So much new

It's hard to put into words the amazing things Ella has learned in the last four days. I'm actually a bit in shock at what she's been up to.

I have to preface this list of accomplishments by saying that Ella has always been determined to march to the beat of her own drummer. Not ONE SINGLE thing has been done on anyone else's timeline but her own. It took her 11 months to sleep through the night and she never crawled--not one time. Just when we start to become a little anxious about her development or those stupid (yet important) "milestones" which she takes at her own pace, she'll have a week like this week has been.

In the last four days, Ella has:
-tried and loved whole milk--took it like a champ.
-gotten from lying down to sitting up after months of REFUSING to try
- pulled up onto everything about 1 million times and cruised across countless pieces of furniture
-WALKED!! up to 6 steps at a time, multiple times today
-learned to say "Teddy", which is more like "Tuh-duh" at this point, but still awesome.

All of a sudden, a fire has been lit under this little girl and she is raring to go. I honestly think she might have been lacking confidence to do things (walk, most notably). She's been walking holding our hands for over 2 months now and JUST yesterday took off on her own.

Exciting times ahead...1st birthday in less than 2 weeks!