Weekend Scenes

Really great weekend. I can't remember the last time I even did a weekend scenes post to commemorate a great weekend. It has been way too long.

Hanging out in the back before dinner with friends on Friday. Look at those BLUES!

I cut my hair and I am kicking myself for doing it. Gah, back to growing it out. And notice that bruise on my arm? Its from where Jonas BIT me. Homeboy can do some damage with those two little chompers. 

We went to my friend's fiesta birthday party and her decorations and papel picado were a huge hit! 

I go to the farmer's market now in search of baby food makings, oh how times have changed. I made two big batches for Jonas. He loves butternut squash and sweet potatoes, especially when I add cinnamon! 

6 Month Faves

Here are some of our favorite things these days:

California Baby Sunscreen- Once babies hit 6 months they get the go ahead to start wearing sunscreen. It is still most important to be covered with hats and layers, but any skin still exposed needs to be covered with sunscreen. That baby skin can burn quickly! I like the California Baby kind, it rubs in nicely. (I did also just get the Babyganics kind too since it is mineral based, which our pediatrician recommended.)

Oxo Tot Sprout High Chair- All of Jonas' meals are now in his high chair. It's great because after meals we can put toys on the tray and he will sit and play for awhile longer since he is comfy in there. It is sort of pricey as far as high chairs go, but it works great with our decor and we will save it for baby #2.

Life Factory and Zo-li Gummy Stick Teethers- by far, Jonas' favorite teethers. They are both really easy for him to hold and work around his sore gums.

Spiffies Tooth Wipes- Now that Jonas has two teeth, we have to clean them! Twice a day and always before bed after nursing since we can't have that milk coating his teeth all night long. Early tooth decay is super common and can be avoided. These teeth wipes I got in a Bluum box and he loves them, especially if I pop them in the fridge beforehand.

Indestructibles Book- This book cannot be ripped! Babies can happily chew, bend, crinkle and try to destroy this book but it remains in one piece. Its nice and lightweight when sometimes Jonas just wants something to wrench on something for a bit.

Plum Organics Baby Food- I love this line for introducing foods to Jonas that aren't in season and I cannot find locally and organic. He loves peaches. And they work wonders for constipation if your little one is in need! We actually got more moving with pears and peaches than prunes.

Baby Gap Favorite Ribbed Socks- Literally the only socks that don't fall off. Enough said!

Let me know if you have any favorites for your little ones I need to know about.

(forever)

I have never had the urge to stock up on something like stamps before, until now. These forever stamps in the style of vintage seed packets are it. Love. Too bad I'm not planning a bridal shower or anything super worthy of these beauties! Get yours here.

From the land of teething

I knew once Jonas was over his colic the teething would begin, just our luck! For the most part it has just been lots of drooling and fussing with some occasional peaks. So far he has still been able to sleep through the night. The two days before he got his first tooth he was fussing so much, I couldn't put him down, he only wanted to nap on me, and he just seemed different. So it made sense when we felt his tooth the following day. He cut his first tooth on St. Patrick's Day and 15 days later, on Easter he cut his second tooth. Crap...what holiday is next? ;)

The day he cut his first tooth. He fell asleep in a swing at a birthday party. Teething is tough work.

We tried Baby Mum Mums but he "bit" off a small piece and it went to the back of his throat and even though they are supposed to dissolve quickly, we fished it out of his mouth and decided to re-visit them in a few months. Too bad, because the part he did teeth on properly, he really liked. 

(Off topic: This kid has not met a food he doesn't like)

There it be! In all its glory. And the second tooth came in directly to the left of his first one. Little jagged chompers. And speaking of chompers, ouch. He is biting while nursing now, mostly at the end of the session but its horrible. Any tips? I've heard its best to not react and simply take them off the breast. I haven't been so great with the "not reacting" part....

Always teething on something! Its best to have a variety of teethers I have found. Flat silicone, gummy sticks, Sophie the giraffe, a board book and anything else they enjoy. Sometimes he is obsessed with one kind and then the next day he wants nothing to do with it, they must ease different kind of pain.

We recently got an amber teething necklace, I hope it works as well as the many positive reviews I have read so far. For those unfamiliar, it is not to be chewed on, but for the amber to be absorbed into the skin. The amber is said to reduce inflammation, redness in cheeks and to generally sooth the baby. Jonas' hardest time is when its time to go down for a nap, here's hoping these are the magic ticket! Bonus is that he looks so dang cute in his hippie beads.

Easter

Easter started out great with Jonas taking an extra long morning nap. Of course we had someplace to be when he decides to sleep long! Either way, it set him up to have a great day, which is surprising because on Easter morning we discovered he cut his second tooth! Slow down, kiddo! Here are a few snaps from his first Easter.

And even though he is wearing three different outfits in these pictures, 

I assure you they were all taken on Easter.  :)

_____ is my favorite age!

Do you ever hear moms say "I love this age! I say that at every age, but I really love this age"? Of course you do. Well I have never said it until now. 5.5 months, nearly 6 months. I love it. I love this age.

