Category: daphne

daphne {month eight}

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{alligator: Jellycat //onesie: Carter’s (old) // jeans: babyGap (old) // wooden doll teether: old}

{month eight} Haha, I think Daphne looks like a little old man in this month’s picture! We took our family Christmas card photos this morning, so the last thing she wanted to do before her nap was take more photos… she just wanted to launch herself off the front of the chair! It’s super fun and not at all terrifying (said no mama ever).

I think the biggest thing about this month (okay, everything seems big still!) is the four new teeth Daphne is growing! I noticed some serious increase in the amount of drool she was producing (like shirt-soaking) and, lo and behold, four tooth buds. It’s her top four teeth coming thru all at once. She didn’t seem overly fussy or bothered by them cutting, but of course any time she awakes during nap time or at night is blamed on those new teeth. You can’t really see them very well because of her top lip, but she is going to look so much older once they are in! And now I really feel like I should be brushing her teeth, since I need more things to do to fill in my day, right? Daphne will see the dentist next month when Eloise goes in for her bi-annual appointment. If I only have to drive across the city twice per year and both girls see the dentist at the same time, that is a mama win!

She likes to click her tongue on the roof of her mouth lately which started around the time her top teeth started making an entrance. She isn’t blowing raspberries as much as she was a few months ago, but lots of clicking!

Daphne is an eating champ. Seriously. She eats anything and everything. It may be messy, but she will find a way to eat it. And there isn’t a single thing we have fed her that she didn’t devour: broccoli (just like big sis!), brussel sprouts, salmon, chicken, ground beef, Dragon fruit (in Mexico). Everything! Purees have pretty much become a thing of the past though because Daphne really just wants to feed herself. If there is something (like yogurt or refried beans) that requires a spoon, she wants to grab the spoon and bang it on her tray. So there is a lot of “fighting” over the spoon which isn’t super fun for any of us. Plus, since she is feeding herself, it makes mealtimes (for me) much more enjoyable. Also, we haven’t been doing a lot of cup training recently but after reading Eloise’s update (linked below) I realized that we are behind on teaching Daphne how to use a straw. I remember that being a game-changer, so it’s on the to-do list for this coming weekend.

Daphne’s newest tricks involve her pulling up to either her knees or to standing, or bear crawling around on her hands and feet. She is so ready to be moving like a big kid and just does not stay still at all these days! I used to be able to set her on the play mat with toys and she would be occupied, but now she is immediately off the play mat and crawling towards whoever she can see (or to the kitchen)! But then she cries and gets upset when she gets stuck somewhere! It’s the same situation when we are downstairs. I could leave her on the floor of her nursery with toys while I threw away a diaper or washed my hands, but now she is crawling out her door and down the hallway or into the bathroom to see what everyone else is up to! She also likes to reach for anything she can grab and then pull it down from wherever it was (the little shelf on the sidetable, the coffee table).

In the weeks leading up to our Mexico trip, I was planning on pumping just like I had been doing in the morning and evening for Daphne’s bedtime bottle. But, then it started to occur to me that we would need to bring some frozen milk for the first day or so until I had produced enough to cover the bottle (since I wasn’t producing enough every day to cover her bottle) which would require some sort of dry ice and Yeti cooler type of situation. Thru TSA (we are Pre-Check, but still) and then thru Customs and Immigration along with all of the other things we were shlepping on the trip, including both car seats! Yep, that wasn’t going to happen. So I did some a ton of research and bought some formula to take just in case. {Note: Formula, the type and use of, like many other child-related things is controversial. Lots of people have lots of opinions about it. We chose formula that we thought best-suited Daphne’s needs but every family and baby is different.} It turns out the formula I had chosen (Holle which is a German formula) is being imported by a close friend’s sister via her company Purely Loved Organics which is located just north of us in Lynnwood. Luckily, Daphne drank it down with no issues, so we didn’t have to try any other types or brands. Then in the days leading up to our trip, I started panicking about pumping in Mexico. Not the actual pumping part, but the logistics. Mainly the washing pump parts with bottled water in the bathroom part (since you aren’t supposed to drink the tap water in Mexico). We bought this travel Boon drying rack and bottle brush, but the idea of washing my pump just sort of sent me over the edge. So Aaron and I had a lot of conversation about it, and I let my mama guilt go and decided to stop pumping completely. In all honesty, it was an agonizing decision for me to make (and if you are a recent mama, you probably completely understand) but ultimately I think it worked out for the best. I didn’t have to worry about spending my mornings and evenings pumping or washing pump parts, and Daphne did amazingly well with one bottle of formula at bedtime during our trip, Now that we are at home we defrost frozen milk for her bottle and once we go thru our frozen stash, we will do formula until she is one.

