Contrary to popular belief...

Ella has a neck. She's even started showing it off occasionally.

Updates...

Well, Ella is finally sleeping on her own for the first nap of the day. For those who don't know, I (and anyone else who watches her) have been holding her for three naps a day for 6 months. Let me be clear, there are only a handful of times that I have actually minded holding Ella. Most of the time I can truly see and feel what a blessing it is to have that special time--to watch her sleep peacefully, to be the one she smiles at when she wakes up refreshed and happy. I will miss that, without a doubt. However, the time has come for her to have a routine that doesn't require Mommy's constant companionship.

So, in order to foster her independence, I agreed to let her "cry out" her first nap of the day. Terrified, I put her in her crib each morning, and relieved, I listen to her fuss for a few minutes and then fall asleep. What an accomplishment! It turns out that Ella seems just as ready for a little breathing room as I am. :) Second nap of the day to come soon.

A couple pics in front of the tree...

6 months yesterday

Half a year has gone by, and Hal and I agree that the first three months went very slowly and the last three months have flown. It's amazing the difference some sleep makes on your perspective. :)

Ella is up to the usual 6 month old things--sitting up, eating solid foods and LOVING them (shocking since she's so skinny to begin with...), etc. There are a few things she is doing that I want to document for my own memory.

1. She still naps only while I hold her, but that's not new. The newest development is that when she wakes up, if my eyes aren't open to greet her, she immediately reaches up and rests her hand lightly on my chin until I open my eyes. Then, there is a big grin and a loud sigh until I tell her, "Hello, baby".

2. She and Kaiser have become great friends, and he lets her pet him every day while he licks her hands. Yesterday, I looked over to discover Ella licking him instead.

3. Last but certainly not least, she now officially doesn't mind the carseat,which is a huge development. I like to think that she's so smart that she knows it means we're going somewhere, and thus she accepts the buckling in. More than likely, she's just given in to being in it after the first 5 months of torture every time we went anywhere in the car. Either way, it's a much more enjoyable ride these days.

6 months and getting more fun every day!

Ella's first day bouncing really tired her out...

Eye doctor

Today Ella had her first trip to the eye doctor. I think that normal people probably find the eye doctor a pretty blah experience. I have not ever had that experience, and so far, neither has Ella.

This was not a vision check, that comes closer to her 1st birthday. This was a specialized visit to have the doctor check out a bump Ella has had on her upper left eyelid for close to 4 months now. When she was a month old, it appeared randomly. We assumed, as did our pediatrician, that it was a stye, so we commenced to put warm compresses on it twice a day. After a month, we reluctantly gave up on the "stye" theory and set up an appointment to see Dr. Busse, a pediatric ophthalmologist, the best in Austin. It took almost 2 months to get in to see him, but our pediatrician told us it was nothing to worry about, so we waited.

Well, today we found out that the little bump is actual a non-cancerous blood vessel tumor on Ella's eyelid. Dr. Busse explained that there is nothing that needs to be done at this point, as it isn't growing any bigger, and he showed me pictures of what it would look like if it DID grow. He said, at that point, we would need to get into action. Apparently, this thing is nothing to be concerned about, and it will only look smaller and smaller as Ella grows up. She'll just live with it. I was really impressed with Dr. Busse's demeanor and explanations. As we were leaving, he said, "This is nothing to worry about. But, I'm willing to body slam this thing if I need to."

Anyway, Hal and I are not overly concerned, we're just going to watch it for now. But it was really hard to hear that something, even minute, is wrong with your child. Where did this tumor come from? Why is it there? Why will she have to deal with it forever?

