Products I Love: Infant

Ok so this time around there is no messing around with baby products. I know that I've been there before but there are some things out there that I didn't know about before that are great.

Breast Friend Feeding Pillow

This is the best breast feeding pillow that I've found. The Boppy is good in that it is shaped well for you to hold the baby and be comfortable, but I found that the boppy tends to move, slide away from your body as you're feeding or if the baby moves. The breast friend has a front shaped like the boppy, but it also has a back that wraps around you and buckles to the front. This not onl keeps the pillow in place, it supports your back nicely to. My only complaint about this, is that it is a little trickier to get into or get out of if the baby is fussy and you need to try and feed her quickly or get out and change her as you have to unbuckle yourself from it. But that is a minor detail to the comfort of breast feeding overall.


Nursing Scarf/Nursing Cover

I just found this scarf that doubles as a nursing cover. I never used a nursing cover with my first daughter but I didn't really ever find myself in a place to need it. I could always plan or get to a place where I didn't need it. Now with a toddler who likes doing all kinds of activities, like go to the farm or the aquarium or dance class, I find that I'm out in public way more with her and a newborn in tow. This scarf is an easy thing to wear and convert into a cover if I need to nurse baby #2. I got mine here on etsy.




Nursing Necklace

You're nursing and all of a sudden the little hands are clamped down on your necklace, the nice one that your husband got you for your first mother's day, and you're afraid she's going to break it. Well I've discovered nursing necklaces this go around. Wooden beaded necklaces or wood with fabric over them, for their little hands to grab on to without breaking it! It also can be used later on down the road as a teething necklace. I got mine here on etsy.

Products I love: Toddler

                                   Better than sippy cups sippy cups

I recently funded a kick starter that came through on their deadline and is awesome. SipSnap are silicone lids that slip on to any cup and turn that cup into a sippy cup. Its great because it is super easy to clean, super portable and spill proof but best of all it is only one piece. I keep one in my diaper bag and am even thinking of getting them as gifts for my parents and in-laws so we can get rid of those horrid, hard to clean, multi piece sippy cups everywhere!

                                    Bento Boxes

This year I got N a bento box for her lunches. After many years of a lunch box with small ziplock containers, I splurged and got a good one. The one I got was Fit & Fresh's Bento Lunch Kit. The reason why I settled on this one was because this has a built in ice pack in the lid. Since N will not be able to store her lunch in a refrigerator I needed to figure out how to keep it cold. I could've just put the ice pack into any bento kit, but why do that when this one was designed for what I needed! Exactly what I needed! I do wish they sold an extra set of ice packs for this specific lunch box because there have been days where we've forgotten to put the ice packs in the freezer after washing her lunch box. But other than that I like this kit.

Pitchers

Since N is n Montessori Preschool, one of the things they teach the kids is pouring.  So we now have her pour her own drinks.  This is the best pitcher I've seen thats a good size, not too big, that has a lid.  We were using a creamer pitcher, which was a good size, but there was no lid. Right now we only put in enough for one serving, as N will pour the whole pitcher out into her cup, but hopefully soon we'll be able to have one with milk and one with water and she'll be able to go get something to drink on her own,

Montessori At Home

This past fall N started preschool. She's at a Montessori preschool and it has been a great thing for her. Some people see Montessori as unstructured and therefore not good for their child. However, this is not the case, this method lets kids learn at their own pace, with great freedom and independence. It builds upon skills that they are taught throughout the year and lets them explore and master these skills in their own time by watching others, usually older kids, and trying when they are ready.



We first heard about Montessori a while back as my mother happens to work at the school that N is at. She showed us a video when N was first starting to walk of a kid at montessori and how their parents brought it into the house. Here the parents had a helper tower for their child. (if you've read previous posts you know we have one and I LOVE it) Here is where we first heard of this helping tower, which has been a great thing for us in the kitchen. But now we're beyond that. We have coat hooks at N's level, an art board at her level for her to hang up her artwork she brings home from school, a shelf in the pantry for her snacks and for the dog food - one of her jobs/chores, a shelf in the kitchen with her bowls, cups, plates and pitchers.

N has chores or jobs as we call them too. She feeds the dog each morning and evening. She sets the table. She clears her place at the table when she is finished and she cleans up her work and toys when she is all through. N likes to help sweep if that needs to be done as well. And she loves to help cook, especially when it comes to cooking treats like cookies or desserts. And when all the cooking is done, N helps do the dishes too. All these things help her to learn and grow and also help her to feel like she is part of the family and feel good about helping out.

A lot of the things she learns at school carry over at home. For example, she comes home and takes off her shoes and puts them by the door, and takes off her coat and hangs it on the hook. This is what she does when she gets to school in the morning too. She clears her place when she is done eating lunch at school and she clears her place when she is done with dinner at home too.

