12 weeks: first cold and music class

Today Eloise is 12 weeks old. The end of the "fourth trimester" as Harvey Karp calls it, the author of The Happiest Baby on the Block, which we love. I also have an article given to me by a friend called, "Tricks for Surviving the First 3 Months" that was on the refrigerator until today. Link here, it's on pages 30-31. For those two reasons 12 weeks really feels like a milestone.

Eloise is suffering from her first cold this week. It's so sad. Today is the fourth day. Yesterday I thought she was getting better because she woke up all smiles, but by the afternoon she was fussy and had a runny nose. We spent the afternoon cuddling and she slept on me a lot. She didn't want to be put down. At one point I just watched a booger move in her nose as she breathed. Evan likes to get pictures of Eloise texted to him while he is at work. I texted him this video instead:

In other news, we went to our first infant music class. A teacher from Music Together came to our moms group a couple weeks ago and Eloise loved it. There's a location walking distance from our house so we signed up. Eloise had fun and it totally wore her out. All the songs involve doing something with your baby, like bouncing them, shaking rattles, waving scarves, or getting up and dancing around. Everyone gets a CD of the songs to practice at home. We've already been doing The Itsy Bitsy Spider song that we learned with taps and rubs a couple weeks ago after diaper changes. Now as soon as we sing the first note she bursts into smiles.

Before class, after class

And for no particular reason, some random photos taken this week. We had dinner with some friends who also have kids and we were discussing professional photos and how we don't use our own camera enough. That inspired me to snap a few with the "good" camera, including the one at the beginning of this post.

11 weeks: crib napping, first trip, and feet

zzzzzzzzzzz.....

This week we have started letting Eloise take some of her naps in her crib. We want to get her used to it  in hopes it will make the transition from sleeping in a bassinet in our room to the crib in her room easier.  We have a video monitor in her room that connects to our wifi so we can watch her from an app on our iPhones and iPad. The very first time she napped in her crib we were both glued to our iPhones downstairs.

first nap in the crib!

In other news, Eloise took her first trip out of town last weekend to Salem to celebrate her Grandpa Harris' birthday and 40th anniversary of passing the bar exam. It was about an hour drive and she slept the whole way. The way back was another story. Eloise got to spend time with all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and even a second cousin on her dad's side of the family. While we were in Salem we also went to see Great Grandma Harris and had a nice visit. 

Great Grandma Harris, Eloise, Evan, Marin, Emily, and Nora

Why is my child the only one with devil eyes?

Great Grandma and Eloise

And finally, feet have come into view for Eloise. Those fascinating things at the end of her legs. I've caught her several times this past week studying her feet. I wonder if it has something to do with brightly colored socks. When she gets excited she kicks, which is exciting to watch, so she kicks some more... well you get the point.

Foot entertainment while mama cooks

And for no particular reason aside from I think my daughter is cute...

That face! 

10 weeks old: nail trim, books, and toys

We haven't reached Halloween yet, but Eloise's costume came in the mail this week and naturally I had to put it on her immediately. It was 60% off at a Labor Day sale. She is such a cute little mouse. More on the plans for that costume next month.

We had a couple firsts this week. First was Eloise's first nail trim. We have been scared to trim them for fear of cutting a finger since they're so so so tiny. She was scratching herself in the face more and we were feeling guilty about neglecting the nails. I waited until she was asleep, lined up the baby nail trimmer, and still couldn't do it. So I filed them instead. Much better.

Baby manicure

Next, after talking to Evan's mom, we started reading books to her. Evan read the very first book to her.  Later that day I read two more. I'm not sure she looked at the books at all but she did seem to enjoy hearing us talk and made noises. 

First book

Second book

Third book

I'd read that around two months babies will start to notice black and white or brightly colored toys. So ever since 8 weeks I have been holding things in front of her seeing if she'll be interested. Finally, this week she started noticing things! Naturally I picked up the camera to capture the moment. As with most new experiences she started off with a furrowed brow.

First toy to be noticed: a plastic penguin!

Finally, I've talked about the Friday afternoon new moms and babies group we go to before, but I snapped a picture last Friday of Eloise during the group. We all sit in a circle on the floor with name tents. 

Check out the neck strength!

9 weeks old: baby drool

In the last week or so we have seen the onset of baby drool. It may be hard to see but she's sporting some drool below her bottom lip in this picture, as well as a spot on her clothes just below her chin where it dripped. Break out the bibs! Suddenly this girl is producing saliva faster than she can swallow it, and a lot of it. With drool comes spit bubbles, and if there were a spit bubble contest Eloise would surely win.

 Spit Bubble Champion

Eloise is also starting to suck on things. She is finding a hand to suck on more and more, and I'll realize she has her gummy little open mouth on my arm, too. She leaves her wet little drool mark. Sometimes she'll hold her pacifier in her mouth with the back of her hand. I'm not sure if that's on purpose or not.

Eloise's neck is getting stronger and stronger, and she can hold her head up higher than ever. Everything about her is getting stronger. I noticed that when her daddy comes home from work and she hears his voice, she gets her arms and legs moving with excitement. So sweet!

Tummy time to show off cute jammies from Aunt Kate

Speaking of daddy, here's a picture of him doing something with Eloise we often do to sooth her: bounce on the exercise ball. It sure is effective and is a nice alternative to the walk and bounce.

See the little leg under Evan's right arm?

And finally, last weekend was Labor Day weekend and we spent a lot of time around home because mama had mastitis. Eloise likes being outside so we pitched a blanket in the backyard one day. By Monday I was feeling better so we took a family outing to Blue Lake for a couple hours.

Backyard lounging

Blue Lake

Napping at Blue Lake