This month flew by so fast I don't even remember what's happened. I've already thought about how next month she'll be half a year old, which makes me feel all sorts of strange emotions. I thought babies were babies for a long time. Nope.

Ok what happened this month? Hmmm....Ella started rolling over. She started making all sorts of hilarious noises and girl-screaming. Yes, little girl shrieks. The first time it happened, I told Dustin it was his future to have a house filled with little girl shrieks. She gets so excited, will lift her eyebrows, stretch her toes, and shriek. I love it. We started rice cereal which was, lo and behold, very anticlimactic because she was just plain not interested. She's gotten slightly more interested only when she is sticking both of her hands in her mouth while I'm simultaneously trying to put a spoon in her mouth. It's a fun game we play called "See How Much Cereal We Can Get Everywhere." She also took her very first roadtrip this month to Ardmore to visit Amy, Chris, and Hayden. I was fairly nervous about how everything would go, her first long drive, her first time sleeping in a pack n' play away from home. She really did quite well, except for one meltdown between Purcell and Norman which ended in us feeding her in the car in the parking lot of a Pei Wei. Ah, real life. It was so special to meet Hayden for the first time and to be sharing this experience with my friend. Sleep is going fairly well and we're learning how to balance what is worth trying to change and what is worth tolerating for a while. But overall, she is a delight and we love this age. There is nothing like waking up too early, stumbling into her room in the dark while feeling groggy and annoyed, and then being greeted by her gummy/delighted smile as she sees you for the first time that day. It's an attitude-changer nearly 99% of the time.

EJ, you are so much fun and we are delighted that you are our daughter. Thanks for being patient with Mom & Dad and letting us figure this out with you! We've known and loved you for nearly half a year!