Parenting

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Mommy Must-haves {Video Monitor}

If you have ever stepped in to Babies R Us to register for baby things or to purchase baby things then I’m sure you’ve experienced that overwhelming feeling of ‘holy macaroni. where do I even begin?!’ There are so many baby products out there boasting that they are a ‘must have’, making it really difficult to decide (particularly as a new parent) which ones are necessities and which ones you can live without.

I’m no expert, by any means, but as the months go by and I earn new parenting ‘badges’ with each new experience I am beginning to learn which things have been the most useful for our family.

Today’s “must-have” is definitely a luxury, and one I am SO grateful for: Video monitor

When we were registering for baby things I really liked the idea of a video monitor so we could see Charlotte (not just hear her) while she was in her crib. The problem was that all of the biggest monitor brands and models out there got pretty sad reviews (I use amazon to check reviews for most things). Complaints for the biggest name brands included poor reception and video interference/bad video quality.

In the end we decided to go a different route with a product called D-Link. It is not marketed as only a ‘baby’ monitor, but more like a home security system.

DCS 932L Front

A very generous friend of ours gifted us the camera and then set up the system for us. We can now check in on her from our smart phones, Kindle, or laptop. The camera will automatically switch from color to ‘night vision’ depending on the amount of light in the room. The camera is also equipped with sound but we prefer to use a separate audio monitor that has several receivers so we can keep one upstairs and one downstairs.

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I really love this system. I don’t have to worry about bringing a monitor with me from room to room or making sure I don’t run out of battery. One audio receiver is plenty for each floor of our house {Our house is not too large but also has an open floor plan which helps with being able to hear her no matter what room I am in}. The receivers just stay plugged in all the time {one in our bedroom and the other in the great room downstairs} so we don’t have to worry about battery life. The only time I unplug one is if I am doing something in the garage. The only thing I carry around with me between rooms or keep close to me throughout the day is my phone {which I did before Charlotte came along anyway}.

{2 weeks}

{4 months}

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I am so grateful for this monitor and I use it multiple times every day. Around 2 weeks old we put Charlotte in her crib in her own room to sleep because she was {and still is} a very noisy sleeper. Grunts, groans, whimpers, moans…. all of these sounds set me on high alert in a hot second and I would just lay there, listening… panicking. Then I learned to check the video first before rushing to the pack-and-play {when she was in our room} or in to her room. Take it from me, if you rush in there all pell mell, expect to stay a while to comfort the baby you have just rudely awakened. 99% of the time when I check the monitor she is still snoozing soundly with a grin on her face, and seeing this on my phone allows me to drift peacefully back to sleep {or not, as post pregnancy insomnia continues to control me}. One thing I was worried about was some crazy lunatic somehow finding our video feed in the ‘cyberspace’ and being all creepy but then I discovered that I am able to tell when someone is linked in watching the feed from the camera because the camera’s red light will be flashing. It is also fun for Chris to be able to ‘check’ on her while at work and see how she is {not} napping.

Stay tuned for more Mommy Must-haves.

UPDATED: I forgot to add that the video feed is password protected so only Chris and I can access it!!

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Let’s talk about poop {and other parent-y things}

If you are a mommy… or a daddy, or read articles about parenting things, or sometimes think about reading articles about parenting things… then I have some questions for you:

1. Charlotte seems a tad constipated since we have been giving her tastes of various foods. I knew this was coming because my pediatrician warned us that her frequency may decrease as purees were introduced. Before purees, she was a ‘business every day’ kind of baby; very regular. But now her ‘business’ is very infrequent and she has been a grumpy baby the past few days. Is there anything I can do to give her some relief? She has only been eating green beans and sweet potatoes so far {and less than a 1/2 ounce each night, really she just gets a taste}. Tonight I gave her some pureed prunes {which she gobbled right up} so we will see if anything is different in the morning. I tried a high fiber cereal but she was not interested {have you ever tasted that stuff? Nasty!}. Just wondering if there is anything I can do to help her; I want my happy baby back! And will she always be constipated? Or is her tummy just getting used to digesting something new?

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2. We have a little piranha on our hands. Her toothy smile is super cute, but she is starting to bite while nursing! At first it was very infrequent, but the past 2 days she has chomped down nearly every single time she nurses and it is KILLING me! I swear today she chomped down because I wasn’t paying attention to her; as soon as I looked down at her she unlatched and gave me a big ‘ol grin. Am I making that up? She is teething as well, so I would then give her a teething ring thinking she just wanted to chew on something but she would refuse it and act like she was hungry. Is there anything I can do? Or just grin and bear it? How long does this last?

