Hi 9 months.  It’s nice to see you.  Can you go away now please?  Go back where you came from and give me my baby back, ok?  Thanks.  Surprise, surprise, you aren’t listening…just like everyone else around here!

New since last month…I didn’t think it was possible, and I’ll stop jinxing myself, but the kid moves more than the NYC subway system.  I can get about 20 minutes a day of him in the exer-saucer, and that is in 5 minute increments!  I’m tired!  His crawling has turned into this weird spider walk on his hands and feet.  He’s ridiculously fast.  I can’t pee without him getting into something or somewhere he isn’t supposed to be!  I have baby gates now…something I never had before…o keep the baby OUT of things! He has all 6 teeth now.  4 on top, and 2 on bottom.  I believe the teeth are done coming down for the time being, since his face has cleared up and so has his mood!  Except for that damn ear infection he had during this month!  He took his first antibiotic at 9 months old (like a champ)…pretty damn good for a formula fed baby who slept on his belly since birth!  We spent one day a week at the doctor for 7 weeks until we got that ear infection diagnosis!  Not that I ever wish for my kids to be sick, but when they are in pain, you look for a concrete reason with a medicine fix!

Drool status…going strong.  Teeth or no teeth, this boy can drool.  If he’s dressed, he’s wearing a bib.  I change his bibs every 2 hours or so.  They are always soaked.  It is gross.  He’s like a slug.  Everywhere he crawls, he leaves a trail of slime behind.  It is helpful when he crawls off when I’m dealing with Miss A and I can’t seem to find where he’s gotten to!

He is still putting everything in his mouth.  Including a ton of food!  The flavor combinations I can feed this kid rival the judges of Top Chef!  I hope to get lots of recipes up here on Fridays!  I hope I can keep it up!  His babbling is getting clearer, and he’s been heard a time or 2 saying Mama.  He’s got Baba, Lala, Nana….and he screams.  In public.  Loudly.  It’s fun when I’m at a restaurant…and unlike Miss A…this one doesn’t have a bobo to stick in his mouth and make him quiet!

He is still having his love affair with his puppy.  He spends his days chasing T around and we really can’t decide if he’s trying to get him off his face, or coaxing him TO his face!!!  He has started to really grab at T & pull hard.  I am shocked, but it must be true love because T just sits there & takes it.  Makes no sense seeing as how if I move my foot in bed, he growls at me…and I am the one who butters his bread, so to speak, or literally.  Whatever.

Baby D, you are growing too fast.  Slow it down ok?  You are keeping me on my toes and there’s no one I’d rather run around after like a lunatic!  You’re a sweet sweet boy, and a wonderful little brother.  When you see your sister, your face lights up and my heart melts.  When you wake up and smile at me, I just want to freeze time.  You’re a good boy little man and I am looking forward to all that you are going to teach me!

10 months…here we come!!!

There are a lot of baby products out there….and lots of them are a waste of time and money.  It can be really hard to navigate which ones are worth it!  (yes….everyone’s “worth it” is different!)  We didn’t have anyone to tell us what was a good buy and a pointless buy the 1st time around.  This time…I’m keeping track for our future and for any friends, family or strangers who stumble onto our blog! These are the items we love for infants age 0-3 months… ** I was not paid or incentivized to give any of these opinions….these are just things I like 🙂 . Feeding:

1.  Bottle feeding is our choice.  I know there are many people who judge me, but that is ok…this is our choice for our family and it works for us.  With Miss A we tried just about every bottle on the market.  We preferred Born Free.  Incredibly, our bottles (and some other infant things) were something that survived the flood (thanks attic!), so we didn’t even have to replace them!  We did replace the nipples!  We used the small 5oz size first…now we use the larger ones.  There is a glass option if you feel that is for you.  We thought about it but the cons outweighed the pros. 2.  We got the Avent sterilizer when Miss A was born & it has served Miss A, our cousin CJ, and now Baby D.  I know I could boil the bottles and pieces too, but this is super quick (about 5 minutes) and all of the pieces for 6 bottles fit nicely inside…and then they come out sterilized!  I’m all for things that save me time!  They don’t make this model anymore, so the link is to the newer version

3.  Bibs.  Miss A was a spit up girl.  Thankfully, so far, Baby D only spits up on occasion….HOWEVER….he can rival a St. Bernard in the drool department!  We love the Silly Billyz bibs.  The front gets wet, and the back stays dry.  We used Mum2mum with Miss A but I like the Silly Billyz a little better since they have a tighter seal at the neck! Play:

