Early Start to Reading

When Presley turned about two and a half months old, I decided to start reading to him. I knew he wouldn’t understand any of the words that I was saying but he would be hearing them. He would be spending quality time with me and it would be building his future vocabulary. We first started with the Richard Scarry’s Best Little Board Book Ever. My mom had bought the book for Presley as part of his Easter basket. 

When we started reading the book he surprised me by being so excited to look at the pages. He would intently stare at them and sometimes reach out to touch them. From then on out we would read every single day. We still do to this day! In the beginning we would be reading 3-4 times a day and 2-3 books each reading time. Now we are down to reading 1-2 times a day but we read about 3-4 books each day. When Presley was about 8-9 months old he started holding the books and flipping the pages himself. Every time he does this he starts babbling and trying to talk. He really loves his books and I credit starting him so early with reading. 

What other books does he like to read? Well there’s many. Ones that I read to him on a daily basis...

Why Does My Cat Purr
Katie the Kitten
Farmer Patrick Pig
Coco- Disney Golden Book

He loves those stories but unfortunately they aren’t board books. To be able to let him interact with the books, I sit him on my lap and hold the pages but he will reach up and touch them. The Coco book I let him play with the pages more but the other three were actually my books from childhood and their out of print (those versions) so I try to make sure he can’t get ahold of a single page and rip them. 

Now when it comes to board books and trust me when I say he loves to sit there and flip the pages over and over (literally if you let him he would do it for hours) he reads these... 

Richard Scarry’s Best Little Board Book Ever
Richard Scarry Busy Town
Dr. Seuss’s ABC 
First 100 Words
Raiders 101
Sesame Street Peek A Boo- Bath Book

I’ve read all of those books to him. When I see him looking at a certain one for a few minutes, let’s say for example the 100 word book, I’ll start following him along as he flips the pages and reading and pronouncing the words for him. He’ll look up at me and smile which of course will make you smile in turn. We know he loves his books!  

What books do you recommend? His birthday is next month and we might be adding to his reading list

18 Summers

A few months after Presley was born, I heard a story that stuck with me. It basically came to the fact that you only get 18 real summers with your children. Yes, you'll spend time and other summers with them after their 18 but those first 18 are the most precious. As children become adults they get their own friends, want to do their own thing, move away, start jobs, go to college etc. The moral of the story was to enjoy and make the most out of those first 18 summers.


I heard this right as we were going into the summer months. This summer Presley was a baby. He may never remember the trips or the stories or the sights but the memories for his mommy and daddy and the photos will live on forever. So what did we do? Well I booked a vacation.


Presley's first trip was to Lake Tahoe for Mothers Day.

Then we jumped on a plane and went cross country for July 4th to our Nations Capitol. He did really well on the flight to DC but the flight back to California was a different story. He was starting to get a little head cold so that didn't help either. Thankfully he didn't get full blown sick and was just a little stuffed up for a few days.

While summer may have came to a close, we have trips lined up for the rest of the year. Next up is Disneyland next month. While I've been to the one in Florida, this will be my first time going to the one in California. Since I've lived out here 6 years now, I guess it's about time I visit. Haha! Wish us luck on the theme park adventure.

Breastfeeding Update

Presley is now six months old and I'm still going strong in my breastfeeding. The last time I talked about it, I gave you all a detailed account of my struggles. I thought since I was have a little bit better of a time, I'd give you an update on the feeding front.

Presley is working his way towards seven months old (cannot believe it already) and I'm still pumping it up. At this point, Presley won't latch on at all and hasn't for months. That means I'm exclusively using the pump. I don't care how he gets the milk but I'm still able to supply it to him anywhere from about 65-75% of his daily intake.


I'm using the hospital grade Medela Symphony 2.0 pump. If I didn't have this pimp I don't know what I would do. My insurance provided a pump and honestly it was complete garbage. I pumped the same amount of time with it that I do the Medela and didn't get anywhere near the ounces amount that I do with the hospital grade pump. I try to pump a minimum of 10-15 minutes each pumping session. I also try to pump a minimum of 10 times in a 24 hour period.

Presley eats anywhere from 30- 37 oz. a day and recently he's went a little higher. We started him slowly on solid foods at almost 6 months old but I still feel milk is really important at this stage and offer him milk before and after the solid feedings. So far he enjoys vegetables and we haven't found a fruit that he really loves. Needless to say breast milk and supplemental formula are still his biggest meals throughout the day. With all of the pumping I do, I get anywhere from 20-24 oz a day. I was producing up to 28 oz a day but my supply has went down some. It's clearly a science.


Recently, I had a health scare and had to go on a steroid and an anti inflammatory. I had to go on them for a seven day period. I had read extensively online that the anti inflammatory passed through the milk and the steroid. I chose not to give him my milk during that time. I just didn't want to take a chance of him getting any of those drugs. Luckily, I had pumped about 10 ounces of milk beforehand and spaced that out with 2 oz a day until I ran out so he got at least some each day. In the meantime, I kept pumping and dumping because I didn't want to lose my milk.


Now that I've been off the medication for a week, my supply has went down to about 20 oz in a 24 hour period. I'm working on trying to get it back up to the normal 24 oz. Again, it's clearly a science.


Is this whole process easy? No... no it's not. Do I want to give up some days? Yes, I sure do. But somehow I keep going. I find the will to keep pumping, to get up at 3 a.m. and do that night pump. To keep pumping at work, on vacations, planning my days around the pump sessions, to freeze it, thaw it, bottle it, etc. I keep going. My goal originally was to get through those first 6 months. Then when I hit the 6 month mark, I decided to keep going. My next goal is 9 months. That'll be November. Since he's still drinking a large amount of milk each day, I'm going to going. I'll re-access again in November but we will be right in the thick of cold and flu season and those antibodies are priceless.


Did you pump? If so, how long did you do it for?