Elliott: Nine Months Old

I know I say this every month, but our girl gets to be more and more fun each day! She is pretty content and happy all day and is starting to be okay with others holding her. Although it totally depends on the day, her mood, and where we are, she is for sure making progress. This is the age most kids get stranger anxiety, but my kid has had it since birth so I don't think we have anywhere to go but up! I only left her with my MIL for 2 hours, but other than that she's been with Andy or me this month. However she goes where we go most of the time so that social aspect is good for her. She still enjoys going to the store as well as my practices and basketball games.

Elliott is crawling all over the place, though it is more of a gorilla crawl than a traditional one. She super heart loves the independence it gives her and is content roaming all rooms of the house. She can pull herself up to stand and walks with some assistance. Andy also loves to 'run' with her, which makes her giggle like crazy. Track star in the making, I guess. 

I try to feed her two meals of solid foods each day with two or three components to each meal. Elliott is starting to really love eating and trying everything when before she was pretty indifferent. Avocados, bananas, bread, pears, and deli turkey are a few of our biggest repeats. We just need to work on proteins. Otherwise we are still going strong nursing with no end in sight. She eats about every 4 hours now but if I'm gone, she seems to do fine just going without. He fails at feeding her food, though... Poor kid. I got tired buying new sippies so I haven't been trying them at all this month. Maybe soon we will get there.

Currently, we are in a good patch in the sleep department. It was pretty debilitating for a while, but we are back to just one or two brief wake ups at night, the kind when I can roll over for a quick feed and we both are back to sleep immediately. I will take that! She is still in our bed and I need to stop pushing the crib. It makes things worse when I force it and she sleeps much better when I just put her in our bed from the start. My foot is in my mouth for all those times I ever knocked bed sharing...

Naps have also improved. I'm back to putting her in her crib to wind down a bit before rocking her. She is still crying much more than she originally did with this method, but at least it's mostly just whining. She hasn't been fighting me as much this week and we've even had a few days with TWO, TWO HOUR NAPS! That has never happened in the history of her life and has to be part of why she's been much more happy go lucky. 

If parenthood has taught me anything, it is the importance of going with the flow. I'm not sure if Elliott even knows that she's the boss of the house, but I love her feistiness and determination. I wonder how next month will go...

2015 Recap

I like to read these surveys and figured I should do one too. Stealing Allyson's because I'm too lazy to find my own.

1. What did you do in 2015 that you’d never done before? Birth a child and all that comes with it :)

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for 2015? I'm not one for resolutions but I did want to update our office and that still hasn't happened. 

3. Did anyone close to you have a child? Aside from myself, my sister 

4. Where did you travel? Walt Disney World January 3-8

5. What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015?  A desire to be more outgoing 

6. What dates from 2015 will remain etched upon your memory? April 21, March 23, Jan 3-8

7. What was the best thing you bought? Oh boy.. My phone upgrade gets used the most but that seems like a lame answer.

8. Where did most of your money go?  Baby stuff and bills, investments and farm equipment #adulthood 

9. What did you get really, really, really excited about? Becoming a mom

10. What song will always remind you of 2015? Bad blood 

11. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer? Happier, thinner, and about the same

12. What do you wish you’d done more of? Travel, day trip activities, go out with friends, read, get out of my comfort zone 

13. What do you wish you’d done less of? Be boring

14. How did you spend Christmas?  Christmas Eve dinner with my parents and siblings, Christmas morning with my in laws, Christmas night with extended Gschwendtners, December 26 brunch with my Gschwendtner cousins, December 27 lunch with the Baumans  

15. Did you fall in love in 2015? With one special little lady 

16. What was your favorite TV program? I don't really get the opportunity to watch much tv and what I do must be recorded. The ones I looked forward to most were People's Couch, Below Deck, Top Chef. 

17. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? not that I can think of. If anything I have fewer complaints and annoyances than ever before. 

18. What was the best book you read? Sadly, I only remember reading one book: Cuckoo's Calling and it was good.

19. What was your greatest musical discovery? My 2006 self would be mad but I can't think of a single thing. 

20. What did you want and get/not get? Cabinetry for the office was a no go. A king sized bed was also not accomplished.. Unfortunately.

21. What was your favorite film of this year? This is tough. The only ones that come to mind are Inside Out and Cinderella live action. 'Her' made me fearful for the future.

22. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I celebrated 25 by going to my cousin Logan's wedding at Allerton Park.

23. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2015? Lazy mom

24. What political issue stirred you the most? I saw snippets of the debates but mostly just don't want Carson or Trump.

25. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2015? It really is pointless to worry about the little things. Even though I've always known this, I feel like this year I was able to follow through more than ever.

Elliott: 8 Months Old

The biggest news this month is our little miss is officially mobile. Although Elliott doesn't officially crawl, girl definitely gets around. She can wiggle, roll, and reach from one end of the room to another. She also gets up on all fours and is seconds away from taking off on her knees. She does love to stand and does well walking with assistance so once she crawls I doubt walking will be far behind. I'm not pushing her by any means!

We have also been putting a bit more effort on the eating front. Since cheerleading started, Andy and I have rarely cooked a real meal at home and sat at the table to eat it. It's been pizza and PB sandwiches and whatever we have. Although most days she did get lunch, I usually am in a rush when I get home at night and with the craziness of bedtime, meals don't get cooked and Elliott just didn't get fed (other than nursing obviously). We've been hitting our groove the past few weeks though thanks to Andy doing some cooking, so we can all eat together and I can actually follow through with baby led weaning (I couldn't give her my food if I was never eating!). I only spent $13 on purees when she turned six months and we still haven't used it all... Oops. Oh well! She is way more interested in table foods. So far she has had chunks of carrots, pears, sweet potato, raspberries, and avocado. 

Just when I think we are nearing the sleeping-through-the-night milestone, she throws me for a loop. If there is one thing about parenthood I wish I could control, sleep would be it. She is cranky when she's tired and her fighting it is most exhausting. I don't know if it's more teething, or me being gone a lot more, but girlfriend went on a solid sleep strike. After a rough week of crying to fight sleep, I was determined to train little miss and got on the controlled crying bandwagon. Three or four nights of awful later, I gave up. She screamed bloody murder and even vomitted all over her bed. I draw the line at puke. She never fell asleep on her own once. She then still went a solid ten days not sleeping unless I held her, I think I really pissed her off. Even at night in bed I would pretty much have to hold her lying down. Bedtime was a war zone until I just accepted this is what she needed, especially since she got so overtired. I've been going to bed with her early every night and bypassing the 15 minute intervals of crib sleeping. She has just recently started weaning from needing to be held again.  I'd also really like my evenings back if she could just sleep straight from 7-10!  Yep, she is still in our bed. Sleeping through the night is priority over sleeping in her crib. At this point, I can't imagine her not sleeping with us but she needs to be out before she turns one. She is still probably waking three times a night.  It doesn't help that our schedule is so mismatched but it's hard to find a balance of sticking to a schedule and also having a little flexibility to have a life. It's hard to do that when bedtime is 6:30. I'm also pushing for her to go to 2 naps a day but since she still isn't a long napper, that 3rd cat nap is still sometimes necessary. 

Some fun milestones, she gets more giggly by the day. She also loves music, especially the abc song. She likes me to sing her to sleep. Elliott is fascinated with sticking out her tongue too. She babbles a good amount and still loves blowing raspberries. Elliott has her bottom two middle teeth completely. I think we are starting to see two upper teeth but she rarely lets me get a good look in there to see.

Andy and I are both looking forward to celebrating Christmas with her here this year. Being parents has already added to the excitement of the season and she doesn't even know what's going on. I can only imagine it will get more fun with each passing year!

Elliott: 7 Months Old

The highlight for this month is that Elliott now has two bottom teeth poking out in the front of her mouth. She isn't very drooly, but she does chew on everything and has been very difficult to get to sleep because of it. It could be way worse though and hopefully the worst of it is behind us.

The other big news is that she eats a purée about once a day. She does okay with them but gets over it pretty quickly. Otherwise she still nurses every 3-4 hours. She still has some reflux but it's improved. No bottles still and we've tried 3 brands of sippy cups with no luck. She does hold and chew on them but is not interesting in sucking/drinking. My life will be so much easier once she can eat without me!

