Eloise at Six Months

HAPPY HALF BIRTHDAY, BABY GIRL!!

WEIGHT: 14 pounds (13th percentile)
HEIGHT: 25.25 inches (24th percentile)
CLOTHES SIZE: 0-3 Months and 3-6 months (only a few things in the bigger size)
DIAPER SIZE: One

LIKES:
 - Her daddy, for simply existing--stares at him nearly nonstop when he is around, and he gets the biggest smiles
 - Being tickled on her ribs and chest
 - My hair--grabbing it, eating it, playing with it, having it tickle her, etc.
 - Splashing in the bath
 - Peek-a-boo and people jumping out to scare her (though if you surprise her too much, she cries)
 - Bottles
 - Sticking her hand in my mouth
 - Screeching and talking (she loves her own voice)
 - Loud singing and exaggerated dancing from people
 - Licking and chewing on everything, though cloth seems to be her favorite
 - Sneezing and other people sneezing
 - Baby gym with hanging toys
 - Bouncers
 - Her mini spatulas

DISLIKES:
 - Cold water (like getting her feet dipped in a creek...)
 - Skipping naps
 - Not being fed very soon/immediately after waking from a nap
 - Getting her nose wiped
 - Extended lengths of tummy time (better than previous months though!)
 - Extra stimulating situations with lots of people

FIRSTS/MILESTONES:
 - Walks her feet when standing on the ground (holding onto our fingers) (21 weeks)
 - Rolled over from back to front (22 weeks)
 - Transitioned out of all swaddles for sleeping (22 weeks)
 - Shows strong interest in real people food--stares at us if we eat anything around her (23 weeks)
 - Rolled over and slept on her tummy for nap time (23 weeks)
 - On a swing! (24 weeks)
 - Spins in circles while on her tummy and back (24 weeks)
 - Plays with my hair and face while nursing (24 weeks)
 - Scratches (open and closes her hand quickly) everything (24 weeks)

RANDOM NOTES:
 - Freely gives huge, eye-crinkling smiles, but rarely (as in only a couple times a week, if that) giggles for us
 - Currently sleeps about 10 hours straight at night, takes 4 naps, nurses/takes a bottle 5 times, and eats solids once at dinner time
 - Never woke us up in the middle of the night this month (she's an angel)
 - Very wild sleeper in her crib, we often find her in a completely different orientation from when she started her nap/bedtime
 - Constantly is scratching and grabbing everything, but especially her hair
 - Met a second set of great-grandparents, the Krauses
 - Sleeps on her side 90% of the time, and sleeping more deeply than ever YAY
 - Thin hair these days, but looks like it is growing in again and is a little lighter compared to at birth. It is also long enough on top that it sometimes flops over!
 - Her big beautiful eyes are still dark blue!
 - Nicknames: Lou, Lou Bug, Lou Babe, Lou Girl, LouLou, Honey Bunches, Booga Babe, Lou Cakes, Lou-der Bug

This month Eloise suddenly got way more wiggly and energetic! It seems like she is always on the move, wanting to stand and bounce and grab at things and of course gnaw on everything that touches her mouth. She is such a happy girl in general and gives lots of smiles, and not just to us. She does better with strangers than she did last month, which is nice. Lou doesn't giggle too often, and instead prefers to shriek and smile big when she is extra happy and excited. But when she does giggle, it is SO CUTE. One of the most wonderful sounds ever!

These last couple months of breastfeeding have been a bit rough. If you read my previous blog posts on Eloise, you might know that I was spending a lot of time trying to bring back my milk supply with little success (I tried pumping after every nursing session, drinking so much water I felt sick, taking Fenugreek, getting more sleep, making lactation cookies, drinking Gatorade, etc.). This month was no different. My supply dropped so much that many times Eloise would refuse to even try nursing, and would end up crying in frustration and hunger. This would leave both of us upset, and I became extra stressed about how I would get Lou the calories she needed to be healthy and gaining weight. It was hard to admit that breastfeeding simply wasn't going to work for me. I had always thought that breastfeeding or formula feeding was a simply a choice, and hadn't really ever considered that my body wouldn't be actually able to get Eloise all the food she needed. I was bummed.

