The Eleanor Update: 45 weeks

Sleep:

I started a cry it out sort of routine.  I started at 5 minutes and am up to 7 minutes (assuming she's dry, fed and I think she's just tired). If she's just fussing and whimpering it will be longer. I've heard people say not to pick her up, but stay in there and calm her, and I've tried that but she screams ad stands up in the crib if I try sitting next to her.  Usually I'll last two rounds of the screaming before I give in and nurse her.

Yesterday was Rob's day to get up early with her.  I started it a few weeks ago because I wanted a chance to sleep in at least one day.  She woke up at 7:30 ish, I nursed her and she fell back asleep until 9. The day before was my day to get up early.  She was up by 7:30 and Rob got to sleep in until 9.

Naps have been rough this week.




Feeding:
She's done a few cluster feeds this week.

At the same time there was a day where it seemed like she was a bottomless pit.  She has been eating a lot more solids though.




Misc:
We had a little beach day yesterday.  I had free passes so we checked out this beach we had never been to.  It was a nice beach and the weather was warm but overcast which kept a lot of people away.  It was a calm lake and there was even a splash pad.  She was a little intimidated by that, but maybe if we go back next year she would love it then.





Exciting news!  She's finally said 'mama' But she only says it when she's mad.  When she sees Rob she will smile and say 'hi dada'  but when I walk away from her or she's not happy she will say mama or make the 'mmm' sound.  That's a new thing this week.



Saturday we took my niece on a train ride for her birthday.  Eleanor had fun on it too.  She likes to people watch and looked out the window. She loves her cousin and my niece is so amazing with her.

9 & 10 Month Favorites

There wasn't enough new things we used to make a nine month favorite edition so I'm combining this month. Here they are.  Do you have any things you would add?

1) Nuby molds.  These are a perfect way to get her to take purees.  She likes table food, and usually she get's that, but sometimes I like her to have veggies or fruit in more natural (read less additives) form so I freeze some in these and she enjoys it.  It keeps her occupied for a few minutes (but she does chow them down quickly).  





2) Momma cup.  Every time we've used this cup in public I've gotten questions about it.  It's one of the few that she has figured out. And when looking up the link to this product I learned they have a straw version which is awesome.

So I don't have a picture of her drinking from it, and this isn't even that good
of a picture anyway, but at least it's in the picture. :)

3) Playskool Vacuum
She's been so into the vacuum when I do it (and the floors have never been cleaner-ha) so I was looking at garage sales for one, and then my sister in law gave Ellie one she had got her her.  She didn't even know of Ellie's love of the vacuum so it was great.
The vacuum talks (and actually says some pretty funny things) although the eye moving kind of creeps me out.
 


4) Tylenol/Motrin
She's been so fussy, but no new teeth that I've noticed have popped through.  We give her a little bit of this on the nights where she wakes back up in pain (or so we think that's why) within an hour of going to bed.


5) Ergo
I used this here and there since she was born, but since learning how to back carry last month I've been using it a ton.  It's still sometimes tricky to get her in/out because I'm concerned about the carrier not being high enough on her back.  I can usually get it though- but still always check to be sure.

Picking Blueberries

Sleeping

6) Groovebook:  This is an app and for $2.99 a month you get a book of up to 101 pictures from your phone.  The quality is a little lower but I've gotten two books and still think it's totally worth it. If you want to try it out use the code URBAN164 and you can try it for free! And on a random note the covers are different each month and are fun prints.

Target #cartwheel #coupon

I just posted a Target gift card giveaway earlier so it's no surprise that I love Target. 

I love their cartwheel app.  The savings are small but they add up over time.  I've saved $16.49 just by using it. 

Purex has a special cartwheel deal where you can save 10% on Purex detergent and if you click the link below you can also download a coupon and save even more.  Perfect!

Purex Coupon

$150 Target Gift card Giveaway

Giveaway Post

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The Eleanor Update: 44 weeks

Every time I write a new weekly update post and I write the week number I just want to cry.  She's getting so close to the 52 week mark.  Ugh!

Sleep:
Her sleep Saturday night was horrible.  My mom babysat so we could go to a wedding kid free.  She went to bed earlier than normal which was fine, but then she woke up and was up for 3 hours.  She didn't go to bed until almost 1 am.  It was ridiculous.

Then last night she fell asleep really quickly, slept from 8:30-3:30, was up for almost 2 hours and then I had to wake her at 8:30 (we were going to the zoo or I would have let her sleep in).

Misc:

I joined the local baby wearing group.  I checked out a woven wrap from the lending library but just need to learn how to use it.  I've tried a few times, but I can't quite get a good wrap.  She pops her seat or is wrapped to loose.

We visited a farm run by a family member of my dads.  She loved sitting in the tractor and seeing the cows.




We also went to the park and even though we have a swing at home a change of scenery was nice.




She learned to play she drop it game.  You know where I pick it (cup/spoon/block/whatever) up when she drops it?  Gets old real fast, but at the same time it's hard not to laugh

She's getting better at independent play.  There are times where she whines if I am more than two feet away but other times she will just happily play by herself for 10-15 minutes.

Feeding:
 She is still hit or miss on watermelon.  She'll eat it but doesn't really eat it with enthusiasm.  Does that make sense?

She loved loved macaroni salad.


