Passport Picture - Take 2

May 24, 2014 - E is a dual citizen of Canada and the US because I was born in our friendly neighbor to the north.  Thus means that our passport picture experience didn't end with our friend at Walgreen's a couple of weeks ago.  We recently made our way to the (supposedly only) photographer in Chicago that takes Canadian passport pictures.  The photographer is located in the basement of an office building downtown, so we had some spectators at our little photo shoot.  Turns out that Shawn, the proud proprietor of AA Passport & Visa Photo, is a (self-proclaimed) sniper and only needs one shot to get the right photo.  Shawn and N became fast friends.  Fingers crossed the process for the Canadian passport will be as straight forward as it was for the US one.  




E also went to Jamba Juice for the first (of many, I'm sure) time.



EMD - 3 Months & 13 Weeks

June 10, 2014 - E is 3 months old today!  She is growing so quickly, is awake for long stretches and is increasingly aware of her surroundings everyday.  She looks around the room inquisitively and stares intently into the eyes of whoever is holding her.  E weighed in at 8lbs 15oz at the pediatrician - she would be in the 50-75th percentile for weight if she'd been born on her due date.  The pediatrician used the word "thrilled" to describe his feelings about her progress and encouraged us to continue doing whatever we are doing.


Sleep:  E continues to be a great sleeper.  She sleeps for up to 6 hours at a time at night which is just heaven for me.  Sometimes I even have to wake her up after 6 hours because she needs to eat!  During the day she sleeps for 2-3 hours at a time - I have a theory that she sleeps better at night if she is up more during the day.  The pediatrician told me that was the case with dogs but not babies.  I'm not sure I believe him since my theory seems to be holding true for E.  E also continues to be an exceptionally loud sleeper - I'm surprised she doesn't wake herself up!  Unfortunately, the pediatrician warned us that E's sleeping might regress in the next month or so, and she might be up more during the night.  I certainly hope not because I just went back to work this week!


Social:  E definitely is beginning to interact with us more.  She stares into our eyes when we hold her and seems to plead with us to give her food quickly when she's hungry.  She calms down we sing to her (or N plays the violin) and looks at whoever is speaking or making noise.  We are getting excited to see a social (and not diaper-related) smile!


Diet:  E increased the volume of milk she drinks drastically over the last couple of weeks and goes ballistic if she doesn't get her milk as quickly as she'd like it.  We've pretty much graduated from our tiny NICU bottles to normal baby bottles which is exciting.

Clothes:  E definitely does not fit into her preemie clothes anymore, and has even outgrown some of her smaller newborn onesies!  We put her in 0-3mos clothes sometimes which fit, but are still quite large.  We've been dressing E in more outfits when we go out rather than just her footie onesies which she lives in at home.  It really makes her look more like a toddler (albeit, a bald one) when she wears clothes other than pajamas.
Dislikes:  E detests having to wait for her milk when she is hungry.  NOTHING will distract or calm her when she is hungry and we can't warm the milk up fast enough.  I still find it hilarious that sometimes it is only after I wake her up that she realizes how hungry she is and becomes a little maniac - clearly her hunger wasn't enough to wake her up, but it is definitely enough to cause extreme distress!



Baby Gear Love:  We've been loving the Puj Tub which is a great help at bathtime.  E also ADORES her lamby pacifier - it is so great because she hugs it which prevents it from falling on the ground every 5 seconds.  I got some pacifier clips which we're planning on using, too.  We've also started using the car seat more.  We're so glad that we can easily do a seat belt install when we don't have the base - this has made us much more comfortable with traveling.  We also got a snap-n-go for the carseat rather than lugging the Bugaboo to the airport.  Otherwise, we continue to rely on the Rock-N-Play, change table on the pack-n-play and Donkey.

Crying:  E doesn't really cry unless she is hungry and we cant get her milk to her fast enough for her liking.  But she is starting to get a bit fussier - sometimes during the day she just isnt thrilled and half cries.  It usually means she needs to be burped.  She spits up quite a bit which I think is uncomfortable for her.

Milestones:  Nothing major to report.  E can lift up her head and turn it side to side quite well during tummy time and can pretty much support her own head if we hold her in a sitting position (although I say "pretty much" because we do still sometimes see a lot of bobble heading).  We're really looking forward to when she will start to smile socially.  Hopefully I'll have more to report in this category next month! 

Six Years

June 7, 2014 - I can hardly believe that today is N and my six year wedding anniversary.  We've been through an absolute ton in the last six years, with this year being one of the most exciting welcoming little E.  Here's to many, many more!





EMD - 12 Weeks & **PASSWORD**

June 5, 2014 - E turned 12 weeks old this week.  There's been a definite uptick in the amount she eats in the last week and a half.  I'm certain she weighs over 8lbs!  We'll get a weight check at our pediatrician appointment next week.

**I'm adding a password to www.documentingdunleavy.com to protect the images of our family.  The password is my first name, all lowercase (no space, no hyphen).  If you need help, contact N, any of E's grandparents or me.  The password will be required starting next week.







Happy Birthday, Oma - Part II

June 3, 2014 - On the second day of our celebration of Oma's birthday, we headed out to the Brookfield Zoo.  We saw giraffes, rhinos, monkeys, a hippo and probably our favorites, the gorillas.  It was another toasty day, but after the winter we survived, it is definitely a welcome change.  As usual, E slept quietly throughout most of our visit to the zoo and only woke up to eat mid-way through.  She definitely passes out and sleeps for a loooong time in the car and stroller!  After the zoo we went to a nearby Mexican restaurant for celebratory fajitas and tacos.




E enjoying the view








And finally, on the third day of celebrating, Oma, E and I had a delicious lunch at home (we were wiped after the first 2 days of celebrating).  We capped off our celebration with a flourless chocolate cake and candles which E helped Oma blow out!  Happy birthday, Oma, we can't tell you how much we appreciate you coming to Chicago!











Happy Birthday, Oma - Part I

June 2, 2014 - We are wishing Oma the happiest of birthdays today!  We celebrated with a fun-filled weekend packed with exciting excursions, delicious food & loads of time with E (obviously).

We started out the weekend with a visit to the Garfield Conservatory.  We saw plants and flowers from all over the world and enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous weather in Chicago (it was actually HOT - something I thought is never say about this city).  E was true to form and slept the entire time and has proven yet again what an easy going baby she is (eating whenever we have a break in our travels and remaining oblivious to pretty much all noise and chaos around her).  Saturday was capped off with an aborted attempt at a Zagat-rated burger joint (the Metallica & unsteady seating options for our little friend drove us away) and actual dinner (burgers not pictured bc they were quickly devoured) in the middle of the 75,000 person Do Division music festival.  You can see we clearly didn't enjoy our devils food cake dessert either.  E also ate at Chophouse, loved looking around the new surrounding and enjoyed being adored by neighboring tables.  We were lucky to find great parking & E did great at her first concert!



















Evelyn Marie - 11 Weeks

May 31, 2014 - E turned 11 weeks old this week.  She's seriously growing and looking more and more like a full term baby (rather than a preemie) everyday!  Her mint striped onesie is actually a 3 month size, so although it is still a bit roomy, she is right on target.  We had a doctor's appointment this week, and E weighed in a 7lbs 9 oz and measured 20.75 inches!