March 30, 2018
March 28, 2018
First Bites
This is a little insane and I'm more than likely never going to do this for any future child we may have. But here is a record of Kip's first foods.
Avocado - January 1, 2018 - Meh
Banana - January 18, 2018 - Liked but possible allergy?
Sweet Potato - January 19, 2018 - LOVES
Apple Sauce - January 25, 2018 - Likes
Yogurt - February 12, 2018l - Loves
Oatmeal - February 13, 2018 - Loves
Broccoli - February 16, 2018 - Meh
First pouch - February 16, 2018 - Loved
Bagel - February 17, 2018 - Confused
French Bread - February 21, 2018 - Loves
Squash - February 22, 2018 - LOVES
Biter/Teether snack - February 22, 2018 - Loves. Gets a little overzealous.
Mixed Veggies - February 23, 2018 - No Ma'am
Blueberries - March 1, 2018 - Meh
Chicken Pot Pie (puree form) - March 5, 2018 - HATED/refused
Peas - March 8, 2018 - Meh
Peaches - March 9, 2018 - Likes
Carrots - March 9, 2018 - Likes
Corn - March 10, 2018 - Likes
Mango - March 14, 2018 - Hated/refused
Sandwich Bread - March 12, 2018 - Loved
Soft Pretzel - March 16, 2018 - Loved
Toast - March 23, 2017 - LOVED
Chicken Pot Pie (bite form) - March 26, 2018 - Liked!
Kippy enjoys eating, for the most part. He gets pretty messy and depending on how tired he is, he will put his hand in his mouth and then rub his head or eyes. I don't think he has really caught the cue that it's time to eat when we pull out the spoon or put the bib. He has steadily increased the amount he will eat from just a few bites to finishing a whole bowl and if it's something he enjoys eating, like yogurt, he will open his mouth for another bite. He gets so distracted while nursing now and does seem to be dropping the amount of breast milk he consumes. He has two little teeth so he is able to bite and he has started "chewing," which is adorable.
Just last week we started adding more "bites" of real food as opposed to spoon feeding strictly purees. We'll probably work through the stash of baby food we made and froze and after that's gone we'll just start feeding him what we're eating!!
His favorites are sweet potato, squash, yogurt, and bread. I'm excited to see him start feeding himself and being able to let him just eat what we're eating.
Avocado - January 1, 2018 - Meh
Banana - January 18, 2018 - Liked but possible allergy?
Sweet Potato - January 19, 2018 - LOVES
Apple Sauce - January 25, 2018 - Likes
Yogurt - February 12, 2018l - Loves
Oatmeal - February 13, 2018 - Loves
Broccoli - February 16, 2018 - Meh
First pouch - February 16, 2018 - Loved
Bagel - February 17, 2018 - Confused
French Bread - February 21, 2018 - Loves
Squash - February 22, 2018 - LOVES
Biter/Teether snack - February 22, 2018 - Loves. Gets a little overzealous.
Mixed Veggies - February 23, 2018 - No Ma'am
Blueberries - March 1, 2018 - Meh
Chicken Pot Pie (puree form) - March 5, 2018 - HATED/refused
Peas - March 8, 2018 - Meh
Peaches - March 9, 2018 - Likes
Carrots - March 9, 2018 - Likes
Corn - March 10, 2018 - Likes
Mango - March 14, 2018 - Hated/refused
Sandwich Bread - March 12, 2018 - Loved
Soft Pretzel - March 16, 2018 - Loved
Toast - March 23, 2017 - LOVED
Chicken Pot Pie (bite form) - March 26, 2018 - Liked!
Kippy enjoys eating, for the most part. He gets pretty messy and depending on how tired he is, he will put his hand in his mouth and then rub his head or eyes. I don't think he has really caught the cue that it's time to eat when we pull out the spoon or put the bib. He has steadily increased the amount he will eat from just a few bites to finishing a whole bowl and if it's something he enjoys eating, like yogurt, he will open his mouth for another bite. He gets so distracted while nursing now and does seem to be dropping the amount of breast milk he consumes. He has two little teeth so he is able to bite and he has started "chewing," which is adorable.
