Ella - the past 5 months

Ella, Peter and I are all doing well. We are enjoying our time together as a family and are learning to survive on less sleep (especially me). Ella is a joy to have, and surprises us everyday with new skills and noises. Here is what Ella can do.

• sleep
• eat
• pooh and pee
• smile and laugh
• stand (with us helping her balanace)
• hold up her head
• suck her fingers/ thumb
• scratch herself (the face)
• play with her tongue
• pull mommy's hair
• grab her toes
• roll over from her back side to her front side
• talk (coohing, and vowel sounds)
• grunt
• cry!!
• stain her clothes
• drool
• hold her own bottle

Ella has also travelled by plane when she was 6 weeks old from Calgary to Toronto. She travelled well and Peter and I enjoyed having the entire row on the plane to ourselves at no extra charge for her seat. Just this week we also drove to Banff with my cousin Winnie, and thankfully she slept the entire ride there and back. We will be going to Banff next week with the Tam family for a few days just to relax and have fun. The Tam's, Melonie and Albert have a little girl, Kristen who is almost 2 years old, and although they are not close in age, Ella loves to watch Kristen play and perhaps aspire to do the things that a 2 year old can do.

Other than that Peter is working hard on his research. Keeping long hours and functioning on very little sleep - yet he is always energetic and smiling as he cares and plays with Ella. I am just attempting to do some cleaning up around the house (still some stuff to sort and unpack back from our move in October) and start our income taxes (yipee), as well as updating my professional practice log books so when I return to work I will be ready to apply for my full membership as a Planner and Landscape Architect (but we will see how far I get with this). I hope to get Ella and I signed up for swimming classes next month when she turns 6 months old and go for long walks in our neighborhood.

We would love to have friends and family visit, so drop us a line. We have a guest room all ready and since ella is still in diapers you will have a bathroom to yourself too. Calgary is great in the spring/summer, and has lots of sights nearby - Banff is 45min away, Lake Louise is 2 hrs away - where there are lots of hiking trails, golf, and winter sports. Ok enough said, just come and visit.

Keep in touch.
Cheers
(joyce for) The Tangs