solids and sleep

Daisy is a big baby.  She’s 3 months old and nearly 16lbs!  She’s in the 90th percentile for her age.  Chunker!  I love it actually.  I’m starting to wonder about starting solids.  I’ve read that you should start them by the time they are 15lbs (or have doubled their birth weight) and are close to 4 months old.  I always just assumed I’d start Daisy on baby rice cereal at 6 months old, but she’s so hefty and she already seems really eager to EAT.

I’m not kidding.  She drools and smacks her lips while watching Ryan and I eat.  When I bring  the fork close to her mouth she opens wide too.  I don’t know, I know a lot of moms are SUPER against starting solids, at all, until well OVER 6 months, but I’m not really sure why.  I mean, if evolution is giving a baby teeth at 4 months old and on, doesn’t that mean it’s time to start eating?  Especially if baby seems interested in actual food.

I did some research and from what Baby Center says, it sounds like I could start Daisy in a couple of weeks.  I don’t know, I’ll keep looking into it and see.  I think in a week or so I’ll at least try, and if she spits it out then she’s obviously not ready.  But if she eats it, I hear that it helps them feel fuller longer and helps with sleeping at night.  So, we’ll see.

In other news, we’re [pretty] settled for the time being!  I absolutely love this town.  It’s hard to keep Daisy on her routine in the midst of all this craziness.  She doesn’t want to sleep when a lot is going on.  But, I finally got her to nap and she’s been out for TWO hours.  Sleepy girl.  OH, and the past two nights she’s slept all night!!

I figured out why:

When Daisy was first born she slept in the bed with Ryan and I.  When she turned a month old, I started putting her in a bassient right by our bed.  I’m obviously for the co-sleeping model, and like having her very close by at night.  All went well until last week when she refused to sleep and got up 3-4 times a night… Ummmm… CAN’T HANDLE IT.

I was desperate, so I had a thought,  “What if her bassinet isn’t comfortable anymore because she’s gotten so much bigger?”  Sure enough, her weight had been pushing down enough to where the bed of her bassienet wasn’t soft for her, and she kept rolling over into the sides! (OH she rolls over now!!! I have pictures!! Will post soon!! 🙂 )

So, instead of putting her in her basienet , I put her in bed with Ryan and I, and she slept like a BABY all night, plus lllooonnngggg naps the next day.  She’s slept with us for the past 3 days and it’s been wonderful getting some rest.  I love having her right beside me.  It’s like I’m subconsciously aware of her needs when she’s sleeping so close by.  It’s obviously calmed her down a lot too.  She’s such a love bug, she needs constant reassurance, which I’m more than happy to give.  I’m so glad she’s sleeping better now.

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Teething or Just Crabby?

WHERE DID MY SUPER-STAR-SLEEPER GO!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

OMG the past week Daisy has been getting up TWICE a night!?  PLUS not wanting to nap during the day.  I don’t know what’s going on, she hasn’t done this since she was a newborn.  She’s fussier than usual too.  She’s not sick, no more tummy problems, no fever.  It’s blazing hot so I thought maybe she was too hot at night, so she’s pretty much just been in a diaper for a week and it’s no help.

Could it be teething? Isn’t it WAY too early for that?  She’s drooling constantly, she’s always chewing on her fingers, blankets, and toys.  I looked today and her bottom gums have two kind of white spots… I read that I need to feel with my finger thought to see if they’re bumpy.

I some moms here say that their babies started teething at 3 months… So we’ll see I guess.

I don’t know what’s going on! But I know I’m exhausted!

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Date Nights :)

The other night I decided to surprise Ryan with a “Staying In” Date Night.  We’re crazy for spicy food (curry, hot wings, salsa, peppers, ect)  And Ryan’s favorite food is steak (what man’s isn’t?)  So, I found a recipe for Spicy Jalapeno Steak… mmm.

Here it is maranading.  It’s jalapeno and their juice, lime, oregano and crushed garlic.  All to taste.  We like SPICE so I added a lot.

I also chopped up red, yellow, and orange peppers with onion to saute.