Just last week we started adding more "bites" of real food as opposed to spoon feeding strictly purees. We'll probably work through the stash of baby food we made and froze and after that's gone we'll just start feeding him what we're eating!!
His favorites are sweet potato, squash, yogurt, and bread. I'm excited to see him start feeding himself and being able to let him just eat what we're eating.
March 26, 2018
Weekending it
Happy Monday! The sun is peeking out and we are grateful for any temperature above 40 degrees! Can you believe that Easter is on Sunday??? It was so much warmer by this time last year. But we'll make the most of it.
This weekend, Kippy's favorite part was toast! Oh man, he loved it!
We went shopping in the morning, waited 40 minutes for a car wash, and in the afternoon we had friends over for a baby playdate.
It was short lived (because of bedtime) but still SO much fun.
On Sunday we had church, grocery shopping, and basketball. Kip was refusing an afternoon nap so I forced him to lay on me. He hates snuggling but I just knew he was exhausted and would fall asleep eventually. And I was right.
It was a blissful 45 minutes.
Kansas University won their game last night which means they are headed to the Final Four. The boys are thrilled.
Kippy and I are just hanging out today. Trying to get back on a nap schedule and getting things done.
This weekend, Kippy's favorite part was toast! Oh man, he loved it!
We went shopping in the morning, waited 40 minutes for a car wash, and in the afternoon we had friends over for a baby playdate.
It was short lived (because of bedtime) but still SO much fun.
On Sunday we had church, grocery shopping, and basketball. Kip was refusing an afternoon nap so I forced him to lay on me. He hates snuggling but I just knew he was exhausted and would fall asleep eventually. And I was right.
It was a blissful 45 minutes.
Kansas University won their game last night which means they are headed to the Final Four. The boys are thrilled.
Kippy and I are just hanging out today. Trying to get back on a nap schedule and getting things done.
March 23, 2018
Peeks from the Week
Three weeks - Four snow storms - Zero snow days - Exhausted
Even though the snow accumulation was never as much as predicted in the city, commuting to and from work in any weather condition is annoying at the very least. SO READY FOR SPRING OVER HERE.
All the storms have fallen on a Tuesday-Wednesday or Wednesday-Thursday. Since Mandy drives over from NJ on Wednesdays to be with Kip, she was having to come over on Tuesday night to avoid the storm or stay over Wednesday night to avoid travel hazards. I loved extra time with her but I know it was annoying to interrupt her normal routine. She moved to NJ after living in the Chicago area for 10 years and this winter has rivaled those of the Midwest which is not a happy swap. We are all hopeful this last storm was the end of it.
This is the little community garden I walk past every day on my way to work.
Buried in snow. I plan to take pictures of it as transforms through the season.
Even though I didn't get a snow day, I did leave work early and Kippy was the absolute cutest when I arrived home. We sat in his room looking out the window at the snow falling. He was mesmerized. He doesn't really have any snow gear so we didn't take him out in it but I sort of prefer indoor observation anyways.
It's another March Madness weekend and we all know who Dan is rooting for:
KU, if you couldn't tell.
Also this week, Kippy isn't crawling yet but he is managing to get to where he wants to go by sliding and rolling around. On Monday I was dusting his room while he played and he had wormed his way under his baby swing. I think we need to get serious about baby-proofing NOW.
We sorted through his clothes this week as 6 month items are getting a little snug. I just had to get one more little wear out of this cute plaid shirt that Jessy got him for Christmas.
Look how tiny he was just a few month ago!!
Happy Friday!!
Even though the snow accumulation was never as much as predicted in the city, commuting to and from work in any weather condition is annoying at the very least. SO READY FOR SPRING OVER HERE.
All the storms have fallen on a Tuesday-Wednesday or Wednesday-Thursday. Since Mandy drives over from NJ on Wednesdays to be with Kip, she was having to come over on Tuesday night to avoid the storm or stay over Wednesday night to avoid travel hazards. I loved extra time with her but I know it was annoying to interrupt her normal routine. She moved to NJ after living in the Chicago area for 10 years and this winter has rivaled those of the Midwest which is not a happy swap. We are all hopeful this last storm was the end of it.