4.  Baby D spends a lot of time traveling around, as most 2nd children do!  When he gets into the carseat, he isn’t too thrilled!  This small Tiny Love travel mobile has a detachable arm that allows you to use it on a crib (like a pack and play or travel crib or bassinet of the stroller etc) or velcro to attach it to the car seat so it can entertain him while we drive.  Both of my kids loved this mobile! 5.  Another thing that Baby D has to deal with is being put down in his crib for periods of time while I attend to his big sis’.  We like this bigger Tiny Love mobile to keep his attention off the fact that we left him in there!  Its colorful and the music is soothing, and when he starts to stand and pull on the top, we’ll probably keep the music box attached like we did with Miss A!

6.  Our original playmat didn’t make it through Sandy.  Our friend AG gave us her son’s playmat when they came up to visit, and we also got this Fischer Price Piano playmat that we saw our cousin J play with, as a gift from our friends.  This has been amazing for us.  I have put him down on this mat and he’s played independently for over an hour.  He’s been doing tummy time and playtime on this mat since basically he came home from the hospital!  The only thing this is missing is a gate surrounding it to keep T from making out with Baby D!

Diapers, etc:

7.  Honest Diapers.  I love them.  They are about the same, if not a little cheaper than if I were buying Pampers diapers and Huggies wipes (which is my chosen combo when not ordering from honest.com).  The best benefit I’ve seen is that we’ve had basically NO diaper rash since we stopped using the Pampers/Huggies.  I will say that I prefer the Huggies wipes for my wipe warmer, because the Honest wipes can’t be used with our warmer…it’s the way they’re folded in the package that doesn’t work…oh well!  Bonus…they are fun looking!  Seriously….check out the patterns!  I also have bought their shampoo/body wash, conditioner, lotion, lip balm, and a bunch of other products from them for Miss A and our house.  I’ve enjoyed them all.

Sleep:

8.  I started my love affair with Aden & Anais when Miss A came into our lives.  It was ridiculously hot that spring and we were living in a house with window A/C’s.  I used their swaddling blankets with her until she fit into the Miracle Blanket.  Baby D will never get to wear the miracle blanket, because you can’t swaddle a thumb sucker!  You also don’t have to go into their room 50 times a night to put their bobo’s back in when they spit them out!  This go-round, our friends bought us a package of Bamboo swaddling blankets.  Unreal.  The softest, lightest, but still warm, great for swaddling (with his arms out), perfect for covering the carseat or stroller to protect him from the sun while still letting him breathe!

9.  We are sound machine lovers in this house.  I refuse to tell Miss A to “SHHHHH” a zillion times a day, nor will I tell our dog not to bark while the baby is sleeping!  We used the sleep sheep for Miss A, and that worked great, but now that there’s an older sister running around, sometimes the 45 minutes of ocean sounds aren’t quite enough!  My Aunt R gave the Sound Machine Projector to us as a gift for Baby D and we have loved it.  You can set it to a timer, or leave it on all night.  I can’t speak much to the projector side, although I think it is a cool feature, since this baby is a belly sleeper, he doesn’t see much of those lights!

10.  The next one is something that helps Mister LK and I sleep soundly.  Our Summer Baby Monitor.  We had an older model before the storm, but we needed a new one..since…well…it is NOT waterproof!  It is a really nice thing to be able to put the baby to bed and check on him without getting up in the middle of the night to go into his room!  We are blessed with a sleepyhead and when I take Miss A to wait for the bus, it is nice to be able to keep an eye on the baby and make sure he’s not screaming!  This new version makes adjustments easier!  The camera can be moved on the touchscreen.  That should be helpful once he moves around the crib more!

Other:

11.  Finally…the item that 2nd time parents often find “so-so” useful the 1st time around and “SO….SOOOOOOO” useful the 2nd time around!  Our baby carrier!  With Miss A I had the Baby Bjorn.  I put her in it once and she came out with her whole leg red and bruised after 10 minutes from broken capillaries, a result of the carrier and her thighs not really working together!  At that point I was too nervous to use another one…so it wasn’t until she was about 8-9 months old that I got the Moby Wrap.  I loved it, and still do, but it’s pretty heavy fabric and since it is being lent to our friend right now to wrangle her 1 year old, I got myself a Solly Baby Wrap.  It is so lightweight, perfect for the summer, so soft and keeps Baby D close to me, upright and my hands are free to do everything I need to do!

So those are my favorites so far!  We’ll be spending the next 3months figuring out what things we need to add & the stuff we can pack up!