Baby SLEEP

When it comes to baby things - sleep, solids, mobility - I find myself doing a google search of my favorite blogs and then a Pinterest search to see if I can find some tips, tricks or reassurance for whatever developmental thang is going on. Surely I’m not the only one who does this! Soo...if you happened across this little blog looking for the same thing, below is some real talk for ya.

baby sleep. Good grief, is there anything more difficult?? Morgan’s naps have been ah-mazing the last couple weeks. She naps about two hours late morning and about an hour in the afternoon. I feed and rock her until she’s mostly asleep and then stick her in the dockatot. This typically wakes her up a little bit but not enough to where she can’t fall back asleep. Nighttime rolls around though and she can be dead asleep in my arms but as soon as I put her down - girlfriend sounds like a mad, wet hen! So I pick her up and I start feeding, walking, patting, etc, to get her to sleep again. I do love all the cuddles at night and will miss them when she’s moved into Tynsleigh’s room but at the same time, I’m ready to not be kicked and clawed at all night long.

Out of desperation this evening to see if I could get her into the dock, I pulled out some freezer milk, unthawed it and had the bottle ready to go for when she first woke up after I tried putting her down. Oh my gosh lol....I wish I had a picture of her face (and mine!) of when I offered her the bottle. Pretty sure I was proud as can be and she was pushing the nipple out and looking at me like I was crazy. Haha! Ahhhhh I love this stage but I also like it when I can shower and get ready for bed without her screaming bloody murder.

How does the old saying go? “It’ll soon be water under the bridge” I believe it’s something like that...I know there will come a time (just like with car rides and nap time) where she will be fine doing it by herself but it sure is hard in this stage of life!

Until then, however, I plan to keep nudging her forward ;) and most likely complaining about how fast she’s growing lol.

Solids: 1 Month In | Morgan

I’m not sure if there is another stage that overwhelms me more than starting a baby on solids. Don’t get me wrong...once my older daughter and I got in a groove I LOVED feeding her solids. But the uneasiness of where to begin, what to feed next and how to get her used to the textures left my mind in a whirlwind.

Let me first start by saying that I’m a teacher by trade and have no medical background- ZERO - so I am not giving out medical advice, I’m simply sharing my experience. The two big categories for baby solids seem to be puréed food and babyled weaning. In my opinion, one is not better than the other. The better option for each parent/child is the one that fits your lifestyle and you are comfortable with. Regardless of how you feed your child, FED is always best. Always. I started my older daughter on purées and switched to babyled weaning about two months in. I started Morgan with BLW at about 5 months. We don’t have known allergies in our family so I have been free to experiment a little. 

Her first food was avocado that I mashed up and fed her with a spoon. I also put a couple slices on her tray but she didn’t even try to grasp or pick them up. She ate a couple bites and made some hilarious faces at the difference in texture. I was able to get 2-3 spoonfuls in her mouth and to me, this is plenty these first few weeks. At this point, breast milk is still her predominant source of nutrition and the solids she will be trying don’t account for much of her dietary intake yet. It takes time for them to get used to the change in texture and get excited about what they’re eating. With my older daughter it took a solid 1-2 months of solids before she decided she liked them.

Foods Morgan has tried during her first month of BLW:

Avocado (mashed, spears)

Sweet potato (mashed)
Red potato (roasted and finely chopped, mashed)

Banana (whole, mashed)

Blueberries (quartered)

Apple (grated, roasted spears)

Pear (grated)

Tomatoes (homemade sauce, Fire-Roasted Tomato Soup)

Spaghetti squash (finely chopped)
Zucchini squash (spears, roasted)

Celery (boiled and finely chopped)

Beef pot roast (finely chopped)

Chicken (finely chopped)

Egg (scrambled)

Pasta (finely chopped)

I typically put a little of what we’re eating on the tray to encourage her to play/eat on her own and the rest I offer to her on a spoon. You may be thinking it sounds messy...and it is!! Babies are just messy though - there’s really no way around that.

