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I’ve been pretty busy for the past few weeks attempting to get things in a semblance of order as well as having fun with friends and thoroughly enjoying my baby girl who is at an amazingly fun age.

We are in the process of getting our house painted which has resulted in a chaotic mess with furniture everywhere and lots of time wasted gabbing with the painters.

I celebrated my birthday with the few friends that are still down here during the summer and a few that drove/flew to visit. We finally made a trip to the beach with Alexis and then another one and it was more fun than I’ve had for a while.

Days are split  between playing and snuggling with an adorable six months old and trips to the pool, because I, in fact, have given birth to a water baby.

I have gotten much better at time management with an infant, a topic I am in the process of writing about. I am much more organized and focused. The problem has been and will be that when it comes to this blog my working time is extremely limited: nap times is THE ONLY time I get to edit photos, put them together, write posts, put together videos, answer emails (thankfully, comments can be answered quickly on my cell at any time). And with nap times being short (though extremely predictable), I am left with 40 drafts of great posts I have started writing but no time to finish them up properly.

Things won’t get better until everything slows down. I have more friends coming down to visit in a week, then a Disney trip for a week, then possibly another visit from friends, and then depending on how the first Disney trip foes, another one. All that yields colorful photographs that beg to be shared and no time to share them.

So I guess what I am trying to say is that at times I don’t blog about the things I want to blog about, or the things I think I should blog about, because those are usually more time-consuming involved posts that I want to sit down and write in peace, gathering my thoughts and laying out everything exactly the way I feel or think.

The photo below sums up some of the upcoming photo posts I am hoping to schedule asap, so that I could be free to share more current events as well as more serious posts.

And 10 minutes into my writing, Alexis is up, so I will be right back. {…}  Ok she’s asleep now. But of course I lost my train of thought. That is presicely why i’ve been putting off longer more important posts on parenting because I just can’t rely on more than 20 minutes and Andrew is so busy that he cant give me a few hours at a time right now.

What else is new? We’re currently “struggling” with what seems to be separation anxiety (OK, Lexi is up again… BRB… ). For the past week or so, she has been watching me like a hawk, with wide eyes and fear apparent on her face. I can’t even leave her for 2 seconds without her erupting. I feel so bad for my girl, and try to not leave her alone unless I can see she’s engrossed into what she is doing and I need to throw in a load of laundry or something. If I am around but she can’t see me (like when I am in the kitchen trying to make lunch), I try to sing her a song so that she’d feel I am still here.

It also could be the growth spurt she is going through. She’s been eating pretty much every hour and if I miss her hunger cues, and daddy goes to spend time with her, so that I could get  a few things done,… (Ok she is up again… and I am back.), as soon as I leave, she starts crying and if I am in the same room, cleaning up or moving around, she just watches me non-stop. It’s really kinda cute. I bet she’s just keeping tabs on her food source lol

It also looks like we might be ready to drop the third nap, though I am not sure if she can go all the way to her actual bedtime which is usually 8-9 pm depending on when she took her last nap. Never once though has she been able to go to sleep before 8pm.

Alexis has really changed again overnight. She does so much more and just a much bigger, even more aware baby. She seems so smart, her cognitive development has exploded, she reacts to things in a different way. She’s also such a profecient sitter and are able to reach for toys easily all around her. I just love watching her bloom into this amazing capable human being. I’ll write about everything that she’s been doing in her “7 months” post, but so many things already happened and she’s not even half way to 7 months.

She’s also developed object permanence, which is probably where the separation anxiety comes from.

I am also excited to write about Baby Led Weaning and the whole solids introduction, because it’s going fabulously and I cannot IMAGINE doing anything but that. If any of you are on the fence about trying it out, I would totally recommend this method and the book (though I am not crazy about how it’s written, I do love the concept behind it)

I started a #30daysofbreastfeeding challenge on Instagram. So if you are a supporter of breastfeeding, join me in posting a BF picture a day for 30 days with the hashtag #30daysofbreastfeeding. My IG name is @girl_on_e

Also I reset the numbers on the poll for future posts on the right, so if you feel like it, go ahead and vote for what you’d like to see. Again, I mostly go by what I feel like at that moment and the time I have when it comes to writing posts, but I do try to take the poll into consideration.

And finally, the biggest, most amazing thing that happened at 6 months and 1 week was ALEXIS’ FIRST WORD!

MAMA!

I didn’t want to believe it at first. She’s been babbling and using mama, baba, papa for a few weeks now, which is normal and does not constitute an actual meaningful word. For the past week, though, she’s been saying mama whenever she “appeared” to need me. Which I considered a coincidence or her new cry for food or something. She’s been saying mama and lifting her arms for me, also while crying for food, all the times either looking directly AT me or looking for FOR me. But again, I just wasn’t sure that she knew what she was saying. Last night, however, when she woke up during her witching hour at 4am and refused to go to sleep, Andrew got up to rock her (I wake up to feed her and soothe her, but if nothing works, he gets up to rock her so that I could get some sleep). He ALWAYS rocks her at night. This time, however,  she broke down into hysterics, crying “mama” and looking back at the bed where I was. I got up and she followed me with her gaze while repeating “Mamamamamamamama!” and only after I took her into my arms, she calmed down.  And with that, we have decided that, while she might not be realizing she is actually speaking or what words are, she has said her first word with intention: MAMA!

