Paci's and Bottles - Eleanor's rating

Lots to say about this topic. Today we had two new breakthroughs in the Reinberg home. Eleanor never was much of a paci-lover which we kind of were ok with as we have heard horror stories from friends who have had to take pacis away from their kids when they are too old. So, we never really pushed the issue despite the fact that we have an enourmous bin of every brand, shape, size, and color of pacis purchased before Eleanor's birth. The only pacifier she seemed to be ok with was the ugly one that came from the hospital, exhibit A, the "soothie":They are ugly (though at least they make them in pink) and are huge and hard for her to hold in on her own but it was the only one that would "soothe" her without her making a face at us. We have tried the many different brands and opened way too many packages with no avail. So today, I said decided to do some investigating as to why she was so particular on her pacifiers and I realized how different the nipple shapes were.

The Aggie pacifier I so wanted her to like so she could wear in the fall at/watching football games (I know I am a dork) she once again spit out. I decided to put it in my mouth to see how it felt and realized her disliking it was perfectly valid. The shape was completely different and right where your tounge hits the tip of the nipple is where the molds I guess met becuase there is a sharp piece of silicone that scratches your tounge. I don't know about you but why wouldn't you want a smooth surface for your tongue to hit? Ellie knows her stuff and she is clearly a woman who knows what she wants and what she wants might just be the finer things. SO, I examined some of the other pacifiers and found that (without opening the package to waste another $5) many of them were shaped like the Aggie paci. Hopefully they weren't as poorly made though.

I then found that we had purchased the "Avent" pacifiers, the same brand as the bottles she likes. We also got one for free in one of our registry bags, SO I gave it a shot. We tried it right before Eleanor was going to go down for a nap and oh but did she love it more than her soothie! She hasn't let it leave her mouth which could be a bad thing but it might also be just the ticket to getting her to spread out her feedings from every 2 hours to every 3. So, for anyone who's baby is still stuck on the not so attractive soothie (that also can't be stuck on one of those cute ribbon paci holders that attaches to their shirt so it doesn't accidentally fall in the bottom of their car seat where they might also leave you a little treat that couldn't fit in their diaper), try the Avent pacifiers. They can be stuck on the ribbon, are easier for their little mouths to hold, and their nipples are shaped very similarly to the soothies and a bottle nipple. That is our thought on pacifiers. I might be writing in a year about how I never should have given her this as I am having to break her of the habit and pry it from her little fingers!

On another note...today my mom came to me with some literature on the dangerous effects of plastic. She has been feeling this way about plastic for a while and doesn't heat up/freeze food in tupperware anymore and has resorted to picking up a vintage piece of pyrex everytime we go to Canton to store leftovers in. She did some research on bottles and baby toys with plastic and found some dangerous potential side effects so decided to get us some glass bottles. I looked at these initially but worried about my one year old throwing her bottle and shattering it on the wall in a wild tantrum (thinking that she would inherit my temperment) so passed on registering for them.

After looking, there aren't too many brands who also make glass bottles. I found that Medela does which would be great to hook onto my pump however their nipples are too narrow thus possibly causing nipple confusion from the bottle to breast so says our Bradley Childbirth Instructor/Lactation Consultant. Evenflo makes glass bottles as well and were the least expensive... $5.99 for three 4 oz. bottles. Their nipples are VERY tiny though, so we bought them to store and reheat the milk in. We decided upon the Born Free which were a little more but also are good for colic/ear infection prevention and have the wide nipple for E to drink from. She loved her new bottle today - my only question is once we start defrosting the glass bottles from the freezer, will the glass crack from going from one extreme temperature to the other like Amanda's Iced Tea Pitcher did when she poured boiling water into it? There are so many things to learn with a baby!

Anyway, just thought I would share my findings from today. If anyone else has any input on glass bottles, feel free to share. We are excited for our first "earthy" baby endeavour - much easier than the cloth diaper thing...not ready to try that yet!

Eleanor 2 Months

Our sweet baby is already 2 months old, it is CRAZY! She has already had her shots and 2 month checkup and weighed in at 11lb 5 oz. and was 23 in. long. She is in the 75th percentile for both and is in the 50th percentile for her head size. She just keeps on growing and we keep on loving her more and more!

Her second month of life brought so many more new and fun things. She showed us her smile right at one month old. She began to show it even more and now responds to our high pitch voices with a smile and sometimes a laugh. She loves to move and kick and raise her hands above her head...soon she will know to do that when we say, "How big is Eleanor!?"

Eleanor has really started to vocalize herself more and is getting much more consistent at giving her parents a good 6-7 hours of sleep each night. We hope she will be going to bed at 8 or 9 (rather than her current 10 or 11) and getting up at 6 by the time we go back to work...we will see! She still needs to be swaddled in order to fall asleep and stay that way. Because she is on a wedge though, she has unfortunately been found (and freaked her parents out) slid under her blanket with a covered face. Luckily the blanket is muslin and thin but STILL! She also need sto still be rocked to sleep in her Daddy's famous and very tiring way - holding her head in one hand and butt in the other holding her out in front of you with her feet at your stomach and basically doing baby bicep curls as you bounce her up and down. It works like a charm but is def. not the easiest thing.