We had already been supplementing a bit of formula or breastmilk after each feeding already while I was trying to build up my supply (which likely didn't help, but Lou needed the extra food immediately so no real choice there...). Trying to breastfeed full time was honestly just making both Eloise and I upset, though I really wanted to be able to for her. So I took a step back from trying to get Eloise to nurse so much, and it has made both of us much happier! If Eloise refuses to nurse, I don't worry about it. Once my supply completely runs out, we will switch over to exclusively bottle feeding our girl formula. Formula is a wonderful thing, and I'm so happy it exists! This month, I went from nursing Eloise five times a day, and now nurse only three times a day. She still needs a couple extra ounces of formula after nursing. The other two feedings, Eloise gets just formula. Soon, I'll probably need to drop another nursing session, and that's okay. I'll do it as long as I can, but won't let it cause my anxiety anymore. And Lou is much happier now that she gets a full belly at every feeding :)

We are ending this month on the same schedule that Eloise has been on for about a month and a half now. It still has been working so well. Though the way we feed Eloise has changed a bit and she now stays awake for around two hours at a time, though the overall timing of everything has remained about the same. Here it is:
7:30 am - Wake Eloise up, nurse and bottle supplement, play, nap
11:00 am - Bottle, play, nap
2:30 pm - Nurse and bottle supplement, play, nap
6:00 pm - Bottle, play, dinner (usually purees or mashed fruit with baby cereal), shorter nap
9:00 pm - Nurse and bottle supplement, bath, lotion massage, down for the night

During play time throughout the day, we usually cycle through activities like independent play (usually she lays on a blanket with some toys or her hanging gym), tummy time and rolling over, practicing sitting up, lots of up and down standing/jumping, reaching for toys, singing songs, reading a book (when will she start liking books?!), and going on walks to the park or just being outside.

It does seem like Eloise is ready to be sleeping a bit longer at night and take longer naps with longer awake times in between naps. We have to wake her up nearly every morning and from every nap. Because of this, we plan on moving her schedule around a bit so that she only takes three naps a day and has about an extra hour at night. We'll move toward that in the next week. More on that next month!

She looks so proud of herself YUCK

Eloise has really started to hit some big milestones this month. She has gotten a lot better at grasping objecting and bringing them to her mouth to chew on them. But when we're playing with her, she likes to get lazy and expects us to just put them in her mouth for her... Lou Babe rolls over all the time, but really only one direction going back to front. She hasn't mastered the other three ways yet, haha. But most times you set her on her back, she'll immediately roll over onto her tummy. Which then makes her mad, because she hasn't quite figured out how to get back yet. Eloise loves to stand and walk around while holding on to our fingers for balance. She doesn't sit up yet, but she is definitely making progress and can sometimes last a couple seconds without falling over. She is doing so well!

Short Life Update

Hi blog readers! I recognize that this blog is nearly solely for our personal journaling and the very few people read it, but we thought it was about time to post a short update on what has been going on in our lives and what our plans are for the near future that don't directly concern Eloise.

Dustan is still attending BYU, working on his master's degree in Robotics. As of this last winter semester though, he has officially finished all his classes! Yay, done with college classes forever! He finished with an impressive cumulative GPA of 3.9 for his undergrad and graduate classes. Now, he is just working every day to finish his maser's research and writing his thesis, which he hopes to finish and defend by late August.

Dustan is officially an employee of Raytheon Missile Systems, but it on an educational leave of absence until he finishes his master's degree. Once he is finished, we will be moving to Tucson, Arizona! We are very excited and ready to start the next phase. We are hoping to be settled in Tucson by Labor Day, though the date is very flexible and depends on Dustan's master's degree.

Dustan is very passionate about mountain biking. And by passionate, I mean obsessed, haha. He goes mountain biking every chance he can, usually at least four days a week but ideally more. He signed up to do a few downhill mountain biking enduro races this summer, that he'll hopefully get to do still even with a recent bad crash that caused some injuries (5 stictches on his chin and a rotator cuff tear that we'll find out more about at an upcoming doctor appointment).

