Newborn Alina's First Week

Alina at one-week-old - she's our little baby doll!

Sleepy baby, tiny footsies

Bonding with mommy, plus her very first birthday cake

The past week has been an indescribably wonderful experience. We feel the most immense joy and happiness that our beautiful and healthy newborn daughter, Alina, is now here with us. Alina is such a little doll! She rarely cries, sleeps most of the day, and makes the sweetest little baby faces that draw plenty of smiles from us. She's awake maybe 2-3 hours during the course of a day and when she is I make sure to have the camera ready. Of course, I've taken tons of photos. Alina is a super photogenic little one. I have so many favorites from her first week, that it was hard to choose which to post. We are just so in love with her!

Cutie pie Alina - already posing for photos

Showered with love and enjoying her first week

Even though it was just two short years ago that we brought home our first newborn, it's amazing how much we've forgotten what it was like and also how easy it is the second time around. With Elise, I remember feeling overwhelmed by my emotions and on top of that constantly critiquing everything I did. It was all new to me, and while it was exciting it was also a bit much to process. Having a newborn again, I find myself calm and at ease in everything I do. I'm more relaxed and taking time to just enjoy her and shower her with love. Right now, I feed her every two-three hours, change a few non-messy and non-stinky diapers, clean up after spit-up, take tons of photos/videos, cuddle with her, and that's about all I have to do to make her happy. I also find myself in awe of just how tiny she is! I've been carrying Elise around for the past couple years and she is now over 30lbs. Holding our fragile little 8 pound Alina has really put things in perspective. It's like holding a little baby doll and I absolutely do not want to put her down.

Proud big sister Elise! She loves her so much

Alina's first bath - big sister helped out

Elise has been an absolute ANGEL around her new baby sister! She has been so interested and helpful in taking care of Alina. She even helped give Alina her first bath. I can tell that they are going to be the best of friends. Elise has already taken on such a nurturing role. The cutest thing is when Elise tries to calm Alina from crying by patting her head and saying, "It's ok baby sissy, don't cry". The first time she said that, my eyes welled up with tears of happiness. It was just the sweetest thing ever to see how much empathy and love Elise has for her baby sister. I know that Elise will take the best care of her and set a great example for her to follow!

Newborn Alina doing what she does best; sleeping :)

Solid Foods; Bringing diaper changing to an entirely new level of unpleasantry

Since the introduction of baby food and formula, Elise's once mild and non-offensive diapers have transformed into malodorous stink bombs! Mom and dad have both become adept at breathing through our mouths during such stinky diaper changes. I love that she is branching out into the world of solids, but I now have a new appreciation for how easy diapers were before solids.

Elise Acrobatics

Cheeky little Elise escaping the changing mat as usual

I’m slowly learning that I have a little acrobat for a baby! When I change her diaper she now likes to try and turn from her back to stomach midway through. I hold up both her legs while the rest of her upper body is twisting like a pretzel. She finds it amusing each time I’m forced to turn her back around and attempt to hold her down. I now offer her a toy, to serve as a distraction, at each changing. It has helped somewhat, but she is still a little squirmy terror when it comes to diaper changes.

In fact, just the other day when I had Elise on her changing mat, which (formerly) sat on top of her dresser, I turned my back for a second and when I looked back she had completely flipped over from back to stomach. She had her head up in the crawl position with the biggest smile on her face. Naturally, I wanted to freak out, as she looked ready to crawl off the dresser, but she stayed still just smiling huge. It was the cutest thing ever! I’m not sure how she managed this on the small space of the changing mat. Usually she rolls across the entire floor to turn. Of course, I’ve realized that I will have to change her on the floor from here on out. That was certainly a bit too close for comfort.

Elise and Link, our resident house cat, are beginning to make friends. Link is basically a dog in cats clothing (the perfect pet if you ask me). He LOVES being around us and craves constant attention. He has never been wary of Elise. Even when she grabs his fur, ears or tail he will simply wait for her to let him go. Sometimes he takes his paw and pushes her hand off, but he has never scratched. He loves to nuzzle his head toward Elise and wait for her to pet him. It is so cute watching the two of them play!

