Tummy Time Fun (for less than $25!)

Hailey’s been rolling over (a lot) and she seems to be on her tummy a lot more lately! It’s really adorable to watch her do it, but also a little scary when I turn around for a second and all of a sudden she’s flipped on her tummy on the floor, her changing pad, in the crib… I’ve definitely got to keep my eyes on her! Since tummy time is really important for her development, I decided to make tummy time as fun as possible. I wanted a fun toy for her that allowed her to play and explore instead of just staring around and eventually crying. And, since I’m not working right now I needed something that didn’t break the bank.

*This post contains affiliate links

I went onto Amazon and found this tummy time water mat and knew I had to give it a try. The mat comes folded up, and you fill it yourself with air and water. This means it’s really compact when it’s not in use, and for only $22 you can’t go wrong! There are a few more affordable options (see below) but I picked this one because it seemed like a good size and had good reviews. I didn’t want it leaking water everywhere! 

A lot of the reviews complain about a smell, but in the words of my husband “it pretty much smells like a beach ball would”. You could definitely air it out if you wanted to, but I didn’t feel it was overpowering or anything. Plus, the baby didn’t seem affected. That being said, the smell was much stronger when we closed it in our baby’s room, so I’d recommend storing it somewhere else.

As for storage, I keep it filled since I’ve been using it everyday. I’m nervous to leave it on the floor unattended (if it leaks that’s a LOT of water!) so I’ve been storing it in the bathtub when not in use- works perfectly for keeping it clean and safe from my 3 cats and new puppy.

Hailey’s still getting the hang of it, but she seems to love when I press down and the water sloshes around so the little foam sea animals “swim” across the water. She’s been very observant lately, so she loves studying all the different colors and images on the mat. It’s also comfy for lounging apparently, because she always takes a rest on it. And another added bonus is that tummy time often leads to lots of saliva and spitting up, and with this mat it just gets wiped right off! One less thing to launder is a win in my book. I use these baby-safe wipes to clean it off before and after use :)

As mentioned above, I got this mat because of the good reviews and larger size. They also have a pastel version for under $12, a round one for less than $10 and a mini one for less than $6, which is perfect for small apartments or those that don’t have a lot of space! I was soooo close to buying the pretty pastel one but I opted for the larger size and better reviews with the one I ended up getting.

No matter which mat you get, baby is sure to love playing around and watching the little items move inside the water. Grab one today to start your tummy time fun!

Hailey's 4 Month Update

I need to get better about posting these updates on time, but on January 28th Hailey turned 4 months old! Time flies and we’re about to do her 5 month update in just over a week and I’m wondering where the time went. Let’s see what this cute little cabbage patch has been up to!

At four months old, Hailey is 13 lbs and 23.5 inches tall. She’s wearing size 3-6 months clothes. She’s outgrowing her second set of clothes, the 0-3 month ones and getting better and smarter each day!

Crawling/swimming

Hailey’s fun party trick is swimming on her belly from dad to mom. She’ll be on Johns lap and decide she wants me. So she tips herself forward, goes onto her belly and wildly kicks and flails around to get over to me (I’m usually right next to John). He’s put his hand behind her feet to give her something to push off of and she ventures over to me, slobbering on John’s arm the entire way. 

Found her foot

Hailey found her foot! I had her on my lap and she looked down and saw a fox foot on her pjs. She was interested in it (step 1 of finding her foot) and then was wiggling it around and seemed shocked she made it move! (Step 2 of finding her foot). It was actually the cutest thing to witness as she pieced it all together. 

Throw up monster

Ugh this month Hailey’s been spitting up like crazyyyy and it’s been super fun. We’re going through burp cloths like crazy. One day, she burped and kinda threw up but it was literally across the entire back of the couch cushion, all over the burp cloth and all down my back too! That was fun to clean up but lucky I had spot and stain upholstery cleaner so it didn’t even leave a stain!

Great sleeper

This month was a shocker since Hailey has been sleeping at night more than most babies her age- 10, 12 sometimes even 14 hours! It was hugely helpful since I got to do work at night (hallelujah!) but also still get a full night’s rest. She also started going to sleep more easily since she’s found her thumb, and instead of 2+ hours nighttime routine, it only takes about 30 minutes. 

