Darling Little Girl's Tricks of the Day

When Ellie and I are cuddling alone in a room and she hears Tate coming, a look of sheer joy crosses her face, then she throws herself into me, burying her head until Tate comes in. Then she peers up and giggles at him and then throws her face back into me. (Sometimes this happens a few times in a row, for example if I holler for Tate she immediately does it, then she does it again if she hears him coming down the stairs and then again when she hears the door opening.)I don't know if she is so excited that she will explode if she sees him walk through the door or if she figured out that being fake shy was cute. But it is so earnest that sometimes she throws her head into my teeth or she falls over in the process. Either way, the girl loves her Daddy!
When we are getting the bath tub filled Ellie gets so excited and wiggly that it takes both hands to keep her from jumping straight into the tub! What a little fish!
Last night we attempted to let Ellie cry in her crib so that she would learn to fall asleep by herself. She cried for over an hour (off and on) and then we caved and I picked her up. She was so sad. I don't know whether the crying it out approach is harmful or not (or at least less harmful than sleep-deprived baby and parents) but I do know that it is not something we can do right now. She was so upset that when I did pick her up she was silent and just cuddled very tightly and sadly for a long time. Then she pepped up and stayed awake for another 2 hours, babbling and giggling as I told her how much I loved her and how sorry I was for letting her cry. Her noises went like this babababababaBAP BAP BAP BAP BAP BABAAAAA! A few times she went on for about a minute. I wish we had recorded it. Even Tate who is often quite grumpy when Ellie tries to turn midnight into play time was laughing at her!
I was trying to explain to someone that Ellie is fanatical about chewing on things and he assured me that all babies are. However I really stand by the fact that Ellie takes it to an extreme. I cannot hold something within 3 feet of her unless I want her to put it in her mouth. This includes all the normal things like car keys and phones but also applies to paper products (like mail or reciepts), dishes and glasses, appliances (like the dishwasher and refrigerator), screws or fasteners of any kind (not loose of course, she just finds the ones on the underside of furniture, etc), plastic bags (like at the grocery store, which scares me to death), dog hair balls, and much much more. Baby proofing is hard work.
She is also pulling herself up on EVERYTHING! There is no stopping her. Her major impediment to full mobility is that she still sometimes gets frustrated with scooting on her belly and gives up and fusses. When I rescue her she just wants to stand up and get back to moving. She also can't get into a seated position from a laying down position but I don't think it will be long.
She is starting to eat real food. We've had a few minor success but the past couple of days she has seemed interested! This morning we shared some oatmeal and this evening we had some yogurt and pears.
She is being so vocal that I don't think her first real word is very far off. She seems to have a certain phrase involving the Pa sound that she uses when she is really excited.
It is so much fun to watch her learn. Every day is so amazing and I am soooo glad that I am no longer working very much!!!