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Life with a Baby

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 11 months

January 31, 2015

So I’m a bit behind with my Baby Favorites posts as Autumn is now 14 months… how did that happen?!?!? But I’m catching up now. Well, that’s the story of my life. ha!!

As I usually remark, time flies! Especially when you’re having fun. And life with a baby is a lot of fun. Sure, it’s a lot of work without a lot of sleep, but damn, it’s so much fun. It’s the best to see them light up when they are playing or learning something new. I’m constantly amazed at how fast Autumn picks up new things. It’s one thing after another. I just love it so much!

Check out some of our family’s favorite things that Autumn used and enjoyed.

Baby Favorites @ 11 months

 owl bath mat

Natural Rubber High Grip Suction Cup Owl Bath Mat

As Autumn had become more and more confident about standing up in the tub while holding on the edge, she had really started to freak us out about her falling in the tub. Price ordered this bath mat and it has really put us at ease as it helps reduce how slippery the tub gets, reducing the chances of Autumn falling. Yes, we tell her to ‘sit that tiny tushy down!’ over and over but she still gets daring and stands up but at least this helps. Plus, it’s easy to remove so it doesn’t have to stick around for our showers.

leap frog lil phone

LeapFrog Lil’ Phone Pal Phone

Autumn thinks everything is a phone. Everything. It’s quite silly and funny to have her talking to a piece of paper or a pen. We got her this play phone so we could swap out whatever she is talking to for this. She presses the big button and listens to the mousy voice say ‘hi’ and ‘bye’  or sing to her and smiles with excitement. Super cute, and no fear of paper cuts!

rockabye baby

Rockabye Baby! Lullaby Renditions of Dave Matthews Band

My sister gifted this to us when Autumn was first born as we are all big Dave Matthews Band fans. It’s always been a big hit but even more so lately as Autumn has ‘moved on’ from her Sleep Sheep. We now use music to help her get relaxed by it at bed time. I turn it on after we get into her room post tub so it’s playing on shuffle while she gets in her PJ’s, brace, and gets cozy with her BFF owl. It’s nice to have this playing as I love DMB and it reminds me of the concerts I’ve been to.

fisher price ride on

Fisher-Price Little People Animal Rescue Ride On

Autumn loves this thing. Loves it. I swear she could sit on it this all day. Or push it around. Or be pushed around on it. She can’t yet climb on it herself but she certainly lets you know that she wants to go on it, and the sooner the better. We zip around the living room and kitchen and she loves it. I make tire screeching noises we turn and she cracks up. It’s the best being a baby!

barnyard bath book

Barnyard Bath

Bath time is a big deal in our house as it winds down every day. It the time when Autumn (sorta) sits still and relaxes. She plays around with her floating bath toys but her newest favorite thing are bath books. Once I dump out all the tub stuff she grabs a few things and hands me the bath books so I can read to her while she plays. And most often I end up reading the books like 5+ times in a row. ha!

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 9 months      @ 10 months

@ 7 months     @ 8 months

@ 5 months     @ 6 months

@ 3 months     @ 4 months

@ 1 month     @ 2 months

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I’ll do a favorites post every month/stage as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 11 month olds?

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Post contains affiliate links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 11 month Baby Favorites, baby favorites, Dave Matthews Baby CD, Favorite baby things, Infant Toy Phone, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, owl tub mat, tub mat

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 10 months

October 16, 2014

What a packed month we have had!!

We went to Raleigh over Price’s birthday weekend. At that point I realized that flying with a 6 month old is very different than a 10 month old. Oy!!

And in that time Autumn’s crawling speed has increased 10 fold. We really have to make sure all the baby gates are securely closed as she is really quick at going from one end of the room to another. Plus she has been quite proud in showing that she can easily make her way up the first 3 steps with little effort. Oh boy, we are in trouble!!!

The only thing that slowed her down a bit was a recent cold and her first ear infection. Awww poor babe. As usual, she starts out stuffy and then one day her nose is a completely faucet and then she is on the rebound. But this cold also brought along with it the added ear infection so that was extra stinky for Autumn.

Anyway, here is a little round up of things that have been favorites of ours this past month!

