Weekly Wrap-Up: 6 Months 1 Week

SLEEPING: Were back to crappy sleeping this week.  Waking up at 11:00pm, 4:00am...blah, blah,blah.  Last night LL woke up at 4am and I heard her let out this big SQUEAL...like she usually does at 7:00ish in the morning when she wakes up.  I was all like "Oh no, she did NOT just do that!"  and Bryan was like "yup."  I went to get her, brought her back to our bedroom, tried to nurse her but she just wanted to play...(lately she is so curious about everything around her she wants to see EVERYTHING)  So I laid her down in the middle of our bed facing away from us and guess what.....after about 10 minutes of playing with her paci....passing it back and forth between her hands....she fell asleep.  I hope it's the prankster in her pulling an April Fool's joke on us.
**I should note that flameless candles are so great in the middle of the night with baby.  They are portable and put off just the right amount of light.  I just carry it with me to the bed and if it's too bright, I just cover it up with the covers.

EATING:  We re-introduced carrots into mealtime yesterday.  Plus, I pulled out the Beaba and used it for the first time.

That thing rocks!  I made Butternut Squash and Apples and she loved it. Not sure I care for the Beaba sillicone multi-portion trays.  One was gifted to us and we need about 3 more, but I'm not crazy about the price.

I also started giving LL 1 veggie at lunch time. So now she's up to 3 meals a day.  I'm getting kind of nervous because she is starting to become uninterested in nursing.  I have to research that to see if that is normal or not.

PLAYING:  SCOOTing and ROLLing  everywhere.  I ordered that cage for her.  IGriza suggested this cool cage.  but we had already ordered the one from Wal-mart. 

LL is also WAY more curious about her surroundings.  Stops and looks at everything and just stares and stares at it.  SOUNDS...she loves sounds.  She noticed an airplane up in the sky last week.  She looked at the plane, then me...then the plane again, then me.  I was like "yup, crazy how those things can fly, right?


She also can't stop staring at her right hand.  She first discovered her hand when she was about 2 months and  now the fascination is back.  She looks at it, turns it around, looks some more...practices pulling it to her mouth and back again.  Maybe she's practicing getting ready to eat.



MOMMA'S MENTAL STATE: I'm too tired to talk about my mental state.  Actually, I feel pretty good. I guess my mind and body are getting used to this baby thing and adjusting accordingly.  When I first had LL I didn't think I could handle another newborn/infant again.  But now, I definitely know I can.  I'm not gonna lie, the adjustment to LL was the hardest part for me.  Even though it took us 5 years to have her, and wanting her so badly, it was kind of like someone threw a bucket of cold water in my face and said..."Here's your baby".  BUT, now after my hormones have calmed down, and I'm getting used to this routine of ours, I wouldn't change a thing.  She has been the BEST addition to our lives and it just keeps getting better!

Raining, Raining, Raining!

6 Months 1 Week

It has been raining here in our neck of the woods for 3 days straight!  We need it for sure, so I'm not complaining but it is hard to get LL out and about in this. You can even see a tree limb down in the picture and the power was off last night for about an hour.  Soooo.... we have been busy cleaning out her drawers....goodbye 0-3 months and 3-6 months clothes.

 We divided short sleeve outfits, long sleeve outfits, onsies and pants according to size in hopes that when we go looking for them...it won't be a hassle.  Kind of sad to see them go.

We also put together LL's new umbrella stroller.  LOVE it.  So light.  I can carry her and the stroller up the stairs at one time.  It's the Conours Kolcraft in Tangelo.

We even managed to take a walk in between the rain!

"Guess what?? I love this new stroller, too"

LL's first pool time experience will be this weekend!  So excited to get her reaction.  I also ordered that Swimways Baby Float from Walmart.com.  I hope it gets her before then.  Wal-Mart is pretty darn fast with shipping so I'm anticipating it any day now.

Scooting

LL's Baptism

6 Months 1 Week

We had a great weekend celebrating LL's Baptism. The weather was perfect and the day was too! LL didn't cry when Reverend McIntyre took her from me (I didn't expect her to as she LOOVES people) and she even did her cute little scream/squeal with both arms out trying to hug people in the congregation. What a ham.

After, we all went to the Terrace Hotel for some yummy lunch.  It's such a beautiful hotel.

Here are Bryan's cousins.

Below are a few of my nieces and nephews. 

LL's cake was an Italian Wedding Cake...it was beautiful and quite tasty!

My sister and her daughter Hannah.  LL was pooped!

*******Last night was HARD. Not sure why, but LL was up every 3 hours! Each time, I tried to rock her back to sleep but she wasn't having it. She was hungry! The only thing I can think it may be is a growth spurt because she sucked down 2 full bottles and the boob on top of that!!!  I thought we had moved on from  those late night feedings and up every few hours....but it's a reminder that she's still calling the shots...still in charge of this show.  But pretty soon, momma and daddy will be calling those shots!

Out and About!

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!