Coast to Coast with Lyn & Leigh

I am emotionally drained. Did not realize it would hit me THIS HARD. I’ve sobbed two nights in a row - once when I looked down at our sweet dog Milo and remembered bringing Alyssa’s hospital hat home for him to sniff when she was first born, and then next when I walked past her 1 year old handprint and photo.

She’s almost 6. She’s totally ready. She’s excited. I’m so happy for her. Why is my heart breaking? Maybe it’s because I’m realizing that MY motherhood has changed. I am no longer a Mommy to babies, with a couple mornings a week of preschool and playdates. This is the beginning of a new phase, and while I’m looking forward to parts of it, I am so, so sad to let the other parts go. 

As the bus was pulling away, little Haylie said it best: “I’m going to miss her.” 

So, those of you in the ‘baby’ phase of motherhood - don’t rush it. Don’t worry about having little to no time for yourself. Don’t add an extra day of preschool so you can run more errands. Just have fun being with these funny little people. I’m so glad I did.

Growth spurts can really seem to get a baby out of their routine. I am NOT kidding you - I nursed Grant like 8 times yesterday! He was at his fussiest at bedtime (7:30). Basically what he did was three feedings in a matter of 2 hours. He got himself all tanked up and then he slept for 6 hours. I love cluster feedings!

The girls’ bdays are approaching, and with one heading to Kinder, I thought it was time to work on their concepts of money management. I am so glad I found this Trio Bank from Learning Cents. It is so cool - it’s divided into three sections: Spend, Save and Give. I always make sure to talk aloud about ways our family gives, how good it makes us feel, how many wonderful people there are in the world, and of course how lucky we are! Now they have a physical way to use their own money and start the habit of giving as a part of their everyday lives.

We started off by counting all the coins in their old piggy banks, and then discussing how to split up the money. We decided on the ration of 2-1-1 for Spend, Save and Give. They even have a dry erase spot on the lid so you can keep track when you add money or take it out. This way, if they see something they like at the store, we’ll know if they can afford to buy it or not. When the Save gets full, we’ll take them to the bank and open a real savings account, and add to it each time it gets full.

For the Give, the pamphlet recommends giving annually, either at their birthdays or holidays. I told Alyssa that this year she can buy a present or two for our Adopt-A-Families, and she got so excited!

The next step for our family is to start chores and an allowance (the pamphlet recommends a dollar for each year, so Alyssa, when at age 6, would get $6 a week).  Time for me to head to the teacher store and get a good chart and some stickers!

We’ve all done it - a zillion pictures of that first newborn. With the second kid, it improves to an appropriate number, and perhaps better shots. With the third - unknown territory for me! Whatever the child, the first year passes so quickly (even though it might feel like a lifetime at month 1).

So how do you capture all those special moments? Let’s break it down based on personality, and hobbies you enjoy…

Scrapbookers (me included): I created a scrapbook for baby’s first year that I will always keep, and a smaller version that Alyssa will take with her when she leaves home (sob!). Included: preggo photo, ultrasound photo, hospital, birth, homecoming, first bath, once a month photos by teddy bear, holidays, baptism (if applicable), 1st birthday party, letter from Mommy, letter from Daddy. Give or take. The cool thing now is digital scrapbooking, cause you can just print out multiple copies for Grandparents, kid, etc.

Don’t scrapbook? Get one of those photo albums where you slide the photo in, and it has a space next to it to write a brief note or description. Or, check out How Fast They Grow, which has the digital scrapbook templates all there, so you just drag in your photos and write a blurb and you’re DONE.

Want an even FASTER way to chart the milestones (first food, etc.)? Get one of those Baby’s First Year Calendars that has the cute stickers that mark each little thing. Some of them even have a spot for a monthly photo.

Whatever you do, make sure it’s meaningful to YOU and your family. What do I wish I had more of? Cute video snippets of their baby giggles and gurgles. I still want to eventually get all my video bits put onto a dvd so I can play with them and make an iMac movie.

You can always make a ‘movie’ with your pictures, with captions and great music. I created a video of our family’s Hawaii pictures, and had copies of the DVD (you can design the cover, too!) sent to our family in California. It only took me an hour, and my friend Katie had one done of her baby’s first year, set to “What a Wonderful World.” Check it out at One True Media. They now make it easy to share via Facebook and YouTube.

Overwhelmed? Don’t panic. Just keep those photos in order (printed or digitally), back them up (if digital) on a regular basis, and keep a notepad to jot down important dates/cute things. Then, when you have the time (you will one day, I promise), you can have fun with these projects. 

Well, Grant, a.k.a. Little G - not so sure he’ll love this name when he is 15… anyway, Little G is TWO MONTHS already! The past few days he’s been a little fussy - I actually think his teeth are bugging him. When I stick my knuckle in his mouth he munches. I gave him a tiny bit of baby tylenol and it seemed to relieve him a bit. Look at how I mixed and matched these New For Baby Yoga Pants in White - LOVE they go with every thing… Also, Leigh sent Grant these Trumpette socks in different color camo. Now… you know I love me some New For Baby Sure Fit socks… but these are SUPER cute too!

During bath last night, as I was washing Alyssa’s hair and she was whining for a towel for her eyes, it occurred to me that I really should’ve started things differently. Instead of carefully pouring water on her hair all that time ago, I should’ve been gently dumping it on her head. She wouldn’t be so sensitive to water in her eyes (same goes for Haylie). And it’s even affected their swimming - neither girl can stand getting splashed in the face, and are hesitant to put their faces in the water even with goggles. 

