August 2005 Mommies - Working our Way to ONE! We're halfway there!

[namrodda]

Oh Tina you poor thing....rest! Somehow, any how! Rest!

[QPDoll]

We ended up having a great day yesterday, despite the morning flood. I took the boys to the park in the afternoon. Pete had a ball on the swings, Nate preferred to sit on a blanket with a book and enjoy the sunshine. Both took awesome naps that afternoon; and were in fantastic moods the rest of the night! Nate is super clingy, but my DH is home early now and got in some extra cuddle time with him. Then, they both slept all night! In their own cribs!! First time in a week. I have been vigalent about giving Nate something for teething and I think that must have helped. DH ordered delivery last night for dinner and I got to relax and get out of the house for a little bit. :) And bonus, its sunny again today! :) I sense another trip to the park.

Thank you all for your encouragement and support. I looked at yesterday with laughter, what else can ya do? I also took the opportunty to deep clean the bathroom and clean out the vanity - step one of babyproofing.
Two babies actually are getting a lot easier to handle these days, too. Thank you again!

[gmooter]

Tina, glad to hear your day got much better. I also find that fresh air makes Grace sleep so much better for naps. Unfortunately the weather here isn't great yet.

Lori, the pictures are adoreable!

We're heading out to get Grace some new toys soon! She has so few and most are stuffed animals I got at my shower. We haven't bought and toys and she's totally outgrown the Einstin play mat.

My baby has grown up so much in a week. She says "mama", she sits all on her own, and she crawls everywhere!!!!!! What a joy though!:)

[Daniel's Kitty]

So happy your day got better Tina!

[Red'sGirl]

Tina Glad to hear things are going so well.

Is anyone dealing with this? Paricularly the SAHMs, Arrena has become so clingy that I can't be more than an inch away from her or she starts to fuss and cry. Even if DH has her, I can't leave her side. I can't get anything done. Even in her bouncy chair right now, if I'm not looking at her (she's an inch away from me), she starts to fuss. I know she's teething a bit, and I'm trying to understand that. But I can't hold her every minute. When I don't, she's taking to screaming like someone's stabbing her! :eek:

Does this foretell the kind of child I have?! And what do you all do?

[Mickey&B]

Is anyone dealing with this? Paricularly the SAHMs, Arrena has become so clingy that I can't be more than an inch away from her or she starts to fuss and cry. Even if DH has her, I can't leave her side. I can't get anything done. Even in her bouncy chair right now, if I'm not looking at her (she's an inch away from me), she starts to fuss. I know she's teething a bit, and I'm trying to understand that. But I can't hold her every minute. When I don't, she's taking to screaming like someone's stabbing her!

Does this foretell the kind of child I have?! And what do you all do?


YES YES and YES!!!! Aidan does the same thing sometimes I feel like all I do is sit down on the floor all day with him. Don't get me wrong I love playing with him but I also need to get things done. I was talking to a friend of mine a few weeks ago (she also taught with me) and she reminded me that at this age children don't really get the concept of object permance which means that if some thing disappears even for just a moment they don't understand that it still exhists. So when we disappear or even turn our faces away they don't get that we are comming back, if they can't see you (even just your face) they don't know you are still there. Does that make any sense? Another example is when you hide a toy under a blanket they don't look for it because to them out of sight is out of mind.
All that being said in real life there are times you have to step away even if just to go to the bathroom. Here is what I do... and yes sometimes he cries but I have convinced myself that he is okay for just a few minutes. I always tell him "mommy has to go to the bathroom, I'll be right back" or something to that effect sometimes he just fusses and then he's over it sometimes not. When DH is holding him and he starts to fuss and wants me I might say "Your okay your daddy is holding you" like I said it doesn't always work but sometimes even just your voice reassuring them can make a difference. The biggest thing to remember is that just a part of their development and it is something that does pass. I posted a link that might give you a better explanation about this stage of development
http://www.vtaide.com/png/ERIK1.htm

[QPDoll]

Thanks for the link Mickey.

Yes, both are very*very*very clingy right now; although Nate especially is. He wants to be held constantly.

[namrodda]

We've been dealing with the clingy-ness lately too...and I read something neat in the Dr Sears book that seems to make sense. That philosophy is that babies start to get clingy just as they become more independent and on the go like crawling. Its natures way of counteracting the urge to take off...and eventually they learn they can "go" and "come back" and you're still there....so the two things start to happen around the same time, all babies being different of course.

Does anyone else have allergies going crazy right now?...we've had pollen out for a while but I'm dying all of a sudden. I caved and had to take a claritin today even though it has bf-ing warnings. He's hardly nursing anymore...almost self weaning I guess..which I'm having issues with :( When did our babies get so big!!

[Mickey&B]

Your welcome ;) I love this stuff!

and I read something neat in the Dr Sears book that seems to make sense. That philosophy is that babies start to get clingy just as they become more independent and on the go like crawling. Its natures way of counteracting the urge to take off...and eventually they learn they can "go" and "come back" and you're still there....so the two things start to happen around the same time, all babies being different of course.


I had a teacher once tell us to think of it as their way of "re-fueling" they start to walk away or do something on their own and then they come back to you to touch you, look at you ect. This is the reason they always tell you to always say goodbye even if they start to cry because at least they can say goodbye not expect you to be right there vs. getting engaged in something and then turning around to find that you are not there. They become so worried you are not going to be there if they do something else that they *need* to be right by your side to make sure you don't leave without them knowing (this all happening later when they are older of course).

Nope no allergies here but I don't usually suffer from them thank God! That really sucks feel better.

[JillyB]

Clingy Baby - I'm not a SAHM, but we're going through this "phase" too. I think some of our situation has to do with teething too. Example of the clingy baby from last night...Our kitchen is open to our living room. I was in the kitchen fixing dinner, and my hubby was playing with DS in the living room. DS army crawls sooo well now, and he started crawling towards the kitchen (he's all about checking every nook & cranny of the house out, now that he can get into every nook & cranny). He crawled right over to my feet and just cried, until I picked him up. I put back on the floor in the living room with DH, and he immediately started crawling after me, as I went back into the kitchen. It makes me feel "good" that he wants Mommy so much, but it also makes "doing" anything a real chore. :rolleyes:

And everyone's pics are so cute! :)

[Kiley]

Happy Easter!
http://static.flickr.com/37/124687823_a1519fcf40.jpg?v=0

[Daniel's Kitty]

What a cute pic!

Well I have a question. Who likes what pump? I know we have been over this before but I am trying to figure out which one to get when I get my job since the Isis will not cut it for long with the amount of time it takes me. I want something that can do both sides at once since I am hoping that I will not have to supplement too much with formula.

I am happy the cling on is a stage everyone else is facing. Ben thinks mom is the only one who will cut it.

[Kiley]

I have the Medela Pump In Style. I like it (as much as you can like a pump).

[JillyB]

Kiley - How cute is he?!?!? :) Love it!

Kat - I have the Ameda PY. It works well for me...like Kiley said, I like it as much as you can "like" a pump. :rolleyes:

[Mickey&B]

Very cute picture!

Pump I have the Medela PIS (the one with the backpack) and I like it, like Kiley mentioned as much as you can like a pump. I like the backpack cause I can carry it around and no one knows what it is.

[Red'sGirl]

I have the Madela backpack, too. I LOVE IT! :rolleyes: O.K., that's a bit much. But it does the trick well.

Kiley the picture, too cute.

[L-O-V-E]

Ditto on the PIS!

Kiley - LOVE that picture! Adorable!

[MurphysLaw]

WOW! :eek: I haven't been in here in ages. :o I really need to catch up, but for now I just want to say(since I noticed it on the home page):

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Stacy!!

And I can't see back too far for any other pics, but Kiley that pic is adorable!!

Hope everyone is doing well! :D

[kindermom]

I have a Medela PIS and would have purchased an Ameda PY if I had already been given the PIS. I like the fact that the Ameda PY is a closed circuit system. I have had milk back up a few times already in my PIS. The best part, the Ameda PY is cheaper.

[namrodda]

Those of you doing jar food how much are your babies eating at a meal? If a full jar the 2.5 or 4 oz ones? Cereal too?

I'm mostly making Jeb's food now and he's getting two cubes and cereal...probably 3 TBL all together for breakfast and dinner. Sometimes he acts like he's still hungry but I can't tell if he just wants to keep eating because he hasn't realized yet he's full..usually letting him play with his spoon when he's done makes him happy but I want to make sure he's getting enough too. Don't want to disrupt the natural appetite...apestate or whatever its called...LOL....

Also those of you in warm weather areas what are your babies sleeping in? I still want him in one piece things but sometimes I feel like he's too hot at night with long sleeves...so I get the lightest cotton carters stuff I can find. I guess he's ok...its so hard when they can't tell you!

Gotta go buy easter basket stuff...mostly for Kevin. What are you guys getting your babies for Easter?

We're getting our fence built today!! Baxter will be so happy. The sprinkler and sod went in this week. I don't even want to think about how much the backyard has cost and we don't even have furniture out there yet! We need a new grill and lawn mower too...aye yae yae..Yesterday the Blue Angels came for an air show (a must see if you never have and get the chance) so we took Jeb. I gotta find a picture of him with his ear plugs in, he loved the whole thing! Its fun the babies are getting to the age where they like to go do stuff and you can really see it in their faces they are enjoying themselves even if they have no clue whats going on.

Hey Kim!

[QPDoll]

My boys eat a stage 3 jar when we do jars - 6oz, each. For breakfast, they usually eat about 4oz each, plus cereal. Well, I usually do a yogurt (1/2 container for each), plus 3oz each of fruit, plus cereal (I don't measure it). I feed them a bottle first, then solids. I feed them solids until they turn away for it, or visably loose interest by playing with something, not opening their mouth, or not eating as excidely as they had been. Thats my guage anyway. I also give them cheerios and grahm crackers with each meal - because I try to balance feeding both at once, so they get to eat a cheerio in between bites - although they play more with it than they do get them in their mouths. Their forumla consumption has gone down, they loose interest in the bottle after 5 oz or so now. They seem to rather want solids. I also give them a sippy cup of water with meals - Nate hates that, but Pete loves it (gee, what a surprise!).

