Happy New Year!

We had a fully-packed and fun visit back home for Christmas and I have a lot of photos to process from the visit, and stories to share.

In thinking about the past year- 2011 was all about the baby. I apologize for anyone reading my blog who is bored by all the constant baby-talk, but having Nora has been a life-altering experience and has been quite consuming, both in heart and mind. My life has gravitated around this tiny being for the last year.

*photo by Shey Detterline

I'm hoping that 2012 is a year of balance. While I certainly will still be largely posting about baby stuff (as family and friends read this blog for updates), I'm hoping to find more balance in my life overall between the baby, Kevin, my friends, my family, my job, and myself. And no, I have no idea how I'm going to accomplish that- ha! Wish me luck. :)

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Wishing You Joy

We are getting ready to spend some time with family and I may not be around next week. I wanted to send out my wishes for you, dear readers: May the holiday season fill you with wonder, and may you find joy all around you.

Happy holidays!

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Stroller Riding

Nora started riding in the "big girl" part of her stroller (ie, not in her infant carseat attachment). Speaking of the infant carseat, Nora is still using hers, but it's started to really kill my back to carry that seat around! I can't wait to transition soon to the convertible carseat, though it won't be as convenient in some cases (like when she falls asleep in the car and I can just keep her in the infant seat).

Anyway, the stroller- Nora loves it! We've been bundling her up and going on lots of walks:

It's been getting pretty cold though, so on blustery days we put her into a full-blown fleece suit. She looks so cute. I'm not sure how she feels about it though.

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New Bathroom Tile

Ever since we moved in, we have hated our bathroom tile. It's like this awful brown color... with brown grout. Ugh! I don't know who made that decision, but terrible fail. It always looked dirty and no matter how much you scrubbed it, it looked gross.

Exhibit A:

The marble threshold I actually liked but it didn't match the brown tile/grout combo at all. So last week we hired a handyman to replace the tile. He actually was able to put the new tile right on top of the old tile- which saved a lot of work/expense! We picked a light gray color (with white grout) to go with the marble threshold. I think it looks a ton better... so happy we got that done!

Add to that a new shower curtain and I'm pretty happy! :) (I didn't have time to iron out the creases in the shower curtain, so please pretend it's nice and smooth).

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Favorite 2-6 month Baby Items

I blogged about my favorite items for a newborn baby, but now that I'm six months into motherhood, what would I recommend?

Well, first I'd like to say that pretty much everything on my first list I still love. The only thing I'd take off the list is the Sleep Giraffe/Sheep. While adorable, the 45-minute timer kept waking Nora up when it turned off- argh! So instead I'd go with this Homedics Sound Machine, which is reasonably priced, plugs in so no batteries are necessary, and can go all night long. :)

I'd also love to reassert my love for the Rock n' Play. Mostly because even though we transitioned out of the RnP about 3 months ago, when Nora has a little cold she can sleep in the RnP so much better than in her crib because it's elevated. We also still use it for naps. I wish they made one of these for toddlers! (photo below is from my phone about a month ago. She's cuddling with suck monkey).

Okay, new items:

1) Changing table from Ikea. I know, I know, I still have never shared pictures of the nursery. But our changing table (the Hemnes Chest) is great. It's just the right height and the right price. It has nice drawer space. I found those cute bins at Target and they fit just perfectly in there. I love how it looks!

2) Large playmat. Nora still loves her activity gym but is getting too big for it. Once babies can roll, I would recommend this Tiny Love Super Mat. My parents had one for our visit in October and it is super soft and padded, with lots of space for rolling. There is also a mirror and places to attach toys.

3) Munchkin Spoons. These do what they're designed to- they're easy to use, long enough, not too deep or too shallow, and they're bright and cute.


4) Highchair. Or rather, the lack of a highchair? These things take up so much space and they aren't cute. For our tiny house, we just wanted something that didn't take up space, and this Fisher Price chair/booster seat fits the bill. It's super easy to clean, fits on any chair you already own, and will work through toddlerhood. It's not particularly cushy, so baby will need to be able to sit up straight at least mostly unassisted to sit in here- which they should be doing anyway before eating most foods. It has five stars and over 1000 reviews on Amazon!
5) Crib sheets. One of my top pieces of advice for those preparing for baby's arrival: do NOT buy a "crib set". These are sets that include sheets, then usually a crib bumper and crib skirt, and maybe a blanket. Except... you can't use the blanket in the crib, and you really shouldn't be using a crib bumper either. So basically you've only used half of the set. Instead, I recommend buying sheets individually. We also have a breathable bumper which works pretty well. Anyway we got our sheets from Carousel Designs and they are so cute. You can individually buy sheets, crib skirts, curtains, and yes even crib bumpers and pick the material you want for them ("design your own"). They are maybe a little pricey but I got three different sheets and it was still cheaper than a crib set.

