Evelina - Three Months

You guys, I have a three month old. How? How?

This month has been equal parts amazing and adjusting. Her personality is developing more every minute, which is incredible to watch, but it also means she's figured out some of what she like/doesn't like and has learned how to demand it! :)

Stats:

• Weight: (coming soon)
• Length: (coming soon)
• Eyes: blue, a little less gray now. 
• Hair: Brown. It's growing back in where she lost it in front and the hair that never left is super long. 
• Size: Finally graduated to size one diapers. Still in some newborn clothes, mostly bottoms, and wearing mostly 0-3 in tops. I see newborn items now, especially shoes. and they look so tiny. It's hard to imagine that she was ever that small. My three month old feels huge compared to that, even though lots of folks say she's pretty tiny. 
• Looks: Like Dad from the front, but a little more like me from certain angles. I still want to nibble the heck out of her chin.
• Personality: Still mine. 
• Nicknames:  E, E Baby, Squish, Juicy, Sweet Juice, Baby Girl, Juice Juice
• Feeding/Sleeping: Four hour feeding stretches and six hour sleeping, I'll take it! 

Likes:

• Baths - she learned how to kick those legs and splishy splash!

• The night dance with Dad. I cannot, for the life of me, put my child to sleep at night. Even if she's full, it's like she smells me and gets all milk crazy. So I hand her off to Alex and he does this little be-bop routine around the house until she's out like a light. Win! 

• She's still pretty cool with strangers/people she doesn't see that often.

• Wiggling. I really don't know how to convey how much this child wiggles. We affectionately call it "swatting bee's" because it's every extremity flailing at once but she's as happy as can be!

Dislikes:

• Naps! 

Other highlights and happenings this month:

• Everything changed with growth spurt between week eight and nine. At week seven we could take her anywhere. By week ten we were kind of like, OMG can we ever eat in public again? She doesn't sleep as much, and she needs more entertainment. Of course at the time of typing (week thirteen) we've sort of figured out her new-ish needs/routine, but every time she takes a little fit, I'm reminded of the quote I saw once on this blog and just keep repeating it - "Babies be babies". Meaning, sometimes they're just going to act like babies so don't lose your mind over it. It really helps! 

• That said, she hardly ever wails or cries insanely, (unless she's in pain, more on that in a minute) it's more like she's fretful and can't get comfortable. She doesn't really like to be held in a sitting position, she much prefers "standing". Sometimes it take several tries of shifting with her giving us, "aaah, aaah, aaah's" as feedback until we figure it out. Her preferences change by the day...

• She discovered her hands! On the 18th Alex and I both separately noticed that she was holding out her right hand and staring at it. Even though she's had a funny arm thing since birth the way she was doing it was definitely more intentional. By the next morning, playing on her activity mat, she was grabbing and holding on to her toys and pulling them towards her mouth. It's like we literally get to watch her grow and it's the most amazing thing! 

• The lowlight this month was a major case of diaper rash. Major. (Ring the bad mom alarm.) It got out of hand and fast. Within a day it was so raw I couldn't bear to put a diaper on her so we spent the day shifting out old blankets and towels underneath her and reapplying creme and trying not to feel like complete jerks for letting it get so bad. That painful cry she had will haunt me for the rest of my days. Completely heartbreaking. But luckily she healed quickly and within 24 hours we were a much happier family.

• She snores. Like full on tiny baby snores. It's pretty adorable. 

• Teething. Well, more like gumming. We're cruising through at least 3 bibs a day from drool and her gnawing on them. She won't take a pacifier and so far I can't get her to understand teethers, she just licks them and smiles. :)

• So. Many. Smiles. A few almost giggles, too!

Evelina - Two Months

I can't believe it's time to write Evelina's second update already! Two months ago I learned a new kind of love. Every day is better, just because she's here. (I mean, look at that smile up there!) I don't want to give off the impression that motherhood is easy, because there are definitely moments when it's majorly challenging, but becoming hers has made life, and me, better. Because as much as she's changing, I'm changing as well. There's a patience I didn't have before, a peace I didn't know existed. I loved being pregnant so much that I feared I'd miss it and wondered if I'd be any good at handling life with a baby. I actually worried I'd have a fussy newborn since I'm usually such a stress head. But the worry warrior part of me has faded and it's been much easier just to trust in myself. (Aside from anything alarming, obviously.) When things don't go as planned the new me just makes the best of it. The greatest surprise, as terrible as this might sound, was that I never expected to actually enjoy motherhood so much. (It was so abstract and somewhat scary sounding!) But the things I was concerned about and fretted over were instantly a non-issue the moment she was born. I figured spending so much time with her would get old fast, but I can't get enough. I thought I'd freak out at every little thing, but nah, I'm a natural ;) It's like I birthed a new me as well.

But back to the real star, miss Evelina!

Here's what life looks like at two months old.

