6 Months Today...5 Month Low Down

Today is LL's 6 Month Birthday --Here's Her 5 Month Low Down

Bedtime: between 7:30 and 8:00.  We moved it..for some reason she likes this time better and sleeps longer.

Wake-Up: Usually around 6:30 but lately sleeping to 7:00.  I'll take it!

Naps: LL takes 4 naps a day.  The first 2 in the am are over an hour sometimes an 1 1/2 hours.  The 2 in the afternoon are shorter...about 40 minutes...one because she's usually in the bjorn napping. Her last nap is around 3:30/4:00 and it goes about 40 minutes. 

Bottles: LL gets 2 bottles a day.  The first one at 6:30pm (4oz of Isomil) and the 2nd one around 9:30 (4oz Isomil) for her dreamfeed.  We do not mix the breast and the formula together anymore she likes it by itself now. yay.

Nursing:  LL nurses about 5 times a day.  Right when she wakes up, between 6-7...then again around 9:30am, 12ish, 3ish then again sometime in the 3am area or when she wakes up at night.  I pump around 7:00pm.  It's amazing how your body will adjust to the supply and demand of your baby.

Foods: She eats 2x a day.  The first time is after her first nap around 9:00ish.  She usually eats 1/2 container of a fruit and a 1/2 vegetable. Then she eats dinner around 5:00ish...this time she usually eats 2 full containers.  Our ped said to start incorporating lunch sometime after her 6 month birthday.

New foods this month:  Peaches and Green Beans

Night Time: The night time sleep has been soooo much better.  We put her down around 7:30 and she sleeps all the way to 2-3am!!  So nice.  She no longer wakes up about 45 minutes after putting her to sleep which is also nice. After her 2-3am feeding, she sleeps till 6:30ish.  One thing we did differently is we blacked out her windows so it is completely dark in her room.  It has also helped with longer naps.  I also think the formula before bed helps her sleep longer, too.

Developmental Milestones & Firsts: LL is ALL OVER her play area.  I am constantly getting up to move her back to her "safe area".  I'm thinking of buying a gate type area.  I am currently looking at this...

I would purchase 2 of these to make the play area larger!  Seems cruel after looking at the poor girl alone in the picture with no toys or anything....but I would make it like a mini Disney World in there.

LL is not sitting up by herself, but when I sit her up she will stay and balance for about 3 seconds.

When on the floor on her tummy she will scoot both legs under her belly and lift her body up and rock back and forth...which I think is the beginning of a crawl which scares the sh!t out of me.  She has also just started to do the army crawl or the "low crawl" as my dad calls it where she scoots across the floor using her elbows.

She also rolls and rolls and rolls and rolls all around.

Favorite Toys: We bought LL this Baby Einstein Mozart DVD when she was 4 months old but she did not become interested in it until recently.  She LOVES it! 

Momma's Mental State: I'm feeling really good lately.  I'm taking LL out and about everyday!  I just put her in the Bjorn and off we go.  We usually wait until after her first 2 naps.  When she gets tired, I turn her around in the Bjorn facing me, put a blanket over her head, give her her pacifier and say "night-night" and she goes right to sleep.  Love it!  I should have done this from about 4 months on...but I was so scared to leave the house.  With my next babes, I know I'll be in a better state of mind plus not so freakin scared all the time.

I finally feel recovered "down there"!  I can walk 20 feet now without feeling like I need to tee-tee all over myself.  Sorry if TMI but recovering down there was NOT fun.  I really thought it would be like that forever.

****On a side note....went to my first consignment sale called Sweet Repeats last night and bought LL some fun new toys! I'll post on those next week.

Almost Pool Time!

5 Months 4 Weeks

I take LL down to our pool everyday just so she can see it and become familiar with it.  But yesterday, me, daddy and LL went down and had a little fun in the pool.

The leaves and pollen are EVERYWHERE as you can see in the photos.  But the new leaves on the tress are beautiful.  SOOO happy Spring is here.

"Next time, Momma, please put me in my new bathing suit"

It is still just a bit too cold for swimming, but she squealed and laughed the entire time.  She is definitely going to be a fan of swim-swim time!

"I'm ready, Momma!"

Here's a picture of the cute suit we bought her...

And here's the one MeMe bought her...

I'm looking into buying this for her pool time...

You can't tell from the picture, but you put the baby in the middle where the yellow part is and their legs float in the water with their upper half above the water.

I love to do laps in the pool with a kick board...but it looks like LL in this contraption will be my new kick board. Yay summer!

March is Flying By!

5 Months 4 Weeks

Our little family has been gone every weekend in March...which makes time just fly by.  Bryan went turkey hunting this past weekend with Uncle Ronnie and Uncle Kevin so LL and I packed up and went to visit MeMe and PawPaw again....and Auntie Anne came to visit, too. Here we all are at MeMe's work.

