Observive and rolling

You are full of personality. I love when you talk and make so many facial expressions.

You are also observive. When I put a towel on my head when it is wet you stare at it.

You have now figured out rolling over. You used to only do it if mom introduced it. But now if I leave you on the floor for about 5 mins you'll end up on your tummy.

Roll Over

Aubree can roll over but doesn't really care to on her own.  I have to introduce her to it by starting her on her side, and dangling a toy in front of her.  She also is doing better at tummy time.  she can hold her head up better and likes it better now that she knows not to try to balance on her tummy.

She is definitely the talker and squealer though.  I also love that now she starts moaning when she wants something rather then crying right off.  The only reason she cries right off is when she wakes up.  She also has never liked burping.  I think it's the pressure she doesn't like most though.  Right when I sit her up she starts moaning and whining.  Part of it might be because usually she has a really larger burp the first time, and sometimes later too.

Also I love her facial expressions when she is jibber jabbering in the morning.  So cute.  I need to catch it on camera. 

New sleep & colds

I've tried out Celestial's idea of letting Aubree put her self to sleep (Brynlee puts herself to sleep). Except slightly different. I don't think she'd do it the same as Brynlee just yet. My way for her for now seems to be working great. After feeding burping changing burping I let her play for a bit and then when she starts to get fussy I squish her tummy a little and burp her again. She tends to have a problem with gas and I've yet to figure out what it is that I'm eating to do it. I then wrap her arms into a swaddle and wrap my arms around her to keep them in the swaddle. When she gets a little fussy then I give her the binky. She goes out pretty quickly. I don't think she's ready for on her own yet though cause she will get her arms out and knock the binky out of her mouth. Though the other day she was close to out and I moved her to the couch to do something with intent of coming back. Didn't need to though cause she was already settled enough to fall to sleep.

The other day Aubree was having trouble. I caught her choking a few times right before bed. I decided to let her sleep with us so I could help her if need be. At first I thought it might be a cat allergy from dad bringing home the new bed but then when I started to get sick too. I realized that it really was just a cold coming on.

Blessed

Ryan was helping a family swap put their beds. They no longer needed the one they had. It happed to be a full, just the size we wanted. Couples could sleep on it but yet it's not too big that we'd need to get rid of it too soon. So now we have a bed for the spare room.

Aubree can sit for like 5-10 seconds on her own if I can draw her attention up higher away from her feet.

I'm starting my new years resolution early. I'm tired of a cluttery house. We've been in our own home for a bit. I need to make homes for all our stuff and keep it tucked away and clean. I've found a basket to hold mail and fast food coupons. I want to make a rack with small hanger nails for my necklaces. I plan to keep up on putting laundry away and doing dishes.

Noticing

You were too funny the other day. When I was holding you you were staring at the screen printing on my shirt. You have done that on dads work shirts before but this time you were trying to feel it.

Also nursing cover has polka dots and it's funny too watch you stare at them a little cross eyed cause they're so close to your face.

Sleepy

Your so cute when you get tired now. You are starting to rub your eyes instead of the side of your head above your ear. Also if I'm holding you upright up to my shoulder while burping you, you will bury your head into my shoulder. I love it, it's so cute.

You seem to still not really get that great of sleep during the day. But the Dickerson's (two houses down, in the ward) watched you during the Boise temple rededication and swaddled you up in a thick blanket. You really seemed to like it cause you slept for quite a while. I tried it today and you still woke up cause I wasn't giving you your gas drops. Mom must be eating something that upsets your stomach or something.

You still don't like tummy time (you try balancing on your tummy) but sure do love standing. You would be able to stand on your own if you knew how to hang on to something to keep your balance. Your legs are very strong.

Also it's kind of funny when I'm helping you with gas by squishing your legs into your tummy you often lock up your legs but today you didn't. You must be learning that I'm helping you to get it out and feel better.

Tid Bits to Remember

I want to remember tips that I learned this time around so that I can do it better next time.

Garments- I don't care for maternity as they are way big and loose on the bottom like a dress. Nursing are okay but I like them most only at night. That's because I like to sleep with my arm under his pillow. I wish I had just boughten only larger carinessa for both maternity and nursing.

