Oh yeah, they keep growing and changing, and so do their interests! At this point, she was very interested in the world around her and wanted nothing more than to explore. So without further adieu, here's the top picks for 4-6 months...
1) Boppy
Oh, the glorious Boppy and its many opportunities! When Kee was in that awkward stage where she couldn't quite lift up her chest while she was doing tummy time, the Boppy came in handy to give her some support while she figured out what she was doing. While we continue to try to teach her how to hold a bottle and/or sippy cup on her own, the Boppy comes in handy to give her a nice little setting to chill in so I can teach her what to do with those darn hands of hers! While she was learning to sit up independently, the Boppy came in handy to surround her with a nice cushy place to fall when the inevitable happened. I think it's safe to say that the Boppy is a worthy product to make the list.
2) Bumbo
Yet another brilliant invention! Ok so, also while she was learning to sit up on her own, the Bumbo was an awesome item to have. The fact that it's so light made it perfect for taking on-the-go when visiting with family & friends, and since it's waterproof, you can use it in the tub for some water play! It also comes with a tray you can snap on, and Kee loved to be in this (new and exciting!) upright position while playing.
3) Everyday household items for play
Yeah sure you can go out and buy every tried & tested baby item on the market, but I swear to you that there is nothing more entertaining for my baby than the random things around our home. Wrapping bows, red solo cups (that's my girl!), aluminum foil, tags on blankets, magnets on the dishwasher/fridge, and don't even get me started with the plastic measuring spoons! Those bad boys go with us everywhere! Seriously, get creative. You won't disappoint.
4) Cart cover
There was a phase where Lil' K wasn't ready to sit up on her own in a cart, yet she would no longer just sleep through an outing in her cartseat. This made any trips to the store extremely frustrating because she was wide awake and would want to see what's going on around her, but couldn't. And mommy just doesn't have that many hands, OK! Needless to say, my shopping trips with the baby came to a grinding halt. Now that we're finally out of that awkward stage and she's able to sit up on her own, I'm SO glad we received a cart cover as a gift! I was one of those things where I didn't think I would use it when I opened it up, but am so glad we now have it since she puts her mouth on everything. Everything, you guys. Thank God for this item and protecting her from who-knows-what-touched-this-before-we-did.
5) Coco the Monkey
This toy/teether is a total knockoff of a $25 one, Sophie the Giraffe (that bitch), but is essentially the same thing: a glorified and marked-up dog toy. This was something that I didn't think she would really need, but I had a Target gift card burnin' a hole in my pocket so I went for it. Man am I glad I did, because Coco is the perfect item for a teething baby! She can chew and chew on it and it won't get ruined, it's even better straight out of the freezer, and he's easy to clean. Needless to say, we never leave the house without Coco.
So you're having a baby and you get millions of gadgets and gizmos, but what are some things you really need to make these next few months as smooth as possible? My baby daddy and I talk about this situation quite a bit, those top few things that actually made a huge difference FOR US in that time. Lemme sum it up for ya, in no particular order...
1) HAVE A DIAPER PARTY
I cannot possibly stress this enough!!!! We are so incredibly blessed to have a generous and loving group of family and friends, so while my baby shower was taking place the male counterparts to my many fine lady-friends were over partaking in a keg & bonfire event, where all the boys brought a bag of diapers. Lil' K was born in February and I don't believe we actually had to buy diapers until May. Of course, we did have to make a few trips to the store to do a swap-a-roo for the correct size at the time, but this is hands down one of the most helpful things you could do as new parents. Plus, it was a great excuse for the guys to have a keg party.
2) Swaddlers
We were avid fans of these contraptions when bebegirl was wee. Just in case you're not sure what this is, you wrap the baby up in it somewhat tightly and it creates the feeling for them that they are still all warm & cuddly in the womb. I'll admit, both of our mothers thought we were crazy because Kee looked like a little baby mummy all wrapped up so snug, but these particular swaddlers made her so comfortable and put her right to sleep every time. *NOTE: The day she first rolled over by herself was the last day we used this item, in order to avoid any scary situations.
3) There's an App for that.
Damn right there is! Those first few days after returning home from the hospital are a total blur, so it was a really smart decision for me to download something to keep track of feedings/bottles/changings/doctor's appointments, etc., until I grasped the general concept. It was also a great comfort factor for me because I'm a very routine person and the last thing I would want to lose track of is something regarding my child. The one that I swear by was by Sprout, because it's free. And you know how I love free.
After doing a little bit of research on appropriate stimulation for a baby this young, I learned that at this age they are super intrigued by black/white/red images until their sight develops a bit more. So, of course, there's an app for that. This particular one that is absolutely enthralling for her is BabySymbol. It shows patterned images like this one, along with sounds. The result?
MIND. BLOWING.
If you look up this app, you caught me. It's not free. But I had an iTunes gift card, so sue me! :-P
4) White noise.
To be specific, an overhead kitchen vent. To put Lil' K to bed at night, we'd put her in her handy-dandy Swaddler and rock her for a few minutes near the running kitchen vent, and she was lights out. Don't believe me? Whenever our parents babysat, they did the same routine and everything was smooth-sailing for them as well.
5) One kick-ass Pediatrician
I cannot stress enough how important it is to feel comfortable and confident in your child's pediatrician. After all, they're pretty much the end-all advice-givers for your most precious gift. We did quite a bit of research on this topic as well (shocker, I know), and this is one situation where word-of-mouth was the deciding factor for us. This particular doctor, along with the rest of the staff and the establishment itself, is clean, approachable, and efficient. I'd recommend any parent to check them out, and if you can't do the same for your child's pediatrician, then make a change. It's worth it.
