These are a few of my favorite things - 3 Months

It has been a fun, but chaotic month!  I'm now back at work part time and we are adjusting to a new apartment.  Here's what we have enjoyed and what has been helpful during the last month:

1. Moby Wrap

We tried the Moby early on, but Carina hated it.  I decided to try again before our move last weekend and I'm so glad I did.  She loves it now!  I was able to actually help out with the move and I am feeling much more free to get stuff done around the house.  She usually falls asleep within a few minutes of putting her in it!  WIN!


2. Sassy Ring O' Links Rattle

These cost less than $4!  I sort of jingle them around and Carina just stares at them.  I attach them to the car seat handle sometimes when we are going out and she is instantly mesmerized.  I imagine that they will be fun to use to help her learn colors once she gets older. 

3. Breastflow Bottles

Carina is not a fan of bottles in general.  She wants her milk right from the tap ;)  We tried Dr. Brown's and she was not a fan.  A friend of mine gave me these as a gift and we really like them.  The nipple is designed to be more like a breast, and baby has to 'work' to get the milk out, similar to the way they breastfeed.  With me working part time now, Carina gets at least one bottle a day and it's going okay so far thanks to these.


4. Oral Care Rabbit

I bought this on the recommendation of some of the Bump ladies and I am so glad I did.  You slip your fingers in the bunny's ears and rub baby's gums.  She really likes it!  In addition to to removing bacteria and plaque, you can also use it to soothe sensitive gums while baby is teething.

Edited: it has been brought to my attention that shipping for this item is crazy expensive on Amazon.  It is more reasonable (and the rabbit is in cute colors) at Diapers.com. Also, you can get 15% off your first order with code DCOM15OFF.


5. Lamaze Musical Inchworm

This worm is so freaking cute.  The various sections of the body have different textures and sounds and it plays "If you're happy and you know it" when you push down on his wormy head.  Carina smiles and coos at him.  Sometimes she giggles when you play the music.  I am really liking the Lamaze toy brand so far.


6. Bumbo Baby Seat

Carina has pretty good head control so we've been putting her in the Bumbo for a few minutes every day and while we experienced a rocky start, she really likes it now.  Every morning M puts her in it and reads to her from our Disney Princess story book.  Since the Bumbo can accommodate babies up to 22 lbs., we'll be able to use it for quite some time!


7. Baby Jogger 2011 City Mini

This stroller rocks my socks, seriously.  I am so happy we bought it.  You pull a little strap and it folds up (I made a video of the 'quick-fold' technology if you'd like to see it).  It unfolds almost as easily.  I can do either while holding Carina or her car seat in the other hand.  We've been using the car seat adapter with it, but will be taking it off this weekend since the 2011 Model fully reclines!  We wanted to wait to take her out of her cozy car seat until it was a little bit warmer out.  I hope Carina enjoys sitting in it without the car seat.  The sunshade is huge and has a little window in it so it's super easy to check on your little one.


8. Bath Temperature Tester

Another $4 miracle.  I pop this in her tub as I start filling it with water.  I could never get the temperature right without this little thingy.  It tells you if the water is COLD, IDEAL, or HOT.  It seriously can't get any easier than this!


9. Baby Einstein: Lullaby Classics CD


M is a bit of a classical music snob, so I knew that getting anything other than classical music for lullabies wasn't going to fly.  My sister gave me this and I love it!  It has quite a few of my favorite classical pieces (including Pachelbel's Canon in D), "baby-fied", if that makes sense.  We play it whenever we are in the car.  If Carina starts crying, I have found that turning it up a little bit usually makes her stop.  You can listen to the tracks on Amazon.


10. Medela PersonalFit Breastshields (21mm)

My freezer stash of milk would be less than half as expansive if it weren't for these tiny pieces of plastic.  The breast shields that came with my Medela pump were too big for me and I didn't realize it for a few weeks.  I was regularly pumping 1.5-2 ounces total until I switched to these.  Now I usually get about 4 ounces (or more!) per boob.  Check out the guide on the Medela website to see if you have the right fit.  They are a little pricey (~$10) but are totally worth it.

