Arlo: 6 months old

Happy half-birthday to our sweet baby Arlo!  Six months brought about a whole bunch of changes for all of us.  Read on to get the scoop!

Sleeping:  Oh, sleeping.  Where do I begin...  One week before Arlos six month birthday, we moved him from the co-sleeper to his crib at night.  He had been waking up and bumping his head on the side of the co-sleeper most mornings, and also didn't have any room to roll or move around at night - so it really was time for a different sleeping arrangement.  I tell you, this transition was much harder on mama than it was the little man.  He passed out the second his head hit the mattress, I cried myself to sleep staring at the empty co-sleeper beside me and intently listening through the monitor for the smallest peep.  It took me a few nights to get used to not having him beside me, but I realized we all started to sleep better with him in his own space.  This past weekend we put the co-sleeper up in the attic (sniff, sniff) and our bedroom is now starting to feel like "our room" again.  It's okay with me, and the fact that Arlo is sleeping so well at night allowed me to adjust pretty quickly (after the first few nights anyway!)  His current bedtime is between 8-8:30pm and he will sleep all the way until 6am, sometimes even 7am, without waking up.

Now naps...  That's a whole 'nother story.  This kid fights naps so hard.  Once he is asleep - he does great!  He will either take one epically long nap in the middle of the day (I am talking 3-4 hours) or sometimes will take two shorter naps (2 hours early in the day and an hour long afternoon nap.)  But getting him to nap is the hard part.  The last few days have involved me putting him in the ergo carrier and walking around the house until he falls asleep, usually within just 2-3 minutes.  At the advice of several other moms that I have polled in the past few days, my own included, I have decided to keep on with this method.  Hopefully this is just a phase and I am not setting him up for always needing the ergo to fall asleep - can you see me wearing a four year old around the house every afternoon, if we are lucky that he will continue to nap that long?  Anyway, my new plan is to try and be more consistent with his schedule.  Once I figure out what his body naturally wants to do I can conform our daily schedule around that, however it seems like some mornings he wants to nap at 10am, and some mornings he falls asleep at 7:30am.  Hopefully by our next update we have a bit more routine in this department!!

Eating:  In case you missed my last post, we recently started Arlo on solid foods!  His first meal was avocado, and while the first meal was more about making a mess than actually swallowing much, day two was much more of a success and by his third meal he was coming at me open-mouthed like a little bird and crying between bites because I was too slow!  This kid was definitely ready for solids.  Yesterday we switched it up and tried some sweet potato, and he absolutely loved it.  We are taking it slow and starting with one meal a day for now.  Since he is already on the low end of what he should be consuming as his daily milk (formula) intake, I want to make sure that the solids don't have any effect on the amount he is drinking.  He is currently drinking around 5oz, six times per day and is on a pretty consistent schedule with his bottles - eating every three hours or so during the day.

Weight and Length:  Arlo had his six month check up about a week ago, and weighed in at 15 lbs 1oz, putting him in the 10th percentile for weight - slightly higher than he has been (he started out in just the 3rd percentile!).  He measured 25 3/4 inches in length (17th percentile) and his giant noggin is still in the 97th percentile measuring 45 1/2cm.


Wearing:  Size 9 month clothes are fitting best during the day because of the cloth diaper bulk, but he is on the tail end of fitting into some 6 month things as well.  At night he sleeps comfortably in a 6 month onesie because we are still going through the jumbo pack of disposables I bought months ago - its amazing how long you can stretch a pack of diapers when you only go through one per day!  However, I think I might have found a cloth diapering method that we can use for our little heavy-wetter at night.  Will be trying that soon and hopefully in the near future we will be disposable-diaper free!

Likes and dislikes:  
likes:  being naked, bath time, playing "astronaut" with dad, grabbing/petting/looking at the kitties or Lucy, the TV screen (ugh), standing up (with assistance) every chance he gets, smiling at complete strangers everyplace we go, riding in the Ergo on mama's chest or back (finally big enough for the back carry - yay!), eating foods and playing with foods, seeing dad when he comes home from work, riding in the car, jumping and babbling in his doorway jumper, and putting everything in his mouth.
dislikes:  loud noises, naps!, being in the car seat when the car is not in motion, and doing an activity for more than 10 minutes at a time (after a little while - it's just time to move on to something else!)