Baby Favorites @ 10 months

Silly Hats Barney

While Autumn LOVES her Owl, she is pretty smitten with her singing and dancing Barney toy too. I picked this up at a consignment sale for $5 and, considering how much we have used it, the toy has been a great deal. Every day we take it off the bookcase (so the dog can’t eat it!) and she immediately starts to wiggle. She is ready to dance and clap along with Barney as he sings his songs related to the portion of the hats (farmer, firefighter, bus driver) he has rotated to face forward.

 

BRICA Super Scoop Bath Toy Organizer

We give Autumn a bath just about every night but what that really means is that I get to say ‘tushy down!!!!!’ about 100 times in 10-15 minutes. Since discovering that she can easily pull herself up from the sides of the tub, she finds it pretty fun to do just that. So I have a heartattack just about every time she does it as there have been a few times when she has slipped and thankfully? gone back (instead of smacking her pretty little face on the edge of the tub). I yank her up again and she blinks back the water that was just all over her back and looks at me like ‘chill, won’t you?’ So, the new solution is lot of toys to keep her entertained in the tub so she doesn’t feel the need to stand up. But where do you keep all those toys?? In this bad boy!! It’s great as it allows you to scoop the toys up and keep them out of the way by hooking on the wall. Awesome!!

 

Braun Forehead Thermometer

It was easier when Autumn was younger to take her temperature in her armpit or rectally but now it’s much harder as she resists staying still, so this thermometer has been so helpful as it only takes a swipe across her forehead and then done! I highly suggest this to all parents to have in their first aid supplies.

Large Crayola Washable Crayons, 8

 

Okay, sometimes she still tries to eat them but at least it’s fun to sit with her and doodle with her while she wings them about. It’s just nice to sit without noise and draw with her. She does fast sharp lines and swooshes and then I elaborate them with more doodles, stars, and flowers & leaves. I just look forward to when she really gets into doodling.

 

 

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 9 months

@ 7 months @ 8 months

@ 5 months     @ 6 months

@ 3 months     @ 4 months

@ 1 month     @ 2 months

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I’ll do a favorites post every month/stage as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 10 month olds?

____________________

Post contains affiliate links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 10 months favorites, baby, barney, bath scoop toy organizer, brica bath toy organizer, brica toy organizer, forehead thermomenter, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, silly hats barney

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 9 months

September 9, 2014

I don’t think Autumn ever sits still now. Well, she does sit still in the grass or on my lap when we are outside at night watching birds fly around as the sun sets, but that’s about it. She enjoys being outside as much as possible, and when she is inside and want to go out she lets you know. Her actions are very deliberate, she knows what she likes and dislikes, and she really lets you know about it either way.

These are some of the things that she really likes, and lets you know it!

Baby Favorites @ 9 months

 

Jellycat® Woodland Babe Cream Owl

My best friend’s mom got this owl for Autumn when she was a few weeks old. We always keptit in her crib and now it is her favorite thing. She sleeps with it every night, and in the morning often won’t let go of it until she has her bottle downstairs. When I put her in her crib she grabs tight to it and holds its body or wings. Sometimes she will stroke the eyebrow fluff as she falls asleep. It’s just adorable!

Since it basically is her best friend we bought an extra just incase our (jerkface) dog manages to get it and destroy it. We couldn’t risk not having one around for her, she just loves her owl too much.


Munchkin The Medicator

This was one of those things that Price put on the Amazon list and I didn’t get the point of it since Autumn’s medicines comes with droppers- it’s not like we lost them… yet. But once we used it I was a fan. She would often spit out medicine we would give her, no matter if it was cherry flavored Motrin or her 2x daily iron dose. So now we have this, which is similar to the nipple on her bottle so she will take it more easily, compared to getting medicine dropped. And we can mix breast milk or water with it so the tastes are diluted too.

 

Too Cute!

We don’t really watch many cartoons or kids programing with Autumn. We occasionally put some on but she is on the move and doesn’t pay attention to it and there is only so much Peppa Pig I can listen do while she crawls around the kitchen with a spoon in her hand. But if we put on Too Cute! she is in awe of it. She will at least sit for a few minutes to check out the animals. Sometimes she even claps around to show how much she loves it. It’s too cute! ha!

Regalo Easy Step Walk Thru Gate

For our little girl, who is always on the move now, these baby gates are key to having her be safe. We have one located at the bottom of the stairs on our first floor and one that cuts Autumn off from the main living area to tiny hallway that leads to our first floor bathroom and to stairs to our basement. As well, we now keep the dog’s food and water bowl there to help prevent her from eating the dog food or play with Kemper’s water bowl.