ETA:
Easter stuff: I got them each a basket - one is a football, one is a baseball. I put big handpuppets in them (look more like stuffed animals) - they each got a chicken puppet that clucks. They also got wind-up chickens that hop. Im going to put a soft cloth book in each, and some bath toys (other than things that just float).

[kindermom]

We make our own baby food as a general rule but right now, in her 3rd month of eating, she will usually eat between .25 and .5 cup of cereal and about .25 cup of fruit or vegetable. Now she will also eat about 12 Cheerios with dinner as well. On the down side, even if we forego meals, she is only drinking about 2 ounces at a time (4 if she is starving). So we are upping her cereal/milk intake as a way to get her to eat more milk!

We got Madelyn a little lined wicker basket. We have cherry Gerber puffs, some floating frogs for the tub, some teething biscuits, and a book or two. My DH is not at all into Easter baskets (doesn't like the over commercialization of the holiday) so I have to limit what I get her.

So Madelyn got over her stomach bug (with the exception of still not eating) and now has a raging head cold which she passed on to both of us.

Two firsts today...
She stood on her own. She actually let go of the couch and stood there for a second or two before she toppled!

She also started to push her push behind walker. She can go the 6 feet between the two sofas in the family room!

Right now, she is also trying to figure out how to climb the stairs. She can get one knee on the first stair, but she can't figure what to do next.

[namrodda]

Thanks for the replies girls. I feel like I'm starving him...but I know all babies are different etc etc. Like when I do jars he's getting one 2.5 oz and about 4 oz of cereal. Hmmm...I guess what I need to work on is less in the bottle he gets upon waking (after a 5 minute nursing session just for kicks) and see if he really wants more and more for breakfast and then cut out that bottle all together. He has such a temper when he wakes up, I hardly have time to get breakfast together!

I guess I'll get some books and stuff for Easter. I tend to buy so much day to day theres hardly anything left he needs. MUST break myself of that habit before he realizes what holidays and getting treats are.

Feeling like a horrible mom today..he's been so crabby I knew his other bottom tooth must be coming anytime...for like the last 4 days. Slabbing it with oragel and trying to help him out....didn't notice the TWO top teeth that came in in the meantime! Poor guy...there's two more right there too. Kevin was on the phone with his mom and said Jeb has 3 teeth and I'm like no he doesn't he has 1! Doh.....so much for them coming in order.

He's working hard on his army crawl, just can't figure out knees yet. But he just rotates, usually counter clockwise...I think one day he'll just figure it out and we'll look over and be like hmm Jeb can crawl....

Yay Madelyn for being so independent! Baby development is so fascinating...

Tina thats funny about alternating bites with the cheerios...might be time to introduce those soon. Jeb YELLS at me if I stop feeding him to take a bite myself. I don't know how ya do it!

[QPDoll]

I feel like I'm starving him...but I know all babies are different etc etc. Like when I do jars he's getting one 2.5 oz and about 4 oz of cereal. Hmmm...I guess what I need to work on is less in the bottle he gets upon waking (after a 5 minute nursing session just for kicks) and see if he really wants more and more for breakfast and then cut out that bottle all together.

alternating bites with the cheerios...might be time to introduce those soon. Jeb YELLS at me if I stop feeding him to take a bite myself. I don't know how ya do it!

Actually, it sounds like you are doing 6.5 oz of solids - do you do cereal every meal? How soon after you do a bottle/bf do you do solids? 6.5 is a really good amount. Is he still hungry after that much? Have you tried cutting back on cereal and introducing two "real" foods? Like, the meals for the boys are usually three things: either 2 fruits and a veggie, or 2 veggies and a fruit, or 2 fruits and a yogurt, etc. I make my own babyfood, so its easy to use just a cube or two at a time, rather than open a bunch of jars for each meal.

I do bottle upon waking, then solids like 1/2 hour later (okay, sometimes an hour later), but like I said, they don't always drink a full bottle. Also, sometimes they get a bottle at 4am, then go back to sleep, and are up at 6:30. I skip another bottle and do solids around 7:30 (however long it takes me to get moving).

Yes, both of mine beat on their trays and yell at me when I don't have the spoon in their mouths. They are learning patience though. I don't eat when they are so they don't have to slow down for me. (feeding two at once is enough!) I give them a mix of "baby trail-mix" that I concocted. Its a mix of regular cheerios, multigrain cheerios, kix cereal, and 4 or 5 different kinds of Puffs - whatever my store happens to have on hand. I keep it in a pour-spout rubbermaid thingy, and just give them a small handfull each meal when Im getting it ready. They like to snack on it and feed themsevles, so often they are trying to shove one in their mouths while Im trying to get the spoon in. LOL Its hilarous. They usually grab a handful (like 3 cheerios) and might end up getting 1 in their mouth. The rest fall down and they try it again. It gives me time to feed the "other one". Plus, its great for eye-hand coordination, learning how to self feed, and learning the pincher grip. Oh, and patience.

My goal is by a year, to have them at a self feeding stage. Thats basically three months from now. My friends whose kids are in daycare, have this goal, because at one year, the kids move into the toddler room and its no more babyfood and such. Its sippy cups and self feeding. Besides, the sooner I get to that stage, the easier it will be on me. I know, I probably rush the whole "independence" thing with them, but its gotten so much easier for them and me now that they *are* getting more independent.

[QPDoll]

QOTD: Bath toys - what do you have? Where do you find them?

I have tons of rubby duckies, but thats it! I looked all over Walmart tonight (Target was closed, and thats it for the stores in my area), but I didn't find any!

[kindermom]

QOTD: Bath Toys: We have...
Several rubber ducks (4 colors plus her temperature duck)
A set of keys/rattle
Scooping plastic frogs
A set of foam/terry cloth floating frogs

The temperature duck is her favorite toy. Go figure!

I understand that bath toys should be sanitizable and not able to harbor water (hence our ducks are bad to have). The purpose of that is to avoid mold/mildew growth. ONce a week we wash her bath toys in the dishwasher.

I want my great sleeper back! Last night she had us up 4 times. I would love to start making her CIO but given her feeding habits (no more than 3 ounces at a time) it seems counter productive to making her gain weight!

[EJH]

QOTD -- Bath Toys

We've got temperature duck that she loves, and since we still bathe her in the kitchen sink (our tub needs to be replumbed, gotta love old houses!), we will just throw in a spatula or measuring cups and she's in heaven. Someone gave us a plastic bath book for Xmas for her but we've yet to give that to her.

We're pretty efficient about baths, at least right now, since I bathe her in the morning before daycare (gotta wash the hair in the morning, otherwise it's frightening, see the new avatar for bedhead). Not a whole lot of "playtime" so she just babbles at the duck for a few minutes and we're done.

Erin :)

[Daniel's Kitty]

Tub Toys Ben has a blue duck and a yellow duck. He thinks the highlight of the after bath time is watching mom shake water out and he tries to help. He also has a teething ring and a baby washcloth.

I have no clue how much Ben eats. (bad mom I know). It is usually about 3 ounces plus some table food. He loves a little bread and maybe a chunk of steak to suck and chew on. He isn't a big eater to often lately since he always wants mom right now. He is more interested in playing with feeding himself those purees and his acuracy isn't that great.

[shellbell516]

bath toys - we've got the temperature duckie, another smaller duck, crab, frog and a cup. She'll play with which ever she finds first.

We're supposed to sanitize bath toys!:eek: Why didn't I already think of this. Now I feel like a bad mommy.

[QPDoll]

I didn't know that either! Makes total sense though.
I never thought about using regular ole household things or regular toys in the bath. :o :rolleyes:

Sleeping issues: Kinder - that totally sucks! Hopefully its just a growth spurt or something and she will be back to sleeping really well for you!
Last night, Pete slept all the way though, but Nate woke up screaming again at 11:00pm (earlier this time than last) and we couldn't get him calmed down until 1:30 am. He slept fitfully all night, so we had him in bed with us. *yawn* So we are off to the ped again, Im really hoping both boys don't have pneumonia.

Kat: you give Ben steak? How does he do with it? Does he just chew on it and then spit it out? The "hardest" thing the boys have had is fruit coctail from a can (those peaches and pears are kinda hard) and until the last day or so, they had just been spitting them out.

[Daniel's Kitty]

Ben will suck and chew on it until it starts to fall apart and then chew on the little shreds or get interested in something else. He loves it, especially tough steak you should have seen him last night sitting on Great Grandmas lap chewing away on his handful. Stuff like that is more so I can eat without help when we are eating away from home and didn't plan on it. I worry about him choking but he chews pureed food now too (this is funny to watch)

[QPDoll]

Pete does the same thing with purees. chomp, chomp, chomp...while making mmmmm sounds. I agree, its hilarous!

[namrodda]

Tina Thanks for all of the feedback. I guess he is getting a lot but maybe it's not that much cereal. I don't know why I haven't started yogurt and meat and all of those other options. I've been real nervous about solids for some reason but he had a biter biscuit last night and loved that, except he got tired and cranky and threw it across the room...then more mad that he didn't have it anymore! Maybe I should just expand his options. We try to feed him at the table when we eat so he gets used to family dinners with Kevin's schedule being sporatic, we want any sort of normalcy possible... my food sits and gets cold usually....haha, used to it now!

