6 Months With Baylee!

Today is Princess Baylee's 1/2 birthday!!! How can it be that my sweet little newborn is suddenly a half of a year old and a crazy babbling, grubbing, playing machine?! These past 6 months have been so much fun and I know the next 6 will be even better as she learns to crawl, talk, and walk! I'm looking forward to every little milestone that's coming our way. :)

This month Baylee has been enjoying eating big girl food in her high chair! Originally we were going to go 100% on the Baby Led Weaning route, (No purees...baby eats what adults eat.) however, at her 6 month check up she had gained so much weight that she went from the 20th percentile at her 4 month check up all the way to the 60th percentile! She weighs 17 pounds...my little chunk! So, her pediatrician decided that it was time for her to get 2 to 3 meals of solids every day. We were already giving her oatmeal once or twice a day, but I figured that was going to get old for her real quick. So, that's when I decided that it wouldn't hurt to have a meal or two of pureed veggies or fruit every day. So far we have tried green beans, carrots, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, and peaches. She has days where she goes crazy and can't get enough, and then there are those picky days where she's just not in the mood. We are totally winging this by trial and error, but so far it seems to be working out. She finally dropped down to only one night feed every night so that's good enough for this mama!

Along with the purees and oatmeal, I still wanted to try the Baby Led Weaning just so that she can get used to food having all kinds of tastes and textures. BLW is more for fun rather than nutrition, and most of it ends up getting eaten by the cocker spaniel below her high chair, but she loves it! We have tried bananas, toast, waffles, green beans, broccoli, yogurt, white potato, peaches, and turkey. She always has the most hysterical look on her face when sampling something for the first time. Her favorite things so far are the waffles and green beans. I never would have thought in a million years that you could give a baby with no teeth solid food, but it really does work! I can tell that it's making her take huge strides in her hand-eye coordination as well, so that's definitely a plus! We love BLW so far!

Oh, and a tip I learned was to always have water handy to help wash the food down. She still uses her sippy, but I thought it might be fun to introduce an actual "cup". We have plastic red solo cup shot glasses and they are just her size! How redneck can we get right? ;)

"Red Solo cup...Mom fills you up...then I go potty...proceed to potty..." Hehehe

Speaking of the cocker spaniel, Baylee is absolutely OBSESSED with Stella these days. Everytime she sees her she giggles and smiles and reaches her hands out to touch Stella or to let her lick her hands. (Ew...we wash up after, don't worry lol) Whenever she can get her close enough, she grabs her fur in both hands and tries to eat it. Its so gross, but I can't help but laugh. I'm so happy with what a good dog Stella turned out to be. She truly adores Baylee's company, and I know they're going to be best friends.

Baylee is also completely sitting up on her own now! It's still so amazing to me to watch her play sitting up like a big girl. She has started to babble "dadada", "mamama", and "bababa" so we spend a lot of time pointing out simple objects like "dog", "ball", and "bottle". I know before long that first word is going to pop out! Brian brought home the Baby Einstein DVD's for her. At first I was a little skeptical. I mean, she's only 6 months old...she literally has the attention span of a goldfish. Surprisingly, though, she loves to watch the videos. The bright colors and happy music are pretty cute, so I can see how it would be appealing to her. I don't want her to get too much TV time though since she's still so young, so we just watch one DVD every morning. It keeps her entertained while I make my breakfast and her bottle, so in my opinion its a win!

Pretty girl also was very brave and got her ears pierced as a Christmas gift from her Mimi (Godmother). She did so well, and looks stinkin adorable with earrings!

In other news, the blog is officially a year old! It's so crazy to me that an entire year has gone by since my first blog post announcing my pregnancy. Time really does fly when you're a Mama!

Well thats about it for this month! We have some fun things planned for Baylee in the coming weeks including a trip up to Northern California to see her Great Grandpa and some Valentine's Day festivities!    Until next month, I leave you with one last pic of my precious big girl!  XoXoXo

3 to 6 Month Must Haves!

