June 26, 2015 by Stephanie

George-10 Months

Seriously? 10 months?

Weight: 19 lbs and 4 oz which is the 40th percentile. Height is 27.75 inches which is the 20th percentile. His head is 47 inches which is the 93%. Considering everything but his head was under the 11th percentile at 6 months, he definitely grew this month to catch up to his peers! Always be bulking…His head is just huge. Big brains we hope!

Health: He has been pretty healthy this month. We have been battling some pretty awful diaper rash, and we cannot seem to find something that helps cure it. (We have tried coconut oil, bourdreaux’s butt paste, and baby powder.) He has been a little raspy and snotty this week so there may be another tooth coming soon since this is what proceeded the last two. We are still only at 2 teeth. He is still spitting up after he has formula. He doesn’t do it with anything else, just that dang formula. (He did it with breastmilk too.) Our doctor thinks he is just a happy spitter, and he will eventually grow out of it. He doesn’t seem to be effected by it; it just dribbles out 5-10 minutes after he has finished a bottle. And it doesn’t matter if he has 2 oz or 6, so it is not a matter of being full. It’s obnoxious, not happy.

Diet: He eats what we eat. We have dubbed him Carbisaurusrex. He eats pretty much anything in sight. His hanger issues have gotten so bad that we have to hide food as we are preparing it or he gets a fruit/veggie pre-dinner while we are cooking. And forget him seeing a bottle without it being in his hands-tantrum galore. Then you have to ignore him as he pitches a fit when meal-time is over. It’s hard to keep track of all the new things that he has eaten now, but he is basically eating like an adult. People think I am kidding, but he eats as much as I do at meals. He can pack that food away. There hasn’t been anything this month that he hasn’t liked. He was a BIG fan of Red Lobster. All the other patrons got a dinner and a show from George’s eating antics. He is down to only three (4-6oz) formula bottles a day (morning, before afternoon nap, and right before bed). He has three traditional meals a day, and several snacks throughout. We are also transitioning him to a sippy cup with water and milk.

Clothes: He is wearing 6 month and 6-9 month clothes. Some are getting a little snug so I may be digging out the 9 month stuff here in the upcoming week. He is in size 3 diapers. For as much food as he is eating, I am really surprised he hasn’t had to move up clothes faster.

Sleeping: He is still doing fairly well with sleeping through the night. We put him down at 7:30, and I would say 90% of the time he is asleep within 5 minutes of being laid down. Then he stays asleep until 5ish am, even on the weekends. He does NOT want to sleep in, unlike his parents. And normally during the week he is my alarm clock instead of the mechanical one I have set for 5:40. He still is napping pretty well twice a day, although one is typically much longer than the other. You can definitely tell when he is getting tired; he starts rubbing his eyes. And when I am singing him his nighttime songs he has to stick his hands in my mouth. Then he giggles when I sing long notes as he is trying to hold my tongue. I guess it is his new bedtime game because he doesn’t really do that any other time that I am singing with him.

Likes: Food is still pretty much his favorite. He loves his new walker and trying to make it light up. He loves to stand and try to climb on things. He loves his little play mirror. He loves to dig in his laundry basket. I may have to hide it in the closet he loves it so much. His singing books are really fun for him. He loves to get his teeth brush. I think it tickles him, so he just giggles the whole time.

Dislikes: Diaper changes. It’s like a wrestling match trying to get a diaper off and on. I am surprised we don’t have poop smeared everywhere. He also tried to dive off the changing table the other day, little wiggle monster. He hates seeing food that is not his. At Miss Brenda’s, he does not like his sippy cup to be empty. He throws it across the floor when it’s empty. Generally, he does not like it when he doesn’t get his way so hearing no is not his favorite thing. (He may have gotten a little anger streak from him parents.)

