Laundry

Laundry, a never ending chore. I feel like that's all I do lately, particularly baby laundry. Since my baby is only 17 weeks old, he still soils lots of clothes due to vomiting formula. Sometimes I change him 3 times a day. And you'd think that because the clothes are so tiny, the chore would be easier. Wrong! Folding tiny baby clothes is time consuming because of its size, not to mention the little socks.

The only good thing about this chore is that the clothes smell like my baby. I use Dreft High Efficiency Liquid Detergent which makes the clothes smell so fresh and like a baby. That's one good thing about doing the laundry.

Take Along Swing

I am so glad I received a baby swing for my baby shower. My 16 week old baby loves it. It is the Take Along Swing from Fisher-Price. It doesn't have any music but it's small and easy to fold so I can take it on the go or move it to another room very easily. I hang 'link-its' from the top handle and the baby spends up to 25 minutes playing with them. Sometimes he even falls asleep in it. What joy!

Baby Feet

I am a sucker for baby's feet. They are tiny and fat and just so adorable. I love to kiss them and look at them. Apparently, my baby admires his tiny feet as well. He loves to kick and put his feet up so he can see them. There's nothing cuter to me than a baby without socks.

Professional Baby Photos

The business of photography, especially for babies, is very profitable. Studios take advantage of the fact that parents want to capture the cutest pictures of their little ones. And even if parents are constantly taking pictures with their own cameras, they usually end up paying an arm and a leg for professional photos. Why is that? Or does it only happen to me?

Well this happened to me last month. I went to the mall and in the spur of the moment I stopped at a studio. The baby cooperated and the photographer was able to take some good pictures, even smiling pictures. But when it came down to choosing the best ones, it was hard to choose. And if I wanted to purchase the CD I either had to pay an exuberant amount for it or buy a very expensive package to get the CD for only $9 dollars. So as you can imagine, being his first studio photos, I ended up paying lots of money.

Drooling

My three and a half month old baby has started drooling like crazy. I read somewhere that babies can actually start teething months before their teeth come out. And drooling is a big part of it. Poor baby.
The only thing I can do is clean up his face and not worry so much.

Safety First High Definition Digital Video Monitor Review

This one is a scary one. I opened the baby monitor I got for my baby shower. It was the Summer Infant Day and Night Video Monitor. I plugged it in and turned it on. It seemed to work OK at first. Then I realized that what I was looking at was NOT my baby's crib. It was someone else's crib. There was no baby but I thought it was sort of spooky. If I was able to see other people's cribs, then that meant they could see mine too. How scary!

Luckily, my sister offered to go exchange it for me. She got me the Safety First High Definition Digital Video Monitor. Although it is a bit more expensive, the signal is clear, it is reliable, and easy to use. You don't have to switch channels to see the baby. You turn it on and that's it. The best part is that the monitor is the size of a cell phone and I can carry it in my pocket.
I love my baby monitor!

Hands vs. Pacifiers

My baby, who is now three months old, has started to suck on both of his small hands. He has more control over them. He can also bring his blanket or burpie up to his mouth. He seems to enjoy it.
Ever since he was born, I have given him a pacifier to calm him down or when I put him down to sleep. I have read that pacifiers are also good to prevent SIDS. However, he doesn't seem to want it as much lately. He would much rather suck on his hands. Should I be worried that he'll be one of those thumb suckers? Or is this a phase?

Diapers

I went to the store yesterday because I needed diapers. I was thinking of buying the new Huggies Pure and Natural which I had already tried thanks to a gift in the mail. It turns out the stores don't carry them yet. I want to know when I can buy these. I really like them.
Oh well, I'll keep waiting. Meanwhile I purchased the same brand, which I also like....... Pampers Swaddlers.

Baby Formula

Believe it or not, I had trouble with baby formula too. I started out with the formula the hospital gave me which was Similac Advance. And that worked out well when I was also giving the baby my breast milk. When I stopped the breast milk, the formula made the baby constipated all the time and was always getting gas. He would cry constantly.

People gave me all types of advice. Some suggested I switch to a liquid formula claiming the liquid would be better for the baby's tummy. So I did, but it didn't work. My sister told me to try the Enfamil specifically for gassy babies. That didn't work either.
I asked the doctor about which type of formula I should be giving the baby. He only said that any formula would be OK as long as it had 1.8 mg of iron.
So I checked the labels on all the formulas. Then I decided to try Enfamil Lipil. What a difference! The baby seemed to tolerate it better. The formula looked whiter and it didn't stain his clothes. The baby was in heaven, and so was I.
If you're having problems with the baby formula, I suggest you talk to your doctor.

Hard to Run Errands

Today I had to run a million errands. Before I left I made sure the baby was fed, diaper was changed and baby was happy. Once I am out, I know I only have about 2 hours before the baby gets tired and cranky. One of my errands today took longer than expected and of course the baby woke up and started crying. I immediately headed for the comfort of home thinking the car ride would soothe him and lull him to sleep like always. I was wrong. He cried all the way home. Luckily it wasn't far.

When I got home I took him out of his car seat and he felt better. I guess he just got tired of being strapped in it. My errands will have to wait until tomorrow when I'll try the adventure again.