For now, we wait and pray that God will miraculously shrink this tumor so that we don't need to watch it for changes or growth. And if not, that it would stay just like it is forever, no worse, no different. All prayers would be greatly appreciated. :)

5 months

As of tomorrow, Ella will be 5 months old. She and I discussed it, and we've decided that the 5 month will be the best yet. :)

It still surprises me that just when I think one thing is set with regards to Ella, everything seems to change. Example--she had been sleeping for 11 hours a night with only one night feeding for a few weeks. This week, we're back to 2 night feedings and sleeping 9 hours total. I really think that she is working so hard on learning new things that she takes a step back in other ways. This is totally fine with me, as it is so amazing to watch her figure other things out. The only thing I don't like is that she seems more tired during the day, so I hope she resumes the good sleep soon.

Here is what she is up to these days:
-sitting up, only for a few seconds at a time before she topples over, but she is definitely getting better at it.
-forming multi-syllabic sighs and grunts. No words yet of course, but definitely a new vocabulary is forming in that brain of hers. Today, she told Gammaw and Pops to "watch her sit up and chew on her favorite toy". This sounded a bit like, "bah-OHHH-woo-ma", but we all got the point.
-loving drinking from a cup, loving rice cereal, and even...drum roll please...loving the bottle! Thank goodness!
-tormenting Kaiser, this has been very interesting for him.

More pics to come soon!

Ella at almost 5 months

Independence

In the middle of Monday night, I woke up with chills, a sore throat, sinus pain, the works. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and found out I had a fever of 102 and an intense sinus infection. Hal had gotten up with Ella that night, while I was feeling awful, and had spent over an hour getting her to go back to sleep. He also kept her on Tuesday morning while I was at the doctor, fed her, dressed her, and took her out to Grandmommy's house-who graciously took Ella for the day so I could stay home and rest.

I was pretty concerned about how Ella would react to spending the day without me, since I didn't even get to hug or kiss her before she left (didn't want to spread germs). However, she did beautifully. She drank 12 oz. from the bottle (more than every before) and was in a great mood for most of the day. She got home around 7 PM, and she was a happy, independent baby, who apparently does just fine without mommy (at least for a day).

This was a strange realization for me for two reasons. First, Ella is truly growing up and gaining independence. She's taking the bottle better, in part, because she's older and more willing. She can spend the day (and even the night) apart from me and she is no worse for wear. Secondly, I will miss attached-to-me Ella. She was just fine when she got home at 7; I was a nervous wreck and had been checking the window, watching for the car to pull up, for an hour before she got home. It turns out that I'm just as attached to her as she is to me. All this time, I've been saying how my daughter won't let me put her down, won't nap unless she's laying on me, etc. Maybe the truth is that I wouldn't have it any other way.

So, she's more independent. Good for her (and for me). The good news is that she still woke up this morning wanting nothing more than for me to love on her--which I willingly did.

Sippy cups

Yesterday, Hal and I got home from work, and we were both sitting with Ella on the couch. Hal was holding her, and I was drinking water from a Mighty Fine Burgers cup (we're not above saving the plastic to-go cups). Well, Ella reached out for it and would not accept "no, you can't have this" for an answer. So, I held it up to her lips...and she DRANK FROM THE CUP!! I mean, she seriously put her top lip over the edge and took a few sips of water. She already knew how to do it...when did this learning occur?? Amazing. The girl won't take a bottle, but she'll take a cup???

Needless to say, I am excited to start putting milk (and some thinned out rice cereal) in her sippy cup and see if she'll drink from that. I don't expect her to take to it well right away or anything, but it was such an awesome view of things to come.

P.S. The moment was also bittersweet as I realized that our time of exclusively nursing (as taxing as that can be) is starting to come to an end. I hope to continue nursing for another couple of months--8 months was my original goal--but the more that she starts branching out with things like sippy cups, the more I realize that very soon I won't need to nurse her as often. This is a wonderful and a confusing thought.

Ella's Halloween Costume

Poor Ella has no idea what she's being subjected to...

4 months

Ella is four months old today, and she is constantly doing new and exciting (for us and for her) things.

