6 months - An Eleanor Update

Weight: I'd guess 14lbs and 7oz

Height: I'd guess 26 in

Likes: Eleanor still LOVES the cats more than anything. She also loves our iPhones and blowing air out of her closed lips.

Dislikes: Eleanor does not like sitting still or broccoli.

Milestones: This month Eleanor has started crawling (well, more like climbing on the floor, with hands and feet), can sit unassisted for a few minutes, and possibly knows her name. She has also started solids, which I will talk more about in another post.

I can't believe another month is already over. I was too busy chasing my crazy kiddo around to notice. Eleanor is such a little mover these days, constantly going after a cat or a bag or a favorite toy. She keeps getting sillier too. Right now, she laughs if I dramatically go "ha ha ha" or whenever I cough. She's not using a ton of constant sounds yet, so no da da or ma ma just yet. Hopefully soon. I want to hear it even though I know she won't know she's saying it.

Little shopper

We spent the day running some errands.

Stopping by D's work, eating lunch, Ikea, groceries. The usual stuff.

We bought Eleanor a new stuffed puppy in Ikea and she seemed pretty pleased with it. She was a little tired and she gets super giggly right before she enters into the realm of exhaustion. I love that silly girl so much I think my heart could burst from the force of it.

It's nice spending a day doing the same things we would have done before, only with a tiny human in tow. It's nice that she hasn't changed our life, only enhanced it.

Being Vegan - Week 1

Immediately after having Eleanor, my mother in law was here and she cooked super healthy meals and I that's all I ate. Then she left. And caring for a baby and myself was hard. I was just starting to get the hang of it when we moved. The kitchen didn't get unpacked for weeks and we ate a lot of delivery food.

That above little rant just means that all that weight that melted off at first, has now come back. I've been trying to eat healthy, but with breastfeeding issues and other little struggles, I've been stressed. When I'm stressed, I eat. Usually the unhealthiest thing available. It was a lot of cheese and eggs and cookies.

I felt like crap. It's not even the weight, I just felt unhealthy. In an effort to get back to eating (and snacking) better, I decided to do a 6 week vegan challenge. D is doing it too when he is with me (so, his lunches aren't vegan). We started last Monday and so far, I have really enjoyed it.

There are still some lingering bad habits (like just eating multiple pieces of bread for lunch) but I am working on those. I snack on nuts and baby carrots. I make veggie stir-frys and such for dinner. We have tried out a few really yummy vegan restaurants. It's like we are dieting but not really. I don't feel deprived like I do on other diets and I have a bit more energy.

Cooking has been easier than I expected. Last night, for instance, we had spaghetti squash and breaded eggplant medallions with marinara. Tonight, we are having a stir-fry with rice. So far, I am enjoying being vegan. I hope it continues that way.

Little Lesson

On Saturday, Eleanor didn't have the best naps. She was grumpy as a result. There were plenty of times she could have napped, but she refused for some reason unknown to me. I admit, I was so excited when it was finally her bedtime. I wasn't as thrilled when she woke up an hour and a half later. In her fussiness, she hadn't ate as much as she would on a normal day. I begrudgingly mixed up a bottle and went to feed her.

Sitting in her dark room, feeding her, I was really struck by how much she had grown. Her body doesn't curve into mine just so anymore. Her legs dangle past me and her back arches in attempts to escape. Her thighs are full of rolls and her belly pushes out. She holds her own bottle, even raising it higher at the appropriate time. She still breaths deep and with the tiniest hint of a whistle. She still radiates heat. But certainly, this is not the same baby that I gave birth to less than 6 months ago. What happened to her? Where did she go?

Every month, every age, is my new favorite. I hope for new milestones with a scary intensity. I'm constantly wishing for the growth spurt, this leap, this week to be over. But sitting in the dark with my squirmy, not so little anymore baby, I was just relishing the moment. Before I know it, there won't be anymore nighttime feedings. She won't snuggle into me as often. She won't be endlessly amused by my kisses on her tummy. Time is going too fast. Hours into days into week into months into years, all happening too fast for me to catch my breath and catch up.

I'm going to try and remember this feeling when it's 6a.m. on a weekend and Eleanor wants to be awake and talking. Or when she is unreasonably grumpy and ruining an outing. Or when she shrieks in a crowd and everyone stares. For all the parts that I may want to wish away, there are a least a million things I wish could stay.

Date Night in Support of a Friend

Arlie is the best friend I have made since moving to Southern California. She was even in my wedding. Simply put, I adore her. Last night, she graduated from the senior level improv class at comedy sportz, and as such, was in an improv show with her classmates.

I've known about the show for a few months and have really been looking forward to seeing my friend perform and be funny. I had a pretty strong feeling she would be great at it (spoiler alert: she was). However, I was pretty nervous about leaving Eleanor with someone else. It was a little hard to find a babysitter since we needed someone to do it at our apartment and most of the people we know that want to watch a baby have babies of their own. We finally did though.

