Bloomsday

Last weekend Grandma and Grandpa were in town again. It was great. We participated in Bloomsday, which is a 7.4 mile race here in Spokane. Some 50,000 people come from all over the state to walk & run Bloomsday, so it's quite the affair. Burnsaniuk(affey) walked it this year & it was lovely. We only had to stop once for a feeding & a diaper change and why lie, a honeybucket stop. We finished at the back of the pack but in front of the transvestite walking in stilettos, so that was something to feel good about.

Here are Roma & Eleanor with Grandma & Grandpa waiting for the race to start:

Here is a close up of Ellie-Els. She's not sure what she thinks of Bloomsday but suffice to say, she finds the whole affair suspect...

Here is a Romaniuk family shot:

And a Burns family shot:

You might think that it was Sarah or Steve who put Jackson's ball cap on backwards but you'd be wrong. Backwards is Jackson's preferred way to wear his winney-the-pooh hat. That's just how he rolls.

***

In Eleanor news, she's six weeks now and as you can see, she's really starting to chunk up. I took her to the doctor last week and she weighed 10.3 pounds. That's a three pound gain since our last doctor's visit. The pictures down below don't do justice to her chubby, droopy, jowls; but, they'll have to do for now.

She's on the verge of smiling for real-- not just when she's gassy, which is super exciting. In the meantime however, she remains pretty serious and at times, apparently concerned...

Except, that is, when she's letting me know that I'm number one...

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 :)

Final Countdown

So I'm six days from my due date, and lordy, I hope this baby comes sooner than that. To put it mildly, I am not the most pleasant of campers these days.

Taking the brunt of my unpleasantness? That would be my dear, sweet husband who has done nothing but, you know, cause all this...

Taking what unpleasantness doesn't come Roma's way? That would be my dear, sweet sister who let's face it, loved me through adolescence and isn't going to stop now...

Because I know you're curious:



Here I am at 38 weeks with what appears to be a basketball under my shirt...


And I know you might be thinking, you're not late yet, what do you really have to complain about?? Silly girl, you should still be feeling like this:

To that I say, you are wrong. I might not yet be late, but I already feel like this:

But that's because I just really can't wait to meet the little squirmer who's spent the last three weeks teasing me into thinking labor is imminent...


And also I suppose, because I can't wait to be able to pick things up off the floor again.



Or go up and down stairs with ease.


Or sleep in a position that isn't my side.


But mostly because I can't wait to meet her.


So come on little Eleanor, get here already.

Jacky-Jack talks to Eleanor

Here's a video from a couple of weeks ago of Jackson talking to my belly. He knows his cousin is in there, but let's be real, he doesn't know what the heck that actually means.

Oh, he'll find out soon enough :)