First Christmas

Eliana loved her first Christmas! She was very alert opening presents and loved to look all around at what was going on. She got a cute Teddy from Uncle Jonathan and a fun crib soother from Grandma and Grandpa Sapko. After morning presents we all went to Uncle Joe's house for dinner and she was a little angel and slept most of the time, but she woke up just in time for gifts and pictures. As you can see, her favorite thing to look at is faces! She is starting to smile a lot, but it's really hard to get a picture because it comes and goes so fast. But her favorite thing to smile at is her dolly, and other inanimate objects. Faces are still too fascinating I guess, but every once in a while when I call her name she turns her head and smiles at Mommy! Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

Eliana at 4 and 5 weeks

Eliana definitely has a few favorite activities now. For some reason she loves to stare at her doll and the letters of her name on the wall above her changing table. She will giggle and coo and kick at them for 20 minutes at a time! She also loves to be in her swing and will babble at the mobile and lighted stars. The Christmas tree is very entrancing as well. This she will simply goggle at for minutes at a time. And doesn't she look cute in her red Christmas sweater!

Ellie's First Bath

Two Weeks Old

Ellie is two weeks old today, an event which was marked by her umbilical cord falling off right on schedule. She is gaining weight well, and becoming more and more alert and active, and starting to set herself into a somewhat predictable schedule. Fun facts: she spends about 7-8 hours a day nursing, which is actually really, really common. Newborns nurse between 8-12 times a day at least--more during a growth spurt, and the time spent at each feeding varies, though 45min to an hour is normal. She sits right in that time frame, usually closer to 45 minutes. She can pick her head up and hold it when you put her on your shoulder, and already tracks objects moving around her. She has also started sleeping for two long stretches at night (3 hours from 12am-3am and 4 hours from 4am-8am), which means that mom finally gets around 5 hours of total sleep per night, which is amazing. But her very active and fussy time is from 9pm to midnight, which is super fun!

First Thanksgiving....

Eliana slept through most of the day as babies are wont to do----she's a little backward with her schedule right now; she sleeps and eats throughout the day, but wakes for a fussy time starting at 6-7pm until anytime between 12 and 2 am, which makes for an exhausting night. She'll grow out of it eventually, but until then it's hard to get pictures of her awake. Hopefully soon though!

First Doctor Visit at One Week Old

Eliana had her first visit to the pediatrician today, which told us that she gained two ounces and a 1/4 inch. The doctor said her muscle tone was excellent--she is really, really strong, and she showed no signs of jaundice. All great news and mommy is very, very relieved!

She is starting to settle into nursing a bit better, though we still encounter challenges, but she is eating really well, nearly every hour and half hour sometimes, and her wet and poopy diapers are steadily increasing; a great sign that she's getting plenty of nutrition.

She is such a full time job right now that there hasn't really been much time for pictures, but hopefully we will have another session soon...

Cutie girl

More pictures of Eliana!