Tilly: 6 month favorites

Soooo, a lot has happened in 3.5 months!.....my going back to work being the most noticeable.  While the adjustment wasn't easy, Tilly is thriving in daycare, and mama is a stronger woman because of the entire experience.  Motherhood and the hormones/emotions attached are no joke guys.

Tilly is actually going to be 7 months on Friday, but I wanted to recap her 6 month favorites!  She just has so much personality packed into 16lbs of chunk.  At her 6 month check up she was 16lbs, 2.5 oz and 27.5 inches long.  She continues to be very long - 95% or greater...

Ever since Tilly realized she can see what's going on better from a seated position, she has hated laying down...unless its to sleep.  She started sitting on her own right around 5.5 months....which was also the first time we started trying some solid food!  July was a big month over here.

6 month favorites:

Food: haha - our girl likes her food!  She's been continuing to eat somewhere between 28 & 32 ounces of milk a day, and eats solid food 2-3 times in between bottles.  When you're feeding her you have to be able to keep up with her pace, or expect a very unhappy kid!  So far, she hasn't disliked anything we've thrown at her, and that includes cereal, fruits, veggies, egg & peanut butter.  We got these teething wafers, and they're the perfect thing for her to play with and slowly work on feeding herself.  Franklin loves that Tilly is eating solids now - because he often gets lots of her "leftovers" that end up on the floor.  Another food related favorite is the high chair toy I was given at our baby shower - she can't throw it on the floor and she loves to play with it/chew on it!  I brought it to a restaurant with us the other day and it was perfect - it stuck to the table and helped keep her entertained while we ate!  It's also important to note that I specifically remember feeling like we had way more bibs than we would ever need....since she hardly used them as a newborn....but I was so so wrong.  Between home and daycare girlfriend goes through bibs like crazy - we ended up going out and getting more the other day!

Muslin swaddle:  I can't believe the last picture I posted on her sleeping she was still being swaddled. We've come so far since then!  We quickly stopped swaddling her once she fully transitioned to her crib, and she's continued to be a champ at sleeping through the night.  A couple months ago, she woke up screaming at midnight two nights in a row, and we discovered our kid was a blanket kid (she gets it from her mama).  As soon as you put a blanket over her she pulls it up to her face and falls asleep.  At daycare there have been a few times we've forgotten to bring one, and they literally have to give her an extra sheet to use instead - otherwise she won't settle.  Whatever works!  She hasn't gotten attached to any particular swaddle, which is good - so we intentionally rotate them constantly.  My favorites by far are still these - if I ever had to go out and buy more I would choose these 100% of the time.   We never rock her to bed, she is always put down awake and soothes herself to sleep.  In the mornings she lets us know when she's ready to get up - sometimes you'll watch her awake on the camera for an hour or so before she either falls back asleep or decides its time to get up.  We really couldn't be luckier when it comes to her sleep.  She's even started taking better naps!  We've never stressed her nap schedule much, but more often than not now she will take at least 1 nap thats an hour or longer, which does wonders for her attitude also :)  She can roll back and forth on her own easily now, so you never know what position you're going to find her in!

Sophie:  Yes, its basically a glorified dog toy.  An expensive glorified dog toy.  Yes, it's worth every penny.  Sophie + Tilly = BFF.

Foam playmat:  We rearranged our downstairs the other day, to make our living space more open and kid friendly.  We bought this foam playmat, because it was cheap and not a rainbow...and its done the trick perfectly.  I LOVE the little nomad ones, but I couldn't justify the price tag.  This black and white one is at least slightly subdued, and is the perfect place to plop her.  She isn't crawling yet but is trying REALLY hard - so this is a nice soft surface when she rocks over onto her belly.  She also loves to sit in front of her walker and play with all the buttons - I find myself singing along with the learning farm song like a crazy woman more often than not.

Wildbird Ring Sling:  Don't get me wrong.  I loved my solly when she was a newborn.  It was perfect for getting her to nap while I did stuff around the house, it worked magic when we flew to Charleston....I will keep it and love it with our next child.  BUT.  The ring sling wins baby carrying MVP award.  When Tilly was 12ish weeks old I started feeling like she didn't love being up against my chest in the Solly - she had started becoming more aware of everything around her and didn't like not being able to see.  I got the ring sling thinking that maybe that would help - and it's been perfect.  When she's awake it allows her to take in the world around her, socialize with everyone she sees, etc. etc...but just like the solly, when she gets tired, she passes right out.  I've used the ring sling in all sorts of settings, and its perfect.  I bought one of their chambray doubles - Tilly's never been petite and the doubles are supposed to give slightly more support as they get heavier.  Some people say they can be difficult to break in, but I didn't find that to be true at all, for me anyway!

