It's been a couple months since I've been back to work, and it took me a while, but I think I Finally have this pumping at work thing down. At first I was completely unsure about what to bring (other than the pump itself). Everything seems pretty obvious, but I kept wondering if I had the right type of cooler or ice pack to keep the milk cold, was I being sanitary enough, and did I really need to purchase the $70 Medela bag to carry all of my gear???
#4 - Hands Free Bra
#6 - Antibacterial Wipes
Maybe I was just way overthinking it. I do that sometimes. But I finally have a collection of gear that works for me... some obvious and some not so obvious... so I thought I'd share :)
#1 - Large Bag
I finally realized I did not need to spend money on the Medela bag to carry my stuff in when I had a perfectly sized bag in my closet. I think I was feeling a bit of peer pressure as there are 2 other moms at work that are also pumping, that bring all of their stuff in the name brand bag. My wallet is glad I squashed that "keeping up with the Joneses" urge. My bag is a 31 Weekender Tote and it works great. It's sturdy and the perfect size.
I finally realized I did not need to spend money on the Medela bag to carry my stuff in when I had a perfectly sized bag in my closet. I think I was feeling a bit of peer pressure as there are 2 other moms at work that are also pumping, that bring all of their stuff in the name brand bag. My wallet is glad I squashed that "keeping up with the Joneses" urge. My bag is a 31 Weekender Tote and it works great. It's sturdy and the perfect size.
#2 - Cooler
I use my 31 lunch bag (seriously, not a consultant for 31, but I do love their stuff!) I was worried about its ability to keep the milk cold enough at first, but so far so good!
#3- Ice Pack
Duh. Again this was one of those things I over thought. Would it be cold enough, would it be too cold? (That's not a thing, by the way.) I just use an ice brick that we had from summer time, cleaned it off really well, and it keeps my milk cold for more than 4 hours. Which is all I need.
Duh. Again this was one of those things I over thought. Would it be cold enough, would it be too cold? (That's not a thing, by the way.) I just use an ice brick that we had from summer time, cleaned it off really well, and it keeps my milk cold for more than 4 hours. Which is all I need.
Ok , this one I went with the name brand on. Don't laugh, but the first couple months I was pumping at home and the first few weeks of pumping at work, I just held the pump on with my hands. It worked perfectly fine, but it was super inconvenient! When I finally splurged on the bra it was a huge game changer at work. I could get charts done while pumping! I've seen that people cut holes in sports bras to serve the same purpose but that would require me to, like, fully undress/dress my upper half while at work. So the Medela bra with the zipper on the front is way more preferable. :)
#5 - Ziploc Bag
I assemble my parts before going into work to save time and then place them in a gallon size bag. This helps keep them clean until I use them and then I just throw it all back in without having to worry about milk getting on anything else. Maybe it's not super environmentally friendly - but it works for me. And I recycle. :) **A tip from my Sister-in-law who is also currently pumping at work: if you have to pump multiple times at work (I only work 4 hours so I only pump once!) and have access to a fridge, you can put your used parts into the ziploc bag and put it in the fridge. That way you don't have to wash the parts in between each pumping session! Huge Time Saver!**
I assemble my parts before going into work to save time and then place them in a gallon size bag. This helps keep them clean until I use them and then I just throw it all back in without having to worry about milk getting on anything else. Maybe it's not super environmentally friendly - but it works for me. And I recycle. :) **A tip from my Sister-in-law who is also currently pumping at work: if you have to pump multiple times at work (I only work 4 hours so I only pump once!) and have access to a fridge, you can put your used parts into the ziploc bag and put it in the fridge. That way you don't have to wash the parts in between each pumping session! Huge Time Saver!**
I always clear the surface that I put the pump on and then give it a quick wipe down with an antibacterial wipe before setting any of my stuff on it. I've never been one to be a germophobe, but when it comes to my baby's milk, I'm extra careful.
