Traveling with Baby

We've successfully made a trip to and from Jacksonville AND Disney World. The Hubs thinks we may have overpacked, and while I know there was a lot of stuff we ended up not using, you can never be too prepared. Had she gotten sick or a hang nail or anything small, there would have been no middle-of-the-night runs to the drug store for overpriced Baby Tylenol or Baby nail clippers.

Although I will say, staying with family in a typical city environment is much less stressful than other type of vacation destinations. Case in point, we went to Disney World last month with a 3 month old... I believe this was the true test to packing for a baby.  When you forget something at Disney, you are subject to the lobby store's slim pickins' or else you are driving off property to the no-named drug store whose manager's name you can't even pronounce and leaving a limb for compensation.

Below is the list I have compiled of things to pack when traveling with McKenna. Remember I am a fist time mommy and this list is rather thorough!

McKenna is exclusively breastfed, so that will also effect what we pack for Feeding (ie MUCH LESS TO WORRY ABOUT... just Boobie-in-tow here.). Having said this, I think it's wise to take your pump and bottles just in case of an emergency.

If you think of anything I may have forgotten, please let me know!! Also, I would be happy to provide a PDF version of this upon request. :-)

All Smiles Tummy Time

McKenna is Miss Alert now.  While she seems to sleep more than the average baby (give her a good 8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night), when she's awake, she's really awake.

We try to spend as much of her awake time on her belly as we can (due to the flat spot I mentioned before).  Unfortunately she still HATES lying flat on her tummy, but when I prop her up on the Boppy or a pillow she could hang out there smirking at her toys for a good 25-30 minutes straight.  She's been entertained by things that we put in front of her too.

Being a Baby is Tough Work.

Must have: NoseFrida

We just got back from Disney and I will definitely write about our experience as soon as I can. In the meantime I'm nursing and have a few minutes for a quick review.

If you have a nose bulb as part of your regimen to unclogged snotty, stuffy noses, I highly recommend getting rid of it. NOW! If you care to know why I say this, google "nose bulb mold" or something similar. Even when you "wash" the bulb, moisture remains trapped in there and grows mold. And you stick that thing up your baby's nose!! I didn't have the guts to cut my ours open when I got rid of it a couple months back, but I'm so happy we found a solution. 

This household now swears by the NoseFrida, The SnotSucker. Granted, there will be just as many people grossed out by the idea of this than the bulb, but I promise you it is sanitary! And machine washable!

Basically how this product works is you vacuum snot out of your baby's nose with your own breath. The tube is long and there is a "filter," but snot gets NOWHERE near even the back of the plastic portion, let alone the tube. 

And let me tell you how efficient this thing is. The amount of snot that you can get out of a little nostril is just crazy! I will spare you any action shots. But YouTube it if you dare. That's actually what sold me on it. 

McKenna gets a clogged nose pretty frequently because her overeating causes her to bring her milk back up often.  She is NOT a fan of it, but she feels so much better once we've unclogged that little nose. 

Here's a link to the website: http://www.fridababy.com/shop/nosefrida/
Do yourself a favor and at least check it out. I got ours at Target for $15.

Reading time and Raspberries

We've added a reading time into the afternoon (in addition to her bedtime book, which sometimes gets bypassed for boob). Here's evening reading time with daddy a few weeks back. 

It is incredible to watch her process information during reading time. While I know she doesn't understand what I'm saying, she is clearly learning and taking it all in. In the last 30 minutes of reading she has blown more raspberries than I have ever heard out of her and cooing up a storm.

She also looks back and forth from the colorful pictures in the book to my mouth reading.

 But let's face it, by the look she gives me, my reading voices are that of a whack job. And nevermind the random burst into song to our background music (yes, "Let It Go" came on and I couldn't resist).

It's just so incredible to actually watch your baby growing in real time. Every flip of the page is something new and exciting to her. And while the weight of developing a little human being is unfathomable, to know that I play such a critical role is such a blessing. 

That little mouth

It's official, she is now putting grabbing toys and putting them in her mouth

While she's been putting stuff in her mouth for a while (and her hands!), it was mostly when things were conveniently close to her mouth and she would just kinda guide it there. Now it's full on attempts to get it in there. And you can almost see her brain working too. 

So mama's germ radar has kicked in again, especially since people feel the need to constantly tough the thing most likely to go in her mouth.... Her hands!! 

3 months old!

I cannot believe how much she has developed in a month's time and 3 month's time.

