Another month has flown by (a few weeks late), but I will have to say that this has probably been my favorite month so far. She has always had a sweet little personality, but I feel like we've seen more of it this month. She is always smiling and laughing and it just makes my heart full. Her entire face lights up when she smiles and her entire body shakes when she laughs. She is such a calm and chill baby...we don't know where she gets it from! She is always happy unless she is hungry, sleepy or doesn't feel well. Speaking of not feeling well, we had her 4th month check up and we found out she had her first ear infection! She had a small fever Mother's Day weekend (actually on her 4 month) but we honestly thought she was starting to cut teeth. Andrew put his fingers in her mouth and thought he felt bumps coming through. But, she wasn't fussy at all! 

So, we went to her wellness check on that Monday, and she weighed 12 lbs, 6.5 oz and was about 26" long. Our pediatrician looked in her ears and she had a small infection in her left ear. That explains the fever! She felt through her mouth and she's not cutting teeth yet, thank God! She was put on antibiotics for 10 days and she's been a true fighter. We never would have known that she was sick had we not gone to the doctor. She was waking up about 1-2 hours earlier than usual in the mornings but other than that, she was a trooper. 

There were a few milestones this past month which is making me realize how quickly she's growing up! 

We've always put her on her back to sleep and once we went to the doctor for her check up, our doctor told us to stop putting her in her magic sleep suit. I was extremely nervous because this was our secret to her sleeping throughout the night! She's always been a great sleeper but I know this was a contribution to this. So, we now put her in a sleep sack with her hands out. She's now rolling over to sleep on her side or her stomach. We always put her on her back, but it doesn't take her a long time to get into a more comfortable position. It makes me nervous for her to be on her stomach but she does a good job of laying on the side of her face and not face down. 

She's found her thumb. She's never really been one to take a paci unless she's extremely sleepy or upset, and we've never pushed it on her. But, this past week, little girl started sucking her thumb. Every time I see her do it, I try to pull it out because I don't want to go down that road. I'd rather her take a paci because you can always take that away, and not the thumb! But, if it makes her comfortable and happy, then I guess I need to just let it be for now. 

She's been moving a lot more and rolling over from back to stomach and then from stomach to back. She even puts her legs up in the air when I put her in the crib. She loves playing on her play mat when I get home from work. She loves noises and her little book makes her laugh. She is also able to prop herself up much better than she has in the last few weeks. Her head control has always been very strong, but she loves propping herself up and looking around. 

I am doing well. I am still breastfeeding her (morning and night) and then she takes 3 bottles of breast milk at school. I'm planning on nursing and continuing to pump for as long as I can. My supply is good, but I have seen a little drop since I went back to work since I'm primarily pumping there. I'm still down about 5-6 pounds my pre-baby weight, but I'm sure that will change once I stop breast feeding. 

Emerson loves school and all of her teachers. I am so happy with the school we chose. They are able to give her so much attention and are sending me updates and pictures throughout the day via the app. It just makes my heart full to see how much she is doing and growing there. She has Spanish class twice a week and music once a week and she loves participating! 

I enjoyed my first Mother's Day and it was perfect. I had just found out around Mother's Day last year that I was pregnant, so it awesome having her here this year. 

Andrew has been awesome. He is extremely helpful with Emerson and she just adores him. A few friends and I took one of our dear friends, Stephanie, out this past Friday night for a pre-baby surprise for her. Since it is her second baby, we decided to steal her away for the night with a girly dinner at a new trendy restaurant then stay the night at a hotel downtown and shower her with gifts and mocktails. So, that was my first night away from E! It wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be, but I was a little sad! I checked in with Andrew constantly to check on my little girl, but then again, it was nice to have a night alone and not worry about stalking the monitor! 

We've had a great month and I am excited to see what this next month brings us! 

1 Month | 2 Months | 3 Months 

Emerson is Three Months

I know, I know. As per usual, I'm a little late on her update. I've literally started this post 6 different times and haven't been able to hit publish yet. I feel like she's changed so much this month and we've just been enjoying her growing personality.