Last week my husband went to the parent night for first year parents and brought home some information on brining montessori into the home and continuing the work they do at school. I think we've been doing almost everything on their check list for over a year with N. It just seemed to make sense to get her involved in what we were doing. I mean kids do play kitchen and play cleaning, why not let them actually do it for real and help you out?! Sure it may not be done as well and may be painstakingly slow but they're learning and that's what really matters right?

Second Time Around: Newborn & Toddler

The last few days of pregnancy I was SO ready to be done being pregnant. And then I finally went into labor and thought, I don't remember it being this painful last time. I guess we forget how painful it is for a reason... otherwise people wouldn't have more than one kid! Once I got the epidural though, things were much better!

J was born in the morning and this time my mom was there in the delivery room. At first I thought that it might be weird, kind of take away from this moment from me and m husband, but it was fine. I mean by that time there are so many people in the room looking at you giving birth, what's one more person? I think it was really special for my mom to be there, so I'm glad she was, even if she headed off to work after the baby was born! (She did return later that day to hold the baby!)

I was a bit nervous figuring out how to introduce N to her new little sister. My husband and I thought and over thought how we should have them meet. The good news, even though we didn't know it, was that the hospital maternity ward, did not let kids under the age of 19 in, which at first we were bummed about. But I think it worked out better that N didn't meet J in the hospital, and see mom hooked up to IV's and wearing a weird gown.

We brought J home on a Friday afternoon and had a few hours to settle her and myself in before Dad went and picked up N at school. N was SO excited to see the baby she barely said hi to me, I mean she hadn't seen me in 3 days, I guess I'm chopped liver! Anyway, she was so excited to see the new baby and hold her and put her in the swing and then the bouncy seat and then the bassinet, that we had to slow her down a bit and tell her that in time she will use all of these things, but now she just needed to sleep.

J is now 6 weeks old and N likes to help out with her little sister. She likes to help mom changer her, she doesn't seem to mind her crying as much as mom and dad do, she likes to snuggle with her in the morning and she LOVES to have matching jammies with J.

The first week for me was really hard. I kept thinking once I was done being pregnant, which was just no fun in the end, things would be way better. I mean after all I'd done this before. I knew what I was getting myself into...breast feeding, washing bottles, taking the baby out for walks in the stroller with the dog, getting a few winks while she napped in the swing or bouncy seat or bassinet, because that't what I did with N. But let me tell you this kid is a whole new kid with a whole new set of rules and no instruction book. J hates the car seat, hates the stroller, hates being put down in the swing or bouncy seat or bassinet. So I spend most of the day holding her. If I put her down she cries. If she's not eating, sleeping or being held, she's crying. This makes doing things a little trickier. Its hard to nap when you are holding a baby, so naps are few and far between. Its hard to get things done with one hand, while the other is holding the baby. So my husband, has been doing 110%. He's been doing the laundry, dishes, dinner, cleaning, and most importantly taking care of N. He makes her lunch, does her tub, reads to her at night, puts her to bed, gets her up in the morning, gives her breakfast, gets her dressed and takes her to school. And what do I do during all this, I take care of J. I hold her or feed her, but mostly hold her. And I feel extremely guilty about not helping him or helping around the house or helping with N. In fact the first week home I was so emotional, mostly with guilt about not being able to give N my undivided attention and do things with her that we used to do, that I would just burst into tears randomly. Mostly at night when I could hear my husband playing with N in the tub or reading her books and tucking her in. It really caught me off guard because I didn't have any of these feelings or this reaction when N was a newborn.

After a few weeks, we as a family got into a routine. Or we just got used to having J around. We still sat down as a family for dinners (even if J was crying in her bouncy seat), N still read books before bed in our room. And N and my husband got used to me and J not getting up and going to work or helping in the morning. The biggest change I think was that N started to get up in the middle of the night and come into our room. I think she was doing this because she was a little jealous that J was sleeping in our room with us. So we implemented the Sandman - who leaves surprises under your pillow if you stay in bed all night. It got to the point where N was waking up at 4am and turning the light on to look under her pillow each morning, that we now have a sticker chart. So after x amount of days in a row of staying in bed all night the Sandman would leave a surprise. So we're not waking up each morning early looking under our pillow! So far it's been working well. We do have days that she does get up and that's expected, after all she's only 2!

One of the things that we've started doing to make N feel special, or to know that she's still loved is have sleepovers with Grammy and Nana. This way she gets that individual attention from the grandparents - ok spoiled is the word - and she loves it. In fact she asks to have a sleepover quite frequently! I know it's because they let her run the show, but she needs that release! Especially because we expect so much of her as a big sister now!