Easter 2015

Cash experienced his first Easter this year! Unfortunately, our Easter was a little lower key than normal because Nick was sick. We didn’t make it to church but we had my family over for Chicken Parmesan.

This is another late post, but hey, life got in the way!

18 & 19 Weeks Old

Nursing: Cash definitely gets distracted while we are nursing in public. He will take a couple chugs then pull off to look around. I ordered a breastfeeding necklace this week on Etsy. I think this will really help when we nurse in public and it doubles as a teether! We are still nursing every 2 hours or so unless he is taking a nap in one of the wraps. If we are just hanging out at home we will nurse every hour sometimes. It really just depends on where we are.

Cloth Diapering: I added some figs and plums to my diet like our naturopath suggested and it has really helped with Cash’s regularity. He poops once or twice a day now.

Sleep: Our little Cash man likes his sleep. We still go to bed between 8 PM and 9 PM and Cash sleeps until 7 AM. He still nurses off and on all night and uses my nipple like a pacifier, but we are all sleeping well so it works for us.

Likes/Dislikes: Cash loves his silly daddy! Nick blows on Cash’s belly during diaper changes and kisses his toes and Cash just laughs and laughs! Nick has also been playing his guitar for Cash a little and showing Cash how to strum. I hope that Cash wants to play the guitar when he’s older.

I bought Cash some natural rubber bath toys from Begin AgainToys. He has started to grab them all on his own and he loves his crab! He is constantly chomping on the crab’s legs and claws.

We are still struggling with car rides. We dove up to the north side and Cash cried for 58 minutes straight. His sobbing and screaming breaks my heart. We can put him in his toddler car seat when he weighs 15 pounds so maybe that will help.

Activities: We had a birthday BBQ for my brother at our house last weekend.  My mom, Tom, Wyatt and Kendra came over and Nick grilled some yummy burgers. It was a nice Sunday spent with family. 

We also participated in the Great Cloth Diaper Change! It was super fun and a great place to chat with other mamas! Cash just loves looking around at all the other babies!

Health: The Morelli household has been sick on and off for the last 3 weeks (this is part of the reason I’m behind on posting my blogs). First, Nick caught a really bad cold that hung around for 3 weeks, then I caught a mild version of it and Cash had the sniffles and a runny nose for a day. It broke my heart, but my god mom, Kathy, reminded me that it’s ok for babies to get a little sickness here and there because it just helps build their immune system. Luckily it only lasted a day!

Best Moment: It is always fun to experience new phases with Cash. He changes so much day to day! Our newest phase involves Cash finding his voice. He loves to screech and make all kinds of loud noises. He makes the most adorable little squeeee noises and coos and giggles constantly. Cash can really laugh too! We can really get Cash laughing by laying him down on the bed or chair and making him bounce by pushing the bed or chair on each side of him. For some reason he finds this hilarious and just laughs and laughs!

4 Months Old

Nursing: Cash wanted to nurse more frequently this week so I knew that he was going through yet another little growth spurt. I helped bump up my milk supply with some Traditional Medicinals Mother’s Milk tea and after a couple of days my milk had definitely increased!

Cloth Diapering: Our HLC diapers arrived and we LOVE them! They are super stretchy and soft and the best part is the fact that they contain Cash’s huge poops! I have also slowing been building Cash’s Sloomb basewoolie stash. I think I may have a slight addiction, but I know we will use them for the next baby so really I can just count it as being better prepared for baby #2.

Sleep: Cash is such a good little sleeper! For naps during the day he sleeps on my chest or Nick’s chest or in the ergo backpack or ergo wrap. At night Cash sleeps on his side in my arms and nurses whenever he wants. I used to wear a sleep-nursing bra at night but now I just leave my boob out for him to latch onto whenever he feels so inclined. This has really helped me get more sleep!

Likes/Dislikes: Cash loves it when mama and daddy are silly wit him! He is giggeling and smiling all the time and Nick and I are just eating it up! Cash is such a happy boy and we feel so blessed!

Cash still doesn’t like the car seat but our car sear mirrors arrived this week and I think they have helped a little but. He likes making faces and “talking” to the baby in the mirror. When he starts to fuss and cry I turn on the lights and music. This helps for about 10-15 minutes but at a certain point Cash has just had enough and he want OUT of his car seat. Don’t get me wrong though, that 10-15 minutes is worth every penny we paid for that overpriced car seat mirror!

