A precious sleeping baby

I got a few photos of Eleanor napping over the past week.

Spring Training!

No question who we cheer for!


While taking the above photo, Eleanor decided to sit up. She held herself up well in the "tripod"position

4 Month Well Baby Visit

This afternoon was Eleanor's 4 month well baby visit. She's really grown a lot since her 2 month visit! She was 26 inches long (97th percentile), weighed 14 pounds, 6 ounces (75th percentile) and has a head circumference of 42cm (75th percentile). With her length and the cloth diapers, it's no wonder I'm having problems with the 3-6 month footed outfits! The doctor recommended waiting until Eleanor is 6 months old to start solids. It makes sure that Eleanor's system will be able to handle solid foods and may help to prevent some food allergies. We weren't really planning on starting until then anyway, so it wasn't a big deal. Eleanor hasn't really shown an interest in food anyway (other than as something else she could put in her mouth). We go back for another visit at 6 months.

Here are some photos I took yesterday and today.

Once again, chewing on one of her favorite toys.


Here, Eleanor is "talking" to her daddy. It was a very cute interaction!



Another foot photo.

A video!

I recorded this while learning to use the video feature of my camera. This is a sample of what Eleanor sounds like when she's in a good mood.

4 Months!

Eleanor turned 4 months old today! Our well baby visit is Tuesday afternoon, so I'll let everyone know the stats on Tuesday night or Wednesday.

This has been a great month. Eleanor has grown and become even more fun. She has a few toys she really loves - a small wooden clutch toy/rattle and a little soft puppy (Andy got it in Norway, of course). Everything she touches goes into her mouth - after all, taste is a good way to learn about something, right! Last week, she started really rolling over from her stomach to her back. She doesn't care which direction (left or right), it depends on which way she wants to move. She's also becoming much more tolerant of tummy time. She can get her knees up under her already - so it won't be long before she's rocking and thinking of crawling (yikes!). Eleanor loves to talk, especially when we are out. At the grocery store, she'll let out high pitched shrieks and then giggle at the noise. She's gotten really good at grabbing her feet (and once has gotten a toe in her mouth) during diaper changes.

Eleanor and I keep a pretty busy schedule. On Monday afternoons, we have a playgroup with the Holistic Moms Network. On Tuesday mornings, we go to a mom's support group run by a nurse at Southern NH Medical Center. On Wednesday mornings, we try to get to Stroller Strides (an aerobics class for moms). Sometimes Eleanor doesn't cooperate, and I end up doing my workout holding her instead of pushing her in the stroller (Thank goodness for slings and the Ergo). On Fridays, I often meet with some of the mom's from the support group for a walk or some food/drink. I've also started going to the La Leche League meetings once a month and to the Holistic Moms Network meetings once a month.

Andy and I have had a few rough nights. Last week, Eleanor was going through a growth spurt (which we can now see - she's nearly too long for some of her 3-6 month outfits - we may actually have to buy her some clothing soon!). Anyway, she was waking up every 2-3 hours all night and feeding every 1.5 -2 hours during the day for 3 days. Right after that, Andy and I decided she needed to move into her own room. I love having her in our room, but she just doesn't sleep well. She's a very light sleeper, and will wake up when one of us rolls over. The first night was awful - but partially because she had gas. We tried again the next night, and she did good until about 4am. Then last night, she actually stayed in the crib until 6:30 - getting up at 1 and 4 to eat.

On the home improvement front, my dad was nice enough to come up last Sunday and watch Eleanor so Andy and I could paint the master bedroom. It's great to have that finished. Now, we just have to wait for our bedroom furniture, and we will be moved upstairs!

Eleanor was a little stir crazy over the weekend. With all the snow recently, we haven't been getting out for as many walks, and Eleanor likes to move. As a result, we popped open our umbrella stroller and took a walk around the house. This kept her entertained for nearly and hour (that's when Andy got tired of pushing her around).


Here's Eleanor in the high chair.


Eleanor next to teddy smiling for the camera.


Eleanor next to her teddy bear eating one of her favorite toys.


I took this photo when Eleanor was laughing. Too bad I had the wrong camera, or I could have recorded the whole thing.


Ahh..the sweet image of a sleeping baby. I'm still not sure how she got the bib to spin around in her sleep.


Here she is making a little face at the camera.


Here are a series of photos I took one day. She's wearing handknit (not by me) wool pants - which are actually a diaper cover and a sweater that my mother in law gave me (my sister in law Cory wore it as a baby as well). She looked very cute, but she would not pose for the camera. Usually, she's a big ham.





These two also show one of her favorite toys - a puppy that Andy picked up in Norway.



