Saturday, November 2, 2013
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Ellie B-Month 2
Wow, do I love this baby. She's snuggly, smiley, sweet and in such a great stage right now. She's a big girl and growing like crazy, here is her 2 month update.
Eating:
She is definitely a great eater. She eats about every 3 hours during the day and is easy, easy. During the night, at the beginning of the month she was eating a few times, now she's down to *usually* once at night.
Size:
We just had her 2 month appointment and she:
Height: 22.7" (84%)
Weight: 11lbs lloz (81%)
She is wearing 3-6 month clothes and if I try and squeeze her into a 3 month-er, she pops the snaps when she bends her knees. She's long, not chunky.
Daytime sleep:
Paci:
She Loves:
She doesn't love:
-The bouncy seat for long. She'll stay in it for about 5 minutes, then she's done. If we eat really fast, we can all sit at the table for dinner while she sits in the bouncy seat.
-The carseat. Awesome.
Other:
-Daddy's chin prevails!
-Regarding the carseat, before Ruthie was born we got a graco snugride 32. She hated it. Then came Lainie and, what a shock, she hated it too. At that point, I got suspicious that it was the carseat and not my kids just not liking the car. I should've bought a new carseat when Ruthie hated it, but no, we're kinda cheap, we still have it. When Ellie arrived, and also hated it, we finally bit the bullet and bought her a Daddy of a carseat. Its called a Diono (formerly Sunshine brand). Its the only carseat she'll ever need, and the advantage of this brand is that it is about 3 inches narrower than our gigantic Britax carseats. This is a pretty big deal when you've gotta put three carseats in a car that's not a minivan. Had I known we would have three kids in three years, I would've gotten all Dionos, because you can put three across one row. They're heavy as lead because they have a steel frame and they're one of the top picks for safety. She is much happier in this carseat. She doesn't love it all the time, but better yet, she doesn't hate it all the time. The bummer is I can't pop her in and out of the car in the infant carseat, but I found even with the Graco, I couldn't see both Ruthie and Lainie when I was holding the carseat so I never did that anyways. I didn't feel like it was safe. I have to get her in and out all the time and while it stinks when she's asleep, its not near as big of a deal as I thought it would be (or would've been when I just had Ruthie and Lainie).
-Another new thing for us this time is the co-sleeper Joel's Grandma bought us. It has been a lifesaver for me. With just Ruthie it wasn't a big deal to get up and walk across to her room several times a night, but with three, the exhaustion was an entirely new level and this allowed us all to get more sleep! Should've gotten this with the first one!
-She spits up. Our first baby to do this, sometimes its shocking the quantity. It never seems to bother her and is getting less and less frequent.
Ellie is such a good girl. She has fit right in easily here and we're all crazy about her. People love to tell us we've got my hands full and while I've stopped taking offense to it (that's an entirely different post), they have no idea how full our hearts are.
She is definitely a great eater. She eats about every 3 hours during the day and is easy, easy. During the night, at the beginning of the month she was eating a few times, now she's down to *usually* once at night.
We just had her 2 month appointment and she:
Height: 22.7" (84%)
Weight: 11lbs lloz (81%)
For Fun here is Lainie at 2 months
H-22.75"
W-11lbs 11oz
and Ruthie:
H-22.25" (61%)
W-10lbs 2 oz (31%)
Its absolutely hilarious to me Ellie and Lainie are pretty much identical at 2 months and Ruthie was so small. My Dad says that Ruthie and I are going to spend most of our lives looking up to Lainie and Ellie and I think he's right! The little girls must take after their Daddy and Ruthie is more like me.
She's in size 2 diapers and I have switched to 7th generation and honest company diapers for the most part. Our grocery store had 7th generation on clearance and they were cheaper than pampers and I love them. A friend gave us honest company diapers as a baby gift and they're great too. I still have some pampers left that we're using up, but I think when they're gone, I won't buy anymore. I wish I had changed with Ruthie and Lainie.
Eyes:
They look blue to us so far.
Eyes:
They look blue to us so far.
She does pretty good at home. She spends a lot of time in the car and baby bjorn but sleeps well in her crib. She usually sleeps the last 1 1/2 hours of a 3 hour block. She's on a pretty good schedule even without being at home a lot.
Nighttime sleep:
The first part of the month, she was up every 3 hours, but now She's so good. She's started having stretches of 7-9 hours. When she was waking every couple of hours at night, but I think that was a growth spurt (or several). I had that moment of panic the first night she slept when I woke up and realized she was asleep. I think I ran to the crib in about .001 seconds to make sure she was okay. The past week she's gone from about 7pm/8pm-4am, then back down until 7am-ish.
