7 months

Well I'm a week late on this but here we go. Elli turned 7 months old last week and now weighs in around 19.5lbs. My tiny little girl that fit into newborn clothes for almost 3 months is now primarily wearing 12-18 month clothes! She is babbling a ton and is on the verge of crawling. She has gotten really good about laying on her tummy and turning in circles. As far as food goes she hasn't found much that she doesn;t like. She has tried all kinds of things and most nights works really hard to get what is on our plates in addition to what she already ate. She loves to be held and the ring sling and mei tai are our best friends when we are out and about. She hardly makes a sound when in one of these and watches people around her very intently or just goes to sleep.

The latest development is a tooth. This past weekend we finally felt one pop through. She has been pretty good about it all and Hylands teething tablets have been our best friend!

There is one thing she isn't doing yet and that's sleeping for more than about 5 hours at a time. This past week she has been up every 3 hours at night wanting to eat. Out of me needing sleep she normally ends up in bed with us until I go to work then I move her back to her bed. While I personally never thought we would get to this point right now it works for us. I'm just patiently waiting for the day that she is consistently sleeping through the night so I can resume my crack of dawn workouts that I used to enjoy so much!

And now for the pictures taken over the past month.

Elli 6 months old

 At her 6 month appointment she was 17lbs 8oz and 26.5 inches long. She is now wearing size at least 9 months old but most of the clothes we have out are 12 month! She is so big and is really a chatty little girl. She has also decided that she would rather walk then roll. She has rolled from front to back but other than that she just doesn't care to do what we jokingly call stupid baby tricks. She is eating just about anything she can get her hands on and loves to sit at the table with us and either eating or just playing with her toys. She still isn't sleeping completely through the night but she is getting better and when she wakes up she has a purpose and after that is met she tends to want to go right back to bed. Here are a few pictures!

The truth about pumping at work

The truth is, I’m not fond of it. Most of you know that due to working full time I have to pump at work. There are days where it’s not a problem and others where I just loath it. But the truth of it is even on the days I want to stop I won’t let myself.

Be it either my cheap thrifty nature or something else I will not use formula. I would rather spend money on freezer bags to store the excess in the deep freeze than spend money on formula. Of course there are the health benefits and other things but I won’t go into that here.

Right now I pump 3 times a day and probably will continue this schedule for another few months until she is eating solid food on a regular basis. At this time I will be able to go down to pumping twice a day and then slowly weaning sometime after her first birthday.

But let me say this some days pumping is not my best friend. You know those days when your schedule at the office is just insane and you can barely find time to eat lunch much less get away from your desk for a few minutes. Or the days when you look at a day and realize you are stuck in meetings most of the day. Well those days have been about my past 3 months straight. Things at the office have been really crazy and some days it’s hard to get away. One week it was so bad that I ended up setting up timed reminders on my desk top. Then one day when I got into the office and looked at the outlook calendar I saw a full day of meetings and my first thought was I wonder how I am going to get a few minutes to go pump.

One thing that does make it easier is how little time it takes me to pump. I generally only take 15 minutes from the time I leave my desk to the time I return. In this time I can pump (normally around 6oz), wash out all the parts and dry them. I use a Medela pump in style that besides being a little big is worth every penny we paid for it.

Other days I love the time I get away from my desk to pump. It’s nice to not have to look at a computer screen or talk to someone about a program that I’m currently working on. Its also nice to get away from listening to some of the idiotic things I tend to overhear from the guys.

Since starting to write this I found out that with the new health care reform bill  that there is now a provision to allow for mothers to pump in a place other than the bathroom for one year. I’m not going to get political here but for working moms like me this is a huge step forward. I personally had to fight to get a place other than the bathroom and now with this on the books hopefully other moms won’t have to go through what I did.

To Butters on your 3rd birthday

In 3 years you went from this

To this

I’m still not quite sure how it all happened so fast. You are a constant challenge to us and your creativity of how to get to things never ceases to amaze us. You have been a great big brother to Elli even though most of the time you refuse to say her name and rather just call her baby. You love to try and give her a bottle and give her kisses. When she cries though you cover your ears and run!

