We've Been Hit! Our Family's 1st Stomach Bug

This past week I'm sad to report our household was taken down by the stomach bug! It was beyond gross. It was a full on 2 man job. Me on bathing and scrubbing barf out of hair, and my husband on changing sheets and laundry. Every 20 minutes for 5 hours throughout the middle of the night felt like sheer torture watching Isla so helpless and also completely clueless as to what in the world was happening! We got through it just in time for me to have my own version 2 days later. It was our first night really in the trenches together as parents, but I think we did a pretty good job!

Going h.a.m (or turkey) on Thanksgiving

My child eats a lot. She's a very good eater and I'm lucky enough that she will pretty much eat anything that we give to her. On thanksgiving she really exceeded my expectations. Girlfriend put down so much thanksgiving food it was impressive. And at the end topped it all off with her like 3rd birthday cake because her birthday falls so close to thanksgiving. She was living her best life that day. 

Isla Gets a Car!

Isla is the first grandchild on my side of the family. So to say she is spoiled by my parents is the understatement of the century. For her birthday this year she got a custom hot pink Range Rover car. I have absolutely no idea where one even begins to find or order a custom Range Rover but my parents some how did it. It has rims that light up with rainbow and LED lights, plays music, has leather seats, custom vanity plates and actually drives. We drove to NJ to visit my parents and when we arrived I was in tears and completely convinced there was something seriously wrong with Isla because she had screamed so hard for the entire 2 hour car ride straight. As soon as Isla saw her new car she suddenly jumped in and started dancing and fist pumping. I have never taught her a fist pump, and she doesn't even walk. So both of these things were a shock. Even more shocking was that 3 minutes prior I was convinced she was somehow dying and in the blink of an eye she was over it. Ahhh the magic of grandparents. 

First Birthday Party

This day was something that I both looked forward to and dreaded for a while. I really didn't not want to believe that Isla was turning one but I also felt so much pride that we had gotten through our first year as parents with such a great baby girl that I couldn't wait to celebrate. After all of the planning and stressing and setting up, Miss Isla of course was not happy about putting her party dress on. She got there late, due to a meltdown but  quickly pulled it together once she saw balloons and had me hold her. Since her sweet tooth is just like mine she seriously ate her way through the party. So much so that she threw up and then pulled it together again just in time to cut the cake and have a slice! it was the perfect day with the perfect people and I'll forever cherish it.

First Halloween: Troop Beverly Hills

Coming up with a halloween costume for the first time is so hard. There are SO many precious little outfits that it's near impossible to decide!!! Part of me wanted to dress Isla up like an adorable chicken or a monkey or something but I really wanted to do something that we coudl do together. We went with Troop Beverly Hills. I was the Phyllis Nephler the Troop Leader, and Isla was Hannah Nephler, the girl scout. She looked so insanely precious! We did a quick twirl around the park during the parade and she passed out in her crib before trick or treating even started. 

Baby Dance Class

It's officially back to school season and we've signed up for dance class to get in the groove and start socializing. I grew up a dancer so all I want is for her to go to dance class wear tutus and have fun! The class is adorable but it's basically a music class held in a dance studio. Honestly, I don't even care. I'm just pretending that she's doing a full barre combination every week. The first week I went in and Isla was in a black leotard, tights and baby Bloch ballet shoes, the teacher sweetly commented "awwww look you dress in costume for our class today". Little did she know that this was not a costume, and I had planned to dress Isla this way every week. I think after 3 weeks, and 3 pair of ballet shoes in different colors later she knew we were serious. Oh also... Isla has a major crush on the guitarist Mr. Donald that sings the songs each week. 

Ummm am I supposed to be brushing your teeth?

Not sure if I'm supposed to be brushing Isla's teeth or not. No one told me what was the right time to start dental Hygiene but I feel like once you actually have teeth then you should start cleaning them right? Anyway, I bought teeny tooth brush and some banana tooth paste. Isla is obsessed with it and thinks it's hilarious to brush her teeth. I think it's hilarious the faces she makes. We all win. 

Isla the Competitor

Ahh the Pamper Scamper. Something I've heard stories about over the years from my mom about how my brother crawled his way to be the grand champion of our local Ocean City baby crawling race. In addition to those stories are the ones of years and years of family championships winning the annual Ocean City Baby Parade. Now that I had a baby that would be the exact same age as my bother was when he won.... the stakes were high. With a little hesitation but also excitement I surrendered myself to listening to all orders and creative direction of Kris Jenner... ahem I mean my mom. We did baby crawling training, we hot glued pearls and glitter to custom floats, the works. Isla did not win the pamper scamper. Some dumb kid in a neon teeshirt distracted all the babies and she stared at him the whole time. BUT she did come in 1st place and get the over all award for the baby parade. Although I felt like a teenager again and almost quit from my mom yelling at me I actually am so glad we did it and was really proud to hold Isla's very first trophy in my hands with her. It was an exhausting week but I have a feeling we'll be doing it all again next year. 

First Solid Foods... Pancakes

Since I've officially been addicted to Little Spoon baby blends and have finally gotten my groove in feeling comfortable with Isla eating actual food I finally feel ready to try some solids. I was putting it off and ignoring it until my mom told me I had to try it at some time. My mom is good at pushing me on those types of things. 1/2 the time I'm nervous, but it's usually just because I'm mostly in denial that Isla is onto the next phase and getting older by the minute. I want to avoid time going so fast. Anyway, the perfect solid to start her with was pancakes. It was sweet, they're super soft and she can easily grab them and feed herself. She was instantly addicted. Who isn't though?