Fisher-Price Laugh and Learn Click’n Learn Remote

Basically, Autumn wants whatever we have. If we are holding the remote, then she wants it. And, obviously, she will play around with it and the channels will change and before we know it we are watching our town’s loop of public ads or some spanish version of QVC. So we now have this toy remote that we can trick her with so she feels like she has what we have and we can still watch the news or other important things like… Extra!

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 8 months

@ 7 months

@ 6 months

@ 5 months

@ 4 months

@ 3 months

@ 2 months

@ 1 month

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I’ll do a favorites post every month/stage as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 6 month olds?

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Post contains affiliate links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 9-months, 9-months-favorites, baby, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, Munchkin The Medicator

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 8 months

August 12, 2014

Can someone please explain to Autumn what ‘inside voices’ are in a way that she will understand? Please.

Our dearest little Autumn is a loud mouth. And she is a yeller and shreaker. For example, if she is really happy she yells and shreaks, but she does the same when she is mad. So that just means that there is a lot of noise all the time. Except, when we are outside. Wanna shut her up? Go outside! It’s like a magic trick. Walk out of the threshold and zip, quiet. That is part of the reason why I’ll take her out on 3 1/2 mile walks on the weekends quite exercise time.

So of the things that bring on the shreaks of joy are…

Baby Favorites @ 8 months

Follow Me Fred

I picked this pup up at a tag sale for $5. Such a deal since she loves him so much. He bark, plays music, and moves around. The best part is that he moves around with just a light touch so she can operate him herself. A plus for us, there are different settings, including a ‘mute’ one that allows for him to move around but without the noise. A definite win for us.

LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Table

As Autumn is not yet standing on her own we took off the legs so it can just sit on the floor with her. More often than not it is on our bed and she bangs away at it while we are getting ready in the morning. There are 2 modes, which is controlled by the book in the center. Autumn likes the mode that sings ABC’s to her. The alphabet song is her favorite thing to calm her down and excite her. I’ve lost track at the number of times I’ve sung it or the number of times she has spun that toy to hear it sung to her. It’s kinda driving Price lately so he flips the book to the different mode and when music plays Autumn gets annoyed and flips it back to hear her ABC’s.

ciao! baby Portable Highchair

Price’s mom gave us this chair so that we could easily feed Autumn while traveling. We used it when we went camping and when we went to Maine this summer. It has also worked well in our backyard. It’s easy to clean, set up, and use. The highchair is light and has a bag so it’s easy to toss in your car and take on the go.

140811_weekend recap-24

 

Kiddie Pool

Since Autumn loves to be outside so much this kiddie pool is getting great use this summer. It’s like tubby time but better. I’d love to get to the beach with her but there is so much to plan, pack, and carry. But this kiddie pool allows for her to be in the water without all the sand involved.

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 7 months

@ 6 months

@ 5 months

@ 4 months

@ 3 months

@ 2 months

@ 1 month

____________________

I’ll do a favorites post every month/stage as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 8 month olds?

____________________

Post Contains Affiliate Links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 8-month-baby-favorites, baby favorites, baby kiddie pool, ciao! baby Portable Highchair, Follow Me Fred, Follow Me Fred dog, LeapFrog Learn & Groove Musical Table, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 7 months

July 10, 2014

Oh what a month!

Autumn is getting closer to getting on the move, or at least that is what she so desperately wants so she has been getting quite frustrated when she can’t reach something. Instead of being held she wings her body down to the floor so we always need to be on high alert that we have a good grip on her. Once seated on the floor she does amazingly well at sitting on her own. We still put pillows all around as she’ll randomly fall over and those cries are the worst after you hear that thud.

Oh, and teething is the worst!! But we’re totally enjoying her big grins with her 2 bottom front teeth peaking through her gums. At least they def help her chow down!

Baby Favorites @ 7 months

Activity Cube

When we were staying at Price’s brother’s house over the 4th of July weekend, Autumn played with their activity cube that they had for their kids. She really liked how there were all different toys right at her level. She liked the gears, the rotating disks, spinning things, and the colors. She liked it so much they just gave it to her. So now I’m sure she will be standing up and holding on to it in no time! Ahh!!

Activity Walker

In addition to the activity cube that we got as an awesome hand-me-down, we got a walker. Autumn lights up when she is moving around as she can’t yet do it on her own. However, she equally gets frustrated that she sometimes ends up moving the wrong direction so there is some yelling at times. But I think it all equals out.

