Category: weekly birthday

{top: Carter’s // bloomers: Carter’s // Dada book: Amazon // blocks: Uncle Goose (similar)}

{week 45} this week was mostly spent in boise visiting my family – grammie & grandpa needed an eloise fix! aaron, eloise, & I flew down all together, & boy am I glad I wasn’t flying on my own! eloise was so, so good, but she is so, so busy. she spent most of the flight on the way down flirting with the people in the rows behind us & playing with her water cup. & on the way home she was obsessed with pulling everything out of the seat-back pocket.

eloise snapped into the time change right away (it is only an hour) & slept really well – she took such long naps during the day that we had to wake her up a few times! she has gotten used to sleeping in a pack n play from our visit back east last month & also does well without blackout shades. we do bring a sound machine when we travel since she is used to white noise at home. I find that she can fall asleep without white noise, but staying asleep is tricky without it!

we spent some time swimming which was fun & eloise seemed to enjoy it more than her usual swimming lesson. she loved to splash when being held & did so well even when water got on her face. we also tried this baby pool float which was a pretty big hit. it was the first time eloise has been in a pool without being in either my or aaron’s arms. she did well & kicked her legs around.

my parents put up a swing for eloise & she LOVED it! we visit the swings at the park a few times a month if we can, & eloise has always enjoyed that so I knew she would enjoy it. this swing tended to go sideways a little more than the park swings & she didn’t enjoy that too much. the seat is pretty big still so there is lots of room for eloise to grow into it!

eloise is pretty much always on-the-go when she is awake & army crawling is still her preferred mode of transportation. I have noticed that she will get up on her hands & knees as she approaches something she wants to pull up on, so I know she can crawl, she just doesn’t most of the time. she has become a master at pulling up to kneeling (& sometimes standing if it is low enough) & now the issue is whether the thing she is using is steady enough to hold her weight, or whether it will slip around once she puts weight on it. eloise has also started walking along the coffee table (cruising!) & isn’t very steady on her own, but has gotten the moving of her feet part (which she lacked just a few weeks ago). while I think independent walking is still a ways off, it is closer than I want to think about!

here are some pictures from our trip to boise (eloise swinging & meeting my parents’ horses):

 

happy 45 weeks eloise!

M

this post contains affiliate links.

{onesie: Carter’s // shorts: Target (similar)  // Sophie the Giraffe}

{week 44} oh boy, this week has been a blur! & by that I mean eloise is on the move. I am pretty sure it is because I just stated in her ten month post that walking wasn’t imminent. I feel like in the past week, eloise has taken huge strides in the pre-walking & mobility department.

eloise is happiest these days standing up. she can pull herself to her to kneeling on most things, including the fan tower & her nursery ottoman. & she can pull herself up to standing on the coffee table, the side table (whose low shelf I am storing some toys  books), & in her crib. so just in a week (!) she has gone from just kneeling to standing. again, oh boy!

the other thing that makes eloise deliriously happy is a book. she has always enjoyed books & has “listened” to stories being read to her since she was born. we started early with storytime & even as a teeny baby she would pay attention to the books we read. fast-forward a few months & I can easily say books are her favorite things. she will most often pick a book to play with (or chew on) over a toy during play time. my mama heart, of course, is soaring because I have always adored books! the only problem is that she is now devouring books in that she is chewing the corners & eating the paper…

also, eloise insists on turning the pages when we read books, so sometimes the stories go very quickly! she does, though, stop & look at the pictures, & sometimes babbles as she flips thru the pages. adorable! when you get to the end of a book, she will shut the back cover & then flip the book over to start reading it again!

happy 44 weeks eloise!

M

this post contains affiliate links.

{top: Carter’s (similar) // shorts: Carter’s // butterfly teether: Honest Company}

{week 43} today is also eloise’s 10 month birthday (if that is even possible!) so check back for her monthly update!

happy 43 weeks eloise!

M

this post contains affiliate links.

