Google+ Adventures with Baby Boo Bear: May 2013

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Tired Tuesday

I don't have much to say today...mainly because I'm ready for bed after a very productive, busy, long day!

Instead of a ramble of a post I give you....

Emmett: A Tale of a Full Belly!
 


Back when he only ate 2-3 oz per feeding

Mmmm Christmas bottle

Enjoying a Safari snack at Disney's Animal Kingdom!

Big Thunder Run for Grandpa & Mommy...Big Bottle
for Emmett and Grandma

Grandpa is on look out - making sure I don't become a
gator snack while I have my snack!...yes there ARE
gators in that river...
 
See!
 
 
Enjoying my first "tail gating"!

Peas!!

I had enough...all full!
 
 


Facebook Giveaway!

We are giving stuff away!  Yay!

Check out our Facebook page for a chance to win this Owl Teether!!  Owls are such a popular print right now!




Monday, May 27, 2013

Weekend Recap

Weekends are usually pretty boring around here.  Craig often works them so our weekend ends up on which ever days of the week he is off!  This weekend Craig was off half and worked half.

Since it is a holiday for my American friends I am including Monday in my weekend recap!
 
My Mom & I signed up to take a Strip Quilt class on Saturday. 

This was my finished top!
 
 
Sunday, Emmett and I went to a BBQ for Craig's Mom's side of the family.  Emmett had only met most of them once before when he was less than a month old!  It was fun to watch everyone's faces as they interacted with Emmett and talked about much he has developed since then!
 
 


Emmett has been having a rough go the past few nights.  His teeth are just driving him nuts!  However, we started our Monday morning with LOTS of smiles!
 


Then we spent the afternoon here:

Looks like a fairytale garden, right?!  Nope.  It is my parents backyard!
 
Emmett spent time in his Grandma & Grandpa house exersaucer
 
and sticking his toes in the fish pond!
 
He wasn't too sure but Grandpa was there to keep him safe.  Emmett has already started to develop that special bond with all his Grandparents.  He is definitely a Grandpa and Poppa's boy!
 
We had a great weekend/Monday!  Can't wait until Thursday when our weekend with Daddy really begins!
 

Sunday, May 26, 2013

Diaper Bag


Do you ever catch yourself glancing in other peoples shopping carts while at the grocery store, Costco or Walmart?  I sure do!  When I worked at Costco one summer and used to love checking out what people had bought.

I LOVED googling and youtubing videos and photos of new Mama’s diaper bags while I was pregnant.  I don’t know why. The same reason I like looking in people’s carts I guess?  Maybe it was the fear of being out and public and realizing oh *&*^^%^@ I don’t have a diaper!

I decided today to share photos of what is in my diaper bag.  I really just grabbed my diaper bag, camera and shot.  The last place I went was a playgroup so this is exactly what I take out!
 
Diapers & Wipes:
Kind of important right?
I usually have 5-6 disposable diapers (3 or 4 cloth if I'm taking them) and 1 swim diaper (you never know).
A pack of travel wipes
Change pad (not pictured...I forgot!).
Wondering what is around my diapers?  Why my monster diaper strap of course!!  It holds the dipes together so they are quick to find, keeps them nice and flat (sometimes I find the "puff" up when shuffled around in my bag).  It is also great if I only need a "just in case" dipe and some wipes!
These were made by my friend Michelle from WowBaby.  You can find her here:
 
Food and Accessories:
Bottles filled with water - I pack however many I will need for our day out.  We use Dr Browns and I love them!  The only negative is if they get knocked over the water leaks into the lid. 
Formula dispenser- I have two.  This is the smaller one.  It can hold enough for 3 6 oz bottles.  My larger fits 4 8oz bottles.  When I was pumping I used to have to carry around a cooler to keep the breast milk cold AND bring my pump along if it was a longer trip!
Sippy Cup - Emmett can't quite hold his own bottle yet but boy is he trying!!  He gets jealous of the older babies and their sippy cups at Playgroup so we've started carrying around his own. 
Food - We generally make Emmett's food but that can sometimes be hard to transport.  Especially when we are just bringing it for emergencies.  I like these PC Organic Tetra Packs.  No risk of glass breaking, plus I like that they are organic.  It is REALLY hard to find single fruit/vegetables in these packs in Canada but PC has a few now which is great - but they sell out so fast!
The little green guy in front of the tetra pack is a screw top spoon.  It just attaches onto the tetra pack and you don't have to worry about bringing a bowl and spoon!
The "Linens"
I always bring 2 burp cloths...just in case one gets covered in spit up...which it usually does. 
Change of clothes (jammies too if we are pushing bedtime!).
Hat - just in case a spur of the moment park outing occurs!
The Toys
 