#7 - Hand Sanitizer
I always use the bathroom and wash my hands before going to pump, but once I'm in the room I'll also use a bit of hand sanitizer before pulling my stuff out. This is helpful because I have to move objects out of the way to clear a space and I touch the door handle to close and lock it... So again, just going the extra mile to keep germs away from my milk. (Winter Candy Apple was my favorite scent from Bath & Body works this year! I had candles and wall flowers all over my house in this scent! Loved it!)
#8 - Medela Wipes
These make it super easy to clean your pump pieces in between pumping sessions if you don't have access to a fridge (see #5) and its much faster than cleaning with soap and water. I don't always use these, because I only pump once at work, but I like to have them for just incase moments. For instance, one time I dropped a piece of the bottle attachment on the floor! Yikes! The Medela wipes are great for a quick clean and sanitation. You do have to let it air dry for 5 minutes after wiping it, but it's better than using a dirty piece or having to pack everything up to find a sink to wash it in. (These can be used the wipe countertops down as well if you don't want to carry around 2 different wipes!)
#9 - Storage Bags
I use the Target brand or whatever I have a coupon for and keep the whole box in my big bag. When I'm done pumping I portion it out into the bags and then when I get home I put them right into the fridge/freezer. Seems more convenient than just putting the cap on the pumping bottles, plus it stores better in my cooler when in the bags versus the bottles.
#10 - A Sharpie
Or whatever marker/pen works for you! To document date and amount of the milk you've pumped on the bag
#11 - Water Bottle
This one is important! I keep a water bottle at work and we have a water cooler in our gym so I'm easily able to fill my water up. I try to drink as much as I can while sitting and pumping. (Another perk of the hands free bra!)
#12 - A Snack
To go along with the water! It's a good time to get some nutrients in, especially since I'm at work and might not have the time to eat otherwise. I usually have a protien bar because it's small and quick, but packing fruits or veggies is great too!
I think that's pretty much it. I have it pretty easy because I'm only at work for 4 hours so I only have to pump once while I'm there. I also get to pump at the same time every time, and it's a specific 45 minutes of time blocked off of my schedule. (A time slot where I'd normally be treating a patient). Its relatively stress free for me as far as expectations at work go and I'm really thankful for that.
If you pump, and you're reading this, what are some essentials you bring? What is your work situation like? I'm curious if others have a harder time being allowed a consistent time to pump or if you feel rushed to get it done? Please share!
Usually January and February are my least favorite months out of the year, they just always seem to drag on forever and there is so little too look forward to. This year has been moving along quite nicely though, and while I am mostly happy about it, I'm also like "Whoa! What? My baby is already 5 months?" So February, you have my permission to slow down just a tad this year, mmk? Thanks.
What has Reaghan done this last month???
- No doctors appointment at 5 months, but we know she is getting bigger! She's wearing 3-6 month outfits and even fitting into a lot of 6 month sizes as well.
- Night time can still be a challenge at times. Some nights she goes down without a fuss and sleeps all night (about 10pm-8am) but if I try and put her down any earlier than 10, she usually spends a couple of hours fussing with Mark and I taking turns going in to soothe her, before she really falls asleep. I'll confess to being frustrated by this. We'll try this month to slowly back up bedtime with a goal of getting her to sleep by 8:30. (It doesn't help that 2 nights out of the week I don't get home from work until 7:30. Usually I'll feed her right when I get home and then she's not ready to eat again and go to bed until 10. I'm not sure how I'm going to figure this one out!)
- The upside of her late night tendencies is that if we are visiting with family on the weekends and out late, she is generally a happy, easy going girl and doesn't get fussy if she's not in bed by a certain time. I'll admit that I like this flexibility.
- We have officially cut out her middle of the night feeding though, so if she does wake up in the middle of the night, I just go and put her paci back in her mouth, pat her on the back for a few minutes and she (99% of the time) falls easily back to sleep.
- I love getting her up from her crib in the morning! She usually wakes up happy and "talking" and gives me the brightest smile when Piper and I go to get her up.
