Just Hanging Out

I snapped these photos just because Elena was being very cute, as she is most of the time. Elena is a very content little baby. She loves playing with her toys and has become quite vocal. Her noises include a baby dinosaur noise, squeal, giggles, and boy can she tell a story!

Tummy Time

This past week has been very difficult. It was my first week back to work full-time. Not only was work completely crazy and overwhelming, Elena started not sleeping through the night due to teething. By Thursday morning I was running purely on caffeine fumes and couldn't even hold a conversation; I'm not sure how I performed at work but I know I'm only hanging on by a few threads at work. This weekend we napped a lot to catch up on sleep. Today after Elena's bath we worked on tummy time in the living room. This last week she made huge improvements with her tummy time. She can now do a push up (hard to catch on camera) and the plane. When she does the plane she often lifts her legs too. She lost her balance once and I thought she was going to roll over, but not quite yet. And yes she is naked--airing out the diaper area. I missed Elena a lot so I snapped about 40 pictures this afternoon and couldn't narrow down the pictures any more. She is just so cute, I love when she snuggled with her towel.

It is really hard to believe, but tomorrow Elena will be 5 months old! Today she weighed in at 19 pounds 4 ounces and from head to heal is 26-1/2" long. She is getting so big fast. All of her outfits now are marked 9 month and 12 month. She's not growing out of clothes because of her width, but rather her length. I've heard another growth spurt comes along at 6 months, so hard to believe!

Another Visit with GG & GG Newman

We took advantage of seeing Grandma and Grandpa Newman again while they were in town. We went up to their place in Solana Beach and had a delicious dinner. I must say the shrimp scampi pizza from California Pizza Kitchen was very yummy, who would have thought to make it into pizza?

It was so nice to see them twice in one week. They were lucky to witness Elena crying. We have heard many times Elena is a happy baby and doesn't really cry. Well she has been teething and not sleeping well. She was a bit cranky when she wanted to go to bed and again when it was time for us to leave and she cried. She was so tired I couldn't even get her to smile for pictures, but I'm so glad we were able to visit with Grandma, Grandpa and David a second time while they were in town.

Meeting Great Grandma & Great Grandpa Newman

This morning, Elena met Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Newman. They drove to Solana Beach, CA from Prescott, AZ for a vacation. Great Uncle David flew in from Oregon and Lauren drove down from the Santa Monica National Forest. We all had breakfast down the street from our house at the Carlton Oaks Golf Course. Breakfast was great and it was nice to see everyone. Elena was well behaved; she was very interested in the ceiling fans.

More Tubby Time

Elena has been trying to sit up. She pulls her shoulders and head forward like you see below and even when she is laying flat on her back. Will she sit before she rolls?

Jumperoo!

Yesterday Elena tried out the Jumperoo for the first time. She loves it, absolutely loves it. Not only does she love the toys and music, but the freedom she has to dance. You can just see her glee in the pictures.

I'm thankful my friend Galit had one we could borrow for the next few months. Elena is just big enough now; her toes have to touch the ground. But at the rate she is growing she will probably out grow it in then few months. The weight limit is 25 pounds.


We went to the doctor's today for her 4 month wellness check-up and immunizations, I know a little late at 4-1/2 months but our doctor fills up quickly. The doctor said she was progressing well but to limit her time in the jumperoo--she said she can play in it twice a day for 5-10 minutes at a time. The doctor said do more tummy time instead. We try tummy time, but Elena is not a big fan. She is on her tummy a few times every day but starts fussing around 10 minutes. While on her tummy, she can lift her head and shoulders but doesn't understand what to do with her arms. She can also put her booty in the air and bring her legs under her. Watching her legs you would think she could almost crawl, but again she doesn't know what to do with her arms. She is doing tummy time at daycare too. And it appears Elena has no interest in rolling over yet. The doctor said now that babies sleep on their backs it takes them longer to roll over.

Elena did really well with her shots, no fever and very little irritability. Although just as she did with her first set of shots at 2 months, her face turned scarlett red and she screamed. I would scream too with needles being jabbed into my legs. For the next few feedings, I rubbed her injection sites really well to get the vaccination fluid disbursed better. As long as she is distracted with nursing, she doesn't mind the leg massage.

Look at those legs dancing. She was swaying from side to side as she would pick up one leg and push with the other leg. So much fun to watch! And the excitement in her voice is so cute.

Carl came home while Elena was checking out the jumperoo. She was much more interested in the jumperoo than saying hi to Daddy or even acknowledge Cooper. One thing is for sure, Elena loves taking in new environments.

I'm jumping around a bit, but to get back to the doctor's visit. She was very pleased with Elena's growth. Elena weighed in at 18.03 ounces and 26 inches long. She is in the 85-90th percentile for height and 80th percentile for weight. She should plump a bit more in the next couple of months since we will be solely nursing until 6 months and she isn't mobile yet. Then we will start introducing rice cereal, squash and sweet potatoes--yum!

Allergies, Cold, or Teething???

So the debate begins, is Elena teething or are we dealing with allergies or a cold? It could be allergies since we have been getting hot humid weather from Mexico lately. Or it could be a cold since I had a cold. She had a couple of days with a low grade fever, is very congested, wants to be comforted a bit more than usual and she is nursing more frequently. All signs that could be allergies, cold, or teething. She also really loves to eat her hands. I attempted to get pictures of her with both hands in her mouth, but she kept pulling them out quickly. She isn't really interested in the slew of teethers we have for her, just her hands and our fingers (which we try to avoid).

Another characteristic Elena picked up is "attack". She gets in these really playful moods and will "attack" her hands, the pacifier, while she is nursing or taking a bottle, and some toys. The last picture hardly captures her in action, but visualize a mouth as open as she can get it, eyes squinty, then her head moves quickly from side to side as she pulls her upper body toward the object of her choice. Then her mouth clamps down with intensity, which can almost be seen in the picture. It is so funny to watch her, we laugh every time. I'm sure it won't be so funny when she has teeth. Perhaps she is starting to teethe, only time will tell.