Bouncer/Jumper

I think part of the reason she’s going to bed so easily is that we set up her bouncer and she jumps all day long! She’s pretty much sitting in there if she’s not eating or napping and she loves it. At first she just hung there but after teaching her to bounce and putting a book under her feet so she could reach the ground, she go the hang of it and hasn’t stopped bouncing since. We have the Finding Nemo jumper because I figured if it had to be technicolor, it may as well be something I liked. But, my friend has this one from Skip Hop which also turns into a table and chalkboard when they get bigger and I loveeeee how simple and clean it looks! I wish I had found it first because I definitely would have picked that one.

Laughing

Ugh be still my heart. Hailey finally started laughing and it’s the cutest thing everrrr. She really doesn’t laugh that often but I spend all my time trying to get her to giggle. I think she takes after her father- he doesn’t laugh all that much, while I laugh at everything. While it can be frustrating to try and make her laugh but only having her stare at me in return, it makes those few giggles I do get extra-precious. 

Crying at strangers

I used to be able to hand Hailey off to anyone and everyone, but not anymore! Now when people come over and try to hold her, she freaks out. She’s always looking to me for comfort and to assess if the person is a friend or foe. I still can’t believe that she’s my baby and I’m her mom. I feel like theres got be someone else who’s really in charge of her! I’ll take all the extra snuggles though, and I’m trying to slowly re-introduce people in a way she’s comfortable with so she doesn’t cry as much around them (like grandmas, aunties… not true “strangers”). It usually involves putting her in her bouncer (safe zone) while they play with her and she gets comfortable with them.

Brown eyes

It seems like Hailey’s eye color is finally starting to come through and it’s a greyish brown! They seem dark so she may have my eye shape but Johns eye color. Only time will tell!

One extra long curly hair

Hailey has one single extra long, curly strand of hair! It sits straight up on the middle of the crown of her head. We were fairly certain she’d have curly hair since both of us do, and this confirmed it! We’re still unsure about hair color, since the back of her head is super dark but the top is sorta light and blond-ish in the sun. 

Nicknames

Cheese Foot is still hanging in there from her stinky Owlet foot, along with Love Dove, Love Bug, and of course still calling her my best friend! She’s stopped making her bird sounds which makes me sad, so I don’t call her Little Bird anymore. But I foresee many new nicknames coming about!

Well, thats all about Hailey at 4 months old! She’s the cutest baby I ever laid eyes on and I love her sooooo much. I’m so appreciative of the fact that I get to stay home with her daily.

Hailey's 3 Month Update

Little Hailey is now 3 months old! She changes so much week to week, and I am loving the tiny person she’s becoming. I feel so lucky to be her momma, and to still be on maternity leave soaking up every second with her. It’s a dream. Let’s take a look at all the ways Hailey has changed this month, shall we?!

At three months old, Hailey is 13 lbs 2 oz and 23 inches tall. She’s wearing size 3 months clothes. She’s been quite the fashionista lately, letting me dress her up in fun clothes every day!

Watching TV

OK, Hailey’s been watching tv for a while now, but lately she’s REALLY into the TV! She whines when she’s not facing it and we are, haha. I guess she’s becoming a zombie like us. She doesn’t get much screen time besides when we’re watching tv, and we only watch adult shows so I think she just likes the lights. Either way, it’s really stinking cute when she “watches” Disney or Christmas movies!

Singing songs

Hailey loves our little sing-alongs. I have the worst singing voice ever (and a pretty annoying normal voice, some would argue!) so I find it hilarious that she likes when I sing. She’s been loving Christmas songs, especially the slow soulful ones like my acapella rendition of Please Come Home For Christmas by the Eagles. I can’t hit any of the notes, but for some reason she loves it haha. 

Faces

Hailey is noticing faces more and more, and loves when you smile at her! She smiles back and likes to study people. She also hates when she can’t see you nowadays, so I tend to keep her in the kitchen with me when I’m cooking so she doesn’t start wailing. 