- She has been taking a 1.5-2 hour nap in the morning and the afternoon in her crib when we are home, which is great! She can also maintain a happy disposition if she is napping in her carseat for shorter amounts of time if we are running errands. Again - I love that she is able to follow a schedule when we are home but flexible enough that I don't HAVE to be home for nap times to keep her happy.
- She rolled over from belly to back for the first time! She is a pro at it now! Still hasn't figured out back to belly yet.
- We are practicing sitting up independently. She has held herself up for about 7-8 seconds a few times but she still needs lots of practice before we can officially say she can sit up on her own.
- She loves to play with her toys, loves to look at herself in the mirror and loves to put anything she can grab right into her mouth.
- She had her first little cold. Babies with stuffy/runny noses are so sad. She had trouble eating and sleeping and was just overall pitiful. Poor baby.
- She is mesmerized by polka dot patterns! Anything I show her with polka dots instantly captures her attention and she gets the cutest concentrated look on her face!
- She has quite the sassy personality, she'll let out shrieks if she is not happy with her current situation. It is definitely different than her cries; she likes to make sure we know that she would rather be doing something else.
- We've noticed that she has started to really watch us when we eat. Our plan was to wait until 6 months to start introducing solids, but not sure if we'll make it another month!
We thought the snow flake sweater was appropriate for her photo shoot today since she also got to enjoy her first big snow day on her 5th month birthday!
She's the cutest little stinker bug.
She's admiring my creativity ; )
Yummy toys!
I don't know about you, but I kind of like celebrating Valentines day.
Sure, it might be made up just to get people to spend money on cards and chocolate, but personally I like an opportunity to focus on being romantic and a little lovey-dovey. :)
I like it so much that I make sure we celebrate it, even though we never celebrate it ON the actual day. My brothers birthday is on V-day so we always put him first and spend time with him on the 14th; but either the day before or the day after, Mark and I will do something special. (As also explained from our 2013 Valentines Day) This year since the 14th fell on a Saturday, we did our thing on Friday. (It was actually Mark's RDO* so it worked out well for us!)
My first present from Mark? A chance to spend an hour at the nail salon getting my toes done while he stayed home with Reaghan. I love pedicures. I wish I could get one done every month. It felt so nice to have a chance to sit and soak my feet, get a little foot massage and come out with pretty toe nails.
Sure, it might be made up just to get people to spend money on cards and chocolate, but personally I like an opportunity to focus on being romantic and a little lovey-dovey. :)
I like it so much that I make sure we celebrate it, even though we never celebrate it ON the actual day. My brothers birthday is on V-day so we always put him first and spend time with him on the 14th; but either the day before or the day after, Mark and I will do something special. (As also explained from our 2013 Valentines Day) This year since the 14th fell on a Saturday, we did our thing on Friday. (It was actually Mark's RDO* so it worked out well for us!)
My first present from Mark? A chance to spend an hour at the nail salon getting my toes done while he stayed home with Reaghan. I love pedicures. I wish I could get one done every month. It felt so nice to have a chance to sit and soak my feet, get a little foot massage and come out with pretty toe nails.
After I got back home, Mark left to go pick up something for dinner. This is our 3rd married Valentines and every year so far we have spent the evening at home together. Maybe this is too much information, but because we chose to live out our relationship in a way that honored God, all of the Valentines celebrations while we were dating ended with a kiss goodbye at my parents doorstep. We really looked forward to our first married Valentines Day and spent that night at home ; ) Since then, we've just followed that same tradition and enjoy a romantic evening in. In fact, our 2013 dinner looked an awful lot like our 2015 dinner! I didn't even realize it until I looked back at my blog post!
While Mark was setting up dinner in the dining room, Reaghan and I got ready for our special dinner.
We got dressed up just a little to make it fun. :)
Mark brought home TASTE Unlimited - my request - and had some flowers and candles
to dress up the table.
My two loves. Reaghan loves her daddy and received her very first Valentines gift from him...