I (Ellen) quit working as soon as I had Eloise, and now have the happy and full-time job as a stay at home mom! It is wonderful, hard, and very rewarding, in many ways I didn't expect. I am ready to get down to Tucson and start building a life down there--ideally before the heat kills us ;) I recently finished a watercolor art class through the city of Provo and really enjoyed that, and hope to get into painting more. Dustan also has purchased me a mountain bike in the hopes that I can join him for some rides as I get better. That is a work in progress!

Since we possibly only have a few months left in August, we have a few things we are looking forward to and hope to do. We are looking forward to lots of friends and family visiting throughout the summer, and the upcoming Nielson family reunion in Oregon. We want to take Lou camping and get her a little more out of her comfort zone (and us, for that matter, haha). We also plan to revamp and kind of restart our photography business. It got put on hold while I was so sick being pregnant then after Eloise was born. But we want to get back into and get some great shoots this summer! Let us know if you need some pictures taken ;) There are some great places in Utah that somehow we have never visited that we want to get to for some weekend getaways. Those include Bear Lake, Goblin Valley, Grand Escalante, and more. We were hoping to do more last summer (our first ever summer in Utah), but I ended up being so sick while pregnant that we didn't do a whole lot. Hopefully a baby won't slow us down this summer!

Basically, life is good and we have a lot to look forward to in the coming months :)

Eloise at Five Months

WEIGHT: 12 pounds 4 ounces
CLOTHES SIZE: 0-3 Months and 3-6 months (but only a few things in the bigger size)
DIAPER SIZE: One

LIKES:
 - Lightbulbs and light fixtures (especially the one above her carseat in the car and the one in our bedroom)
 - Anything involving Dustan, but especially big smiles for him when he gets home from work!
 - Mirrors
 - Sucking on her fingers constantly
 - Peek-a-boo
 - Baby cereals mixed with pureed food (favorites so far are apples, sweet potatoes, and bananas)
 - Feeling of falling
 - The great outdoors--especially waterfalls
 - Buzzing lips, beatboxing, and whistling
 - Always standing while holding onto our fingers
 - Raspberries/nibbling on her tummy (giggles most at this!!)
 - Baby gym with hanging toys
 - Scratching/playing with her hair
 - Doorway jumper
 - Being tickled on her ribs and neck

DISLIKES:
 - Baby cereal mixed with formula or sweet peas
 - Sound of her baby wipes container being ruffled and used
 - Needing to burp/poop while nursing
 - Tummy time (still, ugh)
 - Not being fed immediately
 - Falling asleep and going down for naps, especially when overtired
 - Someone singing/making loud noises while nursing
 - Constipation (ugh again, nightmare this month)

FIRSTS/MILESTONES:
 - Eating "real" food--baby cereal mixed with pureed fruit (17 weeks)
 - ACTUAL GIGGLE SO CUTE--my face hurt from smiling so big (18 weeks)
 - Playing "games" (18 weeks)
 - Transitioned to an arms up swaddle--the LoveToDream Swaddle (18 weeks)
 - Reaching for and grasping objects mostly successfully (19 weeks)
 - Spins around in complete circles while on her back (20 weeks)
 - Rolling onto her side from her back (20 weeks)

RANDOM NOTES:
 - Kicks her legs and flails her arms when happy/excited, and sometimes even shrieks.
 - Third cold this year :(
 - Far less smiley and playful when around anyone other than Dustan and I or when in unfamiliar places. She gets more quietly observant and a little fussy.
 - Still has very little interest in rolling over. Has rolled over front to back over a dozen times since 6 weeks old, but very inconsistently.
 - Rarely pouts anymore when upset. I miss that face!!
 - Easily distracted while nursing, especially when Dustan is nearby.
 - Eats baby food with much vigor!
 - Eloise's hair AND my hair started falling out this month *insert crying emoji*, I'm so bummed. More about her hair than mine though...

Blueberry face!

