I am trying to catch up with all the photos posts that I’ve planned, so I am hoping once they are all done, I will be more current on things and events. The way Alexis naps, cooking and cleaning have to go by wayside, as I try to get at least 10-20 minutes of blogging during each nap. Sometimes I luck out, sometimes I can’t even get that. That’s life.
So for a few days/weeks you’ll see older photos and posts from when Alexis was 2.5 months and on.
Here we go:
We live relatively close to the beach, about 15-20 minutes to the closest public beach, or more to some other fun ones. Right now, when Alexis is small, beach trips are limited due to many factors. Up until now we couldn’t really take her anywhere without a major meltdown in the car seat. We got a new convertible car seat and another one coming for 2 week trial review, so we’ll see how she does then, but I am very hopeful. Another reason is this is Florida, which means 8 am and it’s too hot to go anywhere with a small baby. So when we can do baby sunscreen at 6 months and swim in the ocean is when I can expect to go back to weekly beach trips. Lexi is like mama, she LOVES water, so I am excited to see how she reacts to the ocean. The key will be to make sure she is comfortable in the heat. My plan is to get a beach tent plus 2 strong battery operated fans plus baby sunscreen plus early mornings and a lot of nursing sessions to keep her hydrated. I am crossing my fingers that will work.
Anyways, our first trip was selfish. We really really wanted to go to the beach, even if just for a few minutes and a few photos and the sunset. Thankfully, Alexis was doing just fine that day and handled the car well and I actually managed to get her to sleep sometime during the walk to the beach. Looking at these pictures, she was soooo little… It’s only been 2 months and she’s a different baby.
The day we went was unfortunate: very windy and kind of chilly, so I held Alexis close and shielded her from the wind and the sun. We spread a blanket on the sand and sat shoulder to shoulder, relaxing for the first time since the birth of our daughter. It was nice to not be so focused on things and just lay back on my husband’s chest with our 2.5 months old baby girl in my arms. It’s a shame there isn’t a picture of the both of us, but I am still trying to get the hang of doing self-portraits while juggling a baby. Eventually, I’ll go back to being able to include our whole family into the picture, not just one of us + Alexis.
She eventually woke up and I nursed her leaning against my hubby’s back. It was getting colder so we pulled out her adorable terry hoodie from My O Baby that she only manage to wear once.
And then the fuss train arrived and Andrew strapped her into our Nordic carrier (btw, I just noticed that it’s on sale for only $79 and this is my favorite carrier, so I wanted to point that out in case someone is looking) walking around singing to her while I took pictures of the beach and people around.
There was some prayer group at the beach or something along those lines, raising hands in the air and chanting. It’s amazing how the beach changes with seasons and times of day. During season, the beaches are crowded with tourists, and at sunset the locals come out, summertime comes and you won’t see a soul on some of the beaches, those are my favorite times to go.
Finally, the sun went down and we rushed home. For the next week, we’d remember how nice it was to get out and go to the beach and feel normal again. It only gets better from here on out.
A month or two later, we took another trip to the beach, however by the time we got in the car and got there, the clouds gathered and the wind picked up indicating the inevitable Florida shower, so we had to quickly pack back up and go home. It was just as I closed the car door that the rain starting pounding on the windshield.
I feel so blessed to live near the beach. I cannot even begin to imagine the fun times to be had when Alexis is big enough to swim and play in the water. We got a sneak peak of what it’s like to have a “beach daughter” with Gabby (and another one here) and are looking forward to repeating it with Lexi.
Those little UV rashguards and hats and things they make for babies really work. They work better than the sunscreen, b/c my son has a tan line at his elbow now where the sleeve stops and the sunscreen slathering began.
I’ve been looking at those lately. I still don’t want to expose her to too much sun, and I am concerned about overheating since it’s very hot here, but once it cools down, definitely!
We also live in Florida, and we’ve taken our son to the beach since he was 3 months old. He wears clothes with UV protection and we put him under the beach canopy when he was small so he wasn’t in direct sunlight. Even as a small baby, he always enjoyed sleeping in the shade by the ocean. Now that he’s a toddler, he begs us to go to the beach. It’s funny to see him next to his toddler friends that have moms that don’t take them to the beach often. He’s so much more comfortable and happy there than those kids because he’s been going his entire life!
