The Easter Bunny came to visit despite Mach and I both being quite sick (thanks Grammie and Grampy!) Elle LOVED all the goodies!

 

 

 

A photo below of my first batch of homemade sweet potato puree!

We made the decision to begin solids her first week into her fifth month. I believe she has been ready for a week or so at least and I felt comfortable introducing them at this age since she is supplemented with formula as well as breast milk. I wanted the introduction to be slow so I didn’t want the pressure of waiting until the sixth month and then trying to do everything too quickly.

We are on the third day of introducing her first solid, sweet potato and I wish it was going better! I think Mach, myself and Elle were nervous at the first feeding so I am not even sure any made it past her lips, but it was a good first attempt. The second (at breakfast) seemed to go a little bit better and then last night and this morning I am sure a little made it into her mouth. This time there wasn’t any gagging or horrified faces, so I think we are definitely on the right track.

After talking to my sister, who is the baby food maker professional (lots more on this to come in a later post). I think we are going to give apples a try tomorrow, followed by avocado. I wanted to hold off on fruits for a while longer but since she hasn’t had the best reaction to the sweet potato, I think we can give apples a try to get this solid food kick up and running! I mean, how could Mach and I not have a tiny budding foodie on our hands!?

I just have to keep telling myself that this is a marathon, not a sprint and she will learn to love all the wonderful vegetables and fruits over time.

 

Here is a short video of our first few bites!

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Our little nugget turned 5 Months this past weekend!

What she is doing lately:

• Doing a lot of sleeping on her sides.
• Rolling from side to side.
• Rolling onto her belly every once in awhile (and then waking herself up!)
• Eating solids! (more on this to come in another post)
• Still breastfeeding and supplementing with formula-we’ve changed formulas and she is now on an Organic formula called Earths Best, which she loves!
• Still sleeping through the night, thank goodness (we were worried there might be a regression somewhere between 4 and 5 months)
• Ellery had her very first play date! She had a blast with baby Inez, who is only a month and a half older than her!

What she is loving lately:

• Giggling with her Dad. I can’t seem to make her laugh quite like Mach can-and that’s totally okay!
• Grabbing and touching everything she can for our jewelry, watches, glasses on our faces, etc…
• Throwing her toys on the ground! I know this is only the beginning!
• Jumping! Especially in her jumparoo!

The Stats:

We won’t go back to the Pediatrician for another couple of weeks but we think she is around 15/16 lbs and we have no doubt that she isextremelytall! She is in 6-9 month clothes now (although some of the 3-6 month onesies are still in the mix!)

She is definitely teething!

Her hair is growing longer and blonder by the day!

These past two weeks packed with many “firsts” for Elle-belle Nugget Lady! (The nicknames are never-ending these days!) Not only did she take her first boat ride (Ferry) but she flew on 4 planes and took a major step by rolling over while we were away! She is going to be mobile before we know it!

I am going to do a specific post on traveling with an infant, but for now, here is a photo round-up of our amazing 8 days in Nevis.

We left NYC early am on Friday. Here is Mach doing some laps with Elle to keep her asleep while we waited to board.

Some snuggles in preparation to take off!

We found a quiet spot to nurse and give a bottle during our layover in San Juan! First leg of the trip was over! She did great!

We had a pretty small plane into St. Kitts, but Elle did great and barely made a peep.

We waited at the airport for the rest of the family to arrive on a different flight. They were definitely more excited to see Ellery than us.

We arrived early evening to the Four Seasons Nevis. Our villa had a little pool out back. We wasted no time taking a quick dip before getting ready for dinner. Elle’s first swimming experience was so much fun!

 

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We managed to squeeze in her morning nap sometime around breakfast. Usually, Grammie and Grampy would babysit after we ate so that the Jess, Brian, Mach and I could get in some exercise (tennis, hiking, etc…) while Elle napped.

Naps looked like this most of the time…

Some sort of beach/poolside sleep. We had our own “sleep sheep” with the waves from the ocean and the palms swaying in the breeze.

We had lunch late one day at the hotel and Elle decided she was tired. So, they let us pull up a lounge chair and she just slept there while we ate!