Beach Tent:  Between beach visits and music festivals - this tent has gotten more than its moneys worth of use this summer!  It is SO easy to set up and take down, and is just the right size.  Tilly can nap in it, I can nurse her in it....all three of us can sort of fit in it when we need a break for the sun.  Ant and I joke that we should have always had one of these, kids or not.

Tilly: 10 week favorites

Stats @ 10 weeks:
11 lb, 11.5 oz - 63%
24.5 inches - >97%

Favorite things:
Silver Lining Cloud Activity Gym - recently I brought the playmat downstairs so she could get more regular use out of it.  She has a love/hate relationship with it, theres never an in between...but when she loves it it's a great place for her to hang out while I'm getting a few things done around the house.  Sometimes big brother will come join her on the mat too!

Mobiles - there are two in her life, and I give them both MVP status.  The one in her crib - which Ant's aunt generously gifted us at our shower, is from Restoration Hardware (and on final sale now!)  The first time we put her down in her crib she looked up and immediately noticed the animals above her and gave them the BIGGEST smile....and every night when we put her to bed she follows them around.  The other one is smaller, and designed for her car seat.  It can play music (or not) and you don't even have to turn it on if you'd rather not spend the $$ on batteries - even just hanging above her they provide plenty of entertainment/distraction!  I call it the soundtrack to her life ;)

Manhattan Toy Winkel - Tilly has become soooo much more engaging and interactive, so I busted out her first "toy" the other day, and it was a huge hit!  She loves the rattle noise, and this toy is light enough and small enough that she can pick it up on her own.

Wunderkin Co Bows - I confess.  I'm a bow mom.  I love adding bows to her outfits, especially while she's been such a bald little one (although the hair is growing in rapidly!)  I've tried a few different sizes and styles, and Wunderkind Co's headbands are by far my favorite.

Summer Infant Camera/Monitor - Tilly moved into her crib at 2 months & 2 days old (to be exact).  The baby monitor may not be necessary at night, since we can hear her clear as day in the next room, but when we've put her to bed and are hanging out downstairs, we've loved being able to check on her!  It was also very interesting the first couple nights to watch her soothe herself to sleep.  She's a champ!  Tilly TV has become common dinnertime entertainment ;)

Her eight week milestone pic - from the AM of her first flight :)

Tilly: 6 week favorites

Tilly is going to be 11 weeks old tomorrow...I go back to work in a week and a half!  All the emotions.  Here's a quick review of some of her </our> favorites from her first six weeks!  {also included, a major photo dump because I started looking for a few and couldn't stop.  She is just the cutest!}

Stats @ 6 weeks:
10 lb, 2 oz - 60%
23 inches - 92%

Favorite things:
Wubbanub - while we are currently going through a phase where wubba is nothing more than a small stuffed animal we're carting around everywhere, early on wubba was an absolute must have!  We briefly tried a normal pacifier, and found that is never stayed in.  She LOVED wubba though!  and so did we :) whoever thought to attach a pacifier to a stuffed animal was genius.  It stays so much easier, even at a super young age she would unintentionally sometimes hold it in place herself.  If it fell out it was easy to find, and bonus!  sometimes didn't even actually touch the ground, no need to run to the sink!  I'm all about anything that makes your life easier and your kid happier.  We started with the elephant and ended up running out to buy a second one, the frog!

Blooming Bath - I had a different tub on my registry which I'm sure we'll get good use out of as she gets bigger - but a girlfriend from work got us this one and we decided to try it out when we first brought her home.  Brilliant!!  It is SO easy to bathe her right upstairs in our small bathroom sink right before she goes to bed.  It also makes for adorable photo ops!  After her bath, you just hang it over the shower to dry and it's good to go by the morning! I especially love this photo of her in it - needless to say she's already got a bit of sass ;)

Aden & Anais Burpy Bibs - Ant's cousins just had twins and their biggest recommendation were these, so we went out and bought a couple....and love them!  We have three different styles of burp cloths, and obviously all of them do the job, but these are so well designed!  They go over your shoulder nicely, and cover everything when she's in the carseat.  Like all aden & anais, they are also cute!  This is the perfect "typical" Tilly in her first six weeks.  Wubba? check! Burpy bib? check!