Milestones: At the beginning of the month he was flip-flop crawling, but two weeks ago he actually started crawling. And he hasn’t stopped moving since. He can fully bring himself to a standing position too. He can’t stand completely without holding on to something, but he is making a lot of efforts to do so. So I think solo standing is going to happen here very quickly. You can tell he wants to so badly. Also seeing him standing in his crib on the monitor has to be one of the most terrifying things. He isn’t talking yet, but he yells at you and sings. He is also throwing temper tantrums, so his cognitive level is rising. We aren’t using the pacy too much now. Most days he only has it when he goes down for his bedtime. I don’t even remember the last time Brenda has used it with him during the day. She is much more hard core than we are, and we use it more on the weekend because we are softies at this point. We do take a pacy still with us when we are out of the house just in case he throws a fit, but generally at home he doesn’t have it until bedtime. Unless we are taking pictures…

Quirks: He pants like a dog when he is trying really hard to stand. When he sees other people, he will bury his head in my shoulder like he is trying to hide. He has figured out how to turn on the radio and is pulling all the books off the shelves. Needless to say, he likes to change the landscape of his room.

We parents are: pretty great. I am losing hair due to George’s pulling it all out. We are actually having to parent George now that he is more mobile. I think I say, “No” or “Stop” more than any other word in my vocabulary. We are trying to teach him there are many things he can’t do yet…Tom’s schedule has been pretty great this month, so I feel like we have gotten more time together.

The dogs are: sooo sweet and patient with George. His relationship with them has changed dramatically since he can crawl and climb. He is all over them ALL THE TIME. Crosby just sits there and takes the abuse, even the innocent ball pinch…Grace tries to make out with him hoping for some food/spit up remnants in those baby folds. George also tried to eat their dog food yesterday, and is very made that we would not let him. They share the dinner we give George which I think has solidified their BF status. George thinks it is funny to feed them his food. (But then he gets mad at us when there is no food on his plate.) The dogs have done a really good job leaving George’s toys alone, even though George now thinks the dog bones are his toys.

In two months, we will have a ONE YEAR OLD! I have his birthday already planned out. We just have to make a few things and then wait for the day. I am already so excited to see it all come together. But I also want to freeze time because there is no way I am actually ready for that.

June 16, 2015 by Stephanie

How Do I Get George To Sit For Pictures?

A lot of Luck.

I have had a lot of people ask me recently how I get George to pose for things like this.

Or to sit still to do this.

In all honesty, most of it really is luck along with some timing.

Overtime, I have learned the sweet spots in the day to photograph him. Right after his morning nap is really the best time for me to take his picture, especially if I am by myself. He is much more cooperative right after his nap. If Tom is helping me, I can do other times of the day because he’s able to wrangle George while I just stay behind the camera. Generally though, I try to stick to right after he wakes up. For George, that is when he is the most smiley and eager to be my model.

I have tried to do it right after he eats, but he usually is still mad that the meal is over. He is also a happy spitter (doctor’s words not mine). So if I do it after he eats, usually I am cleaning up more food spit than I am taking pictures.

George is also pretty expressive, so I really don’t have to work him too much to get some sort of face from him. It doesn’t hurt that he is the cutest baby alive. Just saying.

There are a few things I have on hand to help me get the money shot:

a toy that lights up or rattles (to get his attention on me instead of who knows where)
a burp cloth (because he likes to regurgitate and drool…a lot)
a pacy (up until recently most of his shoots ended with a pacy)

I also try to set up everything while George is napping so I can literally just set him up and go for it. I have most of my shoots with him down to a science and can get them done in 15-20 minutes.

I also have the setting on to take continuous photos. It’s probably the biggest reason why I am able to catch faces like this.

And in all honesty, I take hundreds of photos (most of the time it can be anywhere between 300-600 images) each time I get the camera out. It can be a lot to sift through, but it offers more of a guarantee that I will get a picture that I want. But then there are times when the bloopers are more fun.

I also have learned when to say no to a shoot or end one early even though I have it all planned out. I can usually read George’s mood within a matter of minutes, and I know if he will be good or not. (Although, I love a good crying picture.)

I also have to lock the dogs out of the room I am doing pictures in because they either end up in the shot or are much better at getting George’s attention than I am.

Every picture I take is not perfect. There have even been a couple shoots where I didn’t think any of them were show quality, and Tom had to talk me off of my artist ledge that I was unworthy of doing this. But I think that is part of the reason I get my camera out every week: to learn. I feel like I have really improved on my photography just because I get it out at least once a week to make George my model for even a brief amount of time.