Here is a list of some of what she is up to these days:
1) "Talking", aka constantly making all kinds of noises at all different pitches and volume levels
2)Drooling--Today while I was holding her in the air and tickling her tummy, she drooled in my mouth...sick.
3)Laughing--see previous video post for a short clip of this preciousness.
4)Blowing "raspberries"
5)Working hard to get anything into her mouth, which now involves grabbing things with either hand and moving it rapidly towards her mouth, and then accidentally jacking herself in the face with either said object or said hand.
6)Still mostly refusing both bottle and pacifier--thus, the doctor told us today that it's time to begin the rice cereal process so that when I leave to go to work every other day, she doesn't just eat 3 oz. of milk in an 8 hour period (as she has been for the past two months), and then get home and want to nurse all night long.
7)Sleeping through the night--haha, just kidding. She's doing better, but her doc said that it's time to wean her from night feedings. That begins next week.

Bottom line: 4 months is awesome!! Pics to come.

Ella Laughing

Caught on tape for the first time...

Anniversary of sorts

Dear Ella,
It was 9 years ago today that your daddy asked me on our first date. It was a Saturday afternoon, and he took me to Zilker park for a picnic. We laughed and made googly eyes at each other, and we each had moments of embarrassment and awkwardness. Something started that day--something that led us to you. When I got home, your grandmother asked me what I thought, and I said, "I think I'm going to marry him."
4 years ago today, that hope became a reality. Under the same tree, in the same park, your daddy asked if we could spend a lifetime together. I could imagine then only a bit of what a lifetime could encompass, and I could never imagine the love we would both feel when we met you.
God has blessed our life together in so many ways over the last 9 years, but you are, without a doubt, the biggest blessing. My prayer for you is two-fold: that you grow up knowing what great love looks like and that you seek it with all your heart. I pray for you to find a man who has a heart for God and a huge love for you; a man who keeps you safe and lets you fly. I pray for you to find someone who will love you and want for you all the things we want for you. But for now, I am thankful for your tiny hands and enormous spirit, and I'm thankful that life comes one day at a time.

Love,
Mommy

Hands

Ella has finally found her thumb, which is a relief since she really never took to a pacifier. But it doesn't stop with a love for the thumb--Ella loves every finger on each hand equally. She spends hours throughout the day, between her naps, licking and toying with her hands, all the while having a glazed look of pure contentment on her face (similar to her "milk coma").

The best thing is that she doesn't just want her hands; she wants yours too. She wants everyone's hands in her mouth, all at once. Sometimes she chokes herself. And then she gets furious when you try to take her hands (the choking culprits) away from her mouth.

Two days ago, I had a soapy, soaking wet washcloth ready to bathe her with, and as I passed the washcloth past her mouth to wipe her neck, before I could be ready for it, Ella grabbed and ate the washcloth. Result: unhappy baby, very soapy mouth and nose. I, of course, got concerned about the soap inhalation. Hal told her not to do that again.

I'm still amazed that every week she learns more and more. It's happening at lightning speed these days. I feel like I come home from work to a different baby almost daily. So fun!!

Also, great news on the sleeping front: we didn't really even have to employ the cry-it-out method. Ella has had 5 nights now of going into her crib drowsy, almost asleep, waking up once during the night, and going straight back to sleep until 7. No more boppy sleeping, no more rocking until she's dead weight on my shoulder. She's such a big girl!

First overnight and some much-needed rest

On Saturday, we went to Dallas to visit my grandparents and so that Hal could go to the UFC fight that evening. Ella, Hal, my mom, and I all loaded up about half of the house (that's what you do when you have an infant) and headed off for our two-day excursion. Ella did beautifully the entire trip, even only waking up once that night in the hotel room. It was very strange to see her sleeping in a queen-sized bed all alone, surrounded by pillows at the edges of the bed, as if those would keep her safe in the event that, on this particular night, she learned to roll over multiple times--thankfully, she did not.

On the car ride back, she had a meltdown about 30 miles from home--the result of two days spent visiting with doting great-grandparents, many hours in the car, and staying in a new place. Poor thing, she was exhausted.

