The First Month's observations

June 11^th 2006

Ellie’s one month update:

I just wanted to remember the little things that Ellie has gone through. 

The first night home from the hospital Ellie and Mommy slept down on the recliner so that we could rock if we had to.  Daddy was so tired from the whole hospital experience that we all figured that at least one of us needed a good night’s sleep.  This decision was a very good one!

We had Grandma Sandi & Grandpa Chuck to help us for that first week.  They went back home to Oregon on May 17^th since the world doesn’t hold still and the other varmint kids in our family needed their attention.  We were so glad that we had the time we did.  It was so fun to have them from April 27^th through May 17^th!!  My dad did a lot of much needed yard work to keep himself occupied and my mom did a beautiful job on decorating the baby’s room.

On Mother’s day, which was 4 days after Ellie was born, we had the Lupers (bonnie’s sister, brother in law & nephew Keenan) over for dinner.  Keenan had a little cold that no one knew about so Ellie got her first cold by the time she was 8 days old.  Our pediatrician was a great support as I had a thousand questions and lots of worries; some valid, some not so valid.  We made it though but all we did was hold her for the next 10 days, leaving the rest of every day living to fend for its self. 

June 4^th 2006 we had Ellie’s baby blessing.  We had the Hofmann family for the birth so it was very nice to have the Henderson family there for the blessing.  Grandma Wileen, Grandpa Gordon, Uncle Shaun, Aunt Shannon, Cuzins Marissa & Trevor (bryan’s immediate family) , Uncle Scott, Great Aunt Patty & Great Uncle Boyd’s family (bryan’s aunto & uncle with some of their kids), Carol, Shawn, Jessa & Teresa Homer (bonnie’s “Salt Lake Family) , Nissa, Braden, Keeden, Sephera, & Nika Henderson (bonnie’s friends who are not related to Bryan’s Henderson family line…that we know of) Stephanie & Derek Hutchings (bonnie’s co-worker from her days at the insurance office and her 6 year old son), Mark, Elizabeth, Erin & Morgan Pierce (bonnie’s adopted family) were all there. 

In the prayer circle we had:  Bishop Wright, Gordon, Shaun, & Scott Henderson, Matt Luper (bonnie’s sister’s husband), Dan Watts (from Bryan’s singles ward), Uncle Boyd, Mark Pierce,

After the blessing we had a bunch of food and then everyone went their separate ways but we got to keep Grandma Wileen for the next 5 days.  She helped with laundry, dishes & general housework while Ellie & I were still trying to figure things out.  It was so nice!!!  Wileen had fun adding her personal touches to the baby’s nursery as well.  Both of our moms gave us great new-parent advice.  We had lots of nice conversations which just made me grateful for both sides of our families.  We are very grateful for both the Hofmann & Henderson family’s contributions to our happiness….if I may say so in a very sappy mood.  It’s hard to ask for anything in our night-time prayers because of how grateful we are for those who love us and do so much for us!!

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Ellie has always been so alert…when she’s not sleeping J.  After she took her first breath she was looking all over with her wide new-baby-blue eyes.  Often she’ll look past the person holding her, looking up to the ceiling as if she was talking or playing with an unseen person. Then there is the 10:30 pm wake up, which is the same time of day that she’d thrash around the most when she was inside my tummy. She responds to being talked to.  The more animated the person is the more she plays it up. She’ll grin and coo all morning long almost as if she were performing for a crowd.

Randomly speaking, other characteristics that Ellie is showing us is that she becomes fascinated easily with the TV, is really ticklish, likes to be sang to, hates having hiccups, loves sun light, & is always expelling gas bubbles out the rear end.  She gets so bugged when her mom takes thousands of pictures while she is sleeping.  Bryan and I have had a lot of fun simply enjoying her.  Every day brings out more and more of her personality!  (I do hope that she’s not too sassy like me.)

I wish that I could explain how funny it is to hear her laugh.  The story goes something like this:  when she was a few days old she was napping on the couch and I heard a funny noise; almost a cry but more like a giggle.  I went over to check on her and she was genuinely laughing in her sleep.  She has so many animations that she shows in her face while she sleeps but this was one that caught me off guard because I thought that babies couldn’t laugh until they were much older than 10 days old.  I mentioned her giggles to the nurse when we went in for her 2 week appointment and she said that Ellie’s laughter might be an indication that she’ll be very verbal early on……..My thoughts were, ”oh great!  We will have a child as chatty & verbal as I was when I was growing up.  I had a debate for EVERYTHING!”

At 4 days old she slept for a 5 ½ hour block of time.  She has taken a pacifier from that first day at the hospital.  She’s really good with nursing.  She has such a strong body & personality.  She has always tried to hold her head up so it won’t take long for her to build that up. She’s still a little bit wobbly but is determined to control her body.  She gets soooooo frustrated when her hand comes up, unprovoked, and thumps her forehead!!  She took a pacifier from the first day at the hospital.  We pump mother’s milk and keep a bottle or two in the fridge so that daddy can feed her some times.  Ellie loves her daddy!  When mom can’t get her to calm down, putting her in her dad’s arms makes all the difference.  She likes to bounce on the big 65 cm yoga-ball that her mom sat on for the last 4 months of the pregnancy to relieve pressure on her aching old-lady body.  She loves to be held and given kisses.  She falls asleep to the sound of a bath running. 

She’s so cute when she smacks her lips.  She squeaks when she is sleeping or eating so I tend to call her “squeeker”.  She loves to cuddle with us in our bed.  She is so sweet!!! 

That’s probably all that I should get into.  New babies have so many experiences that are fun to observe.