She gets time away from me almost every day now thanks to cheerleading. I've only had practices 1.5-2 hours so it hasn't been too tricky just as long as I time feedings right. Games and competitions will add another layer to that. I did cover at the hospital for a week and a half and that was difficult. I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off to finish as quickly as possible, so I was mostly done around noon. Elliott was with a sitter for two days and those were by far the best days. I'm sure she was fussy but I didn't feel as bad not working at the speed of light to rush back to her. She was with my mom for a day and Andy stayed home for a day. His mom had her another day but that was short lived thanks to Elliott's crankiness. She's definitely getting more comfortable with others but obviously the girl needs to be able to eat (please God take a sippy!). I should note that on her 7 month birthday, Andy and I went on our first legitimate date since Elliott was born. She stayed with Saxtons and did okay even though she skipped a meal. We are making some progress, at least! 

Elliott prefers to sit up almost always and doesn't seem to have much interest in moving just yet (I'm totally okay with this). Tummy time is still at the top of her hate list. She has a select few toys and teethers and her favorite seems to be the stackable cups. Even though she doesn't crawl, she has great reach to grab things.  We've officially put away all things baby now that we haven't been using them in months.  

Another big milestone is that Elliott babbles a lot and has said her first word. Appropriately, it was mama. I know she doesn't really understand what she's doing, but she says it often and with enough clarity that I'm confident in declaring it her first word. Bath time will forever be a fave, I think. She loves the ABC song and it's a great diversion if she's fighting sleep. She also loves to stand and bounce in her jumper. 

I'm really enjoying this phase! If only we could get through this teething thing and be cool when mom is away..

Elliott: Six Months Old

Apparently we have a half year old. I'm actually pretty psyched because I feel like we are coming up on a pretty fun phase. But at the same time I still think of Elliott as a forever baby and I should probably kick some of the baby habits I've instilled in her.. Oops!

We have hit our first bout of sickness. I think it started out as fall allergies and dustiness, but morphed into a cold. After a few nights of wheezing with some gross coughs, we went to the doctor. I swore I wasn't going to be one of those parents that runs to the doctor but I feel like with her well visits we are always there! He said it was nothing serious but to call back if it wasn't gone in a few more days. 

Girlfriend is pretty good at sitting up. She does fine when on her own but tumbles after a minute or so. She can also maneuver a little bit if she wants to move. Please don't start crawling yet!

After the horrendous month of sleeping that was last month, this month is so much better. I've learned that Elliott is just a very easily stimulated child who requires a lot of winding down time before sleep. I've learned to take my time with each nap and we spend a good 20 minutes in her room prior to her actually sleeping. Most of the time she eats shortly before needing to sleep so I use that as a cue to start the process. She's been a distracted eater lately so I nurse her in her bedroom. Then after some burps and cuddles, I set her in her crib to wind down. (If we have time to kill after she eats, we just read books or do things in her bedroom). She squeaks and plays in her crib while I do chores or scroll Facebook (she has yet to fall asleep on her own though). This has been a big saving grace, and she usually sleeps after a minute of rocking. She still sleeps with a fan but music is a last resort add in. I've also switched from the swaddles to ZipadeeZips and think they are a perfect fit for what we need. I could order another one. I put her in her crib at 'bedtime' and go to bed with her at her first or second wake up. Unfortunately I'm lucky if I get an hour out of her though. She catnaps in the evening and just sleeps so much better in our bed. We are at about 3 wake ups over a 11-12 hour period, but That's honestly a guess. I'm trying to cut out one middle of the night feeding to help my case, most of the time she eats for only a minute or two anyway. She seems to be sleeping more deeply but that may just be wishful thinking. She still is a short napper, sleeping anywhere from 45 minutes to 1.5 hours, although she doesn't stay awake very long before getting tired (2 hours-ish).

Only minor changes in the eating category. She eats about every 3 hours, though can go 4. She got her first dose of rice cereal at 5.5 months and did pretty well. It was basically still completely breast milk. I offered once with formula and she definitely noticed a difference because she wouldn't even let the spoon near her mouth (she wasn't in a bad mood). She has gotten only a few servings so far but is eager to eat when it's offered. I'm honestly just straight up too lazy to do it since I have to pump for it. I'll start doing purees now (a new food every 3 days or so) until I add in table foods. I know I need to start pushing bottles again because I'll be away so much for cheerleading. I'm pretty terrified of how it will go and regretting coaching all together but keep telling myself it will be good for all of us.

