Tag: Baby

Baby

Favorite Toys for 3/4 Month Olds

by Rachel StoopsLeave a Comment on Favorite Toys for 3/4 Month Olds

Somewhere between three and four months was when Vivian really started appreciating the world around her and became so much more interested in toys and objects. She had been ‘playing’ with pretty much the same toys/activities since she was little, but had now began to interact with them. Below are some of our favorites so far.

Teething Toys

Between months three and four was when we really needed to up our game on teething toys. Vivian had finally found her hands, and was really getting good at finding her mouth, which meant everything she grabbed went straight in there. We had a few toys on hand, but I set out to find some that were both easy for her to hold, and also good for chewing.

Winkel – first off, I am dying at the name, I guess I hadn’t noticed when I ordered it – so random! This one is fun because it has so many different ways she can hold it. I will often just lay it on her chest and she is able to easily grab it without having to turn it in one specific direction. She can also bring it to her mouth and chew on the edges. She also loves to shake it around because the middle has a rattle, and she often ends up throwing it – a fun game. 😂 It’s very light weight, which I think is perfect!

Fruit Teethers – this little fruit set has been great! The thin ‘stems’ are perfect for holding, and both ends are great for chewing! Surprisingly, she often leans toward enjoying the leaf end versus the fruit end. The leaf end is textured, so she seems to really enjoy it, but is happy with either side and loves carrying these around! It looks like you can also put these in the freezer, so once we hit the actual teething stage, we will probably give that a try!

Mushroom Teether – this was probably the first toy that we found that she really enjoyed. You can flip the mushroom part up so she can get a good grasp on the handle and then flip the mushroom back down. The two ears are great for chewing and gave her two different targets when she was still learning to bring things to her mouth. It was really fun to watch her explore and figure out how to maneuver this. I have heard that some people have found their babies with this suctioned to their face when the mushroom gets flipped up, so we cut a few extra little holes in the mushroom part so that it can’t suction. We love this so much that we actually ordered a second one for backup! The only downside is the smooth silicone material attracts dog hair, so I am constantly having to make sure its clean if she’s playing with it on the floor.

Elephant Teether – this is another great shape, with arms that are easy for Vivian to grasp. She loves chewing on the ears or nose – really whatever she gets into her mouth first. This was the only picture I could find of her with it and it happens to be the silliest picture. 😂 Daddy tucked her binky into her hat as her ‘unicorn horn.’

Activity Mats

These she had been ‘playing’ on for months now. When she was smaller she would occasionally kick, but wasn’t really interested in grabbing the toys hanging above her. Now, she loves to grab for the toys and still tries to pull them into her mouth, and can’t figure out why they stay put. 😂 I have the two activity mats listed below; one upstairs and one downstairs. I love having the one downstairs that way she can play while we are eating dinner, or just for a change of scenery. We have the second up in her room which is great for pre or post naptime for a few quick minutes of playtime.

Baby Einstein 4-in-1 Kickin’ Tunes – this one is very bright with cute animals on the playmat, and has a piano at the bottom, perfect for kicking. This one also have an ‘X’ that goes over the top where toys can hang from for her to grab and play with. This piano plays songs without words, more of your traditional classical type tunes. She loves to look all around at the hanging toys, and will even kick or grab the top structure to see how it makes all of the toys move. She spends much of her time on her back here, but it’s also great for tummy time as long as the hanging toys aren’t in her way! This was where she first rolled tummy to back.

Fisher-Price Deluxe Kick ‘n Play Piano Gym – this one is also very bright and colorful with cute animals! I guess that is a common theme for kids toys. This one has one bar that goes over the top, but can be moved in different positions so you can have it towards the front of the toy, above the piano, or toward the middle hanging above her. It’s really nice to be able to move around, so that it can be out of the way during tummy time. This one has the cutest little songs that are so catchy, but they are always stuck in my head.

Both of these have different modes, so as she gets older, instead of just having music they can be in more of a learning mode, and the piano parts also tilt, so when she sits up more unassisted, she can play the piano part with her hands as well. We really, really love these and have gotten so much use out of them already, and I know this will continue as she grows!

Tummy Time Water Mat – this one we finally pulled out to inflate and fill with water and was such a fun toy! It was nice to have a different space for her to practice tummy time! I will admit, it was much larger than I had anticipated, but it’s really cool! I wish we were able to have play dates, because I think it would be so funny to put a couple of baby friends around the edge and see how they interact. 😂 She was so funny when we first laid her on her back on top of this and was pretty unsure of it. When we flipped her onto her tummy, she had a blast! She was really interested in the floating animals in the water, and was actually pressing it to get them to move – it was so fun to see!

