Photo of the Day: 11.9.10

On November 9, 2010, Poly was using the microphone incorrectly. She was so cute.   Look at that old iphone there on the ottoman.

2.13

I got more sleep so when I was up at 8:30 for the day it didn't even feel awful.

I took Ella for a walk but it was short. It was so sunny so it was less enjoyable for her since I had to use a blanket to shield the sun.

I went for a run. I went to run 1 mile in under 12 minutes. I was slower than 12 minutes previously but was close. Well I did awesome and had 1:44 in bonus seconds. (But when you realize that a 2.35.9 shows up at 2:35 my mile time was actually 10:19. Pretty good! Gives me hope. I felt just as slow. I didn't look at my watch at all until the beep at .25. Then I didn't look again until the beep at .5. That took some restraint. The second half was faster than my first half. I ran 1.12 total even though I ran the same loop that I ran the other day that said it was 1.04. I actually thought 1.04 was low last time so maybe 1.12 is more accurate.

I cooked dinner. Ella played in her monkey bouncer throughout most of dinner. It would have been all of dinner if I didn't spend so much time getting stuff for Dave too. It was the very first time that she ever played with the toys on it. She really did enjoy it for awhile. I'm so glad she's starting to like more things.  She loved standing with my support today and watching Dave do his back exercises.

She started drooling a lot more the past few days.

After dinner, I told Ella when she went to sleep, I'd eat chip n dip. Well she was tired when I told her and then she got wide awake. It's like she's trying to help me lose weight.  I ate the chip n dip anyway when she went to sleep.  She fell asleep on me and I stayed there for awhile typing to my mom. When I went to put her in her crib, she woke up with all my movement. I put her down while she was still awake and she didn't cry and just went back to sleep. I wasn't sure if she would.  This was at 8:30 and then I ate.  I'm probably going to regret not going to sleep so early.

2.14

Dave gave me a very nice necklace for Valentine's Day.

I ate leftovers and at one point had a cat on me and at another point had Ella on me

Dave went into work today for a little over 3 hours. When I went to pick him up, Ella went inside.  She got her first google guest pass. Many people met her. She got cranky after about 20 minutes and then as soon as we got outside she fell asleep while we were walking to the car.

We took some 8 week photos.

2.12

Trying to get Dave and Ella out the door for an appointment was challenging. Dave never wants to get ready early enough ever and now he's moving so slowly. He should have been getting ready earlier. Also if he will need something he never learns to tell me earlier.

I found some shoes and put them on Ella. Her feet are big that that barely fit.

2.11

Between Dave and Ella I barely slept.  I just couldn't get enough sleep and felt exhausted.  I kept going back to bed or trying to until about 3 PM but still never got enough sleep. I needed a longer stretch of sleep.

Usually Ella eats and falls asleep right away in the middle of the night. She might even do this during the day. Well lately she got in a kick to take an hour or so to fall asleep. It is just not so fun.  Sometimes she cries but mostly she doesn't. She is just fidgety and will start to whine in a position after a little bit so I had to constantly move her around.

Dave got some new headphones. They are a bit big for Ella.

I also napped at 7pm and 8 pm.

Too bad I got a second wind at 9 pm which messed up the start of my sleep

2.10

I wish I could get her to smile all the time when I plop her in the chair.

I put Ella down quickly and Poly hoped up so i tried to have Ella pet Poly. It looks like it worked but it really didn't.

Dave's back has been bad and this is the day it got really bad at work that he ended up going to the ER via ambulance because he couldn't get up on his own. That sure made the day exciting. Since it's not my own ailment here, I won't mention more. If it was my own problems, you'd probably get a play by play of my ambulance ride and ER visit.

2.9

 More shoulder sitting time!

I wanted Dave to take some pictures. I had a really hard time finding a flower and headband to match her outfit so I just took off the zebra flower.

We took them in 3 spots outside but Ella was always squinting. Then we took some on the porch and I really like those.

There are more. I actually wanted Dave to be in the pictures but he didn't want to comb his hair and put on a shirt that wasn't an undershirt.

