Another 2 months older! And as you can see below, a lot of our favorites these past 2 months have to do with FOOD!

1. IKEA Blames High Chair – This high chair has really been great for us! I was a little skeptical at first, but it is easy to clean, has a nice large tray, and isn’t too bad on the eyes either.

2. Food Processor – We decided once Ellen started solids that we would make her own food. It’s so simple and if you have an hour or two to set aside, you can get so much made and not to mention the cost difference. We have this particular 7-cup Cuisinart and we absolutely love it! Just cut/peel, steam, and puree!

3. Ice Cube Trays– Once her food is pureed, we use ice cube trays to freeze her food. Each cube is about 1oz, so it is particularly useful when measuring out how much she is eating each day. It also lets us experiment with different pairings of veggies/fruits.

4. Dr Suess Mini Hard Books – These are great for reading at night. She can touch, feel, and grab without worrying about torn/wet pages. And they are baby sized!

5. Mum Mums– This was one of the first hard solid crunchy foods that Ellen tried. They have that initial hard feeling in her mouth and then disintegrate within seconds.

6. Costco Kirkland Brand Baby Wipes– These are so so great for anything and everything you can think of. Diaper changes, dirty faces, slimy fingers, runny noses. They have no scent and are on the less expensive end of most wipe brands.

7. Gerber Puffs – Like Mum Mums, these have the same initial crunchy feeling, and then disintegrate after a few seconds. They are almost the size of cheerios, when comparing size. We just pour a few on her tray and she gobbles them up like candy!

8. Bath tub squirties – Now that Ellen is sitting up on her own, bath time is a whole different experience. She loves chewing these little garden squirties in the tube, as well as some other rubber duckies we have for her.

9. One Two Squeeze Blocks – These blocks are so good for babies learning to grab and who are still chewing everything in sight. They are also good to grow up with, as each has a number and corresponding number of animals. They are made of a soft rubber-type material, so they are easy on the gums. And such cute colors!

10. Sleep Sack – Now that we are a little roly poly in bed and aren’t being swaddled anymore, this has been a lifesaver…..acting as somewhat of a wearable blanket. There are no worries of a blanket coming off or covering her face, and there is still plenty of room at the bottom for kicking her feet around.

This past weekend, we headed to Destin, Florida to meet up with Andrew’s family for a Mother’s Day weekend getaway! Andrew’s Mom (Nanny), rented a condo right on the beach for us to stay and the weather could not have been more perfect! The temperatures stuck around the high 70’s/low 80’s and my allergies finally got a couple days of rest.

We got to see Drew’s Grandmother (Nana), sister Laura, and our brother-in-law JC and nephew Alec!

The first day we were there, we got in some beach time. Ellen LOVED the beach! Got to stick her little toes in the sand and see the ocean for the first time. We also got our eat on at a fun seafood restaurant right on the beach, The Back Porch…..a Destin favorite!

The second day was a little warmer, but that didn’t stop us! We popped up the tent and spent a good portion of the day soaking up the sun and taking a dip in the Gulf. Ellen was such a trooper and even took a good 2 hour afternoon nap right on the beach!

For dinner that night, we headed to Margaritaville at Harborwalk Village, a fun little “downtown” area, full of shopping and fun places to eat right on the water.

And of course, Ellen got a little selfie happy at dinner.

She wears gold-plated diapers made by Tasmanian Devils. She is…the most interesting baby in the world.

STATS:

Weight: 18.2 lbs.
Height: No doctors appt this month, but I’m guessing somewhere around 27

LIKES:

Eating food and snacks, clapping, sitting at her high chair, chewing on her sippy cup, and TUMMY TIME! Yes people, we love tummy time.

HATES:

Sitting still and having her nose wiped.

MILESTONES:

{Sleeping} Napping great and sleeping great! 7:30-7 and taking a nice long 1.5-2 hour nap in the morning and an occasional 45 min-1 hr nap in the afternoon.

{Movement} We are about to have a crawler! I swear, one day she woke up and just decided she loved tummy time and now wants to spend ALL her time on the floor, trying to figure out how to crawl. I know it will be any day now and she will be off! I also love walking in to get her out of bed in the morning and I see her little head poking up over the railing.

{Eating} She is quite the little eater. Loving all sorts of food and has really not had any issues. Still drinking about 27 oz. a day and eating fruits and veggies and snacks (puffs and mum mums). We have been experimenting with a little table food here and there….pieces of banana, pasta, and her first taste of chicken at Ipps!

{Teething} We now have both bottom teeth AND top teeth! They started coming in a couple weeks ago and she just loved grinding them together (drove me crazy). Now she loves giving us her cute toothy grin, which I can’t seem to get enough of!

{Talking} Still a lot of “gaga” and babbling. Loves blowing raspberries CONSTANTLY.