And finally, another cute "evil genius" photo.

Party Hat!

Eleanor got a really nice homemade hat from one of Gramma Piper's friends. It looks very cute on her! Good thing we got the bigger hat too. She's growing out of many of the smaller hats we own, and it is likely going to be hat weather for at least another month or two. We're also moving into the next size of clothes. She's already fitting into some 6-9 month clothing! Andy and I have also had to get some more larger cloth diapers. We bought some more of the one-size diapers because they are great at night and dry really fast. We've got some really nice wool diaper covers that work great (they are breathable and easy to use). Now, we really need to get her some new pajamas though, since she's gotten too long for most of the ones we have now.

Here are some recent photos:

It was cold out on Monday, so we dressed very warm!


This outfit was too big only two weeks ago!


This is a photo of Eleanor with the new hat she got from one of Grammy Piper's friends.


These two photos were taken about 3 months apart - she's wearing the same diaper (a one-size diaper - it's adjusted to a bigger size now). It's amazing how much more chunky her legs are now! So cute.

Smiles and laughs!

Yesterday, Eleanor did something she's never done before. She laughed! She's been smiling for quite a while, and often times would squeal when she was excited about something, but no laughs. She was on the changing table yesterday morning, looked right up into my eyes and started laughing. She did it a few times yesterday - it was such a great noise it made Andy and I laugh. Another funny thing Eleanor has been doing lately is smiling while she's nursing. While this is very cute, it is often very messy, since she usually drools milk all over when she smiles.

Twice this past week, Eleanor tried to sit up from a semi-recline position and succeeded. I'm still not ready for my cute little baby to be sitting up - but she is really determined to sit up. The first time, she was sitting in a baby papasan and sat up. The second time, she was propped up on a boppy pillow on the couch at a friends house. She sits up for a few seconds, falls over and then does it again.

Go Patriots!

Andy and I did lots of furniture shopping this weekend. We are finally going to buy a bedroom set (including a new mattress) for ourselves. Our master bedroom is nearly complete - just some trim work and paint! Eleanor was great during most of the trips to the store. It was like she was trained to cry on cue when the sales-people got too annoying.

This morning, before getting dressed, we gave Eleanor some "naked time." She is usually happy when we take her diaper off, so every day we try to get her a few minutes where she can play with no diaper. Luckily, we have a flannel blanket that has a waterproof liner in it!

The only real problem with naked time is when it's time to put a diaper on. She doesn't like that very much!




After we went shopping today, Eleanor got to play in her gym for a little while. She still really likes the bell. Sometimes, she holds the purple giraffe with one hand and hits the bell with the other. She always looks very serious when she's playing with the bell.


I took some photos of her during half time of the Patriots game today. She looked very cute (but tom-boyish) in her Patriots onsie!

"Evil Genius"


Cheering for the Patriots!


Time for my close-up!

Mmmm...teddy bear yummy

Here are some photos I took today.

I love Eleanor's feet. They are just so cute!


Eleanor had fun playing on the floor today.


Eleanor likes to sit on the couch next to her bear.
But, once she sees the bear...


She reaches for the bear. Once she has the bear...


She tastes the bear!

3 Months Old!

I can't believe it's been 3 months already! Time really does fly by. Eleanor has grown a lot over the last month. She's starting to grow out of her fussiness and smiles often. She sometimes finds her feet during diaper changes, which can be very tricky. She's also growing out of the small diapers we currently have, so we are in the process of ordering some more in a larger size. Most days, she'll play in her play gym for about 20 minutes twice a day. It allows me to shower and eat lunch, which is great. She still doesn't like to nap much, but she's starting to take 2 short (30 minute) naps each day. Sleeping during the past month has been awful. She stopped sleeping through the night right after her two month well baby visit. We ended up bringing her to the doctor on Monday just to make sure she didn't have and ear infection or anything before we started working more diligently on sleeping. She was declared to be in perfect health (and now weighs 12lbs 9oz). This week, she had two really good nights (Monday and Tuesday nights), but Wednesday night was bad - I only got 4 hours of sleep! Eleanor is starting to get more interested in toys. She especially likes to chew on them (or her clothes, or fingers - hers or anyone else's). I try to get out of the house everyday, whether its for a walk, a mom's group or even just grocery shopping.

Here are some photos:

Sleeping on mom's lap on the Boppy.


Modeling the cute had mom made for me:


Next to my teddy bear (after chewing on my shirt,
I'm thinking of chewing on the bear next).


I think I can reach my feet...


A bath means more time to stare at my feet...


Propped up on the Boppy and smiling lots!