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3. Charlotte will roll over in her sleep now; we will find her on her tummy more often than not. I have read extensively about the risk factors for SIDS and we have done as many preventative measures as we know to do. Should I try to turn her over to her back again? I am afraid of waking her. She actually sleeps so much more solidly when she is on her tummy. She has fairly good head control {I think, though I don’t have anything to compare her to} I’m just paranoid and starting to lose sleep over it!

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I will be calling the pediatrician regarding all of these things as well, but was just curious what other moms and dads had to say about it. Sheesh, month 5 sure does bring on quite a few curveballs!

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An update on my 5 month old

Five. months. old. I cannot believe it. Every day I wake up and am in a pseudo state of ‘shock’ that I am a mom. There isn’t a moment of any day that I am not thankful for her; in the darkness of 2am, in the chaos of non-stop crying, in the poo explosion aftermath… every moment with her is precious. Even though I work with children every day {as a pediatric speech therapist} this is my first developmental ‘rodeo’ so-to-speak – For the first time I actually have a front row seat to watch the development of a child from start to finish. It is so amazing to see her learn. It seems as though I can actually see the wheels turning when she is exploring something and learning. Her personality is really beginning to emerge as well. I certainly try my best to take 10 billion photos of her a day in order to catalog every moment but I will admit it is getting harder and harder to get all of the shots I want to. She is quick like a fox and I am slow like a sloth when it comes to working my camera!

5 month collage

on floor close up

Here’s a brief look at our girl at 5 months:

  • Has found her feet and assumes her new ‘roadkill’ position {as we have deemed it} as soon as you lay her down. Those feet have even found their way to her mouth a few times. feet up

  • Is sleeping through the night fairly consistently. Wahoo! {though this weekend she is definitely making me a liar because she hasn’t slept more than 3 hours straight the past few nights; the result of a growth spurt + teething combination. dagger!}.
  • Has two teeth. Yup, you heard me right – TWO teeth at 5 months. The first one appeared just after her four month birthday; the second on popped up just 5 days later. I guess it doesn’t surprise me; such an over-achiever!

    2 teeth

  • Is not yet sitting up; and frankly, I don’t think she cares to try at the moment. As soon as I prop her up she lunges forward into taco position to grab at her feet and give them a good slobbering.
  • Has discovered that rolling can actually get her places. Earlier this week I laid her on her play mat so I could work on some Christmas thank you notes. Next thing I know she had rolled 5 feet away from her blanket! Yikesabee! This means I need to a) at least baby proof the floors in our house, and b) start actually vacuuming on a regular basis. Sheesh, babies are a lot of work.
  • Is definitely starting to lose a bit of hair, especially in the back from rubbing her head back and forth as she falls asleep. Like mother, like daughter I guess because I am losing hair as well! It started right around 4 months postpartum because of hormone craziness {just like everything else in pregnancy} but hopefully my hair will come back bigger and crazier than ever!! Charlotte’s hair is getting longer as well, and starting to look more like a bad toupee with a comb-over in some areas and an exotic bird plume in others.
  • Is still loving bath time. Chris is a baby bathing pro.
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  • Really loves hanging out in her wrap. Thank goodness, or no grocery shopping would be done in this household.IMG_3148
  • Has tasted a few new foods {more on this in another post}; but so far she’s a green bean girl!

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  • She is really starting to express herself vocally; screeching, hollering, laughing, singing. It is amazing how quickly they learn that their noises are powerful and meaningful!

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Love you to pieces sweet girl! {even though it has taken me 3 days to write this post because you have been quite rebellious when it comes to your sleeping schedule as of late}. What will this next month bring? I am so excited to find out!

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Houston, we have roll over!

Charlotte has been teetering on the edge of rolling over for almost a month now and I have been poised with my camera ready to capture the moment. I have about a billion photos over her perched on her side like the ones below but until now she hasn’t gone any further than that. Not that I’m rushing things… I just wanted to be prepared.

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There I sat with my camera, minute after minute, day after day waiting for her to make that next move and roll all the way over to her tummy. On Wednesday of this week {one day after  her 4 month birthday} she surprised Chris and I by completing the roll… and of course we both missed it! I was cooking in the kitchen {I know, right?!} and Chris had just looked away for a moment while playing with Charlotte on the floor. She’s a quick one! I was finally able to catch it on camera this weekend {with the help of Aunt Leah}.

The video is quite long, but completely adorable. brace yourself. Please ignore my “oooh, awww, oh, yay, oooh, oh no….” mommy commentary. and the clanking/tinkering noise in the background is Chris putting Charlotte’s highchair together {yay!}. Our pediatrician {who is awesome, by the way} gave us the go-ahead to start trying some cereal to help with the reflux so we are finally able to break out the highchair – won’t be long now before she is able to sit up in it all by herself!

Time, I command you to slow down!