Pretty self explanatory right? Gotta keep him busy somehow!  Right now I'm packing things he can chew on and things that make noise (oh goody).

Wet Bag(s)

I don't always bring these along - today it happened to be in my diaper bag as I CD at playgroup.  I also bring them along if we go on a day long trip or swimming outing.  They are great at keeping moisture (and smells from outfits that succumbed to the oh so dreaded blowout) in!
 



 
The "Stragglers"
 
Miscellaneous but necessary:

Baby sunscreen (which I usually use also)
Gripe water (SOOOOOOOO important for us!)
Snacks (this is new for us - Emmett more plays than eats them right now)

We also have natural teething drops but they are in Emmett's room right now.

Oh and finally! 
My diaper bag!!  Well...one of them.  This is my fav! Can you guess why?!
 Octopus also accompanies us everywhere!

Well that's it...the long list of things in my diaper bag.  Hard to believe it all fits in there!

Do you have any diaper bag essentials?
 

 

Friday, May 24, 2013

Chow Time

I wasn’t ready to start giving Emmett solids…but Emmett was ready to start solids!





We started feeding Emmett purees at around 4.5 months.  Yeah, yeah, early I know.  Most people also don’t have a 4 month old the size of a 12 month old! 

Emmett was displaying the telltale signs of being ready for solids.  He had doubled (more than!) his birth weight.  He could sit unassisted.  You couldn’t eat or drink near the child without him being all up in your business!!  The first time we gave him sweet potatoes (we skipped cereals and went straight to first foods) he opened wide and wanted more. 

He still used his tongue to push some food out but very, very little.

I wanted to try Baby Led Weaning (BLW) but I wasn’t sure if I could handle watching him struggle with the choking at such a young age.  Since we started solids a bit earlier I knew I really, REALLY couldn’t handle it!

We decided to go the puree route.  That may change when he starts meats, something about a pureed chicken breast that initiates the gag reflex…if I can’t eat it then he shouldn’t have to either!
 
 
Craig and I, okay well I, made the decision that we would skip cereals for now.  After researching commercially prepared white rice cereals I decided that there was just no nutrition benefit to giving it to him.  I also found enough positive information about using Stage 1 or Starter Solids as a first food. 

So led us down our sweet potato adventure!

Since then we have tried: acorn squash, avocado, apples, bananas, carrots, peas, pears, mango, green beans and cantaloupe!

It is so much fun watching his face each time he tries something new!  He spit peas in my face many times but after about the fourth time finally enjoyed them!  The only food he turns his nose up at is cantaloupe – funny, Mommy doesn’t like it either!

Took awhile but now I like peas!


The only negative to solids?  With solids comes more solid, yet still squishy poop….yup.

Speaking of which – the gleeful sounds from the Exersaucer have turned to squeals of attention grabbing and I recognized the face a few minutes ago.  Guess what I’m going to do?! ;)

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Adventures with Fluff Bum!


I am a proud cloth diapering Mama.  Well, correction, I am a very proud PART TIME cloth diapering Mama.

We use cloth at home, except at nighttime.  Heck, disposables barely get us through Emmett’s long night sleeps!

I still haven’t found a system that I like when travelling so unless we are just running to the store and back we switch to a disposable. 

I have made it my goal to exclusive cloth (again, not at nighttime) by the end of the summer.  I figure between trips to the beach, camping, park and other day trips I don’t want to beat myself up because I didn’t achieve my goal over the summer!  Plus I don’t need to add sand and dirt to my already poopy diapers!

Most people thought I was crazy when I said this was the route that we were taking but it has worked out very well for us so far!
 