Mark brought her home a bouquet of carnations and a fuzzy teddy bear that is "life size" for Reaghan right now ; ) I think he's going to be pretty good at this daddy thing - not that I ever had any doubts!
She was pretty thrilled with her gift!
Reaghan and I made this card for Mark. I love her little feet and handprints!
After dinner we set up the projector screen in our living room, put our futon mattress on the floor with some pillows and watched a movie until it was time to put Reaghan to bed.
We might decide to go out for a nice dinner next year, but then again we might just stay home. :)
The next day, we headed over to my parents to celebrate my brother Adam and enjoyed a full afternoon and evening with the family.
Reaghan, of course, had to get dressed up for that event as well. :)
(*RDO - rotating day off. Mark gets every other Friday off.)
I finally got my hands on a BoB jogging stroller! back in November I wrote about how I was getting back into a running routine and how I was wanting to get a jogging stroller so I could take Reaghan with me. Specifically, I was coveting a BoB jogging stroller, but buying one brand new was just way too expensive! I couldn't justify $500 on a stroller.
Since then I've been keeping an eye out on the facebook yardsale sites and on Craigslist. I found a few but they go fast! I would contact the seller as soon as I saw it, but by then they already had 2-3 people lined up to come look at it and usually it sold to the first person.
I pretty much decided to just stop looking for one until spring time when a friend of mine texted me saying she was going to sell her BoB because she just got a new one and she'd give it to me for a little less than what she was going to try and sell it for online if I wanted it. Holla!
I said yes in .5 seconds. :)
Since then I've been keeping an eye out on the facebook yardsale sites and on Craigslist. I found a few but they go fast! I would contact the seller as soon as I saw it, but by then they already had 2-3 people lined up to come look at it and usually it sold to the first person.
I pretty much decided to just stop looking for one until spring time when a friend of mine texted me saying she was going to sell her BoB because she just got a new one and she'd give it to me for a little less than what she was going to try and sell it for online if I wanted it. Holla!
I said yes in .5 seconds. :)
She dropped it off this morning and I'm already excited about it.
It will be a couple of months before Reaghan will be able to use it but thats okay because it's a little too cold for her to go out with me right now anyways. By spring time though, it will be perfect!
I need to clean it up just a bit, but it is in great condition!
It even came with the cup holder caddy attachment, which doesn't come with the stroller.
I paid $150 for it.
So much better than $500!
I can't wait for Spring!
Since my last love it or leave it post Reaghan has grown up quite a bit and we are using a lot more baby gear! Hopefully this can give you an idea of what might be helpful to have on hand during these months of baby development!
There are a few things that we still haven't pulled out of Reaghan's closet that I'm excited to try out as she gets a little older! I will update as she grows!
Love It:
Baby Monitor
From the start we knew we wanted a video monitor for Reaghan's nursery. They obviously aren't necessary, and audio ones can do the job, but I LOVE being able to see her in her crib when she's sleeping. Especially when we transitioned her to her crib for night time! It's helped me in learning her cries and body language; knowing when she can fuss herself to sleep and when she might need a little help. This is the one that we have...
Play Mat
During 2-4 months tummy time is crucial in helping babies reach important developmental milestones like head control and rolling over. I love giving Reaghan "down time" to lay on the floor and learn to play with and reach for her toys and find her feet! It's important to me that she learns to independently entertain herself. We have the one pictured below, given to us at one of our showers.
Bumbo
I love our bumbo with the tray! As Reaghan began to get head control, she wanted to be upright more and more so she could see what was going on. (She's a nosy one ;)) This was definitely more in the 4th month than the 3rd. She started to like sitting in this more than laying in her rock n play, so it's been good to sit her in while I get dressed or putting on make up etc. The tray is great because I can put some toys on it to keep her occupied. It works the best on the floor, but I admit I've set her in it while its on my bed so I could engage her a bit. I just have to keep an extra close eye on her if its not sitting on the floor.
