I love seeing Ellie's progression in these pictures. She is wearing the same onesie in all of them and you can see how she fills it out so much more in the 3 month photo! Also she doesn't slump over as much in the most recent photo!
Talking changes/development
The first few months Ellie was mostly making squeaky noises, but in the last month she has started to coo, babble and even laugh. These noises are much better than just the squeaks and cries we used to get! I love hearing her produce new sounds!
She has started to hold onto toys when you put them in her hand and she seems to actually look at the pictures when i read her books. She even started to use her hand to turn the page! She notices faces a lot more and will look at Winnie when she is close enough. Winnie usually steals our socks and carries them around the house with her, but lately she has switched over to baby burp clothes...I am hoping this means she loves baby Ellie more than the smell of our feet! Tummy time is getting a little longer and she likes to hang out on her mat on her back and knock around the hanging toys.
Smiles are coming a lot more frequently now and if you smile at her (at least when she is in a good mood) she will smile back at you - which is the best thing ever! I love the mornings when she is stretching out after being swaddled all night and she makes coos and smiles at me!
Back to work
I started back at work about a week and a half ago. It is both a good and a bad thing I would say. I am only in the office on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and then I work from home (with Ellie around) on Tuesdays and Fridays. It is really tough trying to get work done from home with a 3 month around to take care of. I try to fit in work when she naps but I inevitably feel like I am failing at two jobs at once. If I am doing work then I feel like I am neglecting her and then if I am playing with her I feel like I am neglecting work.
Originally my plan was to go reduced hours and not work on Tuesdays and Fridays but my bossed convinced me to stay full time and do a "flexible schedule" on the days I am home with her. I am still in a trial period of it, so we shall see how it works out. I have a feeling he wanted me to stay full time because that way our group doesn't lose any money from the budget and he also probably knew I would end up doing all my work anyway even if i was part time so might as well pay me for it. I just try to be as efficient as possible on the days I am in the office and hopefully that will take some of the edge off the days I am at home.
Pumping at work has been interesting. Luckily we have a nursing room at work that is on my floor - on my first day I had to sign up for my 30 minute time slots during the day. It is nice to have a set time, but if people schedule meetings over my time slot it gets a little tricky to fit in the pumping. Currently I try to pump 3 times while at work to make sure my supply doesn't go down, but I am hoping to eventually reduce it to twice at work. To pass the time while I pump I have started doing squats! Ha you have to try to fit in exercise where you can these days!
My days at work have been really busy, which makes them go by fast, but I am afraid it will be tough to balance the expectations with making sure I get home early for Ellie, etc. People have asked me if it was tough to leave her on the first day/week, but it wasn't too bad. She was asleep when I dropped her off so that helped, and plus she is with my mom the 3 days I am at work so that helps too. My mom is awesome at taking care of kids so I have no worries about leaving her there. My mom worked in early education most of her life so she knows whats up.
Originally my plan was to go reduced hours and not work on Tuesdays and Fridays but my bossed convinced me to stay full time and do a "flexible schedule" on the days I am home with her. I am still in a trial period of it, so we shall see how it works out. I have a feeling he wanted me to stay full time because that way our group doesn't lose any money from the budget and he also probably knew I would end up doing all my work anyway even if i was part time so might as well pay me for it. I just try to be as efficient as possible on the days I am in the office and hopefully that will take some of the edge off the days I am at home.
Pumping at work has been interesting. Luckily we have a nursing room at work that is on my floor - on my first day I had to sign up for my 30 minute time slots during the day. It is nice to have a set time, but if people schedule meetings over my time slot it gets a little tricky to fit in the pumping. Currently I try to pump 3 times while at work to make sure my supply doesn't go down, but I am hoping to eventually reduce it to twice at work. To pass the time while I pump I have started doing squats! Ha you have to try to fit in exercise where you can these days!
