Firsts

It's been a week or so of firsts for Saoirse. 

Last Wednesday she sat in a shopping cart for the first time. 

Monday she had her first not-for-shots doctor appointment, where she was diagnosed with her first sinus infection and given her first rx for amoxicillin. 

This warm/cold/warm/cold weather has everyone's sinuses messed up. 

On Tuesday, we bought her a high chair which she loves. 

It lets her be in the middle of everything AND have stuff to play with within reach. 

She also had her second shopping cart experience at Target on Tuesday. 

And today she is 5 months old. 5 months of exclusively breastmilk, which I'm pretty proud of, and which has her essentially at double her birth weight. She was 16 lbs 1 oz on Monday, and she was 8 lbs 1.5 oz at birth. 

She still fits in 3 mos clothes, but they're moving towards snug and the 6 months stuff is still a bit big but not swamping her. Her feet are still too small for a size 2 shoe by about an inch. She definitely hasn't turned out to be the ginormous baby we were half-expecting with my brother having been 9.5 lbs+ at birth (he was term, I was 2 weeks early), and her daddy being nearly 10 lbs at birth. My mom was guessing at least a 9 lb baby and that none of the newborn stuff would fit and that she would leave 0-3 months clothes quickly. She has been surprisingly average. A little higher than 50% in weight and a little lower in height (poor girl will probably end up short like her 5'3" mama). Once she was born, I was back to my pre-pregnancy weight (at least by the time I got home to a scale). 

She's beautiful, smart, and would love to buy a consonant so she can join in the conversations around her. For now, she's working with the shrieks and periodic giggles available to her. And still loving her showers. She gets so excited when shower water runs. 

Car Seat Review: Safety 1st Elite 80 3-in-1

We got Saoirse a new car seat for the van to see if she just hates car seats in general or if it's just her bucket seat (which she still fits in quite well). Well, turns out she hates car seats, but she hates her bucket (a Chicco Keyfit 30) more. Which is understandable as it is far less padded than the new S1 we got her, after I did much research. Overall, I am happy with the new purchase. 

I'm going to break this down into pros and cons.

Pros: very well padded, looks comfy, the only valid 3-in-1 convertible seat, pretty easy to install if you follow the manual, the cup holder seems like it would actually be validly usable for a child if they have, ya know, arms long enough to need a cup holder. Goes rear facing to 40 lbs. Harness forward facing to 70 lbs. High back booster til 100 lbs. No rethread harness and head rest moves with one hand (which adjusts the harness as well.) Very nice air head pads. 2 cup holders. Steel reinforced. 

Cons: it is big. Rear facing it takes up a lot of room back to front, so it wouldn't really be valid in smaller vehicles (we have a Dodge Grand Caravan). Wouldn't play well with other car seats as it is broad, but we have Captain's seats so that wasn't a concern for me. Joseph doesn't much care for the harness straps, but they don't bother me so that is a matter of opinion. 

It's pretty heavy, about 25 lbs, which is both a pro and a con. Under new regulations, LATCH shouldn't be used past when the child's weight + the car seat weight= 65 lbs. This seat rear faces to 40 lbs, so I shouldn't have to switch to using a seat belt til Saoirse is forward facing (which I don't plan to do until Saoirse is 40 lbs and is therefore too heavy to rear face in this seat).

As you can see in the above picture, I had to add a rolled up towel to get the appropriate recline on the seat, as the Grand Caravan has bizarrely slanted seats. This is allowed, per the manual. 

Smiling in her seat with Wubbanub Kitty and Mr Hedgehog. The air head pads can be seen by her head. 

Plenty of room to grow, nice sleek black coloring 

Disclaimer: I was not paid or reimbursed for this post. I bought the car seat myself, all $229+tax. The opinions expressed are mine alone. 

Ramblings

I always think of brilliant things to post about at 2 am when I can't post them because a baby is asleep on my arm and still attached to my boob. #firstworldproblems

At Saoirse's 4 month appointment, she was 14 lbs 13 oz, 24.5 inches long, and her head was 16 inches around. She's definitely teething, per her swollen lower gum (as if the drooling and finger chewing weren't evidence enough). During the day, she will fight sleep like no one's business. It often requires walking, a car ride, or me lying down with her in our darkened room and nursing to get her to sleep. Not at all certain how that will work when I get a job, but other people seem to have an easier time getting her to sleep without a boob. 

Which is good, since I'm the only one with functioning boobs. 

I'm thrilled that she has only been fed breastmilk since she was born. She's had a few bottles of pumped milk without any problems, but no formula. I'm very proud of myself for that. I didn't leave her with someone else for long enough for her to need a bottle until she was almost 3 months old. 

She definitely prefers it straight from the boob though. We had a bottle that still had half an ounce or so in it when I got home from Pure Barre and, given the status of liquid gold that breastmilk has, I kinda wanted her to finish it. She refused, just kinda chewed on the nipple for a few minutes before fussing and demanding it straight from the tap, so to speak. 