Usually upon waking he nurses (small amount left in there) and has a 4-5 oz bottle. And yeah 30 min to an hour later breakfast. Breakfast is cereal and two cubes of fruit (or a 2.5 oz jar roughly). Bottles are irregular after that but usually 28 oz for the rest of the day. Dinner is cereal and two cubes of veggies and if hes wailing another cube of fruit for dessert. He'll ge the occasional grape in his mesh feeder thing, loves that...very messy!

I guess I'm torn because I don't want him to 'grow up' any faster than he needs too and my book (as if they know everything haha) list the 7 month menu as fairly limited. But like you said I need to work on the self feeding and I want to stay "caught up". Another problem we're having is sippy cups. He mostly just wants to chew on it! I'll give him teethers instead and try again and he just goes back to it. We have enough problem getting water in him..I either have to add some formula or more juice than I would like to get him drinking. So sippy cups are hard too...he likes it better without the valve in it but then half of it drips down his front. Anyone have sippy success?? Or what about throwing things off the tray...I don't think he's old enough to know he's doing it on purpose but I can't pick up the cup 400 times a meal. If I hold it for him he pushes my hands away...:mad:

Bath toys We mostly have toy submarines for obvious reasons, but a few ducks and stacking cups....Bright Starts makes a bunch....BRU sells everything but I know you said that wasn't nearby. Tupperware would work well...washcloths, empty plastic bottles...Target does have things if you can get there later.

[Mickey&B]

Foods here is what Aidan eats throughout the day.
He wakes between 3 and 4 and I nurse him, goes back down
up between 6 and 7 for the day, nurse him again
1/2 hr to 1 hr later he gets 1-2 table spoons of some sort of apple sauce either apple berry or apricot apple sauce mixed with 2 oz of formula/or BM and cereal until it's the right consistancy (I don't measure it)
cheerios or puffs or sometimes cut up organic blueberry waffle, and/or some cut up fruit
nurses inbetween every 2 -3 hours
Lunch:
3 cubes (about 3 oz) of veggies
2 cubes of fruit mixed with yogurt
some cut up fruit
some other finger food (pasta, cheese, cheerios, puffs, tofu, rice ect.)
At this point he would much rather have finger foods, except for the yogurt which he loves!!!
also I try to offer water in a sippy with meals but he's just not that interested
Like Tina I would like him to be completly self feeding by a year (I always did this way when I was at work, so it makes sense to me)

Easter
wicker basket
gymboree bubbles (I LOVE these bubbles)
a nubbie ball (from gymboree)
easter eggs (plastic ones)
a stuffed giraffe
Like namrodda I end up getting him so much stuff day to day that he really does not need any more stuff

Bath Toys I alternate them he has the temperature duck and a bunch of other ducks, some floating fish, crab, octopus, and those sassy stacking cups, some floating elephants. Most of the toys I have picked up at BRU when I see them, they usually have a bath toy little section around where they have all the lotions and stuff. I also have a bunch from when I was teaching (I got them from www.Lakeshorelearning.com) that don't hold water but I haven't gotten those out yet. They have this cool water wheel thingy that I have been thinking about getting him. As far as sanitizing them I just let them sit in a bleach and water solution for a little while (kills all the germs, my dishwasher is not the greastest so I don't trust it) also after a bath I hang them in a mesh fish toy holder so that they dry out in between baths, and make sure to squeese out all the water as well. For the record I used all these squirting toys when I was teaching and used the same method mentioned for cleaning and never had an issue with mold.

We had Aidan dedicated at church yesterday pictures comming soon. . .

[Mickey&B]

here are just a few pictures from yesterday
http://images.snapfish.com/346793893%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3249%3E979%3E%3A5%3A%3EWS NRCG%3D3233639598%3B88nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/346793893%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3249%3E979%3E%3A5%3A%3EWS NRCG%3D323363958%3B944nu0mrj

[Red'sGirl]

My child LOVES the Easter Bunny!

http://images.snapfish.com/346795275%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3244%3E493%3E%3A%3B2%3EWS NRCG%3D32336474%3B947%3Cnu0mrj

Of course, no one is like dear old Dad:
http://images.snapfish.com/346795275%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3244%3E493%3E%3A%3B2%3EWS NRCG%3D32336474%3B9484nu0mrj

[gmooter]

Grace loved the Easter Bunny! She was laughing at him and kept looking up at him!
http://images.costcophotocenter.com/346798%3B54%7Ffp6%3Enu%3D3236%3E2%3B4%3E45%3B%3EWS NRCG%3D3232538298374nu0mrj

[Kiley]

Gretchen - most Easter bunnies "scare" me but yours is kind of cute. :) (and since they scare me, no photo w/ the bunny man for P, oh well).

[EJH]

Beautiful pictures everyone!!!

We've got to take Arden to see the Easter Bunny. We better hurry about it too!

Took Arden to the doctor this morning to FINALLY have her 6 month shots (her ped. delayed them because she's been so sick). She also needed a follow-up ear check. Ears look great, shots weren't as bad as the last time and...our pediatrician has left the practice. :( :confused: We are so bummed, we loved this guy. We don't like the office and were only staying for him. So now we're going to try and find him and even if we can't, we'll find a new practice. ETA -- He left because he wanted to be able to refer to more hospitals, this practice just refers to Children's in Boston.

The good news is that A's ears are finally clear...Suprax is now our favorite drug.

And a new picture for good measure.

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e61/GdssLilith/March06082.jpg

Must get some work done. The office that balks and cancels if you walk in 5 minutes late for an appt kept me waiting for 45 minutes this morning, so I was nice and late for work.

Erin

[Kiley]

Erin - OMG, her hair is so long! What a cutie!

[philnikki]

solids - I think we are so far behind you guys!!! Ava has been sick for 9 weeks out of the past 11 and she had refused solids completely up until just a few weeks ago. So, we are going slowly but surely! She eats about 4 ounces of fruit in the mornings, and 4 ounces of a veggie in the evening. I am going to add cereal (oatmeal) next week and reduce the portion of fruit to about 2 ounces. I also plan to add lunch the following week. After she is on three meals for another 2 weeks, she will get to start meats. I also give her a piece of frozen fruit in her mesh teether. She LOVES this. Ava is still all gums so I am still a little nervous giving her anything like cheerios or puffs. I put them in my mouth and it still took a bit to dissolve. She also isn't crawling yet, which makes me beleive that she is a little behind developmentally. She is talking pretty well (well, for a baby...saying mama and dada) so, I guess that is just coming first for her. I am not too concerned :)

Bath Toys Baths are pretty efficient in our world too. But she chews on her rubber ducky the whole time, so we are gonna stick with it until she acts bored with it.

Easter basket Here is a pic of Ava's basket:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c139/philnikki/100_2560.jpg

We are putting new paci's a couple new teethers, and a few other smaller toys in it. She is getting some stuff from my IL's too. Not sure what yet though.


LOVING all of the easter pics!!!!! I cant remember if I posted Ava's or not. Here are a few from our BUnny Ears photo shoot:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c139/philnikki/100_3316.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c139/philnikki/100_3314.jpg

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c139/philnikki/100_3318.jpg

[QPDoll]

solids - I think we are so far behind you guys!!! Ava has been sick for 9 weeks out of the past 11 and she had refused solids completely up until just a few weeks ago. So, we are going slowly but surely! She eats about 4 ounces of fruit in the mornings, and 4 ounces of a veggie in the evening. I am going to add cereal (oatmeal) next week and reduce the portion of fruit to about 2 ounces. I also plan to add lunch the following week. After she is on three meals for another 2 weeks, she will get to start meats. I also give her a piece of frozen fruit in her mesh teether. She LOVES this. Ava is still all gums so I am still a little nervous giving her anything like cheerios or puffs. I put them in my mouth and it still took a bit to dissolve. She also isn't crawling yet, which makes me beleive that she is a little behind developmentally. She is talking pretty well (well, for a baby...saying mama and dada) so, I guess that is just coming first for her. I am not too concerned :)

She doesnt sound behind at all! My boys are not crawling yet either. Pete did for one day, and then decided to forget how. :rolleyes: Nate has no interest, he would rather stand (assisted of course).
Good start with the solids. Its so hard when they are sick. Nate has been sick a lot too, and doesn't eat a lot of solids those days. (Actually, today he wouldn't eat anything).

The first teeth they get are the front ones, those really aren't for chewing - they are for biting. I have noticed that the boys chew with their gums, since they don't have any teeth other than little nubs of their front teeth. they have a really strong "bite" with their gums...youchers!

[Kiley]

Nikki - P "chews" with his gums too although he does have teeth. He chews where his molars would/will be. He's been doing very well with the puffs. I haven't tried Cheerios yet because those make me a little nervous as well, but I'm sure he'd do fine. I love to watch him chew...it's so cute! Okay, everything he does is cute to me! :) I love the basket, where's it from?

bath toys - just the temperature duck since we're in and out as quick as can be.

[kindermom]

We were nervous about Cheerios because our first foray into them lead to her choking! But now, we bite them in half and watch her closely. She loves loves loves them. She prefers the stale Cheerios to the fresh sweet puffs. Odd kid, I know :rolleyes: We found that you have to watch her for storing up the Cheerios in her cheeks. But she does this with everything.

Well, off to get my sweet pea from day care aka my MIL's!

[cc8]

DD turns 8 months on 4/20. Right now her primary nutrition comes from formula. She has 2 solid meals per day (lunch/dinner) and also takes a bottle with those solid meals.

Now for the Qs!

When are you planning on introducing meats?

How will I know DD is ready for finger foods? As it is, she grabs the spoon everytime I try to feed her. And she 'plays' with her sippy cup, puts the correct part in her mouth, etc. I have yet to offer her the cup with liquid in it tho!

Anyone delaying the introduction of WHEAT because it's highly allergenic?- DH and I don't have food allergies but we both had eczema as kids and I have hay fever so we want to delay wheat.

On that note, any recs for non-wheat teething biscuits?