You are our hockey playing little boy even now. You still love the game and get really mad when we try and change the channel. Over the past year you have made friends with players and coaches of our beloved UAH Chargers and have stolen many hearts at games with how well behaved and cute you are running around the VBC in your jersey. Of course this year also has been one of you learning the chants at games thanks to our good friend! Hearing you run around the house saying “U-A-H” and “ You feel shame. Sitdown hack. See you in 2 minutes or less” has been priceless. Of course you have also picked up other words too but sometimes I can’t help but laugh at how you say them.

Your 3rd birthday is starting out like the weekend you were born. UAH is off to the NCAA regional tournament and while we might not be at the game your father and I can’t forget how this time 3 years ago you were working on making your appearance.

Happy Birthday to my little boy!

Wordless Wednesday-The Stanley Cup comes to Huntsville

Of course we wouldn't be much of a true hockey family if we didn't get the kids picture taken with it!

(photos taken by @gamingwithbaby)

Smartipants Review

Back when I initially started to dig into all the different cloth diaper types and started building our stash I heard of the Smartipants brand and was intrigued but was hesitant to order any due to wanting to see some more reviews. I subscribed to their blog and twitter feed and kept up with the company but never ordered one.

One day on twitter they asked for reviewers and I sent in an email and to my surprise about a month later I received a cool blue Smartipants diaper with one microfiber insert.

After taking the diaper out of its package I started playing with it a little. The snaps are VERY sturdy. Many times I feel like I am going to break them off because they hold on so tight. The diaper has a 2 snap adjustable rise in the front that uses 3 settings from snapped all the way down for a tiny one to all open for a larger baby/ toddler. After playing with the diaper a little I threw it into the wash to prep it. Once washed I was ready to put it to the test on 3.5 month old Elli. Lately she has really been putting diapers to the test by flooding them very quickly and having some massive teething explosive incidents so I was curious to see how it would hold up.

Well she is not one to disappoint and after an hour I heard her really mess up her diaper. When I went to change her everything was held in and the insert absorbed all the moisture.

Next I wanted to see if the insert really did come out in the wash. Once again I was not dissapointed. I threw the entire diaper in with the others and did not take the insert out. On wash day I did my normal routine and sure enough when I went to put things in the dryer the insert had washed right out and was perfectly clean.

The final test was seeing what else would work in the pocket. I stuffed the pocket with a pre-fold once, the hemp insert from a Thirsties Duo diaper and a Bum Genius microfiber insert snapped down. The only one I had problems with was the thirsties and I think its because the insert is a little wider than the pocket.

My overall opinion of this diaper is excellent! It is the easiest diaper in my stash to care for by far. Simply because I don't have to remove the insert and the shell can be dried on a low heat setting or hung up to dry. The smart sleeve insert that comes with the diaper is super absorbent in my opinion. Also the leg casing held the most explosive messes and showed showed no signs of wear after a month of use.

The only thing I think I would like to see improved in this diaper is the sleeve insert. While it fits one insert great but with an older baby who is a heavy wetter you might need a greater ability to stuff the diaper with more than one insert. I think the pocket could be just a touch wider and larger to allow more stuffing.

Other than that this diaper worked very well for us and I have sense bought a few more. It is now the diaper that when I reach for a pocket at home it is my first choice.

4 month stats

Elli had her 4 month check up last week and to no suprise she has defiantly hit her growth spurt. She weighed in at 14lbs 4 oz which is around the 67th percentile and 25.5 inches long which is in the 90th percentile! Her pediatrician said that she is following Butters and getting very tall extremely quickly.
He asked a ton of questions of course regarding her reflux and developmental milestones. He told us that the reflux should subside when we start solids. Also he agreed about delaying solids until 6 months. She is growing very well so there's no need for any supplements or anything like that. She is determined to stand which he liked but rolling over isn't anything she is concerned with right now. He was also happy to see her wanting to sit up on her own and agreed with us that she might just skip rolling.

The only thing he wasn't very happy about is that she isnt sleeping through the night yet. The thing is she is sleeping in 6 hour stretches and only waking up once a night. Normally she gets up between 1:30 and 3:30am, eats, gets her diaper changed and goes right back to bed. So in that respect she is doing well though.

And now for the pictures:

 

on the changing table just happy

 

Hanging out in the mei tai asleep while I pack.