You know what they say, hindsight is 20/20! Thought I’d mention it so that maybe YOUR kiddos will not be yelling for someone to please wipe their eyes every two seconds.

Clearly I haven’t taken a bath photo for awhile - I think this was almost 2 years ago, as Haylie still looks like a baby (here’s where I start to well up and think about my babies growing so fast)…

I was pretty much a pumping failure. I breastfed exclusively for 8 months with Alyssa and 6 months with Haylie, but I could never seem to get anything out with the pump! Hook a baby up, and it’d be practically running out of their mouths. But a pump? No. I’d work all day for just a measly few ounces. Lyn, on the other hand, is a pumping champ. I’m happy for her that she’s not like Cinderella with a 3 hour window - it is liberating, I’m sure! 

Whether you’re a pumper or ‘just barely’ like I was, breastmilk is like liquid gold. And because I love organizing and making a good process out of everything, I wanted to share Sensible Lines Milk Trays with you. I met these gals at Baby Celebration LA a few years ago, and it made such great sense. Kind of a ‘why didn’t I think of that?’

Their FDA-approved and ‘green’ plastic trays are specifically designed for freezing breastmilk. And get this- each ‘milk stick’ of frozen breast milk is 1 ounce and will fit through any size bottle opening. It makes it so easy to measure your milk and avoid wasting it. Perf, too, for working moms and caregiver situations. Their website is loaded with great info. on breastfeeding and properly freezing/storing breastmilk. Check it out here. We love supporting other Mommy-created and run businesses!

Little kids are always saying such adorable and funny things - especially when they’re YOUR kids! Today I was talking with Alyssa about school coming up, and how excited I am for her.  I said, “I wish I could be there with you!” and she said, “That would be fun! I wish someone just like you was born on my same birthday.”

I’ve come up with an easy way to save these cute tidbits: create a document on your desktop, and at the end of each day, jot down anything you’d love to remember. As I was writing this recent one down, I scrolled up to the other dates/sayings and got a chuckle out of it! Like when Haylie said it ‘just wasn’t the same without Alyssa in the car too,’ or when Alyssa wanted us all to marry the Wiggles so we could live in the Wiggle House together, or how Haylie says ‘Ub-its’ instead of ‘Is it’… when Craig was BBQing, she asked, “Daddy, ub-its meat?” 

So save your adorable things now! It helps if you scrapbook, as well, cause you can make a note of which layout you will use it with. Or just have it on record to print out and stick in their photo albums. Might also be fun at birthdays as a way to revisit the year. Cause they grow up too darn fast.

So Lyn calls me in a bit of a panic tonight. She and I are big ‘Baby Whisperer‘ followers, and she knows how important it is to ’start off how you want it to be’ (begin routines from the get-go). Anyway, for the past few nights Grant had been fussy at bedtime, and Lyn and Michael had picked him up and held him until he fell asleep. Luckily Lyn saw the red flag! She didn’t want him getting used to this and therefore depending on being held - this is crucial ‘learning how to sleep’ time!

We determined that he’s been happiest when held more upright, which also coincides with his increase in spitting up. Might be a bit of a tummy thing or growth spurt - who knows. But relying on being held to fall asleep is a slippery slope. It made me think of back when my babies got head colds. They were so congested and uncomfortable, that I resorted to putting their bouncy chairs IN THEIR CRIB, strapping them in, and letting them sleep peacefully more upright. Yes, I tried the under-the-mattress wedges, but they barely did anything, and my babies kind of slid off them. Perhaps this method would work in helping Grant get back his sleeping groove!

Now, we’re not recommending this long term or anything. But it’s getting Grant back to falling asleep by himself, in his crib, and slightly elevated for his tummy. Seems to be doing the trick - Lyn snapped this photo of him watching his musical fish. The vibrate is on low, which Lyn will click off in a bit, and after his first nighttime feed (when he’s been asleep awhile) she’ll take out the bouncy and lay him down. They’ll be able to transition away from this much easier.

Sometimes what gets you over the hump is not something you’d ever find in a book, but instead, from a fellow Mommy and friend…

The first 5 weeks have flown by and we are in the process of training Grant to be an A#1 sleeper. Here are my top 10 Tips for a blissful newborn sleeper (not without the help of my cross-continent newborn baby sleep coach expert - Leigh):

10. Make sure baby is not too hot or too cold.

9. Swaddle baby up good and tight.

8. Make sure to get a good burp out of baby.

7. When baby is overly tired and punching the air, literally ’shush’ baby to sleep.

6. Of course, make sure the diaper is dry.

5. Dream feed baby at 7:00 (that’s Grant’s bedtime). Turn out all the lights, change his diaper, swaddle him up and then feed him very quietly with no eye-contact or talking. Feed him until he falls asleep and then carefully lie him down.

4. For mid-night feedings, check diaper first, if dry, feed baby in dark with no eye-contact or talking. Repeat… Feed him until he falls asleep and then carefully lie him down.

3. For a baby that won’t quiet down for a mid-day nap either try running the vacuum cleaner or if your laundry is close to baby’s room pop in a load to create a steady ‘white noise’.

2. For the first few weeks, sleep positioners work great to help baby feel contained and secure (like in the womb)

1. Routine is more important than time - focus on the routine, and differentiate between nighttime and daytime. When it’s officially morning, be sure to open the windows and let light on baby’s face. Practice E.A.S.Y. (eat, activity, sleep, time for yourself) during the day, and dream feed at night. WARNING - at about 4 months, try replacing one nighttime feed with a binky or music - baby does not NEED to eat - it has become routine. And we certainly don’t want to ‘teach’ them to keep waking up at night!