10 weeks old

Here are a couple pictures my friend Nichole took.

Two Month Check Up

I don't have any new pictures to add (sorry!), but I wanted to share about Elise's two month check up. She weighed in at a whopping 13 lbs - in the 95th percentile! She is 22 7/8 inches long, which puts her in the 75th percentile for length. So, all in all, she is a big, healthy girl.

She also received three vaccines, one orally, two shots. She completely threw up the oral vaccine and screamed through the whole experience. But, luckily she was one of the babies that comes home and crashes after vaccines versus is awake and very fussy. She slept all day after her appointment.

Speaking of sleeping, Elise has become a magnificent sleeper, for which I am eternally grateful. For about a week she has been sleeping from 10 p.m. until 7 a.m. In fact, I have to go wake her in the morning at 7.

Another milestone, last night after bathtime, I put Elise on a blanket to do some tummy time. Before I knew it, she was on her back! She rolled over to her back three times! I was so excited for this new accomplishment.

So, many wonderful things are happening! The one not so wonderful thing is that this week I returned to work. I am working half days through next week and then will be back full time. This transition hasn't been the easiest. While working part time would probably be a pretty good arrangement, the thought of being away from Elise from 8-5 is really, really painful. I would love to be able to be home with her. I know God has been faithful to allow Wes flexibility to stay home several days. I also am realizing that I want to have that option. I trust that God will provide this opportunity in the future. Until then, pray that I will be patient in waiting for the right opportunity to be able to be home more.

New Pix

Here are a few new pictures of Elise.
She played herself to sleep on her activity mat!
She has become very smiley. In the last week, she started giggling in her sleep. Her smiles started first in her sleep, so I'm hoping awake giggles are in the near future.
Elise doesn't necessarily like practicing tummy time, but her neck is getting strong - it needs to be to hold up those cheeks!

Daycare Update

When Elise was in her first month, I had no qualms about her going to daycare - frankly the idea of someone else taking care of her was a little appealing - this was hard work. However, over the last three weeks, Elise has gotten more an more interactive and fun. I love watching her play, smile, and coo. She also has become a bit more independent, so I don't have to hold her every minute of every day. With all these new developments, I just couldn't imagine Elise spending 40 hours in daycare, but I also knew that at this point in time, my staying at home really wasn't an option. Wes and I talked about it and decided that if his boss allowed, he could cut his hours down. Certainly an answered prayer, his boss agreed. Wes will be working 30 hours a week, with probably about 10 of those hours happening in the evening (by nature of his work). This means Elise will only have to be in daycare 2 full days a week and then be with a babysitter a couple of afternoons. in the other time, she'll have quality daddy-daughter time. Wes is really looking forward to this extra time with Elise. Being a parent certainly puts into perspective the other things that we consider important in our lives! Here are some pictures from the last week.