elsie: 6 months

Elsie

6 months

--She sits up like a champ! No support needed for this girly.

--She took her first plane ride--to Madison to visit Gramma. She didn't seem to have any ear pressure pain, but she was too excited with everything that she didn't eat or sleep well, so she was just kind of cranky and bored.

--She loves whistling, snapping, singing, and silly noises. Well, she loves to hear them, not do them.

--She has started making a funny snorty-sniffy noise with a scrunchy noise that usually is bordering between laughter and tears.

--She usually laughs pretty good if I just shake my head really fast and make sounds.

--She loves her daddy and is always looking around for him if she knows he's home--which can be an issue when she's also trying to eat.

--As of this post, she is sleeping a million times better--aka she slept for 10 hours last night. We decided it was time to try something new, and called Aaron's sister for help. She laid out the plan to let Elsie "cry it out". It worked wonders. She only cried for 30 minutes the first time, and never that long since. We still use the white noise, but no swaddling and no pacifier. We put her down awake, with a little soft blanket, and she gets comfy and goes to sleep! 

--The sad thing, however, is that she woke up today (after night two--the 10 hour sleep) and I think she caught my cold :( You wouldn't be able to tell from the pictures above, but she's been pretty crabby and sleepy all day long.

5 months

I should be more selective... but I can't be. Each little facial expression is so priceless!

Pointiest tongue...

"Ha-ha, Stacy, you are so silly!"

(That's what I imagine her saying in the next one)

Saddest realization that this next one was out of focus--of course with the best smile ever!

Squinty eyed smile + tongue = the best.

I swear I didn't pose her like this, she just ended up lounging like a Grecian.

Those blue blue eyes.

Elsie

5 months

--She has become such a real little human person with her own personality!

--She is great at lunging towards what she wants, reaching for it, and grabbing it if possible. She loves the stretchy beaded bracelet I always wear (nursing reminder), and I'm afraid that one of these days she'll pull it apart and choke on the beads.

--She loves high-pitched noises. Aaron loves to appease her by saying "Wee!" in glass-shattering pitches.

--She loves to sing and dance to music--especially Coldplay, says Aaron.

--She loves mirrors.

--I swear her favorite color is green (hence the photos...and St. Patricks Day, I guess). She is always reaching towards green towels, green bowls, green pillows... or maybe MY favorite color is green, and she's just reaching towards the things in our house.

--After a week of terror, we decided to follow the Happiest Baby plan for sleeping. She is great at falling asleep, she was just waking up all the time in the night. I was super hesitant because "the plan" would mean going BACK to swaddling, and getting OUT of her crib and into a swing. But, the past couple nights have been significantly better, so no complaints here. I was kicking myself for not doing "the plan" from Day 1.

--We started feeding her some pureed sweet potatoes. At first, she didn't know what to do with them, but now she loves them! We aren't super consistent--solids aren't really any source of calories for her yet--but it's fun to get her down to her diaper, put her in her tub, and let her paint herself orange.

--We tried peas, too. She hated them :) But don't we all?

--I think she is getting disinterested in her own toys and would rather play with adult stuff--wooden spoons, paper, plastic containers...any electronic devices.

--She's still pretty small. Before she was born, Aaron got her some Apple onesies, thinking they would be one of the first things she ever wore. He keeps asking me when she'll wear them, but they are way too big. Some brands of 3/6 size clothes are still too big. I love that she's small, but there are some things I am dying to get her in, like her shiny, leopard Sperry sliders and her tie-dye dress from Wild Child in Madison.

--She's a bundle of joy, and pretty demanding about getting all the attention she deserves :)

elsie: 4 months

ELSIE

4 MONTHS

--Makes spit bubbles and high-pitched singing noises

--Rolls over from her tummy to her back

--Is really good at grabbing hair and holding on tight

--Starting to sit up with assistance pretty well

--Loves any toy that squeaks

--Loves to talk to her bird mobile, especially when the heater comes on and makes them "fly"

--Loves to watch videos of herself laughing

--Hasn't doubled her birth weight yet

--Moves her arms non-stop, which is a problem for sleeping

--Sleeps in her crib now, sometimes with her arms free, sometimes swaddled until she busts out of it

--I may have learned a very valuable trick... early bedtime :)

elsie: 3 months

I can't choose favorites.

Okay, maybe this next one is my favorite...

ELSIE

3 MONTHS

--She has found her hands and her feet. She spends a lot of time trying to get her hands in her mouth, and when she is diaper-less, she tries to grab her feet...or at least bring them as close to her head as possible.

-- She is learning how to use the muscles around her mouth to make different noises and to blow bubbles.

--She has started to drool.

--She loves to sit up and look around.

--She loves diaper changes and baths.

--Tummy time is too exhausting because she refuses to let her head rest on the floor. She often even picks up her arms and legs and just flies on her belly above the floor...all while screaming.

--She has started rubbing her eyes, especially when she's eating.

--SHE GIGGLES! It is still kind of rare and amazing when it happens, but it happens :)

--She tries to grab things, like a toy, if it's dangled in her face, or sometimes she'll try to grab it with her feet.

--She still sleeps swaddled, pacified, and in her Rock and Play. I don't know when to try to break her of each of those things...but, I think, not yet.

--Schedule? Meh...

elsie: 2 months

This is way late, so here's to remembering...

Elsie

2 months

--By far the best part of month 2 = smiles!

--The conversation improved greatly, too. I swear she would say "Hello" to me

--She is just barely getting too big for her newborn sized clothes, but the next size up still seems too big. And she didn't make it to fit into her Christmas jammies in time for the holidays...

--She still sleeps pretty well, with usually at least one longer stretch somewhere in there. She till gets tightly swaddled whenever I put her down, and she still sleeps in the Rock and Play instead of her crib.

--Her daddy is rigorous with her baby exercises, including tummy time, standing time, and airplane time. She is getting good at holding her head up.

--She likes to look around and can often be calmed by being held "football" style.

--She started following things with her eyes and turning her head to keep focus with a passing object or person.

--She likes to interlock her fingers and pull them to her face in the-cutest-manner-possible. See picture two above. 

--Sometimes we wake up and it seems like she has grown way too much while we were sleeping.