One thing that has definitely changed is Ella's temperament. In my previous posts, I mentioned that she seemed like a very passionate baby. Well, while she does still have her (very loud) moments, she has significantly mellowed out over the past month. I think we have either figured her out, or she is starting to realize that we are going to take care of her needs, no matter what. It's been a relief to know that we don't have a colicky baby after all! In fact, most times, she seems very laid back and happy and has been learning to smile at us =).
Ella is finally starting to figure out that nighttime is for sleeping, which makes things much easier. While she usually sleeps 3-4 hour stretches, last night we fed her at 10 and she slept until 4 am ... YAY! Let's hope this continues! During the day, she is becoming much more alert and active, which has allowed us to play more with her. We can't wait until her little personality begins to emerge!
Here are some things that Ella loves:
Music and singing
Hand gestures
Colorful rattles
Watching our faces while we talk to her
Looking at the pictures in books, especially all the contrasting colors in Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Fixating on ceiling fans and windows
Being swaddled - it's our little "secret" to getting her to fall asleep if she seems overly tired. It's like she is in a "trance" when you swaddle her nice and tight - she loves it!!
Her elephant mobile on her bouncy seat - I swear she was swinging her arms and trying to hit them the other day!
Riding in the car
Being outside
Anything that makes her jiggle, bounce, swing, or move
Taking baths - she seems to be a water-lover like her mama!
Since Ella was a few weeks old, she has been out and about quite a bit. Her doctor told us that it was okay for her to get out of the house - the biggest risk she had was being passed from person to person. I don't want to be one of those paranoid moms, but I do want to make sure we don't have a sick newborn. I have heard way too many scary stories about newborns who get infections that make them very sick. I don't think I could handle that. For that reason, we carry a bottle of hand sanitizer wherever we go and we ask everyone to use it before they hold her. The only real issue that Ella has had is a chronic stuffy nose. We thought it might just be a little cold, but she has had it for about 4 weeks now. It seems the worst in the morning, but saline drops, sleeping on an incline, and our cool mist humidifier seem to be helping. I am nervous that she may have some kind of seasonal allergy (like Eli and I both have) or some kind of allergy to something in our house ... let's hope it's not because of Marley! She doesn't have any other symptoms or a temp, so we aren't majorly concerned about it at this point, but we'll definitely talk to her doctor about it at our next appointment.
Ella's first official outing was down to Union Station to see the Christmas Carol exhibit when she was a few weeks old. She did great ... slept almost the whole time! Since then, she has been to Lawrence to see her family, to various family and friends' houses, out to eat, on target and grocery store runs, to a family reunion at the park, to the NCAA Hall of Fame, down to Montrose, MO for a labor day picnic, to Wamego, KS to visit friends and the Oz Museum, and to Black Hoof Park. What a life! Even though she is way too young to have a clue where she is at or what she is doing, it has been nice for her mom to be out of the house and socializing! We are hoping to take her to meet her family in St Louis in a few weeks. In the meantime, she has had lots of people make a trip over here to see her, including her Grandma Cathryn, George, and Aunt Rachel from Princeton, NJ, her Uncle Josh, Aunt Melissa, cousin Grace, and Aunt Emily from St. Louis, and her Uncle Nick who flew in from Charleston, SC!
Overall, we are falling into a rhythm and things seem to be getting easier everyday. I look forward to the weekends for very different reasons now ... while I used to look forward to going out, staying up late, sleeping in, and being lazy, I now look forward to spending time together as a family, snuggling with Ella and Eli in bed in the morning, an enjoyable breakfast, long hot stress-free showers, time for reading and errand running, date nights with Eli (which my parents have graciously offered to provide to us on any Friday night that we are interested), and checking stuff off of my "to-do" list (like cleaning the house, thank you notes, etc). It's crazy how much different our lives are now! Last night Eli and I were talking about how it is getting harder and harder to remember what our life was like before Ella.
Before I wrap up this post, I want to thank each and every person who helped us get through our first month of being new parents. From the visits to the phone calls, emails, well-wishes, gifts, homemade dinners, advice, and babysitting ... we couldn't have done it without you! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family members in our lives. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!
Here are some pictures from the family reunion and the NCAA Basketball Experience (please feel free to laugh at my attempt to dunk a basketball). I wonder which basketball team Ella will root for? I better start chanting the rock chalk chant to her in her sleep ...
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