Baby Faves: Nine + Ten Months

While this list should probably include anything cat related - their food, water fountain (yes, my cats have bottled water in a fountain and still prefer to drink out of the bathtub faucet), their toys and the cats themselves, here are some actual baby-related products that we've been getting a lot of use out of lately.

 

Bib - I know there are similar kinds of bibs out there, but these are the ones we have and we love them.  I think I mentioned this before, but Ellie even reaches in the little bucket to give herself a second shot at getting any missed pieces of food in her mouth!  They're also super easy to clean and make it so I don't have to spend as much time cleaning food off the floor.

Puffs - Any brand or flavor will do.  Ellie goes through these things SO quickly.  They were the first food Ellie was able to pick up and feed herself.  They also really do dissolve pretty quickly, which is nice to know if you're a worried mama like I am!  I think puffs are her favorite snack of all time, but lately she's been loving what I consider to be the Gerber version of Cheetos - you know what I'm talking about?  Girlfriend can down those faster than I can put them on her highchair tray.

Walker - Again, there are lots of walkers for babies but what I love about this one is that you can take the electronic part off so your babies can play with it before they can use the actual walker.  Ellie played with it on the floor for months, and once she started to stand more we'd put it up on the living room chair or couch so she could play while standing.  At her nine month appointment, her doctor suggested we let her try out any type of push walker and within a few days she was cruising around the living room!  Lots of use + a decent price make this a definite win in our book.

Straw sippy cup -  I do realize that there are straw sippy cups other than the cute seasonal Target ones; however, these are the only kind we have tried - I just can't resist the cuteness! ;)  We noticed Ellie liked drinking out of straws better than her regular sippy cups, and she really got the hang of them by using these straws in our cups - they're soft and also fun for her to chew on.  Once she got used to the ease of sucking up water through the big straws, we gave her back her sippies to try and she drank like a pro!

 Baby gate - Definitely a mama favorite, not an Ellie favorite.  This is the gate we have and we love that it doesn't make holes in the walls, plus it's extra wide to better fit our living room doorway (you can buy extensions too).  The self-closing gate is also nice to have.  I usually end up keeping the gate propped open for a good portion of the day, but it is nice to help keep our little monkey contained sometimes!  Perhaps I should have included those little outlet plugs in this post as well because those are one of other baby-proofing faves. ;)

Banana brush - We use this with a tiny bit of Babyganics toothpaste, whenever Ellie decides to let me actually brush her teeth.  I usually get a few seconds in before she steals it and starts chomping away.  She seems to think it makes a really great teether, so maybe pick one up even if your babes don't have teeth yet!  Then they could get used to it before they even need it.

Two-piece jammies - A definite Ellie favorite and a mama favorite too!  The two pieces make diaper changes much easier when a crawling baby is involved.  Ellie loves her feet to be free and we love to sneak kisses on her cute belly.  She tends to end up bottomless quite a bit as well, so it works out nicely. ;)  

Another thing we've been loving lately but not something that's really age-specific is a good lotion.  Ellie got lots of small patches of dry skin all over her body (not eczema) because of the dry Winter air.  After trying a few on our own, I asked her doctor what kind of lotion she recommended we try, and she said really anything unscented, not from the baby aisle.  I picked out Cetaphil Daily Advance Lotion, rubbed her down a couple times a day and her skin was back to being baby soft within a couple weeks!

Above all else, Ellie loves to try to get away with everything she shouldn't be doing - i.e. unloading her entire dresser and piling up her clothes on her very patient cat.

 

If you haven't already seen it on Facebook, there's a (very poor quality - sorry!) video up of Ells walking!! I came home from work last night and Tyler said they had a trick to show me.  She's gained so much confidence in her standing ability this past week, but I wasn't thinking she'd be walking for a couple more!  She doesn't take more than a few steps at a time, but I'm sure she will catch on quickly. :)

Here are some Ellia photos from the week. The first one my mom snapped and sent to me while I was at work.  She makes that face all the time and we're not quite sure what it's all about... but it is pretty cute. ;)

 

One more thing before I go - my friend, Danielle sent me this video of Jennifer Garner reading "Go the F*ck to Sleep".  If you haven't seen it already + need a good laugh, definitely go check it out!  I could 100% relate on Tuesday when Ellie started our day 4:15 after waking up about ten times throughout the night and wouldn't take a nap for me all day long.  I know you have your heart set on hurling yourself down the basement stairs, but we're not going to play that game today, Ells.  Cue the overtired meltdowns + temper tantrums.

Happy Friday EVE!!

P.S. Prior month baby faves can be found here if you're interested!