 It's about to be Baylee's 1/2 birthday in a little over a week, so it's time to update you on my 3 to 6 month old must haves! If you missed the newborn to 3 month post, click here to read it! :)

1. Infantino Baby Carrier

After a while, Baylee started getting too big to carry in our Moby Wrap. She started to not really care for how confining it was unless she was tired, so out came our Infantino Fusion Baby Carrier. I freaking love this thing! It is so comfortable and baby can face out or in. We use it for every shopping trip and outing we go on and she becomes an instant happy camper the minute she is inside it. The best part is that it's masculine enough for Daddy to wear her too. They love the bonding time, and Mama's back gets a break...win!

2. Bumbo

This has seriously got to be the greatest baby invention since the pacifier! I read mixed reviews, but after some thought (and curiosity) I decided that we needed to give it a try. So, Aunt Jenny gifted it to us when Baylee was about 3 1/2 months old (Thank you, Auntie!) and the thing was an instant hit with her! She absolutely loved being able to see the world from a different perspective, and I'm honestly convinced it helped strengthen her back and neck muscles for sitting up. She started to sit up unassisted right before she turned 5 months old, which is fairly early, and I think we have the Bumbo to thank for that! Also, it helped for starting to feed her solids at 4 1/2 months. We didn't have a high chair yet, so we just strapped her in the Bumbo and sat her on the kitchen table, and it worked like a charm. :)

3. Gerber Baby Oatmeal

Deciding to start Baylee on solids was one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I did hours upon hours of research (when I should have been sleeping...ha!) and got the "okay" from her pediatrician to start her at 4 1/2 months. I was so torn. On one hand, there is so much evidence out there to show that introducing solids to your baby too early can cause food allergies, on the other hand, my kid was HUNGRY! As an exclusive pumper, this made it very difficult because she was wanting more milk than I could produce. When she started drinking 40 ounces a day (waaaaaay more than she needs) I decided it was time. Rice cereal is basically crap, so I knew that we didn't even want to try it...there's literally no nutritional value what-so-ever. So, we found the Gerber Oatmeal. Its seriously perfect. She loves it. We love it. Happiness all around! It also comes in many flavors, which has been kind of fun now that she's older. She has the oatmeal twice a day, and it has helped her milk intake go down to about 24 to 28 ounces. Much better!

4. Mesh Teethers

As soon as your little one gets that "hand-mouth" coordination down, these are the bomb! We like to put chunks of apples in it and she goes to town sucking all the yummy juice out. You can also put in pears, frozen breast milk or formula, or even just an ice cube. They're super easy to clean too.

5. Sophie the Giraffe

She's the most expensive baby toy on the planet, but now I totally understand why. Besides being undeniably adorable, she's filled with baby crack! Hahaha! I kid...but seriously something about this giraffe makes babies fall in love. Baylee loves to teethe on her face and gets so happy when I hand Sophie to her. She's made of soft rubber and she squeaks...what more could a baby want?! If you have a baby and you don't have a Sophie yet, just suck it up and spend the $25.00. I promise she's worth it!

6. Baby Merlin's Magic Sleep Suit

Yes, it's $40.00 and looks ridiculous, but I'm telling you...it works! Baylee was the swaddle queen. She loves to feel secure when she sleeps, but she was getting too big for all her swaddle blankets. Once she was strong enough, she would burst through the velcro and wake herself up. This was the start of many sleepless nights. I finally came across the magic sleep suit, and read how many positive reviews it had. Out of hitting my "I'll seriously try ANYTHING" breaking point, I ordered one. She has slept in it every night since. I kid you not, I zip this child up and she turns her head to the side and knocks out immediately. Amen to that! I'm seriously dreading the day when she doesn't fit in it anymore because I have no idea what we're going to do instead...

7. Playtex Training Time Sippy Cup

 How my baby is old enough for a sippy cup now, I will never understand; but she is, and the Playtex Training Sippy is the BEST! She got the hang of it the very first time she used it, and has fallen so deeply in love with it that she gets mad when we take it away. We only give her water in it since it's just for fun and learning. The tip of the sippy is soft and almost bottle nipple like, so I think that's why it's so learner-friendly. The pack comes with another cup that has a straw, but we put that up for safe keeping...we're not quite there yet! ;) 

Hope this list helps everyone with little ones in this age range! I know the next list for 6 to 9 months is going to be a whole 'nother ballgame! Come back on the 15th to hear all about how we're celebrating Miss Baylee's 1/2 birthday! XoXo