baby steiff

Ellie just started grabbing and holding onto her toys.  Well, actually, her only goal is to get them into her mouth.  She seems to really love this little baby bird by the German company Steiff.  We call him Baby Steiff since he wears a cute little diaper.  Before Ellie was born I didn't know that Steiff is this well-know, pricy baby brand here.  We were given some Steiff things as gifts, and I just thought they were sweet - end of story.  Then, we went shopping and spotted the Steiff brand - ohmygoodness!  Suddenly I was thinking twice about letting Ellie drool all over them.  But all kidding aside, there does seem to be something special about them, because Ellie seems to love all of her fuzzy Steiff toys more than other ones.  As her daddy says, "they're worth their weight in gold."  So hug him close and drool away, my sweet!

three months

Dear Eleanor Jane,

You are growing too much!  Every day I wake to find you a bit bigger.  It's bittersweet.  You get cuter by the minute, but at the expense of your smallness. Last week, when telling your grandma about something you did weeks ago, she laughed at me when I started my sentence with, "when Ellie was a baby..."  Silly mama, I know.

This past month has been filled with a lot of learning.  Mainly, that you want us to put you down.  After weeks of walking around, swaying, rocking, shushing, dancing, singing, and all around begging you to go to sleep, we discovered that you really only wanted us to wrap you up and put you in your bed.  Oh, and pop a binkie in your mouth - at least three thousand times before you fall asleep.  But we do it willingly because suddenly, you take naps!  And you have a schedule!  And your daddy and I can eat dinner!  Hallelujah!  You may laugh about that, but seriously, it was bad.  Not just three weeks ago, after discussing the millions of different ideas out there, your exhausted daddy said, "right now, if someone told me to dancing around with chicken bones would work, I would do it."  Please note this is your daddy, whom I have to give a few beers before I even try begging to get on a dance floor.  Yep, he'll do anything for his girl...and some sleep.

But speaking of your daddy, this month marked a special birthday for you both. On March 4th, you turned the big three months, and your daddy turned the big three-oh.  He used to tell me that he couldn't imagine life after thirty.  But since you've come, what he can't imagine is life without you.  We often talk about how we can't remember what it was that we used to do with ourselves before you arrived.  My goodness, we had a lot of spare time!

Now all of our time is filled with watching you discover your world.  I think we can safely say you are a social baby.  You offer a smile to anyone who coos at you. Wide mouthed and toothless; it melts each and every heart.  You started laughing at 13 weeks - just in time for Grandma's visit.  We spent hours sitting on the floor with you, drinking pots of coffee while making all sorts of silly faces and noises to get you to laugh.  Each delightful squeal was well worth the effort.  And the talking!  Oh my, do you have a lot to say!  No one needs an alarm clock in this house - you makes sure everyone is up with your good-morning discussions!  Good job, my little one, I think you sealed the deal to get Grandma to fly back in June.

Well, my sweet, you're another month older.  Time sure does fly...

sunshine

Yesterday, the sun came out for the first time in a looong time.  The minute it peeked through, we bundled up Eleanor and shot out of the house.  The sunshine is so fleeting here.  One minute it's out, and the next minute it will disappear - for weeks.  So you better not mess around with getting out of the house.

We strolled around Gruneburg Park and soaked up some much-needed vitamin D.  Believe it or not, we have to give Ellie vitamin D supplements because she sees so little sun.  Poor girl.  It's hard for her California-girl mama to comprehend.  Oh well, at least she looks darling in her winter hats.

munchkin

It's been too long since I posted.  What can I tell you?  We're super busy with bath times and stories, finger puppets and naps.  Days pass without the slightest inkling of the time that's slipped by us.  And when I stop and look at photos of the girl, I realize just how much she's changed in the past 12 weeks. Twelve funny, beautiful, sleepless, life-changing, frustrating, unbelievably amazing weeks.

utterly smitten

...with my two loves this Valentine's Day.  Eleanor and her daddy surprised me with this sweet necklace from Lisa Leonard Designs on Valentine's Day morning.  They were so sneaky!  There was a delicious pot of coffee and a plate of sweet treats waiting for me alongside the beautifully wrapped gift.  Eleanor's daddy is doing such a great job of teaching her how to melt her mama's heart!

being someone's mama

Pregnancy is the ultimate act of letting go.  Nothing is yours anymore.  It takes you over - mind, spirit and body.  And you believe when your baby arrives, you will go back to who you were before.  It is only once the blur of the first few weeks has given way to a bit of clarity, and you have a moment to think, that you realize you aren't you anymore.  And you look back and realize that you crossed a one-way bridge, and you are standing on a different shore.  You are here now.  You will never be there again.  This new patch of earth is beautiful, but oh so different from where you came.  Your sweet baby will never know who you were before she was here.  To her, you will always be the woman on this shore.

It's bittersweet - this new journey of being someone's mama.

two months

Dear Eleanor Jane,

On Thursday, you turned two months old. Congratulations! Your daddy and I sat and exclaimed about how much you have grown and changed. There are times we can hardly remember how tiny you were just a few short weeks ago. Sometimes we can see you growing while you sleep. Really, I'm not kidding. There are days when an outfit you wore not just three days before doesn't fit, and you look at me like, "um, I would really like to be able to extend my legs. Kinda important for all that kicking I like to do." Seriously, you've gotta give me a break kid. I'm still wearing clothes I went to high school in - this overnight growth spurt stuff takes some getting used to.

You are also no longer terrified of yawning. Some day when you read this, you will look at me and give me one of those annoying teenage looks and say, "really? yawning? I was afraid of yawning?" Yes, you were. And it was hysterical. At first we felt really terrible for you, poor baby, but then it got funny. And we laughed. In fact, I'm kind of sad you figured out it's okay now. I know, I know...BAD Mama.

And have I mentioned how strong you are? You've been holding up your head since day one - an accomplishment noticed by everyone who holds you. I think it's because you're so curious. You are adamant about seeing everything around you with those bright eyes. You love it when we walk around the house so you can see things. I can't believe you aren't tired of looking at the same stuff all the time. I know I am. But it is cute. If only you would let me sit down once in a while, life would be perfect.

But oh, the smiles! They are the reason I stumble from bed with you each morning. Once we reach the changing table, I'm rewarded with the most fantastic smiles. I'm not sure why the changing table is such a magical spot, but I'm not complaining. I could spend hours changing your diapers - um, actually, I do spend hours changing your diapers. You make sure of that.

The past two months have been unbelievable. From sleepy, 2:00 am feedings to toothless grins. You arrived and turned our world completely upside-down. And for the life of me, I can't seem to remember what we did with ourselves before you came.