Baby Jogger City Select Stroller

Okay, so I am going to do a seperate post (on of these day’s…) about this stroller but until then, just trust me when I say that it is really, really awesome. We have been walking all over with Autumn in this stroller. It was great to use with the carseat but now the peanut is actually big enough for the stroller seat, which has a better sunshade than the carseat, which works out well with the summer sun. We’ve hoofed a lot of miles with this stroller and I love it so much because it’s lightweight, easy to open/close, and is great on the cobblestones, sidewalks, and unpaved park paths we visit.

Motrin Infants’ Drops

Infant Motrin… how we love thee!

Teething is rough man. ‘We’ toughed it out for a while with some teething rings and orajel but the thing that really makes things bearable is the Infant Motrin. Autumn got 2 teeth back to back in June and now all signs point to her getting another tooth as she sleeping is sucky, she is extra cranky, and eating solids is taking a long time again (assuming it hurts more to eat those yummy baked sweet potato fries I make!). But she def mellows out when we give her a dose of Motrin as it is helps with “relieves minor aches and pains due to the common cold, flu, sore throat, headaches and toothaches.”

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 6 months

@ 5 months

@ 4 months

@ 3 months

@ 2 months

@ 1 month

____________________

I’ll do a favorites post every month/stage as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 7 month olds?

____________________

Post Contains Affiliate Links

 

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 7 month baby favorites, baby activity cube, baby favorites, Baby Jogger City Select, Baby Jogger Stroller, baby walker, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, Motrin Infants' Drops

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 6 months

June 17, 2014

Oh boy, another month has sped on by!

This past month has been so much fun. We’ve watched Autumn take some big changes in what she likes and can do. She is a champ when it comes to eating the Baby Led Weaning way. Yum steak! And she is 90% with sitting up. She does really well for a while and then just will flop on over. ha! She has been doing well with her swimming class as she gets to enjoy ‘swimming’ after the rubber ducks in the pool. So much fun to see her in action!

I’m looking forward to the busy month ahead but until then check out our current 6 months favorite things!

Baby Favorites @ 6 months

Carlson Labs Carlson Laboratories Super Daily D3 for Baby 400IU Supplement, 10.6 ml, 0.36 Fluid Ounce

Carlson Labs Super Daily D3 for Baby

Okay so these are more a favorite of mine because Autumn doesn’t know she gets them. But that is what I like so much about them. When we were first directed to get Autumn a extra special daily dose of Vitamin D, we just grabbed the cherry flavored dropper topped bottle. But then I started to wonder why my newborn was getting artificial flavoring and artificial coloring… so I did some homework and found these.

The drops take their sweet time coming out of the bottle but that’s the thing, you only need a drop. A bottle should last about a year which is soooo much longer than the cherry flavored goop we first grabbed. I think we calculated we would need like 8 bottles of that for the year, which would basically work to be 8x the cost too!

Fisher-Price Rainforest Jumperoo

This jumper thing is the best thing going on in our house right now. Autumn is finally big enough for it so she has been having a blast bouncing around in it and smacking the daylights out of the stuff within reach. She genuinely loves this thing as she can bounce around in it and smash all around at the things. And of course, the music! Price can now whistle the whole ditty as we’ve heard it over and over and over again. Sure, we could turn the music off but she loves it and seeing her smile is just the best.

WubbaNub Giraffe

WubbaNub Giraffe

I can’t even remember how the conversation started (what else is new?!?) but my coworker was telling me how she gave a WubaNub as a gift and how it was such a hit because of 1) it’s cuteness 2) how the baby can easily grab it to retrieve it and insert the pacifier part back into its mouth hole to stop the mouth hole’s high pitched noises 3) easier to find/not lose. Sure, it’s sure cute but what sold me what the not loosing part. I think we’ve owned 15 pacifiers these past 6 months, I know of 6 & I swear the dog did not destroy the other 9. Aside from the general saving them from the abis properties, I’ve become a major fan in how it’s SO much easier to find in her crib in the middle of the night since it’s the pacifier is the magical thing that generally stops the mouth hole noises.

