Visit with Uncle Bro...

Life on Tour
Food on tour
The Cole Side

Yesterday Vimal and I drove down to Providence to see my brother who had flown into town to play a benefit concert there for victims of The Station fire that happened five years ago. It was great to see Erick even though we couldn't go to the concert tonight. Anyways, I have been so thrilled to see how Erick has bonded with Ellis even though he lives in L.A. and we live here. I can't wait for him to teach her how to play the guitar and skateboard! I wish we lived closer together but, for now, these visits will have to due.

More soon...

Erin

Five Weeks Old!

See--she really does open her eyes!
The pacifier shot

It's hard to believe that Ellis has been a part of our lives for five weeks already! In that time, she's definitely grown quite a bit and we are beginning to see parts of her personality as well.

Here are five things that we've learned in the last five weeks:

5. Pacifiers work and there is no shame in using them

4. Showers are a luxury that should not be taken for granted

3. Babies hate tummy time, which in turn means that mommy's hate tummy time too

2. Sleeping more than 2 hours in a row at night is a luxury that should not be taken for granted

1. Spit-Up is the new black!


More later...


Erin

Porky the Pig

Look at those chins!

Relaxing after a bath/hair wash
Daddy's little football...I mean girl
Kissy Face

Yesterday I took Ellis to the pediatrician for her four week appointment. My whole family had made guesses as to what her weight might be at this point and we were all assuming that it would be around 7 and 1/2 pounds. So, you can imagine how shocked I was when the nurse put her on the scale and said, "8 pounds, 10 ounces." I just looked at the nurse like she was nuts and made her repeat it twice again. I still can't believe that Ellis is well over 8 pounds now...though as I looked at her after leaving the doctor's office I noticed her double chin and wrist rolls for the first time. I'm so proud! Now, if we could just get her to spread out her feeding so that we're not up half the night, I think I will be able to get some sanity back.

On a completely different note, I've posted a picture of Ellis right after she got her hair washed--as you can see, SHE LOVES IT! It completely relaxes her and she falls asleep almost every time. And she also seems to love daddy's football hold and making kissy faces. She's growing so much...in all directions!

More later...

Valentine's Day

Some tummy time
So excited about tummy time...not really
He still doesn't think they look alike
LOVE! Celebrating the day by wearing hearts

Last night, Ellis had some tummy time and held her head up for quite a while. Vimal and I have been surprised by the strength she seems to have in her neck. Since her birth day, she has been able to hold her head up and move/look around. We, of course, think this means that she is simply advanced and should sign up for jeopardy immediately, but we are probably just being proud parents.

Well, today is Valentine's Day, so Ellis put on her gown decorated with hearts and together we made a cake for Vimal. All this action wore Ellis out, as you can see in the picture! Anyways, Happy Valentine's Day from all three of us...

Erin

First Day Alone

Well, I have to admit that yesterday was a day I had been dreading for 3 weeks...my first day caring for Ellis on my own. Vimal had been home the first week and my mom had been here for the 2 weeks after, but yesterday I went it alone. And, in general, I have to say that it went pretty well. Ellis is now to the point where she eats about every three hours (better than every 2!) and so I was able to get some sleep and that helped keep me sane.

Later in the afternoon, I decided to take Ellis to my happiest place on earth...no, not Disneyworld...TARGET! She slept through the whole thing, but I'm sure that deep down inside she had a wonderful time. While there, I bought her a floor gym which she seemed to enjoy this morning, although she only lasted about 5 minutes in it before getting fussy. Anyways, all in all, I'd say it was a good day...though we both missed Vimal very much. Ellis because she loves to poop on him...me because I love when he changes her dirty diapers so I don't have to.

More later...

Erin

A New Blog...

So many of you have asked for us to start a blog that we finally decided to do it. Our hope is that this blog will allow those of you who want to keep up with Ellis to do so without our having to force pictures down your throats every week with email updates. Ellis is growing so much every day that sometimes it's hard for us to keep up, so hopefully this blog will help with those of you who live far away.

This week we discovered a few new things about Ellis. First, she can't properly digest cow's milk due to a missing enzyme (not something that should affect her long term) so we've switched her to a soy formula and I've gone off of dairy until I'm done nursing (which probably won't be long now given how many obstacles I've had with this). Second, she hates taking a bath but LOVES getting her hair washed! And third, she likes traveling in her car seat and sleeps through most shopping adventures as long as she's full. Actually, she'll do pretty much anything as long as she's full...kind of like her daddy!

Enjoy the pics and check back often for updates!

Erin