When she isn't sleeping or eating, E is pretty much always in a good mood. She is such a joy to us to just sit and watch and talk to. When you talk to her, she will usually coo back. She continues to like car rides and usually falls asleep. If she is too tired or hungry though when we put her in, it can make for a noisy and not so fun ride home. Eleanor also LOVES taking baths now! She sits in her little sling and will sometimes splash but usually just lays there so relaxed with her warm wash cloth across her chest and loving that special time with Daddy. E has also graduated from the newborn clothes and diapers in her second month and is wearing 1's in diapers (Pampers are our favorite) and now is wearing 3 and some 3-6 month clothes! She is growing way too fast! She needs to slow this down so she is on track to still fit in the Christmas dress Mommy bought her! :) JK we love how much she is growing! We definitely have one healthy baby!

Eleanor, we love watching you grow and swear you look different every day! We can't wait to see what beauty and happiness you will continue to bring to our lives! We love you! Thank you for being such a wonderful and happy baby!

PS I wrote this a long time ago - don't know why it ever got posted!

One Year Already - Just Another Day in Paradise

Andy and I after not quite reinacting the wedding cake ritual from our reception (I wouldn't let him do this last year with my wedding dress on so he specifically requested that I let him this time and I for some reason consented)

What a year it has been! Andy and I celebrated our 1 year Anniversary today and never in a million years would I have thought our life would be like it is now. As we were probably being introduced at our wedding reception as Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Reinberg (it's around 10pm now), never would I have thought I would be blogging exactly a year later with my husband out of town and my two month old daughter looking at her feet and flailing around in her newborn lounger!

As I was saying...what a year it has been! Because we knew "Coaching School" would be the weekend of our anniversary (as it will be seemingly for the rest of our lives ha) we planned ahead and celebrated a few days early.

We had so much fun enjoying one another without our sweet new addition. I told Andy, it was the first time I felt like a young married couple since before we found out we were pregnant. I was glad to know we were still "young" at heart :)

We started off our date day with lunch at our favorite - Houston's. We enjoyed talking about our favorite parts of the wedding and honeymoon and then each month of our first year of marriage. I don't think we have really talked about "US" almost the entire year of marriage since we have been pretty much preparing for a baby the entire time! We had a lot to discuss and boy was it refreshing! Some of our favorite memories were:

- holding Andy's hand and praying after we had just been married and recieved communion, soaking in the moment (mine)/seeing me walk down the aisle (Andy)/ the super fun party that was our reception (both) (July)

- Getting to experience Andy's first time to witness God's wonder in the paradise of Hawaii - I will never forget how in awe and how excited he was for our week in Hawaii as we pulled up to the resort and saw the sunset with the top down on our convertible. (me)/ the cute liquor bottles we ordered on the plane and all that was Hawaii (both) (July)

- Putting our apartment together before Andy started two-a-days and enjoying all the fun new appliances and kitchen fun cooking meals together (August)

- finding out we were pregnant and telling our families (September)

- celebrating my birthday morning sick and barely even being able to have a bite of the delicious "Sprinkles" cupcake Andy and my parents had gotten for me to celebrate with (October)

- our first Thanksgiving together with Andy's parents and getting to go see A&M play their hearts out against tu (unfortunately not btho this year) in the former students section, 1st deck, 50 yard line for FREE (November)

- First Christmas with my parents, finding our we were having a girl, Andy's bday celebration with Randy Rogers, Jack, and Billy Bob's, and deciding on our baby's name - Eleanor Ann (December)

- Putting our baby's crib together and a non-alcoholic New Years (January)

- Registering for sweet baby girl, continuing to watch her grow and enjoy the winter weather with more than one snow in Dallas! (February)

- Spring Break and Andy stripping and finishing the most beautiful piece of furniture in Eleanor's room - he did such an amazing job! (March)

- Deciding to move apartments only a month before Eleanor was scheduled to arrive (April)
- Maternity leave and being able to get the apartment somewhat put together/not have to teach and more importantly seeing Andy's face when Eleanor came out and the beautiful tears of joy come from his eyes - I will never forget it (me)/watching the miracle of life unfold before his eyes and hearing Eleanor cry for the first time (Andy) (May)

- Enjoying our first daughter and learning how to live as a family of three (June)

- Buying our first car and introducing Eleanor to all of our family and friends/celebrating our first anniversary together (July)


After lunch, we ran some errands and planned to head back to the apartment for the rest of the evening. We got the recipe from Plantation House http://www.theplantationhouse.com/, our FAVORITE restaurant in Maui, for their famous Mai Tais and enjoyed them by the pool at our apartment.

Us at the Plantation House

Mai Tai in Maui vs. Mai Tai in Dallas - amazing how the body/scenery can change so much in a year!

After drinnks by the pool we had a wonderful sushi dinner, my first time to have raw fish again since before Eleanor was in my tummy :). Then we enjoyed our wedding cake again and the same champagne we drank on our wedding night followed by a three hour dance fest on our living room floor. Andy moved the coffee table and made a play list of some faves and we danced barefoot until 2 in the morning! So much for getting sleep while Eleanor was being watched but we sure had fun!


The next morning we slept in and made the most amazing french toast we ever tasted! We made it with that wonderful sweet Challah bread - it was SO YUMMY! To go along with it we had bacon, eggs, and fresh squeezed OJ in our mimosas. Andy of course couldn't have his breakfast complete without a bloody mary - I of course passed as I think tomato juice is repulsive!


We joined Eleanor at my parents' house later that afternoon and couldn't have asked for a better anniversary! Though we weren't in paradise in Hawaii celebrating, persay, we were in our own state of paradise, just like the song says:

It's just another day in paradise

Well, there's no place that

I'd rather be

Well, it's two hearts

And one dream

I wouldn't trade it for anything

And I ask the Lord every night

For just another day in paradise