{mind explosion over}

Next up: Father’s Day in photos

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Everyone has bought and used bouncers, seats, swings for their babies, and they are all fine, all virtually the same and work relatively good for most babies. Not for Alexis, who has done her best to defy everything that is written about newborns and babies out there. She feels “Meh!!” about most of them. We’ve tried 4-5 different seats and she hasn’t really liked them all that well.

One of the issues that some natural parenting books and authors have with seats and bouncers is the fact that the baby is completely limited in how they can move when place in these seats. So instead of moving around, or moving to adjust to the parent’s body while they’re carried in carriers or in arms, babies are sitting near motionless in these “baby-holders”.  We’ve done a really good job spending a ton of time carrying Alexis and playing with her on the floor, facilitated by family help around the house and the fact that we both work from home.

However, sometimes a baby just needs to be put in a seat- that’s a fact of life and there’s nothing you can do about it. You can’t strap her in a carrier when you need to make a meal- that’s dangerous. You can’t walk around picking things up and bending with a baby in a carrier. You cannot eat a hot meal with a baby in a carrier. I also never appreciated the fact that these seats have to always be on the floor. What kind of brain development can you expect from a baby when all she/he can see is your legs? I know, it is frowned upon, but we got around it by putting Lexi in a bouncer on a huge center island in the kitchen as long as there’s at least one parent who is constantly watching (and not doing something else, but is there TO watch and talk to her). But I never felt ok letting anyone else watch her because I couldn’t trust them not to step away for  second thinking “Oh nothing would happen” .

{ Lexi is wearing a Polarn O Pyret onesie and Jefferies Socks’ tights }

Now what I found recently is a seat that is very diffferent from anything I’ve seen out there.

It’s by The First Years and it’s called a Kicking Coaster.

First of all, it’s sturdy. As in, it has the kind of base that cannot be tipped over. It’s not a bouncer, it doesn’t move in a way a bouncer does. A baby simply can’t get enough inertia to flip it over. So I feel much much better putting it at our eye level when cooking and talking with her. Now I am sure The First Years doesn’t recommend putting it on high ground, just like some other products  have to warn against some ridiculous situation that any normal person wouldn’t even think to create, like don’t stick your fingers into an outlet or something equally crazy. Yes, we all know to never leave a baby unattented in most situations. It’s a given. But I feel pretty darn good about being right next to her cooking while she plays in the seat, BECAUSE she is strapped into the kind of seat that isn’t prone to “flipage”

What also makes it very different from other seats is the fact that  it’s interactive from the motor skills standpoint. Alexis would NEVER stand for sitting stationary in anything. She won’t sit in a stroller unless it is moving, in a carrier unless she is being walked, in a seat unless she’s talked to, on the floor unless she has foot support to crawl. She is the furthest from a complacent baby I have ever seen. {which paints a very hectic future for us once she is truly mobile}.

This seat is the only one that somewhat entertains her for a period of time. The seatbelt has a rattle/teether attached to it that I promptly replaced with an organic Haba clutching toy (you know me). Though I have to say that possibly that was unecessary, because The First Years products rate EXCELLENT on HealthyStuff.org
It has a kicky pad that is soft and rebounding and the seat itself glides back and forth when pushed (or can be made stationary for newborns). She’d kick off with her legs and straighten them thus sending the seat back, then relax her knees and glide back down. And every time she touches the kicky pad, she gets rewarded with lights and music. And unlike some other kicky pads (yes, it’s you, Tiny Love Gym that we love so much, except for your kicky pad sucks), it’s very touchy. So it doesn’t take a lot of effort to trigger it (sometimes our cats trigger it by brushing against it).

She really does get a kick out of it (get it? get it? ) and as she grows and gets smarter and even more aware, she’ll enjoy it even more.

So  why we love it:

• touchy kick pad
• lights and music
• glides back and forth rather than bounces
• reacts to baby’s motions
• lets baby exercise his/her legs
• can be made stationary with a click of a button

The only complaint I have is the recline of the seat. It seems awkward for Alexis. It’s sort of reclined. I think it was designed that way to accommodate both newborns and older babies, but I wish it was more upright. But to be completely fair, Alexis hates anything that is half way reclined, because she wants to sit upright all the time, so I am very surprised that she’ll actually tolerate the recline of this seat for a bit.

The First Years has a lot of baby items that I like, so be sure to check their website.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE FIRST YEARS

*** WEBSITE *** FACEBOOK *** TWITTER ***

BUY IT: Amazon
WIN IT: See details below

The First Years would like to give this seat away to one lucky reader. This time it’s very simple with just a few entries.