                                Rocking his vintage tank and Zara swim trunks. Being a pure joy.
                           Who know this little boy was waiting for us at the end of the colic train?

making your own baby food

When Jonas turned 4 months and we got the OK from our pedi to start introducing small amounts of solids, we dusted off the Beaba Babycook that my sister-in-law let us borrow. At first I was intimidated. Cook, then puree? What about freezing and re-heating? BPA leaching, plastic heating, no microwaving. What? These things were running through my head, but once I read the directions (and got a handle on myself!) it was a piece of cake.

 

So far, in here we have cooked sweet potatoes, butternut squash, acorn squash and green beans. After the food is steamed, then we puree. Once it cools we then divide it up in little baby food trays that look like ice cube trays.

 Last night we did green beans. Everything else has been in season so we were able to get at the farmer's market, but these we purchased from Trader Joe's. $2.99.

Ready to freeze overnight!

After freezing overnight. Yummy, huh? ;) Time to pop them out of the tray and into a freezer bag for storage. If you are counting, that is 21 meals for Jonas for $2.99. That works out to be 14 cents per meal!

Ready for the freezer! Let's hope Jonas likes green beans. :) We will start them once he is done with his batch of butternut squash. I like him to eat at fresh as possible. And look, I know the moms of toddlers are totally rolling their eyes at this. I'm sure I will take the easier route sometimes, but for now, this works and it's fun!

Before bed I pop out one of his meals into a little container and let it defrost in the refrigerator for the following day. 

I have these in the pantry, I got them all for free and they are nice to have as a backup. Each one ranges from $1.29-$2.00. There is much more food in there but once you open them they don't last as long and you have to commit to it! So based on how Jonas [currently] eats, these would each roughly cover 3 days of food. But you have to refrigerate after opening and use within 2 days for the pouch and 3 days for the jars. And for so much more money! It seems win-win to just make it yourself.

13 days until Spring!

While I am known to not let others jump the gun on fall, I kind of want to jump the gun on spring. Are we ready? I sure am! This mama wants nice warm weather so Jonas and I can get outside much more than we have. I always know spring is on the horizon when bright colors start creeping their way into my life again.

Anemones from the Farmer's Market// Tons of flowers from the Farmer's Market// DIY marbling some tags with nail polish// Jonas hanging out in his new Polarn O. Pyret onesie, just like Grandpa's Model A!

4 Months

As Jonas is a few days away from turning 5 months old, let's take a look back at month 4. And I can totally see how people do these updates weekly because so much happens and changes in the span of a month!

Food
He is still breastfeeding exclusively. Lately he is becoming a little more distracted while nursing though (ouch). Our pediatrician said to start him on solids at 4 months, which we did on the very day he turned 4 months. For now, this just means three tablespoons of pureed and watered down food daily. We started with butternut squash that I made myself. He loved it. He had that for about two weeks before we switched to sweet potatoes, which he also loved. What can I say, the kid likes to eat. Which brings me to...

Jonas' Valentine's Day card to Daddy.

Growth
Clocking in at 17 pounds, Jonas is in the 75th percentile for weight! Big boy.

Sleep
He has been sleeping through the night since about 8 weeks old, but nap time was always a struggle. He would only nap if I worked at it with him for 20+ minutes and then he would only sleep on me. This wasn't going to work. Since babies start making sleeping habits around 4-6 months I knew we needed to start sleep training. And after 18 days now, I can finally see how much good it has done! He is taking naps in his crib and he is putting himself to sleep! All habits I wanted to establish before he started teething, since that will throw everything off his groove.

First time on the swings!

Developmental Milestones
He is so grabby and good at holding things now, before we go on a car ride I can actually give him toys to play with. He can almost sit up on his own! He leans way forward like a little tripod but building strength everyday. Also, if we stand him up in front of the coffee table he will hold on, just standing there. Little man, it's so cute. But since he hates tummy time so much, I don't see him crawling anytime soon.

What's New
While Jonas is so much better these days, he is still the most difficult baby in my mom's group by far. I wouldn't say it's temperament because he laughs and smiles so much. I wish I could have given birth to a 4 month old baby! We are planning a trip to Disneyland this summer, so if you have any tips on doing Disney with a baby, let me know. :)

Come and knock on my door

Literally, we have no doorbell.

After four years of living in our house, we finally ditched the 1960's door for a new one. Let's take a look at the evolution of our front door.

 When we moved in there was actually a storm door covering this white one, 

complete with mismatched hardware. We quickly ditched the storm door. 

We painted the door red and got some matching hardware. The red goes well with the cream color our house is painted. This door was cute, charming and original to the house. But, it wasn't very secure-hello half windows. And it didn't get us much privacy-you can see all the way down the hallway, not to mention if I was sitting on the couch breastfeeding anybody could walk right up and see. Also, on the horizon we will be painting the house a more modern gray and knew the door would have to go.

Shazam! A bright-as-can-be yellow will go great with the dark gray later to be painted on the house. And, sexy new hardware. Now I need a nice new mailbox to go with it and we are set.