Right after her hat blew into the water!

Other than swimming, we spent all our time under the umbrellas and she constantly had her special sun gear on with her baby sunscreen. We were very worried about her sun exposure.

We all got dressed up one night for dinner in an old sugar mill. It was fantastic! (although she looks less than enthused here!)

Mach feeding her at dinner in the Mill.

One of the days everyone went fishing while Grammie and I stayed back with Ellery. Here we are enjoying breakfast together

 

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We went out for lunch one day to another hotel on the island and it got a bit warm…so we just stripped her down right there and let her hang out in her diaper and diaper cover!

She was pretty psyched about it!

Lounging.

Sunset walk to dinner at Sunshines

 

 

 

A few photos from our hike!

The view from the lobby of the hotel. We LOVED the Four Seasons Nevis. Cannot wait to go back!

We had such an amazing vacation together (the whole fam) but especially Elle Belle…I can’t wait to tell her all about this trip and how much fun she had when she gets older!

I’m in the midst of writing a post on our recent trip to Nevis. In the meantime, here’s what’s happening in our apartment on this rainy day!

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This past week has been filled with lots of visits from friends, some Mommy and Me yoga classes and even an infant safety and CPR class!

Here is a 17 week photo round-up!

Elle still loving her Baby Bjorn babysitter

Some post-feeding snuggles-

Playing on her Skip Hopplay mat-

Getting ready to pose for her 4 month photos!

Guitar with Dad-

She loves her soft blocks!

Caught in action, thumb sucking!

Lunch with Chelsea and Marissa!

Loving some snuggles from Lo and Mo!

Mach took this awkwardly scary photo of Elle sleeping next to our practice CPR dolls! (Side note-we are THRILLED to have taken this class and wish we’d done it earlier! I highly recommend anyone expecting a baby to take an infant safety and CPR class).

Sleeping away during class…she knows the drill 🙂

A little tired from CPR class but thoroughly enjoying Sunday brunch with Jerry and Geri!

a little tired but still willing to help me with laundry!

We are off to Nevis with the family on Friday…back next week with lots of fun photos! (sneak peak of one of her amazingly cute outfits for her first beach getaway!)

Our little nugget is 4 months old!

I can hardly believe it. It really feels like just yesterday that Ellery was still in my tummy and we were wondering who this little babe was.

Elle is doing so many new and exciting things these days. Her neck strength is great and she is much more curious about the world around her. She loves looking around at lights and any new sounds she hears. Her precision when trying to grab things is getting better and better too. Watching her interact with the world around her never gets old.

I am still breastfeeding and supplementing with formula. We’ve gotten into such a great routine that the whole process feels very natural. I know to a lot of people it might seem a bit laborious but I believe she enjoys nursing (as do I) and I know any amount of breast milk is better than none if its possible. I’m not sure how long she will want to breastfeed so I am just taking it day by day. I’ve also begun reading about the process of introducing “solids”, which we plan to do around 5 or 6 months (depending on when she starts to be more stable sitting on her own as well as her “interest”. I don’t feel any pressure to rush her, especially since she is still breastfeeding.

We had her 4 month check up and the doctor was very pleased with her progress. She is in the 98th and 99th percentile for head size and height. Her weight is about 68th percentile, which is also good. She is one tall little baby with a big head, thanks to both me and M!

some waiting room smiles..

kicking around on the paper in the room is one of her favorite things to do.

some measurements…

waiting for the nurse with the shots! eek!

as it happened with the two month shots, Elle got a low-grade fever. It was enough to make her pretty sad and cranky for a couple of days!

We celebrated Mach’s Birthday over the weekend in Boston and CT. A few great dinners with the fam and some snuggles with the nugget!

Eating at the Chefs table at a great spot in Simsbury, CT called the Millwright. VERY babe friendly!

Back in NYC, Elle did some acrobatic moves in the stroller while we did laundry,

In other news, Elle grew out of every bassinet we had. We found she was waking herself up at night hitting the sides with her feet and legs! We rush ordered an Oeuf crib I’d been swooning over for a while. We weren’t quite ready to get rid of the full bed in her room as its been super helpful to have for family to use when they visit, so we moved her changing table to our room and put the crib snuggly where the dresser used to be. It’s tight, but works for now!

