Happy Baby

What's New

Eliana has been doing a few new things lately.  She has been taking a bottle a day from Fred, and she's finally taking it without crying for him.  Whew!  She also started sleeping 6-7 hours at a time at night.  It's been lovely!  Finally, she had her checkup with the doctor to look at her eye tracking.  At the appointment, the doctor was able to see her track from side to side.  We're thinking that she's just feeling better with her new reflux meds combined with my diet.  They also weighed her, and she's at 12 pounds and 4 ounces.  She's a growing girl!  We won't go back until her 4 month appointment in April.  Here are some recent pictures.

Check out this new outfit from Aunt Carrie!  She's rockin' it.  

She can hold her head up for a little while like a big girl.

Tummy time with Daddy.  Yes, she is "watching" American Idol with him.  I'm pretty sure she just likes that the TV lights up.  I'm not really too thrilled with her "watching" it just yet.  We don't purposely set her in front of it.  When it's on, she is constantly looking at it.  She's funny!

She slept a lot this day.  

And more sleeping.  Some days she seems to sleep most of the day.  

Such a Cutie

I forgot to add this to Fred's post yesterday.  We're introducing a bottle a day to Eliana.  Fred gets the pleasure of implementing this new routine.  When he comes home, he gives E a bottle.  At first, she cries a lot, which is hard for me to hear.  However, she calms down after she realizes we're not quitting.  I do believe we have a stubborn one on our hands.  :)

Check out this cute little valentine!  

Eliana hung out in her crib for a little bit the other day.  She was smiling and talking to me, which is always fun.  She's such a sweet girl!

Wrapped Around His Finger

Eliana is proving to be quite the Daddy's girl, which I'm totally fine with.  If you know anything about me, you know that I don't deal well with girl drama.  Plus, I'm pretty stubborn and not always very sympathetic.  I knew that a girl meant that I would get a little mini me.  While this is good in some ways, I'm sure it will prove to be frustrating in many others.  As a result, Eliana is going to need someone in her life for those moments that we really butt heads.  Thankfully, her Daddy already knows how to handle me.  He'll be a pro at dealing with her.  Plus, all girls need a loving Daddy to help them navigate life's hurdles and boys.  Eliana is blessed with the kind of Daddy she needs.  She's blessed.  I'm blessed.

Fred fell asleep while rocking E in her rocker/napper.  So, I got her up to eat.  As you can tell, she was still very sleepy.  I put her down for a few minutes, and I realized that I had two sleepy heads on my hands.  This was the perfect opportunity for a picture.

Fred decided to take Eliana with him to practice the guitar.  She hung out on the floor watching him.

She loved it!  It looks like she's playing the guitar here, but she isn't.  She loves her Daddy!

Weekends

We spent the weekend with friends, which we love to do.  On Friday night, Jen and Brenden came over for dinner.  Then, we had our awesome small group over on Saturday night for a cook out.  Thank goodness the weather is finally warming up.

Eliana was sleeping in this picture, but she was definitely flirting it up with Brenden earlier that night.  She was all smiles.  Jen and Brenden came to visit little miss in the hospital, and they commented about how big she's getting.  It's true.  She's growing too fast.  Thanks for loving our little one you two!  You're hired as babysitters!

Look Who's 2 Months Old

I can't believe our baby is 2 months old already!  Time flies, and we're having a blast.  We absolutely love little miss Eliana.  It has been a blessing to watch all of her little milestones this past month.  So, here they are.

1. Eliana is sleeping for 3-4 hours at night in her own space.  We'll tackle the crib some other day.
2. She is starting to "talk" to us more with cute little noises.  Her favorite consonant sound is g.  :)
3. She is smiling at us more and more.
4. She is still having a rough time with gas/reflux (GERD), so we're trying a new medicine.   I'm also trying to eliminate gassy foods from my diet to help her out.
5. She is not really tracking with her eyes very well.  The doctor is trying to be "conservative" about this, and she wants to see us back in a few weeks.  If she doesn't do it for the doctor at this visit, we will have to see an eye doctor.  Pray for this!  I've been working with her on it, but she's not really interested most of the time.
6. She is starting to get into a better routine of eating, playing, and napping.  I think it helps that I'm getting a little bit better as a mom at determining what she needs.
7. She finally likes to play on her own for a little while.  She likes the hanging animals in her play pen, her bouncy seat animal friends, and I hung some keys from her swing.  Of course, she always goes for her play mat.
8. I've been trying to get better at "tummy time."  She will hold her head up for a few minutes, which is good.  Then, she just gets mad and cries a little bit.
9. We took the insert out of her baby bath tub, so her feet are in the water while taking a bath.  We think she likes this a lot better.  She gets so cold at bath time and balls up her fists next to her face, but she's starting to move around more during baths.
10. She's growing bigger every day.  At her check up, she was 23 inches tall now, which is around the 75%.  I wonder where she gets that height!?!  I can barely keep the 3 month outfits on her because she's so tall.  Geesh!  She is also 10 pounds and 13 ounces, which was around the 50%.

