Ella November 10, 2009

I often say that Gatito’s personality has been consistent he was two months old. By two months, it was clear that he was fairly serious, focused, and observant. He was also very sensitive and displayed significant social anxiety. He has matured, certainly, but the essence of who he is has remained the same.

Ella is now 2.5 months old, and so I look to see who she is, and wonder whether she’ll show the same consistency as her brother. I know I’m not supposed to compare, but she is easier going than her brother. She smiles a lot– at us and at strangers– and is starting to laugh. She likes to be held and talked to, but she also likes time alone. There have been times when she’s crying in my arms but happy when I put her down. She is not particularly sensitive to sound– loud noises surprise her, but they don’t make her cry.

At her two month appointment, she weighed 13.5 pounds and was 23.5″ long, placing her in the 95th percentile for weight and 90th for height. She is all roly poly good health. Her impressive immune system protected her while everyone around her– A, Gatito, Tata and I– all went down to weeks-long illnesses in her first month. All she ever got was a cough that lasted one day. Her eyes remain blue as blue can be. The fuzz that passes for hair is of indeterminate color, ranging from light brown to blond on different parts of her head, and depending on the light. Her eyebrows are definitely orange and sometimes her hair looks a little strawberry, but we’ll have to wait and see!

While her sleep habits are not as amazing as Gatito’s at that age (12 hours by 7 weeks), she’s doing really well: In the past couple of weeks she has started sleeping a minimum of six hours and a max of eleven at a stretch. I like when she wakes at 5:00, because she’s cheerful at that time, and we play for an hour or so until she goes back down for a nap, conveniently giving me time to get ready. Unlike with her brother, we aren’t on any semblance of a schedule, other than to know that she will eat roughly three to four hours after the last time and we aim for bed around 7:00 p.m. At night, she sleeps in her crib and, during the day, in her car seat or someone’s arms, usually.

It is just crazy to me that our 20% chance of success with IVF, our one-shot deal, our single embryo transfer, has resulted in this sweet, beautiful, delightful little baby. I feel lucky and grateful every day.

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Maternity leave, depressingly, is drawing rapidly to a close. I go back after Thanksgiving and will work three days/week through the end of the year, then full time in January. This has been an amazing opportunity to spend time with both Ella and Gatito, and it’s depressing to think it won’t be repeated unless I win the lottery. (Hey, you can’t win if you don’t play.) Tata has been away a lot, so I’ve had time to prove to myself that I can handle both kids on my own (I find this works best if we’re out of the house as much as possible), but I’ve also had time, when she’s here, to be with them one-on-one and even to go to the gym by myself. (I’m down 38 pounds, 6 to go!) And thank goodness, everything has worked out and she is going to be able to stay with us. She’s pretty fabulous with Gatito and, though she had no prior experience with newborns, has proven to have a natural instinct for that as well.

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