So far DD has eaten:
rice cereal
squash
pears
carrots
sweet potatoes
green beans
peas
banannas
peaches
applesauce

[Red'sGirl]

cc8 It sounds like your baby is ready to try to self-feed. It takes some practice. I still haven't given DD a spoon with any regularity, though when she gets one, she often will put it in her mouth correctly. I give her puffs, though. I've been feeding them to her for a while. Every so often, I put one in front of her to see if she can grab it. Usually, she grabs it, it sticks to her, then she drops it on the floor. Well, this weekend, she got it. Now, she picks them up and puts them in her mouth and chomps away!!!

Give her a chance and see how she does. You'll know if she's ready because she'll just do it. If not, she'll just swing the spoon around (give her her own) or drop a puff on the floor.

We don't plan to introduce meats for a while yet. I figure she doesn't really NEED it, so why? Conventional wisdom says 9 mos (right??), but I will try to delay meat a little longer. Probably until we're back from France - June.

Speaking of which, I'm getting so nervous on how I'm going to handle DD on our trip to France and back. I'm less nervous about once we get there, though that causes me stress too since my boss and I live together in an apt. BUT, I'm starting to have nightmares of her screaming at the top of her lungs on the flight. She's never done it on a plane, though sometimes at night at home she needs to cry for a minute before she's ready to drop off. I literally can't sleep because I'm so worried.

That and AF has tried to come back. Not fully, but she's here. I wonder if I should be more upset that she's back or that she's back but just barely. UGH, I'm a stress monster right now!!!

[hiphopgirl]

I am so far behind. I was in training for a week and now work is really busy - hooray. I know that must sound weird, but I have been so bored for so long. That's why I've been able to post in here and keep up so well.

Anyway, I guess we are bad parents because I don't give Anders any bath toys - unless you count the shower nozzle:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y127/jlormberget/DSC_0002.jpg

I also haven't gotten his picture taken with the Easter bunny yet. I haven't even been by the malls to see if there is one. I'm sure there is. I'm off on Friday so maybe we will do that after his 9 month WBV. Yes, you read that correctly. My little pumpkin is going to be 9 months old tomorrow :eek: How did that happen? Where did the time go?

He just got his first tooth on Saturday. There was no indication it was coming , but after it poked through his gumline he was a little fussy on Sunday and Monday. He's back to his old self again, but sleeping a lot more the last two days. I am NOT complaining. He's also stepped back his eating a little bit. I think he's on the downward cycle of a growth spurt.

QOTD: Who still has babies that are not sttn?

I ask the question because my husband is convinced that we have the only baby that still does not sttn. I'm convinced that there are more of us out there. I'm hoping to point him to this thread to prove that in fact there are other babies that are having a hard time sleeping. Please help me prove my point :)

[Kiley]

QOTD re: STTN - ha ha! We are not STTN. We're in sleep he!! again. He was up almost every hour last night. (normally it's twice and I can count on my hands the number of times he STTN and that was when he was 3mo old.) DH was awesome and got up every time - twice to rock him (one time it worked) and the other times to bring him to me to feed him in bed. We gave him teething tablets, changed his diaper, gave him a pacifer (gee, what a neat toy he thought that was), sucked out his nose (loved that), we even let him CIO for like 15-20 min until I broke down and fed him (I'm weak!). Feeding him is the only thing that works. Except now he's eating like 4-5 times a night! I have like no milk left to pump during the day. Thank goodness for my freezer stash.

We just can't figure it out. We saw the DR on Monday and his ears were fine. Could he have an infection already on Tuesday night? I dunno. Maybe it's teeth. He has a runny nose, some diareah last night, lots of drool and seems to want to suck (I wish this kid took a pacifier!) because seriously how could he be that hungry? Of course, since we were up all night long, none of us wanted to get up and we got to school/work 30 min late. Oh well. Good thing my boss is my dad. :)

And my DH also believes that Preston is the only baby who does this. :)

[LeslieR]

Jeez, my DH doesn't even care that Luke is still not STTN. Hmmm...maybe that's because he's not the one getting up with him?:rolleyes:

Anyway. When we were out of town last week, Luke refused to sleep in the PNP that the hotel provided so I brought him into bed with us. Lo and behold, he STTN every night. Fast forward to Monday, our first night home-him back in his crib and it was back to business as usual...he woke up at 3:30. Last night he woke up at 1:30. I'm considering trying giving him a bottle with water in it when he wakes up in the middle of the night to see if that doesn't nip it in the bud. I'm sure it won't work-my son is far too smart to fall for that trick-but, it's worth a shot.

We haven't taken Luke to see the Easter Bunny, either. We never got around to taking him to see Santa, so why bother with the bunny? I guess next year will be his first year. I am taking him for Easter pictures tomorrow, though at PP. I'm bringing my coupons for free pics. I hope I get out of there spending less than $30!

Kiley, sounds like teething to me!

Janet, that pic of Anders is AWESOME!

[namrodda]

Sounds like teeth to me Kiley...those are all of the symptoms we had before we could see anything white.

[cc8]

Thanks for the tip on starting finger foods, Red's Girl! Someone posted in my LJ that she thought we were supposed to wait until DC starts crawling, but I think DD is ready (grabbing, etc etc).

STTN
I hope I don't jix myself, but DD has been consistently STTN for about 13 days now. Prior to this STTN miracle, she'd go down between 7-8pm, get up at 11pm-12am to eat and stay down until 5-6am. But we had to replace paci 2-3 times on a good night; 5-6 times on a bad night.

Well we decided (with our ped's counsel) that it was time to cut the night feeding. We also no longer replace paci. We went cold turkey. On day/night #3 of this experiment, she STTNed. Even now, *if* she does wake during the night, she'll fall right back asleep after 3-4 minutes of talking or wimpering. I hope this continues!

If I had to do it all over again, assuming DD is healthy (ie not sick), I'd cut the night feeding at 4-5months. (Again assuming perfect health, weight, etc). We had unknowingly trained DD to become an "institutional night feeder" - she was getting up out of habit, not necessarily to really eat.

[Kiley]

Okay, teeth it is then! :) I wonder which ones he's getting since he has six already! :eek:

cc8 - how did you do it? Want to train DS? :)

[cc8]

Kiley - we had a pretty straightforward, cold turkey approach. We fed DD a good dinner (6oz bottle + a solid) around 6pm-ish. Put her down for bed between7-8pm. When she *did* wake up crying around 2-3am the first night or two we ignored her. Yes - that is right *ignored*. It was extremely hard to do and DH really wanted to rush into DD's room but I forced him to stay put. :D That was it. DD's crying periods gradually got shorter and shorter...she learned to self-soothe.

That's pretty much it. Listening to the crying is awful but I knew it was necessary to get DD 'with the program' so to speak. The biggest contributing factor to why the program worked was consistency and also that DD was not really hungry in the middle of the night - she was just waking out of habit.

A friend of ours suggested a gradual approach (ie feed DD 3 oz, the decrease to 2, 1, 0 for example), but I decided against the gradual method since I've read mixed reviews regarding its sucess rate.

Good luck!

[QPDoll]

Me too Kiley - same symptoms the boys had right before a tooth broke through.

STTN? Hahaha...define "night". They seem to think 3:30-4:30 is the perfect wake-up time. Of course, thats when my DH is getting up for work...so convienient that he can't even get a bottle ready these days.
My family also thinks we have the only babies who aren't STTN at this age. Or the only babies who don't hold their own bottles.

[hiphopgirl]

cc8 - Congratulations on sttn. What happens when the CIO method doesn't work? We tried it for 2 weeks solid and he sttn once and then went right back to waking up. I also wonder what happens when your child doesn't want to eat at bedtime. Sometimes he just isn't hungry. Grrr. I feel like I have tried it all. I was actually willing to try CIO, but I've heard it doesn't work for everyone, and it looks like ours is one of the ones it doesn't work for. :(

Tina - Anders doesn't hold his own bottle either. Well, he can, but then he just plays with it. He still hasn't quite mastered the art of tipping the bottle back to actually get fluid from it. We have the same problem with the sippy cup. Goofball. I sure hope he figures it out at some point.

[kindermom]

STTN: Ha. I laugh at the thought. We had a great sleeper for the first 4 months. Then it all went down hill. Since she got sick about 4 weeks ago, she has regularly woken up 3-4 times a night. I am a wreck right now. I am on the fence for cold-turkey. I really want to because I hear it works and I know that she does not need to wake up (because she used to STTN). But I am not sure if she is getting enough to drink and so I do not want to deny her food.

Which brings me to another QOTD:
How much is your child drinking now that they are on solids? I am concerend that Madelyn is not getting enough. My ped is not concerned about her intake. But I am and I can not find anything showing how much they should drink once they are on solids!

[QPDoll]

Mine have cut back on the bottle too. They would rather have food. They quickly lose interest when I give them a bottle, even if its before solids.

They usually drink about 4-5 ounces, 4 times a day. I also give them sippy cups with water at all their meals. Nate wont drink from a cup yet, but Pete loves it (go figure, Pete? Like something that he can eat or drink? Wow, what a surprise).

[Red'sGirl]

drinking DD never refuses the breast, no matter how much solid food we feed (we give solids first). We also give her water at every meal. She tends to be constipated (or she just has very dry poops), so we try to keep her hydrated.

weight I weighed Arrena today (I stepped on the scale by myself - fainted, the awakened and weighed myself with her). She seems to still be only 15lbs! She was 15.2lbs at her 6 mos. WBV (50%), and she doesn't seem to be much more than that now. She eats a lot(!) and doesn't seem skinny (she was 26 inches then - 75%, and seems longer now), but should I be worried about her weight? Should I talk with the doctor about it?