On top of that, Hal and I decided that last night, after we returned from our trip, was the first night we would implement the Denbar Sleep Trial Part One. To be brief, we were going to let Ella cry until she fell asleep, AFTER we had gone through the nightly routine (bath, swaddle, nursing, bed) and spent an appropriate amount of time snuggling and soothing her. This seemed impossible to me, but I just kept telling myself that getting her to sleep only to awaken as soon as she was put in her crib, and then having to fight that battle over and over was getting neither of us anywhere good. She wasn't getting good rest, and neither was I. I could tell she was overtired during the days, and I am a firm believer in allowing her the opportunity to learn to soothe herself and fall asleep on her own.

With that said, she was so tired after the trip that she went into her crib at 8:00 without protest, fussed for 4 minutes and then slept until 3:00 AM. She then went back in her crib around 3:20, after nursing, fussed on and off for 40 minutes and fell asleep until 7:00 AM. Now, this first attempt went well, I think, because of her complete exhaustion from the weekend. I hate that she was so tired that she couldn't put up a fight, but I didn't mind the sleep we all got for one second. I woke up to a happy, smiling, giggly girl this morning, and it was a perfect start to the day.

Next Up: Denbar Sleep Trial Part Two--Successfully Completing the Morning Nap

Ella at 3 months

Now, after just posting a somewhat negative blog on sleep, I felt the need to post an uplifting blog on the wonder that is Ella. Over the last month, she has changed so much, and every new step is more fun than the last. Her colic finally subsided (thank God!), and she now smiles every day when Hal or I get home from work, and today she had her first official hard-core laugh. She's done lots of semi-giggles and "was-that-a-laugh?" noises, but as I walked through the door today and said hello to her, she gave a true laugh! It was the kind of laugh that said, "Oh, Mommy! Hi!" It melted my heart a good deal, and I spent the next two hours just playing with her and admiring how much she's grown and matured lately.

She is really coming into her own as a baby, and her personality comes out more and more every day. So far, we know she is determined and definitely knows what she wants. She doesn't have a medium cry. There are only two levels: "I'm-fine-but-not-as-good-as-I-could-be-if-you'd-give-me-what-I-want" and "all-hell-has-broken-loose". This does not surprise me. I figured that if she looked more like Hal, she at least had to have more of my personality. I'm enjoying watching her discover what it's like to be really frustrated, and also discover what it takes to soothe herself. She's come a long way in the last month...I think we all have. :-)

Sleep and dreams of sleep

About three weeks ago, I finally hit a wonderful milestone in this parenting journey: I gave up on getting any truly good sleep. It was liberating, believe it or not. Now, the truth is that, as I will explain in this blog, I want better sleep for Ella and me. HOWEVER, what I have come to accept is that it is going to take some more non-sleep to get to better sleep. And I'm willing to put in the man hours.

That's not to say that Ella is a horrible sleeper, but she doesn't sleep well. She's still waking up several times a night, at least two (last night it was 4), and around 4 AM she becomes a wiggle worm that can't calm back down unless she's sleeping on me. This has not bothered me over the last month and a half, until I realized that neither of us should be up and restless at 4 AM AND sleeping in a recliner, and I abruptly decided that she's old enough and I'm ready enough to sleep better. The final straw was when she woke up at 11:45 last night, cried enough for me to go in, and when I went into her room, she was just looking around, whining for Mommy to come spend some time with her.

Now, everyone has an opinion on how to make this sleep thing happen. A few I've heard are: do whatever it takes to get her to sleep, leave her completely alone and let her cry it out, do something in the middle like laying her down in her crib and just rubbing her back for 3 minutes and then leave the room. The list goes on and on. And I truly have no idea what to do.