*note, the elephant comes out when she goes in!

Ellery successfully completed her first night in her crib as well as a nap this morning! I’m not sure who was more nervous last night, her or me! There was something a bit sad and scary about not having her right next to me. That being said, she was totally ready for it and I was still able to hear every sound she made. When she woke up this morning I went in to get her and brought her back into bed to nurse just as we’ve done everyday. Now, we have our bedroom back and she has her own quiet, peaceful place to sleep. Everyone wins!

Happy Valentines Day!

Love, Ellery

well, Elle made it through her very first “real” snowstorm!

Maciej was away for a long weekend, so I was lucky enough to have my amazing sister, Jess, come down from Boston to help me with Ellery. The timing worked out that I had several work meetings that I needed to attend while Maciej was away, so we needed some help! Auntie Jess to the rescue. I am not sure who was more nervous about me being gone the entire day-me or Jess! It was the first time I left Elle for more than a couple of hours. It was weird to be out for so long without her, but I brought my pump and made it work! I give so much credit to the Moms who do it every day.

While Jess was here, storm Nemo also showed its face. No one was sure how much snow NYC would get, everyone was bracing for the worst. Jess and I snuggled into our apartment, bought all 3 seasons of Downton Abbey, ordered yummy take-out and braced for the worst. NYC only got about 8-10″, which worked out because on Saturday, when all was over, we were able to bop around the city a bit.

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I can’t believe we are almost at the 4 month mark with our Elle Belle/Nugget lady…she is more amazing every minute of every day. I catch myself just sitting and smiling when it’s just the two of us hanging out together. She’s grown up SO much already. I can’t wrap my head around how my little (ok, maybe not so little) newborn baby is already looking like such a little girl! I feel so lucky to have such an amazing daughter.

Someone found her thumb and knows how to use it!

Quick nap at the yoga studio…

Killing it at tummy time class!

Not thrilled to be in her car seat (but the face is priceless).

Outgrowing her Mamaroo way too fast!

So giggly all.the.time!

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One day she will be quite upset that she slept through her very first visit to Levain Bakery! I WILL take her back when she is old enough to appreciate the importance of an amazing cookie.

and I can’t forget a photo of her very first valentine’s day gift from two young, handsome fellas from CT. Thank you, Wyatt and Quinn for spoiling our little babe with loads of love already! We LOVE this book!

I wrote this blog post!

I can’t believe how fast the year flew by (and how slow it sometimes felt)! It’s crazy that in a year we moved to a new apartment, traveled to the St. John & St. Thomas, took two trips to Ireland, spent many weekends in Cape Cod, Mach got his MBA at NYU Stern but most importantly, gave birth to Ellery and have spent the past 3.5 months learning how to take care of a newborn and embrace the new life that lies ahead. There is so much I would tell myself back when I wrote that first blog post. Mostly, sleep as much as possible now, take some time and read about pregnancy and labor/delivery but also spend a good chunk of time reading about what to do when the baby actually arrives!

I haven’t had time to keep the blog up to date from week to week lately, so, here is a quick round-up of week 13 & 14 photos.

Ellery is loving exploring the world around her. Now that her vision is much clearer she loves looking around. She actually gets tired of being held and cuddled and wants to be put down so that she can look all around. It’s so fantastic to see her watching you and for her to get excited and happy when you catch her eye. She is definitely getting bigger and her neck control is awesome. She is loving tummy time, which makes Mommy and Me yoga and just hanging out a lot more fun!

 

Tummy time!

Bundled up for the cold weather!

 

Auntie time.

Hang time with the goose on the bed (note the paws in the background)

Learning to roll! Trouble!

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Starting the sleep training process! Luckily, the first night was the hardest and we seem to be doing better and better each day! (knock on wood)!

 

Some bunny chewing action shots:

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Some of the many faces…

 

 

At lunch with Dad.

 

ABC Kitchen with Grammie and Grampy! Just another NYC Saturday night…