As I briefly mentioned in Eloise's Four Month blog post, we had an appointment with our pediatrician at four months. Though overall Eloise is happy, alert, and active, she's been gaining weight more slowly than the doctor would like. She had significantly and consistently gone down in weight percentile since birth. Dustan and I were instructed to find a way to get Eloise more calories each day to try and fatten her up! We made a game plan and tried to stick to it. First, we introduced formula and rice cereal into her diet (which led to other problems I'll mention later, haha). I continued to breastfeed Eloise at the same times I had been, but after a couple feedings each day, I also gave Lou 2 to 4 ounces of formula to drink as well. Then around dinner time, we would give her some purees mixed with baby cereal. And ever since about mid-March, I had felt my milk supply start to dip. Once we introduced formula and solids, I felt like it took a big hit. So the second half of this month has also been a challenge in trying different methods to increase my milk supply with little to no results so far. That's a work in progress! But as you can see with her weight above, she has gained weight twice as fast this month compared to the previous months. Yay! And though Eloise was such a happy and energetic baby girl already, we feel like this increase in calories has only made her happier and she is developing more quickly. I'm grateful for our pediatrician!

"GIVE ME SWEET POTATOES OR GIVE ME DEATH"

Supposedly babies hit a four month sleep regression and growth spurt? Right when she turned four months old (literally that night), Eloise started waking up once in the middle of the night every night starving, something she hadn't done since she was two months old. She'd nurse for about 30 minutes before being content and going right back to sleep on her own. This lasted for about two weeks. She's still waking up a couple times a week in the middle of the night to eat, but is sleeping well overall. In fact, her naps have actually been getting better. Eloise is falling asleep more quickly and fusses less in the middle. If this is the dreaded sleep regression, I'll take it!!

We did have one crazy night where Eloise woke up about every 20 minutes screaming all night long. It terrified us at first because nothing was working to help her--she wouldn't eat, holding her didn't help, and neither did a warm bath, which she typically loves. We eventually got her to calm down and really fall asleep around 5 am, which made for a long night. We realized a couple days later that this night was probably due constipation, which has been an ongoing struggle since starting foods, haha.

We think that Eloise is naturally shy and a bit nervous around anyone who is not Dustan or me as of late. We've had family and friends babysit a few times and Eloise has cried a majority of the time with them, which is so abnormal for her. She seems to get especially frantic when we leave while she naps and then someone else wakes her up. Even when we are around, Lou seems to get a bit nervous unless she knows we are close by.

We feel like this month Eloise has become so much more aware of her surroundings and little details and actions of others. She loves looking around and observing people. She prefers us to others and often makes that known. She hears sounds and tries to figure out where they are coming from. She tracks us as we move across the room.  She gets fixated on one little thing and will concentrate on it for a while. She will play little games with us (by which I mean she will pay attention and react the same way to repeated sounds/actions, like peek-a-boo). She grabs objects and brings them to her mouth. We are so impressed with how much she has grown this month! Aside from tummy time, which is apparently the worst thing ever and causes Lou to flail all limbs, face plant, and scream most times haha.

This month brought giggles!! They are still far and few in between, but they are the cutest and most wonderful sound. Though more often, Eloise will often shriek and squeal with happiness than actually giggle. She giggles most often when we are nibbling/blowing raspberries on her tummy while tickling her sides and my hair is on her face (she loves my hair), or when we give her the falling sensation.

On top of the "Y"!

Eloise is just SO FUN. We can't wait to see how she changes in the upcoming months! And we are so excited for the warmer weather hitting Utah so we can get out with our adventure buddy a little more!!

