Our 'Lil Miss Independant, and Six to Nine Months

Mothers Day rolled around and of course it offered more opportunities for Ella to visit with family, here she is playing on the floor with her Aunt Alicia.

At just over six months she really started to become interested in what other little kids were up to and she wanted to do everything that they can do, like run, jump, and play! Cousin Cameron and Her had a fun time playing with the piano toy, unfortunately her attention span when it comes to playing with older kids just wasn't there yet, so it doesn't last very long, but it sure makes good photo opportunities for mom!


The end of May Angie had eye surgery to correct a Retinal Detachment (Didn't work, don't know why we bothered!) Mommy had to stay face down for a full week, so daddy took care of Ellie, it was really hard on us all, mainly because Ang couldn't hold, comfort, or cuddle her baby and she wanted to so badly! Although, the people that worked at the Eye Specialists Office love to see her regularly, and are thrilled that they get to watch her grow up (Angie, on the other hand, wishes she could be more excited about visiting them, but oh-well!)

June came around so fast! Ella really started to become more independent every day, she loves to play with other kids (especially little girls) she started to really love attention from other people (even strangers in the grocery store would come up talk to her, and comment on her beautiful features) Ella loved to bat her eyes at them and smile like she had no idea what they were saying, but we think somewhere in there she knows exactly whats going on and she LOVES it! Ella had a great time at her Cousin Emily's 5Th Birthday, she watched, in envy, as all the kids ran around chasing each other, but all she could do was kick her legs in hopes that they would magically let her play too!



8 months old! Oh-my! A lot of exciting and new things happened around this time, she began to sit all on her own! Sometimes she would get really excited about something and she would fall over but she pretty much had it covered (this made more much better pictures!)


Also, our little munchkin began to CRAWL, yes she was REALLY mobile and suddenly her world expanded and everything looked much more interesting (but to mommy everything looked much more dangerous!) At first she would do this cute little army crawl by dragging her lower half behind her, until she got on all fours and just took off one day! (Here she is crawling away from us after bath time, that's how much she doesn't like getting dressed!)


But the most note able was TEETH!! Those little pearly whites started to come up with a vengeance, the bottom 2 decided to pave the way first. Ella wasn't liking it so well at first, we went through a whole lot of sleepless nights, but she warmed up to the idea once she realized she can BITE (especially knuckles, necklaces, and the tops of mommy's feet), and chew real food, now Angie had some really big messes to clean! (and bite marks...)


The weekend of July 4Th we got to spend as a family, Brad had been keeping a pretty hectic work schedule (He's going to kill me for putting this picture up but I had to!) and because of Angie's surgery we couldn't go on a vacation (Angie had a gas bubble in her eye that prevented them from changing elevation) so we decided to spend that extended weekend enjoying the summer and the 4Th as a family!


It was one HOT weekend, poor little Ellie was melting in the heat so we ran out and got her a cute little pool, she LOVED it, our little water baby! Plus it kept her cool and clean (Just what mommy likes!) Her favorite part of pool time is to try and crawl around on the bottom and play with her blow-up float toys.


We decided to spend the 4Th at Legion Memorial Park, it was a fun day, there were all sort of activities going on, Ella got to ride the swings, slide on the slides, spin around on the Merry-go-round, and drive her own car!


She was pretty skeptical of the swings at first...



...but once Daddy got it swinging, she was hooked!! We didn't think we could ever get her out of there!!


She's most defiantly going to be a little thrill-seeker like her mommy!! Ella couldn't stay up for the awesome fireworks, but she slept right through all the noise and got to watch them on TV the next day (We made sure to record them, just so she wouldn't miss out! ) That weekend was the best and one of our favorite times as a family!


What a big girl we have! We can't believe how fast time has gone by, and how fast Ella learns new things!

At 8 months old shes starting to become very affectionate, giving random hugs and kisses (open mouth on the cheek, and usually involved PLENTY of slobber!) She's also, starting to suck her thumb when her pacie isn't around (Mommy doesn't like this little habit! She obviously inherited this ability from Dada).



She has become very photogenic (as you can tell from the 8-month shots we had done, well, they were more like 8 1/2 months by the time we could get her in!) She starts to stand with help, her legs are a bit wobbly still, but shes trying her hardest everyday to get up!


In July we took our first Zoo trip! The Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle is amazing, there are about a billion things to do, especially for little one's! Ella loved being strolled around and people watching, she wasn't into the animals so much, but hey, mom and dad had fun!

Her first time sitting on her own in a "big girl" high chair! She looks a little too proud of herself here...and a little too much like daddy, that is a classic Brad look!

Around this time we learned quickly that Ella will pick up on anything! One day while Mommy was watching cartoons with Ella, she changed the channel and Ella promptly shook her head "No" to our surprise she started doing this when we fed her vegetables, meat, changed her diaper, turned the TV off, or took away something she shouldn't be playing with! We had no idea how she learned this, maybe watching us? (I guess Dada better watch his "shop talk" when
he's around baby now!)
We took many trips to the park and basked in the sun while it lasted, Ella was a big fan of people watching, eating grass, swinging, taking her shoes off, and going for rides in her stroller. A week after she learned to shake her head "no" she started to shake her head "yes" (we taught her this one because we were tired of everything being "no"!). She especially liked to "yes" when it came to her favorite toys, books, DVDs, getting her out of her crib, snacks, fruit, and going bye bye!


Visiting Grandma and Grandpa is always a lot of fun for Ella, they have all these interesting things to play with and look at!

She loves to play with Grandma's necklaces, stuffed animals and cooking spoons, and sit in Grandpa's lap, rock back and forth and watch his GIANT TV!

Aunt Aleshia is fun to play with! (we still need Uncle Sean to stick around long enough to snap a cute pic!) Ella loves to smile at her Aunt and Uncle and she is very gentle when Aleshia's Kitty Sasha comes around, she very expertly pets the cat's head and touches her ear's. it's the cutest thing! She doesn't like the puppy Bandit though because he gets excited and barks loud and that scares little Ella!



Six to Nine Months was the best! She learned and grew so much (and grew out, of 9 months clothes and straight into 12 months!) We love her bunches and can't (and can) wait until she can walk!! We had a very busy summer so far so stay tuned for more postings on the many adventures of the Duncil Clan....