Elise and Link making friends

Favorite new mom moments

Making her smile, touching her soft velvety skin, carrying on babbling and cooing conversations, helping her stand up and use her little legs, hearing her laughter, dressing her up, giving her a bath and watching her content in the water, hearing daddy tell her how much he loves her, taking countless photos of her cute expressions, spanking the baby powder on her little bum, sleeping with her on my chest, looking into her beautiful innocent eyes and seeing a bit of myself looking back, singing to her and watching her stare up at me in awe, kissing her forehead and chubby cheeks, listening to her explore her vocal chords and make all kinds of adorable sounds, seeing how much her little mad face looks just like me as a baby, running my finger across the little dimples on her hands, the challenge of changing her diaper while she squirms all over (she thinks it’s a game), offering her my finger to grasp and hold, watching her cute little personality emerging, holding her up and dancing with her, watching her and daddy sleep, patting her back to calm her down, wiping away her tiny new tears when she cries, loving every moment with her; knowing she is the best part of Clint and I.

Six weeks along and the slow transformation is upon us

Elise alert at six weeks

Clint and I keep saying that Elise is now slowly transforming into a baby. The first 4-5 weeks, she was more like a little machine; eat, sleep, cry, burp, dirty diapers…on repeat, and not necessarily in that order. She now exhibits all the signs of a baby in the making. She’s finally able to stare up into our eyes and really recognize us. She smiles more frequently now and is constantly alert and attentive. Each day a little something new emerges. Daddy and mommy are greatly enjoying this transformation. It has made us appreciate each fleeting moment with her, as we are quickly realizing how fast the "newborn stage" passes by. It's funny because even at a few weeks old, we keep saying she was growing too fast. But now that her growth is coupled with noticeably new development it has become exciting!

Another thing, that has been cracking me up this week, is her constant arm flailing in her sleep. Almost any sound has the potential to trigger her reflexive arm flailing. Sometimes she just does it out of nowhere. It is so funny and cute. Daddy and I get a kick out it.

Daddy has also been having some fun with baby girl by making her “dance”. He holds her upright in his arms and essentially puppeteers her to dance to different songs. It is an absolute laugh riot, and I have taken a couple baby dance videos starring little Elise. Yes, her parents have gone zany on her and I’m sure it won’t be the last time.

Her new hairline

Elise’s hair is another new topic. Her head has started to outgrow her original hairline, so now she has short lighter hair coming in on the front of her head while the back is all dark. Poor baby has what resembles a balding mans hairline. Of course this is just temporary, but it is quite funny! She has also been having her funny little "baby monkey" moments. I had to post the photo below for evidence.

Elise sleeping like a baby monkey :)

Daddy also found a bit of time this week to put together Elise’s baby jumper. Although she can’t hold her head up yet, daddy found a way to modify it so she could test it out. He put blankets behind her head and back to hold her upright, and books on the ground so she could have something to push off with her feet. It is so adorable seeing her in the jumper! She is so tiny and has a long way to go before she can touch the ground with her feet. After daddy made the necessary modifications, she was able to start pushing with her feet a tiny bit. It was thrilling for us to watch. Pretty soon, she will be bouncing around like crazy.

Testing out her new jumper

Diaper changing 101

Ok, so I’d heard all the stories of how many diapers babies go through a day, and it always seemed like a mountainous amount. We were prepared to be up to our ears in diapers, and figured it would be one of the more time consuming aspects of caring for a newborn. Thankfully, this has not been the case. Elise does go through her fair share of diapers (on average 7-8 a day), but the actual diaper changing process isn’t bad at all. Daddy has been great about changing diapers these past few weeks. He stepped up to the plate and, believe it or not, wanted to take on the task. Of course mommy loves this as she is already consumed with feedings. Also, thanks to all my wonderful friends and family at the baby shower, we have a massive supply of diapers, which we anticipate will last us a couple months!

While the diaper changing process isn't as bad as we expected, we still have a few words of wisdom for future parents. Diaper changing needs to be quick and fast! Think of it as a race; a race to beat the baby in making you their own personal diaper. If you leave a window of time between diapering, chances are you will get messy. Clint learned this first. He was changing her and she peed. It doesn’t sound so bad, since she is a girl, but in actuality it was just as messy if not more. Though her pee didn’t shoot upward it still shot outward with plenty of distance and landed all over dad. Clint was caught completely off guard. It also happened to me except I got both pee and poop splattered all over. Now all diaper changes are quick and fast to avoid future disasters!