Stats:

• Weight: 10 pounds, 6 ounces
• Length: 22 1/2 inches
• Eyes: dark gray/blue
• Hair: Brown. She's lost a little more in the front but it's growing back in quickly. 
• Size: Still in newborn clothes and diapers but that'll change any minute! They're definitely snug now.
• Looks: Like Daddy! She's also getting the most edible chin, too. Adorbs.
• Personality: Mine! Still a constant wiggler, still kicking off one sock. 
• Nicknames: Currently E, Squishy, Juicy, Piglet (due to her newest sound, the snort!)
• Feeding/Sleeping: We're still breastfeeding and supplementing and she's an excited eater. Sleep is all over the place. We usually go to bed for good by midnight, though she may fall asleep a little sooner. She starts off in her crib but when she wakes to feed around 4:00am I bring her to bed and nurse her laying down. It's just easier and mama gets a little more sleep! She wakes to eat again around 8:00am but will nap again soon after. (And me, too!) We don't really have a set schedule or routine other than that, but the rhythm we've got going isn't too bad. 
• Highlights: Family vacation to Asheville, meeting so many friends and family, one projectile poop this month! 

Likes:

• Baths!
• Smiling. Heart = melted. She's so close to giggling, I can't wait!
• Mornings. She's such a snuggly sweetheart in the a.m.
• Her activity mat. There's a music playing sunshine that hangs above her head that she'll stare and smile at it for a good thirty minutes and kick her legs like she's dancing to the music. It's the cutest. 
• Speaking of music, I started it as a distraction technique but she seriously enjoys it. But none of that baby stuff, she perks up to classical and my Spotify lists. 
• Also, she loves her song. If she's ever fretful in the car we turn this tune up, sing along, and boom, out like a light. I must have played/sang it to her 1,000 times while pregnant and I truly believe she recognizes it. (If you listen to it, you have to get past the creepy baritone man, but it's sweet otherwise.) 
• She also likes for Alex to hold her in the bathroom while I sing to her from the shower.
• "Talking" to her daddy. They have full on convo's with just noises. Every time I try to film it she gets camera shy though. Hopefully I can capture it soon. 
• Head rubs with my fingertips. If she's already sleepy, this moves puts her over the edge. 

Dislikes: 

• She still gets the hiccups almost every day, multiple times. And she still strongly dislikes them. 
• Lying down if she's awake. She much rather prefers someone hold her in a standing position. (Tiring for me, but a great arm workout.)
• A certain something between 9pm and 11pm. Not the whole time, but you can pretty much guarantee she'll take a 15 minute fit somewhere in there. It's just her personal fussy time I guess. 

Other:

• She's always good to go. A social butterfly just like her papa. We've carted her around pretty much everywhere and she's just the best. So calm and content (most of the time). However, just like mama, when she's done, she's done.
• I have no idea what baby development timelines are but strangers and family alike keep telling us how advanced she is for her age. Her motor skills are pretty awesome, her head and neck have been impressive since day one (she's already thrusting herself forward) and her legs are insanely strong. I guess she was training in my belly! 
• If she's not asleep she wiggles constantly. Sometimes I even worry that's she's burning too much energy and valuable calories. I can't help but watch her and equate it to an adult doing hours worth of cardio. 
• She still loves to stretch and yaaaawn. 
• She's started drooling. They say that begins up to 2 months before teething. All I know is, like overnight, there was a serious bib shortage in this house. 
• Her voice is changing and she's discovering new sounds. Her coo's are a little high pitched and oh-so-sweet. She's also started to snore. Yes, snore! Majorly adorbs. 
• The best part about this month was watching her meet so many family and friends. We kind of kept her in hibernation during December due to her brand new immune system, or lack thereof. (We didn't even do Santa for fear of germs!) but January was officially a meet and greet of tons of awesome people that couldn't wait to get their hands on her. (Not that one more month makes that much of a difference immunity wise, but we were careful with the hand washing, sanitizing, blanket wearing rules.) She loves all the loving! (And so do I because mama's arms need a break once in a while.)
• Speaking of immunity, she got her 2 month shots this week. Of course she cried when they did it, but almost as soon as it was done she was over it. (Although it took me a lot longer to calm down. Plus I was upset the day before just thinking about it!) Later that night she was sore and fussier than usual and I just kept thinking about how that was her first pain and how up until now she's never felt anything so hurtful before and that just broke my heart. I guess it's the first of many hurt's from skinned knees to big boo-boo's and I'm finding that I'm not ever ready for these milestones! 
• But what I am ready and happy for is feeling more like my old self. My clothes and shoes might not all fit just yet, if they ever do, but looking back through pictures at even a month postpartum, I definitely wasn't back to pre-baby me yet. (That's one thing I didn't expect, to not only feel different because I'm a mom, but also to look different.) But by now my swelling is gone and looking in the mirror is familiar again (minus the temporarily larger chest - bonus!) so it's nice to be me again.
• At least once (or 15 times) a day I look at her and think about how awesome she is. This usually involves me squeezing my fists in the air and gritting my teeth to keep from devouring her. So then I just tell her how much I freaking love her and make Alex agree with me about her perfection. #obsessed. 

