Thursday, July 27, 2017

Two Months

At two months:

Weight: 8 lbs 15 ounces
        Percentile: 11%
Height: 22.5 inches
        Percentile: 62%
Sleep: Her naps have been a little rough, but night times she does pretty good. Most nights she does okay with getting herself to sleep and she always puts herself back to sleep after nursing in the middle of the night. She usually sleeps about six hours, eats, then sleeps for two or three more. Naps are hard because she only will sleep in her car seat or your arms for any serious length of time, which the car seat makes me nervous so it's a little difficult to get good naps in.
Clothing size: Still in Newborn. We went up to size one diapers just for nighttime though because she was starting to have blowouts in the morning. 
Milestones: Picking up her head, smiling, starting to coo more
Special Outings: We went hiking a few times, out to eat, grandparents house, and to her two month doctors appointment.
Month Highlights: Month two was fairly difficult like month one was. Emma does not handle growth spurts well, and was very fussy. Although towards the end of the month she started to relax and smile a ton. As she started smiling her fussiness because much easier. 
Big Changes: She is getting so much more aware this month, it's been fun to watch her start to respond to us as we talk to her.
Emma's Favorites: bath time, her car seat, sitting up and bouncing, being talked to and smiled at, watching the fan

Thoughts: while Emma hasn't been the easiest baby this month, she is starting to get a sweet little personality and every time she gets a big smile at me it makes all the moments of crankiness so much more worth it. I'm grateful that I'm able to be home with her still for awhile because she is becoming such a wonderful little light. We are going on some big trips next month so I'm anxious to see how she'll do with those things since she's kind of cranky. I love watching Elli with her because Elli loves her so much. I was worried how she would do adjusting to having a sibling but Elli adores her so much that it really hasn't been an issue. Emma really just fits so perfectly in our family. So much though that it seems like she was always here and sometimes I forget that she's just brand new.

One Month

At one month: 

Weight: Emma weighs 7 pounds and 9 ounces
        Percentile: 34%
Height: 19.5 inches
        Percentile: 85%
Sleep: For the most part has been pretty rough. The longest stretch at night has been about 4 hours but usually it's been between two and three hours. She slept a ton the first two weeks that she was home and still sleeps a lot during the day reaching about 3 and a half hour stretches sometimes if I don't wake her up.
Clothing size: Still in Newborn. It's going to be a little while still in them because she is very petite. 
Milestones:Getting passed her jaundice, picking up her head
Special Outings: Doctor's appointments, parents and grandparents houses, shopping at the store, the park with her sister, and even out to eat at denny's, we actually started going back to sacrament at 3 weeks old because I couldn't stand just sitting around the house anymore. She's just stayed in her carseat for most of these, but it's nice to get out of the house.
Month Highlights: To be honest, this month hasn't been easy. The first two weeks of Em's life were spent trying to nurse as much as possible to make sure she got passed her jaundice and then around week three we hit a growth spurt and some colic so things have been a little stressful. 
Big Changes: Breastfeeding is going great, she has already grown and changed a massive amount. and she's gone from sleeping non-stop to being pretty fussy when she's not sleeping. She definitely is a colicky baby at this point.
Emma's Favorites: Being held upright against your chest, eating, having a clean diaper, and crying.

Thoughts: While I absolutely adore Emma, this month has been far from easy. Learning to take care of two babies while recovering has been difficult. Luckily Colton was off for two weeks after she was born and that helped a ton. When she was three months old Emma got really fussy and screamed a lot and so we have been trying to work through that but mostly I'm exhausted. I've been making sure I pump every day to have a freezer stash when I go back to work and have been pretty successful with that and have about 100 ounces frozen so far. We haven't given her a bottle yet but am planning on doing it this week. I have loved watching Elli with her though. She completely adores her. Every chance she gets she's laying on the floor by her and kissing her and it's just the cutest thing ever. I can't wait until Emma is finally able to really start responding to Elli because it's going to be the cutest. The emotional tranisition has been much easier for me than I expected. Emma just feels like she belongs here and has always been a part of our family. She definitely is a sweet but strong little spirit and we couldn't love her any more than we do now.