And lastly, Daphne has been pushing her feeding schedule out to 3.5 or 4 hours. Her morning nap is usually interrupted by errands (while Eloise is at school) but she will usually at least cat nap in the car seat. I try to not go out more than two mornings per week during that morning nap time so that she can have solid morning naps. If we are home (or even out) I notice she starts getting tired around 9:30 am and will usually sleep at least an hour if not 90 minutes. Then her afternoon nap is after we get home from picking up Eloise (at 1 pm) and it’s length is dependent on her morning nap, longer if the morning was shorter and vice versa. Her late cat nap (which happens around 5ish) is always a crap shoot and it happens about 50% of the time.

{weight} I would guess close to 17 or 18 pounds but our scale is broken.
{hair} blackish brown.
{teeth} two bottom middle teeth, top four teeth (including two front teeth).
{eyes} dark grey/brown.
{clothes} 3 to 6 months (pants only), 6 months and 12 months (Carter’s), 6 to 12 months.
{diapers} size 3 {from the honest company}. At home we are doing cloth (bumGenius and Grovia) and disposables when we go out and overnight.
{feeding} nursing every 3.5 to 4 hours during the day, starting around 8 am. feeding sessions last around 5 to 10 minutes (both sides). bedtime is around 7:30 with a 6 oz bottle.

{likes} eating, bath time with Eloise, watching big kids or babies, crawling, pulling up to her knees or feet, spinning on her back and belly, teething rings, chewing on anything, sitting in her highchair, staring at her quilt (from Amanda), rattles, nursing, riding in the car (usually), her big sister Eloise, Sadie, singing, lights, paci, being bounced, sucking on her hands, being tickled, talking (cooing).
{dislikes} having gas, lying down flat right after eating, being hungry or tired, not having a bottle immediately after seeing it, having her face or nose wiped off.

{nicknames} Daph, Daph Daph, Daphers, Bug, Snorty, Baby D, Daphne Doo, Daph-a-doo, Love, Lovebug.

And here is Eloise’s eight month update.

Happy Eight Months Daphne!

M

This post contains affiliate links.

Happy Halloween! {2017}

Happy Halloween from the Lowers!

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{And this is was a definite fail on my part. I off-centered the cherry and frosting on the headband (it would’ve been so cute if it would have stayed like that!) but it was too heavy and kept falling off…}

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Eloise decided a while ago (like in the summer) that she wanted to be a cupcake. And I waited for a while to see if she would change her mind. But she didn’t! And her only request was that it be purple (surprise). I looked at a few places to see if I could find a pre-made cupcake costume, but there weren’t very many, and of the ones that were available, I just didn’t like any of them… they all looked a little cheesy! So, I searched Pinterest and found quite a few tutorials. I ended up using this one. I am super happy with the way it turned out, but practically it was a little cumbersome for Eloise to actually trick-or-treat in. Almost everyone in our neighborhood has stairs, and that was a bit of a challenge. Half-way thru the night she came back and I offered for her to change into her pumpkin costume from last year. Much better. So, note to self, easy to walk in Halloween costume is a requirement!