A friend that D and I used to work for volunteered to hang out in our living room for a few hours while Eleanor slept. We put Ella to bed before we left and she slept like a rock the whole time we were gone. We checked in on her through the video monitor a time or two just for reassurance.

It was nice to be out of the house after 6:30. It was especially nice to be able to cuddle up next to my husband and interact with other adults. I laughed a ton and talked a ton. Having Eleanor has definitely made me bolder than I used to be in social situations.

I'm so proud of Arlie and I am so glad we got to watch her show! I expected to laugh a little, but mostly because that was my friend, you know? But I was laughing because it was literally hilarious. It was a free performance, but I would have happily paid to see it. I hope she does more improv and that I get to watch more!

Everything Changes

I knew that having a baby would be difficult. I mean, everyone knows that. I even knew that I don't particularly like newborns... they are just way too breakable for my liking. I didn't realize that between 3-4 months, everything changes. I mean EVERYTHING.

Before 4 months

I felt like a zombie most days. Apparently, waking up every 3 hours means that you are never ever actually rested. A brain that isn't well rested has some trouble functioning now and then (who put that remote in the fridge?). Eleanor was lovely and tiny and perfect, but girl could scream! Even though it was probably only in 20-30 minute intervals, it felt like forever. D and I joked about how she was going to make us go deaf. Some of that was probably my fault. You know how a baby picks up on your attitude and all that? Well, those first few months I was panicked at the first little squeak she made or if we were out and she needed to be changed or fed. I put on a brave face, hoping that I wouldn't look as clueless as I felt. Internally, though, I was a wreck and she must have sensed some of that. Add that to the fact that my hormones were still going crazy and I was pretty much a mess.

On a more practical note, the things we use and do were different in those first few months. For our family, Aden + Anais swaddling blankets were the best things ever. Eleanor loved being swaddled and slept much more soundly when she was. The A+A blankets were bigger than any of the other ones and more lightweight. They made swaddling a breeze. Eleanor also wore the heck out of the same few long sleeve Gerber onesies with hand covers. She wore them so much and I liked them so much that we bought a second pack when she was a few weeks old. We put her in them to sleep because pajamas with snaps were a total pain for middle of the night diaper changes.

Eleanor also was one of those babies that needed something to suck on for comfort. We would have went insane without a paci in the first few weeks. I even briefly blogged about my relationship with her Soothie pacis here.

After 4 months

Eleanor has such a personality now and I enjoy that so much more than I enjoyed the snugly, needy little infant. Smiling and laughing was a real turning point. It kept me from feeling like she was miserable and I was doing something wrong. Although, she now knows how to give looks that clearly make it known that she thinks reading that book/swinging/playing in her bumbo are the worst ideas ever. She was never a particularly difficult baby, but now she seems to be especially easy. She only cries when he is overly tired or really wants that bottle that she can see you making. She will happily spend 20-30 minutes playing on her tummy on her own, more than that if someone will play on the floor with her. She has the best grins at home, and the most inquisitive faces when we are out and about. I feel so much more confident with my actions as a parent. If she cries while we are out, oh well. If she spits up or has a small diaper leak that gets on my shirt, no big deal. That's why I wear layers. Obviously, there are still times where I feel like I am going insane, but I have now recognized that those times coincide with her learning some new, awesome trick (or maybe teething...soon). Basically, I am just a lot less clueless and lot more rested than I once was.

At 4 months, we started sleep training. I didn't ever really think I would do a CIO method, but then I had my kid that wouldn't nap and cried for 30minutes to an hour before she fell asleep regardless. We went with the 3 Day Sleep Solution and it has been amazing. Eleanor naps at regular intervals and sleeps 12 hours a night (waking once to feed). In accordance to our plan, we ditched our paci and it went surprisingly well. It's so much easier now that I don't have to worry about putting in her mouth constantly or losing it. She does still have one for the rare occasion we are out and she needs something for comfort (the only time this has really happened was at the doctor and once in the car).

Since Eleanor sleeps in her crib, we almost never use our A+A blankets at home anymore. She sleeps without any blanket because I am paranoid she would suffocate. I am sure they will come back out once she is a little older. We do occasionally take them with us when we are out because they fold up small for the diaper bag just in case we need to put them on the floor, over her car seat, or whatever. I have started refusing to put her in pretty much any pajamas that aren't zippered. She kicks so much her legs get out of/caught with the pairs with snaps and since there are no blankets, it's too cold for a onesie. Toys are becoming a bigger and bigger part of our life, but unless she can put it in her mouth, my kid has zero interest in it.

It's crazy how much things have changed. I'm sure in another four months the list of things that used to be used daily will shrink even more and I will be enjoying my kiddo even more. Although, I am still terrified of that whole walking/crawling thing.

10 Favorite Photos From Month 5

So, I will honestly say that these are not the "best" photos of my child, but they are my favorites. Most of them feature her fantastic facial expressions. I particularly love the one in the swing. You can just tell she is thinking, "Why are they doing this to me? They are idiots." Yup, that's my kid. 

And a bonus video...

  Warning: This video may kill you from adorableness.