First Food!

Is it just me or did this day come WAY too quickly? This past weekend we made our way into the world of "real food" with Charlie, and although I'm constantly wondering "how did we get here?" this really did seem to just kind of sneak up on us.

I decided to hold off on solids until I felt like Charlie was fully ready, and right around the 7th month mark it seemed like it was time. He'd been grabbing for our food a lot, staring at us whenever we would eat (seriously entranced!), and smacking his lips while watching us. With Henry I had started with rice cereal, then oatmeal, then puréed veggies and fruits, but with Charlie I wanted to take more of a baby led weaning approach, although I didn't want to follow that exclusively. So we started out with mashed up sweet potatoes on his high chair tray and let him go to town. He was curious of course, and put some of it in his mouth, and loved it! After that I decided to purée a bit of it and spoon fed him, and he liked that too. It was so cute when he got his first taste- that little smile and those wide eyes.



The next day wasn't as easy. It was just me feeding him and when I tried to do the puréed sweet potatoes again he continuously pushed the food out with his tongue, and I couldn't get him to "chew" and swallow. I was a little confused because I know that's a sign of not being ready for solids, but the day before he ate like a champ! So I put the food away and figured I would try again at dinner. When Hank got home I ended up running out to the gym so he was in charge of feeding. I warned him that it might not be easy, but he said he was good to go, so I headed off, thinking I would come home to a baby refusing to eat. But to my surprise when I got back Hank told me he had ate everything I set out for him! He told me he mimicked eating while Charlie was, opening his mouth when he wanted him to open his mouth, chewing, etc. and it worked! That was a week ago and since then he's been eating pretty well with the exception of a few instances.

So far we've tried broccoli, apples, and oatmeal. I make the baby food in a small blender and I've mainly been spoon feeding him, but also mashing up some of it and letting him feed himself, which is really more of him playing with the food and maybe accidentally getting it in his mouth! All in all though it's been a successful week and I feel like we're in a good place with solids.

Also, here's our schedule as of right now, in case anyone is interested. I know always love reading about things like this!

6:30am wake up and nurse
7:30am (breakfast)- oatmeal with pureed fruit
8:30ish-10:30ish nurse then nap #1, then wake up and nurse
12pm (lunch) today was the first day I gave Charlie a little bit of regular food at lunchtime too, while I ate. He did a broccoli/apple purée
1:30-3:30/4 nurse then nap #2 
4:30 (dinner) veggies- so far he's only done sweet potatoes at night
6/6:30 nurse then bedtime

A little sleep update too- up until this past week Charlie had been going through a really rough sleeping patch. He was waking up at least 2-3 times a night (sometimes more), and like I mentioned before, I wasn't sure what to do because he had no problem actually going to sleep. All of his waking would occur well after midnight after going down around 6pm, so I wasn't sure what approach to take as far as sleep training. We started the solid food and I think that definitely helped, because that first night he slept through the night. I also let him fuss a little more than usual before going in, and the one time he woke up around 2am I didn't need to go in there- he put himself right back to bed. It's been a week now and he's been sleeping MUCH better. If he wakes up it's around 5am, and I nurse him and he goes back to sleep until 6:30. His naps have been good too, so I'm hoping we're out of the woods for now. Although really, we all know this could change at anytime (probably tonight since I said "sleeping through the night" out loud! haha) but for right now I am soaking up any and all sleep I can!

xoxo

Baby Essentials V.1

I've been getting together everything we'll need for Charlie's arrival, and I thought it would be a good idea to post an updated list of "baby essentials." After Henry, I realized that I needed a LOT less than I ever thought. If you want to really know, all you need is a food source, a warm place to sleep, clean diapers, and you're good to go. Really! No need for fancy anything, but there are of course some awesome "extras" that made those first few weeks and months a little easier. And for us, these are them:

1. Summer Infant Rest-Assured Sleeper: I love the idea of co-sleeping, and I know that it's perfectly safe to do, but I just worry way too much (and Hank is way too hard of a sleeper) to be able to actually get any sleep with a newborn right in the bed. So this co-sleeper was the best thing for us! It goes right in your bed- Hank and I kept it between us with Henry- and makes breastfeeding a breeze since your baby is right there. The co-sleeper is reinforced with steel so there's no worries about rolling over onto it, and its mesh sides allow for air circulation. When Henry was first born we tried a pack 'n play in our bedroom but because of my c-section recovery it wasn't feasible to be getting out of bed so often to feed him. Then we tried him in our bed, but like I mentioned above, I was way too nervous. Finally I came across this wonderful co-sleeper online and it was a great solution for us. Henry ended up sleeping in it until he was about 6 months old, when we transitioned him to his crib full-time. The move to his crib was super easy too, and I think this can be partially attributed to the fact that the co-sleeper is just like a mini-crib. I also love that it folds up and is fully portable, which came in handy as we travel often. I'm looking forward to using this right away with Charlie this time around too.

2. Snuza: If you're going to get one "expensive" baby item (normally $160 but on sale via Amazon for $104 right now), let it be this. I try to tell every Mom I know about the Snuza, because we absolutely loved ours. The Snuza is a portable baby breathing monitor that clips onto your little one's diaper. If your baby stops breathing (in the case of SIDS), it vibrates to try and "remind" the baby to breath. If breath is still not detected in 20 more seconds, an alarm goes off.  I really love Snuza because unlike the AngelCare monitors, it can be worn at anytime, which is convenient for long car rides, naps, sleeping in your bed, etc. Plus, with the in-crib movement monitors, once the baby can roll off of the sensor pad it's useless. The Snuza can be used all the way past the baby's first birthday, when the risk of SIDS greatly decreases. I can't stress enough how wonderful it was to have this peace of mind!

