5 month update

I can't believe how fast the time is going. Ella just turned FIVE months old! She is growing and developing so fast its hard not to miss anything! She is able to roll from her front to her back as well as from her back to her front. Today Peg (her babysitter) caught her up on her hands and knees trying to inch forward during tummy time! Last night she completely flipped around when she was sleeping, which was surprising when I went in to get her this morning. She loves to play with her feet. She is a great eater, so far we have not found anything that she does not like. She has had carrots, peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, applesauce, pears, prunes and bananas, in addition to the oatmeal cereal that she has for breakfast and before bedtime. She is sleeping though the night without her Binky just with her "lovey" (pink stuffed animal blanket thing), sleeping from about 9pm until 7am sometimes 8! We couldn't ask for a better baby! She is talking up a storm and her new favorite thing is to blow raspberries with her tongue. Kevin and I are both getting so excited to take her to Ohio this spring, only about 6 more weeks! We can't wait for her to meet her relatives that she hasn't met yet and for those that have to see how much she has changed from 1 and 2 weeks old!

Ella and her prunes

So tonight I tried Ella on oatmeal ceral instead of the rice, where she has had some minor issues with constipation. I tasted this suppossed "oatmeal" and gagged it was so awful. Thinking I could not only improve the taste but help "things get flowing" for her I added a teaspoon of pureed prunes and oh my heavens did she love it. She would keep her mouth open and yell if I didnt get it in fast enough. She ate the most cereal she has eaten yet and wanted more! I didnt give her more as it was her first time on prunes and I didnt want to "improve" things too much! So far so good on the solids! I only hope she will still eat veggies now that she has had a taste of something sweet!

4 months old

Where has the time gone? Ella is growing up so fast. She had her four month well child check today and she has almost doubled her birthweight. Her head is 16.5 inches, her weight is 14 pounds 10 oz and she is 26 inches long! That puts her in the 90-95th percentile for height! She has started cereal and Dr. McDonald said that she is good to go with any stage one foods so tonight we started with carrots. I looked for green beans as I had read to start with green veggies first but they didnt have them so I figured carrots were safe. Her face was hilarious when she started but she ate over half of the container. With the cereal she shakes her head back and forth and tries to grab the spoon and pull it into her mouth herself. She had two shots at the Dr. today also but only cried for about 10 seconds and then was fine. We are all looking forward to springtime! I can't wait to get her in the stroller outside more! I am also hoping to start swimming with her. She has enough hair now that this morning I acutally blow dried it after her bath. She thought that was quite interesting! Hope that everyone is doing well!

Valentine's Party

My my Miss Ella is growing up fast. Last Friday in her bag was a list of the children's names at her daycare for their Valentine's day party this Thursday. I found myself tonight running to the store to get valentines and making them out somewhere in the middle of putting away groceries, cooking dinner, talking on the phone, building a fire, and doing laundry. This is motherhood. I am excited for her to enjoy the party, even if she is only a few months old. It's wonderful that Peg and Reg take the time to make special days for the kids. Ella is doing wonderful, sleeping sometimes 11 hours at night, and staying on her routine. She slept until almost 8am on Sunday! She is laughing out loud and loves her exersaucer. This weekend we will make a trip out to get her a bumbo seat, as she likes to sit on my lap "like a big girl". Kevin and I have both been sick the past few days so we are watching her, hoping that it somehow will skip her. We absolutely adore being parents and are in love with our little girl.

2 month well child check up!

Miss Ella had her two month well child check up today, she is 11 weeks so she was a few weeks older but I wanted to get her in with Dr. McDonald and he was booked until then! She has grown so much, 11lbs 8 ounces (her birth weight was 7lbs 6ounces and she was 21 inches long) and 24.5 inches long! I feel like its bittersweet that she is getting so big so quickly! I am so happy that she is so healthy though! She also had her first set of shots. I thought we were in the clear, she slept after her appointment for about an hour and we went to Family night at Nana's. She was all smiles and mellow at dinner but when she woke up after the drive home all hell broke loose. Screaming bloody murder, not wanting to eat, and getting very VERY worked up. I think that her legs hurt where she had the injections, whenever I moved her she screamed. She is quite a finicky baby, wanting things just so. Peg and Reg (her baby sitters) have noticed this too...if she doesn't get what she wants when she wants it she lets you know! I'll blame Kev for that one! We are getting into a routine, and I am getting used to being away from her with work and school, both full time! It makes me cherish every second that I do get with her. She is still sleeping though the night, usually going down around 7pm, I wake her for a feeding at 9pm and then she sleeps until I wake her around 630am. Kevin and I are both happy with that!

Sleeping through the night!!!

Big News...Miss Ella has slept through the night 3 nights in a row!!! We have been following the principles of "Babywise" (from the book "On becoming Babywise"...most helpful book EVERY!!!) recommended by our doctor and it has finally paid off! She is thriving, growing like a weed, and now sleeping through the night. The first night she slept from 10 until 6, the second was 9 to 5 and last night was 10 until 7. We have been maintaining her schedule of eating every 2 and a half to 3 hours during the day and now she is able to go longer at night. The idea behind the Babywise theory is that you help your baby establish a consistent sleep and eat pattern and then they are able to get a solid chunk of sleep time at night, which allows them to be happier, healthier babies. When she is up she is smiling and giggling, rarely crabby. She falls asleep on her own, without having to be rocked and she is able to go back to sleep if she wakes, USUALLY......unless she ends up in our bed for an hour or two...both of us like to snuggle with her though so we don't mind and she is doing well in her own crib for the majority of the night....Stay tuned....next post will be about our new family vehicle!!!

First day at daycare

Yesterday was Ella's first day with Peg. I dropped her off about 7am and picked her up after 3. She was good for Peg and Reg but very challenging when we got home. She screamed bloody murder if I put her down so I didnt get much done. I cried all evening because she was so upset and just wanted me. I hate that someone else gets to enjoy her all day and I only get her for a couple hours at night and during those hours I am trying to get stuff done around the house. Tonight I put her in her baby bjourn which she LOVES and cooked dinner and got stuff done around the house. I felt like this worked because she could be close to me and I could still be somewhat productive. Peg said that today she did much better and seemed a little more comfortable. On a more positive note, we had a great family trip to Greenville this past weekend. We packed up Miss Ella and went to the Black Frog for a late lunch. I fed her there, put her in her little pink bear snow suit and tucked her into her baby bjourn harness (thanks to Aunt Katie for letting us borrow it!), and off she and I went to do some shopping while Daddy stayed back to enjoy a cocktail. It was really cold and windy so we could not stay out long but I wore one of Papa Chris's old Carhart jackets and it fit around us well so she was protected from the wind. The next day I used it in the grocery store and she again did excellent. She likes it better because she is nosy and can see more than in her car seat. Hopefully as we go we will all settle into a routine and she will adjust to her new schedule. In the meantime, I let her come to bed with us around 4 for a couple of extra hours of snuggling.