A visit from grandma

We had a visit from Brian's mom last week. Ellie was able to get some quality time with grandma and I was able to get some things done... i.e. a long overdue haircut. Brian and I also went out to dinner Friday night while Linda watched Ellie. It was one of the first meals we've had since Ellie was born where we were both able to eat at the same time. It seems like Ellie times her crying for whenever Brian and I are about to sit down to lunch or dinner... so one of us usually has to rush through eating while the other holds her, and then we switch off. It was really nice going out and having some adult-only time, but I got a preview of how hard it's going to be for me to leave Ellie at day care. I was really surprised at how much I missed her in just the 90 minutes we were out. I can't imagine what it will be like to be away from her for 8 hours.
On that subject, I also got some bad news last week about my maternity leave. My insurance company is only going to approve me for a six-week absence, not the nine weeks my doctor requested. The company has a set policy of six weeks for regular delivery and eight for c-sections, so there's no real leeway. This means I would have to take three weeks unpaid to stretch my leave time out to 12 weeks (including the three weeks of vacation time I've saved and plan to take). Brian and I can't afford to lose that much income... so I will have to return to work earlier than I planned :(
Looks like Ellie and I only have a month together left at home, so I'm trying to make the most of it. I love this little girl! Here are some recent pics.

Radar likes "tummy time" on the play mat more than Ellie does...

What was that?

The other night while getting Ellie ready for bed, she let out a scream like I've never heard before. (This is Brian, by the way)
I've heard her progression of cries. It starts as a whimper (sometimes she enunciates the 'w' in 'whaaaaa.' It's hilarious.) Then she goes into a full cry, and eventually a scream that tears at your heart because you can tell she really is hungry or upset and can't relieve it any other way.
Well, as I was changing her into her PJs, she skipped all the preliminary cries and went straight for the deep scream, louder than I'd heard in a while.
I stopped cold and looked around her. Had I pinched her slightly with a snap? Had I pulled one of her fingers back as I pulled her hand through the sleeve? What had I done to cause this? It was clear that she was hurt because of the intensity of the scream.
It was then that I noticed Ellie had inflicted this wound herself. As the scream got louder, she pulled harder on her own hair. And she it hurt more, she clinched and pulled some more. It took a second or two to get her hand to loosen. The look on her poor face was one of pain and utter disbelief that this could happen.
It's crazy how bad I wanted that scream to stop. Not for my own ears' sake, but because I didn't want to see her hurt and upset.
I guess she's not as thrilled as Dorothy and me that she was born with so much hair.

Ellie's first road trip

Brian, Ellie and I went to Rockford this past weekend to visit family and help celebrate the slew of September birthdays among the cousins. We were nervous about how Ellie would do on the car ride, which is usually about 4 hours each way but wound up taking us closer to 5 hours this trip. She did pretty good on the way up Saturday. We stopped to feed her about an hour in and then she slept another couple hours. She started screaming about an hour from Rockford, but once we stopped, changed her and gave her some love for a few minutes, Ellie was good to go for the rest of the trip.

The way home was a little more eventful. Ellie had a couple big stretches of screaming, but once we found exits off the highway we were able to get her calmed down each time. Overall, I think she did great for a one-month-old. But we're quickly learning the complications and stress of traveling with a baby.

Aunt Pat (below) hosted a big extended family celebration at her house Sunday and got to meet Ellie for the first time.

Cousins Jay and Alora came all the way from Nebraska to meet Ellie! Jay is very happy to meet her... and he's very well-dressed, too.

Alora is such a big girl! And she's going to teach Ellie all sorts of things before too long :)

Chris wasn't the most-eager to hold the baby, but really who can resist Ellie in ruffled pink pants?And these are the Lewis cousins -- Eliot, Ila, Meriel and Izzie. Ellie is very excited to have lots of clothes passed down from these beautiful girls.Ila, Mason and Alora got to blow out the candles on the cake. They are the newest generation of September birthdays... Alora (who is turning 6) even shares her Sept. 23 birthday with me! Maggie, me and cousins Matt, Jason and Kevin also have September birthdays and have gotten plenty of group birthday action over the years.

She's perfect

That was the summation from Dr. Miller today at Ellie's one month checkup :)
Ellie weighed in at 10 lbs, 10 oz...! Seems like a lot, but given her length Ellie is right in the 50th percentile at that weight. She's grown almost another inch since her 2 week checkup and is now 22 1/4 inches long.
We can tell Ellie is a generally happy baby. But it's great to hear from a medical professional that we're doing a good job and Ellie is in good shape. And we totally agree with Dr. Miller: Ellie is perfect!

1 month

Happy 1 month birthday to Ellie! In many ways this past month has flown by. But I also think we've learned a ton and watched our little girl growing up so much already.

Ellie started her celebration today by spitting up so much that both she and I required new outfits. And I'm talking new pants and shirts on each of us! It was pretty impressive.

Here are a couple of my favorite pics of Ellie from her first month alive:

Meeting family

Ellie met lots of new extended family members in the past week. Here are some pics of her getting some family love:

Here's Ellie with her grandpa, Bob

And Ellie with great-grandpa, Joe

Ellie says hi to her great-grandma and namesake, Eleanor

Here's Ellie with Uncle Dan, who is also her new godfather

And Aunt Jen, Ellie's godmother, finally got a chance to hold her at the end of the day of the baptism!

I can do this

There have been so many moments this year when I've wondered how I would do as a mom. So it's been exciting this week to have some moments when I feel like I'm hitting my groove as a parent.
Today is a really great day because Ellie slept for almost five hours straight last night! Brian got her down around 10 p.m. and she didn't wake up to eat again until almost 3 a.m. I was so shocked that I woke up at 2 a.m. and had to go check the nursery to make sure she was OK :)
Brian and I are hoping for a repeat... but trying not to get our hopes up too much!
Beyond the nighttime routine, Ellie and I have had some pretty great days together. We're developing a bit of a routine. She's been waking up hungry around 8 a.m. and I get her fed, changed and clothed by around 9:30 a.m. We've discovered the joy of the Baby Bjorn for walks around the park in the morning. Ellie still isn't a huge fan of the stroller, but once I strap her in the bjorn carrier she's good to go for as long as I'm up for walking. Carrying her on my belly makes me feel a little like I'm pregnant again... but now I'm able to take her off at the end of the walk. The weather has been too gorgeous not to get outside each day.
Brian usually comes home for lunch, which is great for visiting and having an extra set of hands for a half hour or so. In the afternoon, Ellie has been taking a nap for a couple hours. We either run errands or I use the time to get something done around the house. Today my activity was sorting through my closet to clear out maternity clothes and figure out what still fits from my old clothes... not much, unfortunately!
So that's a glimpse at the lives of Dorothy and Ellie these days. I'm sure something will pop up to derail me soon enough, but for now I'm feeling pretty good about mommyhood.