Three Months

At three months:

Weight: 
        Percentile: %
Height:  inches
        Percentile: %
Sleep: Emma fights naps like nothing else. I don't know what it is about my kids but they hate sleeping during the day so much. She sleeps great at night, goes right to sleep on her own basically, and falls right back to sleep after nursing. She usually wakes up only one or two times a night so it's not too bad. She still hasn't slept longer than about six hours at a time more than once or twice, but getting up once really isn't too bad and I'm pretty used to it by now. I'm dreading the four month sleep regression because she really struggles with growth spurts. 
Clothing size: Still in newborn but starting to wear some 0-3 month clothes towards the end of the month. We switched to size one diapers about half way through the month. They still drown her, but she was starting to have way too many blowouts in newborns so it was time. 
Milestones: Smiling a ton, starting to be able to sit up better with less support, not even close to rolling yet because we don't push tummy time as often as we should, I'm convinced she is already teething and swear I can feel a tooth coming in even though no one else can. But she is biting, drooling, and more cranky somedays. I guess we'll have to see.
Special Outings: This was a busy month, we went to Salt Lake for a review of Colton's licensing exam, so Emma got her very first long car ride, her first time staying in a hotel, and her first time swimming. She did great on the car ride and in the hotel and she absolutely loved the pool. I love that both of my kids are water babies, it's so fun. Then we went to San Diego, which was good, but towards the end Emma was getting pretty sick of being in the car. She was so cranky on the drive back. But the k'tan was worth it's weight in gold because everytime we did any outing, like the beach or sea world we just stuck her in it and she would fall right to sleep and sleep for hours. It made it so worth it. Then after getting home from our trip we went back to Salt Lake for Colton's graduation from his Master's program. We are so proud of him for that! And then just the last sunday before she turned three months old Emma was blessed in church so she got to wear a beautiful dress and meet all of Colton's aunts and uncles. It was a very busy month, but a very good one. 
Month Highlights: This month was easier than last month. Emma is still kind of cranky, but is also so happy sometimes that I can't even handle how adorable her smiles are. She starting to talk more and more and getting a variety of different sounds as well. 
Big Changes: Emma is a very extreme child. She lets you know how she's feeling and is either incredibly happy or incredibly mad without much in between. She had a big shift in her nursing this month that has been a little hard for me. She nurses great during the night and if I nurse her right after naps, but if she has been awake for awhile and is tired and needs to eat she gets so mad and refuses to nurse. She just screams bloody murder anytime I try which can get a little hard because she is often awake too long during the day because she refuses to nap until she's exhausted often. After our trip to California she doesn't love the car seat as much anymore but still does okay when you go freeway speeds.
Emma's Favorites: Emma loves the water, swimming, baths, the works. They are her favorite. She loves being in the k'tan carrier to nap and will sleep for hours in it. She loves ceiling fans, kicking on the ground for a few minutes, and looking around. She loves being held under the arms and then bouncing even though it scares her just a little bit.

Thoughts: We have kind of gotten into a groove with things this month and it is much better. She is still kind of a cranky kid, but she's also so happy in between sometimes. She's just kind of dramatic I think. She goes from so happy to so mad in about ten seconds if she's tired. It's been an adjustment but we are getting used to it. I go back to work next week and am literally dreading every second that I'm going to have to leave her because even on her hardest days she still really lights up my life so much already. I can't wait until she is big enough to really respond to Elli because Elli is completely in love with her and just loves her (quite aggressively) every chance she gets. I love watching the two of them. I'm anxious about how her nursing strike thing is going to be affected by me going back to work and her getting bottles more often. But I just have to hope for the best and keep trying to nurse as much as I can.

Monday, July 24, 2017

Meeting Everyone and Hospital Stay

Somehow, I was terrible and missed getting pictures of my Dad, Jake, and Sarah holding her for the first time, so that sucks! But here's the ones we do have.


Meeting big sister Elli


Hospital stay


Mimie



Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Suzanne


Adam and Stephanie