most of them!  

What does Ellie like to do when it rains?  She grabs a flotation device, swimsuit, and a Nemo swim diaper and heads to Grandma Cassandra's for some laps in the pool!

Halloween 2012

With the pumpkins carved and the Elephant costume ready to go, Ellie enjoyed her first Halloween!  Although we didn't join in on the trick or treating festivities, Ellie was quite patient with her parents and the hood of her elephant costume and posed for the camera.

Umm, I think she might actually be posing for this one... 

"Ellie, come on smile for the camera." 

 "Lucas, help me get this hood off of my head!!"

The Halloween Crew of 2012 

 Still pulling on those ears...

...now time to try pulling on Bedtime Bear's ears.

Pumpkin Patch!

Wearing costumes and hanging at the farm...being a baby is pretty awesome!  We took Ellie to hunt for her Halloween pumpkins with two of her best friends (besides mommy and daddy of course!)  

Pumpkin crew!

Can't go to the farm without the gourd mustache!

Or petting the calves!

 Ready to play!

Ready to play in the pumpkins...

 ...still having a good time...

 ...and we're done.

 What a great day!

 "Hmmm, I think I can lure him in just close enough to pull that hair!"  

She's pretty smart.

8 1/2 months! We've been busy...

It's quite clear that Ellie is ready to be a walking talking baby...she's definitely getting close!  She started last month with the pull to stand move.  And she quickly began the "One hander stander"...to be followed by the "no hander stander"!  3 weeks ago she was rocking on her legs getting ready to start crawling, and now we have her surrounded with her UFC fighting cage.  Okay we're not really putting her in training, but the baby super playard is pretty super and slows down her adventurous spirit.  2 weeks ago she started to stand up on her own...no pulling up necessary...which has quickly become her favorite activity.  This little lady has been busy!

 A site we see often...."Can you see me?"...

..."Here I am!!"

"And for my next trick, I will show you that I can take half my diaper off while standing!"  

White carpet, may not have been the best choice :-)

 Pure determination!

 A very proud Ellie, clapping and standing!

Just when you think you have them wrangled and safe...

Random Fun!

We've had a great time with this little ball of energy!  She's had a great time at the zoo, playing with her cousins, and hiking around.  We can't wait to have many more fun trips with our little Punkin.

 Hanging with dad and the giraffes

 Ellie can't wait until her cousin Jane is crawling around too...

...until then she will just tickle her toes!

 Coffee & Cousins!  

We had a great afternoon with Aunt Cynthia & Uncle Samir, my mom, Laura, and little Jane!

 Getting ready to take on Tryon Creek...

...someone didn't last too long.

 The newest Ellie look, just one leg warmer...who has time to put the other one on when you're this busy!

We've changed over to "big girl jammies"

Easier to stand...

...and much faster to crawl in!

Did anyone order rolls with their lunch?  She's busy, but she still manages to keep her cute little figure!

How could bath time be any more fun...

...add the shower!  It's no secret that Ellie enjoys a dip in the pool, likes to play with fountains, and just has a general fondness for playing in the water.  So the natural progression seemed to be adding more water options to bath time...

"Hi, I'm Ellie, what's in your grocery cart?"

I've really enjoyed my shopping times with Ellie.  We've made it sort of our thing to cruise the grocery aisles on Wednesday mornings.  When I forgot the baby carrier, we decided to test out the grocery cart seat.  WOW, what a great way to entertain Punkin Head!  I think strollers should be modeled after grocery carts, who wants to be close to the ground, when you can be up high socializing with the big people!!

We had to say good-bye to the baby seat...

When your baby cries at the mere sight of their car seat, it might be time to get her a bigger throne!  Can't believe our little munchkin is no longer in her infant seat.  Although I think our arms and backs will thank us...the seat was not light, and well with Ellie in it, it was certainly not an ergonomic set up.  I think she's pretty happy with the new one!

Someone can't wait to get to school and tell her friends about her new ride!

I think she appreciates that her sippy cup matches the seat.

Road Trip!

Thanks to Greg's employer...we all headed down to southern Oregon where he attended a fundraiser at the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.  Ellie wasn't fitted for clubs (yet!) but she did have quite a nice snooze as we strolled around the resort.  She did pretty darn good in the car, 5 hours and only one stop on the way home!

 "Hey Mom, let's do this!"

 Apparently she was so excited, that she had to take a snooze!

 Awake Time!

 And crazy time...