Eloise did really well this year for Halloween saying “trick-or-treat,” “Happy Halloween,” and “thank you” when we were at each neighbor’s door. She is usually pretty reserved when we see people we don’t know, so I sort of expected she would be that way and hide behind either Aaron or me, but it wasn’t the case at all!

Happy Halloween!

M

daphne {first halloween!}

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{Happy Halloween!} Daphne is dressing up as a donut this year to complement Eloise’s cupcake costume (which I will probably just post pictures of on Instagram and Facebook). I chose a similar color scheme (the sprinkles on both costumes are the same color) so the girls’ costumes are cute together but not too matchy-matchy! I followed this DIY Donut Costume Tutorial but used flannel for the donut and icing instead of felt and also sewed the donut instead of hot-gluing it all together (but trust me when I say I used a LOT of hot-glue for Halloween costumes this year!).

Daphne will probably join Eloise and Papa trick-or-treating at a few houses this year along with the parade before hanging at home with me to hand out candy to the kids (and Eloise will stay out longer this year with Aaron and some friends). We either get like 4 kids or like 150 depending on the year!

And see Eloise’s first Halloween here!

Happy Halloween Daphne!

M

 

daphne {week 34}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // tee: June and January // cords: babyGap (old) // bib: DIY from Rifle Paper Co. fabric // toy: Manhattan Toy Company}

{week 34} This week seems like Daphne has grown leaps and bounds. Maybe it was because we didn’t give her free rein of the hotel room in Mexico to just cruise around, but these past few days it seems like Daphne is just on. the. move.

Crawling (as I mentioned last week) is a definite thing now and she is becoming more confident in her ability to move while up on her hands and knees. Though army crawling is still way faster, so she is still doing that too. Daphne also does a lot of planking still and is practicing her forward-fold (bottom up in the air, on her feet and hands on the floor). It amazes me to see how much she can move around!

We also noticed in the past few days that Daphne is getting more teeth. We can see all four top teeth (the two front teeth and the ones right next door) all coming in and starting to break thru the gums. And I suspect there is also a bottom tooth (or two) coming in as well. I have noticed a few more wake-ups in the early part of a nap or nighttime which I would blame on teething, but mostly it has just been an increase in drool. Holy saliva, it’s crazy. Within a half a day of me noticing her increase in drool we found tooth buds coming thru. If Daphne isn’t wearing a shirt, like after mealtime, within minutes her chest is soaking wet like she just got out of the bath! So I have gotten the bibs back out again to keep her from soaking thru all of her shirts.

Also, Daphne has started sitting up in her crib at the end of her nap time or in the morning when she’s up, but has also started reaching out of her crib if she’s close to the side. So needless to say I had Aaron lower the crib mattress before she starts pulling up to standing (which I anticipate will be sooner rather than later)! It is really sweet to come into her nursery to get her after a nap or in the morning and have her sitting up and smiling. Such a sweet babe!

Finally, I haven’t noticed Daphne sucking her thumb nearly as much these days. Maybe it has something to do with teething? And as cute as it was to see her sucking her thumb, it wouldn’t be the worst thing if she gave that up! And, on a completely unrelated note, Daphne is also using her right hand much more these days (rather than her left hand which she was doing there a lot for a while) so my theory of her being a lefty is a bit up in the air!

And see Eloise’s 34 week update here.

Happy 34 weeks Daphne!

M

This post contains affiliate/referral links.

our trip to Mexico {2017}

We just got back from Mexico (in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday) and I wanted to share some photos since I know you all have been waiting (haha)! I posted some of these during the week on my Instagram stories (this is my favorite social media guys!) as well as Instagram and Facebook posts, but since there were more photos to share, I thought I would do a blog post as well. {So I apologize for the repetition.}

As some of you may know, we headed down to Cancun last week to celebrate Aaron’s cousin’s wedding. Since we decided early on to take the kids (Daphne was pretty much a have-to since I didn’t want to spend a week in Mexico pumping!) we decided to make it a family vacation and stay an entire week. Plus, it was a great excuse to get the girls passports (oh my gosh, passport photos for babies and toddlers, it’s the best)! The wedding was at an all-inclusive resort which wouldn’t have probably been our first choice for vacation (I am much more inclined to rent an Airbnb house) but it was great for the kids. Plus, the rest of the wedding party, including all of Aaron’s family that had made the trip were at the resort, so it was sort of a no-brainer. We stayed at the Now Sapphire Riviera Cancun. It felt a lot like the Sandals resort we stayed in in St. Lucia for our honeymoon, but super family friendly.