So...I'm in the middle of reading the famed child-sleep book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child", recommended by lots of people (too many to name) who seem to know about kids and sleep. So far, it has spent 170 pages describing how unfortunate it is to have a baby with colic (which we did) and how hard it is to get a post-colicky baby to sleep (which it is). I haven't been offended, but I can't say that I've been at all uplifted by this news. Interspersed in those 170 pages are lots of warnings about how the parents are the ones to make bad sleep habits for their post-colicky baby, not the baby herself. This is as far as I've gotten...no solution mentioned yet, although I think it's coming in the last 170 pages.

So, what I've decided is to make this my new project: getting Ella to sleep better. I'm going to try one new thing every few days or every week, making sure to give it time to sink in, and see if I can't solve the sleep problem. So far, I've been trying to put her down for three good naps a day, and last night I put her down for bed at 7:15 PM, earlier than normal. She woke up 4 times, but I'm giving it a few more days. After all, I've been liberated!

More sickness...

Just as we thought we were on the tail end of this cold, it flared up again--seemingly much worse this time. Previously, all Ella had was a little congestion. As of yesterday, after her 4 1/2 HOUR nap (which occurred after a night of practically no sleep), she woke up with major congestion, a cough, and had a slight fever this morning. She sounds miserable--I can only imagine how she is feeling if she is sounding the way she is. Hal and I, like all first-time parents, are miserable as well. We can't stand that she feels bad. Every time she coughs I worry about what gross germs are inside her causing her to be so sick. In retrospect, I'm sure I'll see that she was actually fine and that this illness will pass in a few days. In the thick of it, however, I'm beside myself. Why do these things always happen on a holiday or weekend? I'm pretty frustrated with Murphy and his stupid law.

Off to call the doctor, who told me to call if Ella developed a cough (like that meant something was not going well--that reference in particular is freaking me out at the moment!). Thank goodness for on-call doctors for anxious parents like me!

Ella can sit & her first college gameday

Sick, fussy, or other?

Ella and I are home today because she has had a nasty cold for a little over a week now. Lots of stuffiness, lots of fussiness, needing lots of comfort and holding--poor little girl. I'm only working half days, so it's not as difficult to call in sick to work as it would be if I were full time, but I still have to drive all the way to school to get everything ready for my sub, which is a real pain. Then, hopefully, we'll be off to the doctor to get her checked out before the weekend. I'm sure the doctor will tell me to keep doing what we've been doing: saline drops, humidifier, elevate her crib mattress, so we'll keep on keepin' on.

Pictures of Ella & Monkey

Monkey

Ella has a new best friend, and his name is Monkey. He is one of the plush toys that came dangling from her activity gym. She discovered him several days ago, but it wasn't until I detached him and let her grab at him and play with him that she truly fell in amor. I mean, what's not to love about Monkey? First of all, he's brightly colored. Secondly, he lets her slobber all over him, and he never complains. Thirdly, he has one ear that never stays up (there's a word for that--the kind of ear that flaps down when it should stay up, but it's lost on me at the moment), so he just kinda looks like he's been through a lot...I like to think he's the outsider of the dangling animals from the gym, and Ella has a heart for the outcasts. Hal always says that I get overly defensive of people that can't defend themselves--like I make it my mission to defend them by employing my teacher stare and vicious rhetoric toward all those who seek to harm. My hope is that Ella has the same mission, but with maybe a slightly nicer tone. The thing that I love most about this new friendship is that Hal and my first nickname for Ella was Monkey, so they truly are kindred spirits. (Side note: we have since developed many more nicknames for Ella. Nicknames are my "thing", apparently. It started with Kaiser--Kaisey, Kooza, Kooza-Woo, and many more that probably just fell out of my mouth at different points. It has continued to our daughter--Monkey, Turtle, Ella Bella, Boo-ba, Baby Girl, etc. I probably sound a little nuts, but I think it adds flare to the day.)

Pictures to come of Ella and Monkey.

New pictures...