Stewart Falls Hike - Lou loved the waterfall

Eloise at Four Months

WEIGHT: 10 pounds 15.5 ounces (1st percentile)
HEIGHT: 24 inches (28th percentile)
CLOTHES SIZE: Newborn (but only some, like the onesie above!) and 0-3 Months
DIAPER SIZE: One

LIKES:
 - Chewing/sucking on her tongue and hands
 - Singing with her daddy and listening to mom's singing
 - Bathtime
 - Raspberries on her tummy
 - Mirrors
 - Beatboxing and whistling
 - Sitting up and standing (with help)
 - Being outside and stroller walks
 - Lightbulbs
 - Dropping/the feeling of falling

DISLIKES:
 - Overly stimulating situations (like being surrounded by her loud and adoring fans)
 - Laying down while being held
 - Not being fed the second hunger strikes
 - Nap time
 - Loud, sudden, and out of the ordinary noises--especially while nursing
 - Car rides when hungry

FIRSTS/MILESTONES:
 - Baby Blessing (13 weeks)
 - Singing (13 weeks)
 - Sleeping in her crib at night, not the bassinet (14 weeks)
 - Little taste of food--licking fruit and loving it! (14 weeks)
 - Sleeping in her crib during the day (15 weeks)
 - Falling asleep on her own and self soothing during daytime naps (15 weeks)
 - Plane ride! (16 weeks)
 - Visit to the state of Washington (16 weeks)
 - Dip in a pool (16 weeks)
 - Little tiny teaser giggle (16 weeks)

RANDOM NOTES:
 - Eloise was blessed by Dustan this month <3
 - Anything that comes in contact with her mouth will be licked
 - Consistently sleeping about 9 hours straight every night (10:00 pm to 7:00 am)--only woke up twice in the middle of night this whole month!
 - Nursing about 5 times a day
 - Has developed a consistent and hilarious pooping face
 - Still arms down swaddled at night and for naps (though she has been escaping more often)
 - Met her first set of great grandparents (the Nielsons) and a lot of extended family!
 - Almost exclusively sucks on her left hand
 - Lovely bald spot on the back of her head, haha

On February 25th, Eloise received a sweet baby blessing from Dustan. We had some wonderful family and friends in attendance. Some of the points Dustan mentioned in her baby blessing was that Eloise would have a spirit of optimist and show others how to live a happy life, to keep the commandments and be virtuous, that she will be quick to learn, that Eloise can find someone who loved her as much as we do and take her to the temple someday, and to show her love to others. I adored Dustan's blessing and the wonderful father he is to our little girl. Eloise looked like a little princess in her dress, and did so well (despite a few of the pictures below, haha). It was a great day!

If you've read our previous month's blog post (here), you know that since we implemented a schedule, Eloise has been sleeping through the night great (naps were another story). We began to notice again that she didn't seem very hungry by the time her last feeding rolled around at 10:00 pm, and would be so exhausted she would barely eat. So we decided to drop another nap and feeding and move from a 3 hour loop, and altered Eloise's schedule to about this:
7:30 am - Wake Eloise up, feed, play, nap
11:00 am - Feed, play, nap
2:30 pm - Feed, play, nap
6:00 pm - Feed, play, nap
9:00 pm - Feed, bath, down for the night

Overall, this schedule went really well! We're still following it now, and Eloise is doing great. We're so proud of our girl!

The results of a single sneeze while suffering from her second cold :(

About halfway through this "month", we moved Eloise from her bassinet into her crib when she sleeps at night. And it went flawlessly! She didn't even seem to notice the change. This was a major blessing, since we decided to start nap sleep training the next week and we really needed something to go well... The crib has some soft, plush sheets that we hope will help prevent some of her back-of-the-head hair loss, haha.

Soon after moving Eloise to her crib at night, we began sleep training for naps. Up until that point, Eloise would refuse to nap unless she was being held by one of us in a dark room with white noise. Between holding Eloise while nursing her and holding her for naps, I had little to no time during the day to get things done. And I didn't want to do chores when Eloise was awake and ready to play! Therefore, sleep training. I had already tried a gentler approach to sleep training a couple weeks prior where I would check on Eloise and sooth her if she was crying, but she usually ended up even more mad when I left the room again. So this time I waited about 15 minutes if she was crying straight, more time if it was intermittent. The first couple days were just horrible. I felt so bad all day long :( She didn't sleep one bit for the first couple naps and just cried. She only slept a little for her last nap of the day. Thankfully, this didn't affect her nighttime sleep! The next day was about the same. From there on out, it just got a little better each day. We're still working on it. Most naps, Eloise will fuss and cry for about 10 minutes before falling asleep, and will usually wake up once or twice and fuss during the nap before going back to sleep. Occasionally, Eloise will refuse to nap altogether. But she is doing so great overall! I feel like I can get a million things done during the day now!