Which is reminding me how bad of a person I am that I STILL have not finished writing her birth story!! I applaud all blogging Mommies! Then again, I'm at like 4 pages single-spaced and Kevin cannot believe in depth I've been going, though the end will likely be vague since it was THREE MONTHS AGO NOW!!

Anywho. Back to our precious for now.

This little chunker was 13 pounds 11 ounces at her weigh-in on Monday (almost a week ago)! I mean, com'n, look at those curvy legs. She's been well out of newborn size for quite some time, and several brands of 3 months are already getting a little snug. She still uses size 1 diapers, but will likley move to size 2 when we run out of what we have!

She has got a personality on her! Interestingly however, if I had to choose one word to describe her it would be "sleepy." She sleeps a ton! Not only that, she's a heavy sleeper too because all of her flailing around doesn't wake her up. When she is awake though, she is almost always in a good mood.

She is such a smiler. Sometimes she smiles so big her mouth is opened wider top to bottom than it is side to side (as a matter of fact while I type this I'm . She tries to imitate facial expressions often.  She loves when we move our eyebrows up and down.  She doesn't cry all that much, she's more of a moaner when she's fussy which is happening a bit more often recently since we believe shes starting to teethe. Her neck is super strong, we do A LOT of tummy time (supported by a pillow or Boppy), and I wear her from time-to-time doing chores and almost all the time in public (which helps with neck control). She loves bathtime. She is easy to put to bed too, sometimes she'll go down wide awake and just make cooing noises to herself for an extended period of time.

And her oldest brother feeling left out.

Teething baby??

McKenna is only almost 3 months, but I believe we have a teething baby on our hands!!

She is slobbering like crazy and spitting bubbles constantly. 

 She is chewing on her hands and when she gets my knuckle in her mouth she goes to town. She's also chewing on toys now, which she is getting pretty good at. 

I let her chew on a cold washcloth for the first time yesterday. It seemed strange to her at first, but after a few minutes she was smiling and cooing and loving it rubbed against her gums. 

Our nursing sessions have more than doubled in length, which has made my nipples sore again 😳. Just when you think you're coasting something else pops up! I'm assuming she's doing it for comfort, I sure hope SHE'S getting comfort out of it! :-)

Today I bought an ice tray and these Nubby mesh bags to put breast milk pops in. Can't wait to see how she reacts to those!  I also have been researching Amber Teething necklaces and plan to order one tomorrow. Anxious to see how these tactics work for our little pumpkin. 

  

Easter Sunday

This was probably the best Easter we've ever had, fitting considering it was McKenna's first! To start the day, we actually had to wake the Little Miss up!

One thing I am disappointed about is not attending church service.  Worst part about it is we got to church about 15 minutes early and got settled in the Wiggle Room where families are able to attend the service with their babies and not disturb the congregation.  Well, some family decided this small, confined room was a perfect place to have their extremely sick kids play on their ipads and cough up a storm. As we grew more and more impatient about contagion, every cough we heard seemed to get louder and louder and louder. It was untolerable, we couldn't take the chance of McKenna getting THAT sick.

We had brunch at my grandparents' house.  McKenna was a little too small for the Easter Egg hunt, she slept through watching her older cousins find eggs.

After brunch we stopped by the other side of the family's get together.  It was wrapping up as we got there, but we hung out a while and spent time with some family.

We then decided last minute to stop by a memorial golf tournament that was going on.

It was a wonderful day.  It was also the longest we've been away from home for one outing..... and guess what... we survived!! She was a happy baby the entire day too! We are incredibly blessed with a happy and so far well-mannered baby. We ended the day with a cold beverage and a walk around the neighborhood, and the entire family was in bed by 9:30!

Happy 1st Easter McKenna!!

Our first Ring Sling

McKenna and I are officially entering the wonderful world of Babywearing.

Up until a few weeks ago we loved our Boba.

While it says it is safe or up to 35 lbs, anyone you ask will tell you it's pretty much useless after about 12-15 pounds. Not only is the fabric SUPER hot, it is super stretchy and therefore saggy as baby gets bigger. Trying to get anything accomplished is difficult because you feel like you need to keep at least one hand on baby at all times.

I had been watching my friend Sarah get into and enjoy babywearing, and her little man always looked so happy. So I knew babywearing would not be over for us with the death of our Boba. 

