It's hard to believe that she can change so much in just a month, but I absolutely love watching her grow and become her own little person. She has developed quite a personality, laughing and smiling often. It just melts my heart when she smiles at me, not just smiling for no reason. And I think she has started to recognize Eli and I! Talk about cute!
Three weeks ago, I went back to work (tear!) and Sarah started going to a sitter three days a week. Ms. Linda goes to our church and is just wonderful with Sarah. She keeps her at her house, which is very close to our house and only about 10 minutes from my school. On Mondays and Fridays Eli keeps Sarah while he's home from school. He really enjoys this time to bond with Sarah. He's such a great Daddy!
My favorite time of the day is coming home from school and seeing Sarah. In the past week or so, she has smiled when she first sees me. You don't know how happy this makes me! My daughter knows me and loves me!
We had Sarah’s two month check up this week. She now weighs
11 pounds 6 oz and is 23 inches long. This puts her in the 75th
percentile for both weight and length. Still growing like a weed!
Along with her check up, she got a nice round of shots. I
was really worried about these shots because of the stories I had heard from
friends and family. I was anticipating a very upset, feverish baby for days
after the shots, but Sarah really handled them well. Yes, she screamed (VERY
loudly) when the nurse stuck her, but she calmed down quickly when I could hold
her. She only had a fever that night, but after a little baby Tylenol she slept
through the night and was fine the next day. I am so thankful for a content,
peaceful baby. I’ve been told to enjoy it now, because our next kid will most
likely be opposite!
Sarah is still eating great. Since she is at the sitter or with Eli during the days, I am pumping at work and she gets 3 bottles while I am gone. We started out giving her 3 ounces at a time, but she is now taking 4 ounces. I can tell she enjoys the bottle because it's easy and she doesn't have to work quite as hard. This makes me a little sad. I would love to nurse her exclusively, but I am thankful that I can make it work with pumping and we don't have to supplement with formula just yet.
Our routine has settled into a pretty consistent pattern. Eat, change diaper, play, change diaper, cry, change diaper, sleep, repeat. I'm serious on the diaper changes. This girl is not dehydrated and she hates to be in a wet or dirty diaper. As soon as the line turns blue on her diaper (aren't those diapers awesome??), she starts crying.
She has started staying awake for much longer periods, sometimes two or three hours, with little 15 minute cat naps a couple times throughout. She really doesn't sleep much during the day, which I'm not too upset about because she is a great sleeper at night. Our nighttime routine looks something like this: around 9 pm, we usually bathe her (a couple nights a week), feed her, and swaddle her. Between 10 and 11 pm, we put her in her cradle and let her fall asleep on her own. Although, about half of the nights, she has already fallen asleep in one of our arms. Then she sleeps til 5 am. I'm pretty sure she has an alarm clock hiding in her cradle because she gets up within a 10 minute window every morning without fail. This works for me though, because I can feed her, then get a shower and get ready for school while she takes another hour (or more) long nap.
She is so alert after she eats during the day. She loves to smile and has started really laughing and "talking" to us. She also talks to the animals on her swing mobile. It's so adorable to watch her. We've decided that her favorite place to be is on her changing table. It's so funny - she smiles bigger than ever when she is there. I guess she just knows that good things happen on the changing pad!
We try to do tummy time several times a day. She's fine for the first few minutes, but then quickly gets upset. I'm hoping she'll learn to enjoy being on her tummy soon so she can strengthen her neck more and start rolling over.
I've been keeping track of when her "firsts" and big milestones happen and trying to take pictures when I can. In the past month she has:
- started at the sitter
- gone to her first football game. Go CRU!
- outgrew her first outfit
- switched to size 1 diapers
- started laughing
- started "talking"
- pushed up while laying on her tummy
- stayed with both sets of grandparents while Eli and I went on dates
- celebrated her first holiday (Halloween)
We are so in love with our sweet girl. She continually reminds us how big God's love is that He would bless us with this gift. Looking back at month one, I am amazed at how much she has changed. I look forward to month three and beyond!
Sweet Sarah,
Oh what a joy it is to watch you grow and change. It seems like just yesterday we brought you home from the hospital, all tiny and wrinkly, and sleeping all the time. You continue to amaze me as you become who God made you to be. I love our sweet time together in the mornings when it's just you and me, with Daddy still sleeping next to us. I can't get enough of those lovely smiles! I love that you trust us to take care of you.
You have such a sweet spirit and we love you dearly. We still pray for you every night, asking God to mold you into a beautiful, godly young woman. Always know that you are loved. Always.
I love you, sweetheart.
Love Momma