Cloth Diaper Addiction

when cloth diapering becomes an addiction... I need to stop finding good deals on cloth diapers. I learned about co-ops where you can buy cloth diapers really cheap and I can't resist a deal. And I love fluff mail! I have put myself on a  November Cloth Diaper Ban

I won't buy any cloth diapers in the month of November. Regardless of what a deal they are- I will not buy more. I recently added to my stash with some cartoon diapers that are super cute (pic below). I have some alvas on the way that I missed the first time I bought Alvas and I also have a shipment on its way that has sunbaby, 2 more cartoon, kawaii and some charcoal inserts (updated with new fluff) to try out.

OK so it's out there on the internet. I will not buy any cloth diapers for the month of November.

UPDATED with my newest fluff mail - 2 kawaii (jean and heavy wetter animal print), 4 MF inserts, 5 charcoal inserts, 3 sunbaby, 2 cartoon

Photobomb! Professional Photos and Pumpkin Patch Photo Shoot

We had his 6 month professional pics done this month! I love the way they came out! I hope to hire her to do a holiday mini-session for my Christmas cards too!

 

PUMPKIN PATCH!

When my mom, grandma and sister came- we took Luke to the pumpkin patch! He loved it and we had perfect weather for some cute pics!

6 months!

Wow! My little boy is HALF a year old already! I'm already *that* mom that sees a newborn and thinks "my baby was never that small"

We are so lucky to have the best little boy in the world! Dave and I have both become better people since he's been born. We love watching him observe the world and discover new things. It's important to us both to show him all the things we enjoy and let him discover his own loves. Dave is such a laid back dad and of course I am the normal paranoid mama!

The past 6 months have flown by and have been much easier than I anticipated but I know that's because we have what the books call an "easy baby" when it comes to baby personalities. I guess when Babelet2 comes we're doomed. We've had our challenges- especially with breastfeeding but I know he's thriving and I'm into a good pumping routine now (I exclusively pump to serve him breast milk as long as possible). He's not a great sleeper/napper but he's getting better and we're finding things that work a little better.

We've started solid foods so far and had oatmeal, avocado, bananas and sweet potatoes. He's had eczema flare ups from all food so far so we're just a big experiment for now.

Luke's babbling like crazy now, smiles at everyone (He got his stranger danger lessons from his grandma- this kid will talk to ANYONE!), and has quite the personality. He's a happy baby who loves to play and demands lots of attention!

The first volume of his baby book arrived (Made it on Mixbook) and I love it, it's beautiful and I can't wait to do the rest of the year. I've already started working on volume two and am loving this one too! I have set myself up for big projects if we have a second baby since I'm going all out for him.

6 month stats
weight: 15lbs 15oz
weight percentile: 21% (YAY!)
height: 26.5 inches

Pumpin' Away...

Now that we're approaching 6 months, we've spent 3 months exclusively pumping. For those unfamiliar with the term, exclusively pumping (EP or EPing) is for serving breastmilk from a bottle when the baby is unable to breastfeed for one reason or another. The benefits of breast milk have been well studied and it was important for me to give Luke as much breast milk as possible during the first year. The vocabulary is up in the air but technically it is still breastfeeding since you're feeding your baby from your breast (though with a middle man) but it is not nursing. So yes I breastfeed but I do not nurse.

When I was newly pregnant, I considered EP because I didn't think I'd have a good enough supply to BF and wanted to know how much I was getting. But, after a lot of research, classes and appointments, decided to try to breastfeed because it's easier and more efficient (usually). Well, after a lot of struggles, Luke not gaining much and then his refusal to nurse, we ended up EPing anyways.

Honestly, I don't really mind it. Sometimes it's annoying but we've adapted well and it helps to have a super helpful husband to help at night with Luke when I need to pump. But, I just drag my pump everywhere... the tv room floor, the car, work, the airplane... you name it, I'm probably ok pumping there.

I pump 6 times a day for at least 30 minutes but now at 6 months, I'm about to drop a pump to 5 pumps per day (ppd). I have an average supply and have been consistently producing about 35 ounces per day (opd) lately. We haven't had to supplement with formula. Luke has had a few formula bottles but it was more to try them out (make sure he tolerates formula just in case) and freeze more but we stopped doing that now. Knowing that as little as 2 oz of breastmilk can provide the antibodies for a baby, Dave encouraged me to freeze as much as possible even if that meant doing 1 formula bottle a day and freezing that bottle's worth of BM. But, since my freezer stash is only good for a little over a month it's not worth it anymore (see excess lipase below).

Successful pumping does have some tools that make it easier:

1. A good double electric pump. I have both a Medela Pump In Style Advanced (PISA) and rented hospital-grade Symphony. I use the PISA when I'm not home and the Symphony when I'm home. I had to rent a hospital grade pump because of recurrent mastitis to get the clogs out- it really is a superior pump but is mighty pricey to buy and not very portable.

