Miles' Milestones: 6 Months

Miles is 6 months old: 1/2 a year! It's going by entirely too fast. I started off the month with a special letter to my little boy (you can read that here). Here's what Miles is doing at 6 months:

First off, Miles has grown to be 15 pounds and 14 ounces which is exactly (to the oz!) double what he weighed at birth. He's now 26 inches, so he's grown half a foot in half a year! He's fitting into 9 months clothes and the only thing that doesn't seem to be growing is his hair. He has the least hair of any of our babies but we love the "fuzz" he has on the back of his head and the tuft of hair on top. His sisters say it's like Simba from the Lion King. 

Eating: This has been a big month for trying new foods. Last month Miles had really just started foods and tried rice cereal and fruit. This month Miles has tried: yogurt, sweet potatoes, new combos like "broccoli, peas and pears" and more. He's also tried couscous, bread crust and grabbed a whole banana. Miles loves Baby MumMums, puffs and Cheerios. He can't quite pick up the tiny stuff but tries. He prefers foods he can grab and eat and isn't crazy about baby food. Tommy was like this and we did more of a baby led weaning approach. I have a feeling we're going in that direction with Miles too. Miles' favorite thing about mealtime is that he now sits in a high chair at the table with his brother and sisters. He looks from side to side at all of them and smiles so big. He's so happy to feel like "one of the gang". 

Playing: Miles remains my best baby when it comes to playing with toys. He loves when you hand him a toy and spends time shaking, crinkling, etc. Most toys go right to his mouth, so Sofie the Giraffe is still a favorite. Miles started playing peekaboo this month. He cracks up when we play it with him. His little giggle is the sweetest. 

Sleeping: Miles goes to bed a little earlier now (8pm) and sleeps until about 6am. His main nap of the day is when his brother naps and while he's really young for one nap, it's only a cat nap here or there the rest of the day. My other babies all did 2 naps at 2 pretty exact times of day at this age. While I'd like Miles to nap twice, one long nap when his brother naps means a pretty quite afternoon in our house.

Travel: This month Miles traveled to Baltimore for the first time. He splashed around on the splash pad with his siblings and explored the National Aquarium with us (from the Bjorn). He loved seeing all of the fish and dolphins. The dolphin show was so exciting he fell asleep halfway through! He was a joy on vacation and tried Italian bread for the first time in Baltimore's Little Italy. 
Favorite Gear:  This month our most used items are: 1. Jumparoo 2. BABYBJORN Carrier 3. Playmat 4. BABYBJORN Highchair 5. Doona carseat/stroller 
Miles seems to be getting closer and closer to siting up on his own. We'll see what 7 months brings! 

Fight For Your Write with Bic

School is less than one month away.   This month, the anticipation of a new school year really starts to set in.  The kids get excited for their new backpacks & lunchboxes.  We have a fun day full of back to school shopping for clothes and supplies that they need. And the kids can't wait for the letter that arrives at the end of the month that indicates who their new teacher will be.  Last, but most important, we spend a little more time at home getting our brains ready for a new school year.

With the second half of summer setting in, I try to spend a little more time working with the kids getting them back into "school mode".  Depending on my child's age, this may include practicing math facts, working on letter sounds, understanding ten frames, & having scheduled time for independent reading.  One big thing that we spend time on throughout the summer is creative writing.

For my kids, creative writing means that you can write about anything.  My oldest son, Aiden, loves to write stories about baseball & biographies about famous people.  For my son who will be entering kindergarten this year, he loves to draw pictures and tell me verbally what his story is about.  Again, just like his older brother, most of Andrew's stories are about baseball.

 

Some days, I give them a written prompt during this time to help foster new ideas & creative thinking.  To help get them excited about school (especially my kindergartner), we talked about some of our favorite things we do at school.  Aiden, of course, loves recess as shown in his writing below.

During this creative writing time, it allows me to work on their handwriting with them.  As a former elementary teacher, I know the importance of handwriting and how essential it into a child's education.  Research shows that handwriting promotes critical thinking, reading comprehension, fine motor skills development, creativity, and even self-confidence.

To encourage my kids to write at home, I love to keep a variety of writing supplies on hand in our house.  Of course, we have a giant stash of markers and crayons, but I find that as the kids' fine motor skills improve that the children love to use pens and pencils.  We are loving the great variety of pens and pencils that Bic has to offer.

Aiden loves the twist on the classic #2 pencil, the Bic XTRA-Fun #2 Pencils with Stripes.  These pencils come in a variety of bring colors & are fun to write with.