New milestones and developments:  During his fifth month, Arlo sprouted two new teeth bringing us to a grand total of four little pearly whites.  He is so very close to crawling and is completely frustrated that he can't go anywhere on his own yet - he wants to be on the move so bad!  He has perfected his barrel roll across the floor and we can no longer set him down anymore and expect him to stay there for any length of time.  For a while we were seriously thinking he would walk before he crawled but at this point he is so close to crawling I am sure that is in our near future.  He loves to stand and has some seriously strong legs (obviously a trait inherited from dad) but his balance is not quite there yet.  He can sit unassisted for 5-10 seconds but needs hands nearby to catch him when he topples over.
His fine motor skills are developing rapidly as well, and he has become quite skilled at wrapping his little fingers around everything within his reach - mama's hair, Lucy's tail, his baby spoon, the place mat at the dinner table - look out!  Now if only we could teach him what "let go" means...


In the upcoming month I plan to start working on baby sign language with Arlo.  I know it will be several months before we are able to effectively communicate with him via signs, but I read that this is a good time to start the learning process.  Hopefully between "Super Baby Food" and "The Baby Sleep Book" that I have been reading in the evenings (trying to work on a nap plan!) I can make the time to read a bit of the "Baby Signs" book I picked up when I was pregnant.

Here's to another month of growing, playing, learning, and (if mama is lucky) napping!

Expectations vs. Reality

When I was pregnant, I had a lot of expectations on how life would be once our little guy arrived. I had my mind made up that certain things were going to be done a certain way, and never gave too much thought to things not working out the way I had planned. Here is how some of those things have played out for us, so far...

Breastfeeding:

Expectation:  I never had any expectations with breastfeeding other than it would come as a natural process, and never saw us having any problems with it.  I was going to be one of those moms who had no trouble breastfeeding in public, and planned to do so proudly.  I also expected to breastfeed for a full 12 months, and longer if possible.

Reality:  My last post was a rather long and detailed account of our breastfeeding experience and challenges so far. I was hoping by now that I would be able to write about how things have improved, but sadly there have not really been any changes. After ruling out Raynauds and Thrush as possible causes of my pain, I ended up seeing a well known breast pain specialist at the local university. Her theory is that I am having referred pain caused by the initial breastfeeding trauma. It is like my nerves and pain receptors are highly sensitized and won't calm down. The treatment is to break the pain cycle, which the physician feels might be accomplished through some medications we have not yet tried. So far I have tried Zyrtec (yes the allergy med) and Propranolol which is yet another medication used typically to treat blood pressure.  Not having any success with those, I was put on an anti-depressant (but not for depression) last week, called Nortriptyline.  This medication is also used to treat nerve pain so the hope is that it will decrease the pain and once it is gone I can stop the med.  So far, this has been the worst one yet in terms of side effects.  Since I started taking it, I have pretty much walked around in a zombie-like state and feel sedated all the time.  I am hoping that as my body gets used to it I will start to feel more normal, I can't see being on this for very long otherwise.  It's too soon to tell if it will help with my nipple pain...

Co-Sleeping:

Expectation:  Erik and I designed and built an awesome co-sleeper for Arlo in the months before he was born.  I expected him to use this until he was five or six months old, or able to sit up on his own at which time it would become unsafe to let him sleep in it.

Reality: When Arlo got sick with that respiratory virus at three weeks old, I started putting him to sleep next to the bed in his rock and play sleeper, as it kept him at an incline and seemed to help him breathe better.  He slept in there for a week, and just as he was feeling better I had started pumping exclusively so he was eating from the bottle full time.  Since he takes milk from the bottle so much faster than the breast (even with "paced bottle feeding" which we have been doing), he seems to have a good bit of reflux.  If he lays flat after eating, he tends to spit up a decent amount (of my precious and painfully pumped milk!)  Wanting him to keep in as much milk as possible, I let him continue to sleep in the rock and play.  After seven weeks of this, I became increasingly sad that the co-sleeper had turned into more or less a storage shelf next to the bed, and decided we would try the co-sleeper again and see how things went.  Erik built a wooden "ramp" which we put under the mattress to create a slight incline.  Fortunately with that in place, Arlo has been sleeping fine for the last few nights and has had very little reflux.  I am really enjoying sleeping so close to him again and happy that the co-sleeper is finally being put to it's intended use.