He is by far my favorite subject, and he will just have to endure my endless photo shoot ideas.

It may get harder now that he is getting more mobile though.

May 26, 2015 by Stephanie

George-9 Months

9 months of this guy. How is this possible?

Weight: 18 lbs and 3 oz. Not sure of his height or head measurement. I feel like he really grew a lot this past month. I can definitely feel it when I pick him up. (all those carbs…)

Health: Earlier this month, he had a really bad cough. He sounded like a rattle can when he was breathing. I took him to the doctor because I was afraid of stuff settling in his lungs. She said it was a good thing that we did because he had a really bad ear infection. George however was not showing any of the typical signs of being bothered by an ear infection. On the plus side there was no mucus in his lungs. He actually liked the antibiotics this time around.

Diet: We are no longer feeding him purees at home. He still does purees at the babysitter’s purely because we have so many left over from people giving us food. I know it is easier for her to do purees to while we get him a little more used to real food at home. We are down to 5 bottles a day. Most are 4 oz, except the last bottle of the day is 6 oz. He is really good with feeding himself, so we just put something on his tray and let him have at it. He has pretty much mastered putting food into his mouth on his own. Although, he forgets when he has things in his right hand. He predominantly eats with his left hand. This month he has tried a lot of carbs: bagel, pancakes, beef, fish, peppers, watermelon, toast, angelfood cake, icing, corn on the cob, nectarine, ravioli, baked beans, banana bread, and alfredo. He pitches a full out fit after every meal is over. It is the worst when pasta is involved. (Which makes sense because Tom and I are both pasta lovers, so he got that 100%.) If you follow me on Instagram, I post some of the after-meal aftermaths.

Clothes: I just put away all the 3-6 month clothes this weekend. He still is ok in the 6 month stuff, but I did get out the 6-9 month stuff. He is filling those out nicely. He is in size 3 diapers.

Sleeping: I wrote the other day that he is a through the night sleeper! He will start out on his back, but within a half hour of being put down he moves to his stomach. He stays face down most of the night. This is terrifying for me because he likes to smash his face straight down. Fortunately though, he has gotten my sleeping traits for this month, and I can go in and move him so he isn’t breathing in mattress. He does not like to be rocked much anymore. It was a little sad to part with that routine, but we are getting snuggles elsewhere. Also I love to take pictures of him sleeping.

Likes: Food. Phones. Dancing; he loves to watch us dance goofy. He also loves to dance with you. We are already practicing our mother/son dance. He is enamored by straws, which is awesome at restaurants. He would rather play with the tags on toys than the actual toy. If you are wearing a watch, George will be your new best friend. He loves to be tipped upside down. He thinks it is the greatest game. Another great game is Peek-A-Boo. So much fun. Food.

Dislikes: Meal time ending. You eating food in front of him that he is not getting. Sleeping in on weekends. Not having the controller that you are holding. That above is his displeased face.

Milestones: We got a new carseat, and he is sitting in the front of the stroller now. No more infant seat! He started reaching for us to hold him. Best feeling ever to date. He did have a few big milestones this month. He got up on all fours! He just rocks back and forth, and when he tries to move his legs or arms forward he falls down. I still am convinced we may have a walker before we have a crawler. He stood on his own a little bit this weekend, and he does really well standing when he has something to hold on to like a bench or couch. He also officially has teeth! Two sprouted up right after turning 8 months. It looks like he may get ear infections along with the teeth, but honestly he has been super mellow considering all the teething horrors we have heard.

Quirks: He is ticklish! I just love his tickle giggles. He makes all sorts of noises and squeals. I feel like there is a new one each day. We are his jungle gym. He likes to crawl all over and pull up on us. He definitely remembers people now, and you get some pretty good smiles when you come back in a room. But he also gets sad if you are out of his eye-sight for too long. He also loves to twist around and belly up when his diaper is being changed or putting on his pajamas. It’s like a wrestling match trying to get his butt covered.