Check out that karate kick!  

We discussed that fact that she may potentially be upset at us for dressing her in this outfit.  However, we think it's pretty cute.  She's not impressed as you can tell.  

She's definitely starting to find her thumb.  

I think they're finally friends.  :)

Life as we Know it

I fell behind in my blogging.  So, here are a bunch of pictures from the past week.  Enjoy!  Stay tuned for the two month pictures and update.  Eliana turned two months old yesterday. :)

This is what happens when Fred is in charge of Eliana.  She gets to enjoy video games.  Doesn't she look thrilled?

Eliana could not be comforted this day.  So, I gave her a little crib time, which she wasn't excited about.  However, she did fall asleep for a total of 5 minutes in there.  I'll take it as a small victory.  

I thought this blue onesie looked so cute on her because of her eyes.  I just love her to pieces!

I think she's about over her photo shoot at this point.  :)

Here's a little daddy love after he got home from work.  She loves him a lot!

I was getting ready to read to Eliana, but she fell asleep before I got the chance.  I was surprised that she just fell asleep without crying.  I was so impressed that a picture was needed.  

She's a cutie at bath time!  We think she likes it.  

I was getting ready to cut her nails, and she had a kung fu grip on Fred's shirt before he put her down.  I'm thinking that she didn't want to get her nails trimmed.  

Here is Leah's photo debut with E.  They are besties!

Eliana enjoyed some Dummel love during the Super Bowl.  They are pretty big fans of hers, which we love.  

Keeping Warm

It has been nice having Fred home for the past few days to hang out with us.  It has been so cold here.  So, Eliana got all bundled up to go downstairs.  We had just gotten her to sleep.  I bet Fred that she wouldn't last more than 5-10 minutes sleeping in her bouncy seat.  I was wrong.  She slept there for awhile.  The new thing she does while in her bouncy seat is kick the buttons that turn on the vibration and music.  She'll turn them off and on several times while she's sitting there.  She doesn't realize what she's doing, but it's pretty funny.  

Hanging Out

Check out that scratch under her eye.  This is what happens when I don't cut her nails in a long time, and she gets frustrated when I put her down.  

I added links to her animals, so she can hit and kick them.  She seems to enjoy hanging out in her play pen a lot better now.  

It Takes a Village

Eliana doesn't even know it yet, but she is so blessed.  She has so many people in her life that love her so much.  As parents, Fred and I are so grateful to have such awesome family and friends to help us raise our daughter.  I know there will be times when we lack as parents, but our friends and family can help to give E something that she really needs.  Thank you to all of our family, friends, and church family who will help to shape E into a beautiful girl and eventually woman on the inside and out.  

This is our friend Devin who is a huge fan of our little blessing.  I'm thankful that Devin and Leah are a part of her life.    I'm not sure why we don't have a picture with Leah, but we will take care of that pronto.  

Grandpa Schmitt is another man in Eliana's life who is wrapped around her finger.  This is definitely not a bad thing.  

Here Eliana is feeling the love on Christmas day from Grandma Schmitt, Aunt Carrie, me, and Grandma Smith.  There are lots of cool things to learn from these lovely ladies.  

Baby Steps

We've been trying some new things with Eliana because she needs to learn to sleep on her own.  So, we've been putting her in this napper/rocker thing that fits beside the bed.  Since she still gets up at night, it's easier to have her so close.  She has been doing okay with it.  Some nights are better than others.  We're also trying to get her to eat, stay awake, and then go to sleep for a nap.  Again, she is doing okay with it.  I think it's hard on both of us because I can't stand to here her cry so much.  It's so sad, but I know she will get it soon.  

Her 3 month outfits bulge in the belly, but they are long enough for her.  I can't believe how big she is getting.  

Daddy to the rescue: E was so tired one day after crying so much at night.  So, daddy cuddled her for awhile.  Notice how sound she is sleeping because she's being snuggled.  Also, notice how her pants are up past her belly button.  Some of her 3 month outfits are a little big.