The new Ella

The new Ella came to visit this week, and she's throwing Hal and I for a loop. Starting with nursery time at church on Sunday, the new Ella is a happy, smiling, goofy, beautiful girl with no trace of her nasty friend Mr. Colic. We really don't know what to do with a baby that is just happy to be wherever she is at the moment--in her swing, in her Daddy's arms, in her carseat (well, I can dream). She and I were apart all day yesterday (8-4), and she did beautifully with Daddy and Grandmommy. She drank from her bottle (a fight to the death until the last few weeks), she slept in her swing (multiple times!), and she gave the sweetest giggles and smiles. Then, after a long day away from home, Hal and I knew we were in for a fussy evening. We got home and put her in her swing to tidy the living room and start dinner, and she stayed there sucking on her hands and blanket, perfectly content, for close to an hour. We didn't know what to do with ourselves--we each had two hands free to eat dinner AND we could eat it together.

I can't express how awesome it has been to care for this precious baby girl for the last 10 weeks. She is amazing. No doubt, though, that she and I have been through a war together--The Colic War, if you will. The poor thing went through 6 weeks of bad tummy issues, fits of pain, sleeplessness, and all-around general fussiness and discomfort. Hal and I thought it might never end, but low and behold, we have a happy, healthy baby. Hal says the new Ella "is my favorite". He also claims that God is blessing us for taking her to church on Sunday. I think God was just testing our love, patience, endurance, and a whole lot more, but He knew that we would do whatever we could for our precious Ella. God bless Ella, new and old!

Work and baby

Ok, preface: I'm being ridiculous, and I acknowledge that. I have the perfect setup--a part-time job 4 hours every OTHER day that brings home some extra dinero, allows me to interact with semi-adults aka teenagers and actual adults, and allows Ella some time away from me to work on being a little more independent. The truth is that I'm having a pretty rough time tonight with the idea of leaving her for the day tomorrow. It will be the first time in her 10 weeks of life that I leave her for a full day--until now we've never gone more than 4 hours apart. She could not be in more capable hands, Hal will watch her in the morning and Grandmommy (Hal's mom) will be with her mid-morning into the afternoon. She's going to be just as loved and cared for as if I were with her. Still, this first is one that I didn't expect to fret over. I have been excited about going back to work part-time because I really love my job. Now that it's here though, I realize that I've been kind of pushing the thought of being apart from her at all into the back of my mind.

Well, here's to bringing things to the forefront. I am 100% positive that I will be a better mom for having this break and that Ella will have the amazing opportunity to spend some invaluable time with Daddy and her grandparents. Ok, enough of the silliness, or as they say in Spanish "Ya basta!" (Enough already!). It's time to get back into the foreign language game.

I'm giving in

Well, let's debunk some baby book advice that I've been so hung up on for the last several days.

Advice #1 debunked: Starting at 2 months, you should put your baby down drowsy, but awake so that he or she can learn to fall asleep on their own.

Fact: Ella will only sleep on me (at least she sleeps now though!)

Advice #2 debunked: The earlier you but your baby to bed, the LATER they will wake up.

Fact: Ella goes to bed at 9:00 PM sharp. A moment too soon, and she's up at 9:00 PM sharp.

Advice #3 debunked: Don't let your baby sleep on the Boppy pillow.

Fact: Ella will be sleeping on the Boppy, as that is the only way to get her to sleep in her crib. Now, with that said, let me clearly state that her head and nose are nowhere near the pillow or in the SIDS scary zone. In fact, I check on her several times to make sure. We will discontinue the use of the Boppy the moment she starts to move around at night, but as for now, when she's out, she's out--no movement.

Realization by me: She is a baby, not a robot. She does not like the baby book, and she will fight everything it says. She is her mother's daughter, and she does not appreciate unsolicited advice from a book, even if the authors are world-famous baby whisperers. Therefore, Ella and I will be sleeping (through the night!) together in the rocker in her nursery until she's a little older. This worked very well last night. I put her down in her crib at 9:00 PM, and she slept until 2:15 (Whoop! for all the Aggies out there). Then, I nursed her on the Boppy and let her fall asleep on the Boppy, on my lap, in the rocker. We slept until 5:30 AM, and even drifted in and out of sleep until around 6:00. That works for me!