Swaddled:
Of course. She must have a ridiculous amount of strength because she can get out of the miracle blanket and as much as it hurts me to say it, for Ellie, that is not my swaddler of choice. Since she is so strong, I learned about something called a woombie. I can't believe I didn't know about it before but it is awesome! You just zip it up, no getting out, and the one we have has legs which I think she likes better. It has two zippers so you can zip up just the bottom part to change a diaper if you need. This is the one I use constantly now. I need a picture of it.
You know it. She likes the soothies. I bought Playtex binky's, but she isn't a fan, so soothies it is. My friend makes paci clips for them and we love them! She doesn't use it all the time, just mainly in the car and when she's going to sleep. From reading Lainie's 2 month update, that how she did also, and now she has it all the time! I'm glad its not her thumb!
-When you talk to her. She coos constantly when you talk to her and it is so so so sweet! She smiles with her entire face, big open mouth smiles. We love it!
-the playmat and Mr. Octopus and Ms. Flower. We've gotten some mileage out of Mr. Octopus and Ms. Flower.
-baby bjorn. She likes to be close and sleeps well in the carrier. She's getting heavier and I'm looking forward to when she can switch to the boba carrier.
-To be held upright.
-Her Sisters! Its a mutual love and just about Every time Ruthie looks at her she smiles. She might have the worlds best big sisters. They are crazy about baby ehwee. So cute!
-To be outside. Thank goodness. She loves to go for walks, swing on the swing, and just hang out.
Not the best picture of Ruthie, but too cute of Ellie not to post. That's a Roberts look if I've ever seen one, but the bigger she gets, the less of this look she has. Her eyes are much bigger than this picture looks. Good thing Daddy makes a really pretty girl, apparently in three different versions :-).
-Her Sisters! Its a mutual love and just about Every time Ruthie looks at her she smiles. She might have the worlds best big sisters. They are crazy about baby ehwee. So cute!
Not the best picture of Ruthie, but too cute of Ellie not to post. That's a Roberts look if I've ever seen one, but the bigger she gets, the less of this look she has. Her eyes are much bigger than this picture looks. Good thing Daddy makes a really pretty girl, apparently in three different versions :-).
-the swing for long. What a bummer, we have the worlds best swing now (and we kind of want an adult version of it!), and sometimes she'll nap in the swing, and sometimes she hates it. I'm hoping it'll grow on her. I wish I'd had this swing for all three girls too. Its a graco sweetpeace soothing swing and it is awesome! If you have a graco carseat, you can pop it into the swing if the baby's asleep.
-The carseat. Awesome.
Other:
-Daddy's chin prevails!
-Speaking of Daddy, it doesn't get much better than this guy. I can't imagine doing this without him, he makes all our lives better.
-She spits up. Our first baby to do this, sometimes its shocking the quantity. It never seems to bother her and is getting less and less frequent.
Ellie is such a good girl. She has fit right in easily here and we're all crazy about her. People love to tell us we've got my hands full and while I've stopped taking offense to it (that's an entirely different post), they have no idea how full our hearts are.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Smiling Baby
Ellie started smiling at 4 weeks 5 days and I've been terrible at getting it on camera. Here is the best shot I have so far!
See that dimple, Love it!
Friday, September 6, 2013
Ellie B. Month 1
Somehow our sweet, tiny Ellie is already a month old. The fastest month of my life to date. I'm guessing with each child, time moves faster. Here are Ellie's updates (in a stream of thought fashion):
-She's big, to be accurate :-). At her 2 weeks doctors appointment, she was up to 8lbs, 2oz (the goal is to be back to their birth weight, which was 7lbs 6oz. This girls an overachiever already).
-She's in 3-6 month clothes and size 1 diapers. We got lots of newborn diapers from the hospital (if you're about to have a baby, keep asking for diapers when you're in the hospital), and for the first time she outgrew them before we ran out. I've tried a few times to put newborn diapers on her during the day, only to have to add to my outrageous pile of laundry.
-I think she is looking more like Joel, which is no surprise. Its just amazing we can have three children that don't really look alike, but they all look like him. I'm not totally sold that she will completely look like him yet, but she definitely has the chin. Her eyes are big and the eyebrows are more like mine, so we'll see. She can furrow her brow which is a trademark of our children.
-She's got Joel's dark skin and I'm fairly confident her eyes are lightening up to blue.
-Shes EASY! I think this is a combination of realizing just how easy a new baby is compared to toddlers, and her being easy. She does cry, usually when most baby's cry between 5-8 pm, but its not bad and usually is just because she's tired (and mainly we've learned that's what baby's do, we accepted it and went with it).
