Elsa's First Christmas: Part 2

Jarrett, Elsa, and I ventured to Lenox Mall today to do some somewhat last-minute Christmas shopping, and Elsa had her first cozy visit with Santa. She loved him -- or at least didn't hate him -- as you can see from the photo below. Jarrett commented on how our life has so drastically changed. Our mall visits used to consist of parking in our "secret" place, climbing a flight of stairs to enter the mall, moving through the mall as quickly as possible to obtain those things on our checklist, and make the inevitable visit to the Apple store -- regardless of whether it was on the checklist or not. We still stopped in to drool over the Macs, but the rest of our trip was quite different. We couldn't park in our usual spot because the stroller doesn't get along so well with a steep flight of stairs, we had to maneuver our way around the mall based on where the elevators were located (which called for some backtracking at times), and we found some newfound joy in watching all of the little ones' reactions to Santa as we stood in line to purchase our "Santa package" of photos. We can't wait until she's old enough to want to ride on the Pink Pig.

Three-Month Appointment

Elsa turned three months on December 7, and we went to see Dr. Owen for her three-month appointment yesterday afternoon. Jarrett is off this week, so he was able to join us this time, which I was very thankful for considering she received her first vaccination. She got the diphtheria/tetanus/pertussis vaccine (DTaP), and now has a bandage on her little thigh... poor little bean. She handled it pretty well, though. Of course she cried at the time of injection, but we were able to dress her and then pick her up and calm her down without too much problem. Dr. Owen said that when she used to follow the CDC's vaccination schedule, she would inevitably receive call after call about babies with fevers, etc., but now that she usually follows that of Dr. Sears (read: delayed schedule), she gets very few calls. Elsa did not get a fever, and seemed completely fine the rest of the day, and she slept through the night as she's been doing lately. So everything seems normal. We decided it was important to vaccinate Elsa, but I think there is something to be said about spreading the vaccinations out over a period of time rather than inflicting her little body with multiple shots at once. And there are a few that Dr. Owen does not administer that we're just not going to give her.

Elsa weighed in at 12 pounds, 1 ounce, is 24.5 inches long, and has a head circumference of 15.75 inches. The doctor thought she looked great and was growing well. She has been off of the acid reflux medication for over a week now and seems to be doing fine, so we are going to keep her off of it, which is fabulous news for us -- and I'm sure for Elsa as well. Dr. Owen said that a three-month-old is much more mature than a two-month-old, and that it is likely that her esophageal muscle has matured and strengthened as well. We're still battling a bit with the yeast infection/diaper rash, but the doctor thinks that it could be that she now has some yeast in her gut as a result of having her on the medication. So we're going to continue with two types of probiotics and the antifungal cream, and hope that will nip it in the bud here soon.

I never had the chance to write about it earlier in the month, but Elsa did go to the cardiologist on December 2 because it was suspected at birth that she might have a bicuspid aortic valve. We were told at that time that we should take her to Children's when she was two to three months old to have it checked out, as the machines the cardiologist had to use at North Fulton were meant to be used on adults -- not babies. So we took her and they did an ultrasound, and thankfully her heart looks completely normal. Yay! It is nice to check that off of the list of things to worry about!

Strike a Pose

The Sweater

I took advantage of this rainy day (and the fact that Elsa took a long nap) and decided to sew up the final seam on this sweater I made for Elsa. It definitely looks homemade, and it is quite apparent that this was my first attempt at a sweater, but I think it will look cute on her nonetheless. I still need to sew some ribbon on the edges of the slit at the back of the neckline, but it is nice to know it is almost finished. I started on this project while still pregnant, so it definitely took me awhile!

Elsa on Her Playmat

Elsa's playmat has become much more exciting of late, as she actually attempts to swat at the hanging toys, wide-eyed with delight. Her closed fists are slowly turning into open hands, so it's not looking as much like she's boxing, but is trying harder to grab things.

Elsa's First Christmas: Part 1

It seems I am decorating with a different purpose this year, being it is Elsa's first Christmas. If it were just Jarrett and I, we might have decided to skip out on the tree, but it just didn't seem right. Elsa needs the full-on experience -- whether she has a clue or not. So we bundled up and went to Pike Nursery on Saturday morning to pick out our tree, and I decorated it that afternoon. It's nice to now enter the house and smell the scent of Christmasy pine, fir, and cinnamon. And, please, Elsa totally knows what's going on. She just adores her new stocking and can't wait to see what Santa leaves behind. Here is a glimpse of what things look like inside the house:






The lovely hanging above the fireplace is courtesy of my very talented grandma. Thanks, grandma!

Elsa with Her Grandmom Helms