We had a really good time and it was great to get away, just the four of us. Since we left last Tuesday, we had a day or two of just us before family started arriving for the big event. And it was great to see family too. Eloise was in heaven playing with all of her cousins!

The only real complaint that we had (#firstworldproblems) was that it was so, so hot and humid. It was about mid-80s temperature wise but with 85% humidity. That means the “real feel” temperature was around 100 degrees. I know, hard to complain about being on vacation in Mexico, but we were not prepared for that kind of heat! Luckily our room had A/C and we got an occasional ocean breeze.

Okay, enough chatting, I know you just want to see pictures! I didn’t take a ton of pictures since I was enjoying being unplugged (which just doesn’t happen much at home).

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{This is what traveling with both of the girls looked like. Not pictured: husband who was carrying a backpack, duffel bag (we love this one from Lo & Sons for travel!), and the diaper bag. Also not pictured: two car seats, two big suitcases.}

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{Hello LA! Early morning layover.}

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{We got Eloise a little digital camera for the trip and she was OBSESSED! She took about 100 pictures before we landed in Mexico… and many of the floor. Also, she loves her headphones which we only let her use when we are traveling.}

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{Hello Mexico! Perks of having a window seat, right?}

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{The beach. It was so beautiful!}

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{Eloise and I spent our first morning out on the beach while Aaron stayed with Daphne in the room for her nap.}

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{CHEESE! And so much sunscreen. My suit is old from TopShop and Eloise’s is from June and January for those who were asking.}

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{Daphne girl joined us at the beach after nap time.}

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{She LOVES the sand and just wanted to make sandcastles (and then destroy them) and bury our feet.}

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{We welcomed family since we were the first ones to arrive. Michael (Aaron’s cousin) and his wife Rachel with the girls.}

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{Love this Daphne girl. Even though moments before this happened she bit me. While she was nursing. It was not a great moment.}

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{Guys, sisters are the best! Maggi, the bride, gave the girls these adorable jammies.}

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{Poolside.}

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{Even though there were cabanas at the beach, they were pretty small once you got chaise lounge chairs under them. And we were all dying for shade! So I was happy to have brought this little pop-up tent for Daphne. And it was awesome to keep her from eating sand.}

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{We got her a new set of sand toys since the bucket we brought with us broke in the suitcase. It came in a little backpack which she wanted to take with us everywhere.}

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{This was perfect. And then the baby started moving towards the sand. But for a minute there, it was actually really relaxing!}

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{Eloise was a little nervous about the ocean but would go in if Aaron carried her.}

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{More sandcastles. And when Papa is around he goes to the water and gets the good, wet sand!}

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{We were so happy to see Kait! She was amazing with the girls who loved her so much. She’s technically not a cousin, but a cousin of a cousin, but that is just semantics!}

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{Ah, that smile!}

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{Eloise was not sure about this, but she wanted to be there since that is what her cousins were doing!}

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{Another morning at the pool and it was much too hot for Daphne to nap.}

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{Eloise was so brave and swam out with her Uncle David, Aaron’s brother.}

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{It took a lot of bouncing and rocking, but I finally got Daph to nap that morning.}

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{The wedding set-up. It was insanely hot, but so beautiful!}

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{Wedding selfie. Love this guy. And Baby D was not at all happy. She calmed down before the ceremony started though, thank goodness!}

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{The tables were gorgeous. I wish I could have greenery and flowers on my dining table all the time.}

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{And after the wedding was done, the kids played on the beach. And Eloise deconstructed the wedding flowers…}