A few pictures since I have been slacking in that dept

Ella's first smile captured on Camera!!


Doing her best Gene Simmons

Attentively watching her favorite toy


Watching her new mobile

A schedule? Yes, please.

Well, I've been reading in my Baby 411 book that Ella should start to have a schedule in the next few weeks. I don't believe it, but we'll see. More accurately, I think that it's time for me to help Ella form a schedule. I realized today that up until now I've been doing everything on demand--whenever she seems hungry, I feed her; whenever she seems happy, we play; whenever she seems sleepy, I put her down for a nap. The only thing we have so far is a sleep ritual: bathtime, put on jammies, eat, bed. This has been going really well--Ella tends to go almost immediately to sleep. HOWEVER, the issue comes with her first night feeding (that could be 3 hours post-bedtime or 6 hours post-bedtime, but there is always at least 1 night feeding). Now, you may say to yourself, "One night feeding? How wonderful!" Don't be fooled, though...I was in the beginning. Turns out that this night feeding turns into a 2 1/2 hour marathon awake session that is usually from about 3 until somewhere around 5:30 AM. What's to be done?? I'm at a complete loss. I've read from multiple reliable, professional sources that children her age cannot soothe themselves yet. I've experienced this first hand over the last several nights as we've transitioned her to her crib. She tries, but cannot soothe herself yet, although I see progress. Just today she woke up from a nap (I think because her tummy was hurting), cried for a few minutes, then went back to sleep. I heard her sucking on her hands a little while later (soothing technique). However, she does not apply this behavior to her middle-of-the-night wakenings yet. I've started writing down every feeding and nap that she takes from today on so that I can hopefully have a better schedule in mind. At her age, she should be getting 14-16 hours of sleep in 24 hour period. Also, I think this will help me to see how much she is really sleeping during the day. They say that putting babies to bed earlier will actually help them sleep longer at night. Last night I put her to bed at 8:45 instead of 9:30. She woke up 4 times during the night. I'm pondering that today. Wish her (and me) luck as we start this new scheduling thing! Let the games begin!

2 months old and 2 firsts

Ella was 2 months old on Tuesday, and Hal and I can hardly believe it. Some days it feels like she's only been her 2 days, other days 2 years. We decided that in honor of her 2 month birthday, it was time to try two new things: her crib and a pacifier.

I guess that's not exactly an accurate description--we've tried the pacifier. In fact, we've tried 4 different types of pacifier. Until today, Ella was completely uninterested. Then, a magical thing happened. Carrie told me about these MAM pacifiers, so I gave them a try right before her nap today. Now, I haven't mentioned this much, but Ella has really been throwing us for a loop for several weeks now with her fussiness. There are the obvious cries for food, sleep, etc. but she should win a gold medal for the "random, I'm-perfectly-fine-but-totally-miserable" cry. At least, that's what I thought she was trying to tell us. Apparently, she was just looking for something to suck on to soothe herself, because once she took that pacifier, she stayed in her crib for over an hour just looking at her mobile and sucking away! It was a complete breakthrough! She has since taken it twice more today, and we're thrilled to have a happy, content baby.

As for the crib, Tuesday night was her first night sleeping all alone in her room in her crib. She did splendidly; Hal and I were miserable. She slept for 5 hours, then nursed, then went straight back down (which never happens) for another 3 hours. Hal and I slept for 5 hours, and then stayed up talking about how weird it was that she wasn't in the room and were we sure that the alarm was working on her bedroom window in case robbers decided to steal our baby on her first night in the nursery. I even caught Hal red-handed on the computer before bedtime looking at pictures of Ella in the hospital and on her first week at home. His little girl is growing up, and it's hard and wonderful at the same time.