Sollybaby Wrap - a repeat MVP from our Charleston post, but one worth noting.  In addition to using it for walks with both my babies - the Sollybaby wrap gets lots of use around the house!  If she's just being a little fussy, I wrap her up and carry her around with me while I'm getting stuff done around the house, she usually ends up napping!

Swing - the first week or so Tilly didn't get much use out of the swing and I was nervous it had been a bad choice for such a big item.  Then - tada!  It became the only place I could actually get her to nap. She regularly takes 1-2 naps a day in the swing...as long as she's swaddled up.  Girlfriend is a violent napper, and often wakes herself up...but luckily she's still small enough she can sit in the swing in the swaddle just fine.

Little Unicorn Swaddles - speaking of swaddles....not all swaddles are created equal!  We have a couple different brands, and while some of our others are adorable - they are not nearly as big as these little unicorn ones!  The extra large size is especially important with our little one who is ALL legs, and active legs.  In the hospital we had to double swaddle her because the hospital swaddles were too small - these do the trick!  I LOVE all three prints that came in the set we got.  So pretty!

So there ya go!  A few of our favorites from the first six weeks.  Below - I've got her "milestone" photos.  We decided to keep it simple and stick with a white onesie with her carpet as a backdrop.  After the disaster that the 4 week one was, we learned she's a little easier to photograph first thing in the morning :)

Charleston with Tilly

We just got back from four days in Charleston, SC.  Our first family vacation!  Tilly was eight weeks old when we flew there, and two months old on our flight back!  We had the best time while we were down there.

I consider us fairly seasoned travelers...but traveling with an eight week old is a TOTALLY different ball game.  Here is a <somewhat> brief overview of our trip!

Plans:
The plan:  We had very low expectations for what we were going to "do" while we were there.  We didn't want to book every second of every day, since we didn't know what kind of a traveler Tilly would be.  We booked a walking tour for Wednesday, and planned to visit Boone Plantation on Thursday, and that was the extent of any formal planning.

The reality: Low expectations set us up for extreme success!  The walking tour started out a little rough, until we realized Tilly was overtired,  I put her in the Solly wrap and she slept the rest of the tour no problem!  The walking tour was a great way to start our trip in Charleston, because it gave us some fun history, as well as a lay of the land downtown, so we better knew how to spend the rest of our time there.

On Thursday when we went to Boone Hall Plantation we used our newfound knowledge, and put Tilly in the Ergobaby carrier from the start!  She slept through the house tour, and was content as we walked around the grounds the rest of the morning.  I nursed her during a presentation they put on 3 times a day, in a nice shaded outdoor theater.

Friday we decided to spend some time back out on Sullivan's Island, and took a long walk on the boardwalk at Shem Creek Park on our way out there.  Tilly loved the bumpy stroller ride, and the views were beautiful.  The weather was perfect, so we spent a little bit of time on the beach, but the sun got to be too much so we didn't stay long!

Otherwise, the rest of our time was spent wandering around downtown.  We especially enjoyed the waterfront parks.  The benches were perfect to relax and take breaks to nurse, and the weather was perfect.  Not too hot, not too cold - with just enough breeze coming off the water!  I also think I could have wandered up and down the side streets staring at the big beautiful houses all day long.  All the brick had us trying to figure out where we could put brick accents at our house!

Lodging:
The plan: We are always huge fans of AirBNB, but especially traveling with an infant (who we hadn't met at the time we were booking!) it seemed to make the most sense.  Lodging is not cheap in Charleston, but we were able to find an apartment AirBNB for $175 a night - complete with a kitchen and a separate living room.  We figured the kitchen might come in handy - and the separate bedroom would give us options, not knowing exactly what our sleeping situation would be at that point.

The reality:  Kitchen was SUPER handy.  I brought my pump so that we could pump and have bottles on hand in case they made sense in various situations rather than nursing....and that wouldn't have been possible without a refrigerator.  Also, having an infant makes your mornings much slower - nursing and getting everyone ready before heading out - so having a coffee pot to start our day before we made it out to breakfast was a major win.  We could have saved some serious $$ by using the kitchen for more meals, but we had decided that food was going to be a big part of our trip, so we opted against that.