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{For Mr. and Mrs. Czerpak!}

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{We only got a few photos of the four of us and even though the girls weren’t looking at the camera or smiling, I love this photo of our little family. And bless my husband who endured wearing a suit during the wedding ceremony because I asked him to. It was probably 100 degrees on the beach that afternoon, but I love him in a suit!}

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{Cutting the cake. The cake topper says “finally” since they dated for 7 years!}

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{Sami, the flower girl (she LOVED Daphne and Eloise) and Uncle Papi (Uncle Mike) who was the father of the bride. Our wedding favors were these colorful maracas and the girls were both obsessed.}

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{A dance party after dinner. It was so fun!}

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{Eloise with the bride.}

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{Eloise, Kendra, Daphne, and me. It was so hot but such a fun time!}

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{After dancing, we re-grouped and went back to the room to get the girls ready for bed. We gave her a bedtime bottle, stuck these earphones on her, and she was out for the rest of the night!}

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{Nap at the beach!}

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{And more time to play in the sand. All of the family had cabanas right next to each other so it was fun to see everyone, but still be able to hang in the shade.}

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{This is her “What Mama?” face when I say “Say cheese, Eloise!”}

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{Hydrating before pool time.}

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{And she’s off!}

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{Oh those cheeks and those lips sweet Daphne girl!}

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{A post-nap swim for Daphne. She LOVED the pool! Her rashguard/sunshirt is an old Crewcuts and her swim diaper is an old Honest Co.}

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{And Eloise insisted on getting back in the pool with Uncle Ben.}

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{The beach just outside our room.}

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{On our last night we hung out with family after dinner and Eloise was loving spending time with her cousin Jack. She was a blur the entire night!}

{And Daphne crawling (and almost getting squished by Eloise!) in case you missed it on my Instagram stories.}

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{Waiting to get on the plane. Eloise loves airports and seeing all of the planes.}

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{And Daphne loves sticking her fingers in other people’s mouths… we are working on that. And moments later, she was out and slept until we were on the plane.}

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{Adios Mexico! See you next time!}

A fun family trip and makes me so excited to continue our family adventures, hopefully, all around the world with these girls!

And happy wedding day to Maggi and Greg!

M

Also, for those who were asking, my dress is J. Crew that I picked up at the end of the summer (so it’s no longer available). As soon as we booked our trip I started searching for a dress since I knew it would be tricky to find something I liked that was also nursing friendly. Luckily, this dress was so perfect!

 

daphne {week 33}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // swimsuit: Cat and Jack for Target // blanket: Lou Lou and Company}

{week 33} This was a BIG week for Daphne because we flew to Cancun for the week, marking her first international flight, first passport stamp, first wedding, and first time (sweating it) in paradise!

We had a super early morning flight down to LA (and then onto Cancun) and Daphne did so well. She was a bit confused why I woke her up at 2:30 AM but went right back to sleep in her car seat on the drive down to the airport. I wore her in a carrier (we have been liking the Tula recently since it adjusts for Aaron comfortably and doesn’t take as much time to set-up as the Solly) thru airport security and then onto the plane. We kept the girls on Pacific time for the trip down, and Daphne did great with feedings on the plane, including solids (so messy!) and napped a bit too. She was mostly just interested in what was going on on the plane and wished she could just crawl around all over the place.

Once we got to Cancun, it was so, so hot and it never cooled down. Daphne tends to run warm anyways, so she was super sweaty all week. But, she did well with the temperature change as well as wearing a hat and being covered up with a sun blanket when we were out without shade. There were some mornings that I think she was too hot to nap, either by the pool or the beach, even though we were in the shade, but she cat napped in the morning most days and then took her longer afternoon nap in the cool air conditioned hotel room.

Sleeping-wise, she was great. It was the first time we had all shared a room, but we had a Pack ‘N Play over on one side of the room with a blanket hanging over the side, so she got some more privacy (and wasn’t so distracted by everyone else). And the travel sound machine was a huge help too. She was up a few times each night, mostly between 8 PM and midnight, but once she had her paci, she was great for the remainder of the night. We got a few early morning wake-ups (like 6:30 AM) but mostly she would go back to sleep until 7:30 or 8 AM for her first feeding.