[Kiley]

Darrien - I wouldn't put too much stock into weighing her at home unless you have a very accurate scale. I always weigh less on my home scale then I do at the DR's office (go figure, huh?). Plus two different scales could be calibrated differently. If you are really concerned, call the DR, I'm sure they'd weigh her for you.

drinking - he has not cut back on his intake, if anything it's increased due to the night wakings.

[EJH]

QOTD -- How much is DC drinking now that they are eating solids?

Arden nurses in the morning before we leave for daycare. She takes in between 16 and 20oz of milk while at daycare. Then nurses once or twice when we get home. Some days she takes in less than others, just depends. Especially if MIL watches her, then she doesn't get as much milk because milk just isn't as "fun" to feed her. :rolleyes:

[alex67]

Just checking in. I am so far behind in here. Lots going on, details in my journal. Trenton finally broke his first tooth last weekend. He isn't fussy or drooley though. He had pics tonight at Sears. Liked them better than Penney's but still just ok. Here is the proof of one cute one, more in journal.

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b315/alex6789/Spring06_2.jpg

Hopefully I can devote some time this week to catching up in here. I hate getting behind.

[Mickey&B]

STTN Aidan goes down around 7pm and then he usually wakes around 4 or 5 to nurse (sometimes as early as 3) but then goes right back to sleep until 6:30 or 7 (7:15 today yeah I got to sleep in 15 extra minutes :p ). In my opinion he STTN but I would love it when he goes till 7 without waking up. I told that to my DH the other night and he laughed and said "now your being greedy remember when you were so excited about 4 hours?" :rolleyes: Yeah I don't see him getting up at 4 am!

Kiley my guess would be teething too, Aidan did the same thing but oh my gosh 6 teeth :eek:

We officially have a crawler! it's still just the army crawl but he is getting so good at it the other day I left the room for a few minutes when I returned he was no where to be found I had to follow the coos to find him happy as a clam in kitchen! I guess baby gates go up this weekend.

Alex Trenton is a doll!!
Janet He looks like he is having so much fun I'd say that is the best toy!

QOTH Aidan had gone from eating every 1 1/2 to 2 hours to nursing every 3 hours, I assume he gets at least 4 oz every time, so I figure he is getting give or take 24 oz a day. He did drop from the 95th % to the 50th % at his 6 WBV and so they asked to see him again at the end of this month (8 months) to make sure he didn't drop anymore IMO at 18lbs I probably shouldn't be concered ;) .
Darrien as long as she seems content after a feeding I wouldn't worry to much about it, your ped will let you know if she is concered about her weight gain.

Tip for cheerios I used to soak the cheerios in water for a second or two to get them a little softer for those children that were having a harder time with new textures and to ease nervous mommies.

[namrodda]

ooh good idea on the cheerios! I was going to get jebbers a small box for his easter basket...

I've been daring lately and given him some bagel pieces and a chunk of my bread at dinner and some pieces of soft soft fruit....he chomps on them like he's been doing it forever, no choking....go figure after I worry about it so much....

drinking after solids...well I think he's getting about 28 oz plus the little bits of water/juice I can get into him....but solids only twice a day so far

we are definitely sttn, thank goodness...at least 2 weeks straight now, even with the teeth. I wish I could come up with a reason other than Kevin LOVES to sleep (as a child his mom said he would PUT HIMSELF to bed at 8) and Jeb is his daddy's boy. He goes from 8-7:30 or 9-8:30 depending on when I get him there.

we are definitely not holding our bottle. I left one of just water with him in the car today because we were both hot hoping maybe he'd figure it out on the drive home....nope, pants soaking wet, baby still thirsty...

so the reason we were hot was we tried out our local Stroller Strides today...kicked my butt! I'm so out of shape...every muscle is yelling at me. Other than feeling like boot camp it was really fun and the moms were nice and chatty...they do lots of play groups too. I would say it was more excercise than strolling but I guess thats good. If I can keep with it maybe some old clothes will fit again. I can't figure out why it cost so much...they provide an instructor for an hour and tubing which they collect at the end...so $10/class seems a bit much. Or $50 for the month...thats the same as a gym membership....any insight? Jeb LOVED it...watching the other babies, being outside...watching his mom jump around like a hooligan...and being the only boy among about 18 girls didn't hurt either ;)

[QPDoll]

I wondered why it cost so much too. What do yall do other than walk with strollers?

[EJH]

Arden said Mama this morning :D :D . Twice!

Big day for her, they're moving her up a classroom at daycare too. My baby's growing up!!!

Must get to work but just had to share.

Erin

[JillyB]

We finally have some teefers! Yep, his bottom 2 broke through on Monday.

QOTD - DS nurses in the morning, has three 5 oz bottles at daycare, and nurses 2 more times before bedtime. He had been consistently waking up between 2:00-3:00 to nurse, but he's STTN the last couple of days! Woohoo! :D I'm thinking some of his night waking was due to the teething, but who knows (he wouldn't tell me when I asked him ;) )! We've been doing solids 3 times a day for about 2 months now, and his milk intake really hasn't went down. That said...

Darrien - I was starting to get concerned with DS's milk intake at daycare a little while back, b/c he went through a period where he would only drink about 10 oz or so. We were also doing solids before nursing/bottle, but we just recently switched to nursing/bottle first. DS seems to drink more now (back up to "normal"), so switching the order of what we offered first, has really seemed to work for us.

I've also thought that DS seems "skinner" these days. That coupled with his period of drinking less than all of the bottles that I send to daycare, I was starting to get a little worried about his eating. But Landen’s SOOOO active and crawls everywhere. He’s constantly on the move, and I think his increase in activity has lead to him shedding a few of his rolls…although I really miss his chubs! Anyone else with a crawler think their DC seems “thinner”? And he's started pulling up too! They grow up too fast!

EJH - First words! How great is that?!?! And twice, huh? Once for each of you! ;) Such a little smarty you have! And I'm jealous of the "talkers". Oh well...in due time.

Oh, Easter pic in my LJ...if anyone's interested in checking out the sad little boy with the baby ducks! :p Happy Easter everyone!

[namrodda]

Congrats Erin! I can't wait to hear that!

Tina...you walk and about every 50 yards stop and do some sort of excercise...mostly with tubing (ya know with handles at the end) but using a lot of the "environment"....benches, hills, playground equipment....so they provide tubing and an instructor. Instead of counting reps you sing kid songs to the babies. You provide your own stroller, water, mat for abs...so I'm not sure what you're paying for...the joy of being in a group?! I dunno...I guess the instructors get paid well.

[hiphopgirl]

Erin - what a big day! Congratulations on her first word. How exciting.

Mickey - Thanks. He's a big fan of bathtime. It never occured to me that he might need a toy. I have a feeling he'd ignore it in favor of the shower head even if I did give him one.

QOTD - I have no earthly idea. It is never the same two days in a row. I swear this kid is on his own schedule for everything. The only constant is that I feed him in the am and at bedtime. Everything else is variable. :rolleyes:

I am also noticing that he looks "skinnier" although you can't tell in that tub picture. He just doesn't have as many rolls as he used to. He has been eating less at daycare lately and when he isn't crawling he's pulling himself up on everything. I think all that exercise is slimming him up a little. I'll find out for sure at the doc's tomorrow.

[Mickey&B]

Jillyb I am not friended on your live journal so I can't see pics :( I'm Mickey_and_b over there.

I have noticed that Aidan is looking thinner now that he is moving everywhere. I'm not the only one who has noticed either, my family kept commenting on if he was eating enough because he looked so skinny I guess they were used to seeing such a little chunker and now that he is longer he does look thinner. But the kid eats like a horse!

[philnikki]

Mickey - I need to friend you too on lj!! I am the same username over there!

teeth - no teeth yet for Ava.

crawling still not crawling either!

She does say mama and dada though :) Its awesome! Although she seems to only call for me when she is really pee o'd. Nice ;) lol

Janet What a CUTIE!!!! And we have the same tub!

Alex ADORABLE pic of Trenton!!

Erin - Awwwwwwww!!! Isn't it AWESOME?!?! Yay for Arden!!!!

holdin bottles - Ava can do this! She has been holding her own bottle (when she wants to of course) since December.

[JillyB]

Mickey - I just "friended" you! :) If I've missed anyone else, just let me know!

so.hard.to.work.today. It's absolutely b-e-a-uuuuu-ti-ful outside!!! Sunny and in the 70s!!! I just want to go steal Landen away from daycare and go to the park!

[gmooter]

Grace hates the GRASS!! Can you believe that!! She loves the outdoors and it's got to be at least 70 degrees outside today. So, I figured we'd get a little fresh air before her afternoon nap. I sat in the grass and tried to set her in it and she SCREAMED!! I couldn't get her to touch it or anything!!

teeth still only have the bottom 2!

crawling Grace started army crawling about a month ago and has been "real" crawling for about 2 weeks!

food Grace has a 5oz morning bottle and then some cereal and fruit. At around 11am she has a 6oz bottle and some fruit or veggies. At around 4pm she has a 6oz bottle and some veggies and meat. Then she takes a 7-8oz bottle before bed around 7pm.

sleep She goes to bed around 8pm and sleeps until 7am.

holding bottle It seems like she had more interest in this 3 months ago. She totally wants me to hold it.

talking/babble She can say mamama and dadada but I don't think she knows what she's saying. She also says blah blah blah a lot!!

Alex, adoreable picture of Trenton!!

[EJH]

Thanks for all the congrats :) . A very nice moment to our harried, hurried mornings.

And the latest and greatest...conjunctivitis. Again. I'm so sick of her getting sick!! She wasn't healthy but 2 days!! I wish we had some option besides daycare. I know this happens for the first year but man, it's really ridiculous!!!