6) Glider. I have to preface this by saying I never would have been able to afford this on my own, but we got the Carter glider from Room and Board as a gift from Kevin's grandmother, in charcoal. I wasn't sure at first how much we would use a glider, but I can testify- I have used it every day since Nora arrived. Heck, the first 3 months I spent the majority of the day there nursing! It is such a great chair. Classy-looking, soft, comfortable- I love it. I plan to own it for a long time! The nice thing about it is it could easily be used in another room after we are done using it for the nursery.

7) Hands-free pump bra. Pumping is not fun at all but this item is essential for your sanity- at least it allows you to read a magazine or check your email! I love the pictures amazon has for it, too....

8) Board Books- Goodnight Moon, The Night You were Born, That's Not my Monkey, Moo Baa La la la, Time for Bed, The Little Hoot/Pea/Oink books, and many others. I'm always surprised how much Nora already likes books. She likes holding the pages and flipping them. I'm sure she's not paying attention to the storyline yet but she loves the pictures.

9) Snap n' Go Stroller. We bought this specifically for traveling and it's been great. Works with our Chicco carseat, folds super easily, light-weight, has lots of space beneath the stroller. You can just put your carseat in it, go through security and right up to the gate where you can check the stroller and the carseat separately. It's also great for car trips or quick outings where you want a stroller but wouldn't want to pack up the Bob (which we love but it's pretty heavy). Unfortunately once your baby is out of the infant carseat it's no longer useful.


10) If you're making your own baby food, you'll probably want an ice cube tray or two to freeze the puree into individual portions (Nora eats 2 cubes per meal right now). I like this one because it's easy to get the cubes out after freezing and it has a sliding cover. I usually move the cubes to a freezer bag after 24 hours but sometimes I don't take them out right away so the lid is a nice feature.

11) A Jumperoo. I debated between this and an exersaucer. I think she would have liked the exersaucer but in the end I'm glad I got the jumperoo because she just started jumping in it and it's so funny to watch- she gets super excited about it. She started using it at about 4 months old and still likes it, though I have a feeling once she starts crawling it's not going to be fun for her to be stuck in the jumperoo. Still, I'm definitely glad to have another place where she can entertain herself for awhile!

12) Teething toys. She didn't like Sophie the Giraffe at first (a glorified doggie chew toy), but now she definitely enjoys sticking Sophie's legs in her mouth and making her squeak. She also loves this Ring of Links and has enjoyed them for months. This Winkel Toy I like because it looks like an atom- and she likes because it's easy to grab and it rattles. We have a number of other toys but actually one of her favorite things is just plastic measuring spoons and cups. She's totally fascinated by the 1/2 tablespoon right now- ha!

13) Halo sleepsack/Carters sleepsack. Now that we're finally done with swaddling, we've entered the world of the sleepsack- aka how you keep the kid warm at night without blankets in the crib. I like the Carters fleece sleepsacks, but the 0-9 month ones only fit Nora up to 6 months, and they don't have any larger ones. Halo makes some super soft fleece ones too but they don't have sleeves. That's what we're using now and I like them.

So there you have it! I'm probably forgetting some things, but these are all things I would definitely recommend!

*Some of these links are Amazon associate links, but I have earned nothing for recommending these items in my blog, and the recommendations are my own.

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Nora: Month Six

Dear Nora-

A line from one of our bedtime stories "On The Night You Were Born" reads, "On the night you were born, the moon smiled with such wonder that the stars peeked in to see you, and the night wind whispered, 'Life will never be the same.'"

Six months we have now been blessed with you in our lives. It hasn't always been easy, or fun, and I've never felt so tired or so constantly worried. We discuss poop on a more descriptive level than I ever thought possible. I haven't watched television or read a non-baby book since you were born. But... I've also never felt so happy or so fulfilled. I love your dad even more now. I could stare at you for hours. I love watching you learn and grow. Sometimes looking at you makes my heart feel like it will burst. No, life will never be the same, and I wouldn't want it any other way.

