Saturday, May 9, 2009
Rainforest Play Gym
My Friend Joan's Mother in Law gave me an Ocean play gym, but I think it got packed away in my other friend's attic, so my sister bought this gym for Alex. It matches his mobile, and he likes it a lot. Well, he hates his tummy time, but he played with the toucan on the palm tree for quite a while. Hopefully he will learn to like tummy time more, and can play with the toys on the other end of his mat.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Baby Straightjacket.... uh, I mean, Miracle Blanket
When Justin and I were in the hospital, they had a bunch of videos we could watch. One of them was "Happiest baby on the block," which said that swaddling is a good way to help calm your baby down.
Well, we tried, and tried, and tried, and no matter how we swaddled Alex, he would bust out and startle himself awake. After two weeks, I ordered a Miracle Blanket, and let me tell you, the results were AMAZING. I was able to get 3 hours of sleep! For the past 3 weeks, he has been sleeping through the night, and I attribute most of it to swaddling him in the Miracle Blanket. No matter how hard he struggles, he cannot break out of it.
Yeah, he might look like he's in a baby straightjacket, but he will grow out of the Moro reflex sometime in the next two months or so, and he won't need to be swaddled any more. In the meantime, he will be my little burrito.
(sorry for the poor picture quality - I took this last night with my phone and was trying really hard NOT to wake him up)
Well, we tried, and tried, and tried, and no matter how we swaddled Alex, he would bust out and startle himself awake. After two weeks, I ordered a Miracle Blanket, and let me tell you, the results were AMAZING. I was able to get 3 hours of sleep! For the past 3 weeks, he has been sleeping through the night, and I attribute most of it to swaddling him in the Miracle Blanket. No matter how hard he struggles, he cannot break out of it.
Yeah, he might look like he's in a baby straightjacket, but he will grow out of the Moro reflex sometime in the next two months or so, and he won't need to be swaddled any more. In the meantime, he will be my little burrito.
(sorry for the poor picture quality - I took this last night with my phone and was trying really hard NOT to wake him up)
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Frenulum
When Alex was born, he had a bit of a problem latching on. I had chalked it up to the fact that both he & I were learning together, but on that Monday morning, the nurse noticed he was tongue-tied. Basically, it means they have extra skin connecting their tongue to the bottom of their mouth. Usually its regressed to a normal level by the time they are born, but sometimes they are not. In Alex's case, he had a bit that made it look like he had two spit bubbles below his tongue all the time. They had a resident come up, and he took Alex and clipped it. It didn't cause hi many discomfort, and he fed perfectly right after.
Some say it's not necessary to do, but as I sat with him this morning playing "let's stick our tongues out at each other," I was glad we did.
Some say it's not necessary to do, but as I sat with him this morning playing "let's stick our tongues out at each other," I was glad we did.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Sony 900mhz Babycall Monitor
I'm going to start doing reviews of baby items as well. As first time parents, we've had to do a lot of research, and maybe these reviews will help someone else out.
Justin first picked up a Graco iVibe Monitor, but it got terrible reviews regarding the batteries. I had already done some research from the BabyBargains book, and had settled on the Sony 900mhz Babycall Monitor - the only bad thing is that is only available on target.com (at least, it wasn't in our local Target - YMMV). This monitor has 27 channels that it could be set to, but so far we have not had any problems with the default (yellow yellow yellow) setting. The receiver can be set to off, always on, or voice activation. Since we have an aquarium set up in Alex's room with constant white noise, I like to use the voice feature. Even when his mobile is playing, it will cut that noise out and only pick up when he starts to cry. I have heard him sneeze, fart, and grunt all on the voice feature.
The monitor also has a sound meter with 5 red lights that light up depending on how high the noise is. This is helpful if you are drying your hair, cooking, or yelling at barking dogs.
I can't really go outside from the living room with it, but I think part of the problem is I placed the transmitter near a bunch of other electronics (tv, wireless router, etc).
All in all, I'm happy with this monitor.
Justin first picked up a Graco iVibe Monitor, but it got terrible reviews regarding the batteries. I had already done some research from the BabyBargains book, and had settled on the Sony 900mhz Babycall Monitor - the only bad thing is that is only available on target.com (at least, it wasn't in our local Target - YMMV). This monitor has 27 channels that it could be set to, but so far we have not had any problems with the default (yellow yellow yellow) setting. The receiver can be set to off, always on, or voice activation. Since we have an aquarium set up in Alex's room with constant white noise, I like to use the voice feature. Even when his mobile is playing, it will cut that noise out and only pick up when he starts to cry. I have heard him sneeze, fart, and grunt all on the voice feature.
The monitor also has a sound meter with 5 red lights that light up depending on how high the noise is. This is helpful if you are drying your hair, cooking, or yelling at barking dogs.
I can't really go outside from the living room with it, but I think part of the problem is I placed the transmitter near a bunch of other electronics (tv, wireless router, etc).
All in all, I'm happy with this monitor.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Wil E Coyote
On Thursday, Alex went in for his two month immunizations shots. It wasn't supposed to be until May 13, but we're going to be on the road that day to go see his godfather's Army graduation ceremony, and I *really* didn't want to have to try to find a hospital somewhere between here and BFE Alabama in the off chance that something went wrong.
Alex now weighs 12lbs 10oz and is still 23.25" long. His head is 39.5cm.
After we talked to the doctor a bit, we got him ready for his shots. He was to receive one oral vaccine (Rotavirus), and 3 shots (DTaP/Hep B/Polio, hib, PCV). The oral vaccine he took just fine, and was smiling at the nurse. She then grabbed a shot, and put it in his leg. I could just see his reaction change from happy to OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!?!?!?! I gave him his pacifier to try to calm him down, and once the 3 shots were over (2 in the right leg, one in the left), and he got his band-aids (which were Wil E Coyote), I cuddled with him for a bit, we got him dressed, then I dropped Justin back off at work. We came home and I fed him and put him to sleep in his swing - where he proceeded to sleep for about 5 hours. I eventually turned off his swing (which is guaranteed to wake him up), just so I could feed him again. He was cranky the rest of the day (but I would be too), but by Friday morning he was all smiles again!
Alex now weighs 12lbs 10oz and is still 23.25" long. His head is 39.5cm.
After we talked to the doctor a bit, we got him ready for his shots. He was to receive one oral vaccine (Rotavirus), and 3 shots (DTaP/Hep B/Polio, hib, PCV). The oral vaccine he took just fine, and was smiling at the nurse. She then grabbed a shot, and put it in his leg. I could just see his reaction change from happy to OMG WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!?!?!?! I gave him his pacifier to try to calm him down, and once the 3 shots were over (2 in the right leg, one in the left), and he got his band-aids (which were Wil E Coyote), I cuddled with him for a bit, we got him dressed, then I dropped Justin back off at work. We came home and I fed him and put him to sleep in his swing - where he proceeded to sleep for about 5 hours. I eventually turned off his swing (which is guaranteed to wake him up), just so I could feed him again. He was cranky the rest of the day (but I would be too), but by Friday morning he was all smiles again!
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