I'm quite proud of these little rolls. She has hand dimples and arm and tummy rolls and thunder thighs. She's definitely a fan of the boob. 

She's also quite good at sitting in her Bumbo. She's been able to roll from tummy to back since she was about 2 months old (oct 28), but she seems really uninterested in going from back to front. She prefers her back to her tummy, so it's not high on her list of priorities. She giggled, definitely giggled, on Jan 16. It was adorable. She likes to stand up (with support obviously), and has started "high stepping" as my mom calls it. It's cute. She will definitely have me beat for amount of hair by age 1. I was nearly bald, so it wouldn't take much, but she has way more hair regardless. 

Baby Faux-hawk

Pure Barre Review

Pure Barre is one of those workout things that I had never heard of until a friend of mine posted about on Facebook. Advertised as "high intensity, low impact", I was intrigued. I have exercise induced asthma and it seems like everything that falls under exercise triggers it. Swimming in an indoor pool isn't as bad, but even that will hit it eventually. And feeling short of breath is not a feeling I relish. 

I decided to give it a try nonetheless, after she said it probably wouldn't mess with my asthma. And after all, why turn down a free "try-me" class? I arranged for my mom to watch Saoirse while I took the opportunity to "lift, tone, and burn."

I was instructed to get a ball roughly the size of a cantaloupe, a set of 2 lb weights, and a stretchy tube thing, and then I found a spot in the center-ish area of the floor, as was suggested by the instructor. 

First off let me say, I have no idea how these instructors keep sounding so perky through the whole thing. 

We started off with knee lifts to warm up, some opposite knee to opposite elbow kind of stuff where it took me a good 5 tries to get my legs and arms working on a diagonal. For someone who has a dance background, I am amazingly awful at figuring out where my body is in space. Following that, we picked up our weights to work the shoulders and arms. I was at least mildly concerned for my rotator cuff, despite the fact they watch your form so you don't hurt yourself. However, courtesy of this, I now use my baby as a weight to the tune of "and lift, for two, and down, for two." Then there were planks, and push ups, and things that I don't know the name for. And I became intensely aware of how little upper body strength I have. Irish dance does not focus on upper body strength at all. As a result, my legs are strong, my core is decent, and my arms suck. 

Finally, after what felt like it had to be at least halfway through class, the instructor says, "And that finishes our warm-up."

I nearly fell out in the floor right then and there. I'm not sure why this shocked me so much, considered we hadn't even approached the bar part of Pure Barre yet. My shoulders hurt. 2 lb weights get really heavy after about 5 minutes. 

I'll leave some of this to the imagination as the "seat and thighs" section at the barre varies from week to week. Suffice to say, my butt hurt by the end of it. And my legs shook through most of it. 

We finished up with ab work. And it definitely works the abs. I don't know that I have ever been so grateful to see my mom walking with Saoirse (them being back at Pure Barre meant class was nearly over). Holding my baby after class hurt. My shoulders were what I felt the class in first. Not surprising since my arms are my weakest area. 

The next morning was when I felt every muscle. Coughing hurt. Getting out of bed hurt. I then went and bought a 5 classes for $51 Groupon and vowed to go once a week. It was such a workout. I've now been for 3 classes. Everyone I've talked to about it says how hard it is, especially that first class. And then they go back. And honestly, it keeps kicking your butt, at least best as I can tell. But I had to share this with everyone. 

You can try out one class for free. There's a Groupon for new clients (5 classes for $51 or 10 for $90 ish- must be used within 30 or 45 days respectively). There's a New Mom special where you get 3 months unlimited for $390 or so. Which is less than the $480 or so for 3 months unlimited normally. It's expensive but it will whoop your butt into shape quickly if you go the 3-4 times a week that's recommended. I can only pull off 1 time a week right now due to having to have someone watch Saoirse, but 1x a week is better than nothing. 

I definitely recommend this workout. 

This review was not requested nor endorsed by Pure Barre or Pure Barre Little Rock. I got no payment or free goodies for this review. This is all my opinion and my money being spent. 

Some nights...

I'm not sure what the heck is going on. Saoirse fusses and fusses and what seems like nothing sets her off. Last night, if it wasn't me holding her, it pretty much wasn't okay. She also refused to sleep for any length of time until 2 am. Fortunately, she was in a good mood. Cooing and crowing and chattering. 

I'm not complaining, not really. Just showing it's not always rainbows and butterflies. Teething sucks. She's been drooling like a St Bernard since she was about 2 months old. 

Some days the only thing that soothes her is teething gel and teething rings or a finger. Her hands are constantly in her mouth. I'm waiting for that first tooth to break through, all the while realizing we're in this for the long haul regardless. I'm not looking forward to 2 year old molars. 

But at the end of the day she's an awesome snuggle buddy and I love her to pieces.