Aili Update: Months Seven and Eight

Hey everyone!

Aili hit the eight month milestone today! We cannot believe it! This little girl has kept us on our toes the last two months. We traveled to Florida the end of September on a plane again and she surprised us by not sleeping at all the flight back, but still did awesome! She also has started creeping (army crawling on her belly) and can crawl a few moments but her arms are still trying to figure it out. Lots of rocking back and forth on her hands and knees but not quite got the hang of it yet. She has had all different kinds of baby food now and her current favorite is pumpkin, apple and cinnamon purée. Very festive for fall! She GOBBLES it up! She also has five teeth now and one more that is working on coming through. Her first Halloween was a big success and she put up with our antics and let us dress her up for our Halloween party and also for her school parade. It has been so fun watching this little girl blossom and grow!! We will be heading down to Florida for thanksgiving time, driving this time. We are looking forward to Aili’s first turkey day and spending time with family and friends! 

Our favorite products:

• Finding Nemo jumperoo 
• Bumpkins bibs for meal time

Thanks for keeping up,

- Olivia :)

Aili Update: Month Six

Hey everyone,

Half a year has gone by of watching this amazing little girl grow and I officially want time to stop. This month has by far been my favorite. Aili is sleeping through the night HOORAY! She puts herself to sleep every night and every nap and Madi and I both can say it is literally LIFE CHANGING. I talked last month about how we used a combo of Taking Cara Babies and the Ferber Method and it has worked so well for us. I was totally against letting Aili cry it out all together, but these methods are not just letting you baby lay there and scream themselves to sleep. If you want to know more, feel free to ask me about our experience. 

Aili has been coming into her own personality so much and loves to babble. At the store, in the airport security line, in the car, once she gets going she doesn't like to stop. She has officially said her first word "da-da". I know, I was a little disappointed it wasn't mama, but she loves her daddy so much and lights up every time he comes into the room that it is so freaking adorable. While her saying "da-da" is probably not associated with Madi at this point, it is super cute, especially when she says it when he is in the room. She is a rolling machine. If you set her down anywhere on the floor, she will be on the other side of the room in less than a minute. She almost immediately rolls onto her belly if you place her on her back, she is a definitely a tummy sleeper like mom! At school she got to go on the outdoor playground baby swing for the first time this month and LOVED it. She also made her first work of art, a beautiful hand painting entitled 'hand paint' LOL. 

We also have a little jet-setter on our hands. This little lady traveled three of the last four weekends. First, we drove to Gatlinburg for great-grandma and grandpa's sixtieth wedding anniversary celebration. We saw beautiful mountain views, ate delicious food and even spotted some black bears! (a little too close for comfort). The next weekend Aili and I flew to Florida to visit her Uncle Reegan for his birthday. She slept the flight there and back! We had a great time in Florida, swimming in the pool, going to Downtown Disney and spending time with Aunt Stephanie, Uncle Reegan and Grammy. The following weekend we met Uncle Jeremy and soon-to-be Aunt Lindsey in Charleston. We had to outrun the hurricane, but while we were there we had beautiful weather and so much fun with our besties. It is crazy to think that on our annual trip last year we were telling them we were pregnant with Aili and now she joined us on our yearly journey with them! This month we are taking a break for traveling for the most part. We will be going down to Florida in a few weeks to visit family while Madi does some things for his blog. Fingers crossed that flight number two goes as well as flight number one!!

Breastfeeding has officially come to an end. We slowly weaned this month, and while it was hard for me to give it up, my supply just wasn't worth all of the time I was spending pumping. Although seeing how much we've spent on formula already it makes me thankful that I was able to breastfeed for the majority of the first six months. I definitely would do it again with our next kiddo down the road, but it is a lot of hard work. The hours spent pumping and cleaning and sorting bottles were exhausting. And I am definitely glad to be able to go to sleep as soon as Aili does if I feel like it! 

