This month has been a blur!  I can't believe Ellie has been here a whole month.  There is part of me that feels like she has always been here and the other part can't believe she's here!



Likes: being held, mommy and daddy, watching my big brothers, my swing, being worn in the wrap
Dislikes: my Paci, sleeping far from mommy at night, being hungry, gas bubbles

Height: 21in (birth 20in)
Weight: 9lbs 6oz (birth 7lbs 5oz)

Feeding

Right now I am exclusively breastfeeding Ellie.  At this point I haven't even given Ellie a bottle.  At some point I might want to try giving  her a bottle just to make sure she'll take one incase I need to be away from her.  But for now I'm enjoying not having to pump and not having to clean the pump parts!!  I did get a new breast pump which I've tried out when my milk came in just to alleviate the engorgement at night and it does work great!

Right now Ellie is nursing around the clock.  During the day she is nursing every 2-3 hours.  At night she is averaging 3 hour stretches, but it can range any where from 2-5 hours that she will go between feedings.

Sleeping

I feel like Ellie is over all a pretty good sleeper.  She will nap anywhere during the day: rock n play, bouncy seat, swing, play mat.  But at night she seems to be a little pickier about where she sleeps.  She wants to be near me and no where else.  She is sleeping mostly in 3 hours stretches with occasional 4-5 hour stretches thrown in and unfortunately also a few 2 hour stretches here and there.

We are still working on our schedule right now and she is going to bed later in the evening right now somewhere between 9-10.  I have noticed that now that she is getting a little older she is actually starting to get tired by the end of the day and definitely needs to go sleep.  This is where the fact that she wants to sleep near me comes to bite me in the bum.  Over Thanksgiving we had friends in town and I stayed up visiting with them and even sitting with me she was getting cranky as soon as we went into our room for bed Ellie was asleep within 5 minutes.  That showed me that she is starting to need more of a structured night time and we need to figure out a way for her to go to bed with out me being with her! (Something to work on next month!!)

Development and Firsts

Ellie had her first smile this month on Thanksgiving!  The sweetest little face lit up in the morning.

This month Ellie celebrated two of her first holidays: Halloween and Thanksgiving.

In the hospital with Ellie

Fun times with her brothers

Baby yawns are the best!

Ellie's First Halloween 10/31/17

One Week Old

Tummy Time with Brogan

Ready for her first trip to the zoo to celebrate her brothers' 2nd birthdays 11/03/17

Snuggles with Daddy

First Bath 11/18/17

Ellie's First Thanksgiving 11/23/17

Sometimes I wish I could freeze time, keep Ellie small and snuggly.  I'm just loving this time and I'm soaking up all the baby snuggles I can get!