I decided last Monday that it was time to get Kaili into her crib as she is outgrowing the wonderful Rock N Play Sleeper. I also wanted to quit the swaddling since she can now roll over, so I quit the swaddle cold turkey, put her to sleep in her crib for bed and that did not go well! She didn’t fall asleep as easy but the worst part was she wouldn’t stay asleep. It was  almost as though she couldn’t get comfortable and she kept rolling onto her stomach which then leads to crying. So finally on Thursday I told myself that it was all too much for her to handle, I put 2 rolled up towels under her sheet to help her feel more snug and I put her back in the swaddle but with one arm out. Since then things have gone a lot better. I am putting her in her crib before she is completely  asleep with her pacifier and she will put herself to sleep. She has been sleeping straight through until about 4:00am. Sometimes all she needs is the pacifier to be put back in her mouth and other times she is ready to eat. Either way it’s a huge improvement. She is sleeping in her crib and that is the goal I wanted to achieve. Hopefully in another few weeks I will be able to remove the swaddle all together. Progress!

5 months and she is still such a happy baby. For the most part she is super easy going, a breeze to do anything with and can chill just about anywhere.

Baby K is 5 months old! 

When I was pregnant and registering for baby items, I went off advice from friends with babies, books and random women on baby forums. I spent so much time researching products, trying to decide what I would need, wouldn’t need and what was the best of the best. Now, five months into motherhood I wish I could go back and tell my pregnant self all that I know now. I would give myself a list of must-haves, nice-to-haves and not-necessary-haves.

Must-Haves

Graco snugride car seat

Stroller

Halo sleepsack/swaddle (Lifesaver)

Car mirror (savior for solo drives)

Baby Swing

Play Gym Floor Mat

Rock N Play Sleeper (wish I had this from day 1)

Born Free Bottles

Dr. Browns Formula Pitcher

Boppy (it’s not just for breastfeeding)

Gerber Onesies

Bottle Drying Rack

Multi Use Pads ( perfect for diaper changing…anywhere)

Exersaucer (proving to be a great product lately)

Nice To Have

Bouncer

Bumbo

Pack N Play ( I think this will be a must have in a few months though)

Diaper Bag

Diaper Genie

Baby Bathtub

Baby Carrier

Peek A Boo Closet Dividers (Perfect for separating all the different sizes of clothes in the closet)

Baby Monitor ( I went back and forth with this one. We ended up getting one while on vacation in WA. and we still use it every day. However, since our house is small we don’t really need it.

Not Necessary

Video Baby Monitor (don’t spend that much money on a fancy one when an audio monitor works just fine)

Wipe Warmer (dries out wipes and trust me, your baby will be fine)

Bottle Warmer (another appliance that takes up space when a mug of hot water works just as good and just as fast)

Baby Bedding  (all you need is a sheet)

Changing Table (dresser works great)

Kaili was eyeing my avocado the other day, so I decided to sit her in the bumbo and let her try some.  She seemed to like the first few bites but then she gave a disgusted look. She isn’t quite ready to start solids but it sure was funny to see her expressions. I will hold off awhile before I do that again.

Kaili is 20 weeks old today, can you believe it? She is a very happy baby and finally finding her laugh. At first I thought it was me, I must not be as funny as I thought I was, but it turns out I was wrong.  She likes to laugh during her diaper changes, I don’t know what’s so funny about that though. She also likes to put things in her mouth, if she can grab it, it’s in there. That makes me more aware of what is dropped on the floor these days. It’s crazy to think that the days of baby proofing are not far ahead.

She is back to sleeping through the night again so those few early wake up calls must have been a growth spurt. She continues to eat 4 oz. every three hours and is taking half ready feed and half powdered. So far so good.

I bought Kaili a few toys at Toys R Us. I don’t know why that is such a hard task to accomplish. I think I stared at things for minutes at a time trying to decide if it’s age appropriate and if she would get any use out of it. I decided that until she can really sit up there isn’t anything worth spending too much money on. I ended up with a few toys she can grasp and a couple of books. She enjoys being read to and now it looks like she enjoys “reading” to herself.