-Praise Jesus she will take a bottle! The first of our baby's to take a bottle! I'm nursing her (all the time), but I can leave her if I have to.
-She eats every 3ish hours, usually starting around 7:30am and going around the clock. I'm hoping to get our schedule where she gets up at 6:30am, but for now sleep is winning.
-I'm trying very hard to get her into an eat, wake, sleep cycle during the day. She falls into a hard sleep eating. Changing her diaper is a sure way to wake her up.
-She hates having her clothes or diaper changed. And getting a bath.
-I've been working to nail down her nap schedule, its going to have to be fluid. She's done great and is currently taking her first nap in the swing. I've tried to get her to nap everywhere possible, the crib, swing, pack n play, carrier, car seat, etc. Her favorite is in your arms, which is our favorite too!
-We're going on week 2 of her sleeping in the crib. Some nights are a success, others not so much.
-Her longest sleep stretch was 5 hours. Incredible. Now I have to figure out how to replicate it.
-She is so close to smiling!
-She is hugged and kissed and loved a lot!
-She's really focusing on people and objects. She tracks you across the room.
-She was a little jaundiced. I could only see it in her eyes. I called the doctor who said not to bring her in since she was growing so well.
-She is fascinated with the pictures above our couch. All three girls have loved them.
-She's our child, of course she's swaddled.
-We're trying to get her to love the paci. She tolerates it but doesn't love it yet. I'm using the Playtex binky one with Ellie, and I tried the soothies from the hospital. She spits them both out and tries to find a finger. We do not want her to suck her thumb, so I'll keep pulling it out and using a paci.
-She likes to be held upright just like Lainie.
-She has had the hiccups more in the last month, than I have my entire life.
-She's super still. This is new also, Lainie and Ruthie were always moving even as newborns. She will just lay on you and not move. She's very peaceful (until she's uncomfortable).
-She spits up. This is a new thing for me. About once every 4-5 days, she'll throw up an entire meal. Its incredible how much comes out. It doesn't make her made and she doesn't act like she feels bad, it just is what it is. I asked the doc who said some babies just do that.
-She is a complete joy, there isn't much better that this right here!
-She's big, to be accurate :-). At her 2 weeks doctors appointment, she was up to 8lbs, 2oz (the goal is to be back to their birth weight, which was 7lbs 6oz. This girls an overachiever already).
-I think she is looking more like Joel, which is no surprise. Its just amazing we can have three children that don't really look alike, but they all look like him. I'm not totally sold that she will completely look like him yet, but she definitely has the chin. Her eyes are big and the eyebrows are more like mine, so we'll see. She can furrow her brow which is a trademark of our children.
-Shes EASY! I think this is a combination of realizing just how easy a new baby is compared to toddlers, and her being easy. She does cry, usually when most baby's cry between 5-8 pm, but its not bad and usually is just because she's tired (and mainly we've learned that's what baby's do, we accepted it and went with it).
-She eats every 3ish hours, usually starting around 7:30am and going around the clock. I'm hoping to get our schedule where she gets up at 6:30am, but for now sleep is winning.
-I'm trying very hard to get her into an eat, wake, sleep cycle during the day. She falls into a hard sleep eating. Changing her diaper is a sure way to wake her up.
-I've been working to nail down her nap schedule, its going to have to be fluid. She's done great and is currently taking her first nap in the swing. I've tried to get her to nap everywhere possible, the crib, swing, pack n play, carrier, car seat, etc. Her favorite is in your arms, which is our favorite too!
-We're going on week 2 of her sleeping in the crib. Some nights are a success, others not so much.
-Her longest sleep stretch was 5 hours. Incredible. Now I have to figure out how to replicate it.
-She is so close to smiling!
-She is hugged and kissed and loved a lot!
-She's really focusing on people and objects. She tracks you across the room.
-She was a little jaundiced. I could only see it in her eyes. I called the doctor who said not to bring her in since she was growing so well.
-She's our child, of course she's swaddled.
-She likes to be held upright just like Lainie.
-She has had the hiccups more in the last month, than I have my entire life.
-She's super still. This is new also, Lainie and Ruthie were always moving even as newborns. She will just lay on you and not move. She's very peaceful (until she's uncomfortable).
-She spits up. This is a new thing for me. About once every 4-5 days, she'll throw up an entire meal. Its incredible how much comes out. It doesn't make her made and she doesn't act like she feels bad, it just is what it is. I asked the doc who said some babies just do that.
-She is a complete joy, there isn't much better that this right here!
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Big First Day!
Yesterday was the First day of preschool and to say Ruthie was excited is a major understatement!
I love her preschool and her teacher.