She is getting bigger and bigger. Now that she's started "school" (we'll get to that later), she's gained a lot of weight. Prior to going to daycare, she was primarily only nursing. Now that I'm back at work and not with her all day long, I nurse her in the morning and evening but all of her other meals are pumped breast milk from a bottle. Because we know exactly how much she's getting now and we can control it, I feel like she's plumped up a little. I am thankful for that because I do know that she is getting enough but I still enjoy the bonding experience of nursing her when I can.

At her last appointment, she weighed about 10.5 pounds. Oh, and she loves looking at herself in the mirror!



E's first day of school. I took her for half days the week before I started back and I am so thankful I did! I got myself in a routine and "practiced" getting ready so that my first day back wouldn't be so difficult.

 

My first day back to work. We had so much crap to load into the car that I had to snap a picture because you can barely even see her with all of the things around her!

She's enjoying her baths much more than she used to. She loves the warm water and splashing around but does still hate getting out of the bath and getting cold.

She's "talking" and smiling so much. She's always been a happy baby but the older she's gotten, she's become much less fussy. We don't have the 5pm-7pm witching hour anymore thank goodness but I think she is so exhausted after school that she just crashes. I love hearing her babble, coo and laugh. 

She's been sleeping through the night since 9 weeks and has only woken up once. She sleeps so well in her crib and is still rocking the Merlin Magic Sleepsuit. She sleeps in this at her crib at school as well and her teachers say that as soon as they put her in it, she falls asleep. Still following the Moms on Call schedule, her bedtime is 8:30 and she's usually asleep within 5 minutes if that. In a few weeks, her bedtime will move up and I am not looking forward to it because that just means that we get less time to spend with her after work. 

Speaking of work and school, this has been her biggest milestone this month. Things are going great, and I think she is really enjoying it. I just finished my third full week of work and it is nice to be back. It's nice to have adult conversations and be on a set schedule. Although I miss her during the day, I enjoy stalking her through the school's app. They note every diaper change, feeding, sleep and even post pictures throughout the day. I enjoy seeing her hanging out with her new friends during Spanish class and Music class. Yes, that's right. She has Spanish class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and Music class on Fridays. They also have already started doing arts and crafts as well. It makes me happy that she is busy throughout the day with lots of activities. They have bouncy seats, swings, activity mats and boppys that she enjoys playing on during the day. Her teachers say that her favorite is laying on her back and playing on the activity mat.

Emerson celebrated her first Easter. We went to church and then to brunch as a family of three. It was sad not to see my family on Easter this year but I'm glad that we had this little girl to celebrate with.



We went to Cashiers, NC with friends this past weekend and E survived her first hike! She loved looking around at all of the pretty scenery.



Here are several pictures curtesy of school. Thank God for that app or I would go crazy not being able to see this smiling face during the day.








Arts and Crafts at school




Music class!

Spanish Class with her friends





We were tasked with E's first homework assignment. Can you tell that I am not crafty at all? I guess I need to work on that..

Speaking of the activity mat....she rolled over for the first time yesterday!! I hated that I didn't get to see it since it was at school, but she rolled from her back to her stomach and then stomach to her back. I literally started crying when her teachers told me...I know, I know. They said that at 15 weeks, that is impressive and pretty early. Andrew and I tried to get her to do it again last night and then this morning and nada. But, of course, she did it again at school today. I guess she only cares about impressing her teachers and friends.

We transitioned her to the level 2 nipples this month. Now that she is 3 months old, she can take a faster nipple on her bottle. She is up to about 6-7 ounces per feeding in a bottle and can drink it in less than 15 minutes. I'm still nursing her for about 30 minutes total. Breastfeeding has become a complete 180 degrees from where we began and I can proudly say that it is something that I actually look forward to. I know that in that amount of time, it's just she and I.

And, just some more pictures because I can't get enough of that smile.