Yesterday I took Kaili down to a local farmers market located in the mostly Asian/Mexican neighborhood. It wasn’t a huge turnout but the produce was a little different from what I normally see at the markets. One stand was a tropical fruit stand with Hawaiian papaya, durian , jujubies, jackfruit, Lychees, Rambutans, and sugar cane. I also saw lemon cucumbers, a lot of okra, chinese long beans, and red carrots. The food stands looked pretty good too, the line for the Filipino food was long and reminded me of China with all the elbowing. They also had a Salvadorian, East African and Tamale stand. I will have to go for dinner one of these times.

I am still deciding to hold off on solids until at least 24 weeks. I will start with veggies and skip the rice cereal, if I do decide to give her rice cereal at some point I think I will do brown rice. It’s also not hard to make either so I may have to try that out.

Today was my first appointment with a personal trainer at the YMCA and I am pretty sure all my muscles are demolished. She worked me hard but it felt so good. I think this will be what I need to get my pre-baby body back.

We also had Kaili’s last hand appointment today. Dr. Vecchione said everything looks good but we wont really know how the scar will look until she is about 1-year-old. Until then just massage the scar to break down the tissue. I guess I should be doing the same to my scar as well. He also took notice of the hemangioma on her head and then I showed him the rest of them. He said they should start going away by the time she is 2 but sometimes there is a bump that remains and needs to be removed. I am thankful to be done with those Dr. visits as it is always a sad reminder of how she entered the world. Time to move forward.

This post is very late as Kaili is 20 weeks next Friday, better late than never I guess.  A little over 2 weeks ago when I switched her formula her eating regressed a bit. She was taking 3.5 oz. then went down to 3.oz and definitely not hitting the 24 oz. a day her Pediatrician wants her to eat. Since she is on the lower percentile for weight I will admit I worried a little bit. Then all of a sudden two days ago she became a hungry little thing and  is now taking 4 oz. every 2-3 hours. She is also waking up at 3 or 4 am. to eat again. I assume it was a growth spurt or just adjusting to the new formula. I hope this lasts, well not the 3 am feeding but the larger feedings. Now I don’t wan’t her to get used to eating at 3 am so I am in a pickle. Do I continue to feed her at this time since she is lagging in weight and wait another month to ween her off , or should I do it now?

Not too much longer and I can start introducing her solids, something I am really looking forward to. I will admit she has already “tried” some fruits. This morning she was eyeing my mango so i mushed a little on my finger and let her try it and she was eager for more. I must say it was a pretty good mango.

Well on to the cute stuff, here is baby girl at 19 weeks!

Kaili just recently mastered rolling over from her back to her stomach, so now she can officially roll over both ways! This morning she managed to roll completely off her play mat and kept going. I think she was headed to the door because it was so hot and that’s where the cool breeze was coming from. I think the next trip to my parents house we will need the pack n play because one of these days she might just roll away!

Before we know it she will be crawling!

Shane, Kaili and I took a trip up the coast to central California for our 5th wedding anniversary. Kaili is such a good baby and a great traveler so we are lucky that it’s really pretty easy doing things with her. We took her to the Hearst Castle where we toured the Kitchen and cottages. She did great but one tour was perfect, anything longer would have been pushing it. After the Castle we headed down the coast and stopped in Cambria and Morro bay for lunch, coffee and some wine tasting.

We also made a stop in Avila beach. We poked our head in Salisbury Vineyard winery where we met the owner and tried some pretty decent wines. Then we made a stop at the Avila Valley Barn, I loved this place. It has a full farmers market, bakery, two gift shops, ice cream, fresh roasted corn and a petting zoo.

We ended the evening with dinner outside near the Avila pier, it was an overpriced dinner but the view was worth it.

I wasn’t great about taking pictures, I really need to work on that. Saturday we spent the day checking out downtown SLO and ate lunch at an interesting place called Novo, definitely worth checking out if you are ever in town. We enjoyed our anniversary dinner at the famous Madonna Innm they have a steak house that puts out pretty yummy food and I highly recommend the cake, it was amazing! Oh and check out the men’s bathroom if you ever stop there!

It was a very fun trip and I am already looking forward to spending our 6 year anniversary in London!