James and Ola Jordan have been enjoying every minute with their baby girl Ella, and now reveal that they are taking a new step that will be very hard for the both of them: putting her to bed in her very own room.
READ: James and Ola Jordan are bittersweet about baby Ella's new milestone
Sharing an adorable video of little Ella smiling widely at her mum while snuggled in the cot by James and Ola's bed, Ola explains: "We're trying to let go, so she's going to go in her own bed. The video is almost the last time I'm going to be seeing her sleeping that way, and when she goes into the big bed in her room I'm going to miss her! I think we're struggling to let go and put her in her own room."
WATCH: Baby Ella is moving into her own bedroom
Speaking about the decision, she continues: "I think it's time, I think the bed she's in now is getting too small. I think she might sleep better in her own room by herself but I have to admit, the smiles in the morning when she wakes up and looks across - and sometimes when she reaches out to get me - I'm just going to miss that! It's a big thing for me I feel."
Baby Ella has been sleeping by her parents' bed until now
James adds: "It's another step moving her into her own room." Now at six months old, the pair think it is time their daughter has a change, as Ola says: "Some people do it much earlier, my friend moved their baby at two weeks old and they'd laugh at me for finding it hard, but I do. It's like my little angel is next to me and now I have to let her go to her big bed!"
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The pair have been struggling with a change in Ella's sleeping pattern recently, but reveal that it had gotten a lot better until last night! "Her sleeping has been good," James says proudly. "It's definitely improved and she's been sleeping longer hours - but not as good as it was. But last night was terrible. The worst night so far! The worst night we've ever had!"
Baby Ella's sleeping pattern has changed over the last few weeks
A little sheepish, he continues: "She just wasn't tired. I think it was probably me because Ola went out during the day to do our big food shop."
Ola interjects: "I was gone for a few hours and when I got back, she was still asleep on his shoulder! When you put her down in the day she doesn't sleep for as long, but when she's on your shoulder she can sleep forever. Daddy thinks he's smart keeping the baby asleep on his shoulder."
READ: James and Ola Jordan talk anxiety about leaving Ella for the first time ever
"It was only two hours," James says, to which Ola jokily replies: "It was two hours too long darling!"
James let Ella sleep on his shoulder in the daytime
"It was a schoolboy error," James admits. "I thought, 'Oh this is brilliant, she's asleep, I don't even have to do that much!' And I'm knackered now!" The pair of them laughing, Ola adds: "And he was watching his golf on TV while she was on his shoulder, thinking he's clever."
She continues: "I had a terrible night, I didn't know what to do. I didn't know whether just to come down with her and watch TV because she was really clingy. Every time I put her down she wouldn't want it. I'd see her big round eyes looking at me, she wasn't going to sleep.
Little Ella kept her mum up all night
"In the end, I lay down and had her on top of me, then I slid her onto my side. That helped and eventually I let her sleep like that because I couldn't just put her in her bed. I think she needed to feel my warmth. So I couldn't sleep at all because I was worried about suffocating her. I didn't know what to do! I didn't have a good night at all."
She admits that she could never stay frustrated at her daughter though, adding: "She woke up with a big smile and I was like, 'Oh my God, I have to get up now and I feel like I haven't slept!' but when she smiles you can't help but smile back, she's so sweet."
James and Ola are ready to take the new step with Ella
The pair are confident that she will be quite happy in her very own bedroom, as James says: "I think she does need her own bed because people do say, maybe the babies are ready to go to the big bed. I think she'll be okay in there. I think she'll be fine, I think we just can't let her sleep too much in the day."
READ: James and Ola Jordan settle debate on who baby Ella looks like
The pair also reveal that they have been taking Ella and her bouncing chair to their home gym, where she quite happily watches them during their exercise routines. Ola says: "Going down to the gym together, Ella just watches us and it's quite nice really, isn't it? You just can't keep her in there for too long. She used to be scared of the running machine too, because of the banging, but she's very used to it now."
Ella will sit and watch her parents in her bouncy chair
Chatting about working out six months after giving birth, Ola continues: "It's been really hard getting back into a fitness routine. There's not really a goal. I'm not going on holiday anywhere. It's different when you're getting ready for something.
"I need to get back to exercising, for your mental health as well. Sometimes when you're stuck at home with the baby it's nice to go down to the gym and do something else. I'm still a while away from where I want to be but I'm not putting any pressure on myself. Just going slowly, too slow for James!"
READ: James Jordan marks dad Allan's birthday in truly special way - see photos
The couple celebrated James' dad Allan's birthday on Monday by going out for dinner with the family, and James explains: "We had our own private area at a fish restaurant for social distancing. It was my mum, my dad, my sister, the children, my grandad. It was nice for my dad to do something a bit different with all of us, then we went on a nice walk at the front, it was a lovely day."
The family went out for James' dad's birthday
Speaking about his continued treatment for a brain tumour that was diagnosed earlier this year, Ola continues: "It's hard to watch him going through it... It takes a toll on the body, the chemotherapy and radiation, so it is quite hard. You always know it would be hard, but seeing someone close to you go through it, it's difficult. But his birthday was lovely. It was a good day and the grandkids were around, it was lovely."
Find out more about James and Ola's parenting journey in their weekly column here