Christmas and More

We had a great Christmas! Elise got so many new toys. She's having a blast figuring them out. We have really been enjoying our Christmas break together, just the three of us.

Matt is going to school next semester, of course, but I'll be taking a class too, so we're getting ready for that. I'm excited, but I'm also a little nervous. I hope Elise does okay. My class is just two days a week, so hopefully it will all work out. We haven't tried giving her a bottle for a while, so maybe it's time to try again.

Ever since Christmas, Elise hasn't been sleeping as well as normal. Hopefully it's just a phase she'll grow out of soon. On Christmas Eve, the reindeer on the roof woke her up at 2:30am, and she just hasn't gotten back into her normal rhythm since. That has been what we've been working on lately.

Also, Elise is getting a little better at sitting up with help. Sometimes she does better than other times. Here are some pictures from today:

She's doing pretty well in the third one! (I think she was focusing on the toy more than on sitting up.) I can't believe she's 16 weeks old already! She'll be four months in a week and a half!

We've also started Elise on solid foods. She loves steak!

(Just kidding! She won't even get rice cereal until she's six months old.)

Changing Hands

Notice that all the toys in this picture are on Elise's right side. I handed each of them to her in her left hand. That's right, folks, Elise can now pass things from one hand to the other. She's doing so great!

Streeeeeeetching

I have been trying to stretch out the time between Elise's feedings and naps lately, and that has been going fairly well today. I want to get to the point where she eats every three or four hours, like a normal three-month-old (not every two or two and a half hours like she was doing before, which is completely exhausting). The fact that she has had an ear infection has actually been helping with this because she hasn't wanted to eat so often, so it has been a blessing in disguise. I also want to consolidate her naps into a few longer ones instead of so many short ones. I think these things will be better for us both in the long run.

A random tidbit: Elise's urine smells toxic right now. I'm pretty sure it's just from the Amoxicillin she is taking for her ear infection, but it's pretty bad. I'm glad it doesn't normally smell so bad.

Speaking of her ear infection, I think she's feeling better today. She was really good at church; she slept through most of sacrament meeting and all of Sunday school, and then she ate in the nursing room during Relief Society. I'm so glad. The last two Sundays were pretty horrible, especially last week when she refused to eat or sleep at all during church. Then we found out the next day that she had an ear infection. Go figure. Anyway, today was a great day. She's getting to be her normal self again. Oh, how I missed my happy little girl. Please, Elise, stay well for a while. And don't start teething or anything for a few months.

Note: This didn't work. At all.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Elise rolled for the first time yesterday! She rolls from her stomach to her back now. She has to have someone set her up by putting her arms underneath her (which she can do on her own but doesn't because she doesn't like it), but then she can totally roll! I'm so proud.

We got some pictures taken this morning. Elise did a lot better this time than last time. Here's a link: http://www.myonlineportraits.com/ViewSharedAlbum.aspx?ShareID=2e3acb34-6299-4ca5-80d3-419b9dde0b88

I Love My Lips.

In honor of the fact that Elise has recently discovered her lips, I decided to post this video of the Veggie Tales song "I Love My Lips." It is so cute to see her smack her lips or suck them in and stick them out. She gets drool everywhere, but she's so adorable.

Whew!

Elise has been a handful lately. She's usually so content and calm, but the last two Sundays at church she has been so grumpy! Today she refused to eat or sleep the entire time we were at church even though she was hungry and extremely tired. Maybe she's starting to need to eat and sleep less often? With a combination of her new-found awareness of what's going on around her and her incredible interest in those things, she can find any way possible to stay awake.

So, it has been a pretty long day. We have had a nice evening spending time together, though. She has been herself again, except a little grumpier (probably tired from not sleeping all day).

Needless to say, we're going to bed early tonight!

Note: Elise had an ear infection. We brought her to the doctor the day after I wrote this post, and that's when we found out. No wonder she was a grump!

I Love My Little Family.

I just want to say, I love these two! I'm so glad we have the chance to be together for time and eternity.

Cranky Asay

This picture was not taken today. (Actually, it was taken on November 30.)

This is just what I wish this evening had looked like.

Elise was so tired today, and she slept well during her naps all day. It was so wonderful because I got to sleep too. Tonight, unfortunately, has been a different story.

Yesterday at church Elise was super cranky, and tonight has been round two of that. I'm not sure what's wrong. Her temperature is exactly 98.6° F, she has been eating frequently, and she doesn't seem to need anything. She just doesn't seem to want to sleep. At all. Tylenol didn't seem to help. I would think that she was just not tired because she slept so much during the day today, but she is so obviously tired and grumpy that I can't believe she doesn't want to sleep. Hopefully this is just a phase. A short phase. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

On the bright side, Matt put up the tree tonight. Yeah for Christmas!

