You wouldn’t know it from the way we’ve been whining, but Elise has been doing more than just refusing to sleep over the past few weeks. In fact, it might be from all that extra awake time that she has become quite the little Magellan - making new discoveries every day! In the grand scheme of the world, I suppose it is nothing earth shattering. Our baby has not discovered the cure for cancer or an economical, plentiful and environmentally responsible way to power vehicles. She has, however, made many discoveries that are exciting for a little baby!First up: Ellie has discovered her voice.
Not only did she come to vote with us last week, but she also discovered a new way to communicate. Now, while she has been cooing for months, these coos have been soft and gentle, through a peaceful half smile. It was very sweet and quiet and beautiful. Those days are over. A little over a week ago, we were at a friend’s house and Ellie was sitting quietly on my lap, when she suddenly screamed. Then she did it again. And again. It was hard for us to figure out what the heck she was doing – at first we thought she was crying, but she didn’t seem upset at all. Then we thought maybe she was trying to clear her throat – perhaps she was getting sick? Nope. Turns out that in that moment, she discovered her vocal chords. And the days of taking her to quiet places are officially over. Boy does that child love her newfound scream-talking! She loves scream-talking so much that this weekend she became hoarse. Though I feel bad that she’s worn out her little voice already, that little hoarse-squeek-scream is possibly the cutest thing on the planet.
Next, did you know Ellie has feet?! It did not even occur to us that Elise didn’t know that her feet existed until about two weeks ago. One day, while she was sitting on the changing table, she brought her legs up and grabbed onto her feet with both hands. Somewhere between shock and excitement, I believe that was the moment she realized “Hey these fun toys are attached to me!” And thus the love affair began. Every time she is lying on her back, she brings her legs up and cuddles her precious feet. When she is sitting up, she looks down, sees her little friends, and takes a nosedive straight for them. She has become a baby obsessed. In fact, her latest trick is to munch on her feet, as though proudly proclaiming to the world “My parents never feed me! I have to eat my feet for nourishment!” 
Speaking of eating things that don’t taste good, Ellie has also discovered a love for sucking or chewing on pretty much everything that comes within 50 feet. From toys to fingers to the clothes she is wearing, she promptly soaks things within seconds, leaving a trail of wet everywhere she goes.
The most exciting discovery for us as her parents has been that she has discovered that she doesn’t hate books. For the first few months, every time we put a book in front of her, even when she was in a great mood, she started screaming. It made her parents, who are avid readers, worried that she was destined to be a math person (if she inherited our math genes, she is destined for failure that endeavor). But it turns out that her hatred for books was short lived. Maybe it’s just that she has developed the ability to sit still for more than 5 seconds (although still not more than 5 minutes) but she now devours books. Figuratively and literally (see above paragraph)!
And finally, while Ellie began rolling over from her back to her stomach at 12 weeks, she just started rolling over from her stomach to her back last week. She hates being on her stomach so much that she doesn’t usually get the opportunity to roll over because she is too busy crying. Now I guess she’s discovered that she needs be proactive - instead of waiting for her parents to get her off her tummy, she just does it herself. Hopefully she’ll be that proactive about getting out of diapers!
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