Ben is 5-months-old!

Where has the time gone?!  My little baby is already 5-months-old.  Well, he turned 5-months four days ago, I've just been busy!  He has learned to roll from back-to-tummy now!  He's had tummy-to-back down for about a month or so.  We have been trying to practice sitting up, but he's just not quite ready yet.  We had to buy a cart/high chair cover that has pillows on the sides for when we are out and about.  This is because he is outgrowing his infant car seat.  So, we also bought a new seat!  We bought the Evenflo Titan Elite.  Right now it's installed in Andy's car, because my car needs to go into the shop this week.  Andy also noted that he doesn't think it will be easy to get Ben in and out of my car with the new seat.  I have a 2-door, and Andy has a 4-door.  We might have to trade again.  We initially tried trading, but I wasn't happy with the situation.  I like my car better, plus it has way less miles on it.  We will see how things go.

No teeth yet!  I just wish those suckers would pop out already.  My poor baby gets so miserable on some days because of his teeth. 

He's eating purees like a champ.  He really likes bananas!  We have the Baby Bullet, so we use that to make his food for the most part.  He also really likes peas, which is odd, I figured he'd hate those! 

We are trying to transition him to the crib.  It has not been easy.  He has been fighting it.  Ever since he was 2-months-old, he's been sleeping at a slight incline in a Rock 'n Play.  I am thinking we need to raise the crib mattress a little bit to make him comfortable.  Right now he is playing in his crib, and getting a bit loud, so I think that's my cue!  Here is a picture of the little guy on his 5-month "birthday"!

Teething....arggg!

My little guy is getting so big!  These past few weeks he has made that very apparent, because he is teething!  He has technically been teething since he was 2-months-old, but he didn't get nearly as fussy as he gets now.  Back then, he started drooling buckets and chew on his hand, so we sort of figured teething was beginning.  It wasn't until he hit 4-months-old that we knew for sure.  At his 4-month checkup, the pediatrician did, in fact, discover two bottom teeth trying to emerge!  They have yet to make their appearance.  Some days he is okay, other days, he is red-cheeked, drooling more, chewing on his hand (or anything in his hand), fussy, and at times, he will have a screaming fit.  We went the the route of giving him Tylenol when it was bad, but he had a few bad days in a row, and I didn't want to give him Tylenol every day.  It's not good for him.  So I did a little research, and found a few homeopathic remedies for his teething....

 Humphrey's Teething Pellets are awesome!  We only need 2 per dose right now to give Ben some relief.  The dosage says you can use up to 3 at a time, though.  You can administer it by dissolving them in water and putting the mixture on the gums, or putting the pellets under his tongue (one at a time).  Since he drools so much, I actually find it easier to just take one pellet at a time, and rub it directly onto his gums until it dissolves.  They are super tiny pellets, so it doesn't take long to dissolve, especially on a teething, drooling baby! 

Another neat product is Boiron Camilia Teething Relief.  It comes with small, fluid-filled dispensers that you have your baby ingest.  It's 100% safe.  Same as the Humphrey's, it's made of natural products to help soothe, give pain relief, and reduce inflamation. 

I feel so much better giving my son these products.  Tylenol can be very dangerous for an adult, much less an infant.  It takes a few minutes for these to take effect, but they really do work on Ben!  Usually he will continue to cry, until I find a way to distract him until the relief kicks in.  I will "eat his feet" (which makes him laugh), try to give him a toy, tickle him, or feed him a little bit of formula.  One of those methods usually works in distracting him long enough for the "medicines" to take effect.  We also have a teether on the way we are going to try out, since he doesn't seem to like the ones we have currently.  I think they are more for babies 6-months and up.  I ordered one that was rated very well, and meant for younger teethers.  I will let you know how it works out!

Anyway, back to Ben's teething.  The other day he was having an absolute fit, screaming, thrashing, just wouldn't settle down.  He was red-cheeked, and he kept putting his hand in his mouth.  I knew what was up.  I gave him 2 Humphrey's tablets, and 1 "vial" of Camilia, and the following ensued...

 I distracted him by "eating his feet" until he laughed, then put him in his walker so I could make dinner.  He played while I worked on dinner and the dishes!  No more tears!  You can see how much he drooled!  I purposely left him in that outfit until I could take a picture, so don't worry, he wasn't in the drooly outfit for very long!  Just until I finished making dinner. 

