posted by Kristin on Feb 27, 2009 |
This last week Elisa had her first real bout with sickness. She got the cold that was going around and the cough and congestion got down into her lungs. Mommy had the flu (thankfully short and over) and the next day Elisa woke up with the sniffles. She gradually got more congestion and kept getting her nose sucked out, but mostly was happy – if anything more content since she wasn’t wanting to do something new every minute! Two days later, the cough started and mommy debated whether to take her to the doctor (since daddy was at meeting in Florida he couldn’t give advice). Since mommy had crazy days before break (2 on-campus interview days and a day between running from 9-9) and Elisa woke up Friday acting more like herself – brighter and hungry – mommy thought she was getting better. Besides, shouldn’t a baby get upset and grumpy if they are really sick?
So it was a little disappointing to get up Sabbath morning and hear a bit of a rattle as Elisa breathed. We went to the doctor on Monday, got labwork done to make sure it wasn’t RSV or bacterial, and ended up with a nebulizer and medicine on Tuesday. She has been very good about the nebulizer. We were told to just hold it under her mouth or nose and Elisa decided to take it into her mouth in the first 10 minutes. Of course, she won’t keep it in her mouth for the 15-20 minutes it takes to give the medicine dose, but she gets much more upset by the time sitting still than the nebulizer! At this point, she is mostly over it. Today we didn’t hear any coughs or rattling and she seems to have enough energy to be content.
Of course, being sick hasn’t kept her from new skills! She continues to stand more on her own, sometimes just leaning against her playstation or a chair and moving both hands. She also moves her feet while standing to move around a little. One thing she has developed while sick is putting her head on her side. At first we couldn’t figure out why she was doing this, but it turns out she is trying to see around objects when putting her head on the side – particularly to see mommy, daddy or Ink. While she hasn’t figured out how to pull her legs up under her in preparation for crawling, she has learned to launch herself from a sitting position to chase her toys. She leans 
over to the side or over her feet and pushes herself forward so that her feet somehow end up in the same place, but she is on her stomach and two feet further than she was. She is also starting to show a little impatience to move further from that point – which means she is not content on her stomach unless she just reached a toy she wanted or is watching Ink.
posted by Kristin on Feb 13, 2009 |
Elisa frequently comes to work with Mommy. Friday is the babysitter’s day off and she joins Mommy Monday and Wednesday afternoons after classes are done. On Fridays, a student Rachel Scheiderich stays with Elisa during Mommy’s Geometry class. (Rachel also gets to babysit Elisa frequently while Mommy attends the ubiquitous 4pm meetings!)
While in the office, Elisa splits her time between napping, eating, playing on a blanket on Mommy’s floor, sitting in a rocking chair with toys (and occasionally triggering the ‘Old MacDonald’ music), and running errands with Mommy in order to charm everyone else to believe she is the most beautiful baby ever! Actually, running errands is a lot easier to do with a baby than planning for classes on
a computer or reading math textbooks – so that is a frequent use of Elisa’s awake time. Here Elisa is seen with Yu Yan, one of Mommy’s colleagues. Every time Elisa sees Yu she puts on a big smile (and then grabs her hair)! Elisa smiles at most people, but she does have her favorites!
Of course, being exposed to this enviroment, Elisa has discovered Mommy’s toys as well as her own. After a couple times that Elisa reached over and grabbed the cube (made from Zomes) while getting her diaper changed, it got added to her set of office toys. 
Once there were some Zomes in the car next to her carseat and by the time Mommy had driven across campus she had reached over the side of her carseat and picked up one of them and was staring at it as if transfixed – then it made it to her mouth! She has also grabbed the crocheted hyperbolic plane (that’s the orange thing) – but she has always liked everything made of fabric!
Recently, Elisa has decided that since Mommy and Daddy are always reading and working with paper, it must be worth exploring. So the last week or two she has grabbed anything paper within reach. This has resulted in some slightly crinkled paper – and occasionally very wet paper if it makes it to her mouth. When in the doctor’s office for her check-up, she even tore pieces of paper off the liner paper over the patient couch!
Mommy has tried not to overly push the “math thing,” especially since she had told her college friends many years ago that she WOULD NOT teach her children Calculus before the age of 5. We have, since very early on, counted snaps and buttons on almost all clothes items – but no Calculus. However, when you come to work with Mommy, there is definitely an environment that encourages math! 
This is especially true since Elisa came with Mommy to a big math conference in Washington, D.C. just before the beginning of the semester (5000+ mathematicians in one place…). Knowing her predilection for Zomes, it was easy to encourage her to continue!
While in D.C., we got to visit with some of Mommy’s friends: Megan, a roommate from college, her husband Brian & their 2-year-old son, 
Noah. Mommy appreciates that Elisa isn’t the only child who likes the Zome toys – but then again, Brian teaches Statistics at the college level, so perhaps this isn’t a good sign of what is normal!
posted by Kristin on Feb 13, 2009 |
Elisa had her 6-month check-up and shots yesterday. Here are the (almost) current stats:
Weight: 17 lb. 10 oz.
Height: 25 1/2 in.
All the medical staff agreed that she is very healthly and that her motor skills are quite advanced.
We are very thankful for her continued growth and health – even if it does mean we need to baby-proof sooner than later!
posted by Kristin on Feb 07, 2009 |
Today Elisa is 6 months old!
(Her daddy thinks of it as .5…not her mommy! Mommy would think in fractions!)
