Grandparents' Visit

Matt's parents came to pick up Matt's younger sister, and we got to spend the day with them yesterday. We had a lot of fun together. Elise loves Grandma and Grandpa! And they love her too!

Lucky Number 7

I've always had a thing for the number 7. I was born on July 17, and I was 7 weeks premature. I was the seventh child. I graduated from high school in 2007. I was 17 when I met Matt, and we were engaged on December 7th. I've just always liked the number.

We usually rock Elise to sleep, but last Friday night we started sleep training. I realized after she was asleep that night that she was exactly 7 months and 7 days old. So a good omen, I guess.

And it has gone pretty well. The first night she cried for a total of 27 minutes before she fell asleep (another 7), and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to hear her. (I still ended up crying before she was done, but it still wasn't as horrible as I had anticipated.) She has been sleeping better, waking up less, and sleeping longer, and as a result she is happier during the day. She even naps better. And sometimes she goes to sleep without a peep. We're still working out the kinks, but I think this thing is actually going to work. I feel more rested already.

And more good news: Elise is on a 4-hour eating schedule now! Yeah! Gone are the days that I would feed her every two hours. She's eating better than ever too. She still usually wakes up after four hours to eat, but I can handle two night feedings, especially since she is so good at putting herself back to sleep in the middle of the night because she is really tired. Last night she only ate once.

So all in all, we're doing well around here. We're all happier. Why didn't I blog about this before now? Honestly, I was afraid to jinx it. Sometimes I still think it's too good to be true.

This is a picture of our "video monitor" that Matt rigged up. We get live feed from Elise's room. He set this up so that we can see if Elise is okay without going in her room. We'll take it down when she gets the hang of putting herself to sleep.

Now We're Getting Somewhere

Elise started doing this army crawl today. Look out, world.

[Sorry the video is kind of long. I'm just proud of her.]

Seven Months Old

Elise is 7 months old today. Man, I love this crazy kid.

The Tornado

Elise loves to pull out all her toys and all her books. Every. Single. One.

"Who, me?"

She Gets Around...Almost

Elise has started to want to get around more and more lately. Yesterday she started getting up on her knees and elbows a little (first video) and scooting some (second video). Maybe she is going to be interested in crawling soon!

Fun Times

"So, Elise, what do you do for fun around here?"

"Oh, you know, sometimes I like to dunk my face in the water during bathtime..."

"...I work out to stay in shape..."

"...I play with my toys..."

"...or drive Mom crazy by pulling out all the books over and over..."

"...and then there's teething (but that's not so fun)..."

"...or sometimes I like watching the shadows..."

"...and I love playing with Daddy..."

"...because he's so silly..."

"...and tummy time is pretty fun.."

"...but mostly I just hang out."

[Don't worry, the clothes in the hamper were clean.]