A Full, Sunny Sunday

The weather was nice and mild today. It hasn't been so cold lately. And Elise looked so adorable in the tights Holly gave her; she got lots of compliments. Those were nice things about today. It was a busy, full, but fun day.

Elise was a handful at church, especially during sacrament meeting. She wanted to look at everything, but she was so, so tired. If I tried to rock her, though, she would cry. I sat outside with her for almost all of sacrament meeting after the sacrament had been passed. She probably just didn't get that well rested last night because we went to the Christmas party, and her naps were all messed up today too. Hopefully she catches up tonight.

After church we had tithing settlement. Then we brought dinner over to Joy and Alma Madsen's house. We all ate, then watched the First Presidency Christmas devotional, which is always nice. Then we had dessert. Joy had gotten vanilla ice cream and caramel topping for me because she knew I liked it. Their house was all decorated for Christmas. And Elise ate well there (as well as at the Christmas party last night and during church today). I think she's getting better at eating away from home. Yeah! It was a fun night. But I can't wait until tomorrow so Elise and I can just veg all day, doing tummy time and reading and letting her nap in her own crib. It will be a nice break after a busy weekend.

Ward Christmas Party

We went to the ward Christmas party and talent show tonight. Elise looked so cute. I swear, she gets cuter every day. Matt did the sound, of course, in addition to singing a parody of a Veggies Tales song with a group of guys ("Wymount Community" instead of "Gated Community"). Elise and I missed it; she was eating. We had a lot of fun, though! Matt's going to get out the Christmas tree before church in the morning. I'm looking forward to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional tomorrow! Christmastime is so much fun.

The First Presidency Christmas Devotional will always remind me of the night Matt and I got engaged. It was about two years ago, on December 7, 2008, that he proposed.

Tomorrow we're having dinner with our friends, Joy and Alma Madsen. Tomorrow is going to be a really busy day, with church, tithing settlement, making dinner (we volunteered to bring dinner because they made it last time), going to the Madsens', and the devotional. I better get to bed!

The Amazing Pooping Baby

I'm not exactly sure how Elise managed to get poop so many places this morning when she woke up. Again, she didn't cry. She had poop all over her Onsie, on both the shirt and pants of her pajamas, on her blanket, the sheet, and the mattress cover. She has been blowing out of pretty much every diaper lately.

I've decided to rename her The Amazing Pooping Baby. We'll charge admission for the public to see her: $5 or a bottle of Shout per person.

Why Don't You Cry About It?

Elise doesn't cry. Well, sometimes she does, but not always when you'd expect it. When she got her shots at her 2 month well check, she screamed and cried like crazy, so I know she can cry. I guess she's just a happy kid.

This morning I woke up at 7:00am because I heard Elise making a little bit of noise over the monitor. It definitely wasn't crying, but I could tell she was probably awake. Matt later informed me that he had heard her making some noise for a little while. (I informed him that next time he should let me know if Elise is awake and he knows about it.) Sure enough, when I went in there, her eyes were wide open. She was just laying there with her blanket half kicked off, in the dark, by herself. She hadn't eaten in about seven hours, and her diaper was super wet and poopy to boot. But she wasn't one bit upset about any of that. She was in a great mood while I changed her diaper and dressed her. She didn't even cry about having to wait to eat while I did those things. I love my happy baby. All she really wants is a good night's sleep.

Good News and Bad News

We brought Elise to the doctor this morning. The good news was that she didn't have a temperature, didn't look dehydrated, and doesn't have thrush anymore. Hurray! The bad news was that she probably picked up some kind of stomach virus somewhere. Boo. The nurse I talked to yesterday said that a stomach bug is going around. She is taking probiotics (Culturelle, which sounds nicer than it is). No more oral nystatin for her mouth, nystatin for her bottom, or Newman's ointment for me, though.

More good news: Dr. Johnson (not our regular doctor, but still a really nice guy) says that Elise's torticollis and plagiocephaly look better. He said she has good movement of her neck, and we don't need to worry about putting her on her left anymore. We can just treat her like any other baby and let her do what she wants. Knowing her head looked good to him made me feel much better, especially because I thought I had been noticing a new flat spot on her left! All this has made me paranoid, I swear.