What were/are your favorite things for your 3 month old?

Wordless Wednesday - beary cute!

M picked this out for Carina and it was too big for a long time.  Just checked again and now it's almost too small! I had to take a picture before she grows out of it.

3 Months

My peanut is 3 months old today! I can't believe it.

Size: Roughly 14.5 lbs and 23 inches! She just started wearing some 3-6 month sleepers and onesies.

Milestones: Carina is now giggling and blowing raspberries.

Loves: Bouncy seat, WubbaNub, playing patty-cake with Mommy

Spit (up) happens

Carina was really fussy as I was putting her to bed last night.  I fed her and then burped her for almost 10 minutes, but to no avail.  No burp.  I put her down anyway, which in hindsight was my failure.

A couple minutes later I heard a little cough and a gurgle.  I ran into the room and scooped her up out of the swing, for I knew what those sounds meant.  I sat her on my knee and grabbed a burp cloth.  Projectile spit up ensued...all over her, all over me, all over our bed.  My poor little peanut had it coming out of her nose :(

Try as I might I could not get her to go back to sleep until a few hours later.  Then, she was up at 12, 1, 4, and 5 AM, for about 30-45 minutes each time.  Needless to say I didn't get much sleep.

She woke up for the day at 6:30.  I fed her, and then brought her in bed with me.  A little while later I picked her up to go change her diaper and noticed a little yellow spot on the bed.  Great.  I asked M, "what would be the icing on the cake for a fantastic night?"  He responded, "more spit up?"  "No, not quite," I began, "Poop.  Yep, there is a little spot of poop on the bed." 

We started laughing at our misfortune, as she projectile spit up all over herself once again.  Fail.

P.S. Our internet was set up on Friday, but it is super slow.  They were supposed to come back on Saturday to fix it, but no one showed up.  I will be yelling at someone tomorrow...

Wordless Wednesday - Shhh!

It's Daddy-baby naptime :)

Done

I use the term 'done' loosely, of course, since our apartment is still full of unopened boxes waiting to be unpacked and disassembled furniture waiting to be whole again.

The move was quick and painless thanks to help from five of my coworkers and two of M's.  Carina was in a good mood all day!  She flirted with one of our helpers (what a naughty girl) and cooed and smiled.  She spent most of the day in the Moby, while I attempted to help out.

After dropping off the U-Haul when we were literally one minute away from home, Carina projectile spitup all over herself, the carseat, and the car.  There was spitup pooled in the base of her carseat; I have no idea how that is even possible.  So we got home, cleaned her up, and as soon as I put her in a new clean outfit, a poopsplosion ensued.

So in all, minus the few issues with gross baby bodily functions, the day was a success.  Our apartment is even close enough to connect to the wireless network in our building's free Wifi Cafe.  Oh wait, it connects sometimes.  Yesterday I couldn't get on at all, and now today it is working perfectly.  I think I'll call AT&T tomorrow because this just isn't going to cut it.  Please cross your fingers that dial-up isn't our only option.

Brief hiatus

I should have been packing like crazy the last few days since we are moving on Saturday, but Carina has barely napped. She wants to eat every 1.5-2 hours; I'm hoping this is the start of her 3 month growth spurt, and that longer naps will soon follow. Hey, a girl can hope, right? So tomorrow (Friday) I need to devote myself entirely to packing ::gag::.

On another note, lucky me, I just found out that our new apartment complex doesn't have DSL internet capability. And cable internet in our town is super $$.  So I don't know what we are going to do for internet and I don't know when it will be up and running. Uggh. Will you laugh at me if we end up having to use dial up?

Some cuteness to tide you over until I am back from my black internetless-hole:



P.S. Won't you join me in my packing hell? :)

 

Wordless Wednesday - Pffft!

Growing Up Geeky!

I would like to introduce my new blog design! It was done by Amber over at Zany Dezines. I am so happy with the way it turned out.  Do you like it?

"...And Baby Makes Three" was a great temporary name for my blog, but I really wanted something that would apply if/when we have more children, too.  While trying to come up with a new name I started with thinking about who M and I really are...

