Everybody is Waiting for Spring!

Ellie is on the move...and she is fast! She started pulling herself up in her crib about a month ago and now all she wants to do is pull herself up and stand.

She crawls FAST and so we've realized the all-hands & eyes-on-Ellie necessity that seemed to spring up overnight. We are babyproofing but realizing there is so much she can get in to. She loves to dump over the cat's water bowls, open her bottom dresser drawer and pull everything out, and pulls herself up on anything she can get her hands on. We try to be there to watch her yet give her some freedom to learn, which has resulted in a few bumps on the head...nothing serious:)

She has four teeth on the bottom and one coming in on the top. Her favorite sound this last week is brrmm...brmmm (like a motorcycle) and she is laughing all the time (at us some times we think).

Dan, Ellie, and I are all looking forward to the spring when we can get outside more. We have had a number of nice days already and have spent those outside with her at the zoo, botanical gardens, and on neighborhood walks.

Here she is having dinner outside with her friend/neighbor Luci Rae.

They are a bit overdue, but here are a couple of pictures from Ellie's 6 month photo shoot-our friend and neighbor Andy took these great shots at his studio.

You can see them all at:

http://andrewmarinkovich.com/gallery/portrait/ellie6mo/

Grandpa Roger is coming to visit in two weeks and we are all looking forward to that. Also looking forward to seeing all of the Wittmanns just after Ellie's first birthday in July for cousin Kristin's wedding (she's marrying a Dan so she's off to a good start:)!

Happy Spring!

Scooting along!

Just a quick post.
Here is a video of Eliana crawling around. She is getting quick and we need to have a constant eye on her. She has been getting into everything of late.
Enjoy the video,

Lovin' the Water!

Lots of new things going on in the Wittmann family....Dan is officially a part-time stay at home daddy as of Monday! He will be home with Ellie 2 1/2 days a week and Ellie seems to be showing off that she is so happy about that by doing a lot of firsts the last couple of days...On Monday, she initiated a game of peek-a-boo with Dan on her own by pulling her shirt up over her head and waiting for him to start the game. This morning, as Dan was taking her upstairs, Ellie waved bye-bye (twice!) to Michaella. This was definitely a curl the fingers wave (and not just the arm movements we thought might be:). Then for her big news.....she had her first swimming lesson tonight at the YMCA. They start classes at 6 months and she had a blast! She loves baths and so we thought she would be OK in the pool. She started splashing and smiling as soon as she got in the water. We did a lot of movement in the water and she got the hang of kicking right away and even did some paddling motions with her arms - the Y 'instructor' said she was a natural and couldn't believe how much she was doing at her age (Dan suggests it is the Wittmann blood in her, but I think he forgets the Wrights grew up around water too!...maybe she is a natural). She floated on her back (with a little help), used a noodle, and even went under water twice (Dan has been wanting to do that since she was born!!) Mommy and Daddy were very proud!