Floor Seat

Fisher-Price Sit Me Up – this is a newer toy for us, and was a Hanukkah present from my brother and his girlfriend! I haven’t used it quite as often as the mats because I wasn’t sure if she was quite big enough for it just yet, and wanted to make sure she was comfortable. She does seem to get bored being in one position all the time, and likes being more upright than laying down now. This has been a fun one because she’s in a new position and can explore on her own! She loves the little toys that are attached to the front, and I just feel like she is such a big girl in this one!

I could probably go on forever, but these are our top favorites that I can think of so far, so I will stop there. As she grows, I’m sure I will be back with more!

Laugh Often – Rachel

Baby

The Swaddle Transition

by Rachel StoopsLeave a Comment on The Swaddle Transition

Dropping the swaddle was a transition that I knew was coming, and was absolutely dreading. Vivian was finally starting to sleep better all snuggled up in her love to dream swaddle up that I mentioned in the favorite newborn products post. The recommendation of transitioning out of the swaddle is eight weeks, or at signs of rolling over; whichever comes first. I did bring this up at one of our pediatrician appointments, and the pediatrician was more on the side of when she starts rolling as that allowed more time in the swaddle and she mentioned that it would probably be closer to six months. After all, eight weeks seems very early to unswaddle! The startle reflex was still very much present at this stage.

I tried to wait as long as humanly possible, because I appreciated the sleep that I was getting, and also had a happy baby that was finally getting some good sleep! Though, it was always on the back of my mind that she could roll at any moment, and I would hate for the first time to be while I was asleep and possibly not notice. As a new mom, thoughts of doubt are constantly swirling around your mind.

Occasionally for some naps, we would leave Viv’s arms out, in a simple sleep sack if her swaddle was in the wash. She seemed to do okay, but that was for a much shorter time than over night.

I knew we needed to bite the bullet sooner than later and just go for it, because the longer we waited, it was only going to get harder. I had ordered the transitional swaddle up where the arms zipped off and assumed that I would first try one arm at a time. For whatever reason we didn’t end up going that route, but simply went cold turkey. It was actually one night when Mike was on baby duty, and I was trying to get some rest in the guest room that he just put her down for the night with the arms zipped off. Since we had done it one night, we figured we would keep going as to not confuse her.

I believe this was the week prior to Christmas and she was around three and a half months old. Since Mike had a couple of extra days off work, we thought that might be a good time to give this a try so that he could be more helpful during the night shift.

It was a rough transition to say the least. Vivian would flinch awake, and once she realized her arms were free, she would start flailing all over the place and could not calm herself back down. We would try to gently hold her arms down for a few moments while patting her chest in hopes to calm her back down. This seemed to work, but not long after she would awaken again and the cycle would continue. It was a long week, and it seemed like there was no light at the end of the tunnel. The reflex had to go away at some point… right?!

It seemed like the swaddle up with arms off wasn’t thick enough. We also had a fleece sleep sack by Halo that we tried. Perhaps she was cold, or maybe just didn’t feel cozy any longer. I had heard great things from friends about the Baby Merlin’s Magic Sleepsuit, and toyed with the idea of getting this, but wasn’t keen on having another product to transition out of down the road.

Then, I remembered that we also had a transitional sleep sack that had long sleeves. It wasn’t restrictive, so was safe for rolling, but offered more warmth. She seemed to like this a little bit better and had a few decent nights of sleep here and there.

Fast forward a week or two and sleep was still so inconsistent. We had hit the four month sleep regression and felt like we were awake constantly. It almost felt like the newborn stage and I was desperate for some sleep. I went on Facebook marketplace to see if anyone was selling the magic merlin sleep suit, and luckily, a local mom was for a great deal! I was able to go pick it up that same day and get it washed all before bedtime. We did however choose to test it out for a nap the next day first, versus trying it overnight for the very first time.

While the Magic Merlin sleep suit didn’t prove to be completely magic for us, it did seem to help get a little bit better sleep. Some friends have said their baby started sleeping twelve hours once they had the suit, and that was certainly not the case for us, but less wakings was still a win in my book. So between the Magic Merlin suit, which I like to call her super suit, or our little marshmallow baby, and the Halo transitional sleep sack, I think we have a couple of great options that are helping us on this lovely sleep journey.

The Merlin Sleep Suit is safe to wear until they can roll over in the suit. I’m hoping by the time she gets this down, her startle reflex will be gone so that it won’t be much of a transition out. We also make sure to use this intermittently with the Halo transitional sack that way she hopefully won’t be too used to just this outfit whenever we do need to make the switch. Hopefully she will happily sleep in a regular sleep sack one day, but for now we are grateful for these wonderful products!

