The Eleanor Update: Week 25

So next week will be week 26 and she will be 6 months. Not happening, not happening!

Breastfeeding:

I've mentioned that lately she's been causing me pain on the left side that lasts for a long time after she nurses.  I notice when I nurse her in the cradle position it's not as bad as in the football hold I usually do, but then she doesn't get as much milk in the cradle position.  So really it seems like a lose/lose, but I keep repeating "It's free, It's free" (because I'm very cheap  frugal) and that "It's the best thing for her, it's the best thing for her."  

Sleep:  

She's determined to be a night owl and an early bird at the same time.  She could go to bed at 9 and be up at 6:30 or she could go to bed at 11 and still be up at 6:30.  But there were a few days where she slept pretty good stretches at night, only waking once so it got a little better.

Naps are still short but instead of 20-30 minutes, usually they are closer 40 minutes so it's not much but it's something.  Still not long enough for me to sleep, but at least I get a minute to sit and eat.  She is going down better for naps, and even though I don't really love it, I have been putting her on her belly for naps and she goes to sleep quicker (on the rare occasion she isn't already asleep) and doesn't stir as often.

Misc.

She's been making this scrunchy face lately (I posted a video and pictures below).  It's hilarious!

I took her to the library for the first time this week.  I haven't been to my local library in a looong time.  When I was working and watching my other family (the one I watched for years), I always went to the one closest to them.  I like my library and the staff are so amazing, and it's the one I grew up going to, but it is a small library and doesn't have nearly the selection of books/movies as others. 

It was still fun and she liked it.  I tried to read her some books but she was to busy looking around and smiling at the library worker in the kids area to care.  

They have these vinyl/foam (I think?) kind of chairs that I'm pretty sure are the same ones from when I was a kid, and I remember loving to sit on them, so I popped her into one and she was happy.

Royal Fluff Cloth Diaper Review & GIVEAWAY!!

*I received this product for review.  No other compensation was given.  All opinions are my own*

The bigger Eleanor is getting the more I use cloth diapers because she fits better into some of them.  It's still something we don't use all the time (and while Rob will take one off he won't put one on), but I would say 40-50% of the time.

But sometimes I get a little burned out with them because they aren't always as 'easy' and so when Royal Fluff contacted me about doing a review I was totally on board.  I love getting new fluff for Eleanor and was hoping this would help with my little burn out session.  It totally did. 

I didn't choose the print - just specified girl - so when I got the package in the mail and saw the return address, I tore right into and let out an excited scream ( and totally sounded like a teenage girl at a boy band concert).  After showing Ellie (who smiled and tried to eat it) I took a picture and immediately instagramed it.

It's so unlike anything I have in my stash and I love it.

They do have some other adorable prints that I've been oogling such as these.



I didn't even show Rob because I put it right in the wet bag to be prepped.  Thankfully it was a cloth diaper wearing day (she wears them a few days a week) so I knew I would be doing the laundry soon.

I'm not normally a pocket diaper kind of girl - but that's more because I'm lazy and don't like stuffing them but I don't dislike them ( 1/2 of our diapers are pocket diapers).  The one thing I wish was different about this diaper that I like in the other pockets we have are 2 openings for the insert.  I like that it comes out in the wash. I didn't attempt to see if this would with the one opening so maybe it might.  The opening is pretty generous though.



The other thing that I was slightly concerned about was no cross over snaps, but for Eleanor it wasn't a problem.  With a smaller waisted baby it might be.  On the smallest setting it fit Eleanor great.

The one size diapers (the also make a newborn version) are supposed to fit from about 10 lbs to 30 lbs.  Eleanor was about 16 lbs at the time we first tried it out.



This diaper was great. We didn't have any leaks at all the first (or subsequent times) it's been worn.  It's been worn for nap time on her belly as well as other times during the day when she's been playing on her play mat or in the play center etc...

Royal fluff diapers sell for $23-$24 dollars a diaper and you can purchase here.  They also sell extra inserts and wetbags.

The smallest setting

The largest setting

The interior of the diaper is a very soft fleece, and the insert is made from 3 layers of microfiber terry cloth.

Snug leg fit.

Very trim, no typical cloth diaper big bottom

Royal Fluff has offered 1 reader the opportunity to win their very own diaper. Enter on the rafflecopter form below. No worries if you don't win though because you can use the code BLOGLOVE20 to save on your entire order through April 15

You can also connect with Royal Fluff via facebook or twitter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Eleanor Update: Week 24

Sleep:

Hit or miss.  There were a couple nights where she wound up back in the rock n play, or in bed with me or at one point on my chest. 

Naps were a little better.  Earlier she took a TWO hour nap on her belly (which meant I checked on her like every 2 minutes), but the next day was only a 30 minute belly nap.  

Friday night she did alright.  She nursed for a few minutes around 7:30, fell asleep (which is normal at that time), then woke up about 45 minutes later (normal), but instead of keeping her up like usual. I feed her again and she went back to sleep and slept for another hour or so.   Then she woke up, and I comforted her by swaying with her for a few minutes until she fell back asleep.  She slept until about 1 am, and then ate and slept until 6:30.  I would have been happy with that, since she just was chatting away in her crib in a good mood, but after I got her and feed her she fell back asleep.  I put her in bed with me and she slept about 45 more minutes (so I slept 15 maybe- she's a bit of a bed hog) but I was in a good mood when she woke up because of all that sleep.

Then Saturday I put her down for a nap around 10:30 ( about 2 1/2 hours after waking up) on her belly, she turned herself 180 degrees, and slept over 2 hours! (cue monitor stalking because something must be wrong if she sleeps that long).

Then Saturday night she was back to her old tricks.

I did request a bunch of sleep training/help books from the library so maybe I can find something that will help.

Sunday afternoon she put herself to sleep in less than 2 minutes.  I was impressed, but it's probably a fluke.

She did sleep from about 10:30 pm -5 am so I was happy.

I'm thinking that part of the problem was getting her back up after her 7 pm ish nap.  Keeping her calm and in her room has helped.

Breastfeeding:

On a probably an over share but I'm going to do it anyway note when I was nursing Eleanor yesterday she unlatched herself (she does this often) but for the first time my milk actually squirted out.  Like it got her in the eye and on her face.  I quickly latched her back on and laughed.  Then she did it again, and this time I held up her burp cloth until it stopped a few seconds later.  I thought it was funny.

Also a few weeks ago I shared how I was happy to see this sign (in this post).  Turns out I know the person who came up with the campaign.  It's a friend from church-who actually made Eleanor the camo dress seen in this update-and oh my goodness how little is she there? (Side note: she has an etsy shop and makes some cute diaper covers and baby related things).

Misc:

I am so ready for winter to be over because this sweet girl loves to take walks in the big stroller and I want to get out and get back into shape a little bit.

If I walked out of her sight, she would cry.  We had a rough day that day.

One of her new outfits

After a 2 hour nap!

Another new outfit

Reading a book with grandpa U.  Love that expression!

Stealing all the balls for the ball popper.