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 :)