Eliana - 3 months!

Eliana you are 3 months old!!!

-You are wearing 3 month and 3-6 month clothing. It makes me a little sad that you can’t fit 

into some of your smaller clothes now, but I am also very happy and thankful that you are 

growing and healthy.

-You are wearing a size 2 diaper.

-I am not sure exactly how much you weigh. We have tried to weigh you and it looks like 

somewhere between 13 and 14 pounds.

-I don’t know how long you are now or what your head circumference is.

-You are still refusing to take a bottle. My mom was here for a few days and you drank a 

little out of a bottle (1 oz) as soon as she gave it to you, but then you fell asleep. When your 

Daddy tried later to give you one you screamed at him and you acted weird the rest of the 

day. We figured out that sleeping is your defense mechanism against the bottle.

-You are still sleeping through the night! Yay! We went to Nashville for a few days because 

of my work when you were 10 weeks old. The first night we were there you woke up once 

around 4 am, and I fed you and you went back to sleep. I was afraid that was the end of 

sleeping through the night, but you were fine the next night (likely because you were awake 

for about 8 hours straight that day…I’m not sure what that was about), and you have been 

fine ever since. A few nights you coughed at exactly 3:00 am, and I was afraid you would 

wake up, but you never did.

- You had no problems riding in your car seat before we went to Nashville. Unfortunately, I 

think you officially got tired of your seat on that trip. The first week or two after that you 

screamed almost every time we got in the car. It has gotten better, but it is still not as good 

as it was.

-You also got to ride in the big part of your stroller for the first time on the Nashville trip. 

You love going for walks and looking around!

-You're still sleeping in the pack-n-play at night at the end of our bed. Daddy still says it is 

time for you to start sleeping in your own room, but I just can’t handle that thought. It 

seems so far away. We have decided that we will try it in a few weeks.

-You have started turning in your crib. You go to sleep facing one direction and by morning 

you have rotated 90 degrees.

- I adore your smiles! They are so cute!

- I’m afraid that you might be starting to teethe. You are drooling constantly, chewing on 

everyone’s shoulders, and sometimes you are a little fussier than normal. I’m not ready for 

you to have teeth, yet!

- You still kick your legs a lot…especially when you get excited!

-You like to look in the mirror. I like to take you into the bathroom and sit or stand you on 

the counter. You get so excited when you see that cute baby staring back at you. Sometimes 

you try to get closer to the mirror. You also like it if I put some water in the sink and let 

you splash in it with your feet.

-You love watching tv. I probably should not have started this at this young age. Oops.

-You love taking a bath. However, I changed it up the last few times, and you haven’t been 

as big of a fan. Your bathtub came with a little sling (kind of like a hammock) that you can 

put infants in until they are big enough for the tub part. You seemed to love to splash in the 

water, and you were always hanging your legs off of the sling, so we thought we would let 

you sit in the bigger part. You liked it at first, but by the end of your bath you end up 

getting frustrated.

-Your neck has been strong since the day that you were born. You can lift it to at least a 45 

degree angle when you are on your belly, but sometimes it is even more. If we are holding 

you, you can keep your neck steady.

-You are not a fan of tummy time for very long. We bought you a playmat, and we hope this 

will help you start to like tummy time.

-You still don’t care much for toys. We can dangle them in front of you, but you don’t do 

much other than stare at them. I hope you start grabbing at them soon.

- You absolutely love your burp cloths…particularly the Babies R Us brand. You grab them 

and hold them for a long time. You even rub your face with them and suck on them. 

Sometimes if you don’t have a burp cloth, you will hold onto your clothes.

- You like to suck on your fingers and the back of your hand.

-Your eyes are still so big and blue. Beautiful!

-You are slowly starting to like your swing again. I am trying to get you to be content by 

yourself for a little while each day. You are definitely starting to like your exersaucer more, 

but you still don’t play with the toys on it!

-I love how much you love your Daddy. It is so cute the way you smile at him.

-You still love to be held, and you do not take an afternoon nap.

-You still love your changing table. I know it’s weird, but I love changing your diaper 

because of how happy you get.

- I love it when you giggle. It doesn’t happen all of the time, but when it does it is adorable!