She's starting to eat more solids.  She ate a whole jar for my mom.

I dumped a jar of pureed peas on her high chair and she ate some of it with her fingers and just made a huge mess.  But I was calling it a sensory experience. haha.

Eleanor's 10 Month Update

Lots of fun and adorable new tricks this month as well as increasing difficulty in taking pictures. 

She waves and understands what it means.  For example Rob walked into her room this morning to say hi when I was changing her and as soon as she saw him she waved. 

Also she can say "hi" and "dada"  together. So she's using a 2 word sentence.  This week she's started to say a few more words/sounds like "bye" "uh oh" and I feel like she said book.

She can clap now.  It's so adorable when she does something and claps and smiles.  The morning after she learned I nursed her and the she clapped.  Hilarious. 

She's pulling up on anything that she can.  And anything under 3 feet is in her danger zone.

She learned this week about the drop it game. You know the one where she drops something and I pick it up.  That's a whole ton of fun.

She's a smart little girl.  The other day she woke up and was sitting in her crib babbling away.  Normally she doesn't wake up like that, and when I looked in on her she had a little plastic toy.  I couldn't figure out how she got it.  Then I realized that she had reached through her crib slats into a little container of toys between it and the changing table, and pulled it out (and it was a reach) and into her crib (also impressive because she had to navigate the crib slats).

And when she knows she's about to do something she shouldn't she will look over to see if you are watching and then grab for the ipad or whatever it is she's trying for. But if you give her the iphone she just lights up and is so happy.

She figured out last weekend that she can walk behind a toy.  It started with a diaper box and then we borrowed a toy walker from my sister in law and she is so proud of herself. 

She's stood on her own a couple times for like a second, but infrequently and inconsistently.

She still loves books.  I try to read them to her, but she's constantly turning the pages on me.  And only board books since she likes to rip up magazines and catalogs.

Still in size 3 disposable diapers, mostly at night though  I almost always use cloth and since I do almost all the diaper changes that's what I use.

Clothes range from 6 month -12 month onesies.  I put her in a 12 month romper (the one in her picture above) and it fit.  Which was good because she has some really cute 12 month ones that I didn't think we could use.  So when she peed through it (because she napped longer than expected today her cloth diaper didn't hold it) I put on a different 12 month one.  Pants and shirts are usually 12 month or they are belly shirts and capri's.

She nurses 6-8 times a day, and eats solids at least once a day.  Mostly because I forget sometimes.  She loves almost everything she's tried, but has't seemed to love grapes.  I've heard you have to try something 20 times so I keep offering them when I have them.

No new teeth this month that I know of.  She doesn't let me check.

Sleep was getting better and naps more consistent, but the last few weeks she regressed back to catnaps.  She did however nap an hour and half today so that was good.

She's still such a happy easy going baby who loves to be around other people.  She waves whenever she sees someone on a walk, at the store etc...
\
I'm sad that my baby is growing up but I'm excited by all these new milestones as well.

For more updates, I'm working on getting the tab at the top of the page update.  I think it's updated with pregnancy but I'm going to get her first year updates on there as well.  Stay tuned. 

My Breastfeeding Must Haves

Eleanor had nothing but breast milk the first six months of her life (when we started on solid food in addition to breast milk).  Even at this point I'd say it still makes up the majority of her nutrition.  From the pictures below you can see how it made my sweet girl grow.

3 days old

2 days short of ten months.

We are just about to hit the ten month mark (tomorrow!).  I'm proud of that.  I battled clogged ducts, toe curling pain when she latched, and the general I have no idea what I'm doing moments.  It was all worth it.

Now that's she's getting older it's easier but still challenging.  Especially when she decides doing handstands while latched on is a good idea. haha.  Most of the time I nurse her in my quiet bedroom because she get's so distracted.

But really I'm not an expert, although I have learned a few things along the way.  Check out my list below of some of the things that really helped us -especially at the beginning!

1)Lansinoh Latchassist Nipple Everter  My nipples were flat and this helped while Eleanor and I were just starting out.  I used it for the first month.

 
 2)Bamboobies Nursing Pads While I luckily didn't have a lot of leaking, I used this and liked these because they were softer than disposable pads.

3) My Brest Friend This would be my pillow of choice.  I never had a boppy (although I had a similar style) and after the c-section couldn't have used that anyway.  I don't use the pillow anymore but that's because I just don't need it as much.

4) I used this as a nipple cream and it helped a lot.  As a plus it's also good as a diaper cream among other things.

 

5) I sat in this chair many days and night feeding Eleanor.  It has a side pocket in which I kept some of the essentials mentioned in this post.

6) I use these to store milk when I pump.  It's not often but I do wanted to have a stash just in case.  I have a few hundred ounces stored in the freezer in these bags.

7)  This was another product that I used to help me adjust to breastfeeding.  It helped with the pain and it helped with the flat nipples as well.

8) A good nursing tank or bra. I had a hard time finding ones that were really supportive and fit well.  They worked fine (still using them) but I didn't/don't love them.  Find one you love and then buy them in all the colors.  Seriously.  I have 3 different styles out of the five I have.

9) While not a tangible thing, having support is huge.  I went to a local support group for the first time when she was about 5 weeks old and if I am blessed to have another child someday I will go even sooner.   I read books and blogs and even watched you tube videos but actually getting help in person was so much nicer.