I knew she'd do great but I had no idea she would run in (without saying goodbye or looking back) and I'd have to go find her to tell her goodbye!
I was so proud of her, excited for her, sad for myself, and happy. I can't imagine the mix of emotions kindergarten will bring!
Lainie kept saying, "where'd Ruthie go?" and crying. It was sad and I had a feeling she would have a harder time with it than Ruthie.
I took Lainie and Ellie to Barnes and Noble storytime (which was a bust and even though the kids were between 1-2, it was geared towards 4-5 year olds I think, Lainie was not sitting still for it), but she got really happy when she found the nooks at the kids sales pitch table!
After I peeled her away from that we found the train table and lego table and she was happy! **She also has taken to dressing herself from the hat to the shoes, she picked it all and refused to change or take any of it all. I love her spunk.
After that we went to Costco for gas then back to pick up my big girl. I wish this picture was clearer but she was running so fast there was no way.
I also wish I had a picture of Lainie when she saw Ruthie coming, she waved as hard and fast as she could and yelled Hey Ruthie many times. It was so cute! I think the best part was as soon as she ran up to me, she hugged me and said, "Mom that was so much fun." One day down, so many more coming!
I knew she'd do great but I had no idea she would run in (without saying goodbye or looking back) and I'd have to go find her to tell her goodbye!
I was so proud of her, excited for her, sad for myself, and happy. I can't imagine the mix of emotions kindergarten will bring!
Lainie kept saying, "where'd Ruthie go?" and crying. It was sad and I had a feeling she would have a harder time with it than Ruthie.
I took Lainie and Ellie to Barnes and Noble storytime (which was a bust and even though the kids were between 1-2, it was geared towards 4-5 year olds I think, Lainie was not sitting still for it), but she got really happy when she found the nooks at the kids sales pitch table!
After that we went to Costco for gas then back to pick up my big girl. I wish this picture was clearer but she was running so fast there was no way.
I also wish I had a picture of Lainie when she saw Ruthie coming, she waved as hard and fast as she could and yelled Hey Ruthie many times. It was so cute! I think the best part was as soon as she ran up to me, she hugged me and said, "Mom that was so much fun." One day down, so many more coming!
Monday, September 2, 2013
Big Sisters-The Adjustment
I'm convinced Ruthie and Lainie were made to be big sisters. They LOVE Ellie.
I really wasn't sure how Lainie would like having a baby around and having to share time even more but she has absolutely loved it. She is always smiling and wanting to "hold it", *this is Lainie's pleased as punch face*
and talks to her, kisses and hugs her.
I really can't stand it.
Ruthie has the cutest baby voice she talks to Ellie in and she loves to say, Awww Baby Ellie is so cute,
look at her little fingers, look at her teensy feet, etc. I love love love it.
She always wants to be near her, see her eyes if she's awake, talk to her etc.
That's not to say we haven't had an adjustment. A far bigger adjustment phase than when Lainie joined the world. The nice thing is that the adjustment hasn't been directed in any way, shape or form towards Ellie. Its in the form of monumental, outrageous, nuclear meltdowns over absolutely nothing of importance (if I get the wrong cup out, someone takes a toy, etc). Both girls have been doing it and thankfully, they seem to do it at different times. There have been many days this past week that felt like we were just doing a revolving door of time outs all day long. Thank goodness Gigi was here to help (for so many reasons) and give me sanity. Its been exhausting and trying. I'm praying they're over and we all fall right into our new normal. We've had an absolutely awesome weekend with lots of fun and very few freakouts. Even with the meltdowns, moments like this are just the best!
Unprompted reading to Ellie, I almost died from sweetness.
Almost everyone is looking in the direction of the camera! A total victory!
Ruthie has the cutest baby voice she talks to Ellie in and she loves to say, Awww Baby Ellie is so cute,
look at her little fingers, look at her teensy feet, etc. I love love love it.
That's not to say we haven't had an adjustment. A far bigger adjustment phase than when Lainie joined the world. The nice thing is that the adjustment hasn't been directed in any way, shape or form towards Ellie. Its in the form of monumental, outrageous, nuclear meltdowns over absolutely nothing of importance (if I get the wrong cup out, someone takes a toy, etc). Both girls have been doing it and thankfully, they seem to do it at different times. There have been many days this past week that felt like we were just doing a revolving door of time outs all day long. Thank goodness Gigi was here to help (for so many reasons) and give me sanity. Its been exhausting and trying. I'm praying they're over and we all fall right into our new normal. We've had an absolutely awesome weekend with lots of fun and very few freakouts. Even with the meltdowns, moments like this are just the best!
Unprompted reading to Ellie, I almost died from sweetness.
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