Ellie Hollyn is 3 months old!

Today my sweet Ellie is 3 months old. It is hard to believe that she has already been with our family for that long. These last few months have been such a whirlwind for our family, and I'm glad God chose to bless us with this sweet baby girl to enjoy the ride with us.

At 3 months this is what Ellie is into:

*She drools a lot these days. Could have something to do with the fact that she chews on her hands a lot. She also will grab her burp cloth and stuff it into her mouth and chew on it. Speaking of burp cloths....these are a necessity around here. She spits up A LOT! I'm actually a little worried she may have reflux or something. She will sometimes get quite choked on just saliva or drainage...I don't really know. But sometimes it happens even when she hasn't recently eaten. The other day she was strapped in her car seat at the library when it happened and I had to scramble to get her out of her seat so I could put her up on my shoulder and pat her back. It was so sad-she was struggling to breathe and was looking at me like, "Help me Mom!" If she had been my 1st child I probably would have been screaming for someone to help me. However, being my 3rd child, I was definitely concerned and worked quickly to get her out with my heart racing, but I knew as soon as I got her upright and patted on her a little that she'd be okay. I just worry about it happening sometime if I'm not right there with her.

*She has such a pretty smile and offers it quite freely which brings a smile to our faces of course! She also 'talks' & 'talks.' I love to hear her little coos. She has started to laugh a little bit.

*She has discovered television. I can tell it really grabs her attention, so I'm planning a trip to the library to look for some Baby Einstein dvd's. She likes to sit on our lap facing us and have us do 'patty cake.' Of course, she tries to put her hand & ours in her mouth!

*She is pretty strong and holds her head up really well-for a time-then it's watch out because it flops! She will sometimes put weight on her legs when you hold her up.

*She is about to start moving I think. When we put her on her back under her little gym thing, she pushes herself backwards. Also, when we put her in bed at night she is frequently in a slightly different place in the morning. She moves herself around somehow. I have also found her pacifier in a different place like maybe she picked it up and moved it. She is still sleeping through the night 99.9% of the time and has been doing so for quite some time now. I am soooo thankful for this! It makes all the difference in the world in how my day goes. Those first few weeks of getting up over & over in the night just about killed me. I've never done really well with those hard nights, so I'm grateful that she is sleeping well!

*Sometimes she looks like she has red hair so I'm still holding out some hope for it! :) She has quite a little temper sometimes so that points to being a redhead, right?! One thing that almost always calms her down is her biggest sissy singing, "Sing and Be Happy" to her. It is very sweet! One of Katie's favorite songs right now is, "Sanctuary," and that is very sweet to hear also.

*Katie & Ellie are forming a sweet relationship now that Gracie is in school. Nurturing Ellie comes very naturally to Gracie and they've had a special relationship from the beginning. Often she will jump to help her before I will! Katie has seemed to view Ellie as a bit of a nuisance for a time (after all, she took her place as the baby in the family!) Now that Gracie is in school, Katie will ask for Ellie to be brought to her room and she will dance for her and show her toys and just enjoy her being in there with her. Ellie likes it and will watch her (and the ceiling fan!) sitting in her bouncy seat and be happy for quite some time. She still doesn't nurture as naturally as Gracie does but that may just be her nature. I can totally see Gracie as a stay-at-home mom one day, while Katie I picture going on a medical missions trip to Africa or something! I just see her as being more 'on the go' while Gracie & I are happy to sit & read for longer periods of time. It's fun to see how different they can be!

*She still loves her bouncy seat and endures the portable swing sometimes although it's certainly not her favorite! She likes to lay on the floor for a little bit but not her favorite either. When she's really fussy, she calms down best if you hold her horizontally, stick the pacifier in, and pat her bottom pretty hard. (other than feeding her of course). She is mainly nursed although she does get 1-2 bottles of formula per day-usually just 1. The girl is a BIG burper! Goodness. It's embarrassing sometimes! She also rarely fusses in the car or stroller. I think she enjoys the 2 walks she gets per day as we walk Gracie to & from school. I'm glad she's getting the regular fresh air. Around here we'll probably be able to walk her year round!

Ellie is a precious part of our lives and we're blessed to have her as part of our family!