-You still have the hiccups all of the time. They didn’t bother you when you were a 

newborn, but now you fuss every time you get them.

-

Eliana - 2 Months!

Eliana, you are 2 months old!!!

-You are wearing 0-3 and 3 month clothing. I haven’t tried you in 3-6 months yet, because 

I’m not ready to admit that you are growing that fast, but I bet you could fit in some of them.

-You are wearing a size 2 diaper. We had a lot of fun discovering that we needed to up the 

size…yeah. This happened while we were at a conference in Lynchburg, VA. Ask me about it 

sometime. Let’s just say it involves poop on the floor of Liberty’s basketball arena.

-You are up to 12 lbs 2 oz – 75th percentile!

-You are 22.5 inches long – 50th percentile! Although, I am not convinced that you aren’t 

longer than that. The doctor even admitted that they don’t take good measurements.

-Your head size is also 75 percentile, but I don’t know the exact measurement.

- Dr. Adams admitted at your 2-month appointment that he was actually quite surprised 

that you didn’t end up being hospitalized when you had RSV. He said that most infants at 

that age do. We were all very thankful that you did so well.

-You are still taking breast milk exclusively, and you refuse to take a bottle even though it 

is still breast milk. I guess you just love your Mommy too much.

-You started sleeping through the night the night before you turned 6 weeks old. You slept 

from 10:45 pm – 7:45 am (and we kind of woke you). I couldn’t believe it, and I thought it 

was a fluke! It has happened every night since then with the exclusion of 2 nights. You act 

like a teenager in that you don’t like waking up in the mornings. Sometimes I even make 

you wake up to eat when you start stirring a little. Any time you wake up you act just like 

your Daddy when he wakes up, too. You are also very good about going to sleep at bedtime. 

Even if you are awake, we can swaddle you and you will eventually go to sleep. Sometimes 

you grunt a little, but so far you haven’t really cried except for a few nights.

-You're still sleeping in the pack-n-play at night at the end of our bed. Daddy says it is time 

for you to start sleeping in your own room, but I just can’t handle that thought. It seems so 

far away.

-You are really smiling a lot now. You smiled before, but it is much more frequent now.

- Your little legs barely ever stop kicking. We call it “riding your bike.” I think you 

discovered your feet in your car seat the other day (5-5-12). Any time you sit in it, you stare 

down at your feet and look back and forth from one to the other, especially if you are 

wearing shoes. You also love the mirror that we have in the car for you. You like looking at 

that super cute baby.

-You can stand up with us barely supporting you under your arms, and you’ve been able to 

do that for a while. It’s kind of crazy. You also lean against our chests looking over our 

shoulders and push yourself up to a standing position.

-You like to stare at our window treatments, the fans, and just about any light. You also 

love looking at the tv.

-Your neck has been strong since the day that you were born. You can lift it up to about a 45 

degree angle.

-You are not a fan of tummy time for very long.

-Your eyes are so big and blue. They are absolutely gorgeous!

-You used to love your swing, but lately you haven’t liked it as much. I am thinking it may 

be because we need to adjust the straps. Hopefully you will start liking it again. We've tried 

the Bumbo, but I think you are still a little small for it. You were a little small for your 

Exersaucer, too, but you didn’t seem to hate it.

-We still have not given you a paci, and I am okay with that. You like to suck on the back of 

your hand, and sometimes I think you are trying to get to your thumb. I may regret not 

giving you a paci if you become a thumb sucker, but we’ll see what happens.

-You do really well riding in the car most of the time. You used to fall asleep every time, 

but lately you have been looking around more. However, if you are awake and you have 

been strapped into your seat for a while, you let us know that you are ready to get out.

-You LOVE bath time. You get so relaxed and do not want out. Most bath times end in you 

crying when we start drying you off with the towel.

-You absolutely love your Daddy. Mommy can tell him that you’ve had a fussy day, and he 

doesn’t believe me because you smile at him as soon as he comes home.

-You love to be held. This is probably Mommy's fault. Most of the time you refuse to take a 

nap in your crib or the pack and play. You will only nap on Mommy. Sometimes if Daddy is 

home he can get you to take a nap.