DP's boss told her to take tomorrow off as long as she could do a couple of things from home. So that's wonderful news. Most wonderful is that I can avoid MIL now until Sunday. :D :D :D


teeth -- two bottom...think she's working on the top ones though.

crawling -- no crawling here. she's mobile in her own really weird way, i think she crawls in secret in her crib, this kid.

sleep -- goes to bed around 8 and most mornings we're waking her up at 6:20 for the day. Tues/Wed of this week she woke up screaming at 4:30, and it as tough to get her back down. So not like her.

holding bottle -- she does this. and she feeds herself with her spoon. although if she's super hungry she knows it's much more efficient to just let me feed her.

talking -- she's been babbling forEVER, she's such a "chatty" baby, but the actual intelligible word was this morning. Do your babies grunt? The kid is always grunting -- apparently it's her opinion of the world.

Trenton is so cute!

Ok, leaving work early to take the dog for her vaccines. How do I get stuck being the one taking the human kid and the furkids for their shots???

Erin

[Mickey&B]

I've been inspired by all the beautiful Easter pictures and sinse it's stinking hot today I decided to take some of my own outside!
Hoppy Easter Everyone
http://images.snapfish.com/3467%3B%3A5%3A8%7Ffp346%3Enu%3D3249%3E979%3E%3A5%3 A%3EWSNRCG%3D323364927%3B355nu0mrj

[Red'sGirl]

We now have a crawling baby!!! She's not exactly speedy, but she's crawling. I'm so proud. :) She can only move her knees well - once it comes to the arms moving forward, she can do one, then the other makes her fall on her face. Still, progress.

Speaking of progress, we're getting closer to finding a daycare for DD. I have a meeting with one "in home" tomorrow, but she's sounds a little elderly. My girl might be too much for her. But there's an agency that I called and they listed all the daycares in my area. While they're pretty much all in home, the agency has their license #'s and makes visits. I should be able to find something from the number they gave me.

Today, I had a lunch meeting, so Arrena went to a friends for a couple of hours. Not only did she NOT cry or scream, but she enjoyed herself. My friend even mentioned that she thinks Arrena says a word. It's "Hey!", but we've heard it many times. In the grocery store, she said it to a man clear as day, he even answered her. I just thought it was an utterance, but my friend says she said it directly to her and her two daughters in a way that she thinks its a word. Woohoo! And OMG! :eek: She's growing up!

Aidan looks too cute! He looks like he's wondering what he's supposed to do with this oval thing.

Erin Congratulations on Arden's first word!!! Will you and DP pick differing names, or just let Arden make the distinction?

[Mickey&B]

Yeah for all of our crawling babies!!!

Darrien Good luck on the daycare thing! My family just bought another house in Culver City and my Aunt is going to open a daycare center I am excited that Aidan will have a place to go soon, also I am probably going to be helping her set it up so that should be fun. To bad it's not ready yet our kiddos could be day care buddies :)

[QPDoll]

Im totally loving these pictures, I need to take new ones now. LOL I even just went out and bought those bunny ears. LOL :D

I have been busy cleaning out the bassinet that we still have up sitting next to the changing table. I throw all their outgrown clothes into it and its overflowing. I have been busy snapping snaps, buttoning buttons and folding clothes and tonight I boxed them all up. I had planned on sending them all to consignment shop. But. Its harder than I thought. I really just want to send it all away? All their baby things? They are so tiny. I look at each one and think of those days that seem so long ago although they were just yesterday, weren't they? DH doesn't want any more children, this pregnancy was a bit much, he is scared of twins or higher-order multiples, and of course we would have to move to a bigger house, and he doesn't want any child to be the "odd man out" like he was in his family. I thought I agreed with him. But now. I don't know. I never thought I would say it, but I kind of want another ONE. I want to have a normal pregnancy. I want to give birth again. I want to have a precious newborn. I want to have more than one First Birthday, First Christmas, one HS Graduation. Its selfish of me though. I mean, I do have two beautiful boys - just because they came as a pair, doesn't negate that there are TWO of them - individuals, if that makes sense. *sigh* I don't know.

Anyway, the point of this is: what are you doing with out-grown baby clothes?

[alex67]

what are you doing with out-grown baby clothes?
Right now I'm just storing them in one of those large plastic containers along with some other keepsakes of his. I have a coworker who is expecting in Sept and if they end up with a boy I will offer them many of his outgrown clothes. If not, then I will donate them to good-will. Any items of sentimental value I will keep in the plastic bin so I can cry over them one day. :)

[kindermom]

I have my clothes sorted by size and I am storing them in bins in my attic. I am either throwing out or donating clothes that are not in good repair. We have so many clothes that are in good shape that it would seem to be a shame to get rid of them when we are expecting to have at least 1 more child (and most likely 2)!

BTW, I love the pics. It is amazing to see how big our children are getting. You can totally tell how they are going to look when they are big. So cool.

Madelyn is totally thinning out. I am glad to hear it is not just us. I thought that it was because she is not eating well and has been ill. Maybe I will worry a little less about her!

Good luck on the day care hunts ladies.

[Mickey&B]

what are you doing with out-grown baby clothes?

for right now they are going in plastic bins, some of the stuff I have passed on to my SIL who had a baby in Feb. We are on the fence about having another one and I just can't bear to get rid of it all yet.

[Red'sGirl]

Yeah for all of our crawling babies!!!

Darrien Good luck on the daycare thing! My family just bought another house in Culver City and my Aunt is going to open a daycare center I am excited that Aidan will have a place to go soon, also I am probably going to be helping her set it up so that should be fun. To bad it's not ready yet our kiddos could be day care buddies :)

When will the daycare be open?? I'm undecided if I want DD to start ASAP (good for job), or in June (good for wallet). Mainly because we are going to San Fran next week for a long weekend, then the week after, it's a week vacation to Phoenix. When we're back, it's basically May, and she'll be with me in France from May 15th until May 25th - so she wouldn't be back in care until after Memorial Day. I would have to pay for almost 3 weeks of the next 5 that she won't be there for.

Would love for her to be at a daycare with people who we like - even if we've never really "met". :)

[namrodda]

Where are you guys finding these precious bunny ears!? I never did see any...guess it would be pointless now. We're back in VA for the weekend and Jeb's going to see the bunny tomorrow...fingers crossed we're not cranky, the bunny isn't scary and the line isn't out the door!

baby clothes We are definitely planning on more kids but not right away and who knows if there would be another boy. Like most of you I'm giving away 'worn' or stuff I never liked too much and packing up most of it according to size. I get so sentimental about it all too...so tiny. I feel for you Tina, I would have a real hard time with that aspect of twins....at least you have double the joy in so many other areas!! We have a lot of yellow stuff so hopefully a lot could be used for a girl anyway. With my luck I'll have all boys, all like their trouble making father....getting on my last nerve lately!

Darrien I thought of a couple things to tell you about your flight to France since you're so worried...1, don't be afraid to stuff a bottle in her more than normal if she'll take it...one day won't throw off her appetite...2, don't be afraid to lock yourself in the bathroom if she is screaming for a few minutes...its gross but you at least feel alone, those overseas planes are so big there are lots and lots of them and the passengers will appreciate it in the long run if the sound is muffled and...3, my ped said it would be acceptable to give him benadryl to knock him out for one night if neccessary...I don't know if such a thing exists for infants but I ended up with some cough stuff that makes them drowsy...didn't need it but peace of mind.

[QPDoll]

Where are you guys finding these precious bunny ears!?

my ped said it would be acceptable to give him benadryl to knock him out for one night if neccessary...I don't know if such a thing exists for infants but I ended up with some cough stuff that makes them drowsy

I found bunny ears at Walgreens, I have been out looking anywhere else.

The pharmacist said its okay to use regular childrens benadryl, tell them the weight of your DC and they will tell you the proper dosage to use. In my boys' case, its .4ml, they are apx 23lbs.

[LeslieR]

We've given Luke children's Benadryl several times. Love that stuff!:p

[Mickey&B]

Originally Posted by namrodda
Where are you guys finding these precious bunny ears!?


I actually found ours at the zoo last week., hadn't seen them anywhere else.

Darrien I wish I new when it was going to be ready, we are hoping that she could get started as early as June, but I can't say for sure. The house needs a little work and they don't close escrow until May something, and we are just getting started on the licensing who knows how long that will take.

Happy Easter everyone!!

[EJH]

Erin Congratulations on Arden's first word!!! Will you and DP pick differing names, or just let Arden make the distinction?

DP is Mama and I'm Mommy. We'll see what Arden does though. :) We just figured that Dora's Italian and shortened her mom to "ma" so this just made sense.

Outgrown baby clothes -- Well, they have currently taken over A's pack n play. I tried listing a bunch on ebay but no one came close to what i was asking. Wasn't asking a huge amount, but we have a lot of nice things with tags that I wasn't listing for 1 or 2 bucks, ya know?

We've saved some of our favorites, but Arden is likely an only child so it's just for the heck of it.

We had to go to the mall today for SIL's birthday gift and planned to take A to the Easter Bunny. We parked near Sear's and just happened to walk in right next to the picture studio, they had an opening and took her right then, we skipped the bunny because the line was just too long. And he was too creepy. :p Arden was so, so good today. It ended up being a long day at the mall.

We've got her Easter basket all together now, she's getting a Leap Frog drum, two new sippy cups, a new teether and a Care Bear.

Hope everyone is having a lovely holiday weekend!!

Erin :D

[Red'sGirl]

Dh and I (and Arrena, of course) checked out our first daycare in the neighborhood. I found her in the yellow pages, and when I called, she sounded a little elderly - but I figured I'd check it out.

It was awful. When we walked up, there was a dog in the backyard. Not a pitbull, but a big, predatory type all the same. Inside, it was cluttered and dirty. There was a helper there, and one child - a 3 yr old who was her grandchild(?). Turns out, she had no other children. The house was junky. She was old, hard of hearing, and had arthritis. Uh.......no. Not with our baby. We stayed long enough to be polite.

