Last picture of 2012! Happy girl :)
Our final Christmas celebration with my mom and Ron was a lot of fun (and a LONG day). Ellison could probably operate her own toy store at this point, but I think it's nice that she has a variety of toys to keep things interesting! She got some toys that she will probably find a lot more entertaining in a few months (Little People zoo and palace, a ball pit with tunnel, push toys, a puzzle) and some stuff she already loves (a Disney train, Lol Elmo) plus movies, books, and clothes! She really had a wonderful Christmas and was very spoiled by everyone. What a lucky little girl! Have to be honest though...the toys she plays with most are little bath squirters from her big cousin Logan. She chews on them constantly and even crawls around carrying them in her mouth like a little puppy! Those are always the first toys she goes for in the morning when she comes downstairs. I guess kids know what kids like better than we do?!
Biggest news around here is that I am now done pumping. It's a bittersweet feeling. Selfishly, I will miss that "alone time" where I checked emails, played games on my phone, and of course, looked at Facebook and Pinterest! Not to mention my extra break at work...haha!!! But it will be amazing to not have to carry the pump around with me and to be done cleaning all those little parts multiple times a day!
Ellison and her baby
My goal was to breastfeed until Ellison was 1, so when she decided to wean herself from it at 6 months I was pretty disappointed. I decided to continue pumping not because I am one of those people who thinks formula is an evil poison, but because I know breastfeeding is best for baby, not to mention much cheaper! Plus, I already had the equipment and was used to pumping because I work full-time. We started giving Ellison pumped milk in bottles early on to get her ready for when I went back to work (she was only a little over 10 weeks old when I went back), and we always had one or two bottles on hand in case someone else was going to feed her or we were going somewhere. I never had any interest in breastfeeding in public. To each her own...I think it's great if someone is comfortable doing it, but I had no issue giving Ellison a bottle of pumped milk when we were out and about. She was getting them when I was at work anyway and never had issues switching back and forth, and I don't think it had anything to do with her loss of interest in nursing. I think she just got too interested in what was going on around her to concentrate on it!
Love Aaron Rodgers!
Anyway, we figured my continuing to pump was the best option and would help me reach my goal of making it to a year of breastfeeding. Let me tell you though, exclusively pumping is hard work! In the beginning I felt like I was connected to the pump constantly, because I didn't want to lose my supply. Over the 4+ months I have been pumping exclusively, it has gotten easier. But there are definitely challenges. A mom who is nursing can't really lose track of time and just forget a feeding - baby would remind you they are hungry! But when you are busy taking care of baby, trying to keep your house and your own life in order, pumping can easily get forgotten (and really mess with your supply). I feel so lucky I made it this far! At this point we have enough frozen to make it a little past Ellison being 11 months old, and then we will start mixing with whole milk (pediatrician recommended starting to transition at that point). So, I won't quite make it to a year, but I avoided ever having to buy formula! I thought I had a pretty great supply going in our freezer and would make it well past a year with frozen stuff, but once I was only pumping there wasn't much left to store. I think next time I will try to prepare and stockpile more in case I have another baby who stops nursing early!!! All in all, I think the route we chose was hard work but I'm glad I decided to do it. Formula feeding would have been a LOT easier and less time-consuming, but Ellison has been a very healthy little girl up until now and I would like to think breast milk is part of the reason! She definitely is worth all the time I spent hooked up to the pump...and all 5,000+ ounces of milk I pumped (yes, there's an app for that)!!!
Don't take my picture, I haven't brushed my hair yet!!!
Ellison has gotten really fast at crawling on her hands and knees. She doesn't ever "army crawl" anymore! She also seems to be getting much stronger as far as standing goes. She is starting to let go of the things she is using for balance but is not quite able to stand on her own yet. She likes to walk around with us holding her hands. Her other new "tricks" are giving kisses and showing us she is "so big". She is starting to point at things she wants and waves regularly. Still working on clapping though! She doesn't seem interested in it at all yet. She has been amazing at figuring out how to work all of her new toys from Christmas and is "talking" up a storm all the time...but no words we can understand quite yet (although sometimes I will be so sure she repeats things I say and we are pretty convinced she can say "what's that"!).
Working on her couponing
Speaking of talking...Miss Ellison is not a quiet girl. She already is showing some signs of a little temper. She will let out a VERY loud shriek when something she wants is taken away from her (usually some type of electronic gadget she shouldn't have like a remote or phone - she has toy versions of both but of course wants the real thing!). She threw a pretty big fit when I took her out of the bathtub (and away from her bath toys) involving a lot of high pitched screaming, a wet baby trying to go right over or through mommy to get back to the tub, and quite a bit of frantic pointing at the bath squirters lined up to dry. She must miss swimming lessons! Luckily for us, she is almost always very well-behaved in public and seems to save the little meltdowns for home so far!!! She is definitely already showing that she is very feisty and knows exactly what she wants. 
In her hideout under the table yet again...
All in all, Ellison is doing great and keeping us busy! 11 months is coming up very soon and we are starting to prepare for an Elmo 1st birthday party!
Here's a few pics from Warzinski Christmas since they weren't loaded last time I posted!
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