Ellie at 7 weeks

Tim took this picture last week, and I'm hoping to use one of the photos from this set for our birth announcements. I have no idea when you're supposed to send out birth announcements (soon after the birth, I guess) but ours will probably go out around the time she hits 2 months. Why be conventional?

Ellie at 7 weeks is getting to be a lot of fun. She's more alert and engaged with the world every day, and it's amazing to me how she hits each milestone as if on cue. The books say she'll smile at us sometime around 5-6 weeks, and sure enough, those early fleeting sleep smiles (one book called them "butterfly smiles") have now been joined by full-on laughing smiles that she gives us when we make silly noises or talk to her. Her alert, contented times are still rather few and far between, but every day she does something new. This week she's noticing anything that is twirling or rocking in her field of vision. Yesterday we played with the toys dangling from her pack n play, and today she stared at the dining room chandelier for a good 15 minutes while I occasionally nudged it to keep it swinging. 15 minutes for me to eat my lunch!

And sleep, oh sleep! My baby girl is a good sleeper (KNOCK ON WOOD). She is pretty fussy in the evening but by 8 or 9:00 she gets very sleepy. We swaddle her, turn on her noise machine, put her in the swing and she usually drops right off. It is rather magical, and I count myself very lucky. She has a string of twinkle lights in her bedroom and she stares at those for a few minutes, then falls asleep. She's up once in the night for a feeding, usually around 3 am, then she's back out until Matt gets home around 7 or 7:30. I have now fully recovered from my sleep deficit and am one happy mama.

 I'm going to try to post weekly updates so I can remember these early weeks. I keep thinking of the phrase "the days are long but the years are short," which certainly describes the newborn months! It's hard to believe she's been with us for 7 weeks. It seems both very long and oh so short.

Photo Update!

I haven't been very good about updating this blog, but here are some photos from our iPhones from the last few weeks!

Bouncing in awesome bouncy seat. Matt laughs because I sing "bouncy-bouncy-bouncy" to her whenever she is in this thing. I also sing "swim-swim-swim" to her in the bath.

What's up?

Love my daddy

Grandma came to stay with us for a week. It was awesome. Here she's teaching Ellie to stick her tongue out.

Lunch al fresco with grandma

Stretch!!

Hoo hoo!

Abby kiss

Tanny-up hair

I realized I didn't have many photos of me and Ellie so I cheesed for the camera.

Still loving my baths

With Memom, Elsie and Mama Joan

Holding Papa's hand

Matt with his Memom and Papa

Grandpa and Ellie wearing the matching shirts we got them for Christmas

Happy Valentine's Day!

Drunken Sailor

More Random Photos from the First Few Weeks

Right after her bath her hair looks even blonder.

Cheese!!

Sweet girl

Swaddled up. My mom always said we had "tanny-up hair" when we were babies--standing straight up on end. Ellie has obviously inherited this trait.

Absolute best spot for a nap

First Bath!

Despite her expression in this photo, she loved her first bath and she has loved every single one since then. It's wonderful. No matter how upset she is, put her in the bath and she will immediately calm down. Matt got some video of her first bath below.

Second Week

Hanging out with Grandpa

Watching basketball with Dad

This might be a midnight attempt to rock her to sleep. I don't remember!

She loves stretching out her arms. They flail like crazy.

Bundled up for our first walk around the neighborhood. She rejected all pacifiers except the the UNC one. We might have a little Tar Heel on our hands.

Back from the walk. Pooped.

First Visit from Uncle Justin and Aunt Hannah

Justin and Hannah came down the first weekend to meet Ellie and Justin took these wonderful pictures. These are actually a bit hard for me to look at because Ellie is about at the nadir of her weight curve. We had some early breastfeeding challenges and she had lost almost a pound at this point. I don't think I've ever had so much anxiety about something before in my life--I felt like I was starving my baby. In retrospect, of course, I was overly concerned and she started gaining weight quickly enough. She's kind of cute and pixie-like in these photos, though I do prefer her now that she's working on her fat rolls!

With Aunt Hannah

She can already raise one eyebrow! Just like mom and dad.

Cute little cross eye

Daddy likes to arrange her hair in a mohawk.

Checking out Grandpa

Grandma and Grandpa

Hello!

First Week

The first few weeks home are a bit of a blur. Matt and I joke that the mommy amnesia has already set in and I'm forgetting just how rough those first weeks were. I think if we didn't get that amnesia, nobody would ever have more than one child.

Coming Home from the Hospital

We spent two days in the hospital, and then they sent us home. They seemed to think that we were capable of caring for a two-day old all by ourselves. The coral blankie was crocheted by Aunt Jennie and it is the perfect size for her car seat.

She's Here!

Eleanor Marie Tucker was born on January 7, 2013 at 7:59 pm. She weighed 7 lbs 2 ounces and came out screaming and pooping simultaneously. One day maybe I will write her birth story on this blog, but not yet. It was an amazing, exhausting, surreal day that I will never forget. And at the end of the day and all of that labor, I had a tiny baby (which was, frankly, a bit terrifying) but also a husband who I knew would hold both of us up through any challenge that came our way. One of the greatest joys of this baby, beyond the miracle of her very existence, has been watching Matt transition so naturally into the role of father. We've had such a good time. And now for some pix. The labor and delivery nurses captured some wonderful moments with my iPhone and I am so grateful.