Mommyhood Monday: First Month Baby Faves

Hope everyone is having a good, albeit incredibly rainy, start to their week! I have to say that I am very much so looking forward to any sign of my bff, the sun!  Being cooped up when you're finally ready to venture out after being cooped up was not exactly how we were hoping to spend our weekend! But, I will say that rainy, grey weekends make for the best family snuggles!

Speaking of snuggles, I can't believe that we've been snuggling with our sweet baby boy for 6 weeks now--whoa, time, slow down! I feel like this past week we really got to that sweet spot where we've come up for air and have found our groove, and it feels awesome!

Mommyhood is obviously now a huge part of my life, but I don't want my blog to go completely to one extreme. I'm aiming to try a little something called "Mommyhood Monday" that I devote to my musings on, you guessed it, mommyhood! I know when I was pregnant I scoured the blogosphere for any blog post I could find to help me prepare for being a mommy, and I find myself going back to those posts now that I'm in the thick of it. Now that I'm having my own experience with it, I'm ready to pay it forward and share my two cents in hopes that it might help someone out there! But really, I'm thinking it's going to be just as helpful for me use it as an outlet because, let's face it, motherhood is amazing, but it.is.hard. So, I'm excited to have my little Monday mommy-talk time for my own sanity, too!

Speaking of sanity, I wanted to kick off my Mommyhood Monday by sharing some of our absolute favorite baby items from Oliver's first month.

Without further ado...

{For Swaddling}

Everyone raves about the Aden & Anais swaddle blankets, and there's a reason. That reason being that they are fabulous, comfy, cute, and all things good. I especially loved the ones from the collaboration with the Honest Company for the sheer fact that came in extra fun patterns!

Runner up-- the Modern Burlap swaddle blankets. LOVE the black and white patterns, love that they're made from organic materials. Didn't find them quite as soft, though. But, they make for excellent backgrounds for baby photos. ;)

{For Burping}
We are big fans of the Burt's Bees burp cloths, as well as the Aden & Anais Organic Burp Cloth Bibs and the Green Sprouts Burp Cloth Bibs. I like having the variety of the more  traditional cloths, like the Burt's Bees, and the ones that are shaped like the A&A and Green Sprouts. Plus, I feel like you can never have too many burp cloths-- we have them everywhere!

{For Daytime Napping & Lounging}
When Oliver isn't in our arms or having floor/tummy time, he lives in either the Boppy Newborn Lounger or our Fisher Price swing! It is so helpful to have options to safely place baby when you need to do things, you know, like pee! We had heard that babies are usually particular about what they like when it comes to swings/bouncers/etc., and Oliver proved to be no different! He did not really care for the Rock-N-Play and would only go in it if he had already fallen asleep in our arms. We've also borrowed some bouncers from friends, and he's still making his mind up about those.

 

{For Nighttime Sleeping}
After reading Christina's post, we knew we 100% wanted to get some kind of movement monitor. We ended up going with the Snuza Hero and have been super pleased with it! I forgot to include these in my polyvore, but another must-have for us were the Summer Infant Swaddle Wraps-- anything to save time during nighttime diaper changes and feedings. Bonus-- you don't have to worry about loose blankets while your little one sleeps!

{For Diapering}
I've talked before about how we've been transitioning to a greener, cleaner lifestyle, so we knew we wanted to start out with the Honest Company diapers (with the hopes that we'd transition to cloth diapers down the road). We have been super pleased with these diapers, and again, it doesn't hurt that they have adorable patterns! Also, we quickly decided that we did not want to haul Oliver up the stairs every time he needed a diaper change, so we have loved having our Skip Hop Pronto Changing Station downstairs. Yes, we keep it super classy  and throw an old bath towel down under this and change him on the couch! #winning

{For Wearing}
I am obsessed with H&M's baby clothing because it meets my 2 biggest criteria-- 1.) super reasonably priced (think Old Navy prices or better!) and 2.) the clothing is super hip and fashion-forward. What makes me all caps OBSESSED with H&M's baby clothing is that many of their items are part of their "Conscious Collection" and made with organic cotton blend, while still maintaining that amazing price point. Win, win, win!

For basics, we've also really loved Burt's Bees pieces! They had a major sale this summer, and we were able to stock up on lots of good staples for Oliver!

And, I don't know about other babies, but Oliver's nails grow so fast and can get sharp, so we've been really thankful for the baby mittens to help keep him from scratching his face and  me (when he's feeding!). I know some mommas warned that they fall off, which did happen a little in the first few days, but after that, they've stayed on just fine!

{For Bath Time}
Hooded towels (we like the Burt's Bees ones) have been a must! Oliver will immediately stop crying as soon as he gets snuggled up in one of those babies! Also, not pictured above, are my all-time favorite wash cloths for baby-- the Brooklyn Bamboo Baby Washcloths are the softest, most amazing feeling things ever! I want to steal them for myself! 

{For Feeding & Feeding Accessories}
I can't believe I forgot to include the My Brestfriend and Boppy above! My bad! At first, I was having trouble with the Boppy and ended up buying the Brestfriend within the first 48 hours of being home from the hospital. Now, I've gotten the hang of both and use my Brestfriend upstairs and the Boppy downstairs. Overall, I think the Brestfriend is the better buy for just feeding, but I think the Boppy is also worth having because you can use it for feeding, and baby can lounge on it or rest your arms on it while holding baby! Plus, I know the Boppy has other uses down the road, so I don't even feel bad about having both!

Also, we're glad the Boon Drying Rack Lawn lived up to the hype! Early on I was having to supplement with formula (enter bottles and nipples galore), as well as pump (hello, nipple shields and pump parts), so thank goodness we had that drying rack to keep up with all of those little parts!