The First Years Kicking Coaster
BELOW ARE THE GIVEAWAYS RULES
and Mandatory Entries: {read carefully}

There are 2 mandatory entries , after which you will have additional entries available,
This giveaway is open to US residents only.
The winning entry will be verified and the winner disqualified if the action is not found or if the mandatory items are not fullfilled.
Each giveaway has specific rules, so read them on the widget (including which countries are eligible). See the rafflecopter widget for additional terms and conditions.

{If you’re not sure how to use to enter, feel free to watch this video tutorial or email me at contact {at} prebabyblog {dot} com
Otherwise, make sure to read everything carefully. Click the DO IT link first, then I’VE DONE IT once the action is completed}

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. The First Years provided me with a product sample to review. All opinions are 100% my own.

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Ok, so it wasn’t too bad in retrospect, however it could have definitely been better.

Featured in these photos:
Elena’s outfit
Nursing top: Boob Design
Skirt: Victoria’s Secret
Sparkly flats: Yosi Samra from MyHabit
Tree of Life  Bracelet: Tal Jewelry from Gilt
***
Stroller: Mutsy 4Rider
Carrier: Boba Soho
Alexis’ onesie: Boob Mama and Baby twin set

Challenge #1: Mommy’s “brilliant” idea to drive 40 minutes to the Botanical Gardens to see the Bunny and walk around and take pictures.

Result:

The gardens were absolutely beautiful and Alexis was initially very interested in surroundings (clue #1: overstimulated baby). By the time we got there, the Bunny was waving goodbye (which was fine, because I wasn’t crazy about putting Alexis in his paws anyways).

I really wanted Alexis to wear this cute dress that my friend Olga from France sent her, but my little girl had other plans, which were “pretending” to be falling asleep when we arrived, so we let her wear her owl onesie rather than change her into the cute Easter dress.

After a quick very distracted on Lexi’s part nursing, we strapped Alexis into her Mutsy stroller and went to enjoy the gardens, or so we thought…

A few minutes later, she started fussing because she couldn’t see anything due to the cover we had to put on the stroller, since it was very sunny. I figured I could get her into my Boba carrier with a hat and carry her so that she could look around.

That’s when everything started breaking down.

Challenge #2: Fussy baby who needs to sleep hourly and doesn’t just fall asleep, because there’s just WAAAAY too much stuff to look at (girly girl, how did you grow up so fast that you are already having problems sleeping due to being afraid of missing out on stuff?)

Result: Me having to rock and shush and try to calm Alexis down after she missed her nap time and had a meltdown.

After what seemed like an eternity and what, I am sure, were a few incredulous looks from people around ( I didn’t pay attention and I don’t really care, but before Lexi, I remember always thinking “Why did they bring such a young baby to a place the baby can’t enjoy?” Silly me thinking Lexi would just go along with it. So lesson learned. I tried. I failed. I’ll wait until she CAN enjoy it. Until then I’ll put my life on hold, what else is new? )

Challenge #3:  Florida heat of 90 degrees, eternal sunshine and no shade to speak of.

Calming a overtired baby in the 90 degree heat – not an easy task. Finally I found some shade and calmed her down. We put her back in the stroller with the cover and tried to pretend to enjoy ourselves and look at some plants. I don’t know how Andrew and my mom felt, but all I could think of is how upset Lexi was (I hate it when she cries!).

Pretty cool statue, huh?

So we finally got to an area with some chairs and a nice shade and we camped out there for a bit.

Soon Lexi woke up and we hung out taking pictures.

Do you see how cute she is post-nap, clinging to her mommy? :)

After a nap and a boobie, Alexis seemed to be  in a pretty good mood and pretty co-operative. We finally got ourselves some pictures with all three girls.

I really couldn’t resist posting all of these “daddy and Lexi” photos. They’re just too adorable together.

I thought this photo was hilarious. Andrew looks mad and Alexis looks scared :) He was just goofing around for the camera, he wasn’t really mad and Alexis wasn’t really scared, of course.

We also had a lot of mommy snuggles, along with a stretch session. She loooves a good stretch and makes the funniest monkey face.

Once we were headed back, and had to cover the stroller again, Alexis started crying, so I had to race to the entrance, so that I could find some shade and pick her up. *sigh* It’s really not easy being out with a 2 months old in these conditions.

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Elena’s outfit:
Top: Yumi Kim
Skirt: Victoria’s Secret
Shoes: unknown

Again, not a Saturday, but still counts.
Going to a dentist’s appointment, then having to stop mid-way to nurse Alexis, who are 3 times longer than usual, had a diaper blow out, leaked all over her brand new romper. We went to change her, discovered we forgot the wipes at home (since we use cloth wipes), she spit up while changing, Andrew almost wiped her face with a poopy paper and of course, missed our appointment :) It was the most fun I’ve had in months! :)