Andy is done with harvest but has a bit of ground to work still. I'm ready to have him around again, and am hoping Elliott can warm back up to him. I often go 3 days without leaving the house/going to town and am surprisingly sane given how few people I see (no one). It would also be nice to just have the option to do anything without her with me since she still goes bonkers when I leave, even with Andy. We haven't been on a date or done anything 'for fun' without her since I was pregnant. People don't understand this but it is much easier said than done. I'm working on it. She didn't cry the day I left her with mom and Landry so I'm thinking I just need to glue her to him if I'm gone :) 

A few fun quirks: she is really into sticking out her tongue, smacking her lips, and blowing raspberries. Elliott is also fascinated watching me brush my teeth. I got a jumparoo and she super loves it! She is ticklish and has real giggle fits which are fun. She likes taking her clothes off and is still a water girl. I really feel like she's coming out of the colicky phase and just overall has a much happier disposition. Hopefully I'm right!

Baby Clothes Storage

Have I ever mentioned how much I love organizing Elliott's clothes? I get excited to do her laundry and her room is always tidy. The dresser drawers are no exception.

The room has two dressers, plus a large closet. Let's take a peak...

The dividers are from the Container Store. The depth is perfect, and we have just an inch or two extra on width. 

Here is the top drawer. It houses all of Elliott's bows, scarves, and hats. The left bin has her bib scarves, hats, and headbands that she has grown out of. The middle is all clips. I got a big set and sorted them by color. I keep the clips on their original cardboard strips, which fit perfectly in these dividers. Keeping them on the cardboard strips keeps them in order, I can see everything, and they don't get gnarly or broken. Win! The right bin houses her current headbands with a few other clips that don't belong in the big set. I have one slot for 3-6 month size and another for clips, otherwise 6-12 month headbands are sorted by color. The biggest reason this setup is so great is that I can constantly keep inventory and know if anything is missing. We haven't lost any bows yet and I thank this system for that! It also is super duper easy to find what I'm looking for.

The second to top drawer houses bottoms. The back left section for shorts, the front left for bloomers. The middle keeps leggings sorted by color (a few pairs were in the laundry). The right bin keeps folded jeans since those aren't as easily rolled. Again this makes it easy to find everything since it's all completely visible. I also really enjoy putting together her outfits because of it.

The middle drawer keeps clothes she's grown out of that I haven't had time to put in storage yet.

The bottom two drawers keep her knitted blankets, extra crib sheet and changing pad, as well as a few miscellaneous items. Nothing special about these since they aren't used much.

The other dresser...

The top left keeps swaddle blankets and burp cloths for easy access. Rolling is the way to go peeps! And I know people think I just do it for pictures, but no, the drawers have stayed this way for the past 6+ months.

The middle left drawer is for footwear. More bins from the Container Store allow each pair of shoes to have a home. The right bin keeps socks, as well as swimwear.

The bottom left drawer stores clothes that Elliott doesn't quite fit into yet that aren't hanging clothes.

The top right drawer keeps the cloth diapers. I don't fold the covers and I keep the prefolds flat. It's organized chaos but this works perfectly.

The middle right drawer is general healthcare and grooming. I had two random orange bins that I used to corral items with - one for diaper rashes and general bum care, another for general grooming items. I needed easy access to items like the lotion, hair brush, and nail clippers since they are used frequently. I put down some shelf liner and now each has a spot without needing a bin, and I don't have to worry about them moving around the drawer.

The last drawer on the bottom right keeps carriers, wraps, and sleep sacks. 

Onto the closet! It has two sets of folding doors. This side displays the clothes in Elliott's current rotation. On the left are sleepers, followed by everyday wear to the right (tops, rompers, dresses). Both categories are sorted by color so I can always find what I'm looking for. Again, I like planning her outfits because of this!

On the right hangs clothes she doesn't fit into yet. Because little kids grow so fast, I always have a stash of the next few sizes up. I use Happy Baby closet dividers to keep it all straight and would recommend.

With this system in place, I can constantly see what Elliott does or doesn't need as far as clothing. It's all incredibly simple to maintain, as well. This also prevents me from over buying things- especially when it comes to sizing since it's all sorted. It's crazy how happy this makes me. 

Elliott: Five Months Old

I know every parent says this but even though time is flying, I cannot remember my life without our peanut. We are getting such a big girl. She gets more and more personality every day.

Elliott does quite well sitting up with just a bit of assistance. I don't think it'll be too long before she can sit by herself. Also, toe touching is non-stop. If you lay her on her back she will constantly do crunches to try to sit up.