Hopefully one day this will all be a vague memory of the past, but currently our life revolves around trying to get Little Miss Vivian to have a good night sleep.

Laugh Often – Rachel

Baby

Favorite Books to Read to Baby

by Rachel Stoops1 Comment on Favorite Books to Read to Baby

Vivian loves a good book, especially before naptime or bedtime! Okay… maybe it’s me who loves to read all of the fun children’s books. 🤔Either way, we have some favorites that I find myself choosing over and over! I assume I will get tired of them eventually, but for now I am loving them, and even find myself quoting some of them after she’s gone to bed.

Dear Girl – this is such a fun one that I have a feeling we will appreciate more and more as she grows. It is all about empowering little girls to be themselves and addresses real life topics but in a very kid-friendly way. I feel that this book would’ve been helpful in getting through elementary school with some positivity and confidence. This was a gift from my sister-in-law as a family favorite from our little niece. I can’t wait for the little girls to read it together!

ABC What Can She Be? – this book is a double bonus! It can help to teach the alphabet, while learning a variety of different jobs, teaching baby girl that she can grow up to be anything her heart desires. I love that it has some out-of-the-box jobs, and strays from gender norms. It also portrays girls of all color, race, ethnicity, ability, hair color, etc.

A is For Awesome! 23 Iconic Women Who Changed the World – are we sensing a theme? Okay this is the last one that is geared toward girls specifically, but it is never too early for our sweet babe to learn what a difference she can make! This one also goes through the alphabet, naming women for each letter and some even have a quote along with what they accomplished.

A Moment Like This – this is a cute little story about animal moms and their babies. It is just so soothing to read, probably because it’s a rhyming book, but I just can’t get enough of it! I picture reading it to Viv when she’s a little bit older and it will be fun to interact with. For example, there’s a part about tickling her tummy, and nose, and down to her toes, and I can’t wait for her to giggle with tickles!

Cozy – this one was a gift from my mom who visited a musk ox farm on her trip to Alaska. She was able to pre-order it and have it signed and personalized to Vivian, so this one is extra special to us! It really is a cute story though about all of the arctic animals staying warm in the ox’s fur and setting house rules so they can all get along. The artwork is also beautiful!

Giraffes Can’t Dance – this is just a fun one, and another rhyming book so I had to mention it. I am just such a sucker for rhymes! It’s about animals all coming together to a big dance, but they make fun of the giraffe because he’s tall and awkward, but then he figures out that he really can dance, but just had to find the right music for him. Another heartwarming kids story, with bright, colorful pages.

Some of these are on the longer side, which I have been enjoying now while she is so young, because I’m mostly reading them for her to settle down and fall asleep to. I have a feeling that once she is bigger and more interactive with the books and wants to look at pictures and talk about each page, I will favor the shorter books so it doesn’t take an hour to get through one book. 😂

The Sandra Boynton board books are really great for a quick read, filled with cute illustrations as well and we have quite a few!

Oh and this honorable mention. 😂 My brother sent this to us during a very rough sleeping period. It really is so funny to read when they have no idea what you are saying. Clearly Viv loves it. 😉

Laugh Often – Rachel

Baby

One Month of Baby

by Rachel Stoops1 Comment on One Month of Baby

The first month of Vivian’s life was an absolute whirlwind. I was sleep deprived, overwhelmed, emotional, and the list goes on. I kept reminding myself that she sure was lucky to be cute because boy was it hard! Luckily, all I had to do was look down at her and I would instantly fall back in love with this tiny creature that was keeping me awake all night.

Vivian was nocturnal for the beginning of her life, as most babies are. Perhaps another thing no one tells you? You just assume that new babies sleep all the time. While kind of true, it’s also so false. 😂 They are happy to sleep in your arms, but as soon as you’d like to put them down somewhere so you can get some shut eye too, their eyes instantly pop back open. At 2am, this was no longer cute.

  • Yoda’s turn for a snuggle
  • Olive’s turn for a snuggle

When babies are awake, they like to eat. And boy did Vivian find her voice quickly. She could go from zero to 100 in a matter of seconds and would scream at us if she was hungry. Not necessarily a bad thing – girl just knows what she wants. New babies need to eat every 2-3 hours because their stomachs are so tiny in the beginning. This doesn’t sound so bad, right? What I didn’t realize beforehand was that the timer starts at the beginning of the feed, not the end. So really, it could end up closer to an hour in between feeds, depending on how long she ate for, burping, settling back down, etc.

In those early days, I constantly had the timer on my phone going and would reset that 3 hour timer as soon as she began to feed. Rarely did we make it to the 3 hour mark before she was ready to eat again. It was sometimes only an hour and a half. She was a hungry girl!