Playdate and bottle controversy

Ella had her first playdate yesterday with her new compadres, Porter and Claire. All three babies really took to the blowup pool Carrie put on her patio. As soon as I figure out how to add the pictures to this blog, I'll put a few up that we stole from Kristen. We have all determined that Ella is the chunker of the group--and I love it! I can't believe how rolly and fabulous she is. Hal says that his side of the family all grew quicker than their age bracket, so we'll see if Ella continues the tradition. I was always the smaller of the girls in my classes at school, and Hal was always bigger than the boys, so maybe she'll even out.

We started Bottle Boot Camp yesterday. Until now, Ella hasn't taken to the bottle at all--in fact, it has been quite the battle to get her to even touch it to her lips. However, today we had a breakthrough! My mom and I went to a nursing boutique called "Special Addition" to buy me a better breast pump. Well, 2 hours, a lot of discussion with the lactation consultant, a new, much more efficient (albeit expensive) pump, and 1 $14 bottle (what?!?! They make bottles that expensive!?) later, Ella's tummy is officially full of pumped and bottled breastmilk after her last feeding. She really took to it! She must get that expensive taste from Daddy. So, how did I celebrate? By downing two margaritas from Chuy's and taking a bubble bath. Is there any other way?

8 weeks old!

Today Ella is 8 weeks old, and I can hardly believe it! Summer has flown by, and I didn't even notice. We've had record-breaking heat in Texas--lucky for me I haven't been outdoors more than a handful of times. I never really considered the fact that having Ella would keep me at home as much as it has for the last two months. The good news is that I'm a homebody to start with, so I've only gotten stir-crazy once or twice.

On another note, let me review the definition of sleeping through the night (at least as the experts see it). By the way, who are these experts? I'm sure they have credentials that would put this post to shame. However, I don't see how "sleeping through the night" can actually be categorized as a 5-6 hour stretch. That is just ludicrous, and I refuse to accept that definition, thus I will henceforth be referring to Ella sleeping through the night with quotation marks. Example: Ella "slept through the night" last night (from 1:00 AM to 6:30 AM). True story. Now, I will say that this is a marked improvement from the past two weeks, and because she fell asleep on her Boppy pillow and I couldn't move her without waking her, I did get up to make sure she was breathing at least twice. However, I still got pretty good sleep. Of course, the last time she did this, she didn't sleep for longer than 2 1/2 hours for the next 3 nights in a row. Still, progress is progress.

Infant Swing and Sleeping Beauty

It is official: Ella loves her infant swing, especially for her morning nap time. She's sleeping peacefully in it as I type and has been for the last 2 1/2 hours! I may be jumping the gun, but I think we have the beginnings of a daily routine (at least until evening comes and all bets are off). We've been waking up around 8:30 or 9:00 AM, we go outside and spend time rocking in the outside rocker, and then it's time to eat and nap-at least for Ella. It's been about two weeks now that she's gone down for an AM nap around 9:45 or 10, and she's stayed asleep for at least 2 hours. I expect another nap around 3 this afternoon, and I will hopefully be able to join her for that one.

Good news on the work front: Round Rock called and offered me 1 class of Spanish 1 every other day from 2:30-4:00. This is an answered prayer in so many ways. First off, it's only a few hours a week, so I won't be away from the baby too long. Secondly, those few hours pay the same as subbing two FULL days a week, which I was going to do just for a little extra cash flow. Thirdly, it's a steady job, unlike subbing which is hit-or-miss. I'm very excited to be going back to see my kids, but equally thankful that I will be at home with Ella so much this year.

Pictures from the weekend

Well, I've decided maybe I will post on this thing. I'll leave the flowery language to Laura though. I will just be providing my favorite pictures out of the thousands I'm taking. Enjoy...

Introducing Ella

Well, here we are; the inaugural post. Laura has been requesting that I create a blog for her to author for quite some time, and tonight we get the show on the road. My lovely wife will henceforth update the blogosphere on the adventures and misadventures of our lovely, little Ella. Plus, I don't mind an extra venue to show off pictures that I'm proud of. I'm sure you will all be hearing from Laura very soon...