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