We packed a travel bed for Tilly to sleep in.  Up until this point she was sleeping in a pack and play next to our bed.  We could have set it up just about anywhere, but since we knew we were planning to transition her to her crib when we got back, we decided to try setting it up in the living room.  She slept great!

Added bonus: LAUNDRY!  For anyone with kids, you know how massively helpful this was.  Every outfit she blew out came home nice and clean.  It was also nice to wash all of our clothes Friday night, so we barely came home with any additional laundry.

Food:
As we've traveled more, food has become a more important part of the "experience" for us.  We did lots of research and took recommendations from people we know who have traveled to Charleston before, and came up with a pretty comprehensive list of places we wanted to try out.  I'll give you the full rundown, since we were pretty happy with all of our choices!

Wednesday 
lunch: Cru Cafe - Great start to our trip!  Place is small - we managed to sneak in without reservations because we were ahead of the rush crowd, but I would call ahead.  Lucked out extra by getting one of their four patio tables, tucked off to the side with room for our stroller.  Ordered fried brie and a shrimp BLT, and a flourless chocolate cake for dessert.  Everything was delicious!  Tilly napped through most of lunch in her stroller.

dinner: Edmonds Oast - Edmond's Oast is a win-win for food and drink.  They brew their own beer, and also have an extensive list of other local brews on tap.  This place came highly recommended, and we got their last available reservations at 8pm when we called that day.  The later reservation worked out great - we fed Tilly, swaddled her up and she slept through dinner in the stroller.  Our food, including a charcuterie plate to start was delicious, and we each tried a couple of their own brews.  I went for the PB&J beer, and the cookies & creme.  Postpartum I've been a bigger fan of stouts, so that was right up my ally!

Thursday
breakfast: Page's Okra Grill - We were heading out to Boone Hall Plantation Thursday, so we planned our food accordingly.  Page's Okra Grill was quick, tasty and filling.  I got a standard breakfast with a biscuit - and Ant got crab cakes which we shared.  The big booths were perfect for Tilly to lay on and get her daily leg workout in ;)
lunch: The Obstinate Daughter - After the plantation we headed to the Obstinate Daughter for lunch.  This was another one on our list that came highly recommended.  We split a pizza and a shrimp roll while Tilly got her second workout of the day in next to me!  I've heard good things about their brunch and dinner as well!
dinner: Poogans Porch - There were three slightly "fancier" places that kept coming up - Poogan's Porch, Husk and Magnolias.  Knowing we were traveling with a little one, we decided to choose one of the three for dinner.  We made another later reservation at Poogan's Porch, and swaddled Tilly up for bed in her stroller.  It worked out great!  Mom & Dad got a romantic date night.....with a cute little bundle sleeping next to us :)  We had our most traditional southern meal this night - fried green tomatoes to start - and then the country friend chicken and the shrimp & grits.  YUM!  The place was nice, without being too fancy schmancy.

Friday
breakfast: Callies Hot Little Biscuits - quick, simple breakfast on the go.  We each got a set of three biscuits.  Highlight:  the cinnamon biscuit, by a landslide..although everything was tasty.  Insider tip: USE THE APP!  We ordered ahead of time for a 9am pickup, and I squeezed passed everyone waiting in line to pick up my order while Ant lived parked outside.  MAJOR WIN!  The line wasn't too bad that day, but was moving slowly...and when we drove by Saturday it was all the way down the block.  Aint got time for that!
lunch: Fiery Ron's Home Team BBQ - we knew we wanted BBQ, and asked our walking tour guide for advice.  She suggested Fiery Ron's...and it did not disappoint.  BEST WINGS EVER.  Seriously, and I don't even like wings.  My husband was bummed that I wanted to eat my entire share of them.  We also ordered game changers -their signature frozen drink, and more than our share of BBQ.  We basically rolled ourselves out of there when we were done.
dinner: Kaminskys Dessert Cafe - After a huge lunch we decided to stick to dessert for dinner - my favorite kind of meal!  We split three desserts between the two of us, and I am not ashamed!  They don't have an actual menu - because their desserts sell so fast, you just order out of the case.  I wanted one of each!

