Mini Meal's: 11 Months

Charlotte went through the puree phase quite fast. She never really liked them for more than 2 months, and once she figured out how to grab the spoon, well, she wanted to grab the food as well! We had to quickly come up with finger foods for her to enjoy, which can be fun, but also limited at this point in time.

 

She's not a fan of protein (we've tried chicken, pork and beef), and loves veggies and grapes. I can't get her to eat bananas, pears, or apple sticks, so I'm needing suggestions!

 

Her veggie preferences are peas, cooked carrots, butternut squash and green beans. I've tried broccoli and she wasn't enthused either

 

She enjoys sucking the marinara off cooked pasta, but rately eats the pasta itself.

 

Our two other go-to items are yogurt and cheese. I buy these in the snack sizes from Costco and cut them into sticks. She loves them and will sometimes eat 2 at a time.

 

I'm waiting for her to turn 1 before I give her strawberries and peanut butter. I'm hoping those will also become go to items, but we shall see.

 

So, what are you little one's go to meals? I love suggestions!  

11 Months!

I feel like over the last month Charlotte has grown so much that I've statred to refer to her as a toddler. Ah the "T" word! I want my baby to stay a baby!

 

I've loved watching her grow and develop. This past month we've maintained her diet and routine, which has been nice. She's doing so many more new things, so I'll focus on that this month instead!

 

- "dat?" Is her newest trick. She loves to point at things to inquire about what they are. I love this and enjoy teaching her all about the new things shes observing!

 

- Babbling all.day.long. This girl went from random babbles throughout the day to full blow talking non-stop. The "mamamama" and "gagaga" are my favorite. I'd say it's the female in her ;)

 

- She's been taking a few steps unaided here and there, but is mostly content on crawling, which she is quite efficient doing! We try to get her to walk but she's very stubborn and will only do it if SHE wants to.

 

- Loves to stand and squat, which is hilarious to watch her do. Her legs have to be a tiny 10 inches long. Love her and her pint size!

 

- Playing with things that are not toys is probably her #1 favorite thing to do. Fine by me, less clutter in the living room! Whoop!

 

- Eating off our plates. Ya, I hate this and hope to not make it a habit. She eats table food but typically eats dinner much earlier than we do. She's been pushing back her bedtime a bit, so we've been eating dinner while she's still awake which means she wants to eat everything we have. This includes putting her whole hand in my ketchup. Nice!

 

We've been loving this stage and I'm probably going to melt down when she turns 1. She's been the light of our life and we can't remember life before her!

Breastfeeding: Part 2

I would have to say that my favorite period of nursing over the last 10 months was when Charlotte was around 7-8 months old.

 

At month 6 we introduced solids. We aimed for 2-3 jars of baby food a day, and depending on her appetite, we'd do about 32 ounces of milk. Over Thanksgiving, she started waking up in the middle of the night to eat. We decided it was time to start sleep training as we knew she couldn't be hungry based on her food intake during the day.

 

Sleep side note: Sleep training Charlotte was a breeze. We never did a full Cry It Out method, and instead transitioned her from nursing back to sleep to being rocked back to sleep. Once we conquered her waking up in the middle of the night (from a trend perspective, not a one-off), we waited a bit longer to tackle her bed time routine.

 

Once we had her middle of the night feeding eliminated, I would still nurse her (on weekends and Monday's) about 4-5 times a day. Her typical day would look like this:

 

7:00 Nurse

8:00 Puree of Fruit with Oatmeal

10:00 Nurse

11:00-noon Puree of Fruit or Vegetable

1:00 Nurse

4:00 Nurse and Puree of some protein/veggie medley

7:00 Nurse before bed

 

Sleep side note: Since she's never been a big napper, bedtime always consisted of her passing out after nursing/having a bottle. We decided to start trying to get her to sleep in her crib, as opposed to in the rocking chair. Once she started to get groggy, we'd pull out her bottle (or boob), pop in her bink, and lay her in her crib. Again, we never went straight to letting her cry, but instead would pat her back/bum until she was asleep. Eventually we started having nights where she'd just keep sitting/standing up while we were in there, so we started leaving the room. Some nights (even to this day) she'll stand up and cry for a minute, but will eventually lay down. Sometimes she'll lay there and talk to herself. The key for us is that she's able to lay down in her crib, awake, and put herself to sleep.

 

Eventually Charlotte stopped showing interest in puree's because she wanted to feed herself. This is when I started introducing baby pouches. They are more expensive but they were more up her alley. She wasn't quite ready for solid foods, so they were the middle of the road option.