Escaping her swaddle during naps, haha

My mom flew Eloise and I out to Washington this last month to spend some time with the family. On both the flight there and the flight back, Eloise did so well! It was a bit stressful, wanting to make sure Eloise stayed happy and didn't disturb others, but it was fine. Everyone at the airports stared at her hair and commented on her cuteness. Dustan and I may have a big head about her ;)

The visit to Washington was so fun. Basically, we spent a lot hanging with family and friends, playing games, eating good food, and watching movies. Eloise took her first dip in a pool on this trip, and did pretty good. She screamed pretty good at first, then calmed down and just seemed concerned, haha. I hope she ends up loving water and swimming as much as I do! I'll add a few more pictures of our visit later, when I have them :)

We just barely had Eloise's four month appointment. Eloise is overall healthy and happy, but our pediatrician is a little worried about her slow of weight gain. (As you can see in her stats listed at the top, Eloise is only in the 1st percentile for weight and had only gained one pound in two months.) So, Dustan and I are now on a mission to get our girl more calories each day and fatten her up! I'll write more on that next month, but our current game plan is so try and increase my milk supply, supplement with just a little bit of formula, and introduce rice cereal. If you have any advice, please send it my way! But Eloise is still a happy, developing, smiley, and active girl that we just love spending each day with <3

Eloise at Three Months

CLOTHES SIZE: Newborn and 0-3 Months
DIAPER SIZE: One

LIKES:
 - Looking at window blinds when light is shining through
 - The words "Hi!" and "Good morning!" in obnoxiously high voices
 - Bathtime
 - Being outside and looking around
 - Raspberries on her tummy
 - Toe nibbles
 - Cheek/neck tickles and kisses
 - Soft blowing on her face
 - Sitting up (with help)
 - Standing (with lots of help)

DISLIKES:
 - Car seat
 - Laying down while being held
 - Tummy time
 - Lips buzzing noise
 - Loud singing while nursing
 - Pacifier
 - Nap time
 - Bassinet during the day
 - Hiccups that last longer than a few minutes

FIRSTS/MILESTONES:
 - Putting herself to sleep and self soothing at night (10 weeks)
 - "Sleeping through the night", 6-8 hour stretches at once (10 weeks)
 - Sleeping in her own room (11 weeks)
 - Valentine's Day <3 (12 weeks)
 - Bringing her hands to her mouth to suck on them (12 weeks)

RANDOM NOTES:
 - Consistently sleeping between 6-8 hours straight at night without nursing
 - Eyebrows turn red as she gets upset and cries
 - Nursing 6-7 times each day
 - Every single person we meet comments on her hair ("No, we don't style her hair, it just does that.")
 - Giggles occasionally in her sleep, SO CUTE
 - Smiles less when in unfamiliar places or with unfamiliar people
 - Stares at Dustan when ever he is near, even when I'm holding her
 - Nicknames: Lou, LouLou, Wiggle Bug, Booga Babe, Honey Bunches, Pretty Girl

As I mentioned in Eloise's Two Months blog post, after Christmas Break Eloise just refused to sleep for nap times, and was often still waking up every few hours at night to eat. One of my good friends recommended that I read On Becoming Baby Wise. Dustan and I read this baby book together and decided to start implementing what it taught. Basically, this book stresses the importance of having your baby on a fairly strict schedule, having your baby eat, play, then sleep (in that order) about every three hours. Eloise wanted to only fall asleep while nursing, which often led to her not eating well, and wanting to eat far more often during the day. I also felt that her cluster feeding in the evening wasn't really helping her eat as well as getting a couple full feedings would. So right at the start of month three, Dustan and I put Eloise on a schedule and did our best to stick to it. Here is the schedule that we started with and followed for a couple weeks:
7:00 am - Wake Eloise up, feed her, have play time, put her down for a nap
10:00 am - Feed, play, nap
1:00 pm - Feed, play, nap
4:00 pm - Feed, play, nap
7:00 pm - Feed, play, short nap
9:00 pm - Feed, play, short nap
11:00 pm - Feed, bed time routine, down for the night