{shirt: Carter’s // onesie: Gerber // leggings: Target // moccasins: Freshly Picked // Sophie the Giraffe}

{week 42} eloise is back in PT for torticollis {which I first talked about here in her five month update} since her pediatrician is still slightly concerned about eloise’s head tilt after her nine month appointment. we were going to PT for about two months & she was released from care, but now we are back at it. some of it is just going to be maturity (I think) but a lot of it is breaking bad habits & allowing her neck to stretch & strengthen evenly. we are hoping to see the PT every two weeks & do daily stretching exercises at home. I think I talked about eloise laying on her (right) side a lot, & this is actually one of the things that is hurting her progress towards a straight head! I am trying to get her to lay on her left side… yep, it is a challenge! there isn’t really too much to be worried about at this point, & honestly I don’t even notice it most of the time because I am with her pretty much every minute of the day. her pediatrician’s biggest concern is the effect it could have on her vision, though there is no indication that it has so far & it is pretty uncommon.

eloise also saw the dentist yesterday. yep, a baby dentist. the new recommendation from the american academy of pediatrics is that infants/children start to see the dentist as soon as they get teeth (the old recommendation was at one year old). so, we were on the waiting list for a pediatric dentist office that is pretty close to our house, but after waiting almost three months, I decided to do some more research & find another dentist! as much as I like the idea of eloise seeing one dentist (& not a specific pediatric one) I like the idea of having her see a dentist who has extra training with kids & children (& honestly I am not too crazy about our current dentist & his office, so no point in taking her there). eloise was a great little patient & let the dentist look (& clean – just a wipe with gauze) her six teeth! the dentist & assistant (& entire staff) were very kind & wanted to make sure we were starting good dental hygiene early. we have already been having eloise “brush her teeth” with this toothbrush after solids & after her bedtime bottle, & she is obsessed!

crawling is still going well & we are thinking that any day now she is going to be up off of her belly (I think I say this every week though!). she is really starting to use her knees when she is army crawling & rocks on her hands & knees all the time. these days if she is upset or crying in her crib, she will get on her hands & knees… tricky when she is wearing a sleep sack!

speaking of crib, we finally lowered her crib mattress down. she hasn’t yet pulled up to standing (or even sitting) in her crib, but we didn’t want to take any chances. eloise hasn’t consistently been able to get from her belly to sitting, but I know that she could if she wanted too, or by accident. she already loves the railing & sides of her crib (& always props her feet up while she is sleeping) so I know that if she finds herself sitting in her crib for any length of time, she will try to pull herself up.

happy 42 weeks eloise!

M

this post contains affiliate links.

{chambray shirt: Carter’s // onesie: Carter’s // leggings: Carter’s // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{& the outtake for this week! weekly photos are much more difficult to manage these days. definitely a two-person job.}

{week 41} eloise had her first fever this week which was so sad. I guess since a “low-grade fever” isn’t actually a thing, she was in the fever range. scary when the thermometer turns red which is what ours does once you get into the “fever range.” I could tell just by feeling her that she was much warmer than normal & her temp was reading around 99.5 degrees at the highest. it lasted about 24 hours & she seemed pretty normal for most of the day, other than a bit of fussiness & one episode of throwing up (maybe from chugging her bottle?). my guess is that it was just a virus or something that passed pretty quickly. I know it could also have been from teething, though she has six teeth so far & never any fever with them. glad to be past that.

crawling is THE thing around here. eloise is so quick these days though she pretty much goes for the same things so we don’t lose track of her (the coffee table, shoes in the entryway, & sadie’s toy basket). she has learned to use both of her forearms to pull herself across the floor, & also her big toe on each foot to give herself an extra boost. she is often, though, up rocking on her hands & knees, & just these past few days has taken a few crawling movements (hands & knees) up from her belly. I expect that any day now I will look over to find her crawling on her knees!

{eloise’s new funny face. also, she always has both of her hands up like that when she is in her highchair. I think it is because she doesn’t like her hands to be dirty when she eats.}

starting on sunday, eloise discovered that she could control her eyebrows. she is making this hilarious face where she furls her eyebrows & frowns. it looks like she is so mad! {aaron calls it her mean muggin’ face} the funny (or sad) thing is that if you mirror the face back to her, she gets sad. obviously she doesn’t realize that this is a mad face, she is just practicing moving her facial features! it is so, so cute & funny – we can’t stop laughing!

happy 41 weeks eloise!