Saturday
brunch: Hominy Grill - Hominy Grill was right next door to our AirBNB, and only does brunch on the weekends...so we checked out Saturday and showed up right at 9am when they opened.  Good thing!  By the time we left the place was PACKED with a super long wait.  So get there early!  I ordered a Charleston Nasty Biscuit and was a happy camper.
lunch: Carmella's Dessert Bar - This was the one other meal that wasn't a pre picked restaurant.  The waitress at Poogan's Porch raved about their desserts, so we split a meat & cheese plate and dessert at Carmella's before leaving town.  The table out on the sidewalk was ideal for people watching, and the desserts were HUGE - definitely meant for sharing!

Coffee
Black Tap:  Very small and took a VERY long time to get our drinks....however, I had a brown sugar latte that made me one VERY happy mama.  Ant got a shaken iced drink made with espresso, honey and mint.  Yum!
Welkin Coffee:  Wins MVP of the trip, hands down.  Originally found it when we were looking for a coffee shop our first day, and ended up there three of the four days.  Their patio is huge and right across from the city market, so it was the perfect place to take a break and nurse Tilly while people watching.

General Travel:
Rental Car:  We were originally not going to rent a car, but last minute decided to.  BEST decision.  We had so much extra "stuff" with us, and having the rental car in a parking garage downtown made it so much less stressful to pack up for the day.  We would just throw stuff in the truck!  (Yes, we ended up with a big beautiful truck - and now Ant's dying for a truck of his own!)  We decided to rent a car seat as well.  This wasn't my favorite thing - it would have been nicer in some ways to have her car seat with us, but we decided the amount of driving we were doing, she would survive with a rented one, and it meant we didn't have to lug our through the airport!

Packing:  We did (what I think) was a very good job packing!  We packed one big checked bag, that had my clothes, Ant's clothes, diapers, the Ergobaby and Tilly's travel bed.  We then carried on a small suitcase, a weekend bag, a backpack, a diaper bag, and my pump bag...and gate checked the umbrella stroller.  We could have had one additional bag, since my pump bag would have been considered medical equipment, but we didn't end up needing the space, and quite frankly I don't think we would've had enough hands to physically carry it all!  We could have packed way less diapers and just bought them down there, but we had the space so I figured that was one less thing to worry about when we got down there.

Airport:  I carried Tilly in the Solly wrap through the airport.  It kept my hands free for carrying stuff, and let us get through security relatively easily (nothing is actually ever easy at JFK).  They just had us go through the normal metal detector, and checked my palms.  At JFK, I didn't have to take my pumped milk out of the bag or cooler at all.  In Charleston, they made me take it out of the cooler to go through on the belt, and then did additional tests on it.  I just told them I had more than 3 oz of milk with me as I got up to the detector and asked them how they preferred I handle it!  Easy peasy.

We flew out of JFK because it allowed us to do direct flights...and I have no other good advice for traveling with an infant.  I was prepared to nurse Tilly during take off and landing to help with her ears.  On the way there, I nursed during take off and she slept until we landed....and on the way home she nursed as soon as we got on the plane, but was asleep before take off and slept the entire ride.  Needless to say, Ant and I were feeling very lucky with our little champion flier!!!

Last but not least - I thought I'd recap quickly our "Travel MVPs" when it comes to baby gear.
Summer Infant 3D Lite Convenience Stroller:  I did a lot of research into "umbrella" strollers and put this one on our registry.  My MOH's mother very generously gifted it to us at our shower, and it was SO convenient!  It reclines fully, so it can be used with infants, and has enough "extras" - cupholder, storage, sun cover that made it perfect for this trip.  Since we weren't bringing our infant car seat, this was an easier option for lugging through the airport than our full sized stroller.

LulyBoo Baby Lounge Classic: aka - travel bed!  I've heard great things about the dock a tot - but couldn't swallow the price.  This did the job at a fraction of the cost!  We specifically bought it for this trip, but its gotten a lot of use at home as well.  She slept every night in Charleston in this, set up on the couch surrounded by extra pillows, because...new parents :)  It folds right up and fit in our suitcase with everything else!
SollyBaby wrap/Ergobaby 360:  #teambabywearing...enough said.  Tilly naps so well in either carrier.  I prefer the Solly while she's still little and Ant uses the Ergo, so we took turns!
Lily Jade Diaper Bag: Backpack diaper bags are the way to go!  Usually Ant would push the stroller while I carried the diaper bag, but the ability to be hands free is so valuable.  It fit everything we needed for her throughout the day, plus some.  This was definitely one of my mom splurges - but I got it on sale at the end of last season and use it every.single.day. so, worth it!