2. Simple Wishes Hands Free Bra. Yes, I've read you can make your own. Yes, I know there are other brands. But really, if you are going to pump daily (even just at work), please splurge and get the realdeal. This pump bra can change a pumper's life. Seriously.

3. Spare Parts. I have 4 sets of pump parts and for an EP who pumps 5-6 times a day, I guess that's enough. It couldn't hurt to have that fifth set though! I feel like I'm always washing pump parts or bottles.

4. Lanisoh Storage Bags. I use these bags to freeze into. They are cheaper than the medela bags and I like that they freeze flat (the Medelas do not)

5. Bottles. Lots of them. We now have a lot of 5 oz bottles and a set of Medela 8 oz bottles for my morning pump (I get about 12-14 ounces total first thing in the morning so I'd need to change out my bottles). The top rack of our dishwasher is constantly full of bottles and we run it once a day.

6. Undercover Mama Tanks These are my favorite nursing tanks because they don't have a shelf bra and they don't add extra straps. I have to wear my own bra for support anyways but like to keep my stomach covered when pumping. They are also very long and I wear them under all my clothes!

Random Pumping Tips:
- a few times a week or on the weekend, powerpump once a day. It helps build supply. You pump for 10-20 minutes then turn the pump off for 10 min, then back on for 10 then off for 10 until an hour has passed.
- storing milk. I know a lot of people store and serve in the bottles. That might drive me crazy with all those bottles in the fridge. However, it would cut down on the amount of bottles I wash perhaps. I pump into the medela 5 oz bottles (that really hold 6.25). Then once I'm finished my pump (I usually get around 5 oz), I combine the 2 bottles and pour the milk into that day's nalgene bottle. I fill the bottle with milk from a whole day (letting it mix because different times of day it is different) then serve it the next day. So I have 2 Nalgene bottles- one that I'm filling and one that I'm serving out of. If I have any excess over what he eats, I'll freeze it the next day usually (see scalding below).
-Excess lipase. Some people (like me) have excess lipase. Here is a good article about excess lipase and scalding on this blog. If you have excess lipase, they suggest scalding your milk before freezing it. If you are going to scald your milk follow the directions below.

Scalding Breastmilk
There are many ways to scald milk and different suggested temperatures. However, all sources agree that getting the milk to 180* will help the lipase issue.
Tools:
- bottle warmer (if you put double the recommended water in, it will stay on longer and get hot enough)
- thermometer
- stainless steel container
- small container for an ice bath
- breastmilk storage bags
Heat the milk to 180*, remove from bottle warmer and put container directly in icebath. When it gets to about 50-60* pour into breastmilk storage bags. Lay flat to freeze.

Avocado... fail.

We love avocados and buy some every week. So of course, we were thrilled to see avocados are a great first food for babies. We were excited for Luke's first food (besides oatmeal) experience to be one of the best foods! We tried it last Saturday and he loved it.

 We started with a Baby Led Weaning approach of giving him a piece of whole avocado (not puree). Once it fell off of the skin (after a lot of playing) it was very slippery and kept ending up in his chair. He was pretty frustrated with that and eventually cried.

On Monday, we gave him avocado in the mesh feeder since the slippery avocado was driving him insane. Luke went to town on that avocado!

Right after he was done eating and I wiped him off, I realized he had a rash on his cheeks and on his chest and anywhere the avocado touched. His breathing was fine but it was a raised rash. By Tuesday morning it was still there and I called the doctor.

The pediatrician said it wasn't hives but eczema and it could've been from our change in weather,  the cold he was dealing with, OR the avocado. She advised us to let the rash clear up then offer it again. All week, I've been diligent about his lotion and keeping his eczema under control. His skin looked great again yesterday so we decided to try again today.

WahWah... Avocado Fail. Today (while he was still in the high chair), everywhere the avocado touched quickly turned into little red bumps.

I've read about avocado sensitivities and eczema flare ups from avocado and everything suggests trying it again in about 6 months. But for now, no avocado for this boy. Unfortunately, bananas and laytex are in the same family so we will proceed with caution with bananas too.

Up next... sweet potatoes (as soon as the flare up is calmed back down- hopefully Tuesday)

Advice for pregnant friends or those hoping to get pregnant...

some friends and I were sitting around our 6 month old babies the other day discussing sleep habits/patterns/issues, etc and laughing about how when we were pregnant how much we hated hearing "sleep now while you can" or "sleep when your baby sleeps"

Now we get it... and if my baby would nap for longer than 30 min at a time maybe I could nap too.

So, if you're pregnant or even hoping to get pregnant in the next few years... please consider these 5 points of advice.

1. Take lots of long showers and baths. Enjoy every second of that time. And bonus- blowdry your hair when you're done

2. Go out to eat at lots of nice restaurants. We still do go out a good bit but those date nights we took for granted are missed

3. Go out... past 7pm. Luke doesn't go to sleep too early but so many of our friends are stuck home after 6 with a bedtime routine and a 7pm bedtime before their kid melts down.