3. BreastFriend Nursing Pillow: Because I had a c-section, I needed a nursing pillow that wouldn't rub or irritate my incision post-surgery. Although I had and loved my Boppy, I didn't use it until a month or so postpartum, and even then I still preferred the Breast Friend. The difference is that the BF snaps around your body, and provides more a flat (yet soft) place for baby to lay while feeding, and for a first-time breastfeeder, it was nice to have the baby positioned properly from the get-go. I also found it to be incredibly comfortable for both Henry and me, and this is the pillow I'll be bringing to the hospital with Charlie.

4. Fisher Price Lamb Seat: I'm sure there are a million other seats just like this one, but since this is the one we got, this is the one we ended up loving (the matching swing on the other hand- totally disliked it!). Henry absolutely loved sitting in this chair, and we used it from day one at home when I needed to set him down. He would nap in the chair, hang out in the chair, and I'd put it up on our big counter (securely of course) when I had to cook so he could be right there with me. This was definitely a must-have for us.

5. Prefold cloth diapers: Fancy-schmancy burp cloths (yes, they exist!) never really had a place in our house, and the very best thing we found were these cloth diapers. Throw one over your shoulder, wipe up spit-up, line the changing table, whatever...these are multi-purpose, cheap and hold up like nothing else. I kept a huge pile next to the changing table, and we will using the same pile this time around for Baby C.

6. Wrap/snap shirts: In those first days, I found it to be the easiest to have Henry in a wrap shirt and diaper. You change diapers so frequently that I hated having to snap and resnap onesies a million times, and these shirts allowed diapers to be easy on, easy off. These shirts are also great because they're warm, go on and come off easily, and allow the belly button/umbilical stump to breath as it heals. The shirts also have built-in mitts at the end of the sleeves, but we never used them.

7. Playmat/Activity Gym: I don't think you need many toys in the infant stages, but a good playmat is always a plus. A soft blanket works too, but Henry really enjoyed looking up at the different toys hanging down, the mirror, etc., and when it was time for tummy time it was nice to have all of the distractions right there.

8. California Baby Extra-Sensitive Products: although Henry was never (and still isn't) super sensitive to products, from the beginning I wanted to be extra careful, so we used California Baby Products. As he got bigger we continued to use them, and I've always been impressed. Safe and gentle for baby, and the smell! So wonderful.

Do you have anything you'd add to this list? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Disclaimer: this post is NOT sponsored in any way - I didn't receive any of these items for free and was not paid to speak about them. I just wanted to be sure you guys knew that! I did though, use affiliate links, so to visit Amazon without my link, please click here. xoxo

Favorite Things: Gifts for a New Baby

Baby Henry. SO CUTE! 

I feel like there is a serious baby boom going on in my world right now! Is it the same in yours? And every time a friend or family member welcomes a new little one into the world, there's nothing better than giving a super thoughtful, super awesome gift. I'm all for following along with baby registries (I mean, washcloths and crib sheets are necessary), but I always like to add on something special, or maybe deviate all the way and surprise the new mama with some really neat items.

In the spirit of my new niece Lucy being born, I thought I would share my most favorite baby gifts from around the web!

First of all, have you heard of Little Hip Squeaks? Hands down my most beloved Etsy shop (or any shop really), and I can tell you from experience LHS items are the softest, best quality little baby things in the world. Seriously, get a load of those headbands! Amy, head Hip Squeak, is always coming up with new items and new prints, and this next season is so full of cuteness I can't even take it. I love making sets of leggings, hats or headbands, and a blanket (she sent Henry the cutest blankets ever!), or even just adding on a headband as a fun topper for a baby gift.

Secondly, Freshly Picked Moccasins.  We've tried all sorts of moccasins before tying out Freshly Picked and I can say that these are the best quality and the most comfortable of any of the many we've put on Henry's feet. I love that they're made by a fellow blogger and I also really love how even though they may be a bit pricier, they're such great pieces that can absolutely be passed down kid to kid, and really hold up! Henry has worn his gray and red pairs a million times in all sorts of weather, walked a million steps on all sorts of ground, and they still look great. Plus, have you seen the new spring colors Susan shared on Instagram? So perfect. We love Freshly Picked and appreciate them sending us some moccs to try out.

Another favorite shop is Gingiber, who I discovered when they became a sponsor of mine. I am absolutely in love with everything in their shop, but especially the adorable (and well-priced) pillows. She also has prints, calendars, wall decals, you name it. A total one stop shop for a new little one, and mama. I'm especially in love with this fox pillow.

Another fabulous go-to gift is the Mini Book of Names and Faces from Pinhole Press. We are HUGE fans of Pinhole in our house, and always love their high-quality, unique products. For Christmas they sent us calendars for all of the grandparents, and then we got this book for Abe and Lauren. It's SO cute and really simple to make using their website. You just upload the photos you want to use, and create a mini-board book. It's really the cutest idea!

Some other items I love: this personalized embroidery hoop, these milestone baby cards, and this adorable alphabet onesie from Hello Apparel!

I've also gotten Moms diaper cakes (check out these awesome ones at eDiaperCakes.com), and those have gone over so well! Adorable and functional- perfect for a new parent.

Do you have any go-to items for new babies? I'd love to discover some new, fun shops and items so feel free to share in the comments below!

xoxo