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...
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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. 

The Eleanor Update: 43 weeks

It's getting reeeeeaaalllly tough to take weekly pictures because she won't sit for more than a second.

Feeding

We were out for a walk last week and my sister handed her an apple slice.  Either she dropped it or ate the whole thing.  I had never given her an apple before.  I think she has had an apple puree but never a whole apple.  I stopped at the store on the way back home and bought a couple. 

We went blueberry picking on Friday and I was feeding her blueberries to keep her happy and she really liked them.  It wasn't the first time she'd had them, but she didn't like them last time.  These fresh ones were a hit.  Later that night I made us blueberry pancakes and she also loved those.
 

Sleep:

Slept through the night on Tuesday.  And that was it.  She didn't get to bed until 11:30 Friday night.  Of course Rob was gone.  I tried for 2 hours until taking a break at 10 pm and letting her play for a while.  Then I was able to eventually get her back to sleep.

And she's back to 30 minute catnaps.  Ugh!

I'm trying to wean off the snuza. She's happy either way, but I just can't let go of the anxiety sometimes.

Misc:

We went to the local Big Latch On on Saturday.

She's learned how to walk behind a toy.  It started with a diaper box and then we borrowed a toy from Rob's sister.  It's crazy to see her 'walking.'

Weekend Wrap up 8/3

Quick wrap up to end the weekend.

1) Today we went to my sister in laws house and visited with her, her kids and my mother in law.  She always spoils Ellie with clothes and toys.  My niece is a year older (almost to the day; Eleanor's birthday is the 7th, my niece is the 9th) so ELeanor get's a lot of her hand me downs which is so so 

appreciated.  

Also trying to get a good picture of a almost ten month old, 1 year old and 4 year old is near impossible.

2) Eleanor and I went blueberry picking on Friday.  She had a great time eating the ones I handed back to her.  We only lasted long enough to pick a few pounds.  It was pretty warm and she was in the ergo on my back and so we both we getting sweaty.  

3) I've been doing these baby food tasting things thanks to a friend who told me about them.  It takes about 30 minutes (plus the 40 minute drive) and I get a $20 Meijer gift card which are great and really help with the groceries.  If you are local and want more information let me know.  I can get a gift card myself for referring you.  The person who I said refereed me got one!

4) Still no job and starting to get stressed.  Especially with her birthday coming up and car insurance due at the same time. We aren't going crazy with her birthday.  I have a few gifts for her that I've won or bought on sale.  Total spent on her gifts is under $20.  We are planning on $200 for her party (including  food, and decorations etc...).  I'm thinking 20-25 people so I don't think that's to bad. 

Giveaway! Dial Coconut Water Hydrating Body Wash Review

A few months ago I reviewed another dial body wash.  I liked it so when I got the chance to review a different variety I was excited.

This time I was sent Dial Coconut Water Refreshing Mango body wash.  I guess coconut water must be a new thing because this is not the first time I've seen it.  

As soon as I opened the box up, took the body wash out and removed the tape (so it wouldn't leak in transit) I flipped the top to smell it.  I'm not one who is sensitive to smells, but I have my preferences.  Tropical smells are some of my favorite (I'm sure I've mentioned this before).  So this moisturizing body wash was sure to be a hit already.  And I loved it.

I've been using it for about a week and I'm sure this bottle will last me a long time (I actually have some left from the other bottle).  The scent is nice in that it's strong, but not overpowering.  And I could still smell it on my skin after I was done showering and had gotten dressed again and I like that.

Maybe you don't think of of a body wash when you think of dial but you should.  This is a body wash for the whole family (although I bet a child will use waaay more than needed so watch them!)

You can enter to win a coupon to try it for yourself! 
Enter using the form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pampers Points to Grow

I've signed up for several reward programs from companies because I feel like why not? It's free and I can get free stuff for it as well. Pampers is one of those companies. I haven't accumulated enough to redeem, but I often am able to get free codes for 10 points here or there, and add that to the points from diapers and wipes that we have for Eleanor and I'm sure that sometimes soon I will be able to.

Click here to sign up 

The Eleanor Update: 42 weeks

Sleeping:

Rob and I went to a race Saturday and so Eleanor didn't go to bed to well (my mom was babysitting).  She was asleep when we got home at 10:30 and then was up for an hour from 5:30-6:30 and was back to sleep until almost 10 am.  It was crazy!

Of course that meant she slept poorly the rest of the day and went to bed late but you win some lose some. 

So Rob thought she was sleeping that long because she didn't have the snuza on.  It makes sense because she's a belly sleeper and it's probably not the most comfortable thing to be laying on.  I wasn't sure if it was that or just being wore out from playing with my parents and my niece and being up later so I tried again last night.  She slept 8-9 hours.

I've known it's probably time to be done with it (although we did just replace the batteries) for a little while.  She constantly wiggles it loose and the alarm goes off.  When she was younger I could just reach under her and fix it but now she stirs around a lot more and I can't do it without messing her up. 

Feeding:

She had soft serve ice cream (and regular ice cream-oops), chicken fried rice (she really liked this), jambalaya (which was pretty spicy), yellow squash (she didn't mind this, but it was bland), pickle, & ranch Doritos (that was Rob';s doing and he only gave her one chip in little pieces).

Because we were gone and we went a while without nursing I pumped on Saturday when we got home.  I got 9 oz (both sides) in less than 30 minutes and probably could have gone longer and gotten more out. 

Misc:

She can now say "hi dada" and she can wave correctly.  She could do it before but now she actually knows what it means and does it at the appropriate times. 

I don't have very many pictures from this week.  My phone is constantly running out of memory and I just didn't take very many.