Cloth diapering:

Expectation:  I spent a ridiculous amount of time during the pregnancy researching cloth diapers and deciding which ones we were going to use.  Erik and I even took a two hour cloth diapering class together to learn all about the different options available.  I settled on prefolds and covers since they were easy and economical.  My Mom made us a huge set of cloth wipes as we had decided since we would be washing diapers we might as well wash the wipes too.  I purchased 25 or so diapers with the intent to use them soon after birth.  In fact, I only planned to use disposables during the first week or so until all the meconuim had passed.  I purchased just two small packages of the most natural disposables I could find, and actually worried I might have bought too many.  

Reality:  I almost have to laugh at how different reality is from what I had expected regarding the plan for cloth diapering.  Arlo was so tiny at first that none of the cloth diapers I had bought even came close to fitting him.  After a few weeks (and many more packages of disposables purchased) I tried using the prefolds and covers we had bought, even though they were still pretty large on his small body.  This was around the same time that we were having rash problems, so I went back to disposables so we could use the prescribed ointment and heavy duty rash cream.  Once the rash went away, I went back to the cloth diapers, only to have the rash come back.  So frustrating!  Also, I had realized that the prefold style diapers were terrible at drawing wetness away from his skin.  I was grossed out by how wet he was when I changed him, even if I was doing so every two hours or less.  I decided we were going to try and simplify things, as we were already having so many other issues with breastfeeding and such, and went back to disposables full time.  At the recommendation of a friend, we started using Nature Babycare diapers and Water Wipes.  Both of these products have been awesome for Arlo's super sensitive skin.

Finally, around eight weeks old, I decided to try the cloth diapers again.  Friends had given us some fuzzibunz all-in-one diapers which initially I wasn't sure I would like.  As it turns out, these have been the best cloth diapers we have.  They are awesome wicking away the moisture from his skin, and so far we have had almost zero rash or irritation.  We are still using disposables, but only at night.  So far this system is working for us but as I acquire more of these type of diapers I would like to switch to using them full time.

Baby Wearing:

Expectation:  I had expected to spend much of my time at home wearing Arlo on my chest in a wrap or carrier.  I had bought a Moby, Ergo, Maya sling, and even made my own wrap.  When we went on shopping trips or out to run errands I planned to pop him in the carrier and wear him everywhere we went.

Reality: Sadly, due to the breast pain I have been having since he was just two weeks old, I have been unable to wear him in the wraps and carriers nearly as much as I had planned.  I usually try everyday to wear him a little bit, but sometimes the pain and sensitivity is too much and I have to take him out.  We have done several walks in the neighborhood using the carrier but I am often quite uncomfortable by the time we get home.  Also, I wish I could say that I like the wraps more than I actually do.  The Moby is not a quick thing to put on and usually takes a few times to get it adjusted exactly how I need it.  Sometimes I don't use it just because I don't want to take the time to put it on.  I was super excited about the Ergo, it was one of my favorite baby purchases we made prior to his birth.  Unfortunately in the beginning I had trouble getting it adjusted to fit my body.  It gave me a lot of back pain after just a few minutes of wearing.  When I finally got it adjusted, I started using it on our daily walks.  I realized after a few minutes of walking the straps nearly rubbed the back of my arms raw.  At this time, Ergo is primarily used by Erik who finds it pretty comfortable to wear.
A few weeks ago Erik and I were out at one of the big box baby stores looking at jogging strollers, and I noticed a display with different wraps and carriers on it.  I tried on the JJ Cole Agility Stretch Wrap and immediately fell in love.  It is just like the Moby, without having to actually wrap or adjust anything.  I bought it on the spot and used it at our next destination that day - Trader Joes.  It takes about 30 seconds to put on and get Arlo settled in.  I have been using this carrier exclusively since we got it.  The only downside that I can see is as he grows the wrap will probably get too small.  I am hopeful at this time we can switch over to the Ergo and figure out something to keep the straps from rubbing my arms.  I really want to love the Ergo as much as I do my new wrap!

So, obviously none of the things I had "expected" went the way I had planned.  Most of the problems stemmed from the breast pain and it affected different aspects of life other than just breastfeeding.  If I didn't have the pain, I would be wearing him a lot more.  I also wouldn't have had to use the bottle which seemed to cause the reflux and he probably would have been fine in his co-sleeper this whole time.  I am still hopeful that we will find a resolution to the pain and perhaps everything else will fall into place at that time as well.  For now, I am just trying to roll with whatever happens and have been learning to expect the unexpected...