These are just a few things that worked wonders for us in particular, but I'd love to hear some of your top picks!
For many reasons that I don't care to list, I recently decided that it would be best for our family if I quit working my part time job and stayed home with Lil' K. The decision to stay home was not something that was taken lightly in our house. We pondered over this choice for over a month or so, going back and forth between the pros and cons. Well, what's done is done, and lemme tell ya, now our house is always (our version of) clean, laundry is always finished, the baybay is getting one-on-one attention and enjoying daily developmentally appropriate activities, and I'm pretty sure that the fiance is loving the home-cooked meals every night when he gets in from work. Look out Martha, there's a new broad in town!
"Oh, but Sarah, how do you manage on only one income, and with a baby?! It's not like you're rolling in the dough!" is what I'm SURE you're telling yourself, right? Correct, we are nowhere near living a life of luxury, and if you know anything about me (which I hope you do, since you're reading this), you know that I'm a planner, a list-maker, a task-tackler, if you will. Type A personality all the way. I wanted to make sure that while staying home, I still contributed to our household.
First off, I'm learning to tackle the wide world of meal planning. Pinterest has come in handy with this daring feat, my friends. Although I must say, I haven't been able to find a very clear outline on the most efficient and cost-effective way to go about it. So I made my own. My Pinterest is a clusterfuck, so the first thing I had to do was slow down and make a list of all potential dinner recipes, sides included. For now I made sure not to include any crazy-eclectic ones because I can't justify spending $10+ on spices just to make a curry dish, no matter how delicious it would probably be! The next step in my the plan is to research the sales ads that we get in the mail, and pick and choose meals from my Master Meal List based on what's for sale. A deal on chicken? You better believe we're munchin' on chicken recipes for the week! My last key piece of information in my plan is to always shop at Aldi's first (unless for some reason a different store has a better price listed in the sale ads, which let's face it, is incredibly unlikely). Also, I don't buy non-grocery items (paper towels, cleaning products, contact solutions, etc.) at the grocery store. These are notoriously cheaper at the dollar stores, Walmart, and/or Target, and I usually don't buy anything like that without getting a coupon code for it from coupons.com or the actual manufacturer's website.
After the process of planning out the meals and weekly necessities is complete, I make my shopping list (broken down by grocery store sections: dairy, produce, pantry items... again, Type A...), and hit the town. If it's not on the list, it's not being purchased, simple as that. Yeah, it sounds time-consuming at overwhelming at first, but it has proven to work for us, and this preparation is the least I can do to save Mr. Bacon a few bucks. I mean seriously, going into the grocery store with no plan in mind just sounds like anarchy to me! And ALL the monies down the drain!
Oh, side note, I also signed up for freeflys.com, a (free!) website that sends you updates on all manufacturing websites that are offering free samples that day. I don't mind entering my mailing address a few times if it means I'll get dishwasher liquid, makeup, and shampoo & conditioner delivered to my doorstep at no cost. No shame here, folks.
Another way I've saved us a few bucks recently also involved some in-depth research, but I think it will definitely be worth it this coming winter. I switched our electricity provider from Ameren to a company that offers a much cheaper (and fixed for 12 months!) supply rate, no contract required, because you know how I don't like to be locked in! Our actual electricity is still provided by Ameren, just a new supplier. There's 20+ options for electric providers in our area, and you can compare them at chooseenergy.com/illinois. Based on my comparison of our personal electricity usage last year with this new supply rate, we'll save an average of $30 a month. And 30 bucks is 30 bucks, ya dig. Do some research if you'd like, because you actually have some control on this particular bill!
Starting this week, we're beginning a new financial plan, and the man of the house is thrilled, lemme tell ya. It goes like this: he gives me ALL of his paycheck (because, let's face it, I'm better with the financial side of things. When I need help on my video gaming technique, I'll be sure to hit him up), I use it on monthly bills (obviously), and we will each get a suitable CASH allowance. Once it's gone, it's gone, and there's no confusion or going over on spending by using debit cards. We'll also get a cash allowance for groceries (hence the meal planning) and Lil' K items (kept in separate envelopes) for the same reason. The remainder of said paycheck will go to small debts using the 'snowball' approach: pay the minimum balance of all debts, and put the entire remainder toward the smallest one. Once that is paid off, use that amount to pay off the second largest. This will help us tackle those pesky student loans and the credit card balance quicker and more efficiently. What can I say, I'm a planner.
Sorry for the rambling, but these are just a few ways I've been utilizing my skills and ample amount of time to contribute to our household and stretch those dolla dolla billz. It works for us, and if it helps any one of you in the process, all the better! Good luck, ya Frugal Frannies :)
Well, it looks like I've entered into the blogging world. I was inspired to start one by a couple of my friends who have their own blogs, along with interesting topics. One, discovering the joys and challenges of a new marriage, the other exploring life from an aerial perspective as a student in the Air Force. With the many pivotal events that have taken place this past year I thought it may be a good idea to join the bandwagon and document all the good, bad, and ugly. Staying true to the theme of my life, this blog won't have a set outline or plan. One day I may write about the first year of parenthood, the next may be about fitness goals or some terrible movie I watched the night before. Either way, when have I not had an input about something?! So take it easy on me, as this is a trial-and-error project in my book :)
-Sarah