Baby Favorites | 6 months

I cannot believe my sweet Morgan is old enough for me to compose her 6 month favorites. These days can be long but the years are so short! I’m pretty sure she is trying to cut some teeth because she is gnawing HARD on anything she can put in her mouth. Tynsleigh didn’t start doing this until she was closer to 10 months (and cut her first tooth at 11 months) so it will be interesting to see what Morgan does :)

1. Hanna Anderson jammies - these are seriously my FAVORITE pajamas to put the girls in. They’re cute, high quality and I love that they zip up so there aren’t any feet that get stuck between button holes. Right now, all of their pajamas are 30% off and everything else is 40%!

2. Bumbo - Morgan isn’t big enough yet to stay up in a high chair or booster (and in all honesty, we don’t have room for one!) but she fits perfectly in the bumbo. I love that you can get one with a tray and place toys on it while she’s playing (working those core muscles!) or use it during mealtime.

3. Wood teether - I’ve made several purchases to Smiling Tree Toys and the quality is always amazing. This teether doubles as a rattle and both my girls have loved theirs.

4. Jumper - when I was first told that we “had” to have a jumper my first thought was, “Wonderful. Something else that requires batteries.” Both of my girls have been happy jumping in this and I tell y’all, it sure gives me a few minutes to sit, start laundry or eat breakfast. I don’t see the exact one we have but I think any will do. 

5. Moses basket - I have been using this with Morgan since we brought her home. Over the past month if she’s wanting to play and I need to do a few things around the house, I stick her in here with a couple toys and move her to where I need to be. In the early weeks she spent most of her day napping in here. Sign up for emails to find out when they do restocks. It’s so worth it!

6. Car toy - this isn’t just a car toy but it’s the one that I always put in the car seat with Morgan. She loves this thing! And I love that it keeps her busy until she falls asleep and takes a nap!

7. Sophie the Giraffe - this is a recent favorite of Morgan's. It's by far the priciest toy I have ever purchased but both of my girls have enjoyed chewing on it. The toy is light weight, made of natural rubber, does not have a strong odor and is free of latex.

There are other toys that we have around but these are definitely our “go to” items for every day baby use. 

Morgan | 6 month update

My sweet Morgan....you have changed so much in the past month! You continue to gain well and I wouldn’t be surprised if your growth curve is still trending up. You have started to develop rolls on your legs and ohmahgosh I could just eat you up. Baby rolls = LIFE little girlfriend. You smile big at your sister and love when she comes over to play with you. You (FINALLY!!) tolerate your car seat for an hour or so in the mornings while we run some errands and you still love to be snug in the baby wrap. You are losing your hair. The brown hairs are falling out and blonde stubble can be seen underneath, just like Tynsleigh when she was your age. I really want to buzz it so you don’t look like an old man but I’m not sure you would sit still for me.

EAT

You are still snacking ALL THE TIME. I thought for sure you would become less of a grazer as you got older but nope - you nurse for a couple minutes and then pull off and smile your adorable gummy smile at me while milk runs down my side. Getting you to finish your business is nearly impossible...and this is probably the major reason why you are up all hours of the night to eat.

You started solids this month and after you got over the texture change, you realized that you absolutely LOVE it.

March 3, 2018. First taste of solids.

March 26, 2018. Ready for more chili!

 Tynsleigh loves helping feed you too lol.

SLEEP 

The only way you sleep is curled up next to your mama. I have been making an effort to get out of the house in the morning around when you would take a morning nap and as long as I drive around I can usually count on a solid 45 minute nap. I haven’t decided if this is the new norm or if you’re about to throw me for a major curve ball when I least expect it. There have been a few random times where you have fussed yourself to sleep in the swing for 10-15 minutes but that is not the norm. Since you’re so social throughout the day, you typically wake up every 2-3 hours at night needing to eat. We are still co- sleeping for this reason. Buuut, you will sleep a good 12-13 hours at night and you don’t wake until I start moving in the morning. That’s a total win in my book!

PLAY

Smiling, cooing, kicking, grabbing, rolling (sometimes!)...you have become more coordinated and controlled in your movements. You don’t seem to have a favorite toy yet and have been happy to chew on/play with what you’re given. You love to be given sugars but aren’t quite sure about peek-a-boo yet. 

I sure love watching you grow into your own little person. Happy 6 months, sweet girl!

6 month photo dump