So, much more good news than bad news, and that's always good. Elise went to bed after her bath tonight a little before 8:00. She didn't get up until I got her up a little while ago to change her and feed her. I was afraid she wouldn't go back to sleep because she had slept so long, and she's still not quite into a deep slumber in her crib (I can hear her make little noises over the monitor), so let's hope she sleeps tonight and doesn't wake up at like 4:00am, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. While she slept, though, I got the laundry completely finished (except putting Elise's clothes away because she was asleep in her room), Matt and I had Family Home Evening, and I mended some pants. A pretty productive evening, if I do say so myself. Now I should really get some sleep, especially considering the amount Elise has already gotten while I've been up.

Tomorrow we're off to Kiddie Kandids to get Elise's picture taken in her Christmas pajamas. And we'll see Matt's parents. It should be a busy but fun day!

Rest & Relaxation

This morning was a little stressful. Matt had to play organ, so he had to be there in time to play the prelude music. A few minutes before church, Elise threw up all over me. I'm pretty sure it wasn't spit up because it was so much and because she had burped a minute before. At least choir practice had been canceled because so many people are out of town still for the Thanksgiving break, so Matt was home to help me when Elise threw up.

Then I forgot Elise's pacifier, so Matt had to run home after sacrament to get it for us. Also, it was snowing everywhere, but I brought Elise to church in a short sleeved shirt (and a jacket and blanket) because she had thrown up all over her sweater, poor baby. I think her stomach is feeling bad. I'm pretty sure she has diarrhea too (she pooped all over me right after church while Matt was still at church practicing the organ). We're going to try to bring her to the doctor again in the morning. I wish that child could stay well!

I also forgot an extra blanket for her. I guess I'm just forgetful today. Then we went through the ordeal of trying to feed her away from home while she was feeling bad and was tired. That was interesting. She let out the biggest burp I think I've ever heard from her, and then she fell asleep right at the end of Sunday school. Hallelujah! That was such a blessing because today I had to teach in Relief Society. My lesson went okay I guess, but I kept getting distracted by babies crying in the hall. I was sure they were all Elise. They weren't. She slept through all of Elder's Quorum in Matt's arms. Can I just say hallelujah again?

Then I was exhausted. I ended up taking a long nap in the evening. I woke up and fed Elise when she needed to eat, and then we both went to sleep. Now it's after midnight, and she still isn't awake. She hasn't eaten in about 5 hours now. I am about to go wake her up to eat before I head to bed.

So, why is this post titled "Rest & Relaxation"? That's a good question. Thanks to Matt, I was able to get a lot of R&R tonight. I feel refreshed and ready for a new week. So thank you, Matt. You make my life not only possible but a lot of fun too.

Catch Up

I haven't posted in a couple of days, so I guess I should catch up on what's been happening.

Thanksgiving was really nice. We had a turkey breast, which I cooked in the crock pot with a packet of onion soup mix, and it turned out really well. We also had mashed potatoes, courtesy of Matt, and cooked carrots and yummy yellow squash. Matt had pumpkin pie for dessert, and I had vanilla ice cream. Mmm. It was really simple, but I was happy with the way our Thanksgiving dinner turned out. Next year I plan to venture out a little more and make stuffing, rolls, cranberry sauce, and maybe a few other things.

Elise's eye is all better. She woke up on Thanksgiving, and she didn't seem to have any trouble opening it, which was good since she hadn't really opened it all evening after she scratched it. It was still red and a little swollen for a while, but it's not at all anymore. We are still putting the eye drops in it to prevent infection, though, like the doctor said to do.

Matt worked all day yesterday and today. Yesterday evening Matt and I watched the movie "Nell" through Netflix. Tonight Matt is playing Christmas music and decorating with lights. It's starting to feel like the Christmas season!

Today was the BYU vs Utah football game. Elise and I watched some of it even though Matt was away at work. BYU was ahead 13 to nothing at the beginning of the 4th quarter, but we ended up losing 17 to 16. Bummer. Good thing I don't care much about football or I might be upset that we lost.

I teach in Relief Society tomorrow. Hopefully Elise will cooperate. She has been off her normal schedule for eating and sleeping today and yesterday, and she has been kind of grumpy because of it. I think maybe she is transitioning to fewer but longer naps and maybe not needing to eat quite so often. Hopefully we'll both figure it out soon.

Matt's parents are driving up from California with Mike and Natalie tomorrow. Mike and Natalie went there for the Thanksgiving break, and now their parents are coming up with them for Natalie's orchestra concert on Tuesday night.

I think that's all the news. Consider yourself caught up!