-You love your changing table. You smile all of the time when you are getting your diaper 

changed and after. This is when we have some of our most fun times together.

-You have the hiccups all of the time…just like when I was pregnant with you.

- When you were 6 weeks old we were at McDonald's and one of the nursery nurses from 

the hospital was there, too. She saw you and remembered you and your name. We were 

impressed, but we think you are just that memorable.

You did great at your two month appointment. Daddy and I were both there, and I was very 

nervous about your shots.  Dr. Adams answered all of our questions and checked you out. 

He said you look wonderful! We were concerned because you seem to always be congested, 

but he didn’t think it was anything to worry about. He said it could be that you are still a 

newborn, leftover from your RSV, or maybe even a lingering cold…but you are still smiling 

and happy and not having trouble breathing, so it’s okay. Next it was time for your shots. 

The nurse gave you an oral vaccine first. You weren’t too keen on her squirting that stuff 

into your mouth, but you were a good girl and didn’t spit it out. Next you had to get 3 

different shots. The nurse needed one of us to hold your arms down, and Daddy said he 

would do it. I walked across the room so I wouldn’t have to watch (yes, Mommy is a wimp 

when it comes to you). The nurse was very quick, and you really only cried a little. I think 

you cried worse when Daddy accidently cut your finger with the fingernail clippers. I tried 

to nurse you right after, but you were still a little too upset to nurse. I stood up and held 

you and you calmed right down. Then, you were more than happy to eat.

Stuffed Peppers

Tonight I made one of my all-time favorite dishes...stuffed peppers. I remember eating this when I was a kid. I didn't like the pepper part as much then, but I definitely loved the filling. Now, I eat it all. It's a pretty quick recipe, but it is more difficult now that I have a 5-month-old wanting my attention all of the time.

Anyway, here is the recipe. This is the one that my mom has always made for me. I usually don't bother with the second can of tomato sauce because I am the only one that would use it. I have considered adding some extra sauce to the mixture, though...maybe next time. Also, it calls for 4 green peppers, but I never feel like there is enough of the mixture to completely fill the peppers. If that bothers you, just add a little more of each ingredient. Enjoy!

Catching up on blogging... Eliana at 1 month!

In honor of my baby girl turning 5 months old (a week ago)...I thought I would finally try to catch up on my blog. I've been writing little posts each month about her, but I never publish them. Likely because I either don't finish them or I don't get a chance to find a corresponding picture. Anyway, once I edit my 9 page birth story to condense it and edit out the parts with too much detail, I will post that here as well. Coming soon: Months 2, 3, 4, & 5.

1 Month Old!

Check out that hair!

There is so much I want to say about you, that I can’t even remember it all! This past month has been absolutely incredible, even through the limited sleep, RSV, and healing from surgery! I love being your mommy!

-       I’m not exactly sure how much you weigh, but at 3-weeks you weighed 8 lbs 14 oz.

-       I don’t know how long you are, but you have at least stretched out. You still like to curl up in a little ball, though, and I love it!

-       At your 1-week doctor’s appointment you were back to your birth weight. They couldn’t believe it because they don’t expect that until the 2-week appointment! You were 6 lbs 8 oz when we left the hospital on Friday, and you were already back up to 7 lbs on Monday!

-       Your umbilical cord stump fell off the morning that you were a week old!

-       At your 2-week appointment you were 8 lbs 2 oz. You really like to eat! Dr. Adams used silver nitrate to fix your belly button because it was still a little oozy.

-       You went to church for the first time on March 18, 2012. You slept through most of it.

-       Changing your diaper is always an interesting experience. You usually end up pooping while we are changing you. This sometimes results in some pretty big messes. One time, not long after we brought you home from the hospital, Daddy started to change your diaper. You had only peed, and as he started changing you, you started pooping. He had your legs in the air when you did, and you squirted poop onto the carpet. Then it had pooled up on the changing table, so Daddy asked me to hurry and get your changing pad. In the meantime you started peeing on yourself. He quickly moved you from the changing table to the changing pad on the floor. Once he had you down there, you started pooping again. It ended up being all over you! We finally gave up and gave you a bath!

-       You also like to poop in your diaper right after we change you into a clean one.