M

{onesie: Carter’s // shorts: Carter’s // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{week 40} it definitely feels like we are in the “homestretch” over her when it comes to weekly updates. I want to do some type of update (maybe monthly?) for eloise (I mean, this is her baby book after all!) but haven’t yet decided. 12 more weeks until one… I still cannot believe it!

this week eloise has been much more verbal & physically active. though having already discovered her tongue some time ago, eloise has started playing with her tongue & her bottom lip. the combination of this & her constant babbling is that she sounds like a tiny auctioneer. it is hilarious! I am trying to get a good video or recording of it to share. she has also been testing the volume (loudness) & shrillness of her voice lately. this results in her shrieking multiple times a day, usually around mealtime.

on the activity level, eloise cannot sit still for the most part. in the morning time when she plays while I make her breakfast, she can usually sit on her playmat & pull all of the toys out of her toy basket, licking each one & examining it! by the afternoon though, I have to either be in the living room with her or have her “contained” in the exersaucer. she just gets too far too quickly these days & we haven’t yet put a gate up at the top of our stairs*. eloise has mastered the army crawl & now uses both of her forearms on the ground & her toes & knees (a bit) to maneuver around (she used to use one forearm & one hand). she is up on her hands & knees more & more, rocking back & forth, & seems much more in control of that movement. I expect her army crawl to turn into a crawl any day now…

many of our friends with kiddos of similar ages “walk” with their kids. by that I mean hold them by the hands or arms & help them walk while the kids move their own feet. while I am not really crazy about holding eloise just by her arms (I had one pop out of its socket quite a bit as a kid so it makes me extra nervous) I do hold her up under her arms or around her waist while she is standing. she doesn’t really walk though (as in move her feet). usually she looks down at her feet, realizes she is standing, & then starts jumping up & down. so eloise may jump before she walks! (& I am in no hurry for her to start walking – developmental delays aside)

a lot of people asked about eloise changing time zones & what I did or didn’t do to help with the time change. honestly, I kept her on her normal routine during our travel day & then set my watch to the local time zone when we landed (either jumping forward or backwards in her day). on both ends of our trip, eloise was able to be on local time as soon as we settled in for the most part. going east eloise was tired from missing her third nap of the day, so we kept her up slightly longer in order to do dinner & bathtime before putting her down to bed (three hours before she normally would go down). then going west, we did dinner & bedtime on our final flight, but eloise only slept for a few hours before we landed & then never went back to sleep in the hustle & bustle of being at the airport, getting our bags, & catching a ride home. by the time we got home she was super tired & we put her right to bed. I can’t say it will always work out that well, but I am happy we weren’t dealing with major time issues during & after our trip!

happy 40 weeks eloise!

M

*I know it sounds crazy to most people, but I was sort of hoping not to have to put a gate at the top of our stairs & to just teach eloise, when she is physically capable, of going up & down the stairs safely. I feel like when you gate something off, you make it forbidden & therefore way more fun for kids. if the stairs are just a normal thing, then maybe she won’t want to spend so much time on them? I also realize that she is going to be more mobile at some point & that our stairs are really scary since they are wood. this is still a work in progress, obviously! any tips?

{sunglasses: Honest Company // onesie: Carter’s // bloomers: babyGap // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{week 39} this past week we were visiting aaron’s family in indiana so eloise had the opportunity to meet lots of her (great) aunts, uncles, cousins, & great grandparents. she had the best time seeing everyone & it was wonderful to see her with all of aaron’s family.