Elise's Eye Episode

Elise scratched herself in the eye at the beginning of her nap today around 4:30, probably while she was trying to suck her thumb. We called the doctor when she got up because she wouldn't open it. By 7:40, we were at the after-hours office for her appointment. The doctor put these drops in her eye that glow so the scratch would show up under the black light. There was quite a gouge out of her cornea right in the front of her left eye. And I cut her fingernails last night! Poor kid. We had to take her out into the cold to bring her to the doctor, her eye was hurting so much she couldn't open it, and she was due to eat right about the time of her appointment so she was hungry too. Then the doctor put the drops in her eye, I fed her in an empty exam room (she really doesn't like eating away from home), and she fell asleep in her car seat while we were waiting for her prescription to be filled. We took her home, and she cried the whole time I changed her diaper and clothes. She threw up all over Matt right after we had given her Tylenol because the Nystatin medicine she takes for the thrush upsets her stomach. I had to change her again while Matt changed. Then we had to give her the eye drops. All in all, a rough night for Elise. I want to swaddle her because she keeps wanting to rub her eye (and she is not very coordinated yet, so I'm afraid she'll scratch it again), but I can't swaddle her or she won't be able to soothe herself tonight, and she won't be able to sleep. Right now I'm holding her as she sleeps and I try to figure out what to do. What a night!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I'm just thankful Matt will be home to help take care of Elise.

Oh, and the blizzard? It never got this far. There isn't much snow, and it's just really cold out.

Today I'm Grateful For . . .

. . . my sweet husband and our beautiful little girl. I love my little family.

Weather Warning

This was posted on BYU's website. Again, can I just say how glad I am that we're not traveling?

Campus closed in advance of major winter storm

This is a Y-Alert. A major blizzard warning has been issued by the National Weather Service. Because of the severity of this expected storm, BYU will close campus at 3 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010. All classes should be canceled after this time.
Campus will be closed on Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2010, except for essential services as determined by unit supervisors. If you have questions about specific locations or events, we encourage you to contact the respective organization.
At this time, the men’s and women’s basketball games are still scheduled.

I'm so happy Elise is safe and warm in her bed tonight. Still, I haven't seen much snow yet. Maybe it's still coming.

Dreaming of a White . . . Thanksgiving?

Matt and I were watching the news some today, and the weatherman said we are about to have the worst Thanksgiving snowstorm Provo has seen in seven years. I feel like everyone at BYU has plans to travel except for our family. I'm so glad we decided to stay here for the holidays this year. Matt will be able to work, Elise will be able to keep her schedule, and we won't have to worry about traveling in a blizzard. Did I mention the high on Thanksgiving day will be 21°? Gross. And the high on Wednesday will be 18°. Matt is all finished with classes for the week, and if the weather gets really bad, we can all stay indoors. And we can turn up the heat as much as we want because we don't pay for the gas. I love Wymount.

Tummy Time and Turkey Time

Elise has been doing so much better with tummy time lately! She's now doing about as well as when she was six weeks old, which was before she started being such a stinker about tummy time. She can go for longer without crying and holds her head up more. This morning she did a good 13-minute stretch, followed by a 10-minute stretch later in the day. I am so glad!

I think her mouth is feeling a little better today. She was pretty good at church except for the fact that she was not happy that we weren't at home for her to eat. I got to participate during almost all of all three hours!

I can't believe Elise is almost 2 1/2 months old already. At church I saw her next to a baby who is almost one month old, and Elise look huge compared to the other baby. She is really growing fast. I can't wait for her to learn new things, like how to push up with her arms while on her tummy and how to roll over. Maybe this renewed interest in tummy time means she will start developing these skills soon. I also am a little sad she'll never be that tiny again, but I think I'm mostly excited for her to grow. It's so fun to watch her as she is able to do more and more, like the other day when she was laughing so much, more than she ever had before. It was so cute!

Since this post is already random and disjointed, I guess I might as well continue it that way.

Mike and Natalie came over for a little while tonight and visited. It has been a while since we have seen them. They are headed up to Yucaipa for Thanksgiving break on Tuesday morning. Matt, Elise, and I are staying here, but we will see Matt's parents on the 29th when they come up for Natalie's orchestra concert. I have never made a Thanksgiving dinner before, and ours will surely be modest, but hopefully it will be pretty good. Matt has just two classes tomorrow and then he is off of school for the rest of the week! Wahoo! He will be working as much as he can, but it will be nice for him to have a break from classes. And the extra money we'll be making will also be a blessing.

It snowed some today, and it's only supposed to snow more in the next couple of days. It was Elise's first time really seeing snow falling. What would Thanksgiving in Provo be without snow, though?