Smiling more

Hailey is such a happy, smiley girl! She loves singing, light fixtures, faces… pretty much everything except toys, haha. Everything makes her smile, and I am LOVING it. I spend all day trying to get those smiles and I can’t seem to get enough.

Singing and sounds

Hailey is making so many sounds these days! She’s even been singing little songs to me, and I die every time. We also have “conversations” and she loves to tell me about her poops as I change her diaper, haha! She knows John reacts when she does a little high pitched squeal, so she does that when he’s around. It’s pretty insane how smart she is.

Sitting upright

So, little miss Hailey is a big girl. She loves to sit upright and whines now when you hold her like a little baby. She also does “sit ups” on her boppy pillow, where she holds my thumbs and pulls herself up. She sticks out her little tongue and smiles at me as I cheer her on. Then when she’s upright, she bobbles around trying to get her balance. She’s getting really good on it, and she’ll probably be sitting up on her own soon!

First Christmas 

That’s right, this Little Miss had her first Christmas! I couldn’t handle it, we wore Christmas pajamas every day for the 2 weeks before, and I sang her Christmas Carols all month long. I was super bummed on Christmas when I realized I forgot to take a photo of us together. My hubby (and tripod) came to the rescue though, because we took some great shots of us in front of the tree and Hailey even smiled in the one with me! It took some of the blues away. 

Baby Fists

Hailey learned how to make a fist and chew on it this month, so she spends a lot of time sucking on her hand. Then, she also discovered her thumb and started sucking that too! It’s mostly when she’s hungry or feels uncomfortable, but it’s pretty funny for some reason. She also grabbed her toe the other day when doing her sit-ups and I thought that was pretty great too. I had to snap a photo for memories, even though I’m sure she’ll be grabbing her foot all day long soon enough.

I can’t believe another month came and went, but luckily we seem to be getting into a rhythm lately. Hoping I can get more blog posts done in 2019- we may have the grandmas coming to babysit while I work! Until then, I’m a naptime hustler trying to enjoy every second she’s awake.

PS- Can we talk about how she’s not only getting cuter every month, but my photos are improving too? I’m gonna be a pro by 12 months!

Hailey's 2 Month Update

I can’t believe another month has gone by! My little girl is getting so big and while I’m loving all the new parts of her personality, I’m missing my teeny baby. However, I wouldn’t change these new smiles I’m getting for anything!

At two months old, Hailey is 10 lbs 6 oz and 22 3/4 inches tall. She’s wearing size 0-3 months clothes. She hates onesies going over her head, so we’re mostly wearing sleepers and dressing up occasionally when she goes out. She’s officially my new best friend, and I ain’t even mad that she poops her pants. 

Wonder Week Nightmare

The first week I spent home alone was ROUGH. Hailey was up all night, eating every hour and not letting me sleep at all. Every night was like a slumber party I didn’t agree to attend. I’d catch up on sleep in the morning, when she usually slept from about 6am to 10am or so. Luckily, by the end of the month Hailey was sleeping through the night. This momma is super happy about that! 

Smiles

I’m so happy to say that we’re getting more and more smiles from Hailey! Lately she’s been smiling because we are smiling. She loves being held, talked to, or even having her diaper changed if you smile at her while doing so! She also does this almost-laugh where she smiles big and makes a cooing sound. I’m pretty much in love with it and will do almost anything to make her laugh! 

Look Who’s Talking

Ok, so they’re not actual words but Hailey just started making sounds and “responding” to us when we talk to her. Whether it’s with some noises or a smile, conversations don’t seem so one-sided anymore! She also discovered her tongue this month. She would stick it out and play with it, lick things (like a blanket touching her lips) and even would copy me when I’d stick my tongue out!

Songs

Hailey’s getting into the holiday spirit! She loves when I play Christmas songs for her, and loves it even more when I sing them to her! She even seems to anticipate it and immediately calms down when she hears the music start up. Then she starts to smile and breaks into a big grin when I start full on singing to her! She melts my heart, I swear. I’m like Olaf near the fireplace. Some people are worth melting for, and she’s definitely one of them!

My Favorite Things

Still a big fan of the boobie. Hailey also loves attention/smiling, Christmas songs, and playing Mommy Watch Me Poop. She loves sleeping and lounging on the boppy, and hearing me sing “head and shoulders, knees and toes” plus the Winnie the Pooh song. 