 She still has a great grasp of toys and such, her real favorites are Sophie and her vibrating corn teether. I've been 'brushing' her gums consistently and she loves the brush too, she just shoves it in her mouth too much it makes her gag. No teeth so far but her gums are hard and oddly bumpy and she does like to gnaw on everything.

We are still going strong with breastfeeding. I can't imagine not doing it at this point and am dreading having to throw real food into the mix because it's just another thing to deal with. We still haven't done any solids whatsoever but will try rice cereal in a few weeks before trying a purée at 6 months. I'm planning to mostly do baby led weaning but we'll ease into it with some purees first. (And seriously, I'm sick of the passive aggressive comments about her not doing solids yet. Get up on your recommendations, people. Also, I am dietitian for Christ's sake.)

Anyway... Elliott eats every 2.5-3 hours mostly, but will do more or less often depending on what we're doing. She eats more often at home and less often if we're out and about busy. She could eat both sides most of the time but she pukes a ton doing that so I more often stick to one. We stopped Zantac about a month ago but she is still puking alright. We have done some bottle training. I've been offering her about an ounce in a bottle every so often before giving her the boob. This way I don't waste so much freaking milk. She mostly plays with it for me. I think her boycotting bottles with sitters is mostly because I'm not the one feeding her. The girl knows what she wants! But honestly I've given up that it's gonna happen at this point.

Yes, Elliott is still not a fan of leaving me. She still cries non-stop for sitters. Luckily she is much warmer with Andy now. He has put her to sleep a few times and she doesn't cry when with him if her needs are met. We just need to work on him picking up on hunger and sleepy cues before the window closes and she gets so pissed there is no return. At least when that happens it's for a more logical reason, though. The bad thing is that harvest has officially started so I won't have him as an option really till Thanksgiving. 

When Elliott and I are together things are fairly smooth. She appreciates a routine. It makes me sad that she doesn't show her happiest side to really anyone but me. I've been reassured by a few SAHM family who also nursed that it's normal and will pass eventually, it will probably just take a while.

Sleep has been interesting. The 4 month sleep regression started exactly on her 4 month birthday. She would randomly wake up sad crying and would be tricky to get calmed and back asleep (it still is probably nothing compared to most people, but was certainly out of her norm). I figured it might be her telling us she was ready for her crib, so I tried it out. That only made it worse and I was a zombie for about two days before deciding it was not worth it. Getting out of bed is not for me (Andy had always been on middle of the night diaper duty if it's necessary). I had been trying to put her to bed in her crib so I don't have to go to bed with her at 7:30, but her first wake up is usually really quick so it doesn't do much. Getting her to sleep in general has become a chore for sure. So our bedtime routine is still all over the place, but she ends up in our bed and is back to sleeping well in the night for the most part. She still wakes 3-4 times over a 10-11ish hour period but I don't have to get out of bed or do much typically so I don't really mind. I like her sleeping with us, but we will revisit the crib situation at some point. (But send help if she's not out by her first birthday).

She does have a very set routine for naps, which is lights off, curtains closed, music on, fan on, swaddle, and would rock to sleep with little effort until a few days ago. Now she seems to hate this routine so we are revisiting our options. The swaddle situation is also hit or miss with success. The length of nap is all over the place but I'd say the average is 1 hour. If she wakes before 45 minutes I will rock her back to sleep again. I can definitely tell she is sleeping lighter because I have had to hold her more lately. Most of the time she will chill in her crib when she wakes for a bit so I can finish whatever I'm doing.

A few quirks: she is squealing all the time. I call her Squeaker. She loves it when you blow raspberries on her. E is still a fan of water and outside. She loves (!) the wind in her face and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She watches one episode a day and smiles so big when Mickey walks up the hill to say hello! Andy even says the opening line to her in Mickey voice when she's fussy. I don't think I've ever mentioned that she has always been a blankie girl - she loves to hold them and rub her face. She also doesn't love the paci but it will suffice most of the time. 

Our routine on weekdays is pretty easy. Wake, play in bed, diaper change, eat, and sit in living room while I get breakfast. Nap one. Then typically she sits in her bouncer while I shower and then do dishes or laundry. She eats somewhere in there before nap 2. I usually get lunch while she sleeps. When awake we take a trip to the mailbox and run errands or more random housework before nap 3 late afternoon. She's awake during dinner prep and dinner time before starting the bed time process, MMC is typically on to distract her. 

I love the baby stage but at this point I love seeing her reach milestones and am excited for her to keep growing.