This turkey is from Elise's book Barnyard Dance! by Sandra Boynton. It always makes me think of Thanksgiving, especially lately. I think it's cute.

Gifts of the Heart Exchange

I went to the Gifts of the Heart Exchange today, and I got all this stuff for Elise for free! Some of it isn't super nice, but a few things really are. I also got a t-shirt for Matt. The Gifts of the Heart Exchange is put on by the MBA Spouse Association at BYU, and BYU students and their spouses can go and get free stuff (mostly clothes, but baby gear and toys too). It is so nice. There was mostly just kids' stuff, but they had a few things for adults too, especially maternity clothes. What a blessing! We'll definitely be going to the next one, which will be in January.

Afterward, I went to a group baby shower for women in our ward who had recently had a baby or will soon have a baby. The shower was for me and a handful of other women. I won a wipe warmer in a raffle, and I also got a cute Onsie for Elise from the Langfords and a little bag of assorted gifts from the Relief Society sisters. Overall, a really good day for us for getting free stuff!

Matt stayed with Elise all that time. I had pumped her a bottle, but apparently she wasn't that interested in taking it. She really hasn't been feeling well because of the thrush. She would only eat a little over an ounce for him, but she ate just fine when I nursed her when I got home (which made me a little sad that she isn't taking the bottle as easily as she did the first time, but also secretly a little happy that she doesn't like the bottle as much). I really hope she gets well soon.

Mouth Misfortunes

I noticed a white sore in Elise's mouth today, and realized she has thrush again. Probably she never completely got rid of it before; it's supposed to be super difficult to get rid of. No wonder the poor baby has been cranky lately. After trying to convince myself it might be something else for a few minutes, I accepted the fact that it really was thrush, and we started giving her medicine again. Matt gave her a blessing. I really, really hope she gets better soon. Last time she had it was a nightmare.

And she has been teething, but I knew that already. That's what I thought was causing her to be a little warm and sometimes grumpy. What I didn't know was how close her teeth must be to coming in. Now, I've never done this before, so I'm not super certain, and Elise is still very young to be cutting teeth, but I think the two middle bottom ones are very nearly in. I was wiping her mouth with a wet cloth like the doctor said to do last time she had thrush, and I realized that the gums in the middle on the bottom are a little rough compared to the rest of her mouth. I took a good look, and it seems that her left tooth will probably be poking through any time now.

Poor kid. She has to be so uncomfortable.

On the bright side, I'm going to the Gifts of the Heart Exchange in the morning, and hopefully I will be able to get some nice things for Elise—for free! More details tomorrow.

Note: Elise never cut those teeth. I think they must have gone back down. I'm really glad.

Clothes Disasters

I feel like I spent my entire day changing Elise's clothes. She probably feels the same way. It all started when Elise had a blowout just minutes after Matt got her dressed this morning, so I had to change her outfit and Onsie. Later she spit up all over another outfit and Onsie (The same outfit she always ruins before the end of the day. She definitely doesn't like it.). Then she peed on another Onsie (but didn't get the outfit, thankfully). She had another blowout on another Onsie (but mostly missed the outfit again), after which we dressed her in her pajamas. She promptly spit up on those. Then she spit up so much on another pair of pajamas that we had to change both her Onsie and pajamas. If you're keeping count, you know she finally went to bed in her third set of pajamas and sixth Onsie for the day, not to mention the fact that she wore three different outfits today. I can hardly keep up with this kid!

(And in case you're wondering if I change her clothes because of every little thing, I don't. I only change her for the big incidents. Today just happened to be full of them!)

We should just keep her naked, don't you think? Then I wouldn't have to do so much laundry. And her rolls are so cute. Of course, just in the photo session when we had these pictures taken, she peed twice and pooped twice, so maybe it wouldn't solve the laundry problem . . .

P.S. I'm in love with this picture.

Nutcracker Baby

I was just noticing Elise's chin as she was falling asleep. She looks like a little nutcracker; her cheeks are so big that there is a crease on each side between her cheeks and chin, and her double chin completes the look. With creases all around, it looks like her jaw could be hinged, just like a little nutcracker. Ya gotta love the chub.

Good thing she's a whole lot cuter than this.

