Eliana, 2 weeks old

Eliana 

 Eliana is an amazingly good baby. She usually sleeps 3 hour stretches at night. She will wake up to eat or she will stir when she needs changing, but she always goes back to sleep. Eliana hardly ever cries, she's more of a squeaker. During the day, she will nurse a little more often, but she still sleeps most of the day.



Spending countless hours staring at Eliana for the past couple weeks, I'd say she has mommy's eyes, nose, hands, feet and ears. She has daddy's lips and chin.  Eliana has such a light complexion, light hair, and blue eyes. Vanessa also has the lighter complexion and blue eyes, but Eliana's hair is so light compared to Vanessa and Parker. It will be interesting to see how her eyes and hair change.


As I did with my last two, Eliana is exclusively breastfeeding. She took to it right away at birth and has been going strong ever since. I love to breastfeed, after you get past the first week of learning and some pain, it's comforting for both of us.

We also started using cloth diapers right away. We still have a "back-up" pack of disposables diapers in case we can't get around to laundry or she poops through her entire diaper stash in one day.

Current stats: 

Weight: 7lbs 4oz (back up to her birth weight)

Height: 19 1/2" long

Head circumference: 34cm

Clothing size: newborn

Eliana loves baths. Even more, she loves to take showers. She looked so cute after we finished our shower, I couldn't resist not taking a picture.

  

Adjusting to life with a newborn, a toddler and a teenager.

I think the hardest part of adjusting is actually letting Parker and Vanessa bond with Eliana. I don't worry so much about Vanessa interacting with Eliana, but I think sometimes she is afraid to ask me to hold her. With Parker, well he's two. "Gentle" and "soft" are still new to him. Interestingly enough, watching the show Caillou has helped him understand that he is now a big brother. Parker loves being a big brother. He loves showing Eliana how he does things. It's also a good motivator for him when he's being stubborn about doing something. All we have to say to Parker is, "show Eliana how to do it," and he will always settle down and show her.

We love you so much Eliana!