Two Months

Ellie,

You are two months old! You continue to be an easy and happy baby, which makes every minute with you pure joy. At two months you:

Are happy. all. the. time. Big smiles take over your face whenever anyone looks at you or talks to you, but especially Timmy.

Coo and gurgle and carry on conversations of oooohing and ahhhing.

Kick and fist pump. You finally enjoy the baby einstein play mat, but your favorite toy without a doubt is Jacque the Peacock. (the way Timmy says Jacque the peacock is one of my favorite things right now).

Love to snuggle. We hold you a lot and you will squeeze into a tight little ball of warmth on our shoulders.

Sleep anywhere. The carseat, the bassinet, any type of carrier (moby, ergo or bjorn), the bouncy chair, the swing, the stroller. Like I said, easy baby.

Are sleeping for longer periods of time, which everyone likes. For the past two weeks, you have slept for about 12 hours at night, waking up once or twice to eat.

Like the pacifier and the swaddle.

Hate tummy time. The doctor said that means you're right on track developmentally. Your brother hated tummy time too.

Still have a pretty floppy head but are trying really hard to move around, scooting and half-rolling.

Are beautiful. You have the cutest dimple when you smile and big, pretty blue eyes.

Enjoy singing pat-a-cake and "so big!" or really any interactive song

Are itty-bitty compared to your brother. You weigh 11 lbs, 1 oz (50th percentile) and are 22 inches long (25th percentile). Still wearing size 1 diapers and 0-3 month clothes.

Have been nicknamed Beaner. Unfortunate, I know. But Ellie Bean sort of devolved into Bean, which we affectionately changed into Beaner.


Ellie, we love you and can't imagine a sweeter baby girl to call ours!

Mommy



Pictures from November 2011: https://picasaweb.google.com/Lisa.Ottomanelli/November2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCK60yO7q5uKQeA&feat=directlink

Silly Girl

Silly Ellie thinks she can roll...she spent about 15 minutes last week furiously kicking her top leg once she was in this position. Luckily, most of the time she's perfectly happy on her back.

Newborn Session Pictures

Here is a sampling from the photo session we did when Ellie was 10 days old:



Link to Album:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10100103088860892.2457786.104419&type=1&l=39d8539713

Halloween

This is a little late, but I wanted to post pictures from Halloween. We had a fun day that started with a festival at Timmy's school. That night, we went trick or treating with friends in the neighborhood. Surprisingly, Timmy LOVED his costume and wanted to wear it (the whole thing) all day long. He's already asking when he can go trick or treating again.

Link to October Album with Halloween pictures included: https://picasaweb.google.com/Lisa.Ottomanelli/October2011?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCO_ThJCmrqyb-QE&feat=directlink

Brother and Sister

Timmy and Ellie are still smitten with one another. He is always doting on her, invading every inch of personal space and she follows him around the room with her eyes. I love that they love each other!

One Month

Ellie,

You are one month old today. I can't write this post without saying that it feels like just yesterday we brought you home from the hospital. You're still so new and squishy and TINY! Actually, I think you are right around 10 pounds, which by most standards is big, but in this family you are just a peanut. You're about to start wearing size 1 diapers and soon you'll be in 0-3 month clothes. Bigger clothes is one thing, but I'm not ready to call you anything other than a newborn, so please slow the passage of time!

You like to be held and you LOVE to snuggle, so the more tucked into our chest you can be, the better. I'm writing this while you are sleeping on my chest and I think both of us would be perfectly happy to spend the whole day this way. You are very nearly a perfect baby. Most of your day is spent eating or sleeping, but you are awake more and more each day. For the past week or so, you've been cooing and smiling when we talk to you or tickle you. A happy baby! If Timmy is anywhere nearby (which he usually is because you are his world), you won't take your eyes off him. Even his singing (at extremely high volumes) seems to soothe you. He is constantly chanting your name...Ellie bean or Baby Ellie...and loves introducing you to everyone at school as "MY baby sister!"