Busy Days

Yesterday and the day before were busy days for us. Lately, Matt has been working quite a bit, and he has been doing schoolwork besides, so we have had a lot of busy days. Other than the seven loads of laundry that I did (until 3am) and Matt's big trip to the grocery store, we have also found some precious time to relax together. Last night we watched Rogers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific" with Harry Connick, Jr. and Glenn Close (Elise slept the whole time except when she got up to eat). I had seen the play when my brother was in it in high school, but I was too young at the time to really follow it. I really enjoyed the movie. Elise fills up my days and occupies my time and energy. It is nice to be so busy, though. We are enjoying ourselves. I can't believe that this time next year our time at BYU will be almost over. Now, I need to get busy working on my online class today . . .

Being a Mom

Some things about being a mom really aren't that fun. Like this morning, Elise pooped all over her clothes while I was changing her diaper (which is probably my fault for not being more careful). Then later, she pooped all over me while I was changing another diaper (again, my fault). There's also all the worrying that goes along with it. And sometimes babies can be exhausting. And my belly, which is covered in stretch marks, is now the consistency of bread dough.

Truthfully, though, that's about all I can think of that isn't that fun. Most of the time Elise and I have such a blast. It is so amazing to watch her grow and learn and do new things. I love to cuddle with her. I love her sweet smile, especially the gummy, open-mouthed grin she does sometimes with her eyes closed as she is falling asleep. I love her chubby rolls and her unbelievably soft skin. I love how she makes me want to be the best person I can be so that she will have a good example to follow. I love how happy she is all the time and how easy it is to make her smile. I love how simple her wants and needs are. I love imagining what a beautiful, happy woman she will one day grow up to be. I love imagining all the stages of life she will pass through as she becomes that woman. I love to dress her up in cute outfits. I love making sure she is comfortable and knowing that I am giving her everything she needs. I love that little girl more than I can say. Wow, I'm can't believe I'm crying right now. I have always wanted to be a mother, and I thought it would be pretty fun, but I had no idea how wonderful it really would be. So thank you, Elise, for letting me be a part of your life. And please never forget how much I love you.

The Leaf

Elise and I went on a walk today, and I handed her a leaf to hold. By the time we were coming back in, she still had a death grip on it, so I let her take it inside to play with for a while. It was bigger than her head, but she was determined to get it into her mouth. Much to her chagrin, she was unsuccessful. Who knew a leaf could be such a blast?

Things Work Out

"Search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and all things shall work together for your good, if you walk uprightly and remember the covenant wherewith ye have covenanted one with another." (D&C 90:24)

I believe in this scripture. Sometimes things look like they won't work out. Sometimes life seems desperate and scary, or even hopeless. But things will work out if we just do what we can and rely on the Lord. That is what I'm coming to know.

On a lighter note, Elise was awesome at church today. She's getting better about eating when she is not at home, even though she still doesn't seem to like it as much. I got to sit through almost all of the lessons today because Elise ate mostly during the announcement part of Relief Society. And Matt came with me to my teacher training class during the Sunday school hour, which was really nice. I even got to relax for most of sacrament meeting because Allyson, who sat beside us, wanted to hold Elise the whole time. She kept saying how cute Elise was.

On an even lighter note, this is a conversation Matt and I had tonight:

Blair: "What do you want for Christmas, Matt?"

Matt: "This DMX controller thing. It's like $200."

Blair: "Are you interested in anything cheaper?"

Matt: "You."

Blair: "Oh, thanks."

I love my husband. He couldn't figure out what he had said wrong.

I Should Really Get Some Inhibitions.

So, I went to my friend Joy's baby shower today. For some reason, I feel absolutely no awkwardness about anything surrounding having babies. To make a long story short, I found myself telling a group of strangers all about Montgomery glands, which are found on the areola, and how they put off the smell of your uterus. I didn't even realize how awkward that was until Joy laughingly brought it up later. Where are inhibitions when you need 'em?

Anyway, the baby shower was a lot of fun. Hopefully the other girls didn't think I was a freak (but maybe that's a vain hope after what I said). Elise came with me, and she was really good. Another girl there had twins, a boy and a girl, who are also about 2 months old (but they were at home with their dad). She commented on how great Elise can hold up her head. What can I say? I'm really proud of her. She does have some mad skills.

I also took Elise to the ward Thanksgiving dinner activity. Matt is working late again tonight, so he couldn't go. I brought Elise, and we pretty much stayed just long enough for me to eat a free dinner. Yeah, I'm pretty cheap. Truthfully though, Elise needed to eat and get a good nap, so that's why we left so early.

All in all, a pretty good day. Hopefully Joy and I can still be friends.