First Major Trip without baby (to Europe!)

OK this is huge. Our first long trip away from Isla. We decided to go to Greece for one of my very best friend's 30th birthday celebration. Isla will be enjoying the sun and the sand at the beach in Ocean City, NJ with my parents. The plan is lots of Facetime, lots of photos, and lots of rosé for me. It is much needed, and is the perfect time to leave her for more than a couple of days. 

First Fourth of July Parade

Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. I only have the best memories growing up with my big family riding our bikes in the parade, going to the beach and watching fireworks. This year is extra extra special because we have our own beach house and I have a baby that I can start showing all of my favorite 4th of July traditions to. Isla barely knew where she was, but she did ride in her decorated stroller through the parade this year so I think her 1st year was a sweet success and I couldn't have been happier!

First official beach day

I piled everything sky high on the stroller, put a backpack beach chair on and also popped up a baby tent for our first day on the beach. Aside from being in a full sweat from the walk down and extremely editing what I "really need" for the next trip down... it went really well. And Isla loved it (like she had a choice!).

Beach Nap Training

Sleep Training Isla was my number one priority after having her. Her naps and her nightime routine are down to a perfect science but now approaching summer I was nervous that would all be thrown out the window once we started spending our days at the beach. My goal was to figure out a way to sleep train her to nap on the beach. This is no science and really has not much of a theory behind it like my regular sleep training but this is what I do to get Isla to nap on the beach:

  • I put Isla in the running stroller that I always take to the beach each day. It has giant wheels and pushes through the sand much better than the regular stroller.
  • I put a thin muslin swaddle blanket over the hood and clip to the sides so she doesn't have sun in her eyes and so that she isn't distracted. 
  • i usually walk her up and down the beach until she falls asleep, and then she naps right in the stroller. 
  • Note: I tried using the small little pop up tents for her to sleep in but she got so much sand blown on her on windy days, and I didn't like that I couldn't cover it with a blanket to give her a little privacy. 

First Father's Day

Another big one for the books. Except this time it's my turn to step it up and make sure this day is extra special for Paul for his first Father's day. Since my Mother's day turned out to be so epic I really felt like I needed to go with the "all the feels" route in order to surprise or impress Paul. I decided to have Isla's first big beach photo shoot enlarged and framed for Paul to hang in his office but in addition I had been working on editing a home video of Paul and Isla with clips of the two of them from the day she was born up until that day. I hope he loves it and knows just how much we love him!

The World of Baby Food

Ummm baby food is disgusting. Like actually really gross. And I never realized it until I had my own baby and thought well if I'm going to feed this to her, would I actually eat this myself? And my answer was always EW no way this is gross. Since I am not the type of mom to home make all of my own baby food I wanted to find something else. Thankfully I'm a millennial and I live in the age of instant gratification and the ability to have everything delivered to my doorstep. I discovered LittleSpoon. The have baby blends that are very fancy and the recipes all depend on the freshest ingredients of the season. Now, it's a little bit like the Soho House of baby food. Hard to get into once you apply to be a member of it. However, I like to think that maybe it's because they're new and still growing and not because they only want to feed certain babies they think are worthy lol. I mean it's not like I had to submit a headshot or anything. Anyway, they deliver these perfect blends to our door on ice every 2 weeks. This isn't an AD by any means... it's just that Isla LOVES them and it makes me feel like a good mom that I'm giving her homemade fresh baby food... even if I'm not the one making it!

 

 

First Mother's Day

Ok this is a big deal right?! It's my very first day celebrating as a mom and before becoming a mom this day sort of fell under the category of Valentine's day for me. Like it was great and I loved to make the day special, but also wasn't the biggest deal in the world to me. This year... totally different. I didn't expect at all to be treated like a queen, but was just so excited to celebrate being a mom, having a baby and enjoying some spring weather with Me, Isla and Paul. The day turned out to exceed even all of those expectations. I woke up to a giant pile of the most thoughtful gifts from Isla and Paul. A mommy and me book, a pair of Stan smiths for me and matching pair for Isla, and a beautiful diamond band with Isla's birthstone from one of my favorite Jewelry brands, Mystory Jewelry. if that wasn't enough we went to a fancy schmancy brunch at The Mark Hotel. It means so much to us because it was where we stayed during our week of going back and forth to Isla in the NICU. Food and vibe is off the charts there but as if my day could not have gotten any better freaking JLo and A.Rod walk in and sit down with their big family RIGHT ACROSS FROM US! Not behind and not next to us... across. So I could sit, sip my rosé and stare with the perfect view at one of my icons. I mean it really could not have been planned any better. 

My First Entrance into the baby "Class" World

We've officially started our very first baby class. NYC can be intimidating with so many options so I went with the most convenient and friendly spot right by our apartment. We've started Developmental Movement for precrawlers. We lay our babies on a blanket, listen to music and just let them figure out what to do while an expert teacher assures us that it's all normal and to let them do what they do. 1 baby is already crawling across the room and gives us all hope that ours will someday do the same. Mostly, I think it's to get the moms out of the house, possibly make some friends and to master the ordeal that is walking into a crowded kids club and knowing where stroller check is. Yes, stroller check. We're getting our groove and it's a great excuse for me to show off Isla's outfits to other people besides me.