In this first month of life, we were simply running in survival mode. Mike went back to work after two weeks, so I did my best to let him get his rest, though he did help out in the evenings so I could take a nap after dinner. For those first few weeks, it seemed that as soon as the sun would set and it would get dark out, my body would go into shut down mode, and I could barely keep my eyes open any longer. I assume this was a response to knowing another sleepless night was coming my way. Mike also moved into the guest room to get better sleep, so I had our big bed all to myself, and Vivian in her bassinet next to me. It was quite luxurious after being used to sharing the bed with Mike plus our two dogs!

During many of her night wakings, it would be hard to get her back into her bassinet afterwards. She just wanted to snuggle me. It was so hard to resist, but I knew that we both needed our rest, and safely where we belonged.

I took my sleep for any number of minutes I could get. I often awoke in a state of confusion. For a while, there was a period where I always thought I fell asleep holding her so I would wake up cradling my pillow or blanket, assuming it was Vivian. As I opened my eyes, I would realize that she was in fact in her bassinet, and I had lost my mind. There were even times that I dreamt I was feeding her, so when Mike walked over and said ‘the baby is hungry,’ I told him I that I was already feeding her and closed my eyes. This was when I realized how real sleep deprivation was. It is kind of funny to think back on now, but was quite awful in the moment.

We didn’t do a whole lot during Vivian’s first month of life. Mostly because I was exhausted and it was too much effort to get packed up to go anywhere, but also because the world was pretty much still shut down due to the pandemic. I figured we would keep Vivian even more safely away from those big, scary germs out in the world.

If we did leave the house, it was typically for a walk around the neighborhood because the weather was still beautiful through September and into October; lucky us! We had very few visitors, again due to the circumstances, so it was snuggles at home for us!

Exhausted and sleep deprived, it was also an accomplishment to have made it through one month! Everyone assured us that things would get easier with time, which they have. She is only that tiny once, so enjoying those newborn snuggles is so cherished.

Laugh Often – Rachel

Baby

Bringing Baby Home

by Rachel Stoops2 Comments on Bringing Baby Home

After a quick labor and delivery, we spent our one night in the hospital with round the clock visits from the amazing nursing team. They were busy running all of the standard tests on sweet Baby Viv to make sure her blood sugar was staying up, and her temperature was beginning to regulate. While it was nice to have help, guidance, and any questions answered, we were exhausted. On Thursday morning, we were given the option of staying another night, or leaving that day (so long as Vivian passed her 24 hour tests). I thought another night might be nice, but Mike was eager to get back home, so I obliged.

At the 24 hour mark, Vivian’s tests all came back as passed with flying colors! The care team began their discharge process, and we excitedly began packing up all of our belongings.

Most exciting, but also terrifying was putting our sweet baby girl into her car seat for the very first time. She looked so teeny tiny in there. How did I not take a picture of this?! Oh well. This was the moment that parenthood became a reality. We were now responsible for this small and helpless (but extremely cute) baby.

The nurses walked us out to our car to make sure the car seat clicked in, and just like that we were on our way home. I sat in the back with Vivian, so terrified. Before even making it out of the parking lot, she spit up. As a scared new mom, I made Mike pull back into a parking spot so we could make sure she didn’t choke. (Of course she was totally fine). And then finally, we actually hit the road. I have never been more anxious during a car ride in my life. I just wanted to get home and have her safely back in my arms. Luckily the car ride is less than 10 minutes. 😂 Ten minutes sure does feel like an eternity with such precious cargo!

We were so excited to get home so Vivian could meet her Grandma and her sweet doggy siblings. I had tried to plan out how to introduce the dogs, but we didn’t end up doing anything special. We let Mike go in the house first to give them hugs, had them smell her little hat, and then in I came with our sweet babe in her car seat. The dogs were beyond curious about this new creature coming into their home.

Grandma cuddles were soon to follow with an already smitten Grandma. 😊

I had a couple of outfit options planned for her coming home outfit, but she was way too small for anything we had! We put her in the smallest pair of pajamas we had brought and called it a day, even though she was swimming in them! You’ll notice her feet were nowhere near the feet holes and sleeves were inches too long!

Once nighttime hit, we realized that we probably had no idea what we were doing and maybe could’ve used another night of nurses help at the hospital, but it was too late for that! We were officially on our own.

The first night we were all gung-ho to share night duties. We quickly realized that anytime she woke up she wanted to eat so Mike unfortunately couldn’t offer much help. Cue the beginning of sleep deprivation and welcome to Parenthood!

Laugh Often – Rachel