After that, Me, LL and Auntie Anne went out shopping for LL's Baptism dress.  I didn't think I would have a problem finding  a dress for LL because it is Easter season but I couldn't find one I thought "fit" LL. Most were too frilly and that is NOT LL's style or personality.  BUT, then I found the perfect one from the Gap.

Fits her to a T!  Now on to find some type of shoes.

MeMe and PawPaw got LL the Brights Starts Cute Critter Activity Jumper to keep at the house when she comes to visit and she LOVES it!

We started giving LL Isomil before her bedtime and also for her dream feed.  We tried all the formulas, but the soy is the one that didn't hurt LL's stomach.  The others gave her horrible gas, poor baby.  We give her the ready to feed kind with no mixing and she really has taken to it.  This makes me feel better knowing that there will be no problem when weaning her.

Let's see...what else.....OHHHHH!!!!  Aunt Flow, which I haven't seen since before LL was conceived, came to visit us this weekend as well.  And boy, did she show up.  Umm....who invited you??   Nice of you to visit, Aunt Flow but it's time for you to leave now.

Weekend at MeMe and PawPaws

5 Month 3 Weeks

We had such a good time at MeMe and PawPaw's house this weekend.  We also got to visit with Great Granny Polly.  She loves to sing "You Are My Sunshine" to LL and LL just laughs and laughs during the song.

We went to the church I grew up in and also where LL will be baptized in a few weeks. We wanted her to see the inside and get familiar with it so we have no freak-outs the morning of.  The cuteness beside us is my fab niece Ansley-Sarah.

Out of all the fun toys that MeMe has to play with, LL wanted to play with this homemade one the most...it's a Gladware with 4 wine corks in it.

I bet if we painted the corks a bight color she would be even more excited with it.

We also pulled out LL's Beaba 3-Stage Training Cup that was gifted to us from Bryan's Cousin J.  She's also the one that gifted us the Beaba BabyCook maker.  She loves this cup.  We put a little water in it and she sits there during dinnertime happy as a lamb.

"One handed, Momma"

"I'm a big girl now, Momma"

We also tried peas for the first time.....it was NOT a hit.  LL put up with it for about 4 bites and eventually kind of turned her head when the spoon came towards her mouth. haha

"Ummm...no."

And we took lots of walks around the nearest lake which LL loves to do.  Anything in the stroller is considered "Happy Hour" to her.

"Nothing better than outside in the stroller"

Weekly Wrap-Up: 5 Months 2 Weeks

SLEEPING: Well....the first part of the week was just horrible.  LL was up and down all Saturday-Monday nights.  No particular times...just random times.  BUT...Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (last night) LL woke up ONE time at 3:30am and then slept till 6:45!!!!  Makes me me feel like I can run a  feakin marathon.
--Naps:  LL's naps are the same.  About 4 naps a day each about 45 minutes long.

EATING:  No new foods were introduced this week because LL had a reaction to the carrots she ate...at least I think it was the carrots.  She developed two red patches on her face a day after eating the carrots so just to be safe, I cut them out for now and did not start any new food.

LL has become a very efficient solid food eater.  No more waiting for her to figure out or process what to do with the food in her mouth....she swallows it right up and opens her mouth for more.

PLAYING: LL is still playing for long periods of time on her mat. She got a few new hanging toys from Target and I finally pulled out this Baby Einstein Take Along Tunes...which she loves and now really appreciates.

She's also still loving her Bounce-a-Bout a lot more too. It's like Pilates for babies.   She can stand and play in it for longer periods of time.

MOMMA'S MENTAL STATE:  Today I'm feeling FANTASTIC!  It's amazing how sleep can change your entire perspective.  Yesterday and the days before, not so much.  I was tired and feeling very BLAH.  We are headed out this weekend for MeMe and PawPaw's house and we are super excited.

Goodbye PUJ...Hello, Papillon Bath Tub Ring Seat???

5 Months 2 Weeks

*sigh*  LL finally outgrew the PUJ. I actually can't believe that she lasted as long as she did in it. But, she hit a MAAAAJOR growth spurt this week and has gained almost 2 pounds since her wellness visit 2 weeks ago. How is that even possible?

We still don't have anything for the tub for her to sit in. I'm still thinking of buying this Tub Seat. 

BUT...then i found this!!!! A Papillon Bath Tub Ring Seat.  HEEELLOOOO!!  this things looks kind of genius. 

Does it not??  Have you heard of this??  If so, please share!  

