This is old and I never had a chance to post it (she turned 5 months on November 11th) but here it is..
Ella turned 5 months old this past 11th and all I can think is holy shit she's almost 6 months old. Which means it was almost half a year ago, I had her. Wwhhhaat?! This makes me want to cry. For me, the first 3 months went super slow, which was fine by me. But then these past few months flew by. It was like oh "hey it's Fall, we get to celebrate Halloween" and then I blinked and Christmas is almost here.
Weight: I don't actually know but if I had to guess I would say 14 lbs. It's hard though because I'm usually totally off when it comes to guessing her weight.
Breastfeeding: No changes here, she still nurses like a champ with no issues. I'm very grateful and blessed that I've been able to successfully nurse both my girls. Both started off rough with their own obstacles in regards to nursing but now it's smooth sailing.
Sleep: Ahhh, now this is the interesting part. Right from birth, Ella was an amazing sleeper, sleeping 6+ hour stretches even at one week old. This was a blessing considering Harper was a night owl until she was about 8 months old. That being said, everything will seem fine with Ella and her sleeping and then WHAM she regresses and she's up every couple of hours at night and refusing to nap.
Something that we've been working on just the past 4 nights is weaning her off of her beloved halo swaddle. And by weaning I mean we went cold turkey. My goal is to have her sleeping in her crib at night by 6 months. In order to do that she cannot be swaddled due to her age and the fact that she can roll over. The first night was brutal! She was up every two hours in her bassinet not knowing what to do with her arms. Her naps were total crap as well, lasting a whole 20 minutes * insert the biggest huff ever*.
However, after a meer two days, she has done so well. She's back to her 6+ hour stretches and decent naps in her crib - unswaddled! High five to me. I think what has worked for us is just being consistent. I wasn't going back to swaddling, so she just had to adapt.
Personality: Ella is a much more serious baby than Harper ever was. By that I mean, when you talk to her, she will sometimes just scowl at you and stair. Where as Harper was always smiling and cooing away. That being said though, when Ella smiles, her entire face lights up. It's the best thing ever.
Also, Ella isn't a super cuddly baby. Again, this took some adjustment on my end as it was initially hard for me because I was so used to Harper being s total boob when she was tiny. Harper used to sleep in our bed and wedge her head under my chin and pass out. Ella could not be less interested. She is a total suck and loves for me to hold her, at all times, but she doesn't care much for full on cuddling.
An update on Ella's sleeping without her swaddle (since I started writing this post over a week ago), she has been doing awesome! She's been starting the night off with a 6 hour stretch which is amazing! She's also been napping over an hour in her crib without being swaddled - woot!
Now that we have her used to sleeping without her swaddle, we are going to transition her from her bassinet to her crib at night. We've decided this weekend is going to be the big moment. I'm hoping because she does well in her crib, she will do great at night in her crib! Bahh fingers crossed.