She has had a laid back Sabbath for her birthday, getting some pictures taken, going with Mommy to church (Daddy was ill but is getting better), taking some naps, and eating some food. She continues to grow in strength and size and show more of her personality.
Currently, her favorite pasttimes include:
- playing piano on her playstation while mommy is playing (of course, if you flip the pages to switch modes her piano talks or plays full songs rather than plays notes…but she still likes playing mommy’s piano from time to time, especially black keys.)
- watching Ink, reaching for the kitty cat, smiling, laughing and waving her arms – even trying to move her feet to walk to him. Ink wisely avoids her as much as possible.
sitting up on a blanket or standing up with support – sometimes from mommy or daddy and sometimes holding on to or leaning against something (mommy has gotten to the stage of asking her whether she bends in the middle to sit down. Almost two weeks ago mommy stood her up next to her playstation and she grabbed the plastic palm tree so mommy backed off just to see if she would stand on her own – and she did! In fact, she stabilized as mommy watched and suddenly mommy thought “I should get this on video” and had time to run, get the video camera and get her on tape – of course, the tape ends suddenly with her falling over backward like a board!- in the bathtub, alternately splashing and putting her feet in her mouth – or both at the same time! Last night she had her right hand holding her right foot in her mouth while her left foot rhythmically splashed the water!
- being held upside down or high up in the air
- random noises - especially “b” and “z” sounds
She is starting to make consonant sounds: some “b”, “d”, “t” and “v/f” sounds, even ocassionally an “a-ba.” She loves to laugh and smile and lightens the heart of the many people she gets to see at school, church and out shopping. In general, she seems to have a sunny personality. She also seems to be showing both strong determination and some thrill-seeking behavior. When she is intent on a toy or object, she will throw herself forward as needed. Yesterday, she was standing holding mommy’s hands near a coffee table with a glass of water on it. She is entranced by glassy objects (like mommy’s blue water bottle) so she lunged for it - taking her left arm across her body for probably a full 18-24 inches of movement – and knocking over the glass with perfect aim. Elisa also seems to like things that are new and exciting – being upside-down or high up and any new physical skills she hasn’t mastered yet (perhaps this is the determination coming out again). Once something is mastered it isn’t as interesting - rolling, mommy? That’s so last month!
The last week she has started on foods other than cereal. She has eaten everything happily the first time – except carrots, but we don’t think she was hungry at all – and is slowly becoming a little neater. (Of course, some of this depends on her parents’ aim!) She is starting to be a little more interested in the food than the spoon – the week before the new foods she was so interested in the spoon that she didn’t eat much cereal. At this point, we think it was because she was bored by the food – again, that search for new experiences! Sometimes she even calmly keeps her hands at her sides (the big catcher bib helps!) and opens her mouth waiting for food! So far she has had green beans and squash and carrots and, in the last 24 hours, peaches. When we first started giving her cereal in January we were using her Bumbo seat since the high chairs required too much of her, but she is now happily sitting in the high chair (not even needing to be strapped in) and frequently sitting there with toys for 10-15 minutes while mommy and daddy eat, too!
We are thankful for the first 6 months that we have been blessed with Elisa and look forward to her continued growth. We are also thankful for all of you who care deeply for us and are working to keep up with Elisa even when you are at a distance!
This last week Elisa had her first real bout with sickness. She got the cold that was going around and the cough and congestion got down into her lungs. Mommy had the flu (thankfully short and over) and the next day Elisa woke up with the sniffles. She gradually got more congestion and kept getting her nose sucked out, but mostly was happy – if anything more content since she wasn’t wanting to do something new every minute! Two days later, the cough started and mommy debated whether to take her to the doctor (since daddy was at meeting in Florida he couldn’t give advice). Since mommy had crazy days before break (2 on-campus interview days and a day between running from 9-9) and Elisa woke up Friday acting more like herself – brighter and hungry – mommy thought she was getting better. Besides, shouldn’t a baby get upset and grumpy if they are really sick?
So it was a little disappointing to get up Sabbath morning and hear a bit of a rattle as Elisa breathed. We went to the doctor on Monday, got labwork done to make sure it wasn’t RSV or bacterial, and ended up with a nebulizer and medicine on Tuesday. She has been very good about the nebulizer. We were told to just hold it under her mouth or nose and Elisa decided to take it into her mouth in the first 10 minutes. Of course, she won’t keep it in her mouth for the 15-20 minutes it takes to give the medicine dose, but she gets much more upset by the time sitting still than the nebulizer! At this point, she is mostly over it. Today we didn’t hear any coughs or rattling and she seems to have enough energy to be content.
Of course, being sick hasn’t kept her from new skills! She continues to stand more on her own, sometimes just leaning against her playstation or a chair and moving both hands. She also moves her feet while standing to move around a little. One thing she has developed while sick is putting her head on her side. At first we couldn’t figure out why she was doing this, but it turns out she is trying to see around objects when putting her head on the side – particularly to see mommy, daddy or Ink. While she hasn’t figured out how to pull her legs up under her in preparation for crawling, she has learned to launch herself from a sitting position to chase her toys. She leans 
over to the side or over her feet and pushes herself forward so that her feet somehow end up in the same place, but she is on her stomach and two feet further than she was. She is also starting to show a little impatience to move further from that point – which means she is not content on her stomach unless she just reached a toy she wanted or is watching Ink.
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