P.S. Not that you're holding your breath and you probably haven't even noticed, but I still haven't posted her birth story yet. I want to, and I will, but every time I write a little I get overwhelmed. There is so much I'm trying to remember from that day and so much emotion to convey. I know I'm recapping it more for myself than anyone else, but I still want it to be just right, and it's not quite there yet. Someday...

Evelina - One Month

 Evelina Grace - One Month Old

It's been one month since Evelina entered our lives and what a whirlwind of incredible emotions and amazing feelings! From happy tears to frustrated tears, there's no way to describe how a disrupted sleep schedule and the demands of a newborn are "worth it" but they just are. The first two weeks were the hardest, as I think any new parent will tell you, and passed by in a blur of feedings and diaper changes and deciphering cries and sweet kisses and snuggles all while dealing with my own personal recovery. But it does get easier with each flip of the calendar. And yes, there were a few day stretches of no shower, pj's all day, just cuddled up feeding and staring at my baby like it's my job to watch her grow. And I wouldn't trade it for the world. But we were also able to get out and about with her early on, something I was eager to do, one, to see how she would handle it and two, to get in a healthy habit of not sitting at home. There is no way to describe everything a new parent feels during this time - excitement, fear, joy, terror, frustration, magic, and I was happy to find that some things just come naturally. Maybe it's a mother's instinct (or just from spending so much time with her) but her habits and needs have been fairly easy to discern, even from a few days old. I love knowing how to comfort her, most of the time, and it may not remain that easy so I'm grateful for the time it has been.

But back to E. She had a big first month of life! Aside from being perfectly precious here are a few highlights.

Stats:

• Weight: approximately 8 1/2 pounds
• Eyes: Dark gray/blue
• Hair: Brown (sometimes I think I can see a touch of auburn in it though)
• Size: Newborn clothes and diapers
• Looks: Like her Dad! At the beginning she was his little twin. I think her face is changing some though, but she still looks mostly like him.
• Personality: Mine! From always wiggling to always loosing one sock...
• Nicknames: Currently Little E, Sweet Juice, my Squish (but anything goes, really)
• Feeding/Sleeping: The first few weeks were exhausting and consisted of the typical round the clock feeding schedule, but things spaced out a little by week five and we can get four hour sleep stretches (yay!) We're breastfeeding and supplementing (more on that later) and this girl has quite the appetite.
• Highlights: Christmas!, two road trips to North Carolina, uncountable visits to Cracker Barrel

Likes:

• Being swaddled, but only with her arms out. (From day one.)
• Laying on her side and sitting upright
• Outfit changes (She is mine after all...)
• Baby massages from her grandad, Big Poppa G
• Pooping in a freshly changed diaper
• Making noise to hear herself "talk" 
• Baths. I call it her spa time, she gets so still and zen with the calmest look on her face.
• Family and friends - so far she's been pretty great with being passed around and held and oogled over without getting too fussy or overstimulated
• Snuggling! This girl will let you spoon the bejesus out of her, I love it!
• Selfies. Ok, maybe that one's more me. But she is really good at them!

Dislikes: 

• Having the hiccups for too long. (Who doesn't??) Which she gets every.single.day. 
• Having a dirty diaper (Who wouldn't?)
• This Rock 'n Play sleeper. Hates it. Not a big fan of bouncy/baby seats in general.
• Getting into her car seat. But once we get going she conks out.

Other:

• She's a wiggler. Remember how much she moved inside my belly? Nothing's changed on the outside. From the little foot movements when she's content to leg pumping and arm flailing when she's alert and active, this girls' in constant motion.
• She loves to stretch, especially arching her back and letting out large grunts. (Now I can totally picture how it must have looked on the inside.) And there's always some funny arm thing happening.
• Speaking of grunting, she's very talkative (aka noisy!) Everything she does is in a big way - eating comes with slurping and lots of "aahs", waketime is full of coo's, and don't even get me started on the gas situation (from both ends). Her yawns are often, long, and often accompanied with a yell. She even makes these crazy gasping noises from time to time that really freaked us out at first.
• She's strong! From the day she was born she was able to hold her head up for seconds at a time and turned to her side on the exam table at just a few hours old. And I swear this girl could stand up if she had any balance, her little legs have some insane strength already.
• Her sweet smiles just melt me, obviously.
• I'm a mom you guys! It's not that I thought I'd never become one, but after unintentionally putting it off for so long I kind of forgot about it a little, until all of a sudden I was pregnant and all of sudden had a baby and then boom! add "Mama" to my resume. Crazy, right?!
• On her actual one month birthday (January 2nd) I cried like a baby basically all day. It's amazing watching her grow but it's also bittersweet. I was super clingy to her and would wail things from, "Someday her little head's not going to smell like a baby anymore." to "One day she'll be a teenager!". I could not get a grip! So yeah, I'm going to be that mom that cries over every minute milestone... 

I never meant to take this much time away from the blog but I was/am just enjoying my time with her so much (also known as meeting her demands) that it's been hard to pull myself away for screen time. I'm still very eager to write about her birth story and obviously have loads of pictures of her to share so stay tuned!