Homemade co-sleeper

I am so excited to finally share a project that I mentioned weeks ago on the blog...  Erik and I designed, built, painted, and assembled our very own co-sleeper for baby B!  In case you are not familiar with what a co-sleeper is, it is a small bed designed to attach to the parents bed so their baby can safely sleep next to them for the first few months, without having to actually be in their bed.  There are numerous benefits to co-sleeping with your baby, including reduced SIDS rate, better infant thermoregulation, ease of breastfeeding, better sleep for baby and parents, and long term emotional health.  I was interested in the co-sleeper simply because I couldn't stand the idea of him being in another room by himself so early on, or even in a separate bed in our room.  Neither of us felt comfortable having him in the bed between us (and our bed is too small for that anyway) so a side-car style sleeper ended up being the perfect solution.

I had seen similar plans online on how to build a homemade co-sleeper, but none of them were exactly what I wanted.  I thought it would be useful for it to have a shelf below the space where the baby sleeps and none of the plans I saw offered that option.  Here I can keep extra sheets for the sleeper mattress, diapers for late night changes, and a change of clothes or two.  I am so happy with how it turned out and I can't wait to use it when our little guy arrives!

While it did turn out to be exactly what I wanted, I can't say that this was the most cost-effective solution...  We could have bought a used Arms Reach co-sleeper on Craigslist for much, much less...  However I was set on doing this one my way, building it ourselves using natural wood, non-toxic paint and organic bedding.

Materials list:

Raw wood purchased at Lowes.  We had them make the large cuts at the store and made some smaller ones at home, including rounding the corners of the side walls.
Paint was also from Lowes, zero VOC by Valspar - I think the color is called "Tranquility".  (It was leftover from my desk project that I shared a couple of months ago!)
Mattress:  Naturepedic Organic Cotton Bassinet Mattress  (We built the sleeper to fit the dimensions of this mattress, and luckily when it was all assembled and we slid in the mattress, it fit very snugly with no gaps on any side.  Success!)
Mattress pad:  American Baby Organic Waterproof Pad  (I have realized that this pad makes the mattress a little too soft so I will wait until he is a little older to use it in the co-sleeper.  The mattress itself is waterproof in case of accidents.)
Natural color sheet:  American Baby Organic Cotton Bassinet Sheet

I didn't take any photos before I sanded and painted the wood, but here it is sitting on our back deck waiting to be assembled:

I made a drawing beforehand of the idea I had in my head, and Erik helped me make the measurements according to our mattress and bed height.  He laughed at my drawing but I have to say, it was a helpful "blueprint" to have as we worked!

Erik assembling the pieces

The legs are just regular table legs from Lowes which I painted white, and they came with screws already built-in to the end.  This made it super easy to attach them to the co-sleeper using the metal plates seen above.

The co-sleeper attaches to the bed by sliding the long, flat "arms" between the box spring and mattress.  These arms keep the co-sleeper from falling backwards and the weight of the mattress is more than enough to hold it in place.  The two legs in the back are what supports the weight of the sleeper, and trust me this thing is pretty heavy!

Erik with the finished project (upside down) right before we installed it.

Erik had a great idea to countersink all of the screw heads and cover them with wood hole covers which I painted to match the rest of the sleeper.  This way the entire unit can be taken apart if needed for easy storage or for moving (not that we plan on doing that anytime soon!!)  The hole covers also hide the screw heads making for a more finished appearance.

In my sewing kick that I was on a few weeks back, I also made a few sheets to fit the sleeper mattress.  I made one and it was so quick and easy I whipped up a few more with leftover fabric from other projects I was working on.  I used this tutorial, which is written for a standard crib size sheet, and just adjusted the size to fit the smaller bassinet mattress.  I have a feeling I will be changing the sleeper sheets pretty often so it will be good to have so many on hand.

Dinosaur (rawr!), Farm Animal (kinda girly but oh so cute), and Whale sheets

I hope you enjoyed our latest project!  I can't say that we have any other big projects to reveal before the little one arrives.  We are quite ready for him at this point, which is a good thing.  Today marks the start of my 37th week and I am now considered "early term" and could safely head to the birthing center for the birth.  I don't feel like he has any plans to show up in the very near future, but it's comforting to know that if he decides to make an early appearance we have the perfect little bed for him to sleep in when we get home  :)