Week three - We are now officially living to serve the baby!

Daddy rivaling baby

This week, has been considerably more challenging than the last two. Elise wants to eat more frequently now and every time she wakes up, she’s smacking her mouth ready to eat. The look on her face is pure comedic gold. She opens her mouth as wide as she can, smacks together her lips and tongue, and often times she even goes cross eyed. Clint and I came up with the only accurate term to describe it; “ravenous”. The one rule is to never keep her in that state for too long otherwise she will lunge out at any skin presented. Clint found out the hard way after she suctioned on to his arm. I think he has a newfound sympathy for me after that experience. Clint finds it amusing to bring her over to me and plop her into my lap saying, “Here you go she’s ravenous again”. Of course I laugh, yet can’t help but feel exhausted as she is hungry all the time. I feel like all I do, for the majority of the day, is feed her, and it is probably pretty accurate.

One of the most valuable baby shower gifts I received, is the baby timer that I keep connected to my hip. I time her feedings, sleep schedule and diaper changes. I think I would probably go mad without it. Thank goodness for the little things in life right? Anyway, I feel like a machine at the moment. I function to attend to her needs only, which is great but she still isn’t interactive yet so I don’t get much in return. Of course I knew it would be like this in the beginning, but it has me yearning for her to be able to look into my eyes, smile, grab my hand, laugh or really just anything to acknowledge my existence. Ok that’s enough venting, I just looked at her precious little face again and I‘m back under her spell.

Holding mommy under her spell

So far mom and dad’s favorite thing over the past few weeks has been bonding with baby girl by letting her sleep on our chest. This is especially daddy’s favorite. He says when Elise sleeps on his chest, with her arms holding him, he feels as if he’s getting a two hour long hug. One of my favorite things is when I walk into the room and see them both asleep in each other’s arms. There is something undeniably perfect about seeing a father hold his baby in his arms, but when it’s your own watch out, because it is overwhelmingly wonderful!

Daddy has also got a kick out of calling Elise his little “cave baby”. When we set her in her baby swing her face and chubby cheeks squish down into her neck and body and she looks just like a little cave mans baby. It is the cutest sight to see. She is our chubby little doll.

Daddy makes a great bed for Elise and Link

The first week, and the joys of new parenthood!

First Photo of Newborn Elise Liana Alessandro!

I have to start out by exclaiming, “This is my first time writing as a new mommy!". This past week has been a whirlwind of new emotions and experiences. Clint and I were finally united with our beautiful baby daughter, Elise Liana Alessandro! At last getting to see and hold the baby, we have come to love and adore over the past 9 months, was just incredible. This entire time it seemed like such an unreal experience and now it is our treasured reality. I can’t even begin put the experience into words. I think I went through every possible emotion imaginable with Clint right by my side.

After two days in the hospital, we were finally able to go home as a family of three! It was an amazing and exciting day. We had our first experience strapping little Elise in her car seat for her first car ride. She just seemed so tiny, fragile and beautiful. I sat in the back with her, shielding the sun from her eyes. I just couldn’t believe she was ours and now we were taking her home. From here on out, we would be on our own, learning everything as we go!

Fortunately, we had lots of help from both grandparents this week. It made things much more manageable. Although, as we soon learned, all she really does is sleep, eat and dirty her diapers. Daddy was great about helping with diapers and getting mommy through the difficult nights.

Newborn Elise doing what she does best; sleeping!

I must admit, I was riding a wave of adrenaline the first week. I don’t think I slept much at all. I had plenty of opportunities, as she slept so much, but I just couldn’t. I wanted to do more to take care of her. I wanted to watch her sleep. I didn’t want to leave her alone. I had to make sure I was feeding her enough. I just wanted to do everything imaginable for her. I realized this is what motherhood is; the desire to do everything to enhance the life of your child. I cried multiple times, not because I was sad, because I was overwhelmingly happy to have her in my life. I held her. I rocked her to sleep. Clint loved seeing my maternal side and was with me every step of the way. This week we both became parents. We will forever look back on this time and cherish it.

Three day old Elise - Home at Last!