Ella 2 Month Update

Stats:

• Weight: 10 lb 13.5 oz (I zeroed out the scale with a dress but not identical to what she was wearing. The scale was jumping between 13.5 and 14 oz but it stayed longer at 13.5 oz) - 36th percentile
• Height: 23.5" - 89th percentile
• Head Circumference: 15 inches (I'm awful at measuring this so it might be off) - 54th percentile
• Diapers: Size 1
• Clothing: She wore 0-3 month clothing. Some are still little big in the shoulders and too long.  Pants are too short that are 0-3 month but some that I have that say "3 months" are OK in length. The Gerber 0-3 month onesies are too short on her now. That's the size of the onesies in the pictures here and they were stretching at the snaps.

Sleep
She has been sleeping a lot better this month and as the month went on she got better.  She has slept for 7 hours or more a few times. Usually that time starts when I'm eating dinner so I don't get to sleep quite that long but it is a lot better than the first month. 

Eating
She eats for between 2 and 4 hours a day but most closer to 2. She spends less time eating than she did last month. I've pumped and tried to give her bottles and Dave has. She's awful at taking them or won't. She might take some sips and that's it.

Sample Schedule:
She doesn't have a specific nap time or food time yet. Earlier this month I wrote specifics about my day. Basically she sleeps for a long period of time. She might sleep 5-7 hours. Then she will eat and go back to sleep for about 3. Then go back to sleep for 2.  She will be awake for maybe 2 then sleep again.  Then be awake for an hour or so. Then sleep.  During the day she is usually up for extended periods of time. For a good bit of that she will be yawning and want to go to sleep but not go to sleep.  I always do a tummy time during her first extended awake of the day. We take a walk during the second extended awake.  Certain things here or there disrupt the routine.  She's usually fussy during dinner and I can't eat without holding her.  About a week ago I had to be moving or she would cry. I would walk circles around the dining room table and take bites as I passed my food. 

Special Moments:

Maybe this is the opposite of special but she got her shots and cried a lot. She was crying before they started since we were at the appointment for so long.

Development:
She talks, coos, and stands more. She smiles more. She tries to talk. She recognizes us.


She sits against stuff now and can stay seated for a good while. I get a lot of pictures before she starts to topple. 
She will smile at us without us prompting but it doesn't happen that often. 
She makes a lot more new sounds.  
She likes to step with assistance. 
I fell like she always wants to be upright. She doesn't want to be held like what I think is a baby.   She's recently started to self sooth by sucking on her fingers or hands. She can't self soothe when sleeping since she still needs to be swaddled.  She really startles herself if not swaddled. 
Throughout the month she made it longer and longer in a bath without crying. Then she didn't cry at all. She just cried after I got her out and was trying to dry her. It might have worked better if I wasn't taking her out and fumbling getting her in her hooded towel.

Other Tidbits:
Likes
She loves it when she's swaddled. She can't sleep without it.
She likes to get her arms out of the swaddle just for fun.
She likes it when Dave sings to her. He really likes if he bounces her around while singing.
She likes holding her head up. 
She likes to sit sideways on my lap, lean against my body, and have me pat her back. I did this burping her and learned she likes it so I do it often.
She likes to stand with support.
She likes to sit.
She likes to be held.
She likes to talk and smile at us. She especially likes to try to say "hi."
She likes to look at herself in the mirror and likes to look at Dave.

Dislikes
She hates the act of swaddling her.
She doesn't like it bright or the sun. 
Sometimes she doesn't like tummy time.
She hates the pacifier.
She doesn't like taking a bottle.

Fun Facts

Longest time sleeping: 9 hours 5 minutes 

Days with a sleep greater than 5 hours: 16

Days with a sleep greater than 4 hours: 22

Diapers used (from Feb 1-20): 10.1 per day

Time spent nursing (from Feb 1-20): 165 minutes (2:45) per day

Time spent sleeping (from Feb 1-20): 15.4 hours per day 

My recovery
I can tell I had abdominal surgery when I go to run or workout. It's insane how I can feel my abs or lack of. I'm not having any pain anymore at all from surgery. My weight stopped going down. I eat horribly and go too many hours without eating. I still look pregnant.

Some pictures were taken at 2 months and 1 day since I missed daylight right at 2 months. The first 5 pictures in the post were on her actual 2 month day the rest were 2 months and 1 day.