6 Weeks

Ellery is 6 weeks!

At our last doctors appointment she weighted 9 3/4 lbs. She is 21 3/4" long and was in the 75-90% for head size and length. She was in the 50% for weight.

Our baby girl is recognizing us and smiling! Most smiles are given in the morning, or when her diaper is being changed while she is peeing (little stinker). I have on occasion gone in to nurse her at night and she's given me a huge smile as I peak over the crib. Now that makes waking up at all hours of the night a bit easier.

She loves to lay on her tummy time matte and look at the hanging objects. She will laugh and coo the entire time she's there. However, when it comes to actual tummy time she kicks and wiggles and fights. Although just in the last week she has begun to pick her head up and move it from the right side to the left. I'm usually so proud of her and squealing that I will immediately pick her up and hug on her until she gets fussy and fall asleep on my shoulder. Sometimes when I'm focused on getting things done around the house I'll put her on the matte. It's just so tough because when I hear her laughing and cooing all I can think is, "I'm missing something! What's making her laugh? I don't want to miss this stage of her life because I'm trying to get the dishwasher loaded or another load of laundry done. She's more important." So I stop what I'm doing and rush over to be a part of her little life. That's why it seems like I don't get my accomplished during the day. But this time is so short. I can't bare to miss any of it!

Shoulders, that's one of her favorite places to be. She loves to fall asleep there and it's the only position that calms her when she gets fussy.

Now about her fussy times; she will be a bit fussy right before she takes her naps. However, if she wakes from a nap unexpectedly she will cry holy terror if someone isn't right there to scoop her up. If I'm in the other room she can get herself worked up to the point of almost no return. This is when I have to put her on my shoulder, rock back and forth and "Shhh" in her ear. Sometimes if it's close to her nursing time I'll offer her some food. Eventually she'll take me up on it, but not after a fight.

Her night time sleeping is MUCH better these days. Although we are averaging 1 4-hour feeding block per night she doesn't seem to be crying much. Last night was sort of funny to me. Here's how it went down:

7:00 - Feeding

10:00- I woke her up to nurse. She practically slept through the whole thing, but did eat a bit.

1:45 - She started cooing and while I was debating on waking up to feed her (as if I have a choice) she began to fuss a bit. I went in and she only ate for about 10 min. I worked to get her to eat more but she wasn't having it. So I put her down. Of course in the process she woke up, however I placed the binky in her mouth and walked out.

2:15 - I crawl into bed.

2:45 - I hear her cooing and giggling. I go in and replace the binky. A few min. later I still hear some noise; look at monitor and decide, if she's NOT fussy then I'm NOT going in.

3:15 - I wake to her talking again! I go in to re-swaddle, replace binky and leave. At this point she is supposed to nurse in 45 min. I think, "Great! What a wonderful night's sleep!"

7:00 - Cary is walking out of the bedroom and I ask, "Where's Ellery?" He had fed her and she was back to sleep.

8:00 - I wake to hear her fussing and then our day begins!

Ellery is just on the verge of being too big for some of her newborn clothes. Her feet are filling up the footies and the body suits are just a bit snug in the shoulders. We have plenty of clothes but to think our little girl is growing so fast!!

Every night Cary gives her a bath. I'll lay out her pj's and get the room ready for my nursing that evening. After she's all cleaned and dressed Cary will hand her off to me in the nursing chair. I will read her a few stories from the bible while she eats. This will put her right to sleep. We have a few CD's we rotate through that play all night long. This music will be on while I'm nursing and reading. Then we have some prayer time and it's off to the crib we go! I love this time with her. No one else can do this job and I find so much fulfillment in nursing; it's my life's purpose right now.

I'm not sure what else I should be documenting about this age. If you have any other suggestions please let me know!