Some Things I Forgot

Some other unique things about Elise that I forgot to include in yesterday's post:

• She fakes burps. I think she knows when we're trying to get her to burp, and she makes little noises like she is trying to burp. Sometimes she even does this when I'm not trying to burp her when I hold her upright by my shoulder.
• She is so happy all the time, especially in the morning. This morning she woke up with a great big smile for me at 4:45am. Then she stayed up for a while.
• After she sneezes, she almost always makes noises like she is going to sneeze again, but then she doesn't. It's really funny to see.

That's all. I just really wanted to include these. I promise to stop making long bulleted lists for a while.

Harry Potter Fan?

Remember how Elise scratched herself last night? Well, I couldn't get a good picture, but the shape of the scratch totally looks like Harry Potter's scar. Maybe this is her way of telling us that she wants to see the new Harry Potter movie? I know I want to.

Our Little Individual

I'm pretty sure Elise doesn't like the outfit I put on her this morning. You're probably thinking, "As long as it's comfortable, I'm sure she doesn't care what she's wearing." That's logical. But I have reason to believe she's pickier than that.

I have put this outfit on Elise three different times, and she has never made it to the end of the day wearing it. The first time I put it on her, she had the biggest spit up/throw up ever in her crib. Not only did she soak the outfit almost down to her waist, she also soaked the onsie she was wearing, the blanket that was covering her, the burp rag under her face, the crib sheet, and the mattress cover. It was a mess.

The second time she wore this particular outfit was the day she had her first blowout (she's had several since). It took me a really long time to scrub out the stain. Since the outfit is off white, I might have tried using bleach, but there is a brown bear appliquéd on the chest.

Today was the third time I put the outfit on her. You guessed it—another mess. This time was another blowout, thankfully not as bad as the first.

This got me thinking about Elise's likes and dislikes. I feel like it's safe to assume that babies have preferences and quirks. After all, they are human like the rest of us.

Here are a few unique things about Elise and/or her likes and dislikes that I thought of:

• She is very vocal and always has been. Whether she's eating, sleeping, crying, or playing, she's making noise with her mouth.
• She thinks whistling is fascinating. I think this is because she can't figure out where the sound is coming from.
• She loves going on walks outside.
• She always scrunches up her neck as I lay her down in her crib. I'm not really sure why.
• When she eats, she likes to cross her feet. She also has to have a handful of something, especially when she's really hungry. She will grab my shirt, my hair, my finger, it doesn't matter to her.
• She smiled at 5 weeks! She loves to smile and to be smiled at.
• She can listen to books for a really long time without getting bored.
• She likes to watch TV (unfortunately). Again, she is her father's daughter.
• She only likes to turn her head to the right (which is also very unfortunate).
• She doesn't mind the bath, but she hates having her hair washed.
• She loves to be praised. Loves it. I kept telling her how great a job she was doing when she was batting at a toy, and she was so happy and kept doing it for a really long time. You may notice that she looks around after she bats at the toy in the video I posted. I think she was waiting to be praised and couldn't figure out why we weren't excited that she was doing it. When I do her neck stretches with her for her torticollis, my reward for her when she's done is to praise her, and she is usually happy with that.
• She started sucking her thumb really early. A side note that makes me laugh: I was telling Paige on the phone that Elise was sucking her thumb (this was several weeks ago). "Oh, she's getting her thumbs? How cute!" said Paige. Hailey overheard her and asked, "She doesn't have thumbs?"
• She's a great sleeper. And she has this adorable smile she sometimes does as she's falling asleep. It's unbelievably cute.
• Her face is very expressive.
• I'm pretty sure she's teething already. I think I can see her two middle teeth on the bottom about to come in. Matt says he can't see anything.
• She is completely fine in the car as long as it's moving.
• She likes to poop as soon as you lay her down on the changing pad.

Those are just a few things. I'll stop now because this is probably starting to get boring to anyone reading it. Anyway, I guess I'll just have to expect the worst if I ever put that outfit on her again. Too bad; she looks so cute in it.

P.S. Here's a video I took today of her shaking a rattle. She's getting so big!

Went to Bed and Didn't Get Up in the Morning

Last night Elise ate at about 8:15pm. By 10 or so she was tired, and we put her down to sleep. At 11:30, when I was finally getting to bed, she was still sleeping. I thought she had just started her 6-hour stretch for the night early, so I expected her to wake up at about 4am. Then, when I woke up at 5:45am (about the time Elise typically wakes up to be fed and changed), she was still sleeping! Remember, the last time she had eaten was about 8:15pm, so we're talking about a 9 1/2 hour stretch! She's never gone that long without eating before. I changed my shirt (I probably don't need to tell you why) and woke her up to eat. She didn't even act franticly hungry the way she sometimes does for her first feeding of the day. Here it is now, after 9:30am, and Elise hasn't woken up yet this morning. She's been sleeping since around 6am. That girl really is her father's daughter (when he was a baby, he would regularly sleep 12-hour stretches at night). I guess she was doomed to be a sleepy head with parents like us.