even though we kept a busy schedule, we were mindful of eloise’s napping schedule & limited ourselves (mostly) to going out in the afternoons so that she could get at least two good naps in. it was hard for us not to just pack her up in the car & try to see everyone & do everything the entire time we were gone, but we knew that she would quickly become fussy & none of us would have had very much fun after a couple of days of that. eloise sometimes naps in the car, but usually falls asleep 5 minutes before we reach our destination…

speaking of naps, eloise took the best naps while we were gone! she was in a Pack N Play in her nana & papaw’s guest bedroom & it was perfect. one of us would put her down for a nap & turn on the sound machine, & she would nap for at least 90 minutes (& often times two hours!). I thought at first it would just be one nap that would be good, but she was taking two solid naps (90 minutes to two hours) & then a third nap for at least an hour. yup, it was awesome!

now sleeping at night, on the other hand, was a bit rough. there were one or maybe two nights that she slept thru the night waking only for an early AM feeding, but mostly she was really sad at night. she would sleep a few hours to begin with, but then around midnight or 1 AM she would start her wake-ups. she would cry & fuss a few times (three to five) until I fed her between 4 & 6 AM. it was no fun. sometimes she would fall asleep again as soon as she was picked up, other times she would cry & cry. we are blaming it on teething, but I don’t see any new teeth coming in (plus, eloise won’t let me see inside her mouth these days!). I am hoping she will work out whatever was going on & we can get back to more restful night sleep.

eloise is talking & chattering so much these days. she is really loving her “B” & “M” sounds. I don’t mind one bit since I hear a lot of “mama” lately! I know she doesn’t know I am Mama, but it still melts my heart.

waving is also a new fun thing as eloise is starting to catch on. she mostly waves with her hand at herself (it is adorable!), but waved at me on the plane yesterday. she is still doing the low, full arm wave too, but working on moving just her fingers.

happy 39 weeks eloise!

M

{tank: Old Navy // shorts: Target}

{week 38} this week I transitioned eloise to all finger food (BLW) solids at mealtime (so no more purees). many of her meals were already this way, but in anticipation of traveling & lots of being away from home, non-purees are just so much easier. eloise is really liking smaller sized foods like blueberries & peas which are developing her pincher grasp. each mealtime I set out a few pieces of each type of food on her tray & she is definitely aware of the differences in the foods, from both color & texture, & will reach for a particular piece that she wants.

eloise still spends a lot of time on her side (mostly the right side) during playtime & when she is resting from crawling. she can still get from sitting to her tummy pretty gracefully & is so close to being able to get from her side to sitting! she isn’t pulling up too much on furniture or things, but likes to stand & bounce if she is with someone else. her army crawling is pretty astounding as she can move really quickly these days & with much more of an agenda than she had in previous weeks. she is almost always moving to get something she isn’t supposed to have… we have been staying with david & jodi this week too so eloise has been experiencing crawling & playing on carpet. she seems to crawl about the same, but we have noticed little rug burns on the tops of her knees! maybe we need to get some kneepads?

eloise has had so much fun with her older cousins this week & likes the attention from everyone (not that she isn’t the center of attention everywhere we go!). it has been great to see her playing with older kids (david & jodi’s kids are 3 & 8) & also interacting well with other adults. like in the past few months eloise only has separation anxiety if it is near mealtime or bedtime (apparently mama = food!).

at the end of last week we flew from seattle to charlotte via minneapolis which is the longest flight eloise has taken (her first flight was to boise last october). I have to admit that I was anxious about the flight, but eloise did so, so well! we tried to keep her on her regular routine & it worked out. she had breakfast & napped about an hour on the first flight, & then had lunch & napped about 45 minutes on the second flight. the rest of the flight she spent playing with toys or flirting with the other passengers.

even though I just mentioned eloise isn’t eating purees anymore, I did take the opportunity to bring purees on the plane for easier mealtimes using these reusable pouches. in the pouches I put sweet potato & applesauce, & then a banana was added after she was finished with the applesauce. in the past I would squeeze the food from the pouch onto a spoon & then feed eloise, but this time I just gave her the pouch & she was able to feed herself. I only use these pouches when we are on-the-go (since I really like eloise to be able to see & touch her food), but really like them since they are so convenient & you can do either purees or softer foods (avocado, banana, etc.). we weren’t sure how TSA would handle homemade baby purees but we didn’t have an issue at all at security (even with the gel ice pack!). I think it helped that aaron & I signed up for TSA Pre-Check – if you are flying at all you should look into it, so convenient!

happy 38 weeks eloise!