4. Sleep. All night long. Lots of times.

5. Be spontaneous... go away at the last minute, go out at the last minute, ditch all plans at the last minute. Between needing a babysitter and a baby being on a schedule... most spontaneity is a distant memory!

I do love my baby more than anything in the world but the thought of a long shower, a fancy restaurant and sleeping in make me dream...

What we love right now... 3-6 month edition!

Since I did a "What we love right now" post at 3 months I figured I better do an update post now that we're close to 6 months. Looking back at the top 10 from the first 3 months, it is amazing how much has changed! 6 months is kind of a transitional stage where we're retiring some toys/gear because he's simply too big for them.

1. Rock N Play - at 3 months we stopped sleeping in the rock n play overnight but still use it during the day for naps and to hang out in while we feed him. He loves this silly thing and he's about to be too big for it. At 6 months it's getting packed up!

2. Activity Mat - from 3-5 months he used the activity mat a lot because he could hit the toys and play with the hanging things. Now that he can sit up, it's been packed up too

3. Exersaucer - Luke loves playing in his exersaucer. He now can play with all the toys on it which is a good place to put him while I wash the dishes or get stuff done.

4. Cloth Diapers - we're still using cloth diapers and I really love my cloth diaper stash!

 
5. Mam Pacifiers - Luke loves his mam pacis. He doesn't need it all the time anymore but does like it when he's tired. (see photo in number 8)

6. Lovey - Luke has a carter's lovey that is a zebra. It's a stuffed head/rattle with a small blanket attached. The blanket part is satin on one side and fleece on the other. He loves to cuddle up with it on his face. His zebra has made it into most of the photos in my photo album! (See photo in #1 and #8)

7. Dr. Brown Glass bottles- we use Dr. Brown's glass bottles and also Born Free widemouth glass. Luke seems to prefer the Dr. Brown's. We also use the medela pump bottles during daycare (they don't want glass)

8. Boppy Lounger - we used the Boppy lounger everyday from when he came home from the hospital until about 5 months. He's just getting too long for it and can launch off of it but he loved that cozy pillow. I was reluctant when registering if we really needed an overpriced pillow but we loved it.

9. Convertible Carseat - around 4 months we bought a Britax Boulevard convertible carseat for my car. He must be cozy in it since he falls asleep before we even leave the neighborhood most days

10. Ergo - our Ergo carrier has been awesome. It's so easy and he likes it and can fall asleep. We have a backpacking Kelty Kids pack now too but he can't sleep in that. I highly recommend the Ergo (or Beco Gemini which I don't have but is similar)

Top Toys!
1. O-Ball
2. Sophie the Giraffe
3. Bright Years Blocks
4. Green Toys Twist Teether

 

Food!!

Just like all other aspects of parenting, there are so many views on solid food. Pediatricians, books, other parents, everyone... has an idea of when and what you should feed your baby.

Some sources say 4 months, some say definitely not until 6, some say definitely before 6. It's annoying. Some say rice cereal first, some say avoid rice cereal at all costs, some say purees, some say sticks of food...

Our pediatrician encouraged us to wait until as close to 6 months as we could based on the current AAP recommendations and to only do rice cereal if we were feeding fruit at the same time (something about the iron and vitamin c combo). Then, consumer reports came out with a big arsenic in rice warning...

I was set on waiting until 6 months for solid fruits and vegetables. I was up in the air about cereals. Just after 5 months, Luke started being really hungry. I exclusively pump and it's normal for a baby on expressed breastmilk to eat about 25-30 oz a day. For about a week, he was eating 35oz a day. I decided to try the oatmeal. I know that in the beginning they don't eat enough to matter but I figured by the time he figured out how to actually eat it he'd really need the calories.

I always thought I'd make my own baby food purees. Then once I was a mom, I learned about Baby Led Weaning and since I don't eat food pureed and swallowing mush isn't teaching a baby to eat- I really liked the ideas of BLW. But the one philosophy of BLW is no cereal because it doesn't have nutritional value and no purees because it doesn't teach them how to eat. BLW also doesn't have an order of foods to be introduced.

We decided to do a hybrid of BLW and traditional cereal/puree feeding. I'll give cereal and some purees at daycare eventually but we'll do BLW at dinnertime.

We decided to start oatmeal cereal right after 5 months because that was when he was drinking about 35 oz of breastmilk a day and showing other signs of readiness: sitting, reaching, interest in food, opening his mouth, etc

The first time we did oatmeal he really liked it and ate his 10 spoonfuls worth. Since then, we've given it to him about 3 times. Not everyday, it's one more step that I'm just not ready for... but days that he seems really hungry I'll feed him milk first then oatmeal about an hour later. Watch a video of Luke eating his oatmeal here.

I plan to start fruits and vegetables on his 6 month birthday. We will start with large pieces of banana and avocado then move on to other foods with the BLW philosophy. I'll use purees at daycare and during the day and we'll do BLW at dinnertime. It's going to be exciting to watch what Luke enjoys.