Swim Diapers

 

We have Autumn in swim class at a local university because we want her to be comfortable and safe in the water. Proper understanding of how to act in and around water is very important to us so we wanted to start her young. These swim diapers are great since she is so small for her age we can’t actually use those disposable swim diapers as they start at Size 3 and Autumn is still Size 1! They work for babies 9-15 pounds which is great because the disposable ones start at 16 lbs. Just because she is small doesn’t mean she shouldn’t enjoy getting to splash around in the pool with us! Besides the size of them, we really like that they are not disposable, making them more environmentally friendly.

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 5 months

@ 4 months

@ 3 months

@ 2 months

@ 1 month

____________________

I’ll do a favorites post every month/stage as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 6 month olds?

____________________

Post contains affiliate links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 6 months favorites, baby, fisher price rainforest jumper, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, swim diaper, vitamin d infant drops

Life with a Baby- Baby Favorites @ 5 months

May 15, 2014

Here we go again!

How is my little girl going to be 6 months old next week??!?!

The time flies when you are having fun. Or is it that the time flies when you aren’t sleeping? Either way, every day with her is amazing and we love her to death. She is cuddly and just so cheerful. Her smile is contagious. She is a happy baby, except when getting dressed and when she can’t get the food she is trying to devour into her mouth. Such a foodie!!

Here are some things that we’re currently crushing on…

Baby Favorites @ 5 months

 

Vulli Sophie the Giraffe Teether

Autumn has been gnawing on Sophie for awhile now and just loves her. The legs and neck are easy for her to get her hands around. Plus it’s just cute as hell.

Sophie squeaks when squeezed, so of course this drives the dog bonkers as it basically is the most expensive dog toy he can’t actually have.

infant tub side drain

4moms Infant Tub

We picked this tub out specifically for the fact that Autumn was having abdominal surgery. She would have an incision at where her belly button would have been so we wanted to make sure that her first baths were actually cleaning her. There are multiple drains that allow you to circulate the the dirty water out as you keep your facet flowing allowing clean water in. Plus, besides the tub portion where the baby sits, there is a clean water reservoir so that it makes bath time easier since we have soap free water right at hand to wash her off with after we suds her up.  As well, there is a built in water temperature sensor that helps you know what is comfortable for your babe. There is no guess work involved.

4moms Spout Cover

This spout is really best for when your baby outgrows the infant tub, but some nights we don’t use the infant tub as when I need to wear her out. I fill up the tub with water and I keep my hand under her head and upper back allowing her to ‘float’ around. She loves it as she can flap her arms and kick around like crazy. I suggest the spout cover for your tub so there is no guesswork involved in having the right water temperature for your babe. Plus, when your babe is actually big enough for sitting in your bath tub it helps protect their head and body from the metal tub spout.

OXO Roll Up Bib

Autumn has just started to eat solids so this bib is major in our house right now. We’re doing the ‘Baby Led Weaning’ method of feeding her. This means that we give her pieces of soft foods that she can easily handle so that she can explore it and feed it to herself. Sometimes she needs help with slippery things but I don’t force the foods onto her. But basically the process of her feeding herself means she is a huge mess as she squishes it on her face as she aims for her mouth and as she drops food all over.

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 4 months

@ 3 months

@ 2 months

@ 1 month

____________________

I’ll do a favorites post every month/stage as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 5 month olds?

____________________

Post contains affiliate links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 4moms Infant Tub, 4moms Spout Cover, baby favorites, Giraffe Teether, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, OXO roll up bib, Sophie the Giraffe Teether

Life with a Baby- Baby Favorites @ 4 months

April 8, 2014

Ooo under the wire with this post! Autumn turns 5 months old on Friday (sob!) How is she that old already?!?!

I think this past month is the month when I’ve recongized the most change in her. She is still so very happy but now she is getting much better at expressing full on excitement by flexing her whole body to get into it. So fun to see. Before she was content to put her hands in her mouth and hang out sucking/chewing on them, but now she loves to put whatever she can get her hangs on in her mouth. She really likes blankets, her clothes, and some soft toys. As well, she is reaching for things more and more when she didn’t put too much effort into trying to get something out of arms reach. And in the last week she has discovered her feet, which of course, have to be in her mouth as well. Plus, she is getting a bit closer to being able to sit up.  She is doing well hanging out in the Boppy but I think she will be able to graduate to just sit up without help in the next 4-6 weeks. Exciting!