I know! We are planning on having Alexis be our water and beach baby. We haven’t been able to take her much because she doesn’t sleep on outtings, and if she does it’s after a lot of crying. She’s getting better now, though sleeping is still an issue. As long as we keep our outings short, she is fine. I am still waiting till she’s 6 months old to expose her to public pools and oceans, and then till it cools down a bit, since I don’t think I can handle being up and out at the beach by 7.
ooh so fun! beautiful photos. I can’t wait until my little one arrives and to take her/him to a beach!! We only have lakes (not as cool as the ocean) but oh so fun! 🙂
my aunt lives literally 15 feet from the atlantic ocean, my daughter loves when we go for overnight trips there. but i will forever remember the look on her face the first time we took a walk when the beach was covered in snow. it was like seasons colliding for her…it was awesome 🙂
oh, and i agree with ‘tarynkay’…the baby rashguards are great. used them with my oldest and i just bought more for our 6 month old.
I can only imagine how great it felt that first day at the beach with Lexi 🙂
Your favorite place to be, and now there are three of you to enjoy it 🙂
Awwwww so beautiful :))))) I don’t know why but I rarely go to the beach (which is about 5-10 mins from my home), I just can’t sit still on the sand and do nothing for too long lol typical city dweller lol
I absolutely love the last photo with the stroller!
Really? :))) why?
I love it too!! It’s so… symbolic? Few objects in the picture, but still expressing a lot 🙂
For the napping, have you given any thought to blackout curtains in the room? The pictures I have seen of the nursery show it as being very bright and full of light (which is great when baby is awake), but at nap time, it can make it harder for them to stay asleep. When my son was younger (he is 15 months old now) I couldn’t get him to sleep more then 20 mins or so during his naps. At daycare, he would take 1-3 hours naps with no problems and I couldn’t figure out why he was so different at home. Then I realized that she had blackout blinds in his nap room. I purchased blackout curtains from amazon to match his room decor and put them up as soon as they arrived. The first nap I tried with him afterwards, he slept an hour! I could not believe the difference and now he takes 2+ hour naps each time. I think that the blinds we had in the room originally were letting in too much light. The darkness really helps with him.
That’s a very a good tip and I did think about doing that.
The thing is she doesn’t sleep in her nursery. She naps in our bedroom where it gets pretty dark. I’m just wondering whether it’s dark ENOUGH. How dark did your room get?
The problem is our bedroom is large with 5 windows and open to our bathroom that has a ton of light with its own 6 windows. So that’s a lot of black out shades lol that’s the only reason why we procrastinated getting them.
Plus when we did put her to sleep in our movie room that is pitch black (to test out the blackout theory), she still woke up 20 minutes later. She is definitely what they call a 1 cycle napper and just needs to grow out of it.
He used to have just regular blinds in his room, which kept out practically no light. With the blackout curtains, it is pretty dark in the room. Not quite pitch black, but pretty close. Plus they kept the room cooler during the day which was great since his room got so much sun.
With all of those windows I can see how hard (and expensive) that could be to cover them all. Really good black out blinds can be expensive (especially if they need to be custom-made).
Maybe when she eventually starts napping in her own room you can think about buying them and see if it helps. Maybe it is something they get used to over time?
I will definitely get black outs for her room if she needs it at that point. The tricky thing is they change so quickly you never know what’s going to work next. I think I’ll try putting her to sleep in a dark room and see how it works.
Also our bedroom gets really cold when the shades are drawn because of the A/C
Which ones did you get from amazon?
This is the page for the company who sells the curtains. They come in different styles and lengths:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_home-garden?_encoding=UTF8&field-brandtextbin=Best%20Home%20Fashion&node=1055398
I bought the Back Tab Blackout Curtain 63″ Long in dark blue.
Thanks!
Such sweet pictures. She’s adorable. I live in Florida by the beach too. My son will be two next week and loves the beach. We walk there just about every day. My favorite beach hats are by Iplay. So cute!
These photos are soooo beautiful!! I miss the beach. Iowa is so flat and so dry. Bleh. And Lexi is so tiny in these photos!!! It still amazes me how fast babies grow.
We also live at the beach- charleston sc. I will give you the best beach advice for a momma, you may already know this. Put a bottle of baby powder in the car and leave it there. After the beach, spinkle it all over you (where the sand is) and then just rub it off. Works great and it doesn’t irritate you skin (like when you just rub sand off). Works for the babies and for you as well!! Your car and skin will thank me later!! I wish I had know this years ago, even before babies!
Your babe is growing so beautifully! You two look so lovely on the beach together!! 🙂
She is getting so big.
Was that Delray beach?
No, this is on the west coast of Florida 🙂
You two look so beautiful and healthy! xoxo