 

Come January and two top teeth later, I felt Charlotte was ready for some more finger foods. She cut down to 24 ounces of milk (4 bottles) a day, and this is when we stopped nursing.

 

Charlotte became a biter once her top teeth came in. I was unable to continue to nurse her as she wouldn't stop. I assumed she was disinterested in nursing and decided exclusively pumping/bottle feeding was our best option.

 

In early February, right before she turned 9 months, I called our Pediatrician and asked how much milk she should be getting a day. They said around 10 months they can cut down to 18 ounces a day, but before that, they should still be getting 24. We fought a hard battle getting her to get in 24 ounces, so when she turned 10 months, I decided to start weaning her to 3 bottles a day. Well, don't you know that Miss C decided she was completely and totally disinterested in bottles, period? We offer her at least 18 ounces of formula a day at this point, but we don't think she gets that much as she often leaves an ounce or two left in a bottle at a time.  

 

Earlier this month my supply continued to dwindle, and I was expressing 10 ounces per day. In the grand scheme of things I was proud of how long I lasted, but the time and effort I had to put in to get those few ounces was exhausting. I decided to retire the pump and we have since gone straight to formula.

 

I'm looking forward to the next month or so and transitioning Charlotte to cow's milk. I think she'll like that better than the formula and I hope that she gets used to the sippy cup. For now, she's not really interested in drinking formula from a sippy, but I'm not concerned.

 

All in all I absolutely loved nursing and breastfeeding. My hope is that with our next I can continue to nurse longer than I could have with Charlotte, give or take biting and supply/demand.

Breastfeeding: Part 1

I've been coming to terms that it's time to quit breastfeeding, but it's been a difficult decision to make. I've loved the bonding experience with Charlotte, and have been so proud of myself for sticking with it this long.

 

I thought I'd write out my experience, starting from birth, and go through 6 months of age. This is was second short term goal- my first was making it through my 12 week maternity leave. Here goes....

 

When Charlotte was born, I was excited to try and have her latch. She latched immediately, but the "is she getting anything?" question was always in the back of my mind. The lactation consultant and the pediatricians at the hospital reassured me that she was doing just fine, and now looking back, I'm realizing they used her weight as a reference of her "getting enough". We nursed every 2-3 hours at the hospital, and did the same when we got home.

 

The Friday after she was born (which was a Monday), we went in for her first weigh in at our pediatricians. I now know this is standard for all breastfed babies. Charlotte was the same weight as when we left the hospital, 6 lbs, 3 oz, and since my milk had just come in the night before, they asked us to come back on Monday. Over the weekend, she gained 9 oz, and weighed in at 6 lbs, 12 oz.

 

I continued to nurse, sometimes 10-12 times a day in the beginning, and once she started sleeping longer durations at night, I'd pump one side after her first nursing session of the day. Instead of using these bottles throughout the day, I started building my freezer supply. This was super helpful for when I returned to work, although it quickly depleted once my supply went down.

 

Fast forward to the end of July and I was heading back to work. Charlotte would take 4, 4 ounce bottles to day care, and would nurse 2-3 times in addition to that. Come September/October, I started sending 4, 6 ounce bottles, and again would still nurse about 2 times a day on top of that.

 

If Charlotte was still sleeping prior to me leaving for work, I would pump both sides. I would pump at work 3 times a day (9:00, noon and 3:00), and again after bedtime if she only nursed on one side. This would allow me to have enough milk for the 24 ounces needed for day care bottles. Side note: I would typically express the most milk during my first 3 sessions throughout the day.

 

Once Charlotte started eating solids at 6 months, I noticed a dip in my supply. She obviously began eating more and drinking less, which is a normal progression of things. I started taking Fenugreek supplements at this point, and noticed that it did help increase my supply, along with eating more and drinking a crap ton of water.

 

Altogether the first 6 months of nursing and pumping were quite easy for us. The hardest period of time for me was when Charlotte went through her 1 week growth spurt, and was up every hour, on the hour, to eat. She would wake up, eat, go back to sleep, and before I knew it, was up again to eat once more. I was a walking zombie-cow, and felt like I would never get to sleep again.

