3 month photos

sorry these are a little late.  i was waiting for our new boppy cover to come in the mail.  i was going to try to sew it myself (my new hobby) but then i realized that i have no idea how to do zippers or piping!

my mom thinks elise is looking more like bryant as she gets older.  it's hard for me to tell, since i'm with the little munchkin 24-7.  :)

week 13

One of the most surprising things about motherhood at this stage is how relationally connected I feel to Elise.  I used to think young babies were just really cute dependent blobs but I actually feel like I am connecting with an individual with a unique personality.  She always lights up whenever she sees me and I spend a good chunk of the day just talking to her.  Her eyes track me as I walk all over the room and I just know that she loves me, just as I love her.  I love being a mom.

refusing to sleep...as usual

Happy 100 days!

Elise turned 100 days today!  It is a momentous day in Korean culture known as the the "baek-il".  Because infant mortality rates were so high back in the day, families celebrated when their baby reached 100 days of life.  Now, it's just a fun celebration for families, although there is much to be thankful for with our healthy and happy daughter.  My family celebrated yesterday and although Elise had no idea what was going on, we all had a great time! 

Elise being overwhelmed by all the cameras.  This was like half of the food  my mom prepared.

Traditional Korean dduk.

Elise with her 100 day cake!  My first sewing project.  :)

Normally a very smiley baby, she was very overwhelmed by the festivities.

Koreans also add lots of fruit in their celebratory pictures.

Three generations of women

week 11

found the week 11 card!  can you believe we have been using 1 gig memory cards for six years?  that was considered large when we bought them in 2006, along with our now outdated camera.  we finally bought a new camera and a 32 gig card so be prepared for some better photo quality!  i'm also getting an iphone tomorrow, which takes far better photos than my current phone.  yay, we are finally current with technology.

 

more elephant watching

mommy vs daddy

My mom, who sees Elise every week, says that Elise's facial features are constantly changing.  One day, she will look more like me and on other days, she will look more like Bryant.  One thing we noticed is that she definitely looked more Asian in her "younger" days, but as her face becomes more defined, we see more of her white side coming out.  We think she's inherited the following facial features from either mommy or daddy:

Forehead: daddy

Head shape: daddy

Chin: mommy

Eyes: mommy

Eyelashes: daddy

Nose: mommy

Mouth size: mommy

Lips: daddy

Ear size: mommy

Ear sticking-outedness: daddy

Puppy-dog lines under the eyes: daddy

Toes: mommy

Finger length: who knows, but they are long!

week 12 videos

here are some videos from week 12.  we have a memory card with week 11 photos and videos on it, but i can't seem to find it right now!  :)

she is already comprehending our questions and nodding in response. ;)


her first time in the bumbo!


someone has the giggles


squealing in delight over her new (and very ugly) mobile. i had to buy this because she apparently was not a fan of the cute mobile that matched her nursery decor.

end of the newborn stage

today marks the last day of elise's second month.  bry and i were remarking how crazy it is that she is only 2 months today because it feels like she's been around forever.  she's grown and developed leaps and bounds in the last few weeks that it's hard to keep track of sometimes. 

last night, bry and i got a really bad case of food poisoning (or maybe it was a virus).  we didn't have any stomach issues but we had really bad chills, body aches, and could barely get ourselves out of bed.  when we woke up in the morning, elise was really sad because she wanted us to play with her as we do most mornings, but we could barely lift up our own hands.  thankfully, my parents came by today to hold her and bring us food and medicine.  it's been about 24 hour since the outbreak and i'm feeling much better, although bry is still pretty much out of commission. being sick with a baby is really difficult!

anyway, here are recent highlights:

• she almost always wakes up smiling, which is often at 5 in the morning.  i will look over her crib in the dark and see her just smiling to herself.  too cute.
• she has a pretty consistent sleep schedule now.  go to bed at 6, wake up between 1-2, again around 4, and up for the day between 5 and 7.  we like it when she's up for the day at 7.  ;) 
• she is napping better but still needs to be held in order to sleep longer durations.  there have been way too many days where i literally held her for 3 hours straight!  
• nursing has improved A LOT.  she is fighting and struggling less and we are finally nursing in bed during the night.  i'm really thankful for this because i have a hard time going back to sleep once i am up with the lights on.  elise is getting about 2 bottles a day- a huge improvement over getting bottles at every feeding!!!  i never thought i would get to this point!  thank for you praying for us!
• during her "activity" time, i rotate her between the following things: mobile, playmat, swing, tummy time, and just talking to her.  the goal is to get her to nap after 90 minutes of wakefulness.
• she is cooing more and trying to communicate.  she squeals the most when she is doing an activity and wants to stop to be held.  i never knew babies could communicate at such a young age!
• she has become much more aware of other people and babies.  she will smile at other babies now.  i would love to know what she's thinking!
• she had her 12-week growth spurt this week and she's noticeably heavier now.  i look forward to weighing her next week!  it's getting harder to hold her for long periods of time.

nosefrida babies

out of curiosity, i just searched for other nosefrida videos on youtube (note: it is now 3:15 am), and i am amazed at this baby's calm and docile response to the spray and sucking!!!  man, elise usually goes crazy whenever we try this on her!  haha, we love our spirited baby.

oh my goodness, this baby LOVES the nosefrida. one day we shall get here...one day...

weeks 9 and 10 videos

one of our most exciting discoveries around week 8 is the hanging elephants above elise's bassinet. we thought the elephants were just for decoration, but one day we discovered her thashing around like crazy and giggling in response to the 3 gray, boring, stationary elephants hanging above her bed. nevermind that she has several other toys and mobiles that move and play music...her favorite toy are these elephants even to this day in week 11. 

here she is, playing with one of her favorite friends norah. we are so sad that she will soon be moving to the middle east!

   

several times a week, we have to decongest elise using a nifty snot-sucker. she hates it but is usually happy afterward to be snot free!

  

she recently discovered her toes!

family pictures

in the midst of newborn craziness, i realized that we barely have any family photos!  well, here we are...

auntie andrea!

andrea came to visit us all the way from nashville.  of course, she and elise fell in love with each other and it was hard for all of us to say goodbye.  having an extra pair of hands was especially helpful for me and i finally got to do some normal adult things like get a haircut, attend an important work meeting (which i kept falling asleep in), and even sneak in a nap or two.  :)

here are some photos from andrea's camera:

snuggling with auntie

houdini shimmying out of her swaddle

houdini resisting her arm straps

milk!

i'm thinking about...

something very funny...

HAHAHAHA!

sad face

happy face!

silly face

why did i just eat all that bread?!!

i love andrea!

but she's leaving so soon!

hey cute stuff!