I’m still enjoying my maternity leave, though I’m eager to open the shop again too. Now that Eleanor is getting used to being in a sling, I can get more done during the day but it’s not consistent at all. Some days she takes a nice long nap (or two), sometimes it’s just 20 minutes here and there.
Although Eleanor doesn’t nap much, she’s doing remarkably well at sleeping through the night! I start her bedtime routine around 8:00 and on a good night she’s asleep by 8:30. If she’s fussing a bit it might take an hour or more for her to finally fall asleep, but once she’s asleep she’s often out for the night. I always get one of two variations… she sleeps straight through from 8:30-5:30, or she sleeps from 8:30-3:00, nurses, and then sleeps again from 3:30-7:00. Either way, I get a decent night’s sleep so I’m happy.
Eleanor plays with her hair now to soothe herself when she’s tired. We first noticed her doing it a couple of weeks ago. It’s cute to watch her do something so deliberate! I feel like we’re getting a peek at her burgeoning personality. And she’s always been very alert, but now she’s becoming more curious too. She loves to be in her bouncy chair or on her play mat so that she can bat at her toys. She makes little cooing noises as she explores.
And she smiles! It melts me a little each time and of course I give her one right back. She’s even started laughing… well, it’s more like the precursor to actual laughing. Practice giggles. It’s not the squealing baby laugh you might think of, but more of an abrupt breathy sort of thing accompanied by a beaming smile.
Lately though, Eleanor has been crying for Brandon when he holds her. She calms down right away when she’s back in my arms. It’s way too early for her to be experiencing separation anxiety and we don’t know why it’s happening, but it’s heartbreaking. She smiles at Brandon, but it seems she just doesn’t want to be held by him.
When she was three weeks old, I mentioned that I was having a hard time with breastfeeding. I’m happy to say that things have finally improved! I was feeling discouraged when I was still in pain at six weeks because even though I now there’s no magic time frame, I kept hearing “give it six weeks”. I had taken a breastfeeding class, seen lactation consultants, read books, applied lanolin religiously, kept soothies in the fridge, varied positions, carefully latched the baby on… I was doing everything right and I was still in so much pain.
The left side had actually felt better since around the fourth week, but the right side was awful. There was some damage early on (probably by the third day), and it seemed like it would never heal. I dreaded each feeding because even if it was the side that didn’t hurt, that meant I was just that much closer to nursing her on the painful side again. Well I don’t know what changed, but all of a sudden one day nursing didn’t hurt anymore! Maybe Eleanor finally grew into her high palate, or maybe she changed the way she latches on? All I can say to someone having the same difficulty is that it does get better (even though I was afraid for a while that it never would).
Oh, and our little girl is quite the chunker. At her one month check-up, she weighed 12 pounds! That’s off the charts. Now she’s already outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes. She’s getting so big so fast.
So excited for you Nicole :). And the sleep at night…consider yourself super lucky.
Adorable. Tell Brandon to keep on holding her. Her discomfort in his arms will pass! Keep thinking that I might run into you on the streets of Chicago. We go in at least every other weekend to shop at Whole Foods (now the new one off North Ave.) and to pick up breads at Fox and Obel. Then we just walk around thinking of how we could afford to move from Indiana to Bucktown or…. .
Absolutely adorable. The first few months are so precious. So nice to see such a happy, beautiful baby. Congrats.
She is so adorable! love her little outfit too! That is wonderful she is sleeping through the night, I dont have kids yet, but i pray for a baby like little elenor!
oh and congrats on winning the 48 hour challenge! I voted many times:)
SO cute! congrats again on mommy hood. it’s the most challenging, but also the most rewarding job on the planet!
Awe she is beyond cuteness!!
It’s hard for the father at the newborn stage. Brandon might like to bottle feed her a few times to experience her “needing him” and to give you a break. In time all that will change and eventually she might even prefer him. They go through so many phases!
so cute!!
Well if she isn’t about the cutest baby I’ve ever seen, I don’t know who is! Adorable!
Beautiful girl! Maybe she has a problem with facial hair? I’ve heard that about some babies…I predict that she will become Daddy’s girl soon…Take care!
Hi, I have loved you blog for a long time and your daughter gets more beautiful by the day. My sister in law recently found out she is expecting, what were some of you favorite sites/blogs/resources for nursery and baby decor?
Thanks so much
Hi, I have loved you blog for a long time and your daughter gets more beautiful by the day. My sister in law recently found out she is expecting, what were some of you favorite sites/blogs/resources for nursery and baby decor?
Thanks so much
She’s darling! And I love the mix of patterns and colors, so she looks fantastically dressed as a bonus to being cute!
She is so beautiful!
I had similar experience with breastfeeding at first, but we powered through it and now Esme is 16 months and we’re still going strong.
she is cuuute…i bought my best friend’s daughter the same little dwell shirt :)
she kinda looks like brandon :)
Tell Brandon not to worry about this phase too much. My daughter went through the same thing when she was just a baby. There’s a really strong bond between you and the baby still and she is just reacting to that. His time will come, trust me. :)
Look at those arms! I just want to eat them up!!
She is absolutely beautiful! Good thing she’s letting you sleep at night, a friend of mine says she didn’t get sleep for the first 6 months so you hava great baby =)
It’s true about Brandon. Little Elenor may be crying now, but like so many other things it will pass. Though it is heartbreaking, I totally agree. Tell him not to worry, one day (VERY SOON, I promise) she will be crying for him instead of because of him.
