This Week in Bursaniuk

Last weekend we (finally) had some beautiful weather so the Burns/Romaniuk families -- henceforth to be known simply as Burnsaniuk -- decided to picnic at the park. It was Eleanor's first picnic, which she made the most of by sleeping through...

Jackson had a good time at the park though. Here he is with his Mama shortly before they discovered an old stump covered in ladybugs.

He sat and watched the ladybugs for quite some time. When a couple actually landed on him, he could hardly contain his excitement...

For Easter, I dressed Eleanor up like an Easter egg and then I tried to get a picture of how cute she looked. She wasn't so into it.

Later, I tried to sneak a picture of her when she was in the swing. I thought she was asleep, but she was just playing possum. Right as I took the picture, she tried to give me the stink eye.

We enjoyed a lovely Easter dinner at Steve's parents house. Jackson hunted eggs. He was basically all business as he did so. It was funny.

In other news, Eleanor had some tummy-time this week.

Which totally tuckered her out. She fell asleep halfway through her next feeding and couldn't be roused even while being burped. Too precious :)

One Month of Eleanor

Eleanor will be one month tomorrow. Hard to believe that four weeks have gone by. She is doing great and is a true little joy. Last week she enjoyed a visit from Grandma and Grandpa:

Last week also marked a monumental moment in this Mamma's life when Eleanor moved from the bassinet in our bedroom to the crib in the officery. I might have been tempted to keep her in the room with us longer if she weren't an incredibly disruptive sleeper. I'm not talking about hunger cries in the night, that goes without saying; I'm talking about loud grunts and gurgles that made it nearly impossible for me to doze off completely. I'm sleeping much better with her in the other room, though it did make me a little sad to make that transition...

In other Ellie news, I'm really pushing the pacifier on her. I know, I know, controlling mother already; but people, it's for her own good. I come from a family of thumbsuckers. I was a thumbsucker for such an embarrassingly long time -- despite my parents' valiant efforts to stop me -- that I won't even say when the sucking stopped. If I have the choice, and I realize that in reality, it is out of my control-- then I would make Eleanor a pacifier baby. Thus far, we are 50/50 on the pacifier. Sometimes she'll take it and other times she won't. I guess time will tell. Here she is though, cute as button, sleeping with her pacifier...

Daddy gave Eleanor her first bottle this week and she took it without incident. I was worried that she would prefer the bottle to the boobie, but she seems to be an equal opportunity eater, so that's good.

Lastly, Eleanor makes the cutest sad faces. Wouldn't you agree?

Ellie-bits to Share

Just a couple of tidbits to share:

Grandma and Grandpa have arrived from California so Grandpa finally got to hold little Eleanor:

And Eleanor finally got a chance to protest:

Grandpa was unfazed. Of course, he has a lot of experience with gassy, screaming babies as yours truly was quite the handful for the first five months of life. Yours truly apparently also spent the first months of life glaring at my own grandfather and we're good friends now, so this photo must mean those two have lovely times in store for them down the road:)

Speaking of yours truly being a screamy, gassy, colicky baby who couldn't tolerate cow's milk and only let her mother hold her...

Eleanor isn't nearly that bad, but the girl has a delicate stomach and what appears to be a milk sensitivity so I'm off dairy. If you know me, you know that I love cheese. In fact, I once may have stated that if I were to rob a grocery store -- which I assure you, I won't be doing -- I would take the cheese. That's how much I love cheese people. Not being able to eat it is like, a huge lifestyle change. It's also my own baby karma coming back to get me.

However, I love this little girl more than I love cheese. So it's all good.

Because that little smirk is to worth it...

Especially since sometimes, when making that smirk, she gets distracted by her nose...

Snake-Monkey Baby and Other Lessons For This New Mama

Hard to believe but it's been two weeks since my beautiful Eleanor Elisabeth was born. In the two weeks since she's been here, I've learned a few things. Things such as:

1. Accomplishing one task a day is a sufficient goal. Today's task is to blog. So far, partly accomplished but we will see if I can also get it posted. That may be tomorrow's task.

2. Sometimes a newborn will shed all its skin. This I did not know. I have a beautiful snake baby.

3. Sometimes, newborns look like little monkeys-- at least mine does. I call her my beautiful snake-monkey baby. And even though she is less and less of a snake-monkey everyday, it's kind of a fun thing to say so it might stick around for awhile.

4. Four hours of uninterrupted sleep is the most glorious thing in the world. I never thought that four would be such a magic number... heck, three and a half is pretty heavenly too.

5. Lack of sleep + changing hormones + gassy baby = one weepy mother.

6. Sometimes, changing hormones + nothing at all = one weepy mother. For some reason, I am embarrassed to admit it, but it's the truth: there have been some weepy moments and well, one or two weepy days in the past couple weeks. Nothing too dramatic except I for one, could have done without crying to the pediatrician over my snake-monkey's acid reflux & gas issues... We'll have to uh, save face next time and be extra non-weepy.

7. Don't underestimate the power of the swaddle.

8. Breastfeeding is super painful at first, like, who-punched-me-over-and-over-in-the-boobies painful; but, it is so totally worth it.

9. Parental love of a child is an animal all it's own. I can't believe how much I love my little girl and how suddenly, all my anxieties, which were previously self-centered, are now directed solely on her and her well-being. I expected to love her, but the depth and breadth of this love is somewhat overwhelming. I feel so blessed.

Those are the lessons I've learned thus far, but at only two weeks in, no doubt I'll be learning more. My next goal is to share a little narrative of Eleanor's birth, which was, hands down, the most beautiful day of my life. However, that might require a good week's worth of goal setting to get done. Here's hoping I can do it before she turns 12.

Eleanor is doing great. At her aforementioned 10-day doctor's visit she had gained a whole pound. Go snake-monkey baby! (And go mama's aforementioned sore boobies...) She is such a sweet little joy.

That's all for now. I'm off to snuggle my beauty and eagerly anticipate the arrival of Grandma and Grandpa from California later this week :)