High Chair
So pretty much the same reasons I love the Bumbo, I love the high chair. She sits in this every morning while I make/eat breakfast and dinner time is so much easier now that she can sit in this while we eat. Also, like the Bumbo, we didn't start using it until her 4th month. We got a good deal on an Ingenuity brand from WalMart that converts to 3 different styles shown below.
Disposable Pads
This one isn't super specific to age, but we didn't have a need for them until we were into Reaghan's 3rd month. We were suddenly in this weird "in between" diaper size and we had a diaper blowout literally almost every day. I knew we needed something to cover her changing table cover so I wouldn't have to wash it every day, and these disposable pads have been perfect. I can use the same one for 4-5 days if we don't have an incident, so this box of 36 have lasted us almost 2 months.
Exersaucer
I love how active and fun Reaghan is getting as she grows. My parents bought her the one shown below for Christmas and she LOVES it. Personally I prefer these to the Johnny Jumpers you hang in the doorway. Yes they take up space, but I like that they are securely on the ground. Either way - coming from a PT standpoint - I'm careful to limit the amount of time Reaghan spends in it in one setting to decrease chances of hip developmental issues.
Baby Swing
LOVED the swing during the 2-4 month time. It has been really helpful for Mark when he is home alone with Reaghan on Mondays. If she's struggling to nap in her crib for him and he doesn't have the time to work on it with her (because he's also working) she will take a good nap for him in the swing. I can see her outgrowing this soon as she likes more and more to be busy and upright, but as of right now, it is still nice to give her a change of scenery.
Leave It:
Boppy Pillow
Honestly, I hate to put this on the leave it list. I wish a had an "eh, sorta helpful" list, because thats how I felt about the Boppy. I did use it occasionally while nursing and I would sometimes use it to help prop Reaghan up - and when I used it, it was nice. It definitely had its helpful moments, and before Reaghan was born I was sure it would be essential because so many people swear by it. But honestly, was it something that made my life soooo much easier and something I used every day??? Not really.
**No affiliations present in this post. As always, I am expressing only my opinions and experiences.**
This is the face of an accomplished 4 month old.
Who just prior to these pictures managed to roll from her belly to her back
all on her own for the very first time!
She was awfully proud of herself.
Can I share a deep, dark secret of my soul?
It's a thought that might make me sound like I'm less of a Christian, or that my understanding of the bible is poor.
But it is this...
Sometimes when God performs miracles and answers prayers for others, I feel betrayed.
Why? Shouldn't I be praising His name for answered prayers? I often join my brothers and sisters in Christ praying for provision or healing or a miracle in a tough situation and I do rejoice when God answers the prayers in the way that we are asking. I celebrate, I thank him and I proclaim His good deeds to others. But, there is always a small part of me that wonders, deep down, why God has answered prayers for another but not for me; not for my family.
My brother was in a tragic accident in 2000, when he was only 9. We prayed that he might be able to walk again, that his ability to remember, learn and speak might be restored to normal, and that he wouldn't suffer from seizures. None of these things have been granted to us.
My sister and her husband are struggling with infertility. We've prayed for 4 years for God to open her womb. We are still waiting.
But....
A dear friend of the family had a stroke this past weekend, we prayed earnestly for his life and for healing because it didn't look good. I am overjoyed to share that God did answer our prayers and our friend is beginning his road to recovery. I can't thank God enough for hearing our cries. Seriously.
That small part of me that wonders "why not me?" in no way means that I am not rejoicing for the answered prayers for others. But the question still creeps up in my heart. I feel guilty writing it down, but it is truly the way that I feel and I sure do have to put every effort forward to not allow that feeling to take root and grow because I know there isn't an answer. No one can say why God answers some prayers and not others and I know I don't, in anyway, deserve to know the answer.
I realize I'm not the only one with unanswered prayers, which I guess is one reason I'm sharing this. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sometimes wonders why.
What's more? I don't have a beautiful, theological thought to summarize this confession. All I know is this...
