Baby Ella is growing up so fast! James and Ola Jordan open up about their adorable daughter for their Strictly Parenting column - and reveal that the youngster finally has her first baby teeth, aw!
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Of course, teething is never fun, and the former Strictly pros admit that she was a little sad just before they noticed her teeth started to come through. "She had one really funny day last week, she was really sad," James explains. "We noticed her two teeth in the bottom have broken through the skin now so you can feel them and see them. On that particular day she was just feeling really sorry for herself. She wasn't in hysterics, she was just really quiet."
WATCH: Baby Ella is loving her brand new high chair in adorable clip
Ola continues: "Normally she just laughs! She'll just have a giggle to herself, but she just seemed so sad. It was really hard trying to make her laugh! She wasn't having any of it."
Chatting about how they normally get their little girl to chuckle, James explains: "We don't scare her but we'll shout, 'Boo!' and she'll laugh. But she wasn't having it the other day, not at all. Her bottom lip kept going. But it was only the one day."
READ: James Jordan's father bonds with baby Ella in heart-melting photos
He continues: "On the whole, her teething hasn't been too bad. Everyone used to say, 'Oh you wait until she starts teething,' but she's not bad!"
© Photo: InstagramLittle Ella finally has two baby teeth
They also think that Ella will start crawling any day now, as James says: "She's not actually crawling as such just yet. She's on her knees and able to move about. She can get into the right position she just doesn't know how to move. I look like a right idiot because I start crawling across the floor trying to show her how to do it!"
MORE: James and Ola Jordan ready to take 'difficult' new step with baby Ella
Ola adds: "She's disappearing behind doors and under the sofa! We have quite high sofas and we'll turn around and she'll have somehow managed to push herself under the sofa backwards. She can get around but she still can't crawl forward which frustrates her."
With Ella so close to crawling, the pair reflect on their favourite phase of her growing up so far, with James explaining: "For me, it's more fun now. When she used to cry I didn't know why, but now we know more or less what it is."
© Photo: InstagramJames and Ola open up about their favourite phase of Ella's growing up so far
Reminiscing about her adorable daughter, Ola says: "For me, it's when she started to recognise my face and grab my face with both hands, that might be the best thing for me. She was about four months when she started doing that, and she still does that. If we play together on the mat, she'll grab my face with both hands and pull me towards her so I can give her kisses, and she loves that." Aw!
© Photo: InstagramBaby Ella with her grandad and James' dad, Allan
James continues: "In the morning when we put her in between us in bed, she'll put one hand on Ola's face and one hand on my face, then she'll just look at us. It's so cute. Her personality is coming out, she likes cuddles and kisses. She's just so cuddly and lovely."
READ: James and Ola Jordan share adorable video of baby Ella learning to crawl – watch!
A perfect example of Ella's happy nature came about earlier this week, when James and Ola enjoyed a takeaway with some pals in their back garden.
"We had a couple of friends come around and we had an Indian takeaway in the garden and for some reason Ella was just laughing at our friend," James says.
© Photo: InstagramElla is getting used to seeing new faces
"We hadn't seen them in ages so it was the first time Ella met them," Ola continues. "My friend was wearing this flowery bright red dress and she has big curly black hair. Ella just looked at her and she was laughing so much! We've never seen her laugh so much! It was so lovely for my friend as well."
MORE: James and Ola Jordan talk anxiety about leaving Ella for the first time ever
In their new exclusive video for the column, Ella is very much enjoying her new high chair, even though James and Ola admit they think she might be a bit small for it! James laughs at the clip, saying: "We've just put that tray on top, and she still looks so small in it!"
© Photo: InstagramChatting about her big appetite, Ola continues: "She's still working out how to eat and how to put things in her mouth. A lot of people do baby-led weaning where you give pieces of food to the baby in their hands and they eat it themselves, but I think she should be fed because there's only so much she'll eat herself, and I'm worried about choking and things like that.
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"If I gave her a whole floret of broccoli, to me she could choke on that. I do still want her to learn to grab food and put it in her mouth though, I don't want her to rely on me." James adds: "It's also good that we don't do that for my OCD, there'll just be stuff everywhere!"
© Photo: InstagramThe pair chat about their daughter's happy personality
James also opens up about a food faux pas where he accidentally fed baby Ella fruit before bed - not realising it would make her hyper! "Ola was in the shower and I thought, 'Oh, Ella's hungry'," he says. "We've got this machine that steams and cuts baby food. I thought, 'I'll cut up some apple and banana to mash it together and she'll love that,' and she loved it, she ate it all. Then I realised, 'It's pure sugar!' and she was so hyper!"
Ola laughs, adding: "She was! She just wanted to play and laugh. I was like, 'Well done daddy, giving her sweet things before bed!'"
Check back next week for the latest updates on baby Ella in James and Ola's Strictly Parenting column