Here are some things that Price, Autumn, and I are currently crushing on…

Baby Favorites @ 4 months

 glider

Stork Craft Custom Tuscany Glider and Ottoman

My sister had originally suggested for us to get a glider way back when I was pregnant but we thought “Oh, we’ll sit on the bed!” or “Oh, we’ll sit on the sofa together!’ Mainly, we poo poo’ed the idea of a glider because we didn’t have room for it in our room or her room. Well fast forward to day 5 of her being home and we were ordering a glider with expedited shipping. My back was wrecked from trying to nurse her on the bed without good back support and there was too much going on (dog) to sit on the sofa to comfortably enjoy the teeny tiny bean in my arms.

Since its arrival the glider has become one of our favorite things for Autumn. Sure, our room is jammed full of baby stuffs at this point but the glider is so worth it. So worth it!

The glider has become a big part of establishing a bedtime routine. We take Autumn upstairs so we can read some books or sing some songs to her while almost continually patting we back until she is almost asleep (she loves it). On the nights when I am exhausted (most of them), I doze off for a few with her in my arms, which makes me really glad there is the foot rest that I use to prop my knees up which she leans against since I have the biggest fear of falling asleep, loosening my grip & having her fall on the hardwoods. Eeek!

Books

We’ve always read books to Autumn but she’s been enjoying it more and more lately. Or at least that is the impression I get. Let’s go with that.

We’ve been reading Goodnight Moon, The Runaway Bunny, Guess How Much I Love You, and plenty of really simple Spot books, like Spot’s Opposites. These board books hang out in the pockets of the glider so they are always close by for us to grab.

sleep sack

Carter’s Micro Fleece Sleep Bag or Sack (0-9 Months)

The hip brace she had to wear from mid January – end of March prevented her from using sleep sacks during that time but we have been using them more and more now. The are comfy cozy and allow her to stretch out while still be contained a bit.

SwaddleMe® Cotton Large 2-Pack (Lavender Owl)

Summer Infant SwaddleMe Adjustable Infant Wrap

For a period of time we stopped swaddling her because she kept breaking out. So we went from both arms in to 1 arm in to both arms and then… she started to sleep horribly (up every 2 hours!!) So we went back to swaddled with the SwaddleMe’s we received. Because of the sleep sacks and because we don’t want to reverse the work the hip brace did we only use the top portion of the SwaddleMe’s to contain her arms.

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 3 months

@ 2 months

@ 1 month

____________________

I’ll do a favorites post every month/stage as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 4 month olds?

____________________

Post contains affiliate links

 

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 4 month baby favorites, baby books, baby favorites, baby Glider, goodnight moon, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, Spot The Dog books, swaddleme's

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 3 months

March 11, 2014

I think that every month, every week, day, moment is my new favorite.

Autumn is getting more and more active each day. I just love it. She is super smiley and playful. She hasn’t mastered laughing yet but ‘cracks up’ silently. It’s so weird and awesome. She really likes when I sweep a blanket over her face saying “peek-a-boo!!” But she kinda hates tummy time but does really well when she is laying on our chests. I take it that she just likes to push up to look right at our faces instead of toys, although she does reach out and then suck on them, when she feels like it. Overall, she’s doing really well and we couldn’t be happier!

Here are some things that Price, Autumn, and I are currently crushing on…

Baby Favorites @ 3 months

Baby K’tan Breeze Baby Carrier

I use this Baby K’tan carrier just about every day. I saw a review of it right after I found out I was pregnant and was immediately interested. So when the time came to try on carriers I knew I would have to test it out. When I was trying it on I looked for the fabric texture, weight, and how easy it was to get on and off, which is always a plus when you need to do it quickly solo or when the baby is asleep in it.

Autumn really likes to hang out in the Baby K’tan while I do dishes or make dinner. Or dance around to ‘Happy’ like a nut.  When she’s not enjoying my sick dance moves she often is fast asleep in it. It’s made out of a soft fabric so it’s really cozy and comfortable for her to snuggle in against my body. There are all different ways to position the baby in it but since Autumn had been wearing her hip brace 24/7 (until recently- yay!) she was always in the Hug position. Looking forward to the Adventure position in the next few months!

ERGObaby Travel Carrier
ERGObaby Original Infant Insert

So while I love the Baby K’tan, Price loves his ERGObaby carrier.