So I have a long list of others, that came from a government(?) agency called Pathways. They listed a bunch in my neighborhood that were licensed and that they watch over. So I don't think I'll have any trouble finding one, but we leave for San Fran next Thursday, and then we're on vacation all of the week after, so when will I do it?? Ugh. Timing is everything.

[cc8]

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. Friday was a brokerage holiday so I had a nice 3 day weekend :) We celebrated Easter yesterday - awesome church service followed by a relatively mellow time at home.

DD was pretty fussy yesterday; I suspected an ear infection (long story but she had an ear infection last month. I had thought her fussiness had been due to teething...). DH took DD to the ped today: ANOTHER ear infection. :(

Have your DCs gotten repeat ear infections? This is DD's 2nd dx in the last 2 months. I know ear infections are very common in infants/kids under 2 years of age....I wish there were something I could do to prevent them. (DD is in daycare and other than 3 bad colds or so, she hasn't been constantly or consistently sick...)

[cc8]

Red's Girl - sorry about the dismal daycare situations you've seen so far. There has got to be a better situation though. Hope you are having better luck today!

[EJH]

Have your DCs gotten repeat ear infections? This is DD's 2nd dx in the last 2 months. I know ear infections are very common in infants/kids under 2 years of age....I wish there were something I could do to prevent them. (DD is in daycare and other than 3 bad colds or so, she hasn't been constantly or consistently sick...)

Arden had an ear infection at Xmas and then just recently had a double ear infection that took 2 weeks and 2 types of meds to kick completely. She's been sick constantly since she started daycare. We are lucky to get a few healthy days out of her. I just got a call from DP that Arden's got a fever of 101. She's teething, but that seems high for teething, doesn't it? If she's got a fever in the morning I may run her in for sick hours before work tomorrow.

[hiphopgirl]

cc8 - your question is well-timed. Anders just got his first ear infection this weekend. I'm surprised it took this long, to be honest. Almost everyone I know whose child is in daycare has had at least 2-3 by this time. One of the sucky consequences of being in a day care I guess.

Damien - Yikes! That sounds horrid. I saw my fair share of horrid daycares in my search for the perfect one. Good luck. It is HARD!

I hope you all had a Happy Easter, or Passover or whatever it is that you celebrate at this time of year. Anders just got diagnosed with an ear infection and then the next day he got a fever and by Sunday it was a high fever (104 degrees). Needless to say our weekend wasn't as great as I had hoped. Despite the fact that he was feeling poorly, we got a pretty good easter bunny picture. I posted it in my LJ, but I love it so much I just had to post it over here too:
http://www.calesota.com/images/misc6/easter.jpg
Those were real bunnies. It was quite an ordeal to get this picture, but I think it turned out really well. I love how both bunnies are facing the camera like they were posed that way.

[QPDoll]

Adorable pic of Anders! I so wish I knew of things liek that around here. Our bunny pic was a complete rip-off.

Ear infections. Yes, Pete and Nate have had them constantly for what seems like forever. They started meds again, about 7 days ago - this time they are on amoxacillian and numbing ear drops. Such happier babies with the numbing drops! We have a follow up appointment again in a few days, but they are still tugging at their ears like crazy, so Im betting they are still infected.
We are no longer bathing them laying down to avoid water in their ears, they wear hoods that cover their ears when they go outside, and they never drink a bottle without having their heads inclide.

[kindermom]

A quick drive-by posting...We are working on getting Madelyn to sleep through the night. Since last Thursday, she had one complete night's sleep and the remaining nights she woke but put herself back to sleep within 5 minutes! Hooray.

Thanks for sharing your picks everyone. I am loving them!

[Kiley]

Preston has had one single ear infection and just recently a double ear infection so far.

Nothing too new going on here. Well, we've had a few funerals and my grandma is having open heart surgery today but that's all.

[Daniel's Kitty]

As far as I know we haven't had any ear infections, and if he is cranky I can find the swollen spot in his mouth or he is way over tired.

http://images.snapfish.com/34685%3A635%7Ffp33%3B%3Enu%3D3262%3E8%3C6%3E275%3E WSNRCG%3D323365%3A%3A79483nu0mrj
What toy to play with?

http://images.snapfish.com/34685%3A635%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3262%3E8%3C6%3E275%3EWS NRCG%3D323365%3A%3A83449nu0mrj
This one tastes good.
Now to post more in my CC journal

[Mickey&B]

Thank goodness no ear infections here, as Kat mentioned we have enough to deal with with these darn teeth :( can't they all just come in already!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Ours was full we went to my mom's for a family bbq and boy have I had enough of my family. They are just the traditional Latin family where you know I can't do anything right with my child, either he is too hot, too cold, hungry, or I'm feeding him too much, they tell me I should be feeding him this or that, they tell me about all the other kids they know that are eating certain things things. Then when they see me feeding him cubes of sweet potatoe they tell me I am feeding him chunks that are too big!! Ohh my God I am so glad my DH can't understand half the things they say (by they I mostly mean my grandmother) she means well but OHH MY GOD!! I had to hold my tongue so many times. I mean the fact that I have a degree in child development plus the fact that I have worked with children for over 10 years might let them know I "kinda" know what I am doing ;) anyway enough about that!

someone a few pages back mentioned that they were looking for teething biscuits without wheat. Aidan got some in one of his Easter baskets (yes I said one of them my family went buck wild) anyway they are wheat, soy and Dairy free and Organic they are made by Healthy Times and my Aunt said she got them at Whole Foods which is a health food store in our area.

Also Aidan got some really cute shoes from See Kai Run oh my God they are adorable so I thought I would pass on the website! www.seekairun.com

[QPDoll]

Kiley, Im so sorry to hear of your losses, and best wishes to a speedy recovery to your Grandma today!

Kat: ADORABLE!!!!

Mickey: I found Shoes along the same lines from http://preschoolians.com, with a much larger selection. Awesome shoes, great for growing/developing feet, excellent customer service. Sorry your family was being a PITA!

[QPDoll]

Easter for us was :shurgs: ehe. Okay.
I was sick: chills, fever, vomiting, really achy, sore back and dead tired. Still, we went to our families celebrations so we wouldn't have our absence being lorded over us for the next 50 years.
My family was great. We walk in, the boys go to family and we have our hands free. The boys participated in their first egg hung (they sat in the lawn with a basket chewed on a plastic egg that was in their basket).
We spent 2 hours there, then we loaded up the boys and drove 2 hours North to DHs family. His mom wouldn't hold either of the boys because she was "too tired", wouldn't interact with them at all (too busy drinking wine). DH is just seethingly pissed, said this is the last time this will happen, its our last G2G with them. They make comments about how our boys do not know them, well, whose fault is that but their own? Its a 2-way street, last time I checked. And she always compares the boys to her friggen CATS. I say something like "the boys have started doing [whatever]", and she always replies, "my cats do that too". $^&%^&#

So, his brother, SIL, and their children are coming to our house for the 4th of July. LMAO The kept asking us about fireworks from our house, then just came out and said...so can we invite ourselves to your house instead of coming here? LMAO They don't like MIL either. LMAO Im so glad its not just me. Finally.

ETA:
Oh! Then when DH came home from work yesterday, we took the boys out into the yard and had our own Easter with them. They got a few books, duck puppets that quack, and yes...a chocolate bunny. I know, I know, this goes *completely* against some of your guys' more strictest parenting rules, but its something we feel thats all in moderation. We let them have a taste and then that was the end of it. They made a mess, we got a cute picture, all is well. LOL

Rather than take up space here, and my time posting them, DH has them on our website:
April section -- http://tinaandtravis.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.ShowItem&g2_itemId=8570

and I finally got a couple uploaded to LJ.

[Red'sGirl]

No worries, Tina. A taste of chocolate doesn't make you a bad mom. :) I, however, am a terrible mom because, although we went to church and she looked cute, we really didn't "celebrate" Easter. We dressed her in a dress we already owned, and after church, we just went to my sister's for dinner. No basket, no ears, no nothin'. We figured that this was our only year that she won't know that baskets of goodies are customary. She did get her picture with the Easter Bunny (picture is back a few pages) and she really couldn't have cared less. That's my girl! haha

I checked out another daycare today. This one is two blocks away, ON MY STREET. She's a youngish woman (probably older than most of you, but younger than me) and her mother helps out (mother lives in upstairs duplex). It was nice, small, and Arrena seemed to like her. They both held her, and she played with blocks, etc. She also feeds breakfast and lunch.

So, I'm going to keep looking around, but so far, I like this one. I have her license #, and will check with the licensing office to see if they've ever had a claim against them.

[Mickey&B]

I love those shoes!!! and those of you with boys know how hard it is too find cute stuff for boys.

Tina the pictures of the boys are so cute with the chocolate bunny, I'll admit that Aidan got a chocolate bunny but I wasn't brave enough to let him eat it mostly because I didn't want to change his clothes :p
here are a few pictures of my little guy with all his loot
http://images.snapfish.com/34686423%3B%7Ffp342%3Enu%3D3249%3E979%3E%3A5%3A%3E WSNRCG%3D323366869%3A86%3Bnu0mrj

[EJH]

Hi everyone,

Kiley, I'm sorry for your losses. I hope your grandmother's surgery went well.

QPDoll, sorry to hear you weren't feeling well on Easter!! The boys look absolutely adorable in their little Easter outfits!!

Loving everyone's pics.

Mickey&B -- I'm right there with you on the family thing. DP's family (read: MIL) is insane. We can do nothing right with Arden. Ever. She tried to tell us what to do from the moment we walked in.

Just makes us dread holidays because they are so, so stressful (and expensive!! even Easter!!) Arden is teething and not sleeping well at all, so it just made the day that much tougher.

Everyone had something to say about our parenting including DP's aunt who said to us "I hope you put as much into her college fund as you do into her wardrobe." :rolleyes: Yep, she's dressed cute. And we never pay more than $8 for an outfit for the most part, I'm a serious bargain hunter. Not that it's her business.