 

Breastfeeding/Pumping Notes:

 

Pump: Medela Pump In Style Advance with Tote

-I purchased additional flanges & bottles so I wouldn't have to clean parts at work

-I actually ended up borrowing my neighbors pump at 6 months because I felt mine was losing suction (Medela wouldn't replace it)

- Using the Medela Steam bags were helpful at first, but I realized it wasn't necessary to sterilize parts every day

- Using the ice pack in the pump bag allowed for me to keep the bottles of expressed milk with me, as opposed to the in office fridge

- Pumping in the car is doable, however I would suggest buying the car adaptor as the battery pack sucks up AA batteries after 1 or 2 sessions

- Reference website Kellymom.com was a complete lifesaver; seriously check it out!

 

Fun fact: Nursing burns about 20 calories for every ounce of milk produced. Doing the math, this means at Charlotte's peak, I burned about 640 calories a day.

 

 

More to come on Part 2...

 

10 Months!

This weekend last year we were prepping for baby girl's baby shower. I can hardly believe that in a few months I'll be the mama to a one year old! Charlotte makes my every day brighter and better. I am SO lucky mama, and every day is a completely new and exciting experience with her.

 

So now on to this month...BIG things coming for this little lady!

 

-This week started averagine 3 bottles per day

- I'm still pumping 3 times a day, but am probably almost done. I am proud I made it this long!

- Still wearing 6 month clothes, 9 month pajamas

- Size 2 shoe (will only keep Freshly Picked Moccasins on her feet!)

- Size 3 diaper

- Loves pancakes, grapes, yogurt, Cheerios, Mum Mum's, Puffs, Gerber's Little Crunchies, sausage, chicken, carrots, squash and cheese

- Loves rubber duck's more than I'll ever know and why? I have no clue

- Sleeping 12 glorious hours a night (7-7)

- Napping twice a day, getting ready to cut her down to once, totaling about 1-2 hours

- Has 6 teeth, 4 on top, 2 on the bottom

- Started taking steps with her walker this week

- Loves music and dancing

- Loves to read books with mom and dad

 

Happy 10 months baby girl!!

On Being a Mama & a Wife

Before I got married, my mom and I had a discussion about how important it is to keep your marriage in tact and strong, especially while raising children. As hard as it is to make time for one more person, that person just so happens to be the most important person to have around.

 

When I was pregnant, I told Hubs that I wanted Charlotte to grow up knowing how much her parents loved each other. I told him that I didn't think we'd be great parents if we pushed our marriage aside once she arrived.

 

Fast forward to the few months following her arrival- sleepless nights, long days, a babe who wouldn't nap, and a mama who felt like everything she used to be able to do for her husband was now unmanageable.

 

I'm a big fan of the 5 Love Languages- my language that I "speak" to Hubs is acts of service. You can imagine that once Charlotte arrived, I was unable to do a majority of the acts I once was able to do.

 

For example, I LOVE to cook for Hubs, I always have. With Charlotte around, it's become difficult to even get to the grocery store! I've started focussing on getting to the grocery store over the weekends, sometimes as a family of 3, to make sure we prioritize not just cooking, but keeping a healthy lifestyle. I also TRY to move dinner from the living room, back to the dining room table. We started eating in living room once she was born, but now that we've started eating dinner after she goes to bed, I feel it's time to go back to our "roots", so to speak.

 

It's funny how our routine of eating at the dining room table now requires planning- ha!

 

I am so bless that I have such a supportive husband and father to our baby girl. I couldn't imagine raising her with anyone else, and the bond that they share is beyond my wildest dreams. She's as much of a daddy's girl as she is a mama's girl, and for that, I am thankful.

 

Growing in your marriage once your children arrive can be difficult, but in the back of my mind, I'm always reminding myself of our roots- Without a strong husband and wife team, we can't be the best parents.

 

I love you, AB!

9 Months!

A little late to this post, but I need to jot down Miss Charlotte's 9 month stats before they get lost in this sleepy brain of mine!

16 lbs, 6 oz. (10th percentile)

26.75 inches long (25th percentile)

- Eating/Nursing 4-5 times a day, breakfast, lunch, dinner and bedtime. Around 24 ounces of breastmilk/formula per day

-Eating 3 meals a day, loves pouches of purees and finger foods, including waffles, chicken, and fruit.

- Enjoys Mum Mum's and puffs

- Sleeping 12 hours (ish) at night, give or take a few in the morning

- Napping 1-2 hours total a day, depending on if she's at day care or at home

- Wearing 6 month clothing

- Upped to size 2 shoes

- Loves to crawl EVERYWHERE

- Loves to pull up to stand, clap, wave, dance, and raise her arms "SO BIG!"

- Favorite toys: remote control, iPhone, stackable rings, rubber ducks (or da's), any musical instrument, music (to dance to!)