M is an organic chemist, plays the oboe, and slays videogame dragons in his free time. I test computer software, I was on the Math team in high school (and LOVED it), my reading material of choice is historical fiction about Tudor England, and I would rather alphabetize my spice rack than go to the Mall. We are proud to be not cool. And so "Growing Up Geeky" was born. With us for parents, I don't think Carina (or any other children we have) will end up being one of the cool kids in school and honestly, I think that's a good thing.

If you are the button-posting-on-your-blog type person, post my button! I think the geeky looking giraffes would make a fine addition to any blog. Come on, how can you not love the giraffes? ;)

A no-brainer

When we move to our new apartment complex next week, we won't have in-unit laundry.  As a result, we will be using disposable diapers until we move to Connecticut in the Fall.  I looked around for the cheapest place to buy diapers and I've settled on Amazon.com. Their Amazon Mom program is awesome.

Amazon Mom members automatically save 15% on most diapers and wipes. You can combine this 15% off with the 15% off you'll get with the Subscribe and Save program, for a total discount of 30% off!  With the Subscribe and Save program, you choose the diapers, wipes, nursing pads, etc. that you want, and then select how often you would like Amazon to ship them to you (every 1 month, 2 months, 3 months and so on.)  You can also just purchase the items you want and choose any interval, but then cancel the 'subscription' right afterwards.  That's what I did :)

You'll also get 3 months of Amazon Prime membership, absolutely free! This means you'll get free 2 day shipping on anything you order from Amazon.com that is Prime eligible (and most things are). Also, for each $25 you spend on products in the Baby Store, you'll get an additional month of Amazon Prime shipping benefits (up to 1 year total). And that $25 is before any coupons/discounts are taken off. I earned a year free thanks to purchasing my City Mini at Amazon.

In addition to saving 30% already, you can find 20% off and 10$ off coupons in Baby Talk and American Baby magazines. These magazines are free! I have heard that they are also in Parents, Parenting, and Fit Pregnancy magazines.  Check the magazines at your OB or pediatrician's office.  Someone has to use the coupons, right?  Cloth Diaper mamas, I've heard you can use these coupons on cloth diapers, too!

So in total, you will get 30% off using Subscribe & Save, and then you can use 2 20% off coupons (so long as one is a 'YJ' code and one is a 'YT'), and a $10 off coupon all on the same order.  I got a box of Pampers Swaddlers Sensitive Diapers, Size 2, 152 Count (Amazon.com price of $39.54) for $1.86 after using all of the discounts above!

Wordless Wednesday - But I don't like my pretty dress!

We went to Ash Wednesday Mass tonight and Carina was so good! She didn't cry at all; she slept for a bit and just looked around. When we got home, however, she started screaming like a banshee.

Bad blogger

I've been a bad blogger lately, but it's not my fault.  Carina has decided that she only wants to nap for 30-45 minutes at a time.  I've experimented with so many things to get her to nap for longer, but the only one that works is to let her sleep on me.  She took a 3 hour nap yesterday sprawled across me...I've never had to pee so bad in my life.  At least I know she's capable of sleeping longer, I guess.

As soon as she falls asleep (somewhere other than on me), my priorities are, in order:
1. Poop/pee
2. Eat
3. Laundry/dishes/pump
4. Pack for our upcoming move across town
5. Computer time

Okay so maybe 4 and 5 should be switched :)

I'm hoping these cat naps are just a phase.  Mommy needs her sanity back, sweetie.

Then vs. Now

Carina at 1 hour old on 12/28, and 2 months old on 2/28.  Can you believe how she has changed?

Then:

Weight - 6 lbs. 14 oz.

Length - 19 inches

Now:

Weight - 11 lbs. 14 oz.

Length - 22 inches

Little Miss has gained 5 lbs. and grown 3 inches!  I grew her inside of me for 9 months, and now I'm growing her on the outside, too.  Amazing.

