Everyday Things

While I was bathing Elena Rose, Jorge put his beanie on to run an errand (it was cold outside). He walked by the sink and the baby started crying. When he realized it he took the beanie off and walked up to her smiling and said "It's just Daddy!" She stopped crying and went back to playing in the water. After she was dressed in her pajamas I put the beanie on her for fun and took this picture. You'll notice that she's wearing a bib; that's because recently she learned to stick her tongue out and blow. When she does this enough times, her chest gets all wet, hence the bib.


Here she's chewing her giraffe teething toy. This is the only toy that she really gnaws on when she wants the pressure on her gums. Speaking of which, she cut her first tooth Saturday! We didn't even know it. I thought we would be well aware because of fussiness, fever, white spots in her gums, etc., but we had no idea. She seemed pretty normal, maybe a little fussy, but nothing out of the ordinary. Jorge found it by accident because she grabbed his finger and started chewing on it. You still can't really see it, but you can definitely feel it! Way rougher than her cute little gums.



She loves her Elmo puppet. We're really good about not buying her toys. We've been blessed and friends have given us so many toys so we haven't had to. But when we were walking through Buy Buy Baby I played with the puppet while she was in her stroller, just to keep her amused while we shopped, and she really liked it. So we bought Elmo, and I'm really glad that she still enjoys him.

Sitting Up

Elena Rose is getting a lot stronger in her core. She can sit up with support, but needs help sitting back up when she starts to melt into the floor around her. She really doesn't like to be on her back anymore. We sit her up in the corner of the couch, usually sitting in the middle of the Boppy pillow to stabilize her. She seems happier now that she has more control over her body and can reach for things better. Now when I bathe her, still in her infant tub in the sink, she's sitting up through most of it, and then I just lay her down to rinse out her hair at the end.


When I lay her down to rinse the soap out of her hair she immediately goes into a crunch with her feet in the air, attempting to sit up. I try to do this part very fast.

She looks like her daddy

Finally nice weather!

We've had a good couple of weeks. Sure there were a few cold days in there with some wind, but we've had plenty of days in the high 70s. I love it! I wish it could be 80 degrees every day, I don't need variety. Whenever the weather is nice we go for a walk. This weekend I took her for a walk with her just strapped into her stroller, rather than in the carrier sitting on top. I think she really liked it, she could see way more. Hopefully we get to go on lots of walks during the spring!

She's getting so big!

Okay, I'm now one of those parents who complains about how fast their kids grow! I can't believe half a year has already gone by. Elena Rose is constantly playing with her feet when she's on her back, she's gotten really strong on her tummy, she smiles all the time, and she loves observing what's going on around her. She really likes to watch people, I mean reeeaaally watch. Twice I've been out with her when she was staring at random people around, and they pointed out that she really doesn't blink. And it's true. She starts watching someone and the kid does not blink. I think one of the ladies started to get a little uncomfortable and said "She must have really moist eyes!" She must. She loves to watch Charlie and Ginger play, too. More recently she developed stranger anxiety and now she really only likes to be held by Jorge and me. If a friend holds her, she starts crying. It makes me feel so bad because she gets one of those adorable little frowns and looks at me. So many changes, so many good times . . .

Solids!

Now that Elena Rose is 6 months old, she is eating solids. So far she's had rice cereal, oatmeal, banana, avocado, sweet potato, peas, and apple. She's doing pretty good, and she's getting better at opening her mouth when she sees the spoon approaching. She has basically the same reaction to all the foods and doesn't appear to have a favorite. The good thing is that she doesn't seem to have one that she strongly dislikes! It started out pretty messy, but it's getting better now that she's getting the hang of it. It's pretty adorable, actually, but at the same time it's a little sad that I'm no longer her only source of nourishment. It's okay, though, because she's still constantly nursing! I go see her during my lunchbreak almost every day from work and nurse her, and she really only snacks when I'm not there. She makes up for it at night. She goes to sleep between 8 and 9, then wakes up around 3 am, 5:30 am, and 8 am. Once she wakes up, we just bring her to our room and keep her in the bed between us. Say what you want, we love our cuddle time! And it makes nursing her way easier on both of us. And in the morning if she wakes up before us she makes noises until we wake up, and when I look at her she's staring at me and she just smiles.

Elena Rose's First Christmas

Christmas was so nice with Elena Rose! It was very different, all about her, which was nice. She got to spend Christmas Eve with Jorge's side of the family, while we all ate Guatemalan tamales. Then Christmas day we drove up to Santa Maria after opening her first gifts at home. She got to visit with my parents, siblings, neices, and grandma. It was a good Christmas.

Hats

I had to do this post because Elena Rose is so cute in her hats!

She's almost 5 months!

Elena Rose is growing so fast! It's hard to believe that she is almost 5 months old now. I can't imagine having her crawling all around. Right now she's more tolerant of tummy-time, and is getting better at pushing up on her arms. She's so interested in everything going on around her, and makes a lot of eye contact with Jorge and me. The cutest thing is watching her learn new skills. She learns how to make new sounds every once in a while, and makes so many facial expressions. She sleeps in her crib for most of the night, and then I usually keep her in bed with us after she wakes up early in the morning. When we wake up with her in the mornings she is content hanging out in bed and plays, and usually falls back asleep. At her doctor's appt we found out that she is now above average in both length and weight; before she was below average in length, but above it in weight! She is a heavy one, over 16 pounds, which can sometimes make it difficult, but she's not really fussy anymore so it's more manageable. Overall, life is really good! Here are some more recent pictures.

Baby Dedication

Elena Rose was part of the Baby Dedication at church on December 5th. She was adorable in the dress my grandma made for her. We recited some lines, along with the pastor and other church members. Here are some pictures from it.

First Halloween!

Today was Elena Rose's first Halloween. We enjoyed it more than she did, she had no idea what was going on. But she was still adorable!

Catching up

I have been falling way behind on my posts because I have been so busy taking care of Elena Rose. She is doing well, growing so fast! She smiles all the time, started laughing just 2 days ago, and puts her hands together now. Her neck is getting really strong, and she loves to be held sitting up so she can look all around. And she loves her bathtime! These are photos to show how she's grown.

Update!

It's been a little while since I posted. Elena Rose is doing very well, growing quickly! She's becoming more easygoing and less fussy. The cutest thing is when she coos; she doesn't do it all the time yet, I can't wait until she does! She's also showing hints of smiles, which I love. We're just trying to enjoy her as much as we can right now. Here are some current pictures, she's getting so big!

Elena Rose's First 3 Weeks

Elena Rose is now 3 and a half weeks old! In the first 3 weeks of her life she gained almost 2 pounds! Needless to say, I am feeding her all the time! Overall she is doing very well, and Jorge and I have been adjusting to having a little one. The hardest part is getting up so many times during the night (she wakes up to eat every 2 to 3 hours), especially the times she is really fussy and does not want to go back to sleep. I'm lucky to have a husband who helps out so much; every time I feed her during the night he gets up to change her diaper, and then he helps me put her back to sleep, which is sometimes a challenge. She has changed so much in the last few weeks, she doesn't even look the same. And I can tell that she is filling out every day. She is now starting to focus on things with her eyes, and to look at our faces. I'm still looking forward to seeing her first real smile, and to interacting with her more when she is more alert and social.