Still playing nicely!  He is starting to figure out how to move the toys around on the walker.  He does try to eat the horn on a regular basis, though! 








If you do plan on trying out the products I listed above, check your local Walgreens or other pharmacy before buying from Amazon!  They were much cheaper at Walgreens.  In fact, the Camilia's came in a 2-for-1 pack!  You can find the prices for them and a list of the ingredients on the Walgreens website. 

What a day!

Today has been quite busy!  Ben decided he did not want to nap for most of the day.  It took a lot to finally get him to sleep for 45 minutes.  He has been really fighting sleep today!  I think he had an upset tummy, because he let out some gas not too long ago.  

I finally got around to listing my maternity clothes on eBay.  I am not keeping them, because the next time I am pregnant, they will be too big.  We are about to begin a major lifestyle change in order to better ourselves physically, emotionally, and for Ben.  

Last night I got around to prepping all his new diapers!  I am so excited to try them!  They are so damn cute.  I am going through a major overhaul with the way things are done around here.  We need to become more "green".  I want to teach my son to not only value the planet he lives on, but to also do these things to save money.  We plan on starting a garden in the next week or so.  I need to buy pots to keep on the workbench in the garage, so they can grow in there until the snow is gone.  Then, we will transfer them to the garden.  I will keep you updated on the progress!  

In the meantime, I will share our "recipe" for laundry detergent.  We make our own, because it's economical, saves on resources, and contains no dyes, perfumes, or any other hidden chemicals.  We have been making our own detergent for years, but recently had to change up just one ingredient to make it cloth diaper friendly!  

 This is our laundry area.  It will be changing soon, though.  I want to put new pictures in the frame, and declutter the top a bit more.  I am also going to soon replace dryer sheets with wool dryer balls.  I cleaned out the lint trap in the dryer today, and wow!  Even though it looked clean, it wasn't.  I will share the tip on cleaning it later!

 Here is our detergent.  I bought the container a few weeks ago, to replace the old tupperware container we were using.  This one holds more.  You can find these containers for $5.00-$10.00 at craft stores or even bigger "supercenter" stores like Meijer or Target.  I actually found this one at TJMaxx for $7.00.  I also bought the basket on the shelf at TJMaxx for $5.00.  You don't need anything this fancy, use an old jar or tupperware container if you'd like!  I just did it this way to make it look "nicer", and get a bigger container for the detergent.  

                                       Now onto the recipe!  It requires...

Borax

Arm & Hammer Washing Soda.  NOT baking soda!  There is a difference!

Oxiclean Free or Oxiclean Baby

Everyone seems to mix it up differently.  What works for us is 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of Washing Soda, and 1/2 a cup of Oxiclean.  I will mix all of it together with a wooden spoon, then add more, and mix again, repeating the process until I find the jar is full enough.  You only need 1-2 tablespoons of it per load of laundry, depending on how big the load is.  For a smaller load, use 1 (or less) tablespoons, for a bigger load, use the full 2 tablespoons.  

If you don't use cloth diapers, you can substitute the Oxiclean for a bar of Fels Naptha soap.  You would just grate the soap using a cheese grater and add it into the mix.  I personally find it easier to use the Oxiclean, even for regular clothes, but the soap is cheaper.  You can find all these items in the laundry aisle of the grocery store.  Using this method, you will spend about $15 a year or less on laundry detergent!  

When the weather gets better, I am going to experiment with making a 2-year supply of detergent to keep in a big bucket in the garage.  I will post about it after I do it! 

Here is the result!  Nice, clean diapers! 

I am still recovering from my surgery that I had on Monday.  I had my gall-bladder out, but I am getting better every day!  I go to my post-op appointment on Wednesday, so hopefully by then I am taken off restrictions.  I miss holding my little boy!

Speaking of Ben, he has been doing very well!  He is napping better, and overall in a better mood throughout the day.  He's still working on getting those bottom teeth out!  He drools a ton, so hopefully they pop out soon.  He has his bad days where his gums hurt, too, but those are becoming fewer.  He is constantly changing, too!  He's not the same baby he was last week.  He "talks" a lot more, and is super smiley almost all the time.  He is playing with toys more, and recognizing Andy and I as "mommy and daddy".  

Oh, we also received some fluff mail yesterday!  Very excited to try Ben's new diapers!