The cutting board just looked so pretty!!! So many colors! I sautéed them in jalapeno juice and garlic (I told you we like spice)

This was a lot prettier before I drank half of it… But, you get the idea ;p

The finished product.  Super spicy, super tastey.  I figured if we couldn’t go out for a date, we’d just stay in and have an intimate one.  Steak, candle light, a rented movie, oh and…

Daisy of course 😉

I love our little family date nights! 🙂

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Magic Butt Frosting

I never thought I’d be so excited about butt frosting.  AKA diaper rash cream.  When I was in the hospital after giving birth to Daisy, My friend Anna,  (who is a herbalist)  made me some amazing concoctions.  Mommy Tea, Herbal Sitz Bath, and Mommy and Baby Salve (AKA butt frosting, again just because I like saying that lol)

This salve is amazing.  I recommend it to women who have just given birth, and for skin irritations (my husband used it on his razor burn and it was gone within a day) and my most favorite use is for diaper rash.

Daisy was very sick at her tummy a few weeks ago and had awful diaper rash.  I tried this organic, natural salve and her intense red rash was gone in ONE day.  One day.  It’s made with all natural and organic ingredients like Olive Oil, Plantain, Cocoa Butter and lots of other healing herbs.  I HIGHLY recommend it to all my mommy and pregnant friends (and my mommy and pregnant friends who have husbands who get razor burn.)

Oh, and it’s only $10- so how freakin sweet is that?

Help a fellow hippie out by helping your baby’s butts!

Find it here 🙂

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Floor Play

Haha I love the way that sounds.

Really, is there anything better than playing with your 3-month-old on the floor?

She hasn’t rolled over yet, but she’s holding herself up really well and reaching for toys.

I never knew I’d love rolls and double chins so much 😉

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Bumbo!

So, this is a lovely little invention I ADORE.

**Please excuse the filthy onesie… You moms know how it is, I can’t keep any of her clothes clean for long amounts of time, especially since she learned that her hands make wonderful chew toys.  Droolll… yum.**

It’s a “Bumbo” and it’s great. I’m paranoid about putting her in it on high surfaces. But it’s really nice at dinner time. We just sit Daisy on the Table with us while we eat, she’s dessert ;p

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Baby Wearing at the Grocery Store

Exciting stuff right? Haha.  Well, one of my goals was to document even the “boring” things.

Here is Daisy in her carseat at only 4 weeks old.  Oh so tiny!!!!

And now, look at my big three-month-old girl!

She’s already grown so much.  It’s sad but happy at the same time.  This must be how my mom felt as I was growing up.  Oh, and of course the flower bow is there.  Even going grocery shopping is enough reason for a touch of girly-ness.

**edit** Ok, so I’m aware that her straps need to be re-adjusted.  I have no idea how though.  I promise I’ll figure it out before our next trip though 😉 Thank you Sunny for bringing this to my attention AND telling me about the video on wearing my kangaroo pouch different ways!

Anyway, our trip was a success.  I put Daisy in her “Kangaroo Pouch” as we call it, and she loved it.

I still face her inward,  she gets scared if she’s facing out.  It’s ok, I enjoy the closeness.

No matter what the lovely people of Super Walmart thought of me taking pictures of myself in the middle of an aisle.  I told a lady that walked by, “Yeah, I don’t get out much 😉 ”  And she laughed.

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Sugar and Spice…

…And everything nice!

Have I mentioned lately, I love having a little girl.  Pink and green, hair bows, flowers, dresses, frills… Oh jeeze.  So much fun.

Look at that face.  We were playing dress up.  I got her tons of those little headbands in all different colors, since I don’t want to pierce her ears as a baby and she’s still only has peach fuzz hair.  The hair bands and flower clips are a good way to be extra girly.  She always gets a lot of “Awwww’s!”  when we go out.  I love it 🙂

Also, I’m obsessed with Matilda Jane.  Oh my goodness.

Her little girl clothes are to die for.  Daisy has a few of her pieces but I want to get her MANY more once she gets a little bigger and she can wear them a little longer.

I LOVE all the girly layers and the vintage “rag doll” kind of look.  It’s just precious and timeless.  I’m excited for it to get a little colder outside, in the next couple months, so I can dress daisy is colorful cotton stockings and all sorts of dresses and shoes.

And oh my, I’m already planning her first birthday party.  Everytime I see cupcakes I get excited haha.  I’m thinking her first birthday party will be a tea party.  With dresses and little tea cups and cupcakes.  I like these pink sparkle ones a lot.

And I’m crazy about these cupcakes with daisies in them!!  And they’re already in the little tea cups! How precious!!!

I love green and pink.  I really like the frily bows on the chairs and the cupcake placemats.  I bet I could make those…

And of course there must be tutus…

I have to find some of these for Daisy!  Too cute.