I have continued to feel better anxiety wise. I have still been seeing a therapist and that has definitely helped. I also think that the sleep improvement has been a huge help as well. I have been so supported by many other moms who have gone through something similar as well as many of my friends and my family who have been so great at coming over if I feel lonely or need a break. I just want to encourage anyone who has been dealing with PPA/D that as others encouraged me, it will get better. You will get through this. When Aili was 8 weeks old and people told me "around six months to a year it will be so much better" I was totally discouraged. That seemed so far away. And it is a long road. And I do have days where I break down. But it really is so much better. I know it may not ever totally go away, that part of that is being a mom in general, however I do want to tell my other PPA/D moms that it's okay to ask for help, it's okay to be overwhelmed, it's okay to feel what you need to feel. It's also okay to step away from things that aren't helping your anxiety. Your number one priority is that baby and then yourself. I personally had a hard time stepping away from some of my extra responsibilities or feeling like I was constantly disappointing people, but I have been getting better at that. You have to take care of yourself to be able to take care of your baby. YOU'VE GOT THIS MAMA!

Products we love this month:
- Aquaphor Baby 3 in 1: Long story short, bronchitis led to antibiotics which led to diarrhea which led to diaper rash. This stuff helped clear it up so quickly! One of my friends recommended it and it worked!!
- Infantino 4 in 1 Carrier: we used this so much during our vacations and it was a lifesaver on the plane! 
- Pacifier Clip: This was also another lifesaver while traveling. So simple, but so necessary. 
- iPlay Swim Diaper: We decided to nix the disposable swim diapers and just go ahead and get a re-useable one. So far she hasn't pooped in it (and hopefully won't) but it has worked well for the pool! 

Thanks for keeping up with us,
- Olivia :) 

Aili Update: Month Five

Hey everyone!

Aili girl continues to blossom and grow into her own little person! This month was pretty busy as we made our way up to Michigan to visit my grandparents as we do every summer! The car ride is fourteen hours long, but we broke it up into two days both ways to give ourselves, the dogs and baby girl a break. Aili actually did incredibly well on the way up. She had a few short moments of meltdowns but for being in the car for two days who wouldn’t, am I right? She slept so good in her pack n play at the hotel even though it was my mom, myself and two dogs in the same tiny room as her. I think we were all just exhausted. To our surprise, she did just as well on the way back! I’m praying she has learned the car isn’t so bad, especially with two pups to entertain her in the back seat! She had some cranky time periods while we were in Michigan that lead to TWO teeth popping through her gums! We were so excited for her!

While in Michigan, Aili tried her first food, butternut squash straight from great Grandma and great Grandpa’s garden. She seemed to like it! Since then she has also tried peas and avocado. So far, avocado has seemed to be her favorite! On our trip we had lots of time outside, including lots of sitting on the porch with Great Grandma and lots of pulling weeds and picking crops in the garden with Great Grandpa! 

Breastfeeding and pumping has continued to be an issue. Aili is getting about 50/50 breast milk and formula. I still haven’t found a good solution to my low supply, but tried to add in an extra pumping session when I get home from work when my mom or Madi are home to help watch the baby and that maybe got me an extra ounce. It’s super frustrating, and not at all how I thought my breastfeeding or pumping journey would go considering I started out with such an oversupply. But I’ve heard that from others that oversupply people tend to take a huge hit when going back to work. Pumping every two hours is unrealistic and sleep is way too important to me to wake up in the middle of the night if Aili sleeps through the night. But waking up at 5am and staying up til 10pm to pump is starting to wear on me, especially since the supply just isn’t there anymore. So I’ve decided to slowly start weaning and be done totally by the time Aili hits six months old. Maybe if my supply was there still I would be more motivated, but the hours spent pumping and cleaning parts just is not worth the ounces I’m producing. I’ll let you know next month! 

In the next month we have LOTS of traveling going on. Excited to update you all after that. We will be traveling the next three weekends, so pray for healthy beings so we aren’t miserable while we travel (or when we go back to work/school). 

Products We Loved this Month:

• FisherPrice Sit-Me-Up: Aili lovessss this seat. Our friends gave me a hand me down one and they have one at daycare and she loves to play with the little toys on it
• Bouncer Seat: another staple now that we can’t use her boppy lounger. We bring this all around the house and strap her in and turn on the music. She will sit in it for a bit while we need to get things done!
• Teething toys: now that we have teeth, we aren’t as keen on giving her our knuckle to chomp on to keep her calm! We try to give her something safe to chew on like little play toys or her teething mit to chomp on in the car or while we’re making dinner!

Thanks for keeping up with us,

• Olivia