This is the little community garden I walk past every day on my way to work.
Buried in snow. I plan to take pictures of it as transforms through the season.
Even though I didn't get a snow day, I did leave work early and Kippy was the absolute cutest when I arrived home. We sat in his room looking out the window at the snow falling. He was mesmerized. He doesn't really have any snow gear so we didn't take him out in it but I sort of prefer indoor observation anyways.
It's another March Madness weekend and we all know who Dan is rooting for:
KU, if you couldn't tell.
Also this week, Kippy isn't crawling yet but he is managing to get to where he wants to go by sliding and rolling around. On Monday I was dusting his room while he played and he had wormed his way under his baby swing. I think we need to get serious about baby-proofing NOW.
We sorted through his clothes this week as 6 month items are getting a little snug. I just had to get one more little wear out of this cute plaid shirt that Jessy got him for Christmas.
Look how tiny he was just a few month ago!!
Happy Friday!!
March 21, 2018
Kip's Picks: Bottle Feeding/Pumping
Sharing my favorite things related to bottle feeding, pumping, and all the cleaning related to those two activities! As usual, not sponsored or affiliate links. Just things we use and like.
Kip has been bottle-fed since birth. We do nurse as well but that was a journey, read more about that saga here and here and here. But, now that I'm back at work four days a week, Kip gets mainly bottles. We are seven months into the baby feeding duties and we've learned A LOT along the way. Basically, when I look back on the time before Kip was born. We knew nothing. Legit zero. I thought I knew how to feed a baby but I was dead wrong. Truly, it's been the biggest learning curve for me when it came to new motherhood. But now that I'm "experienced" (HA!) here are some things we've found and loved.
The thing about bottle feeding is there is A LOT of clean-up. With exclusive direct nursing there is no clean-up except spit-up. With pumping or formula you have all the bottles and/or all the pump parts. You are supposed to wash everything daily, sanitize often, and air dry. It's a huge production. You can wash things in the dishwasher but I don't really trust our dishwasher and it was out of commission for over a month this fall and then replaced with a less efficient machine. We really only run it once every few days so it's just easier for us to hand wash the bottles. We tackle all of the cleaning with a simple set-up and system:
At home:
All feeding bottles are prepared the night before. We use the Avent bottles and they are fine. Kip likes them and that's it, nothing special. The bottles are prepared with the fresh milk I have pumped and stored in the fridge. Four, 5-5.5 oz bottles every day.
After a feed the bottle is disassembled and rinsed in HOT water. We have a cheap pink bucket that they gave me at the hospital and that is where all the baby bottle and pump stuff goes to be washed. We keep all that separate from the sink and our regular use dishes. I read a horror story about a baby who got a horrendous infection an died from bacteria found in the family kitchen sink. Therefore, Kip's stuff never sits in the sink. All of it goes in the bottle bucket by the kitchen sink. After a bottle or two (he takes four in a day) Mandy or Dan will wash the bottle and parts in hot water with the Babyganics dish soap. I love all the Babyganics products we've tried and have used this soap from day one. This soap has no fragrance and it suds up really well and leaves no residue. We just got the Munchkin sponge bottle brush a couple of months ago and I love it because it fits perfectly in bottles, works well for scrubbing the sides of the bottle, and the butt end comes out and has a special nipple "brush" that is used to clean the inside of the nipple. After the bottle and parts are washed, they get rinsed in water and sanitized in the Munchkin Latch microwave sanitizing bag (not pictured). It takes 2 oz of water and 3 minutes to sanitize. Everything then gets put on the OXO Tot Bottle Drying Rack and left to dry. After everything dries, the bottles get filled for the next day or stored for the next use.
It is not necessary to sanitize bottles every day but we started off doing that and now it's just a habit.