We parents are: doing pretty good. We have had a lot going on this month so this last weekend was pretty nice to both have some extra time off at the same time. We have been getting more serious about house hunting, so keep good thoughts for us. That whole process is nerve wracking.

The dogs are: still being a pain in the butt. Grace has stopped going potty outside. I will have just let them out or walked them, and then she will come back in and crap under the dining room table. We created a new schedule for them to hopefully help her out. God bless her. Tom also thinks a lot of it is because we have carpet and she has made certain spots “her” spot. George loves them though. He pets them and grabs for them. When he sits with Grace, he uses her ears as a chew toy. It’s adorable. She sits and takes it because she knows that he will eventually have something she can lick up. He also likes playing with Crosby’s paws and his toenails. It looks like they are holding hands all the time.

I just love him. He is such a happy boy, and he is definitely blossoming as he continues learning new things every day.

May 21, 2015 by Stephanie

How To (Sleep) Train Your Dragon (Baby)

We did it.

We finally have a through-the-night sleeper.

Happy Restful Dance!

Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

George is almost 9 months old (seriously can we pause time), so it has obviously taken us a long time to get here.

George started sleeping in his crib every night a little before 4 months old. Because of our move and his spit up situation, before then was not possible.

Our nightly routine was putting him down at 7:30, then waking him up for another bottle at 10pm, and then hoping he would stay asleep until I got up at 5:30. It was about 50/50 whether he would make it through that 10 to 5 stretch.

I was also noticing that he was having a hard time finishing that bottle at 10pm, and he would barf most of it up anyway.

So I got to wondering if he got restless more because I disturbed his deep sleep at 10pm, and obviously that bottle wasn’t helping him stay full.

This past month Tom was on evening shift meaning he would get home around 2 or 3 in the morning. So I felt like this would be an opportune time to cut out that 10pm feeding and see how he would do. My thinking was that if he got fussy it would be around the time Tom got home, and he would be able to tend to George’s needs so I could stay asleep. Selfish thinking maybe, but Tom wasn’t ready to go to bed anyway, so I think it’s more like using an opportunity and resources!

So how did the training go?

Well, I obviously already gave it away that he is now sleeping through the night.

So it is safe to say it has gone pretty well.

There have been some nights he has woken up between his 7:30pm bottle and my 5:30am alarm. I am chalking a lot of it up to his ear infection he is just getting over. Usually once I cuddled him up, he would fall right back to sleep.

He also is now sleeping on his stomach a lot more. Throughout the night he inches himself into the end of the bed, and he has woken himself up by banging into the crib rails. He hasn’t quite figured out reverse. It’s a sad funny when he wedges himself in the corner because he tried rolling out of his predicament…So we just have to scoot him down, and he is fine again.

I also noticed a huge difference now that I lay him down awake instead of completely rocking him to sleep like I have before. He is getting much better at soothing himself to sleep instead of us having to rock him. Usually, he will play with his elephant for about 5 minutes before he falls asleep.

I know that a lot of people may not have the schedule that we had this past month to take advantage of, but honestly that was a huge help. It made me a whole lot less nervous because I knew that a fully awake Tom would be checking on him in the middle of the night to make sure he was golden. (Which is a lot better than fully asleep Stephanie that needs the noise of a freight train to wake up.)

I also picked up on cues from George that that last bottle wasn’t really helping him sleep through the night. Him waking up had nothing to do with being hungry. He just wanted to be comforted.

So we found other ways to make sure he could be comforted on his own. He has his pacy and his elephant. He now knows how to reach and grab for things and knows his pacy is around even if it is not right in his face. So that has definitely helped that we don’t have to come every time it falls out. The elephant is also a great blessing. If you pull it’s tail it sings a lullaby, but it is still very plush that it is great for him to cuddle with. He also can chew on the tail ring or string “hairs,” which I have watched him do many nights to help those teeth pop up. He also uses it as a face mask…

Sidenote-We did not put the elephant in there until he was more mobile and knew he could move around it or push it off. So just note that when you add other things to the crib so they aren’t suffocating hazards. I still won’t put a blanket in there because it scares me. It’s a judgement call really. We tried the elephant a few times during day naps before we left it in there over night. Naps are a really good opportunity to try sleep routines to get them to sleep in the first place.