Oh I can’t get enough of Eleanor!
Oh, how sweet she is!
She is adorable!!
She is so adorable! It sounds like things are going well for you :) It’s so fun to see how baby’s pick up on things and grow so fast!
OH MY GOSH… ADORABLE! I think she totally looks like you too.
I am so glad to hear you’re in the swing of mommyhood and things are going well. Tell Brandon not to be disheartened, Finn went back and forth between my husband and I being his favorite. His day will come and mommy won’t matter at all. For now, she’s all about the boobs so you’re the best. She is absolutely gorgeous!
she is lovely and soooooooo big. congratulations to you both xxx
I love the first picture…so casual! haha
I’m SO glad the breastfeeding got better, believe it or not I think about you often when feeding my own 10 week-old boy, breastfeeding has been a breeze for me with both boys and I enjoy it so much that it broke my heart to hear it was so hard for you.
Eleanor has such beautiful eyes. It’s amazing to see that she has developed such charater after only 8 weeks. You are very lucky to be able to get good sleep. Tell Brandon not to get discouraged, whatever it is I’m sure Eleanor will stop crying and love being in his arms, especially when she discovers how wonderful being “daddy’s girl” is.
Take care,
Lisa
Eleanor is so beautiful!
She is so very adorable! Children get very picky at different times about which child they want to be with. For weeks it will be mommie, mommie, mommie, mommie and then like a switch was hit they want nothing to do with mommie and only want to be with daddy. It’s weird and heartbreaking but just have faith that it’s totally normal.
Awww, I can almost smell the baby head through the screen. ;)
While we don’t have kids, I have several younger siblings and being a daughter myself I feel qualified in saying with confidence that she is instinctively playing hard-to-get so that her “But, Daddy, pleeease?” *cue puppy eyes and limp quiver* is all that more irresistible. ;)
She is simply adorable!
nicole, she has the most gorgeous eyes.
cute baby- but.. yawn.
my little one, 7 weeks, has the same sleeping pattern as your little one. i own more carriers now than i ever thought b/c she wants to be held all the time and has little cat naps while doing it. but no complaints when she sleeps like she does at night. glad to know there’s another one out there like her :)
She is so cute! Congradulations! And it’s interesting to get the point of view of a new mother.
Aww, she’s such a cutie, looks so much like you! I’m so glad to hear breastfeeding is going better now. You might encounter other bumps along the way but just let us know, you have tons of mommies out here that’d be happy to help!
what a little cutie pa tootie! you are VERY lucky with her sleeping through most nights. well done :)
My little son Flynn did the same thing when my husband use to pick him up, it would really upset hubby but I am please to say they soon grow out of it and then want their dads all the time so tell Brandon not to fret it seems to go away after a few weeks.
Awww. She’s a beauty. Glad the breast feeding is going better. Don’t worry about her preference for you. She will grow out of that very quickly – my daughter (now almost 8) and her dad are as thick as thieves. She doesn’t want me to read and sing to her at bedtime – she’d rather have her dad, and his voice is terrible in my opinion. Could it have something to do with being his little princess? I’m sure it does. Someday soon, your husband and your daughter will race out the door on a Saturday to do something wild they’ve devised and you’ll be left thinking, “am I really necessary in this equation?”
Purdy, purdy, purdy!!! I’m so jealous, mine are all grown up. Wish I could hold one of them when they were that size one more time. Or maybe more….cherish your baby time!! I loved having mine fall asleep on my chest. And I breast feed back when it wasn’t so widely accepted, so I understand. I had one breast become IMPACTED. Sounds bad? Almost unbearable, but I perserved and have amazing memories of my babies. Sometimes I would let the baby fall asleep in the bed and their daddy has fond memories of their feet planted firmly against his back….
It sounds like so many amazing things are happening. My husband would not have survived if our child hadn’t started smiling. It really did change everything. Happy to hear you’re all falling into a groove!
She is so sweet. They grow so fast and change very day. And congrats on breastfeeding finally improving! I’m very impressed that you worked so hard. I wasn’t able to, I did my best but I just didn’t have any milk. Even my lactation consultant told me to give it up. I was very relieved! It’s amazing how difficult it can be.
Those first smiles and laughs–they are just amazing. Magical.
Isn’t motherhood amazing! It sounds like she is doing as well as you are with being a mother. It also sounds like she may feel a little insecure when held. Tell him to hold her real close so she feels safe. I remember that with my children and also now with my grandchildren.
Good Luck.
Charla
I thought my baby was good sleeping 5-6hs straight (she is 6weeks old), but Eleonor is GREAT! What is the secret? :-)
She is so adorable, congratulations!
Those pictures are so adorable! What a sweet little face. And i totally love her outfit as well.
Does Brandon have facial hair right now? It seems early (usually it’s 2 year olds that freak out about beards) but she may be scared of that and want to see his face.
wow, good for you for sticking with it. nursing is tough enough even when it’s easy. (does that make sense? haha.) i guess i mean: i had a pretty easy time nursing, but it’s still not easy, y’know? but i’m glad it’s gotten better!
What a gorgeous little chunker! Babies can freak out about glasses too..