God is still God. Whether prayers are answered or go unanswered, He is still good. I love Him because He first loved me. He gave his Son so that I could have life everlasting and even though it seems like a far way off sometimes and it doesn't fully take away the hurt in the here and now, the prayers that feel unanswered will be wiped away one day. Maybe we'll understand why we didn't get what we asked for, or maybe it just won't matter anymore.
It's a thought that might make me sound like I'm less of a Christian, or that my understanding of the bible is poor.
But it is this...
Sometimes when God performs miracles and answers prayers for others, I feel betrayed.
Why? Shouldn't I be praising His name for answered prayers? I often join my brothers and sisters in Christ praying for provision or healing or a miracle in a tough situation and I do rejoice when God answers the prayers in the way that we are asking. I celebrate, I thank him and I proclaim His good deeds to others. But, there is always a small part of me that wonders, deep down, why God has answered prayers for another but not for me; not for my family.
My brother was in a tragic accident in 2000, when he was only 9. We prayed that he might be able to walk again, that his ability to remember, learn and speak might be restored to normal, and that he wouldn't suffer from seizures. None of these things have been granted to us.
My sister and her husband are struggling with infertility. We've prayed for 4 years for God to open her womb. We are still waiting.
But....
A dear friend of the family had a stroke this past weekend, we prayed earnestly for his life and for healing because it didn't look good. I am overjoyed to share that God did answer our prayers and our friend is beginning his road to recovery. I can't thank God enough for hearing our cries. Seriously.
That small part of me that wonders "why not me?" in no way means that I am not rejoicing for the answered prayers for others. But the question still creeps up in my heart. I feel guilty writing it down, but it is truly the way that I feel and I sure do have to put every effort forward to not allow that feeling to take root and grow because I know there isn't an answer. No one can say why God answers some prayers and not others and I know I don't, in anyway, deserve to know the answer.
I realize I'm not the only one with unanswered prayers, which I guess is one reason I'm sharing this. I'm sure I'm not the only one who sometimes wonders why.
What's more? I don't have a beautiful, theological thought to summarize this confession. All I know is this...
God is still God. Whether prayers are answered or go unanswered, He is still good. I love Him because He first loved me. He gave his Son so that I could have life everlasting and even though it seems like a far way off sometimes and it doesn't fully take away the hurt in the here and now, the prayers that feel unanswered will be wiped away one day. Maybe we'll understand why we didn't get what we asked for, or maybe it just won't matter anymore.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Isaiah 55:8-9
I am unashamedly nostalgic and sentimental when it comes to saving keepsakes from different seasons of my life. In fact I have a pretty big tote that holds all of these momentos. I started this tote during my late years of highschool and brought it with me when I married. It got a little beat up during the move (over 2 years ago) and I just now brought it back down to reorganize and put into new totes!
As you can see I've saved a really ridiculous amount of things. I mean dried prom flowers... My corsage from prom? I almost threw them out when I went through the box, but when I took them out of the brown bags they were still so pretty and I could just picture myself one day showing Reaghan what her daddy gave me when we were in high school.
I've saved this shirt that Mark made me when I was 16. "Sweeticle" - it's a long story that wouldn't interest anyone, but it holds "sweet" memories for me.
Mark actually made me a few different shirts with inside jokes on them. It's pretty funny now to think about how much I loved them then!
I'm also a lover of cards. I love to give them and to receive them. And I save ones that make me think of certain times or mushy feelings. Like this birthday card my little sister made for me. She went through a phase where she always hand made the best cards for people and would draw all of the things they loved in their card. I save it because it reminds me of her cute little face. (and maybe because she said my face was "beutiful". ; )
I've also kept letters to myself - like this one from a mission trip I went on when I was 16. It reminds me of how passionate I was for missions when I was in my teens.