At work:
During the week I pump three times a day at work: 9 am, 2 pm, and 5 pm. I'm trying to merge those last two pumps into one pump at 3 pm but it's taking some time. I also pump at 9:30 pm at home before bed. I can't go more than 10 hours between pumps so even though Kip sleeps from 6 pm - 6 am, I need to pump. Anyways, I pump into Medela 5 oz storage bottles or into the cheap-y Parent's Choice or Evenflo 9 oz bottles you can get at any drug store. Since I don't pump into the bottles we use to feed, I don't really care about the quality of those pump bottles. I'll pump into anything. My pumped milk goes into the fridge and I put my parts in a Tupperware container that also sits in the fridge between pumps (that's an exclusive pumper trick and time saver). At the end of the day I wash my pump parts and leave them to dry by the sink in the pump room on my little travel sized On-the-Go OXO Tot drying rack. This little rack is great because the brush stores neatly in the rack and it folds up for easy travel. It's the perfect size for all my pump parts. At the end of the week I bring my parts home and they get sanitized like the bottles.
I transport all my pumped milk from the day in a large insulated lunch tote that I got at TJMaxx. I use two of the Medela bottle ice packs and lug it all home on the Subway. It weighs like 10 pounds. Woof. The bottles then go in the fridge until I'm ready to prep the feed bottles for the next day.
At the end of the day I do my last pump at 9:30 pm. Afterwards, I prepare the feed bottles for the next day, wash the pump bottles, and any leftover milk get stored to freeze. I tried the Medela bags, the Parent's Choice bags, and the Lansinoh bags. Above and beyond, I prefer the Lansinoh milk storage bags. They are cheap on Amazon (100 for $10) and they have never leaked on me. I like the reinforced edges and how they store flat with little bulk. Most of the freezer stash gets donated to a local mom and her little baby boy. I keep about 200-300 oz on reserve for us just in case we need it.
After I typed this all out, I'm exhausted. It's a lot of work and a lot of milk and soapy water. Now that Kip has started on some solid foods, we've entered new whole new world of baby feeding. Gulp.
Kip has been bottle-fed since birth. We do nurse as well but that was a journey, read more about that saga here and here and here. But, now that I'm back at work four days a week, Kip gets mainly bottles. We are seven months into the baby feeding duties and we've learned A LOT along the way. Basically, when I look back on the time before Kip was born. We knew nothing. Legit zero. I thought I knew how to feed a baby but I was dead wrong. Truly, it's been the biggest learning curve for me when it came to new motherhood. But now that I'm "experienced" (HA!) here are some things we've found and loved.
The thing about bottle feeding is there is A LOT of clean-up. With exclusive direct nursing there is no clean-up except spit-up. With pumping or formula you have all the bottles and/or all the pump parts. You are supposed to wash everything daily, sanitize often, and air dry. It's a huge production. You can wash things in the dishwasher but I don't really trust our dishwasher and it was out of commission for over a month this fall and then replaced with a less efficient machine. We really only run it once every few days so it's just easier for us to hand wash the bottles. We tackle all of the cleaning with a simple set-up and system:
At home:
All feeding bottles are prepared the night before. We use the Avent bottles and they are fine. Kip likes them and that's it, nothing special. The bottles are prepared with the fresh milk I have pumped and stored in the fridge. Four, 5-5.5 oz bottles every day.
After a feed the bottle is disassembled and rinsed in HOT water. We have a cheap pink bucket that they gave me at the hospital and that is where all the baby bottle and pump stuff goes to be washed. We keep all that separate from the sink and our regular use dishes. I read a horror story about a baby who got a horrendous infection an died from bacteria found in the family kitchen sink. Therefore, Kip's stuff never sits in the sink. All of it goes in the bottle bucket by the kitchen sink. After a bottle or two (he takes four in a day) Mandy or Dan will wash the bottle and parts in hot water with the Babyganics dish soap. I love all the Babyganics products we've tried and have used this soap from day one. This soap has no fragrance and it suds up really well and leaves no residue. We just got the Munchkin sponge bottle brush a couple of months ago and I love it because it fits perfectly in bottles, works well for scrubbing the sides of the bottle, and the butt end comes out and has a special nipple "brush" that is used to clean the inside of the nipple. After the bottle and parts are washed, they get rinsed in water and sanitized in the Munchkin Latch microwave sanitizing bag (not pictured). It takes 2 oz of water and 3 minutes to sanitize. Everything then gets put on the OXO Tot Bottle Drying Rack and left to dry. After everything dries, the bottles get filled for the next day or stored for the next use.