M

this post contains affiliate links.

{sweater: Gymboree (old) // dress: Crewcuts // jeans: Carter’s // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{week 37} oh boy is eloise on the move. she still sits & plays on her playmat well, but when she wants to move she is off! eloise has mastered the army crawl & has the ability to change direction now while staying on her belly, so she isn’t as reliant on rolling while on the move. she hasn’t shown any signs of actual crawling since she seems panicked when she is up on her hands & knees, but I know that will come eventually.

eloise started her tots swim class this last weekend. we chose a saturday morning class, despite it being during her AM nap!, so that aaron could join in on the fun too. the water was cold (85 degrees) & the class was huge, but I think it is good for her to have exposure to the water. she seemed to like kicking, but spent a lot of the class cuddling close to one of us as her lips turned blue. poor kiddo! we would dash into the nearby sauna every so often for just a few minutes to make sure she was staying warm enough. eloise loves bathtime & has finally become okay with water splashing on her face, so I think this is a great time to have her in the pool before summer starts & we hit up the splash pads around town.

{swimsuits // mine: TopShop // hers: Target & this Honest Co swim diaper // his: Target (old)}

in the last two days eloise has started a fake cry which is sometimes funny but gets old super fast! she only seems to do it when she can’t play with her spoon at mealtimes. at this point eloise is pretty disinterested in pureed food, so I haven’t needed to use a spoon much, except for the occasional oatmeal or cereal. I am hoping the fake fussiness is just a temporary thing with the re-introduction of the spoon, though I definitely could foresee toddler eloise throwing a very similar fit over who knows what! the crying (I don’t even think you could call it that!) subsides quickly as soon as you make a funny face or remind her of the food that is on her tray.

eloise has also started bobbing her head & rocking her body while seated in her high chair. I have noticed it for the past few days & especially when we had music playing in the living room while she was eating the other day. I don’t think she is correlating her movement to music, but it sure does look like she is dancing! every so often you will look over & she will be bobbing in her highchair. it’s, you guessed it, adorable!

happy 37 weeks eloise!

M

this post contains affiliate links.

{dress: Carter’s (old) // bloomers: babyGap (from this dress) // moccasins: Freshly Picked}

{week 36} this past week my mom (Grammie) was in town & we spent the better part of our time up in La Conner, WA enjoying the Puget Sound & the tulips. despite being in a completely new place, eloise did so well!

stretching is a new fun thing eloise has started in the past few weeks, mostly after diaper changes or when she wakes up from sleep. we are starting the “eloise is SO big!” when she stretches & it is awfully cute! I wonder if this means she is growing?

eloise has mastered a straight-arm wave. it took a while for me to figure it out since it is very low (at belly level usually) & often is while she is tapping on something, but she is waving. aaron & I frequently wave to her with our entire arm from across the room & say “hello eloise!” to see if we can teach her to wave with her arm instead of just her wrist & hand. clapping is still elusive, though she LOVES when someone else is clapping – she just laughs & laughs. the issue is mostly that her hands are closed so she basically ends up fist bumping herself!

eloise’s top four teeth are in & it looks a little strange. where did my toothless little baby go? they aren’t as obvious as her bottom two teeth (because of her lip) & they make her look so grown up. we have to be careful now with her teeth though since she doesn’t realize she can bite! she grabbed my finger last week & bit down & I still have a cut! there have been a couple of times where I have felt teeth while nursing (SO painful!) but it has mostly been an angle thing & not that eloise has actually chomped down (thank goodness!).

solids are still going well & eloise is loving eating three meals a day (in addition to the five nursing sessions & one bedtime bottle!). while eloise still likes purees, she is much more interested in finger food (BLW) so I am starting to offer her more of that. my thought is that in the coming weeks I will finish off the remaining purees & then be done with them.

happy 36 weeks eloise!

M

this post contains affiliate links.