3 years old!

Time flies! Our baby is now a big 3 year old! She always said she is a big girl and she wants to be big like mommy and daddy so she can do dishes, laundry, cook on stove and drive!!! Well let's see if she will actually do that when she gets big enough to do all this!

We are going to Maui this weekend with my mom and dad and my sister's family. So excited! Can't wait!

Busy busy busy as a working mom

Many times I just wanted to log on and blog about how tired and exhausted to be a working mom. But, of course, when you are dead tired, blogging is probably the last thing you want to do.

I was fully prepared for how baby ellie will change my life, but it still took me by surprise on how much more work and stress I need to face and deal with on a daily basis. Don't get me wrong. It's still worth it 100%. But once in a while, I just feel really exhausted and just want to bury my face into a fluffy pillow and cry and be a baby myself.

I am still surprised how my priorities have changed. Me, and anything about myself (my look, my weight, my hobbies, my tummy, etc.) are all low-priority. With this new priority system, I am still struggling finding a balance and not overstressed myself. The past week I have been planning for a vacation in May. Hopefully a little bit of time off will help.

Enough vent. Baby ellie is still the cutest baby. She is now 8 months old and has 2 teeth and been trying out solids. She doesn't eat very much at all, but she loves yogurt. I have been obsessed about baby-led weaning and making her food for a couple months now. She is still not so interested in eating but then that is normal. She is still a baby and everything is a new experience for her.

Other than that, all of us have been sick on and off and on and off for quite a while now. Seems like sickness has become part of our life. I know, it is typical for daycare kids and parents, what can we do? Just hope that she will have a super strong immune system by preschool.

Winter is finally gone and it's now early spring. Cherry trees are blossoming and it's pink everywhere. I can't wait for the summer to come and we can have more fun outside with my wonderful family!

Do I look like the girl boo from Monster Inc?

Our 1st anniversary....

Flowers and home-made root beer =)

This is how she treats her bath toys

happy baby~

First time riding in a shopping cart

Woodland zoo, dancing with dada

Cherry blossom

broccoli day

First haircut

Ellie had her first haircut during our stay in Gillettle in Christmas. It was a tough job because she moved so much. I did the cut at first but then daddy didn't like it to be too even. So he fixed it.. I guess it looks ok?

First christmas!

We spent our christmas with Rian's family. We flew to billings the Friday before Christmas. Baby slept through most of the time when we were on the flight, so I'd say her first experience of flying was not so bad. After we got there, we first went to Lewistown see baby's great-grandparents. We had to cut the visit short because of the weather condition. It was snowing quite heavily the first night. Then we went to Gillette and spent the rest of the week with Rian's family. It was relaxing and was so good to see everyone there.  Ellie met her Auntie Alisha for the first time. We all had a fun time and ellie got tons of Christmas gifts. (I actually started this post when we were still in Gillette but then after that trip, we all got so crazy busy with life, work, and all... oh well)

Dear grandma

Goofiness...

Christmas morning, baby fell asleep when we were about to open presents

Thanks for all the new clothes!

Having fun with Kade and Levi

4 month check up

Having fun playing with the toy
in her bumbo

Baby ellie's 4 month stats:
Weight: 14lb10.5oz (75th percentile)
Height: 26in (95th percentile)
Head circumference: 16in (25-50th percentile)

Yes, she has almost doubled her birth weight! Definitely a big girl. ;-)

She also had 2 shots at the doctor's office. She had a fever after the shots though, and mommy didn't sleep very much because of that. She was fussy and would not sleep in the crib. But she is all better now.

Mommy is going back to work day after tomorrow, and baby will go to day care for the first time. Hope everything will be fine and she'll get used to it soon. *finger-crossed*

Good progress!

Healthy sleeping habit, happy baby!

Baby has graduated from her bottle training. She can now take a bottle with no problem at all after a couple days of intensive training (meaning bottle-only during the day). Poor mommy had been pumping all day for a few days. Daddy asked me why I was pumping all the time... sigh. Anyways, this is a big relief since day care is starting next week.

As for sleep training, she is now able to go to sleep on her own for both naps and bed time. Mommy usually turns on the music, put her in the pack and play and she will fall asleep with almost no crying. Way to go, baby girl! I think the music is not necessary but I think it's kind of soothing. I will try to take it off within the next couple of days. The only problem is that she usually only naps for 45mins to an hour. And because of the short nap time, I am not able to get her on a 3 nap schedule yet. It's great progress nonetheless. I am very proud of her.

sleep training, bottle-training

Time is running out... Mommy is going back to work in a few weeks. Before then, I would like baby to have a somewhat routined nap/feed schedule, and also want to make sure she can take bottles.

So far, she can take bottles, but not without at least a few minutes of crying and protesting. Sometimes I feel really bad, hearing her cry breaks my heart... I'm trying to do 2 bottles per day and hopefully by the time I return to work, she will feel more comfortable with it.

Sleep training is a bit smoother comparatively. She now sleeps from 8pm to 7:30am or so and usually wakes up twice middle of the night and I'll nurse her and she would go right back to sleep. Her bedtime routine includes a bath and then book. I tried to do a bottle right before bed, but she is always so sleepy after the bath and so I moved bottle feeding to before the bath. The first morning nap is usually on time, the rest of the naps are still irregular. She is now able to fall asleep on her own most of time within a few minutes of crying, and so I am pretty happy about it.

I am actually getting pretty stressed out with all these trainings. I wish I can cuddle her and spoil her all the time, but I know it is important for her to learn these things before daycare starts. Sorry baby - I hope you can understand.