I also, have to give a shoutout to the Life Factory and Dr. Brown's glass bottles. We wanted to give glass bottles a try but were nervous about the fact that they'd, obviously, be breakable! These have both been amazing, and we love that they have the silicone sleeve options for extra protection! The Life Factory ones are like the "Lululemon" of bottles--fancy and pricier  than the others (but if you put them on your registry, someone might just buy them for you and make your day--thanks Kelly and Anna!)
*****

So, there you have it-- Our First Month Baby Faves!

And, hey, it's never too early to start thinking about baby #2, so what First Month Faves am I missing!?

 (Ok, I lied...up until 2 weeks ago  it was still #toosoon to even consider going through labor again! Having a cute baby to love on definitely helps you forget the not so fun parts!)

Oliver- {One Month}

9.22.15

Dear Oliver,

You are one month old today, and we can't believe how quickly time is flying! Mommy might have shed a few tears leading up to today. You will never know how much you have blessed our lives, and even though this has been a tiring month, it has been the best month of our lives! Being your parents is the most fulfilling adventure we've ever embarked on, and we are so in love with you!

Your daddy and I are just enamored with you, and I can't even count the number of times we've just looked at each and said things like, "I can't believe he's here" or "I just love him so much" or "He's so precious." You are so cute, and we could just eat you up! You make the sweetest little noises and have some of the most precious facial expressions and movements. I love the way you stretch and push your little booty out when you're done feeding. And, you do an incredibly precious duck face. You also do have an "I'm unimpressed" face, and some funny ones, like your "poop face".  I seriously wish I could just capture all of this on video or in pictures because I never want to forget anything about you during this most sweet time.

You were 9 lbs. 4 oz. when you were born, but you lost weight in the hospital (down to 8 lbs., 6 oz). We worked super hard trying to get you back to birth weight, with a combination of breastfeeding, formula supplements, and pumped milk supplements. But don't you worry, you have certainly made up for that lost weight--and then some! You gained 10 oz. during your second week, and we were officially able to stop supplementing with formula-- just breastmilk for you now! At your one month appointment today you weighed 11 lbs. 9 oz (89th percentile!)-- holy smokes! I think we are all getting our arm workouts in lifting and holding you all day! You've also grown 1.5 inches since you were born, now measuring 23 inches (97th percentile!), and boy, your head-- soooo big-- 93rd percentile for head circumference! It's a good thing we didn't buy too many newborn clothes because you could only wear those for a hot second! We were worried you wouldn't even be able to use up the 2 packs of newborn diapers we had for you!

Baby boy, you are also so strong! You started holding your head up for a few seconds at a time around week 2, and every day we've noticed you holding it up longer and longer! You enjoy floor time (although you usually just stare at the ceiling or anything but the fun play gym we have for you!), and you are trying SO hard to roll over! Just a few days before 4 weeks you did roll over from tummy to back, and we were super excited to cheer you on! We know it's just a matter of time before you're rolling over from back to tummy! It's so cute to watch you try, and your daddy and I have to restrain ourselves from jumping in when you start to get frustrated!

You've been a great sleeper from the start, and we are so grateful for that! You take little 2-3 hour naps in the day, which is a nice time for us to catch up on things around the house and sometimes on sleep for ourselves! We used to have to wake you every 2-3 hours to feed at night, which usually meant we were up about 1-2 times during prime sleep hours, but now you're sleeping for longer chunks of time at night (and we were told we no longer had to wake you to feed between 12-6am), and we appreciate it so much! You love your Swaddleme infant wrap for nighttime sleeping, and you look like the most precious burrito baby when you have that on! You've been sleeping in the bassinet part of our pack-n-play right beside us, and make lots of precious baby sighs all night long. During the day your favorite place to nap is in the swing! The funny thing is that at night you are so great at self-soothing to sleep, but during the day, you absolutely (for themost part!) will not tolerate being put down in the swing, the rock-n-play, or the bouncer unless you are already asleep! It's OK though, because we love snuggling with you, especially when you fall asleep on our chests!

You're still making up your mind about bath time. Sometimes you're not having it, and you scream the whole time. Other times you're pretty chill and don't put up a fight. You absolutely love being snuggled up in your hooded bath towels afterwards, though!

You mostly only cry for four reasons-- when you're hungry, are having gas pains, need a diaper change, or are fighting sleep (which happens mostly during what we call your "witching hour" from 3-6pm). Somewhere around week two you did at least realize that getting a fresh diaper was a good thing and you stopped the tear fest during the diaper changes! When you're fighting sleep we have a number of tricks up our sleeves, but our last resorts are walking you up and down the stairs (which you love!) or putting you in the car-seat and either taking you for a walk or, as daddy has done a few times, just pushing the stroller around the downstairs! Car rides are also a full-proof way to help you get your snooze on, but we have not yet had to resort to taking you for a ride in the middle of the night--although daddy would secretly love this because he'd try to sneak in a trip to Waffle House with you!

For the most part you are a super chill baby! You've loved hanging out in your swing and your Boppy lounger. But, you really are happiest being held, which we are all happy to do! We've tried reading some books, but you'd rather just stare at the ceiling-- you are so fascinated by whatever it is up there that you like to look at! You also love looking at the photos on the wall in mommy and daddy's room!

We've gotten to go on a few outings, although they've mostly been to doctor's appointments. We did take a trip to Old Navy, Best Buy, and Target when you were 3 weeks old, and you were a rock-star and slept the whole time! Don't worry, month 2 is going to be full of many fun outings now that mommy is feeling so much better!

Finally, you've gotten to meet so many family members and friends this month and have been quite the host to lots of visitors! You are so, so loved!

And now for pictures galore...

We love you sweet, baby boy!

Love,
Mommy & Daddy