I spent weeks and weeks researching carriers and stalking the Babywearing Swap before deciding to start with one of the simplest type of carriers: a Ring Sling. You see, babywearing isn't just a thing you do, it's an entire community of Mamas (and some Papas) that buy, sell, and trade with one another and offer incredible support and passion for this "art". I was intimidated by the process at first, but over time felt comfortable enough to make my first purchase. Buying used (aka previously loved) is actually considered more desirable than buying a new carrier because it becomes broken in, making it softer and easier to use.

I had made a few inquiries about a couple of slings, but none that seemed worth the investment until my friend Sarah brought a perfect starter to my attention. While babywearing isn't the cheapest practice in the world, carriers pretty much hold their value! It's a strange concept, I know. But this realization made purchasing a "piece of fabric" at more than $100 much easier to digest.

We ended up with a Girasol Double Rainbow Azul weft wrap conversion ring sling from a Momma somewhere in the Midwest.  It is beautiful and soft and cushy!

And while I was told there was a slight learning curve, I had watched several Youtube videos before it even arrived so McKenna and I were babywearing in no time and loving it.

The more you practice, the easier it gets. After a few days I was popping her in and out of the sling running errands around town.  And she was the most content baby you could imagine.

 

As soon as we were getting more things accomplished around the house, I was already back on the Swap looking for our introduction into woven wraps. 

 

And this is where the addiction begins....

2 Month Checkup

McKenna had her 2 month check-up last week.  She clocked in at 12 pounds, 2 ounces and 22.75 inches.  Such a chunky girl!!

She was a trooper with all of her pricks at the hospital and didn't make a peep during her frenulum clip, so we were pretty confident with how she would handle her first round of shots.  Not as well as we had hoped.  She actually seemed to hate the roto-virus crap she had to drink worse than the shots, but she still cried with the little quivering lip through the shots.  I spent the day cuddling in bed with the sleepy grump.

One thing that came to our Doc's attention was a flat spot forming on the back of her head. We had noticed in pictures that she was always looking to her right, but never knew it was a problem.

I think the Doc could have worded it a little better than "if you don't correct this she will have a protruding forehead" because from what I understand this is extremely common with babies. Apparently it is more likely to appear if baby spends a lot of time in swings, carseats, rock n' sleepers, etc.  McKenna had been sleeping in a Rock n' Sleeper and also the soft, elevated bassinet that was attached to her pack n' play. So now we put her in the actual Pack n' Play that is firmer.

I've also been spending her awake time focusing her attention in the opposite direction.

Tummy Time will also help with it because it strengthens the neck muscles so her head doesn't naturally fall on the flatter spot.

 

 And while she really doesn't like Tummy Time, the first time I put her on her tummy after her check up she fell asleep within seconds!

It will just require a little extra attention during awake/play time.  We will be working on it and have a little fun in the process!!

2 months old!

This little stinker was two months old Tuesday!

It's incredible how much she has developed in a month. Sometimes I wish it would slow down because I want her to stay this tiny forever, but most of the time I'm excited to watch her grow into a beautiful little human!

McKenna clocked in at 12 pounds 1 ounce at her 2 month checkup, and is 22.75 inches long (up from 20 inches). This little lady outgrew almost all brands of newborn a couple weeks back. She also graduated to size 1 diapers probably just after 1 month! Several of her pairs of cute socks/booties do not fit her feet.

Sometimes she's tough to get down at night, but she has slept a good 10-11 hours straight the last few nights. Even when she does wake it's once for a VERY short nursing session. One of the things that gets her to sleep easily at night is the swing or nursing.  She also loves this projector that shines images on the ceiling above her.  She's been sleeping a lot during the day too recently, but when she is awake, she is taking in everything around her and smiling and grinning. There is the slight sound of gurgling coo's when she's in a really good mood, which is usually when she is on the changing mat.... her favorite place in the house. 

She is gripping with her little hands now, and now starting to pull at stuff when it's in her grip. She's trying to get those little hands in her mouth, and has been leaving scratches on her face because Mommy is still scared to clip those nails a lot!

Her eyes are still slate, but at certain angles they look like they are turning blue. I think it looks like her eyebrows have a little reddish hue to them, and in the sunlight the hair on her head has a slight hue too! It will be exciting to see what color her eyes and hair will be as she gets older!


We've been trying to introduce a bottle, it's hit or miss. We're hoping to at least have her accept it soon so we can go on a date here or there.

Every day I feel like I love her more and more, I think that has a lot to do with feeling like she understands and accepts our love more and more.