Itchy, Itchy Ichabod

So, a nurse from Medicaid came to do the home visit they always do after the baby is born. When she came, she said that I should read to Elise every day for 20 mins at a stretch to help develop her attention span. We only have a certain number of books, and twenty minutes = a lot of children's books, so I end up reading the same ones over and over (and over) again. I have a lot of them pretty much memorized. For some reason, certain parts come to my mind often. Like the page in One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish that goes like this: "Oh, dear! Oh, dear! I can not hear. Will you please come over near? Will you please look in my ear? There must be something there, I fear." Especially the "Will you please come over near" part. I think of that every time I ask Matt to come here.

Dr. Seuss must just be really catchy because I also get his ABC book stuck in my head. I don't know why, but I really like the letter I part of that book. Here it is:

I love that Ichabod (even though I have no idea what kind of animal he is supposed to be).

Elise really likes Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? and The Rainbow Fish. Of course, Mr. Brown Can Moo! Can You? and Green Eggs and Ham are also favorites.

Matt, the Husband of the Year

I was clipping Elise's nails as she slept in my lap (and lamenting the fact that clipping them now couldn't heal the scratch she had already made beside her eye), and as I clipped, I thought of my terrific husband. He's still at work right now, even though it's after 8:00pm. He works so hard for our little family. Today he really did so much to make sure I was able to do the things I wanted to get done.

His day started with a 7:00am mandatory meeting at work. I had an interview today for a Hall Advisor position (I didn't get a second interview, by the way), and he came home from work just to watch Elise while I went. Then I sent him to Walgreen's to pick up my birth control and prenatal vitamin prescriptions, of all things. I also had him get a couple of food items because I was making dinner for a bedridden sister in our ward. He then went back to work for a couple of hours before coming home again to watch Elise to make sure I had plenty of time to make the meal for the sister and get it to her at a reasonable time. Then he did the dishes. I sent him back to the store when I realized I didn't have an ingredient I needed. Then he tolerated my flustered mood when I was running later than I wanted to delivering the meal I'd made. Now he's back at work, and it's taking longer than they planned to finish setting up for an event in the morning. Matt, how do you handle all the craziness? You're just amazing, I guess.

P.S. Matt didn't get home until way after 9:00pm. Then he put Elise to bed. He's such a great dad, too.

Dos meses sounds much better than two months.

Well, doesn't it? Not that I prefer to speak Spanish. I couldn't even if I tried (even though I took three semesters of college-level Spanish classes). I just think this particular phrase sounds much nicer en español, ¿no?

Anyway, Elise is now officially two months old! Yeah! She turned two months on Monday. Talk about a whirlwind. She had her two month well check yesterday with her pediatrician, Dr. Clayton (who I think is terrific, severely pointy nose and all). For those interested in the stats, she was 23 1/2 inches long (When is it that people stop being long and start being tall?), weighed 12 lbs 2 oz (!), and her head was 37.2 cm. That makes her 90th percentile for height, 80th for weight, and 30th for head size.

Like any new, concerned, paranoid, overprotective, loving mom, I was a little concerned about Elise's head being small. Since Ryland was diagnosed with craniosynostosis (unfortunately, we're still awaiting the results of his CT scan) I have been more than a little obsessed with her head. (If you don't believe it, ask Holly.) I'll try not to worry. Or call Holly so much.

At two months, she is doing so much! She's such a happy, social kid. She started smiling at 5 weeks and pretty much hasn't stopped since. She is just learning how to roll from her back to her side, how to bat at a toy, how to put a toy in her mouth (almost), and how to shake a rattle when I put it in her hand. She has also become an expert drooler all of a sudden. (I really hope she isn't teething yet.)

She also loves to suck her thumb when she doesn't have a pacifier. This is great for us as parents because she is terrific at putting herself back to sleep. (Did I mention she has been sleeping 6-hour stretches at night since for a couple of weeks now? Hallelujah!) To sum it all up, she's just a terrific baby. We love her so much!

rolling, rolling, rolling . . .

holding a ring during tummy time

. . . keep that baby rolling . . .

tired out after tummy time

a little smile

trying (unsuccessfully) to eat the rings

batting

(Sorry about the poor quality. If you want to see better videos, help me petition Matt to get his video camera out already!)