Daphne loves her solid meals and that did not change in Mexico. We had access to lots of fresh fruit and grilled veggies, so that is what she had for meals along with grilled chicken, eggs (hard-boiled), and Bambas that I brought with us (she is OBSESSED with these). Her favorites were papaya, watermelon, and kiwi which she would demand (by banging on her tray) if she saw them on the table as well as grilled mushrooms and zucchini. But honestly, we have given Daphne almost every type of fruit or veggie we have access to and she hasn’t turned down a single thing!

The biggest (and most exciting) thing that happened while we were away was that Daphne started crawling. Like hands and knees, official crawling! Aaron saw her one day take a few moves, but it wasn’t until the next day (the 17th) that she was really moving around. She still stays down on her belly and army crawls, but will get up and crawl around!

We had a really great time (I will re-cap our trip in another post) and Daphne was a great little traveler. She was her happy, joyful self and won the hearts of everyone at the resort. Seriously, everyone was like “Is she always THAT happy?” Yes, yes she is.

Also, she wasn’t really feeling the weekly picture this week and was way more into rolling around and attempting to fit that entire maraca in her mouth, so there’s that.

Happy 33 weeks Daphne!

M

daphne {week 32}

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{letterboard: Letter Folk (Poet) // onesie: Gerber (old) // peplum sweatshirt: Old Navy (old) // leggings: Target (old)}

{week 32} 32. A week into her seventh month and I still can’t believe it. The days are long and the weeks are short!

Now that Daphne is sitting up so well on her own, she is enjoying playing on our play mat much more. We have “Daphne safe” toys out for her, though everything on that side of the living room has to be safe since she is definitely not stationery. She can go from sitting to lying on her belly and then to her side and then sometimes can find herself back sitting again! It is amazing to watch her move around. I am always so amazed by how quickly babies learn to move, considering just a few months ago she couldn’t even control her own limbs! There is still lots of rocking on her hands and knees, but as soon as she moves forward, she slips down onto her belly. I say it every week, but crawling is just around the corner!

Daphne enjoys eating very much. Way more than I remember Eloise enjoying it. And now that we are doing solids for three meals per day, she pretty much demands it after finishing up nursing. It has been so fun to see her explore foods and learn to feed herself, but boy is it so much work. I am chopping and roasting and prepping food (seemingly) all day long, and then cleaning up after mealtime. It’s seriously a full-time job, just cleaning up from three meals at the house! We are still offering some purees (mostly fruits mixed in with yogurt*) but Daphne has a huge preference towards finger foods and really just wants to feed herself. Which is great, but makes for long and very messy mealtimes.

On Friday Daphne got her flu shot (the first booster and will have a second one at her next check-up) along with a single dose of MMR. We are leaving the country for a trip this week and our pediatrician recommended she get that specific vaccine, even though the course of MMR doesn’t start until around 1 year old. Apparently much of the research points to international airports as sources of introduction to infection. Daphne did really well for her shots and cried for about a minute, and then was fine. She didn’t sleep as well as I expected (normally shots knock her out!) but she also didn’t have any other symptoms (like fever) so I was relieved.

*Our pediatrician suggested that we introduce plain, organic yogurt right before we travel to help with any tummy issues that can stem from traveling and introduction to new foods. Plain yogurt is pretty sour so I have been defrosting some of her fruit purees and adding them in (and also because any flavored yogurt you buy at the store has SO much added sugar…why?!)

Happy 32 weeks Daphne!

M

project baby #2 {nursing essentials}

Back in April I shared my newborn and post-partum essentials that were important to me in those first few weeks when Daphne was so tiny and new. (And see my post-partum essentials with Eloise here.) Now that we are seven months out, I wanted to update again with my nursing essentials since these are the things that are (or have been) important to me for a much longer amount of time and will likely be until Daphne weans.

