Time for an Update

Today Ella is 3 months and 10 days. 

I'm realizing there is so much that happens with her on a daily basis and I need to keep track of it now or I'll never remember it later.

She's starting to hold her head up now and she loves to smile. Especially in the mornings. Once she has that first bottle (around 6am), she stays awake and loves to show her happiness. 

She started day care a couple weeks ago. Although her mommy is sad and misses her terrible, I know that we are in such a great place. The teacher is great and you can tell she loves the kids. She keeps them engaged and is perfect for us. Ella has 7 bottles a day (she has since about week 7) and they are about 3.5 to 4 ounces each. She has 3 of those at day care, which makes me feel better to know that I get to do the majority of the feedings. As the days of my maternity leave were ending, I got sadder and sadder, but knew it would be the best for all of us. The day before she started day care we were at church and our minister put up a great verse (I'm drawing a blank on what it was - See that's why I need to update more often!). Basically what the verse told me was that Ella won't have her mommy to watch over her all day, but her Heavenly Father will always keep an eye on her and he is her Great Protector. I found a lot of comfort in thinking of that.

We are about done with a big box of size 1 diapers and instead of buying more, we decided to go to 2s when they are up. They may be a little big, but the 1s are getting snug. 

All of her newborn clothing no longer fit. Most people told me not to buy a lot of newborn clothing because she would outgrown them in a couple weeks, but for us it was more like a couple months. She fits comfortably in 3 months now. I'm realizing that the fall clothing for babies isn't as cute and is harder to come by. But I don't know how soon she'll be moving up to the next size, so I don't want to buy too much. 

She has been drooling a bit in the past week, which makes us wonder if she's starting the process of teething.

At about 2 weeks, she was rolling over to her side when she's not on a super flat surface. When she went to the doctor on her 2 month appointment, the doctor put her on her tummy to check how she's pulling up and she rolled all the way over to her back. The doctor tried again and she did the same thing. We tried it again at home and she did it, but doesn't seem as interested now.

She's still sleeping in her rock n play next to our bed. She's definitely getting long for it and we know it's time for the crib soon. We'll likely start testing it on the weekends, but it breaks my heart. I like having her close and I'll worry about her down the hall away from us.

We have been sleep training her and it's gone great. At bedtime, we just put her down and she falls asleep on her own. During the day isn't too bad, but she may need help with a pacifier or some cuddling. I absolutely love cuddling with her. It's the best. She loves when her head is resting on my arm and she's on her side facing me. We both tend to take naps that way. :)

She had her first Halloween experience on Saturday. Our church does Kidabalou and as a family we dressed up. Mike as Popeye, me as Olive Oyl, Ella as Swee' Pea, and Jeter as a can of spinach. 

We dedicated her at our church on Oct 18 (her 3-month birthday). It was a special day for us and we had family and friends join us in committing to guide her in her faith. I had been fighting allergies for a week and on that day, I completely lost my voice. I didn't feel great, but the day was about her and I had to pull through. 

Ella means the world to us and I never want to go back to life without her. Yes, things are harder now and we live on her schedule and her demands, but I wouldn't trade it at all. I get excited thinking about all the different stages and changes she will go through and I love seeing each moment of her growth.