Andrew loves the four-color pen in one.  The Bic 4-Color Stylus and Pen is an upgrade on a beloved pen with the addition of a lightweight stylus!  Even little Abby loves to join creative writing time.  Below, you can read the letter to her best friend, Hannah, that she wrote using the Bic Xtra Precision purple ink pen (her favorite color!).

 

BIC is on a mission to celebrate handwriting and Fight For Your Write.  Through August 15th, BIC is hosting a fun and exciting "If I Were Principal For a Day Contest" that we hope you enter with your kids.  What would your kid(s) do if they were principal for a day?  All you have to do to enter is have them write out their ideas, submit your entires, and you could win a $10,000 scholarship!  For more information about the contest and to learn more about ways to celebrate handwriting, visit BICFightForYourWrite.com.

Disclosure:  This is a sponsored post written in partnership with Bic.  As always, all opinions are of my own.

#BicFightForYourWrite  

Friday Favorites: Roarin' Rainforest Jumperoo

I can't believe I waited until my fourth baby to get a Jumperoo. Honestly, I always thought they looked neat but were just something that would take up even more space in our house. I wish I got one years ago. It's so fun and all the activity really entertain and then tire out the baby. Miles started holding himself up on his own right around 5 months. I wanted something for him to go in and play when he was hanging out in the playroom with his sisters and brother (and me). We decided on the Fisher-Price Roarin' Rainforest Jumper. Miles loves it! 

There’s so much for baby to discover on this Jumperoo. There's music, lights and exciting sounds (that can also be turned off). Miles loves grabbing at the toys and playing and when he starts to get tired of one set of toys, we spin him over to the next set of toys. The Roarin' Rainforest Jumper has a rotating seat that gives the baby 360 degree access to a ton of different toys and activities. A few of the fun items: soft monkeys overhead, spinners, clickers, a bead bar, mirror, etc

In addition to be fun and colorful, the Fisher-Price Roarin' Rainforest Jumperoo was designed to give developing motor skills a helpful boost. There are plenty of items that the baby can reach, grasp, and move, plus they can groove and jump so high! 

The size of the Jumperoo is perfect for Miles because it actually gives him a bit of a barrier from his super loving (sometimes giving TOO many hugs) siblings. He can actually have a bit of time to play on his own. Although one of our favorite things about watching Miles in the Jumperoo is that his sisters and brother form a circle around it and chant "jump Miles jump, jump Miles jump". This makes Miles giggles and jump so high! 

Also, for how big the Roarin' Rainforest Jumperoo is, it's really very easy to fold for storage. It's also not very heavy and easy to move. Sometimes Miles jumps in the family room too. I would highly recommend the Roarin' Rainforest Jumperoo. It's a great item to add to your baby registry or to get if you have a little ones ready to "jump" and play. 


Disclosure: We were not compensated for this post. We did receive product for the purpose of review. As always, all opinions are my own. 

Miles' Milestones: 5 Months

When I started this series last month I figured the chances of me sticking with it and finding time to write again at 5 months was about 50/50.... but here I am! I haven't found time to shower in 2 days, but at least I'll remember what Miles was doing at 5 months (ha). Thank goodness for iPhone photos. I scrolled back through the month to remember what we did and more importantly what Miles was doing! So here goes: Miles' has been enjoying 5 months with non-stop smiles. 

Two exciting things happened this month: Miles was baptized (more on that to come) and Miles went on his first family vacation (details here). 

While on vacation, Miles celebrated his first 4th of July. 

5 months is a great age. Personally I think it's one of the easiest ages. At 5 months there's more sleeping and less eating. They are on the verge of eating solids (or may have started) and that can only mean more meals and cleaning (so more work to come)! They are also not mobile but able to play with toys, so they can entertain themselves while staying in the same place. 
Miles loves his feet. He plays with his toes and puts his feet in his mouth. He also loves toys. Toys that "crinkle" are his favorite and he also really likes Sofie the Girafe.  He's grown into 9 month clothes and suddenly looks really long/tall. We got him a mesh bath seat and now he takes a bath with Tommy and finally loves bath time. We had one of these seats for the girls but after a few years and a move I didn't know where all the parts were. It was worth the investment to get a new one because Miles now really enjoys bath time and he doesn't slip at all. 

Miles isn't rolling much yet. He can roll from his belly onto his back, but that's it. He loves to babble and says "ma ma ma ma ma". His eyes light up when he babbles - he is so happy and proud to be "talking" to us. 
We've put away the baby swing and moved onto the Jumperoo. Miles bounces like crazy in it. It's the first time we've had a Jumperoo and it's awesome. His brother and sisters stand around him and chant "jump Miles jump, jump Miles jump" and he giggles like crazy. 