But my favorite of all the things I save are my journals. These are only some of the ones I have. I've always kept a journal, starting with the hot pink hello kitty one at the bottom of the pile to my pregnancy journal at the top of the pile. This project of putting all of my things into new totes took me almost all day and its because I spent the majority of the time reading through these old books and remembering days that I had forgotten, recounting things the Lord has taught me that I may or may not be living out now, and reliving all of the precious details of Mark's proposal.
If you have never kept a journal, I highly recommend doing so. Life goes by so fast and we forget so many wonderful moments... the details of this life we've been given deserve to be remembered!
Truthfully, I keep way more things than I probably need to. I am, as I said, sentimental that way. Do I really need my cast from when I broke my arm when I was 8? Probably not. But I love to look at the names of the people that signed it and remember childhood friendships! It's just who I am. Anyways, I finally finished my project and split up my things into 2 totes so they wouldn't be so heavy. I added some new momentos of my first few years of being married, and then put them back up in the attic.
I probably won't see them for a couple of more years, but I know I'll enjoy pulling them back out again. And you can be sure I'll have a box or 2 of Reaghan's things by the time she's old enough to appreciate it. : )
What about you? Do you find yourself holding on to things from your childhood?
Reaghan turned 4 months old yesterday! Her 4th month was so much fun as it took us straight through Christmas and New Years. We enjoyed so many "firsts" with her and made so many memories. I feel like she has grown up a TON in just 4 weeks.
Here is what she's been doing:
Here is what she's been doing:
- Her 4 month appointment isn't until Tuesday so I will update her Stats after that!
- She is in size 2 diapers. Still fits into some 3 month outfits but mostly 3-6 month clothes. It seemed like in a 24 hour span she outgrew all of her 0-3 month footie pajamas! One night they fit, the next night she was just too long!
- We transitioned her to her crib just after New Years. The first week was a challenge but she has finished her 2nd week of sleeping in her nursery and its going better!
- We start her bedtime routine around 9, which includes a bath, and she easily falls asleep by 9:45. The only down side is she now wakes up for a feeding between 3-4am where before she was sleeping 10-12 straight hours. (Not sure if this is a growth spurt thing or a crib vs. rock n play thing.) She is also waking up for the day around 7-7:30 instead of 9.
- She can scoot herself in a 180* in her crib at night - swaddled and everything! Head is at one end when I put her down and at the other when she wakes up in the morning, so we are starting to wean her from the swaddle.
- She is in a much better nap schedule - usually 1.5-2 hours in the morning and afternoon and a few cat naps here and there.
- She has lost quite a bit of hair on the top of her head, but it is getting thicker in the back!
- She is laughing more and more at silly noises and faces. It is the sweetest sound.
- Sometimes family gatherings overwhelm her a bit and she just needs her mama when it gets a bit too overstimulating. But she's still quick to offer smiles!
- She is trying to roll over but hasn't quite figured it out yet. Her first serious attempt was on 12/27. When laying on her back, she will swing her legs up in the air and get on to her side, but can't go any further. We practice it every day. :) Also practicing rolling tummy to back.
- She loves to lean forward when I'm holding her, trying to reach for her feet or any object that I might have in my hands and she likes to "stand" with support.
- Loves to sit in her high chair, her Exersaucer that she got for Christmas and her Bumbo seat - anything where she is up and can grab at toys and watch activity.
- She is doing much better at tummy time and playing independently on her floor mat with her toys! Sometimes long enough for me to workout while she watches.
She is mesmerized by pretty patterns!
Loves to try to sit up but only lasts 1-2 seconds before falling too far forward or to the side. She has a while to go before this skill is fully mastered!
Hence the reason she is leaning wayyyy back in the seat for this picture! I have to be careful to lean her back far enough that she cant pull herself forward if I leave her sitting somewhere, even for a second or two!
It was just this time last year that I found out I was pregnant with her and she has been the best part of every day ever since. I never knew I would find so much joy in watching her grow, learn and discover new things. Sometimes its hard to remember what it was like before she was in our lives.
Smiles can quickly turn in to little fits if mommy is taking too many pictures. ; )