Nicknames

I’m still calling Hailey Little Bird and Little Chirp Chirp (from her cooking sounds she makes when she stretches). I call her an animal when she’s trying to find the boobie and cheese foot, because her owlet makes her foot kinda sweaty and stinky haha! 

Fitness Star

Hailey is a master at pulling things. She loves my hair, John’s chest hair, and my mom’s cross. She’s also starting to do sit-ups! She’ll grab my thumbs with her entire tiny fist and use them to pull herself up into a sitting position. 

I’m amazed by how much Hailey is growing and changing everyday. She’s my little BFF and I love every day and every minute I spend with her! Even diaper changes make me happy, mostly because she’s smiling the ENTIRE time!

Hailey’s 1 Month Update

I can’t believe it- Hailey is already a month old!! I’m starting to understand why my parents would always say it seems like just yesterday they brought me home from the hospital. This month really flew by, and while I’m loving that she’s awake more, I miss how teeny tiny she was. I really wanted to do a fun, themed photo shoot each month with a number made out of items or something, but there just wasn't time. I took her first set of photos on Halloween in her costume with the sign, then did another photoshoot when she was looking cute a couple days later. It turns out, I accidentally did a theme because they’re both unicorns! So, I guess I can do something like this for the other months.

At one month old, Hailey is 8 lbs 6 oz and 21 inches tall. She’s still wearing newborn size clothes. She loves to wear sleeper pajamas, although her fashion item of choice is a diaper and nothing else!

Sleeping Beauty

The first few weeks were pretty interesting. Hailey was a really sleepy baby, and didn’t really want to eat. She would often cluster feed then sleep for long periods of time. She’s a night owl, so we took care of her in shifts. John got the overnight shift and I took the early morning one. We basically slept on the couch, because Hailey didn’t like her bassinet and preferred to be in our arms. We’d watch tv or movies and every couple of hours I’d feed her. 

Trying to get her to wake up was pretty comical. We’d strip her down to a diaper, change her, poke her, sing to her, “yell” at her to wake up, put our cold hands on her... basically anything we could to wake her up. It usually didn’t work. She’s open one eye, or look like she might wake up, but she’d just fall right back asleep again as if nothing happened. She reminds everyone of me when they try to wake me up! I’m a very heavy sleeper haha. 

Jaundice 

Because Hailey had a different blood type than I did, and because she didn’t really eat very often, she ended up becoming jaundice. We had to take her to the doctor every few days to track it, including a lab where they had to take blood work. It was so sad seeing her get pricked when she was so so tiny. We also had to make sure we woke her up every few hours to feed her, because that’s the best way to flush it out.  Luckily, within a couple of weeks it went away and she’s perfectly healthy now. 

Snack Time

She loves mommy’s boobies, but isn’t a fan of the formula we’re supplementing. She’s an aggressive little eater, but it’s the cutest thing watching her. I have scratch marks from her nails and a big bruise on my nipple but hey, as long as she’s fed! Breastfeeding was a struggle at first (blog post coming soon!) but we’ve gotten the hang of it and we have a rhythm now. Hailey eats more than I can provide, so we supplement formula. At first she didn’t care either way, but she’s definitely preferring the “boobie” over the formula now. She even prefers it fresh from the boobie over getting it from a bottle of pumped milk. 

Smiles

Hailey’s only given us a few short smiles, and we get so excited to see them! She smiles in her sleep mostly (a reflex) so if you watch her you can catch one! (There’s also a video of it on my Instagram stories). 

Songs

I like to sing “Row Your Boat” and “the wheels on the bus” to Hailey. I also looove Disney songs, so I sing them to her as lullabied, or I play a Disney playlist while doing bicycle legs with her. 

My Favorite Things

Like most babies, Hailey likes ceiling fans- she spends a lot of time laying down, and they’re the only thing up there. She likes car rides and mommy and daddy. She loves to snuggle and obviously, sleeping! Her very favorite thing is probably mommy’s boobies- they do feed her, after all! 

All in all, we love our little Hailey and we are so excited to see her grow even more!