We take you along with us wherever we go and almost never hear a peep out of you. If I put you in the ergo or moby wrap, you instantly fall asleep so we tend to do dishes or prepare dinner together that way. During the day, you take naps everywhere. If we're at home, they're usually on me, on the couch or in the bouncy seat. At night, you sleep in the bassinet next to our bed. Generally there is one stretch of about 5 hours of sleep surrounded by 3 hour stretches. I'm hoping soon you go even longer, but I won't complain!

From the beginning, you've been easy and wonderful. I really can't get enough of you and I know Timmy and Daddy feel the same way. We love you Ellie!

Mommy

Meet Ellie

I decided to bring back this blog because I need somewhere to record the daily happenings of our lives. If it weren't for the posts here, I would never have been able to fill out Timmy's baby book. And what better time to start back up again than now, with a new baby?

Meet Ellen Lucille "Ellie" Ottomanelli



Born 9/19/2011 at 12:36am
8 lbs, 5 oz 19.5 in long

The Name:
Ellen is named after my grandmother that passed away almost two years ago. It is also my mom's middle name, my middle name and my aunt's (on my dad's side) middle name. Lucille...just because we liked it.

The Baby:
She looks like a miniature, more feminine version of Timmy. Same basic face, apple chin and chubby cheeks. Ellie has blondish hair and less of the barrel chest that Timmy had, but otherwise she looks very familiar. She is sweet and cuddly, already proving to be an excellent eater and snuggler.

The Labor & Delivery:

Saturday night I started having contractions around 8pm. They were pretty mild and only about every 15 minutes apart and stopped around 10pm. They woke me up again at 2am and were slightly more painful, but still not consistent and not progressing or getting closer together. Around 5:30am Sunday morning they stopped completely and I was tired and pissed that all that had led to nothing except a lack of sleep. Sunday I was grumpy (and contraction-free) all day. After accepting the fact that I could have several more nights like that before it turned into the real thing, contractions started at 7pm or so Sunday night. Still 15-20 minutes apart, but they quickly got more painful. Because of the abrupt end of contractions the night before, I was hesitant to call my mom and tell her to drive an hour up here to stay with Timmy. By 9:15 they were so painful that I knew even if they never got closer together they must be making me progress enough to be admitted at Labor & Delivery. I called my mom and calmly packed up the last few things I wanted to take to the hospital while Pete cleaned up and left notes for my mom on taking care of Timmy on Monday. She hit traffic on the way up to our place (seriously, 10pm on a Sunday night...only the 405 would have traffic), so as soon as she arrived at 10:40pm, we headed out the door.

Contractions were really painful at this point, but still only 8 minutes apart or so. I mentally prepared to be sent home. We got to the hospital right around 11pm and when I was finally checked at 11:30, I was already 6 cm dilated. Considering I was admitted at 2-3 when I had Timmy, this was crazy. I was begging for an epidural, but they had to get the requisite amount of fluid in via IV first. I think they finally got the epidural started around 12:15 am, at which point the nurses checked me and said I was already 10 cm and fully effaced. We waited for the doctor to arrive and when she did, the baby was out in two quick pushes. She was placed on my chest and we enjoyed skin-to-skin contact and nursing for almost an hour once she was cleaned up.



The Recovery:

I'm honestly blown away at how easy it has been this time around. As I sat in the hospital bed on Monday, I kept waiting for the epidural to wear off and start feeling pain. It never happened. I asked my nurse if it was possible that the epidural was still effective (like 16 hours after I delivered) and she laughed as she said no. We came home Tuesday afternoon and adjusting to life at home with two kids has been pretty smooth.


The Big Brother:

Timmy ADORES his baby sister. He bounded into the hospital room Monday morning shouting "LOOK AT THE BABY! THAT'S MY BABY!" and then asked to hold her, saying he wanted to give her a big hug and kiss (which he proceeded to do). Tuesday when he came home from daycare, I could hear him walking up the stairs saying "baby Ellie, where are you?!" He has shown nothing but affection (and concern if she's crying) so far and my heart melts every time I see the way he looks at her.