It is not necessary to sanitize bottles every day but we started off doing that and now it's just a habit.
At work:
During the week I pump three times a day at work: 9 am, 2 pm, and 5 pm. I'm trying to merge those last two pumps into one pump at 3 pm but it's taking some time. I also pump at 9:30 pm at home before bed. I can't go more than 10 hours between pumps so even though Kip sleeps from 6 pm - 6 am, I need to pump. Anyways, I pump into Medela 5 oz storage bottles or into the cheap-y Parent's Choice or Evenflo 9 oz bottles you can get at any drug store. Since I don't pump into the bottles we use to feed, I don't really care about the quality of those pump bottles. I'll pump into anything. My pumped milk goes into the fridge and I put my parts in a Tupperware container that also sits in the fridge between pumps (that's an exclusive pumper trick and time saver). At the end of the day I wash my pump parts and leave them to dry by the sink in the pump room on my little travel sized On-the-Go OXO Tot drying rack. This little rack is great because the brush stores neatly in the rack and it folds up for easy travel. It's the perfect size for all my pump parts. At the end of the week I bring my parts home and they get sanitized like the bottles.
I transport all my pumped milk from the day in a large insulated lunch tote that I got at TJMaxx. I use two of the Medela bottle ice packs and lug it all home on the Subway. It weighs like 10 pounds. Woof. The bottles then go in the fridge until I'm ready to prep the feed bottles for the next day.
At the end of the day I do my last pump at 9:30 pm. Afterwards, I prepare the feed bottles for the next day, wash the pump bottles, and any leftover milk get stored to freeze. I tried the Medela bags, the Parent's Choice bags, and the Lansinoh bags. Above and beyond, I prefer the Lansinoh milk storage bags. They are cheap on Amazon (100 for $10) and they have never leaked on me. I like the reinforced edges and how they store flat with little bulk. Most of the freezer stash gets donated to a local mom and her little baby boy. I keep about 200-300 oz on reserve for us just in case we need it.
After I typed this all out, I'm exhausted. It's a lot of work and a lot of milk and soapy water. Now that Kip has started on some solid foods, we've entered new whole new world of baby feeding. Gulp.
March 19, 2018
Weekending it
This weekend Dan and I did so well at team-style parenting. We didn't have any guests or any trips to NJ planned so it felt a little like pre-baby life. In fact, Kip slept in until 7:30 which was a dream for us. Ha! We used to get up at 9:30 or 10 on Saturdays and now 7:30 is sleeping-in. But, I'm not complaining.
Dan made breakfast while I nursed Kip and we were dressed and out the door by 9:00 am. The original plan was to have brunch with old friends who are moving out of the state at the end of the month. Their kids were a little sick so that was changed to just a quick goodbye after delivering some lamps I was passing along. Well, the quick goodbye ended up being an hour so by the time we left Kip was in need of a nap. He fell asleep in the stroller so we decided to go to the grocery store to extent the nap. That afternoon, we played with Kip while Dan simultaneously watched basketball.
It's March Madness and possible his favorite time of year. Dan, Mandy, and I each made brackets and mine is utter toast. So many upsets!!
Anyways Kip is pretty terrible about taking a good afternoon nap. He was so overtired but refused to sleep so we went out for another later afternoon walk. He zonked for a half hour and we wasted enough time to get to bedtime. Dan and I enjoyed dinner and some tv before bed.
On Sunday, Kip slept-in until 7:45 which was also bliss! My theory is he sleeps in longer when he doesn't hear us up and moving around like we do during the week to get ready for work (even though we are really quiet). Since he slept so long we all had to scurry to get dinner in the crockpot and everyone ready for church. We decided to go to Costco on the way since I figured it wouldn't be so crowded. Wrong. It was a zoo at 9:30 AM on Sunday morning. So stressful just trying to get some diapers.
Kip's naps were all off from the late sleep-in and church and he just wanted to play with his friends rather than take a stroller nap.
We got back home around 2:30 and my friend came by around 3 to catch-up and hangout. Kip was not a great host and fussed much of the visit.
Nothing to look forward to this week, especially with snow arriving on the first day of spring. Ugh! Just living for the weekend.
