Baby Must Haves: 3 Months

Month 3 has been so much fun!! Ellie is so alert and loves to look at everything around her. She’s rolled over from her back to her belly a few times all on her own, she loves chewing and sucking on her hands, being sung to, she loves to "talk", and she laughs and smiles all day. Her personality is really showing and I love seeing it develop each day. I try to look at the different cues and predict what type of a child and person she will be, what traits and such she’ll have. She’s also gotten really chunky, and I just love her little ham hock thighs! She's getting all breast milk now, we haven't had to supplement in a few weeks- which I'm just stoked about. I'll definitely be sharing more of our breastfeeding journey soon.

We’ve started a routine of Eat- Play- Sleep that my big sis told me about and it has really worked well for us. Before we were all willy nilly about naps and eating and we were both getting frustrated and overtired. I had tried doing this routine before, but I don’t think we were ready for it. I started it this past month and it worked like a charm!! Before, Ellie was never really napping during the day and now she takes 2-3 naps. I do feed her whenever she’s hungry and let her sleep if she’s tired, even if it doesn’t follow the E.S.P pattern, but she mostly follows the pattern all on her own. It’s easier for me to work my day around her schedule now that I know what to expect and it’s easier for her now that she has a good routine.

I started back to work on the 21st and Ellie started daycare last week. I cried my eyes out leading up to the days, but surprisingly it's been a somewhat easy transition. I think getting all my emotions out ahead of time really helped prepare myself. Also, having such an awesome daycare really eases me knowing how well Ellie is taken care of. She never cries when I drop her off or when we pick her up, so I know she enjoys going. It's definitely what's best for our family now. Thank you to everyone for all your sweet words of encouragement and tips for daycare and returning to work. 

Cotton Snap-Up Sleep & Play Pajamas
Now, after talking to other mommies, I may be the only one who prefers snap pajamas to zip ones. Here’s my reason: with buttons, I can unsnap just Ellie’s bottom half and not have to unzip her chest and bottom in order to change her diaper. I prefer keeping her comfortable and warm when changing her. She sleeps through the night, so I don’t have to fumble in my sleep to with the buttons, but even when she was waking up, I still preferred snap PJs.

Baby K'Tan Baby Carrier
I’m obsessed with this carrier. It makes life so easy and Ellie enjoys being wrapped up in it. I’m very interested in baby wearing and have bought 4 (!!!) carriers before finding this gem. It’s super easy to use and can be used for a few years before Ellie will out grow it. The Moby Wrap has to be the biggest let down of baby stuff I bought, it’s like rocket science trying to figure that thing out- even after watching a ton of YouTube videos! The K’Tan is a much simpler way to wear your baby with the same advantages as the Moby. Every momma needs this!

Infantino Twist and Fold Activity Gym
Ellie loves her play mat! This mat has extra loops to dangle the toys at different heights or to add on more toys using the Bright Starts Lots of Links. We seriously use this mat every single day several (hundred) times. We’re constantly changing out the toys and putting them at different heights so she doesn’t get bored. One aspect that I like about this mat is that it collapses and the matt rolls into itself for easy storage.

31 Bag
I was gifted the cutest navy and white striped bag with a hot pink monogram at my baby shower for Ellie. It’s nice having a large bag with pockets to tote around extras we may need for her. It’s come especially in handy now that we have started day care- I use it to bring her milk/cooler, extra outfits, and her favorite toys each day. An extra bag outside of your diaper bag is a must have, even just to keep in your car with extra diapers and wipes. Any bag would do, but I love these 31 Bags and how you can personalize them, plus they come in a wide variety of sizes and shapes. They have several styles that would make for great diaper bags too.

Oball
Hands-down this is Ellie’s favorite toy. The balls are available in different shapes (like a football) and with or without the rattles. We have one of each and Eleanor prefers the rattle one. This toy is also a great occupational therapy toy since it stimulates several of your baby’s senses.

Bright Starts Lots of Links
When I first got these links, I didn’t really understand how to use them except to just link them to each other in a chain. I couldn’t help but think about what a boring toy that is for a child. Then it dawned on me to use them with her other toys and that’s part of the point of them. Duh. Blame it on the bleach sister. I like these links too for the fun colors and the different patterns on their sides to also help with sensory.

Crane Cool Mist Drop Shape Humidifier
Ellie has had a stuffy nose recently so we started sleeping with a humidifier at night. This is a cool mist which is neat, I remember how steamy and hot my family one was growing up. This humidifier also doesn’t use a filter- you just filler her up and turn her on. Ellie now no longer snores while she sleeps and is hardly stuffy at all during the day. Plus, my husband and I both have noticed how much more moisturized our skin has become since using it.

Sassy Inspire Vision Crib and Floor Mirror
Mirrors are like baby crack. Ellie loves looking at herself in the mirror and seeing the light reflect in it. Her playmat has a mirror attachment, but this mirror is much bigger and can be propped up by itself and has two loops to attach it elsewhere.

 

If you have any pregnancy or post-partum questions for me, feel free to ask in this post and I'll be sharing my answer in a future post.