We love our bed time routine. I feed Eloise for the last time, then Dustan and I trade off giving her baths. Afterward, we lay her on our bed in the near dark and dry her off, lotion and massage her, and put on pajamas and swaddle her up. Whoever didn't do bath time, gets Eloise put to bed. That person rocks her a little, sings a short song, then lays Elosie in her bassinet.

We were shocked! The first night after starting the schedule, Eloise slept from midnight to 7:00 am!! We thought it maybe it was just a fluke, but then she did it the next night, and the next night, and kept doing it! After following this schedule for a few days, we tried just laying Eloise in her bassinet wide awake when our efforts to get her asleep didn't go anywhere. She cooed and talked to herself and did a few small wimpers, but was asleep within 20 minutes. From then on, we were able to put her to bed at night completely awake, and she would put herself to sleep every time. After following this schedule for a couple weeks, Eloise became so tired for the last feeding, that she would barely eat, but continued to sleep through the night. So we decided to drop the last feeding and slightly alter her schedule to this:
7:00 am - Wake Eloise up, feed, play, nap
10:00 am - Feed, play, nap
1:00 pm - Feed, play, nap
4:00 pm - Feed, play, nap
7:00 pm - Feed, play, nap
10:00 pm - Feed, bath, down for the night

Eloise continued to sleep through the night even once we dropped a feeding during the day and moved up her bed time by an hour. During month four, we plan to move up her bedtime another hour  to 9:00 pm, and potentially drop another feeding, but we'll see!

Valentine's Day outfit :)

Eloise was sleeping so great at night, Dustan and I felt so great! And after her first 7:00 am feeding, Eloise is such a happy girl. But naps are still a struggle. Eloise is actually napping during the day now, but every single nap is a fight. She hates to go to sleep during the day, and typically cries and thrashes for between 5-20 minutes for each nap before finally falling asleep. Even after a month. We've tried putting her down earlier (having shorter awake times) and putting her down later (letting her be awake longer), and neither helps. In addition to that, Eloise refuses to go down in a bassinet for nap times. She has to be held for all of them. We did notice that occasionally Eloise will stay asleep for a while alone if in our bed (we will cuddle her until she stops crying and falls asleep, then sneak away), but even this isn't consistent. For a few days mid-month, I tried letting Eloise cry it out for naps in her bassinet, with absolutely no success. She cried the entire way through naps until it was time to eat again. I'll try again when she is a little older. But we are still so proud of how she is sleeping through the night! We'll take that over naps any way :)

Also, after a few weeks of sleeping on her own, we decided to move Eloise to her own bedroom. Our mattress is pretty squeaky and Dustan moves around a ton in his sleep. I checked on Eloise every time she made a noise. All together, I think we were all just keeping each other awake more often. Moving Eloise to her own room was a good choice, though I do still often check on her at least once a night, haha.

About half way through the month, Eloise had what we think was a growth spurt. She became a little extra cranky for a few days, and wanted to eat more often. She woke up a few times around 4:00 am inconsolably crying until she got fed. But I didn't even mind. In the past when I had to feed Eloise at night, it included feeding her for about 40 minutes, then spending another 30-60 minutes trying to get her asleep in her bassinet alone. This time, I just quickly fed Eloise while swaddled, then put her back in her bassinet immediately after burping, and she went asleep on her own soon after. It was great!

Not a fan of the big girl high chair, haha

Ever since getting on this new schedule, Eloise is just the HAPPIEST girl! It used to be that she really only had a smiley and happy time in the morning after sleeping at night and eating. Now, she is happy all the time! She is at her very best after taking a good nap and a full feeding. She is so playful until it is time for her to go down for her next nap. It has been a joy figuring out what sorts of goofy behaviors bring out her sweet smiles the most. We love our girl!