Miller Time: Growing Up So Fast

Everyone knows that newborns don't do a whole lot. They basically eat, sleep, poop, and cry. So you get all these cool toys and gadgets for your baby at your showers, and they can't use any of them in the beginning! Since I've never done the mommy thing before, I really didn't know at what point Ellison would start to be interested in all those gadgets. We put her in her bouncy chair within the first few days of life, and her swing has been in regular use for over a month now. But we didn't really bring out any toys for her until a couple weeks ago, since it was pretty obvious she was more interested in snuggling or snoozing than toys.

3 Days Old in Bouncer

Loves her swing!

"Playtime" for about the first month and a half of Ellison's life basically consisted of being on her tummy for a bit each day, and laying on the ground or in her Pack N Play kicking around and waving her arms.

All smiles for tummy time

A couple weeks ago she started really loving her swing, which has spinning animals and a mirror, so I thought maybe she would finally like some toys. I brought out a couple rattles, and she now tracks them with her eyes and can even hold them.

Playing with her toys

She doesn't seem to know she's doing it yet, but she can grip on! Over the weekend we brought out her play mat for the first time and she seems to love it. She stares at herself in the mirror and smiles.

There is a piano at the foot of the mat that she can kick and it makes music! Very cute.

We also put her in the Bumbo for the first time this past weekend. We weren't sure she could hold her head up well enough for it yet, but she did great and was grinning away!

In other news, she had her 2 month pediatrician appointment last week. She was 11 pounds, 8 ounces (75%tile) and 23.5 inches long (95-98%tile). A very healthy little girl! She got the dreaded two month shots and did better with them than Mommy. She wasn't quite herself that night and got her first dose of Tylenol, but by the middle of the next day she was back to her smiley self!

One thing that came out of the appointment was the doctor recommended we start to let Ellison cry herself to sleep at night. We were really struggling with getting her to bed at night and would end up holding and rocking her for hours until she finally fell asleep. This was not conducive to getting much done at night or having any time to ourselves! With me going back go work in just over a week, something needed to be done. We had already started a little bedtime routine (bath every other night, pajamas, a couple books, prayers) but after we put her down in her crib (which she has been sleeping in for almost two weeks now!) we would end up picking her back up two or three times. The doctor said to let her cry for 5, the 10, then 15 minutes, going in between to reassure her she is ok but not picking her up. I didn't want to start the night of her shots, so we waited until the next night, and she slept through the night! She cried until about the 14th minute of the 15 minute period that first night, which was awful for Jay and I. But we got through it, and she has now slept through 3 nights in a row, crying a little less each night. Yay!

Story time with Daddy (this happens in her room now!)

This past weekend was Jay's birthday, and I want to show off Ellison's gift to him because I think it is super adorable!

Here are some other pictures from Jay's birthday as well...we had a wonderful dinner of ribs and some delicious side dishes (thanks Pinterest!) with Jay's parents, sister Litz, brother-in-law Brian, and niece Isabella, and a neapolitan cake! My mom, Ron, Konneli, and Ryan joined us for cake as well.