LOVING bathtime!

What you are up to right now Eleanor:

* You talk CONSTANTLY! Never a quiet moment in our house.
* You love to say phrases like "it tastes good" and "it's in there" and "mommy's pretty" and "daddy's king" (you totally came up with those on your own) :).
* You can almost get your leg over the side of your crib- big girl bed soon to come.
* You love to play pretend.
* You are starting to sing instead of just saying words to songs.
* You love the park. Every time we pass one, you scream "park" over and over again.
* You have the cutest kissy face
* Every night before you fall asleep, you stick your legs out of your crib and kick the wall over and over again.
* You sleep with at least 8 stuffed animals and add new ones often.
* One of your favorite new places to play is under the dining table.
* You love to wake up your sister
* You love parades. Ever since the Thanksgiving day parade, you cannot stop talking about them.
* You are starting to sing.
* You know all of your colors including peach, but black and white are hard for you.
* You are SO sweet to Amelia. You love to squeeze her hand and kiss her.

We love you so much and love the little lady you are turning into.

Pics from Christmas Day- out of order :)

Amelia's first smiles!!

Christmas night playing cards and drinking wine!

Our family tradition is to open gifts on Christmas Eve from each other, then we open Santa on Christmas morning. We hosted Christmas Eve this year. Eleanor got a "Fur Real Kitty", a Dora doll, lots of books and art gear, Uggs and some precious clothes.

Eleanor 5 Weeks
Amelia 5 Weeks

Not a lot of time to blog, but here are some recent pics of the girls.

We always tell Eleanor she needs to finish her (insert food here) before she gets out of her chair. Sometimes she cooperates, other times, she will just stuff it all in her mouth in about 5 seconds. She of course cannot swallow all of it, so she ends up having to spit it out! Her cheeks look like a chipmunk!

Amelia is 4 weeks today! Time flies when you are chasing a toddler and taking care of a newborn!

What you are up to Amelia:

*Nursing every 3 hours during the day, and sleeping anywhere from 3- 6 hours at night.
*You make cute gurgling sounds all the time now.
*You weigh 8 lbs, 3 oz
*You are getting really good at lifting your head.
*We caught you sucking your thumb!
*You have the cutest, tiniest hands and finger nails. I cannot believe how tiny they are!
*You have the sweetest cry. You will cry for a few seconds, then stop and look around to see if anyone is watching. You cry very little, except when hungry or tired.
*Your little lips are so cute and you make the funniest face when I kiss them.

Meg Beale celebrated her 2nd birthday- Breakfast with Santa! Such a cute idea! I want everything for Christmas!!

For months, mornings at our house have consisted of Eleanor getting in bed with us when we get her out of her crib and watching Dora or Sesame Street while Scott and I attempt to fully wake up. Amelia is now in on the routine and big sis is teaching her about all of the great shows! Don't they look so content??

* You love to watch your sister. Your eyes follow her around the room as she plays.

* You are such a cuddle bug!

* You make the sweetest noises when you sleep.

* I rub your nose and forehead and you fall asleep immediately.

* You have the cutest *smiles* (gas!)

* You seem to love baths. You have never once cried during a bath!

* You gained 7 oz in 4 days! Wow!

Amelia is such a good baby and hardly ever cries, but last night she would NOT sleep after her Midnight feeding for 2 hrs and same after the 4:30 am feeding. She would fall asleep, but wake after about 10 minutes, crying which is not normal after a full feeding. This has happened a few times, but was WAY worse last night.

We *think* she may have reflux. She has grunted and sounded throaty since day one. She sounds like there is something in her throat that she can't clear. With that, not wanting to lie flat and crying after eating, it makes sense that this could be an issue. We mentioned this to the Dr last week at her 2 week visit and he said reflux could be a problem.

She takes in more milk while breastfeeding at night since she goes longer stretches and I have more milk, so I am going to try tonight to feed her a little less and see if that helps. We are also going to the Dr tomorrow to visit about reflux issues.

I pray for a better night tonight!!

We just love our neighborhood! There are so many couples with young kids. Our PTA group, Lake Highlands Early Childhood PTA, put on a fun holiday party this year. Eleanor loved eating the snacks and "looking" at Santa. She was not happy sitting in his lap, but did stand next to him for a picture after much bribing with candy canes.

Stats:

Weight- 7 lbs. 3 oz (6 lbs. 5 oz at birth)

Length - 19 3/4 inches (19 inches at birth)

Head circumference - 14 1/8 inches

Amelia is currently eating about every 3 hours, except at night when she gives us a 4 to 4.5 hr stretch. She eats so quickly which is nice at night! She is a very content baby so far. Very little crying except when hungry or gassy.

Thanksgiving day, Eleanor threw a MAJOR fit because we made her sit in her booster chair instead of a regular chair. She just kept crying over and over saying "big girl, big girl"! I think her Gigi and Mimi really talked up the whole big girl thing while we were in the hospital. She is growing up too fast for me!

Today I put out Christmas decor and I found two mini nutcrackers and thought she would love to play with them. WRONG-O! She is deathly afraid of them. She runs away crying hysterically into mine or Scott's arms.