Miles tried rice cereal and pears this month. He was actually the first one of my babies that ate from a spoon right away, like he had been doing it forever. He was way more excited for the pears than he was for the rice cereal. The next month will include trying many more foods! 
Miles is a joy every day and becoming more and more interactive with his siblings. He loves to watch them all dance to music and kicks his legs like crazy. He can't wait to join in the dance party. Miles still sleeps in our room and I love snuggling him at night before putting him in the rock in play to sleep. Miles is one sweet little boy. 

Fun With The Secret Life of Pets Collectibles

If there's two things our entire family loves, they are pets and cereal. So when I saw that General Mills Cereals was coming out with exclusive The Secret Life of Pets character collectibles, I knew they were going to be a breakfast must for us. My girls (and my husband and I) can't wait to see The Secret Life of Pets. We all often joke about what we think our dog Jersey does when we are not home. The kids think the movie is going to give us a better idea of what exactly goes on when we leave the house! 

The Secret Life of Pets is a comedy about the lives our pets lead after we leave for work or school each day. This summer, in partnership with The Secret Life of Pets, there are boxes of General Mills Big G Cereals that have free character collectibles from the movie. The cereals included are: Honey Nut Cheerios, Cheerios Multi Grain, Lucky Charms, Trix and Cocoa Puffs. 

The collectibles you'll find inside are the pets from the movie:  - Max the pampered terrier mix - Duke the massive mutt - Snowball the leader of the flushed pets - Buddy the sarcastic dachshund - Gidget the naïve, but gutsy Pomeranian  - Chloe the fat cat.

The character collectibles are really cute and fun for fans of all ages. The string on them lets you bring your new furry friend with you wherever you go! They'll be really original for backpacks this fall! 

The girls have been playing with their pets all week. While the boys napped, we busted out the paints (it's been a while!) and made some fun little DIY houses for our pets. We used a cardboard fold up house for one and an old shoe box for the other. After painting them, they desired to add a few "finishing touches" like pom pons and a bird. Now it's time to head to the theater to see the movie! 

#BigGPets

Disclosure: Disclaimer: Compensation was provided by General Mills via MomTrends. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of General Mills or Momtrends. 

Back to School Trends

It's only July, so it's hard to start thinking back to school, but for the 4th year in a row, I got my first glance at this year's "school style" at the Momtrends Back to School Event. Last week, I spent the night checking out the top styles and trends for back to school. Nicole from Momtrends has a knack for finding Back to School styles that are hip and also helpful for parents. There were tons of great things to check out and you can read their full recap here. 
These are my 5 favorites from the event:

1.  Nalgene I've been using Nalgene bottles since I was in school. They last forever! Now our favorite water bottle company is making lunch boxes. They are just as sturdy as the water bottles and can be wiped clean easily (or thrown in the dishwasher). The soft case is colorful and can be put in the washing machine. There's also a movable ice pack that helps create "compartments" in the lunch box. 

2.  Joules I had heard of Joules, but until the Momtrends event, hadn't seen their clothes in person. They are darling! It's a British brand, that offers really unique styles for children of all ages.   

3. Earth's Best for after school snacks  I've used Earth's Best baby food and toddler snacks for years, but never thought of using their frozen foods for after school snacks. They had a ton of great foods to try at the event, like the Broccoli and Cheese Nuggets and the Baked Chicken Nuggets. These will definitely be in our freezer this school year. 

4. Keen  We've always really liked Keens for the summer and now they an awesome fall line for Back to School. They have boots, sneakers and other great styles. The whole line looked like they would be really comfortable for kids to wear all day at school and would hold up great for tons of running around outside. 

5. Yoobi I love when companies give back, especially when they give to children in need. For all of the school supplies Yoobi sells, they match that amount of supplies in donations to kids in need in a classroom in the U.S. The line is bright, cheerful and tons of fun for Back to School. 

Some photos from Momtrends team. 

A Must See Pop-Up Shop

Two of our favorite places to shop online, Little Sapling Toys and Wren & James will be part of a pop-up shop hosted by The Baby Cubby on July 13th. Baby Cubby is located in Lindon, UT and the event will take place in store from 6-9pm. 

There will be plenty of great items to check out and some tasty treats too. A few highlights of the pop-up shop will be amazing in-store giveaways, exclusive discounts and 10% off storewide at The Baby Cubby. 

For more info on Little Sapling Toys, visit this post: Summer Baby Favorites  For more info on Wren & James, visit this post: Fun Fashion Finds for Girls  To learn more about The Baby Cubby, head to their website: The Baby Cubby 
Enjoy the fun day of shopping!