Week 17

Hello and Welcome to Post-Natal Week 17.

She is officially 4 months old now. Although in this photo she is about 2-3 weeks old. It's one of my favorite photos because it has such personality. And her personality just shines through and grows stronger every day. It's rather cool that someone as young as Estella is and without so many of the verbal and non-verbal communication techniques that most of us use on a daily basis can be so expressive, full of thought and feeling. She is a wonderfully happy baby. Her smiles are huge and she is generous with them. She smiles with her whole face. Her eyes just glow. But of course, I am her mother. I am proud that she is so happy. It's nothing that I have done. We just make sure she is safe, warm, fed and loved. It's her choice to share her happiness. Some babies are very stoic and silent. Some babies cry and whimper no matter the situation. Estella likes to join in the party. She wants to know what is going on at all times and tries to be a part of it all. She loves to babble, especially when we are singing together. Although this week she seems more focused on growing her motor skills then practicing her talking. She fed herself with a bottle this past Monday. I was shocked. Eric was feeding her in her bouncy seat and she had a grip on her bottle. He had to get some paperwork for me and decided to see how she would do on her own with the bottle. He let go and she continued to hold it and finished the bottle on her own! My little over-achiever! How great is that? I have no idea how old babies are when they first hold bottles on their own with any consistency, but I know I'm amazed any time she does something new. But all of this is new to me, and that's the most wonderful thing.

Here are some of Estella's likes and dislikes:

Likes: Shower time
Singing her ABC's, Row Row Row Your Boat and Henry the VIIIth
Being naked
Playing with her musical pigs and bunnies
The ladies at the daycare that take very good care of her
Cab rides home from the daycare
Smiling to funny phrases
Standing with Mommy and Daddy
Eating and Sleeping
Reaching for our cats
Hanging out with the family

Dislikes: Bath time
Mommy and Daddy on their computer
Getting dressed and undressed
Sitting in her car seat
Being removed from the milk fountain
Stuffy noses

This week we go to the Doctor for her 4 month exam. She will get some shots (boo!) and she will get all of the vitals taken. I am hoping she is around 11.5 pounds. She may be more, I don't know. She has been eating rice cereal for 3 full weeks and bananas for 2 weeks. She is doing very well with them. I do not want her on formula at all and she is old enough to start introducing some baby foods. I use the rice cereal in my breast milk for the daycare and she gets 1 jar of bananas per day during the week. For the weekends she is completely breast feed. So she could be more than 11.5 pounds. It's been 2 months since we've seen the doctor so we'll see what he says about her growth.

We are in the middle of our very busy 2 weeks. Janice and Frank are now back in Philadelphia for their wedding next Saturday. They arrived this morning and I can not wait to see them tonight! We are going to have a such a great time with them. Eric and I had our birthdays this week. I through Eric a surprise party last Saturday night, which I am sad to say wasn't much of a surprise, but it was fun just the same. We went to my parents house and had cake and ice cream for my birthday. Tomorrow my mom and I pick up our dresses for the wedding and we will get our hair cut and colored. I can not wait to get my hair done! Then it's full speed ahead for the wedding on Saturday. Woot Woot!

That's about all for this week. I will let you all know Estella's stats next week. And as a reminder you can all read or share these emails be referencing my website http://desireesbabyupdates.blogspot.com/ .Until next time, I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Love to you all,
Desiree