A routine is generally a good rule of thumb for everything. We have a pretty solid one down now for bedtime: Dinner, bath, bottle, story, songs, then sleep. He usually goes in the crib around 7:30pm.

It may not seem like it, but he was fast asleep in this picture. As you can tell he does not have one solid sleeping position…

I also do think that breastfeeding babies have a harder time completely sleeping through the night. There are rarely any breastfeeding babies (under 1) I have heard that don’t wake up at least once through the night, compared to my formula feeding friends. So I think that has also helped George feel better through the night now that we have completely transitioned over to formula and he is used to not nursing. (This is obviously not based on research, just my observation from my mom friends. Sometimes breast isn’t best, in my opinion.)

His sleep is not perfect by any means. There was a night last week where I slept in the rocking chair with him on my chest because he just wasn’t having a night alone in the crib. There are also a few mornings here and there (like this morning) where we co-sleep for that last hour before my alarm goes off. However, the majority of our nights are unbroken. Which is great because, Tom is now on a new shift where helping out in the middle of the night is not as much of an option. If we get through 5 days a week without having him wake us up, I call this a win as far as sleep training goes.

Sleep training is not easy. What has worked for my baby, might not necessarily work for yours. There have been tons of tips that people have given us that George has basically laughed at (or screamed at). So I think you just have to be willing to experiment.

And have a lot of patience.

And prayers for said patience.

I am also lucky that Tom has been such a great comfort to George in the wee hours of the morning. So that teamwork was clutch for us.

We have made such a turn around in the past couple months. Going from the days where he refused to take naps and having to rock him for at least a half hour at night, now to this…

We have taken nuggets of wisdom from other families, but we also listened to what George was telling us along the way.

Here are my fast tips:

1. Have a nightly routine (I don’t think there is one way to do a routine, but I would just be as consistent as possible with your baby.)

2. Help your child learn to comfort themselves

3. Listen to your parent gut and what your kid is telling you (what works for others, may not work for you)

4. Have a good baby monitor (This keeps me from hovering over his crib too much. Because even if he is dead asleep, his baby senses tell him I am in the room watching and he will wake up.)

5. Be patient (This is not a one night fixed problem, unfortunately. At times, it is really hard. You will get there though!)

Sleep training is not an easy game, so if you are a sleep-deprived mama or papa, I tip my hat to you. Also I am here for morale support. While I can talk endlessly about what has and hasn’t worked for George, I would not claim to be a sleep training expert, nor do I have a wealth of knowledge on the subject. I’m just a George expert.

But sometimes I know all a parent needs to know is that they aren’t in the struggle alone.

Because sometimes at 2am, our kids can seem like a dragon that is hard to tame. But they are pretty cute little dragons that I don’t mind cuddling a little extra as long as they can keep that fire breathing to a minimum.

What are your sleep training tips? Isn’t a sleeping baby just the cutest thing? (Yes, yes it is.)

May 5, 2015 by Stephanie

Conquering Mealtime

Feeding a baby can be very overwhelming.

What do you start with?

How much do you feed them?

How often do you feed them real food vs formula?

How exactly do you teach them to eat on their own?

Can I avoid them choking?

I am going to be covered in applesauce at some point in this process aren’t I?

It’s enough to make you cross-eyed.

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It can be seriously crippling to get lost in all the articles, books, and posts out there about feeding your baby from what and when to how and with what. You can spend days trying to read everything and come up with a game plan of how to attack this new part of parenthood.

I am here to help!

Well only sort of.

I have found that you can plan all you want to but ultimately your baby will be the driver of how meal time will go. So get ready to be messy.

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I had full intentions of doing BLW all the way, but George said differently. He hasn’t taken to all things solid. I have said it before that some days he will only do purees, and then other days he can’t get that toast in his mouth fast enough. Most days he could go either way as long as food is entering his body.

Exhibit A:

It is an exercise in patience and flexibility.

But beyond the food, you do need some good products like a bib and utensils. Otherwise every meal time means bath time.

I am here to share my favorites to help you in your search. Because we all have opinions.