These are a few of my favorite things - 2 Months

The last month has been all about experimentation.  What kinds of toys/playthings does Carina enjoy?  What soothes her?  What is helpful?  Here's my list.  In no particular order:

1. Wubbanub Infant Pacifier - Kitten

 Whoever invented the Wubbanub is a genius.  It is a Soothie pacifier attached to a little stuffed animal.  They make all different kinds of animals...giraffes, dinosaurs, dogs, etc.  We have two little kitty ones.  Carina holds onto the kitty to keep the pacifier in her mouth.  And if it falls out, she can sometimes get it back in by moving the kitty around.  I imagine it will only get better as her motor skills improve.  I really like that I don't have to get up to put it back in her mouth nearly as much.  Another bonus, is that the Wubbanub is much easier to keep track of than a lone pacifier.  Trying to find this in the diaper bag is so easy!


2. Fisher-Price Rainforest Soother


 We have this in Carina's crib.  She will watch the lights and moving animals and listen to the music every morning for about 15 minutes.  It has become part of our routine.  I will get changed and brush my teeth while she flails her arms, kicks her legs, and coos.  She loves this, and I love watching her enjoy it.


3. Boppy Nursing Pillow



 We don't use the Boppy for nursing, I much prefer the My Brest Friend Pillow for that, but we do love the Boppy.  She lounges in it and I play with her, read to her, or she just looks around the room curiously.  She doesn't like sleeping flat on her back, so we put it in the Pack n Play for daytime naps.  She falls asleep in it within 5-10 minutes most of the time.


4. Cloud b Sleep Sheep On The Go



 This white noise machine helps Carina fall asleep at nighttime and during the day.  It plays four sounds: Rain, Stream, Ocean, and Whales.  Ocean is her favorite.  It has two time settings, 23 and 45 minutes.  The difference between the "On the Go" sheep and the traditional sleep sheep is that the "On the Go" one is a bit smaller, and it has velcro so you can attach it to anything.  We alternate it between her nursery and the Pack n Play (where she naps during the day).  My only wish is that it had a constantly on setting.


5. Fisher-Price Rainforest Gym



 Carina has discovered that if she kicks one of the little dangly toys, it will make a rattle sound.  She LOVES it.  Everytime she kicks it she smiles and gets excited.  We have been using the mat for tummy time for quite a few weeks, but she is just now starting to enjoy the toys, music, lights, and mirror.  I can only imagine that she will interact with this gym more and more as she grows and develops.


6. Gerber 12-Pack Prefold Birdseye Cloth Diapers


  Everyone told me to get a few packs of these, because they are the best burp cloths.  I didn't listen.  I registered for and bought pretty burp cloths.  Bad idea.  The pretty ones look nice, but they aren't absorbent at all.  These are so absorbent sometimes I can't even tell that she just spit up all over them!  In comparison to the fancy burp cloths, these are super cheap, too.


7. Nosefrida The Snotsucker Nasal Aspirator




 Yes, the Nosefrida is gross.  You stick the tube up against baby's nostril and then you suck on the red part.  Disgusting, sure, but you wouldn't believe the size of the boogers I suck out of Carina's nostrils.  The little blue bulb given to us by the hospital can't even come close.  The sweet relief she must feel when those giant boogers are gone is enough motivation for me to continue to suck them out, as nauseating as it is.  She breathes so much better after I use this semi-scary snot-sucking contraption.


8. Fisher Price Precious Planet Swing



 I already wrote about my love for this swing here, so I will just briefly recap.  For the last month, at night, Carina has only slept in this swing.  We are hoping it is just a phase, as we don't want her sleeping here forever, but Mommy and Daddy need sleep, and this swing lets us sleep.


9. Simple Wishes Hands-Free Breastpump Bra



 This bra milks you; it's almost comical.  I can express so much more milk than I ever imagined using it.  I already posted some more info on it.  It is so absolutely worth the money for anyone who is planning on pumping.


10. Fisher-Price Precious Planet Bouncer


 Another baby item I already expressed my love for, here.  Carina could sit in this bouncer all day.  Don't worry, I don't let her :)  She kicks her feet, flails her arms, and coos while the music plays and the animals move.  If you can handle the cuteness, take a look at her adorable 'dancing'.