Autumn was a teeny thing at just 5lbs 9 oz at birth so Price was really excited when she inched her way up to 7lbs so she was big enough to get into the infant insert (babies need to be at least 8lbs for the K’tan).  Since then he has used the ERGO all the time. She’s in there when she is fussy, needing to be close and snug, and being held isn’t cutting it. Or when she is in need of some extra attention and we have something to do that favors use of 2 hands, like when we are eating dinner. And now that the weather is getting warmer he been going out with her in the carrier while taking the dog out for a walk. The hood on there keeps her extra warm as well.

Brica Baby In-Sight Mirror

Autumn spent a lot of time in the car this past month as she has had quite a few Dr’s appointments and other much more fun adventures. She does really well in the car, except when mom forgets to take her hat off and it falls over her eyes resulting in a major meltdown, as she enjoys the rides. So I like to check out her happy smiles in this mirror. As well it’s always fun to check on how much of her hand is in her mouth… a thumb, some fingers, whole fist.

Baby Animals Themed Infant Play Gym
Jungle Buddy Themed Explore and Store Gym

We have infant play gyms in both of these styles. Babies have so much stuff so I like these being that they are easy to fold up and store away when not in use. Plus they are soft and have fun toys for Autumn to play with. The toys can be easily detached from the gyms and be laid out on the mats so that they make tummy time more appealing as well.

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Check out more Baby Favorites:

@ 2 months

@ 1 month

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I’ll do a Favorites post every month as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 3 month olds?

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Post contains affiliate links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: baby car mirror, baby carrier, baby favorites, baby k'tan, Baby K'tan Breeze Baby Carrier, ERGO carrier, ERGObaby, infant play gym, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 2 Months

January 29, 2014

I can’t believe that Autumn is already 2 1/2 months old. And that I have to go back to work in 2 weeks. Crazy!! How has time flown by so quickly?!? 

Every day I am in awe of how much she has grown. She is so active and is getting to be so verbal as she babbles. She really likes to chat with Dad and they go back and forth chatting a bit. Adorable!! As well she so happy and smiling more and more. I just love it!

Anyway, without further ado, here are my favorite baby related things at this current stage!

Baby Favorites @ 2 months

, Pink, hi-res

Carter’s Swaddle Blankets

While I loved the SwaddleMe’s that I wrote about before, we had to change up how we swaddle Autumn because of her hip brace. My mom had sent these at Christmas and they were great to use while cuddling with her or tucking her in when we put her down to sleep. And then… it was hip brace time! So we could no longer use the SwaddleMe’s because she couldn’t fit into the bottom portion wearing the brace. These swaddle blankets from Carter’s are perfect because of their size and how stretchy they are. I highly recommend these for anyone to use, hip brace or not!

Infants’ MYLICON® Drops

MYLICON Infant Gas Drops

Autumn has always been very difficult to burp. The NICU nurses even noted this during her week there. It looks like we are beating her trying to get a burp out of her as we have to be pretty agressive to knock it out of her. And then when she got the hip brace things got even worse as it limited how well we could ‘swoop’ our hands over her back to help work a burp up. So I grabbed a box of MYLICON drops and presto… burps! BIG HUGE BURPS!! I know it doesn’t work for every infant but if you are having some burping or gas issues I suggest you give it a try (with your pediatricians approval first, of course).

Comfort & Harmony Cradling Bouncer- Cozy Kingdom

My sister gave this to us at our baby shower. It has been great to put Autumn in when I need to pump or have to sneak in a shower when she is awake. In the beginning it was great that it was just a safe place for her to sit but now she likes the vibration and music it plays. She swats at the lion and elephant and enjoys hanging out in there while I pump.

The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep: Simple Solutions for Kids from Birth to 5 Years

A friend suggested this book because she was having great success with it with her own daughter who is just a bit older than Autumn. I immediately bought it and flew through reading it. It was really helpful to go through and identify things that were helping and preventing Autumn from sleeping well. Thankfully, she was always a good sleeper so there wasn’t too much to change. But it did help change things up with how I let her sleep and feed her during the day. Those changes have helped her put on more weight and have stretched out her sleeping from 3 hour blocks to 4 to 4.5 hour blocks. yippee!!

Philips Avent Soothie Pacifier, 0-3 Months

When Autumn was in the NICU she was given the hospital version of the Soothie Pacifier. Some parents don’t like their child having a pacifier but we didn’t mind since we figure it’s easier to break that habit than having her suck her thumb since we can actually remove the pacifier… ha! As well, it was helpful to have her have the pacifier to help her develop/enforce sucking as she was not fed for several days because of her surgery. Anyway, she gets a pacifier only when she is really, really struggling to relax and since these help with that we are a big fan.