Clothing-
Maternity- Save money just buy bigger size of shirts. Long of course and empire shirts are great too to keep looking like "all belly".

Nursing- fitted stretch knit shirts and a stretchy spagetti strap underneath. Lift up the top layer and slide everything else down and off my shoulder on the feeding side. I was afraid that I'd have to buy a bunch of new clothes but most everything in my closet works great with the pull up method.

Not a huge fan of the nursing bras since they have a thick layer that's a pain to pull down enough to stay out of the way. Contemplating cutting the thick layer out and keeping the thin layers. Trying out the genie bra since Lesh said she liked it but pulled the pads out.


Bottle- I'm using the Avent bottles. They're great so that I can leave her behind for a date night, girls night, or enrichment. I just feed her expressed milk every few days to keep her used to it. Also I just seen that they came out with a bottle that's even better for nursing babies. I like it since she hardly protested. Only moaned for like 5 seconds. NICE!

Expressed milk is way nice for traveling also because then you can feed on the road and burp at gas fill ups.

Pump-The Medela brand is known as the top of the line and great if you need to go back to work. I purchased the Avent manual pump since it's more in the price range I wanted to spend. Also great for me cause I'm not using it all the time. I just want her used to the bottle.

Pumps are also nice because then you can releave yourself when you accidently feed too many times on the same side, or in the morning if baby slept longer at night.

Diapers- The pee stripe was great for the first few weeks when their pee is more gummy and very little. But after the first few weeks if it's pee let them fill it a little more (save money on diaper) it's the poop that gives them the rashes. Change those quicker.

I kind of don't care for pampers strong smell. It makes it hard to tell if it's poopy by the smell test. Then also huggies has the stretch band in back the help with blow outs. It doesn't catch every time but they have helped quite a few times. I'm trying out Up & Up (Target) brand and kind of liking them.

Wipes- I like Up & Up brand cause they are a good moisture, interlocked with each other (better for pulling out of the hard container), & cheaper. I like the Huggies hard container since they hold onto the next wipe down better so you only get one wipe. Didn't like Kroger since they are not interlock.

Also I was okay with making them too with half a roll of paper towels but should only do one half not both halves in two containers as they mold if not used fast enough. Also liked using less water at 1 3/4 c water with the 2 tbsp baby soap, 1 tbsp baby oil.

Binky- Binkies really helped me at first to space out her feedings. She wanted to suck quite a bit at first. Now I only use it to keep her quiet at church, while making dinner (if she's fussy), and to put her asleep. I've found that I really like the green soothie for being able to pull it out after she falls asleep. I don't want her to feel she needs to have it all the time. The pink and purple all one piece rubber Nuk brand it great for if I want her to keep it in by herself. She's not very good at keeping them in quite yet.

Baby gear-
Blanket- Favorite for swaddling is Carter's knit blanket. It's larger for using for longer (as they get bigger) and washes better then the recieving blankets.
Burp cloth- interlock are my favorite they seem to soak up spit up well and dry well in case you need to use it multiple times.

Burping & Sleep- I put these together cause for me they work hand in hand. I'm playing with the idea of feed when she wakes up, burp, play for a bit, burp again, and then sleep. I struggled with her falling asleep while eating burping her for a bit get the main few burps up and putting her to sleep. She'd wake when I tried to move her to bed (even if I was slow and careful) cause she had another burp in there. I'm kind of liking the new routine.

I'm working on her to play piano music to put her asleep, and just now it worked like a charm. she only fussed a little, and not crying for a while like she had been (but it might have been also the burps I left in there). :-) It's nice to work on not being extra slow and careful at putting her down so that she get used to it.

Next step I want to get her so that she's used to me just laying her down with piano music when she's sleepy and not having to rock her to sleep.

Baby Gut- One trick I'm using to get rid of the gut is rocking the rocking chair with my tummy like on a swing. I sit in the chair indian style with my legs crossed.

Blogging/Journaling - I love having a handheld device that is wireless and has a blogger app. I can blog while nursing and rocking her to sleep.