Cuddles

Mommy has gotten a lot of sweet Ella cuddles lately.  It is sad that our little lady has been sick, but being sick has made it that for around two weeks, she could only sleep in Mommy's arms.  So Mommy and Ella have been sleeping in the guest bedroom, with Ella snuggled up right next to Mommy's face.  I'm so glad she's feeling better, and know it's best for her to sleep in her own bed (every time she moved a muscle, I would wake up, which is good because it means I knew I wouldn't suffocate her since I was sleeping so lightly, but it also means I basically didn't sleep for two weeks).  But still, sleeping with my precious daughter in my arms has been one of the highlights of my life.  For a few nights, Jay was sick and needed to sleep with us, too, so I had my babies on each arm.  I didn't sleep a wink and can't remember being happier.

Ella in January

Sweet Ella.  She is our joy!  She is six months and it is so crazy to think how quickly her first half year has gone by!  Both Aunt Sarah and Aunt Hannah wished her a happy half-birthday!  She has been sick -- Jay is too, his first time to really be sick at 28 months, but poor Ella only made it to six months.  Thank goodness it was just a bad cold for both of them; no tummy sicknesses for the Witherow kids yet! 

Ella is almost sitting up on her own.  She is rolling over every time we put her on her back.  Used to, we could put her on her back to let her kick and exercise, but now, within a second of being on her back she has flipped to her tummy.  She's only happy on her tummy for a few seconds, then she's mad, but she gets even madder when we flip her back to her back.  She's a little happier to stay on her back if she has a toy to play with.

Ella loves toys -- loves putting them in her mouth!  Everything goes in her mouth these days, so we're having to be very careful with Jay's toys.  He is so good about sharing with her, and it is hard to tell him not to, because we want him to share with her when she's older and not in so much danger of choking on his toys!

Ella is definitely teething, but her first tooth has yet to make an appearance...soon, though!

Sweet girl is definitely a second child -- Mommy doesn't have nearly as much to photo-document her life as she did with Jay!  But hopefully I can add some photos to this post soon. 

We love our Ella Girl so much! 

Jayisms for January

Jay calls Ella "Wee-wa".  Whenever he sees her, he says, "Hi, Wee-Wa!" in a very sing-songy voice, like HI wee WA.  I hope I can capture it on video; it's so cute.

Sometimes if Ella is crying and I can't go to her (like if I'm in the shower), I can ask Jay to talk to Ella and help her to be happy, and he can almost always get her to stop crying.  Then he runs back to me and reports, "Mommy, I talk Weewa!"

We were at the park last week, and I told Jay it was time to go home.  He announced to the other family playing "I go home and cook!"  He loves to "help cook"!  Anytime I'm in the kitchen, he wants me to get out his step stool so he can help.  I'm trying to find things he can do without burning or cutting himself.  We're working on cracking eggs.  He's good at the tapping part, but then he just wants to squeeze the egg instead of opening it up.

Matt really wants to see the sequel to the movie "300".  When I told him it looked too violent for me and I didn't want to see it with him, he said "Maybe that will be a movie for Daddy and Papa to see."  A little voice piped up and added "And Jay."

Jay started saying his name around Christmas.  I never knew it would thrill my heart so much to hear my child's voice speak the name we chose for him.  I love hearing him say his name.  (He used to call himself "baby".)

"Not yet" is one of Jay's current favorite phrases, and he always uses it correctly. One day last week, I thought Maggie might have fleas again, so I asked Matt to check her tummy. Then Jay wanted Matt to check his tummy.  Then Matt told Jay to check his (Matt's) tummy and asked "does Daddy have bugs on his tummy?"  Jay said "not yet!"

Jay says "yes" now, instead of "please".  For the longest time, if I asked him if he wanted something, he would enthusiastically say "Please!!"  Now he says "yes" or "yes, please".  I love hearing his language develop, but I miss the "please" phase a little.

Jay still says "I woo woo" for "I love you".  I will definitely miss hearing that, but will love hearing him say "love".