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I’ll do a Favorites post every month as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for 2 month olds?

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Post contains affiliate links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 2 month baby favorites, babies, baby, baby favorites, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, MYLICON, Soothies, Soothies Pacifier, swaddling blankets, The Happiest Baby Guide to Great Sleep

Life with a Baby: Baby Favorites @ 1 month

January 7, 2014

So Autumn was 7 weeks old yesterday, and has been home with us just over 6 weeks. I was looking around this weekend at her room (to be finished and posted one of these days) and around the house at all the stuff we’ve accumulated for her- oh man, so much stuffs!!

There are so many great products for her and us that are making things enjoyable for her and as a result our lives easier. Slightly easier? I dunno about that some times, like when we think we are getting into a rhythm and then BAM! she decides to spend all night up. ALL NIGHT. Anyway… here are some of my favorite things right now.

Baby Favorites @ 1 month

Summer Infant SwaddleMe 2 PK Cotton Knit

We’ve gotten really good at swaddling Autumn with swaddling blankets but these SwaddleMe’s really do make things even easier! The velcro holds her snuggly in place which is great since she can sometimes Houdini her arms out of the blanket swaddles. While she sometimes freaks out when we first swaddle her we know it’s best for her so that she ultimately calms down as being swaddled mimics being tight and cosy (translation= constricted) in the womb. Plus is prevents her from moving around while sleeping and wacking herself in the face and waking herself up.

Sound Sensing Sleep Sheep

In addition to the swaddlers in get Autumn to sleep well, this has been a life saver for us. Autumn sleeps really well when the Sleep Sheep is playing 1 of the 4 sounds it has (Mother’s Heartbeat, Spring Showers, Ocean Surf and Whale Songs). There are several versions, including travel, of the Sleep Sheep products but I think this is the best one because it has more options and is just a few more bucks compared to the others. This version has a sound sensor that is triggered when the baby wakes in the middle of the night and starts to make some noise again prompting the Sleep Sheep to start the last song it had played. As well, it has 2 options for the length of time the music plays- 23 or 45 minutes.

Diaper Genie Elite Diaper Disposal Pail with Refill, 270-Count

We did A LOT of research for which diaper pail we would select. Ultimately we picked the Diaper Genie Elite because of it’s capacity, is hands free, and seals in odors by closing off the diapers with 2 lids. We use this A LOT.

Boudreaux’s Butt Paste 16 oz. Jar & Vaseline 100% Pure Petroleum Jelly

We use this combo all thanks to the really nice visiting nurse who was noticing that no matter how often we were changing Autumn she was getting a diaper rash. She was noticing that the wee one’s bum was a little sensitive to just using the Butt Paste. The Butt Paste is really thick so it required us to use some effort/force to get it completely off after every diaper change. So she suggested we mix some up of the Butt Paste with some Vaseline to cut the thickness. This works well for us because we are using getting the active ingredients in the Butt Paste but thinned it out so it’s easy to get on and off.


Contigo AUTOSEAL Water Bottle

Water bottles are a must for me any time, baby or no baby. But now that I am pumping I can’t get enough water. Seriously, can’t get enough. Every time I pump I drink a full water bottle (24 ounces) and then I down more through out the day. Well, this is my favorite water bottle because it Autoseals- which means it’s closed until you open it when you go to drink it. This is awesome for me since I’m tired and extra klutzy and drop or knock over these babies all the time and if I had to clean up spilled water all the time I’d lose my mind!

The First Years Spinning Drying Rack, White

Price did a big Amazon order one day and picked this out for me to use with the pumping stuffs that are constantly getting washed and washed and washed. I really like this drying rack because it has 2 levels so it can hold a lot without taking up much room, it rotates so it’s easy to get something on one of the levels, and excess water drains into the sink or into trough that comes with it.

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I’ll do a Favorites post every month as Autumn grows, changes, and develops.

What are some of your favorite things for newborns?

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Post contains affiliate links

Filed Under: Baby & Kid Tagged With: 1 month baby supplies, AUTOSEAL water bottle, baby must haves, Boudreaux's Butt Paste, diaper genie, diaper genie elite, Life with a Baby, Life with a Baby List, Sleep Sheep, spinning drying rack, swaddlers, waterbottle

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