So, in the mean time, we'll just continue to bath LL in her Bumbo.  It really is the only time we've used this seat.  She is still not sitting up on her own and it works great for scrub-a-dub time.

On a side note...Momma finally has a hair appointment today. This photo says it all -_- Thanksgiving was the last time I've had this hair touched. Sad, huh? I'm done with the maintenance of highlights...time to get back to my roots.

Out To Dinner

5 Months 2 Weeks

We took a rare trip out last night to eat at our favorite Thai restaurant. We love it not only because the food is so yummies, but they have nice outdoor seating so LL can stay in her stroller and chill.

LL loves her some daddy time.

She also loves her Sophie but Sophie wasn't cutting it last night.  She was so uninterested in her which is surprising.

"Ummmm....so bored with Sophie, Momma"

Sooooo.....a great way to keep baby entertained while eating out...ask for a spoon ( a big one)!  LL kept busy for a good 10 minutes.  I even let it soak in my ice water for a few minutes to get it nice and cold....she loved it even more after that!

"Yes, now you're talking"

It's the small things.

Sleepeasy Solution: Hopeful Help

5 Months 2 Weeks

I don't mind getting up to nurse LL in the middle of the night.  It would be nice, really nice, if she did sleep through the night.  But, I'm OK with getting up...in fact I believe if I get a good solid 3 hours of sleep at the beginning of the night, then I feel rested the next day.  That's why B feeds her at 9-9:30pm and I go to sleep hopefully by 8-8:30.  Then, she gets up somewhere in the 1:00am area and then again around 4:00am.  What I would like to add is that she almost always wakes up 1 or 2 times prior to her 9:00pm dreamfeed...which drives me completely bananas!  Because then we are going in there to help her back to sleep.

What I would like LL to do is to be able to put herself to sleep for a naps and for bedtime.....all by herself.  Right now, we hold her or rock her to sleep.  And she usually falls asleep within 5-10 minutes.  I know this process requires cry-it-out in her crib so she can figure out how to soothe herself to sleep.  I have to admit, this makes me more than uneasy.  I just recently bought this book....

 The Sleepeasy Solution.  Has anyone else read this book??  It seems to have some solid advice for sleep training.  But again, I start to hyperventilate when I think of my babes crying for long periods of time.
 
This is where I need YOUR help.

1.)  Does your baby fall asleep on his/her own? 
2.)  If yes, how did you get that to happen?  Did you follow a certain book?  Technique?
3.)  How long did it take for your baby to learn to soothe themselves?  Days? weeks?
4.)  How old was your baby when you started this sleep-training?

Any help or advice would really be helpful.

Weekly Wrap -Up -- 5 Months 1 Week

SLEEPING:  She had  her shots Monday and everything has been off.  What has stayed consistent is her 1:45am wake up call.  Not kidding...to the minute....every night this week. 

EATING: We added squash and carrots to the mix.  She LOVES squash and only just likes carrots.

PLAYING: This week, she played for longer periods on her play mat all by herself.  She did a lot of push-ups...

 ...and a lot of crunches.  Every time I put her down on her back, she immediately goes into a stomach crunch.  She wants to sit up so bad.

LL's new favorite toy is this Fisher Price Laugh and Learn Puppy that her Nonna gave her for Christmas.  It sings and talks to her when she pushes certain parts of it.

LL's new thing is staring out the door.  We live in a condo and the door she is staring out of backs up to a somewhat busy street.  She will lie there and stare outside for what seems like forever...but in reality... about 10 minutes.  Not sure if she likes the sound of the cars or just staring up at the trees.  Check her out below...just chillin in the bottom of the picture.

MOMMA'S MENTAL STATE: This week in general has been pretty stable.  But, last night was challenging so I'm feeling sleep deprived and very crabby.  It took almost 2 hours to get LL to sleep....very uncharacteristic of her...she normal goes right to sleep.

Our Daily Walk!

5 Months 1 Week

Everyday, LL and I go for a walk around our complex. She LOVES the Bjorn and squeals and kicks her legs each time she sees me put it on.

"Momma, you have no idea how excited I am!"

We live on a lake and LL lives to see the water each day.  This is the view from our dock.  It was windy today and she squealed extra loud because the water was splashing all around.

She loves it when I stop by this tree because the moss in the trees blows all around and makes her giggle.

We stop by the pool everyday so I can splash water on her feet.  I can't wait to introduce her to some pool time.  I lived in this pool last summer when I was pregnant and I have a feeling we'll be living in it again this summer. 

Our last stop is this Rosemary bush.  I let her touch and smell the leaves.  She's beginning to recognize it because she kicks her legs and moves her arms as we get closer to it.

By the time we're done with our walk, LL is pooped and usually takes a nice long nap.  But, today she woke up after 30 minutes.