Stats
Weight: No updates (next Doctor’s visit is after the New Year)
Height: No updates
Head Circumference: No updates
Weight/Stature Percentile: No updates
Milestones thus far: Smiling, blowing raspberries, laughing (finally! she’s one tough cookie), rolling tummy-to-back and back-to-tummy, makes “mmmm” sounds (only when she cries and frowns 🙁 ), NEW ONES: kind of sitting up on her own (she has to have her hands on the floor to hold herself up), eating her first solid (pumpkin soup!)
Nickname: Princess Buttermilk (courtesy of Linn)
Likes
Ergobaby Carrier (still her most favorite way to fall asleep and I have her facing forward every so often)
Sucking her left thumb (still going strong with the left) AND her toes (!!!!)
Being read to
Sleeping on her tummy
Eating, eating, eating
People watching
Putting things in her mouth, especially a crinkle-sounding sun
Rolling
Standing up (with the help of a table or mommy)
Photos & Update
Well, I can no longer say that Ellie Mae is an infant. She’s really grown out of the infant stage; she is awake longer during the day and much more alert/attentive to her surroundings. She even enjoys playing with toys. Unlike Hank, Ellie Mae is more interested in touching, feeling, exploring objects. In the bouncer, she is less likely to bounce/jump and more likely to spin the toys or play with the piano keys. I have not been able to capture this on video, but when she plays with the piano keys she will make a high-pitch scream out of delight over the keys making sound. It is super cute! We have this play table that Hank was NEVER interested in, but Ellie Mae just LOVES it. She instantly figured out how to spin the cogs/gears.
Hank is a wonderful brother who is very much interested in “teaching” Ellie, showing her how to play with her toys. It really is sweet to watch them play together.
Earlier this month, Ellie Mae discovered her feet/toes. However, it wasn’t until recently that she decided she really LOVED her toes and started to go at them. We have to change her socks a lot (because they get super wet). We have started to leave her socks off altogether so she can really go to town with her toes.
Santa visited the children this Thanksgiving, so Ellie Mae got to sit with him and share some secrets.
Ellie Mae had her first ear infection a couple weeks ago. I had to administer her antibiotics through a syringe/dropper. She had trouble swallowing the medicine. It wasn’t because she didn’t like the flavor; medicine today is sweetened up so much (Hank calls medicine a treat!). It was because she couldn’t figure out how to push the medicine back with her tongue and swallow. Basically, she just didn’t have the mechanics of eating and swallowing down.
At her 4-month checkup, the pediatrician explained to me that it was important to hold off on solids until Ellie Mae was sitting up, showing interest in food, and had the mechanics of swallowing down food. So I held off on introducing her solids. Last week, Ellie started to hold herself up in a sitting position and showed interest in the foods we were eating. This past Saturday, I gave her her last dose of antibiotics and she easily swallowed it — none of it leaked out of her mouth. So, I was super excited and knew she was ready for some solids!!! I rushed out to the grocery store to buy butternut squash to make a puree, but tiny pumpkins (called “pie pumpkin”) were on sale and I decided to instead buy one, roast it, and turn the pulp into a soup! So, her first solid was pumpkin soup and she seemed to enjoy it!
That’s it folks!
Peace out!