Interesting Stuff & Products I Recommend

So, want to know what kind of a treat I learned my 5-month loves??? Breast-milk popcicles. She's been acting like her gums need lots of touch/cold/pressure for a while now. And I've been excitingly awaiting her 6-month mark on July 19th so I can introduce foods. So I broke out her Kidco BabySteps Healthy Snack Feeder and Beaba Babycook to clean and find a place for in the kitchen. And then I remembered reading about being able to freeze breastmilk in the little freezer-tray. So on a whim, since I have started pumping every day now, I tried it. And she loved them!!! It was like a teething ring and nursing all in one fun toy for her! As an added bonus, since we sit her in her highchair at dinner time with us, I feel like she can participate as well, rather than just play with toys. Really fun for us!

Secondly, I read this today in an article, "Need yet one more reason to yuk it up (i.e. laugh, be merry, joke) in the first year (of baby's life)? It seems good-humored moms have elevated levels of melatonin in their breast milk, so their baby sleeps more soundly." While I didn't go trace down the source of that, I think it is cool if it's true.

We are all doing incredibly well here. J got back from his 78 day deployment in early June, thank goodness! Being away from him was and continues to be really hard, emotionally. Physically, with a 2-month-old baby, it was very hard those first two weeks. Then we settled into a routine and it actually got really good in terms of predictability, sleep scheduling, and knowing how our days would go. For example, I worked out every, every single night he was gone, with the exception of about 1 every two weeks. Now? I find it hard to at all, because I am too lazy to wake up early, and too unmotivated at night to be apart from him to workout. That will have to change, I must learn self-discipline again, while managine dinner, laundry, and time with him. So though it's harder in that respect, I would SO rather him home and me just learn to be a more desciplined person. I think that's something I'll be doing my whole life.