-       You already smile a little bit, and it is the cutest thing ever! Sometimes they are sleep smiles, and I absolutely love them!

- I was so nervous about bringing you home, but I think I have adjusted to being a mommy pretty well. I still feel like I don’t know what I’m doing, but I am at least more comfortable with you.

-       You went to your first movie, The Lorax, when you were 8 days old. You slept in a sling on me for almost the entire movie.

- We tried to take you to The Hunger Games, a few weeks later expecting the same, but that was not the case. You slept during the previews and woke up as soon as the movie started. Not long after that you started crying, and I took you out into the hallway. I eventually came back in and stood in the hall where I could see the movie. You were fine when I was standing. Daddy eventually came and found us. You had fallen asleep, so he thought we could go sit down. You immediately woke up and started crying, so I tried to feed you. The problem with this was that it was dark and neither of us could see, and you are a very loud eater (you smack and groan). After we tried that for a few minutes, Daddy took you back to the hall and stood with you until the movie was over. After that I took you to the bathroom to change your diaper, and you pooped everywhere! What an adventure!

-       The day you turned 3 weeks old you started coughing and sneezing. I thought it was probably just a little cold, but I called the doctor’s office the next day just in case. They told me that I needed to bring you in since you were so young. It had gotten a little worse that day anyway, so I felt better about taking you in. The first thing they did was swab your nose for RSV. I thought for sure that it couldn’t be that, but I was wrong. I was so scared when Dr. Gill told us you had it. I had heard that it could be pretty dangerous especially for such a young baby. He explained that RSV is a type of cold that can get much worse. The dangerous part is that it can be hard for you to get enough oxygen. Your oxygen level at that appointment was 97% which is great! The cold also wasn’t in your lungs, yet. He told us we would hope for the best but prepare for the worst. Dr. Gill said that with RSV you usually know by day 3 or 4 how bad it is going to get. It can easily develop into bronchiolitis or pneumonia. He gave us a panda bear nebulizer for breathing treatments and told us that we didn’t have to use it yet, but it wouldn’t hurt you if we wanted to use it. We were also supposed to elevate your head when you slept. He told us to watch for signs that you were having trouble breathing (retractions-seeing your ribs when you breathe, super fast breathing, lips and fingernails turning blue, etc.). Fast breathing is dangerous because it can cause you to get tired of trying to breathe, and your oxygen level can fall. We decided to try the nebulizer, and we were afraid that you would hate it, but you basically slept through the whole thing. Sometimes you even smiled when we cleaned out your nose. We had to go back to the doctor the next day for them to check you again (3/28/12). Your oxygen level was 92%, and we were informed that they immediately admit a baby to the hospital if it is below 90%. I started getting very worried! The infection had also moved into your lungs slightly. We were told to continue the breathing treatments and come back again the next day. That was a very rough night for Mommy. I didn’t sleep at all. I just sat and watched you breathe. You slept, but you were retracting and breathing pretty fast. We went back to the doctor on 3/29/12. You were starting to sound a little better, and it wasn’t any worse in your lungs. The oxygen testing machine was sporadic though and it did say that your oxygen level was 88% once. I was very scared, but it popped back up to 93%. Dr. Adams thought that the worst part was over, and he told us we didn’t have to come back unless we were concerned. I was so thankful! He did say that it could still turn into an ear infection, so we were supposed to keep an eye out for that. So far so good! He also told us to keep doing the breathing treatments for about a week. Unfortunately, you have decided that you aren’t as big of a fan of those.

-       You make a monkey sound when you are hungry! It is so cute!

- Sometimes you make chomping movements in your sleep like you are dreaming about eating. Too cute!

-       You have started getting fussy every night at 9:00 like clockwork. The only thing that calms you is to stand up. Thankfully it doesn't last for very long!

-       You also like for Mommy to walk around with you in the afternoons. 

-       Daddy wrote a song for you that he uses when you get fussy (and sometimes just because it’s funny). It’s called the “Baby Girl” song. Sometimes you like it, and sometimes you don’t. The lyrics are,  “Baby girl, baby girl,

      buh buh buh baby girl, 

      baby girl baby girl, 

   baby, baby, Girl”