I have so much to say about CD!  I already have plans to blog about the following CD related amazing things:

1)      My stash – we use AIO, Pockets & One Sized.  This makes every very simple and so similar to using a disposable.  I have LOTS of brands and can’t wait to review a few for you!

2)      Laundering System – I think this is self-explanatory…and yes this post will be full of poop!
I assure you - these are clean!
 

3)      Getting started with CD

4)      Research of costs involved with both CD and disposables

I just love a fluffy bummed baby! 

Do you use Cloth Diapers?  What are your favorite or least favorite parts?

 

 

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Wordless Wednesdays

I decided to jump on the Wordless Wednesday train because well who doesn't like to splatter their kids face all over their blog each week?


 

  
I have taken some time off from the boutique this week for 3 reasons:
1. I am waiting for my new sewing machine and don't want to waste thread on bobbins
2. The beautiful weather!
3. These lovely strips are leading to a fun project - something I am actually doing for myself!

 
Loving his first shoulder ride with Daddy!

 
All smiles on his new slide!

 
Not so sure about the grass

 
FLUFF BUM!!!....hint at my next post!
 

Teething


As a first time Mom I know very little about teething.   Baby Boo has been showing signs of teething for the past few weeks.  The last few days in particular he has been miserable.  Just not himself.

Right now Emmett is:

·         Drooling.   I could fill a river with the drool he is supplying lately!

·         Chewing on EVERYTHING! 

·         Sticking his fist in his mouth looking for comfort

·         Has a bit of diarrhea (sorry TMI but hey, this is a baby blog you didn’t think there would be poop?)

·         Has bumps on his bottom gums

·         Restless naps and sleeps.  Went from sleeping 6:30-6:30 straight through to at least one or two wakes.

I have tried gripe water, natural teething drops, natural oragel and none seem to calm him.  Tylenol does provide relief.  I don’t like to give him too much but I can’t stand to see the little guy in pain.

It is so hard to watch him go through this!  I can’t wait until the tooth cuts so that he finally has some relief!

Do you have any tried and true teething solutions?

Tuesday, May 21, 2013

TLC's: The Little Couple

I was in the middle of writing another post. I had TLC’s “The Little Couple” playing in the background.

 I was only half paying attention because I had already seen the episode. This was a beautiful episode where Jen and her team at the hospital re-stabilize a premature baby suffering from possible cardiac arrest. The teeny, tiny baby weighed just over 1 lb. As usual when something happens to an infant or an animal I bawled. Despite seeing the episode before and knowing all works out.

I LOVE this show. I think that Bill Klein & Jen Arnold are the perfect example of how people can overcome physical limitations and be extraordinary.

In case you don’t follow them, Jen is a neonatologist who works at the Texas Children's Hospital. Bill is a businessman. They both do motivational speaking as well. The show follows them on their journey through marriage, attempts to conceive, trying to get a surrogate and then into adoption all while filming their daily life.

Jen Arnold is on my list of famous people I would love to have lunch with (or dinner, drinks, breakfast…heck even a slice of bread!). I am fascinated by people who care for infants in the hospital. It is a courageous profession that doesn’t get nearly enough thanks.

 In next week’s episode Jen & Bill are finally meeting their newly adopted son! I can’t wait! I seriously suggest checking out this amazing couple if you already haven’t!!

http://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/little-couple


Photo credit: people.com

Well hello everyone!

Oh my goodness I started a blog!

This is so exciting! I have forever wanted to blog. Prior to becoming a Mom I guess I just didn’t have enough to talk about that over a few days the idea dwindled and eventually the interest I had faded.

Things are so different this time! I am sure if you are a parent you can totally relate – once you have a child all you want to do is TALK ABOUT YOUR BABY!! To anyone that will listen! I could talk about Emmett forever. I keep talking long after people have stopped listening…maybe that should tell me something?

My other big blog blunder? Figuring out where to start blogging. What to start blogging about! How do you just start writing about, well, essentially nothing? Our book review blog was easy. Just start reading and reviewing! With the Adventures of Baby Boo Bear I have decided to do just that also…just start talking!

 Although, I guess this was kind of like a first post wasn’t it?

Ah well, deal with it! Until next time – the adventure continues!