My days at work have been really busy, which makes them go by fast, but I am afraid it will be tough to balance the expectations with making sure I get home early for Ellie, etc. People have asked me if it was tough to leave her on the first day/week, but it wasn't too bad. She was asleep when I dropped her off so that helped, and plus she is with my mom the 3 days I am at work so that helps too. My mom is awesome at taking care of kids so I have no worries about leaving her there. My mom worked in early education most of her life so she knows whats up.
Sleep
Ellie has been consistently good at sleeping lately. She goes to bed between 8:30-9:15pm and usually wakes up between 5:30-6:15 am. This works out well for me getting ready in the morning because she wakes up, I feed her and then she goes back to sleep until about 7:30am. This allows me time to get ready, feed Winnie, etc. Brian leaves for work most mornings at 5:40 am so I am usually on my own in the morning.
She isn't a great day time napper yet. She catnaps throughout the day and if I let her sleep on me in the afternoon she may put in a 1-2 hour nap (but only on top of me, ha). I hope as she gets a little older naps will become more predictable and longer.
Ellie has been consistently good at sleeping lately. She goes to bed between 8:30-9:15pm and usually wakes up between 5:30-6:15 am. This works out well for me getting ready in the morning because she wakes up, I feed her and then she goes back to sleep until about 7:30am. This allows me time to get ready, feed Winnie, etc. Brian leaves for work most mornings at 5:40 am so I am usually on my own in the morning.
She isn't a great day time napper yet. She catnaps throughout the day and if I let her sleep on me in the afternoon she may put in a 1-2 hour nap (but only on top of me, ha). I hope as she gets a little older naps will become more predictable and longer.
Feeding
Breastfeeding is still going strong! I do pump a lot more now that I am back at work, which is annoying, but it is what it is. When I do breastfeed her she is a champ now and it is pretty effortless through most of the day. The only time it gets tricky is at night (6-8pm) when she gets fussy. We usually give her a bottle then to make sure she gets enough food in before bed.
Breastfeeding was a challenge at the beginning, but I am glad I have stuck with it. It can still be a challenge if I want to go out for more than 2 hours, because then she would need a bottle and I might need to pump.
Breastfeeding was a challenge at the beginning, but I am glad I have stuck with it. It can still be a challenge if I want to go out for more than 2 hours, because then she would need a bottle and I might need to pump.
Body
I am still down about 10 lbs from my pregnancy weight. I am starting to feel bad that I haven't worked out much since giving birth - I think I need to get into my work groove a bit before adding that on right now. I still consider breastfeeding my "workout" right now since it does burn a lot of calories. I will continue to try to fit in some strength training (such as while I pump) and I hope when the nice weather comes I will be able to get out for more frequent and longer walks.
I am still down about 10 lbs from my pregnancy weight. I am starting to feel bad that I haven't worked out much since giving birth - I think I need to get into my work groove a bit before adding that on right now. I still consider breastfeeding my "workout" right now since it does burn a lot of calories. I will continue to try to fit in some strength training (such as while I pump) and I hope when the nice weather comes I will be able to get out for more frequent and longer walks.
Feelings/thoughts
Brian had to travel for work this week for 2 nights. It was quite a challenge being home by myself with Ellie for 2 nights and I hope he doesn't have to travel for more than that. It was mostly the fact that there was nobody else to "hand her off to" when I needed to do something. We made it through though!
I find Brian and I saying things like "i can't wait for her to do this or that" and I try not to say things like that too frequently because I really do want to enjoy the stage/moment that Ellie is at right now. I have started to put away some of her newborn clothes that she has out grown and it makes me a little sad because she will never be that small again! And who knows if we will be able to have another baby to wear the clothes.
Brian had to travel for work this week for 2 nights. It was quite a challenge being home by myself with Ellie for 2 nights and I hope he doesn't have to travel for more than that. It was mostly the fact that there was nobody else to "hand her off to" when I needed to do something. We made it through though!
I find Brian and I saying things like "i can't wait for her to do this or that" and I try not to say things like that too frequently because I really do want to enjoy the stage/moment that Ellie is at right now. I have started to put away some of her newborn clothes that she has out grown and it makes me a little sad because she will never be that small again! And who knows if we will be able to have another baby to wear the clothes.
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