Post-Partum-Essentials

{one} (Reusable) Nursing Pads.

For me reusable nursing pads are must and Bamboobies are my go-to. Even after my supply had come in and leveled out, I still found that leakage was an issue, so these help me from having to change clothes (or at least my shirt) multiple times per day. Plus, once baby sleeps thru the night and you are going 10 to 12 hours between the first feeding and the last, you want something that will help absorb. I like the thin, heart-shaped pads for daytime since they fit smoothly, but then I like the thicker, round ones for nighttime use.

{two} Nursing Bra.

Like most new mamas, I spent the first weeks (okay, probably months) in softer nursing bras meant for sleeping. Then once my milk came in I started wearing “real” nursing bras, including underwire ones (which you have to be careful with when your milk is coming in). I still had nursing bras from when Eloise was little but found that I needed/wanted a few new ones.

I kept seeing blog posts and ads about a new brand called ThirdLove and decided to finally buy when they released a line of nursing bras. I opted for the wireless one and have been really impressed. The biggest thing about nursing bras (for me) that you don’t have to think about with regular bras is how easily the cup flips or folds down; I have a few that don’t do this well and end up soaked in milk at the end of every feeding! ThirdLove’s cups are super soft and fold really well down plus a bonus that the straps don’t slip. Guys, this is life-changing!

The other secret to nursing bras (which I have shared before) is that Nordstrom will convert any regular bra into a nursing bra for a nominal alteration fee (like $15). Definitely worth it if you are particular about a brand, or have a unique band or cup size.

{three} Tanks.

As with Eloise, I don’t like nursing tanks. I think they can be great for those first few weeks, but beyond that, I like the support (and look) of a bra. But, I do wear a tank top basically every day so that when I do nurse, my belly isn’t exposed; I just pull down the tank when I need to nurse. I have multiple tanks with the thin (spaghetti) straps from both H&M and Old Navy in white, black, and grey that basically covers any shirt situation along with an old “nude colored” cami (similar to this) which is great for under white shirts.

{four} Boppy Pillow.

When nursing Daphne, I have found that I use my Boppy nursing pillow so much more than I did with Eloise (seven months out), like whenever I am home during a feeding. I find it is much more comfortable for me to have the support of a pillow and will probably continue to use it until Daphne is too big! This time around I also bought this beautiful pillow cover from MadlyWish which is made from the Rifle Paper Co. fabric line. Guys, it sounds silly, but this pillow cover makes me so happy. I wish I would have gotten a fun cover for the Boppy when Eloise was little. Instead I used the very juvenile ones that came with the pillow. So, get a Naked Boppy Pillow and find a shop (there are tons on Etsy or Instagram) that sells beautiful covers and you are set!

{five} Hydroflask Waterbottle.

Until about two months ago, I was using the same Camelbak waterbottles that I got when I was pregnant with Eloise. They worked fine and were great for keeping me hydrated during pregnancy and post-partum. However, when they started leaking (from the drinking spout) and becoming harder to clean, I started shopping around for something else. Enter: Hydroflask. I had heard great things about Hydroflask from other mamas but couldn’t get myself to buy a waterbottle that was so expensive! But then I did. And it was so worth it. Seriously. My water stays cold for hours or until I drink the entire bottle (usually the latter). If you are on the fence at all about one, do it. I got the wide-mouth one and added the straw lid because with two little ones, I never have two hands available to screw open the lid!

And along with these essentials, I probably should mention a breast pump. I didn’t have a great experience pumping with Eloise but we bought this new Naya Smartpump this time around and I really, really like it (well, as much as you can like a breast pump). A lot of people are surprised when they find out that I pump because I stay home with the girls, but sometimes I need to be able to be away from Daphne and we also give her a bedtime bottle which (right now) is pumped milk, so I am currently pumping twice per day.

What were your nursing essentials? Did they change over time or from your first kiddo to your second (or third)?

M

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