First a bib.

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We love love love Snap Bibs.

I hate cleaning, so in my search I needed something that was going to make this messy process easy. These are a snap (put intended) to clean. The food sticks on the vinyl like material while they are eating but doesn’t stain it. (Caveat, it does stain the back a little. So if you have a munchkin who likes to fold up the bib and try to eat the bib with his messy hands, you will get stains on the back. But no one sees this part anyway.) Once he is done, I either take a baby wipe and wipe them off, let the dogs lick it (truth), or just run it under the faucet. We have used the same one for almost every meal for 4 months and the front looks as good as when we first bought it. It’s nice too when you are traveling because then you aren’t putting a messy bib into the diaper bag.

I will also note that I have even not wiped it immediately after he ate which caused the food to dry on there. You may think that the bib is doneso, but nope. Still just as easy to get the food off by just wiping it with a wet cloth or again just put it under the faucet.

Snap Bibs for the win.

These bibs are super sturdy. Unlike Velcro bibs, they stay put even with all the flailing and moving about little man does.

They come in all kinds of colors, so you have a lot of options. I have tried to limit myself and not buy all the colors. We have three. But seriously we need all the colors.

These are one of my favorite baby purchases, which I have a feeling we will be using well into the toddler years.

All they need to do is find a way to make a baby feeding suit out of these things….somehow there is always food in his hair.

Now the utensils.

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I actually tried around with a few different products.

We have really tried to make George independent throughout this process. Soon after we started, I made him take the spoon. There were several spoons that we tried but he just was having a hard time holding and maneuvering in his mouth.

Then it came down to what was actually making it to his mouth. Babies are not all that coordinated if you didn’t know…I can confirm that they are like tiny drunks…So you need to have a spoon that is going to keep things on the spoon on the way in, even with lots of tosses and turns.

Some spoons were too slick. Some had too deep of wells that he couldn’t get everything out. Some were too short.

Then we fell upon Oogaa products.

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Everything about these spoons have been perfect.

They are long enough for him to hold. The spoon isn’t too deep that he can’t get it all out. It’s silicone nature keeps things from sliding off too much. My praises are endless…

Silicone makes them easy to clean. Seeing a theme here? (Easy to clean is my number one priority.)

These bad boys can go in the dishwasher, but they are super easy to hand-wash because under water the stickiness comes right off.

I also love that these can double up as a teether. They are not hard on his gums like a lot of plastic or metal baby spoons. This is a must when I am not moving fast enough to get new food in front of him. The spoon gives me a little distraction time while he munches on them.

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We love the regular spoons and use them ALL the time. However, we also love the more fun spoons. There is a train, truck, plane, and tugboat. These help with making meal time fun and engaging. This can also help your older kids become involved in the process. George isn’t quite at the stage where he knows what these things are but it is still fun to play with him. Plus these make good handles for him.

I was worried at first with these particular spoons because they have a deep space/hole in the back where I just envisioned all the food to collect. But even caked on food comes off easily under the faucet or the dishwasher. No more fuss!

We are still in the stage that every thing just goes on the tray so he can explore it. So we really haven’t had too much in the plate department for George to use. But I do love using Oogaa bowls to cook oatmeal in! Again easy to clean and goes in the microwave. Can’t get better than that. I talked more about their bowls here.

What can I say, we love our Oogaas!

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We still haven’t found the sippy cup for us. George hasn’t figured out how to tip and doesn’t get the straw idea yet. And if I am going to have to hold him to tip him back it defeats the purpose of him drinking independently. We are kind of putting the search on hold really because I don’t want to shell out any money. We are going to try again in a month with those that we have.

Those are just two of the items that have made our feeding adventure a little less stressful for me. George just wants the food in his mouth, so the easiest way to do that for Mom is the best way for him.

These are both small businesses started by moms wanting better products for their own kids. I found both of these through Instagram.

I did not receive the Snap Bibs for a review, but I did receive Oogaa spoons complimentary for testing purposes as an Oogaa Brand Partner. All thoughts and opinions are mine, and George’s of course!

What products would you recommend? Do you just feed your kids in the bathtub to fix the mess?