Oh and her future room…

Pink, green, girly of course.  Little girls are so much fun.

I know this has been an overwhelmingly girl post but…. I can’t help it, I love my Daisy baby-girl!  I’m excited to do all the girly things with her as she grows up. 🙂

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frustrating week

The crazy awesome health I had during pregnancy is long gone.  I think my body is like “Oh, you’re not pregnant anymore so why should we bother!” Last week I had a stomach bug, this week I have a terrible cold that is getting progressively worse each day.  I’m taking care of Daisy in a hospital mask so she doesn’t catch anything.

So far so good.  Her tummy is feeling a lot better which is a relief.  Although, along with me being sick, this week has brought on different challenges.  Daisy is wonderful, she really is.  She’s a great baby, she makes many veteran mothers marvel at how well-behaved she is and her set-in-stone schedule she just naturally obeys.  It’s probably a combination of me being sick, work being stressful and her being a little extra rotten, but I’ve gotten frustrated with her this week.

I feel so guilty and awful for even saying that.  Who gets frustrated at a little, helpless 3-month-old?  The first day I felt this cold coming on [Tuesday]  Daisy didn’t nap all day.  That’s right all day.  In fact, she didn’t even go to bed until 9:30pm that night.  She has never done that before.  She would nod off in my arms, I’d lay her down, and moments later she’d wake up and be ready to go.  THAT was frustrating to say the least.  Thankfully though, the next day she went to sleep, right on schedule, right back to normal.  I have no idea what that was about.

Aside from that rough day, Daisy has been extra needy lately.  She’s a baby, of course she’s “needy” but she’s been way more so this week.  She’s obviously starting to get attached to Ryan and I.  Which, I didn’t think they started to do until 5 or 6 months, but she definitely is.  If she’s awake, and doesn’t see me, she starts bawling.  We’ll be fine and playing and laughing and I’ll walk into the next room to grab something and she will start crying.

The worse was when we went out-of-town for Ryan’s show.  She did beautifully on the car ride.  Playing and sleeping (with me in the backseat with her).  We go to our favorite mexican place for dinner before Ryan has to play.  We keep Daisy in her car seat, like we normally do, (only this time she’s next to Ryan not me) and she normally just sits there and plays and looks around.  Not this day.  Ohhh no.  We sit down, I order a margarita (thank god) and Ryan gets up to get some salsa from the bar.  He leaves, Daisy looks to both sides,  her eyes get wide, here it comes… “WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”

(above, Daisy is not happy to be taken from mommy and given to maw-maw, Ryan’s grandmother)

This was her “hurt feelings” cry.   Right in the middle of a busy restaurant.  I pick her up and bounce with her. Maybe she needs her diaper changed.  She’s defiantly not a fan of having her diaper changed in public (“I’m a lady, mommy”) so that just made it worse.  Ryan took her outside, while I sat (sipping the margaretta…thank god again…lol)

I went outside to check on them and she was doing ok then.  There was no one outside and there was a nice breeze, so we asked the waiter if we could just eat outside.  So we did, and she was fine the rest of the night.  Even for Ryan’s loud, noisy show she did great, as long as I was holding her and she could see me.

I guess I’m starting to learn that parenting isn’t an exact science, like I thought it was before.  Daisy might be totally on schedule for weeks and have a day where she completely throws it out the window and does her own thing.  She might be fine in the car but have a fit in a restaurant.  Parenting is kind of just going with it and making it work for you without getting too stressed out over it.  I do still feel guilty though for getting cross with her.  It’s not her fault.  She’s a baby and everything is new to her.  I guess I’m still learning just as much as she is.

Gosh I hope this week gets better- and easier.

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Magic Diaper Rash Creme

Since Daisy has had some tummy issue the past couple days, she got terrible diaper rash.  I tried the white, pastey, store-bought stuff and it did next to nothing for her, even the directions say it could take up to a week and only if you put a ton on.  That’s way too long for a suffering little baby.  So, I remembered when I was in the hospital, my dear friend Anna, who is all into herbs, made me some Mommy Tea, an herbal sitz bath and she also made some Mommy and Baby Salve for our lady parts.

Holy moly, this stuff has Plantain, Lavender, Essential Oils, Olive oil, Beeswax all sorts of butters and herbs… It’s insane.  Daisy very red rash is gone today.  Gone.  In one day.  This stuff is amazing and if you’re looking for organic, natural stuff you should for sure check out Ohm Gnome!

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