Eleanor's ONE month!!

Time to start up the every month blog check up for baby E (at least this will get me to actually blog again!). One month has FLOWN by... Eleanor is still in the little lump stage... just eating, pooping, and sleeping... and is an oh so adorable lump :) ! I would say the first 2 weeks she slept about 23 hours a day and I never even heard a peep out of the baby... then week 3 and 4 came and she's started to wake up a bit more... still sleeping a lot but definitely starting to become a "looky lou" and just checking out the world around her! She was over a pound heavier than Ruby when she was born and you can definitely tell... she's a great eater and sleeps much better than her bigger sister did. Overall, she's perfect... just like her sister!

Ruby's one month...

quick confession...

Sometimes when Eleanor is really hungry and her adorable little mouth looks like a fish searching around for her food source, I cuddle her up to my face to it's like she's giving me kissing on my cheeks. Forced kisses no doubt. But I can tell she secretly likes it...

ode to Ruby...

We may be doing a lot of ooo-ing and ahhh-ing over sweet baby Eleanor over here, but Ruby is holding her own in the precious category... Like I mentioned before, Ruby grew like a weed when I was in the hospital because I came home to a little girl and not a baby - but even more than her size, her understanding and vocabulary have skyrocketed in the past few weeks... A few of our favorites...

"Mama. Just a second!" - Once I heard her start to say it to me, I realized how much I say it to her! It's just cute because she uses it in the right context. "Ruby - we need to change your diaper." "Just a second!" is her reply as she pops out her head from her room and points her middle finger at me (no - she's not flipping me off - she has used her middle finger as her main pointer finger ever since she was a wee one...)

"I yike it!" - She says "like" with a "y"... "Baby Eleanor will yike it" or "Mama, you yike it?" It's just precious.

"Pom on!" - She's gotten better with her "c" sounds, but it's just so darn cute when she says "Pom on, Daddy!"

"A tiger gonna get us!" - Ruby's imagination has taken off! She will tell me "mama - the elephants are gonna get us! Hide in the closet!" At first I was concerned that she was so frightened of these imaginary animals, but now when she mentions them, we talk about the Mommy Tiger and Baby Tiger and get out our "tiger wand" to shoo them away... diffuses the problem... but an active imagination no less!

"I fine!" - When we ask if she wants something, often times her answer is "No thank you. I fine!" What manners, little one!

"Aww Man!" - After something drops or she can't quite reach something, her reaction is "Aww man!" - and throw in that cute toddler accent and it's freaking adorable.

I'm sure there are more Ruby-isms, but these are the only ones that come to my head currently... That Ruby. Never a dull moment!



Video taken like day 2 of being home... she sure does love her sister!

First photo shoot...

Some shots from the hospital...

some thoughts...

Some thoughts on life with 2 children... 5 days in...

This was the scene in our kitchen last night... Ruby is counting, no, SCREAMING to ten while Daddy hides in the other room, she yells "Ready? Coming Daaaadddddyyy!!!". I'm loading/unloading dishes and running the garbage disposal. Ruby screams in the other room when she finds Josh and runs to "base" i.e. mama's legs - all the while screaming and laughing. I'm yelling to Josh "Can you start Ruby's bath in 10?" and then I look down... Eleanor is and has been sound asleep during all of this in her little lamb's chair. I mean OUT. It was then I realized that Eleanor and Ruby have had and will have very different experiences in these early days...

"Peaceful, easy feeling" - Eleanor has been (love) poked and (kindly) man handled by Ruby. She has been fed on the go (i.e. baby on the boob when I'm chasing around Ruby outside). She has slept through noises and cries and screeches I didn't think was possible. Don't get me wrong - she gets PLENTY of love and hugs and PLENTY of mama cuddles and daddy hugs (Josh took the week off so we're able to each man a kid during this week...), but it's just a different start compared to the quiet, tranquil, peaceful home Ruby would nap in as a 3 day old...

"No" - I'm very aware of how often we are telling Ruby "No" lately.... "No Ruby - don't touch her eyes" "No, mama has to feed Eleanor right now - you can hold her later." "No sweetie, daddy can't pick you up right now, he's holding Eleanor"... and it makes me sad. I mean. Yes. There are things she cannot do... poking her sister's retina is one of those things... but I'm trying to tap into the different parenting resources of my brain to turn these "no" moments into more teaching moments and then making "down time" super special. For example - when she tried to poke E's eyes, I turned it into a "while we can't touch her eyes, why don't you show me her ears..." moment. And when E was sleeping and Ruby was getting stir crazy, I said "Ruby! Let's make cookies!!" Just trying to make her "big girl" status something exciting... I think I'll get better with time...

"So Big" - Ruby is HUGE. I know it's all because now that I'm holding a 7 pound baby, a 30 pound toddler seems huge. BUT. Seriously. She. Is. Huge. I teared up at the hospital when Ruby first came to visit because she's not a baby anymore! All of her features are little girl-ish... not baby-ish. AND, she's talking up a storm. I was in the kitchen and she came in and said "Mama. Dad need you." What??? Did my daughter just relay a message?? It's crazy.

"I think we got better..." - Ruby was an easy baby. I mean, not the best sleeper at the beginning, but overall pretty chill baby. Eleanor. My word. She. Is. Chill. Let it be known - 5 days in - she is CHILLLLLL. She sleeps A LOT. She's a great eater. She is just content wherever you put her. She'll fall asleep on her own or just look around... and patiently wait for you to pick her up. Or not. What??? I mean - I could give the credit to Eleanor, but just because it's day 5 and I've already blogged twice, I'm gonna give the credit to me and Josh... :)

My heart is full. So, so full.

she's here!!

Eleanor Benson Dunlop was born on July 29, 2012 at 1:52AM. She was 7 pounds 5 ounces, 19.5 inches long, and just as beautiful as can be.

We are all home and adjusting to being a family of four... which is such a crazy thought to me I don't think I've fully processed it! Ruby is a great big sister.. so many kisses and hugs for "baby sister Eleanor" and tells me all the time "Mama, that my baby!" I will try try try to post more - if nothing more than iPhone photos. More updates soon!