Activities: Our good friends, Mike and Doreen, brought over Bangkok Thai takeout on Friday so we could catch up and they could meet Cash. It was so great to spend an evening in with our friends!

Health: We went in for Cash’s 4-month appointment and we are happy to report that he is a happy healthy baby boy! He weighed 12 pounds 12.5 ounces and was roughly 23 inches long (he was rolling over and wiggling around like crazy so his length was a bit tough to get). We went over the milestone checkpoints for his age and he has mastered all of them except for reaching for a toy, grabbing it and shaking it. He grabs toys but I don’t know if it’s on purpose or by accident so we will be working on this with him.

Cash’s Baltic amber teething necklace arrived his week and it is absolutely darling! We chose the "Shea" necklace with blue marbled jade and raw amber. It just screams BOY! I really hope it helps with the drooling because he drools like a Saint Bernard!

Best Moment: Cash rolls from his back to his tummy all the time now and then this week he rolled from his tummy to his back! It was so exciting! He has only done it once so far but we know that will soon change!

16 Weeks Old

Nursing: Nursing is going great! Cash is smiling and looking up at me while he nurses and it just melts my heart! When I was pregnant I was really looking forward to nursing but I had no idea how much I would love it! I can’t even put words to the feeling of love that I experience when we share our special time together. It is truly so amazing.

Cloth Diapering: We just ordered 11 more size 2 HLC (happy little cloud) diapers from Sloomb and can’t wait for them to arrive! The size 2 HLCs are a little big (the sizing starts at 15 pounds) but we know that Cash will grow into them really soon.

Sleep: Cash loves his sleep and his mama does too! We go to bed between 8 PM and 9 PM most nights and sleep until 7AM. It is awesome! I don’t miss the early days of no sleep one bit! Nick and I are really happy that we chose to co-sleep. There are just so many special times that we get to experience with Cash in our “family bed”. Hopefully he will sleep in his crib before it’s time to turn it into a toddler bed, but for now we are super happy with our sleeping arrangement.

Likes/Dislikes: Cash loves lights, music and singing. Cash especially loves singing with daddy! I was in the kitchen taking vitamins when I heard Nick signing a Christian song on his Pandora radio and Cash was “singing” right along with him. It was so precious, I just had to sneak up on them and capture the moment on the video camera. Nick and Cash have a really special bond. He just adores his silly daddy and saves all of his biggest grins for Nick!

Cash still doesn’t like the car seat but I did finally ordered two car seat mirrors to see if that helps. My friend, Shannon, uses one of the mirrors (the Bricca Baby Magical Firefly) and the other Ben Bat mirror was just too cute to pass up! Fingers crossed that it helps make car rides a little better for Mr. Cash!

Activities: We ventured out on a few walks this week with Cash and the dogs. I ware Cash in my ergobaby wrap and he falls asleep within the first 10 minutes. Cash really seems to enjoy all the new sights and it’s so nice to be out in the fresh air! We also took Cash to the office twice this week. He was such a good boy and everyone just loved seeing him!

Health: Cash is healthy and just teething away! A crazy amount of drool comes out of Cash’s mouth but we have one Poncho Baby bandana bib that helps out a bit. I need to order more, though, because he soaks it pretty quickly. I have been eyeing some bandanabibs from Sweedie Kids. I especially like their feather, anchor, Northern deer and arrow prints.

I am also going to order a Baltic amber necklace for Cash. Baltic amber naturally helps with pain and inflammation. I also read that it stimulates the thyroid glands, which in turn reduces drooling. Double bonus! Plus they are so cute!!  I think I’m going to order the Chase necklace (a mix of Raw Baltic Amber with blue and green marbled jade accents) from MacRae Naturals.

Best Moment: Cash has a little naked tummy time every day and during several sessions this week he was rolling on his side! We were so excited and knew that he would be rolling over completely before too long.

On April 1^st Cash and I were in the bathroom doing some naked tummy time on towels when he really started to try to roll. I told Nick that I thought he might roll over for the first time so he grabbed the video camera. Nick started filming Cash and within a couple minutes he rolled over onto his tummy for the first time ever – and that’s no April fools!! I was so happy that we captured the moment on camera! After we turned the camera off he rolled onto his tummy two more times! We just love all the baby milestones and can’t wait for the next one!