Sleeping: Sleep difficulties continued this month. We finally started getting you out of the swaddle habit. It worked pretty good the first few nights and then you realized you could roll in your crib. So you'd roll over and then start crying because you didn't know how to sleep on your tummy, and in your upset state you also couldn't remember how to roll back the other way. So we'd revert back to swaddling for a few nights so we could get some sleep, then try unswaddling again.

Eventually you were waking up 5-6 times per night even swaddled, so we decided to do a little sleep training (using the Ferber method). With both of us working/schooling, we were just getting too tired and you were getting cranky during the day too, so something needed to be done. With this method, we basically put you in your crib and leave and then you scream for 3 minutes, we go in a check on you, then you scream for 5 minutes, then 7, then 10, etc until basically you're so tired you fall asleep. :) The first night was rough- it took about 45 minutes of crying. But that night you slept through the night for the first time in weeks! Since then your sleeping has been a ton better. There has been some more crying when we first put you down, but usually only ~10 minutes at the most. Occasionally you still wake up once in the middle of the night and it can be hard to get you to fall asleep again so we're still working on it. But you now sleep on your tummy and you seem to be quickly learning how to fall asleep by yourself again when you wake up in between sleep cycles. You usually sleep from 8pm-6am, then eat and go back to sleep until 8am.

Naps are still short. Usually you take three 30 minute naps a day- or two 45 minute naps. Sometimes we get a little more, sometimes less. And I usually rock you to sleep for those... but I don't usually mind as long as it works. :)

Eating: You started solids this month! We started with oatmeal, and you seemed to like eating but were kind of "meh" about the oatmeal itself. So next we tried sweet potatoes, and you loved those! Then we moved to avocado- major dislike. You'd make the cutest "gross" face and then spit it back out. Since then we've tried banana (love- especially mixed with oatmeal, less so by itself), pumpkin (really love), green beans (love), apples (dislike by themselves- too tart maybe? okay in oatmeal), and carrots (like). You're up to eating twice a day- breakfast (oatmeal + 1-2oz fruit) and lunch (2oz veggies).

In terms of bottles, though I weaned you once you turned five months, I actually had enough frozen breastmilk saved up to give you a bottle a day for the last month. Woohoo! That means I technically made my goal of at least some breastmilk for 6 months. Otherwise, you've been on Goodstart Gentle formula and drink 30 oz a day (six bottles, 5 oz each).

Weight: All the good eating you've been doing means that you gained 4 lbs in the last 2 months. You now weigh 16lbs 10oz, and are 26.25" long. I love all your little rolls and buddha belly!

Diaper size: Size 2 pampers swaddlers. Eek, I have a new huge box of these and they're only good up to 18 lbs! Hopefully we'll get through most of them....

Clothes size: Perfectly fitting 3-6 months. You're growing so fast though I'm not sure you'll be in them much longer- maybe another 2-4 weeks? I feel like you hardly got to wear some of them....

Milestones/Firsts: First foods. Your first Thanksgiving. First time sleeping unswaddled at night. :) First time riding in the "big kid" part of the stroller instead of the infant car seat.

First time sitting unassisted! (see the youtube video here). From the time you were tripoding/gorilla sitting to the time you could sit for longer than a minute or two was about 3 weeks. Now you've been sitting up like a pro for at least a week and a half! You also learned how to blow raspberries- it's lost a little of its appeal now but when you first figured it out you spent the next 48 hours blowing raspberries. You also figured out how to jump in the jumperoo. You're quite the little jumping bean. You have perfected the "reach and grab"- nothing is safe :). You were sitting on my lap the other night during dinner and I almost lost my plate when you grabbed onto the placemat and pulled! And you are completely enamored with Mommy's hair. You can turn yourself in a circle on your tummy and have started to reach and wiggle towards objects placed far away from you. And you've started to cry if I try to take away an object you're interested in!

Likes/Dislikes: You love music and when people sing to you. You especially love "I've been working on the railroad" and "I'm a little teapot". You also love our family dance parties. You finally tolerate the carseat without crying, hurray! You love our stroller rides- though you get very serious, I think you're trying to take everything in. Daddy can really get you laughing. You still love the cats (especially Bixby because she doesn't mind too much when you pet her).

How has it already been six months? I can't believe all the wonderful things we have to look forward to in the next six before we have a one-year old on our hands. :)

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