We just sort of want to disappear on holidays from now on.

QOTD -- Tantrums. Are any of your kids doing this yet? Arden now throws tantrums. She will literally starting screaming and kicking her legs on the ground until we do what she wants. She's EIGHT MONTHS OLD! I fear her at 2.

Hoping she sleeps well tonight. We've always had such a good sleeper, but the last few nights have been rough. She'll mostly put herself back to sleep but we lie there listening to her moan over the monitor. :(

She's also been refusing solids and today refused almost all milk from MIL. We're chalking everything up to teeth, I sure hope that's what it is. I got some avocado into her tonight and she was nursing like a champ. Anyhoo.

Guess I've rambled on enough!
Erin

[kindermom]

Sorry to hear that so many of us had so so Easters, at best. Tina, that totally sucks about your MIL. Wow. Her cats? That is not insulting or anything. I have an uncle similar to your MIL but it is an uncle, not a grandmother. Yikes.

Erin - I was just coming to post about a new Madelyn first. Her first tantrum! Go figure considering her father and I are both incredibly stubborn. She had a flailing tantrum today with my MIL. Sure glad it was not with me!

[kindermom]

Just a shout out to the other August 18th moms. Happy birthday to your little ones Rachel, Ben, Preston, and my Madelyn!

[Kiley]

Thank you, Noel!

Thanks for the wishes for my grandma....her surgery went fine so hopefully her recovery is speedy (as much as an 82 year olds can be).

Tantrums - Preston throws these every time he's tired and we take away a toy or other item he has or wants. We get screams, a red face and tears...the works. He's been doing this for well over a month. It's lovely :). I laugh at him sometimes when he gets so worked up!

[namrodda]

Tina I love your Easter pictures of the boys! Looks like they had a blast and I'm glad you got that family time after too much other family time. Jeb has that baseball outfit and the same baskets! Well the football was Kevins and Jeb got the baseball....my boys...

tantrums We don't have kicking yet but we do have screaming! If I walk by him and he thinks I'm going to pick him up but don't...or put him down when he's already unhappy....major hysterics

We had a pretty good Easter. Church was way early so we could have brunch at my parents club in time to get on the road...I was so tired. Brunch is usually one of those times you stuff yourself till you can hardly move but I was so busy feeding Jeb while everyone ate I barely made two trips to the buffet...good for my hips :p . It was also my mom's birthday so we exchanged baskets and then cards and gifts for her. Jeb got lots of stuff including a chocolate egg from my mom. I think she meant for us to eat it but while he was sitting on the floor in the middle of his loot he found that and put it in his mouth as everything automatically goes in there. It was wrapped in plastic and he sucked this whole section out of it....I don't think he reached the chocolate but it was hilarious...I have the best picture I'll have to post later. The trip to the Easter bunny was fairly successful too. Otherwise Easter was 8 hours in the car home, which I could have done without.

Going against principles.... while we were at my parents my dad let Jeb lick the crumbs of chocolate kahlua cake off his fork...which eventually came back with spit up and Kevin proceeded on and on about Jeb's "hangover :rolleyes:

[sdauer21]

Grrr...I just lost a big long post! :mad: Since its past my bedtime, I'll post a picture, and come back tomorrow with an update. Hi all - I know its been forever since I've been in... I'm posting more on LJ, so if you want to check out my journal, pop in - I'm spedtchr over there. Let me know if you haven't been added and want to be put on the list. :)

My happy girl, swinging in her swing this afternoon:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/sdauer21/thegirls012.jpg

You can see her two little teeth up front
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v242/sdauer21/5fa66e52.jpg

[shellbell516]

Just a shout out to the other August 18th moms. Happy birthday to your little ones Rachel, Ben, Preston, and my Madelyn!


Thanks! I didn't even realize it was the 18th yesterday.

[shellbell516]

We had a good Easter. My mom went overboard on Rachel's Easter basket.

http://images.snapfish.com/3468684%3C9%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3238%3E588%3E872%3EWS NRCG%3D3233664947%3B%3A%3Anu0mrj

We visited my dad who has some bunnies. Although we couldn't get the bunny to sit still very long for pictures.
http://images.snapfish.com/3468684%3C9%7Ffp344%3Enu%3D3238%3E588%3E872%3EWSNR CG%3D3233664979844nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/3468684%3C9%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3238%3E588%3E872%3EWSNR CG%3D323366494%3A999nu0mrj

[LILRTL]

I guess I could quit slackin' and come back and update! All of the Easter pictures are just adorable!!!!!

All is going well in our household! Zach is trying SO SO hard to crawl! He just learned how to get to a sitting position from his tummy, so that was exciting! :) We go on May 11 for his well-baby visit. I can't wait to see how big he is! At 7 months, when we went back to his GI doctor, he was 21 lbs!

Anyway - the good stuff - Easter pictures!
http://images.snapfish.com/346868734%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D3233656354393nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/346868734%7Ffp345%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B%3E WSNRCG%3D3233656353%3C95nu0mrj
http://images.snapfish.com/346868734%7Ffp33%3A%3Enu%3D3275%3E%3A64%3E%3B6%3B% 3EWSNRCG%3D32336564%3C994%3Cnu0mrj

[JillyB]

Hi! Everyone's Easter pics (and other pics too) are so cute! Thanks for sharing! And...
I'm posting more on LJ, so if you want to check out my journal, pop in - I'm spedtchr over there. Let me know if you haven't been added and want to be put on the list.
Me too! I find that I'm stopping by CC less and less these days. If I've missed "friended" anyone on LJ, just let me know (I'm jillyb12 over there). :)

[Mickey&B]

Ohh Geez does this mean I have to add to my obsession and go over to LJ? :p

No time to post gotta put little man down for his nap but I saw these when I was flipping through the new parenting mag and thought about your boys Tina

http://bumkins.com/shop/pc/catalog/bssbod-l_1746_general.jpg

[Red'sGirl]

Hi all. Arrena and I are off to San Fran tomorrow, so I don't know if I'll get back here before the weekend.

Last night was an adventure. [sarcasm]. My DD went through her usual night ritual - including a bath. She hates the bath, so she screams through it - generally making her more tired. After, she got pj's, milk, and when she was falling asleep, her crib. Nope, awake again and screaming. darn. So I hold her for a while, rocking her back to sleep. This time, she's asleep when I set her down. Nope, awake and screaming. So we let her cry for a little while. Typically, she'll cry for a minute or two, then soothe herself to sleep. Nope, 10+ full minutes of crying.

Now DH is one for leaving her alone and she'll go to sleep eventually. I hate to hear her when she's screaming. I think she's getting too wound up to fall asleep. But I'm trying to wait a bit. Then HE goes in and tries to calm her. Eventually, she wore herself out and fell asleep. Then he tells me why he went in:

He heard a change in the sound of her cry and went to investigate. She was standing in her crib! Great! Except we haven't lowered the crib yet (didn't need to before) so she could have fallen out the side. :eek: Of course, she was IN the crib, so he couldn't lower it then w/o really waking her up. And this morning, he didn't have time to do it before leaving for work - so it'll have to wait until he gets home. Ugh! I'm a nervous wreck for her naps now. This morning, she was trying to stand up again, but wasn't able to before I came in.

That, and I have to go swimsuit shopping today. Could it get any worse?!

[namrodda]

Oh Jill I'm lbstr_quadrille on LJ...I friended you today but I don't think you have me :) I need to get in the habit of posting there more and keep up with old friends..its hard to keep up with two sites!

[LeslieR]

Alice, I just realized I don't have you friended either. I just added you!:)

[Mickey&B]

Alice I just friended you as well I'm mickey_and_b over there

[JillyB]

Alice - I just "friended" you back. :)

[namrodda]

oh everyone's so friendly :D

[QPDoll]

http://bumkins.com/shop/pc/catalog/bssbod-l_1746_general.jpg

Too cute!!!! Hmm...next payday.... (I just paid for their pictures today)

Red: Enjoy swimsuit shopping.(yuck!) Hope SF is great though! She is standing in her crib?!?! We haven't lowered Nates, but Petes is lowered. Nates takes a screwdriver and Pete's doesn't, so DH hasn't done it yet. LOL Did you lower the crib all the way?

[hiphopgirl]

Mickey - I just friended you too. I didn't even know you were over there until I saw you post in someone else's journal. I'm jlormberget over there.

Easter - We had a terrible Easter. I'm mad at the universe for giving me a sick baby over a long weekend. Grr. He was as much of a trooper as he could be. I'm just glad to have my little guy back. He's in a much better mood today.

I know I already posted an Easter Bunny picture, but just indulge me in one more picture. We got him feeling well enough for a couple of pics in our back yard. He was still sporting a bit of a fever and it was hoovering around 100 degrees so we went white trash and just took some diaper pics:

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y127/jlormberget/DSC_0008_edited.jpg

No cute Easter outfit for us. Oh well :shrug:

[Mickey&B]

so we went white trash and just took some diaper pics:

LMAO!

I just started posting over there didn't want to hog up this thread with all the adorable pictures of my son ;)

Darrien ICK!! bathing suit shopping, God I just bought one because my bb's wont fit in my other ones. I took one look at myself in the mirror and realized I got a lot of work to do before summer :eek: so not looking forward to the pool parties this year!

[snowzilla]

Alice, I've friended you on LJ as well. I'm snowzilla over there too. :)

[sdauer21]

I am so positively thrilled to announce the arrival of Thomas, Sully130's little boy - he made his entrance this evening, and was a healthy 8 lb 4 oz. From the sounds of it, mama and son are doing beautifully. Sully - Congratulations just isn't enough!!! :D

[Kiley]

Sully - Congratulations just isn't enough!!!

ITA!!!! Yeah, Sully! Welcome Thomas!

[LeslieR]

Thanks for posting that, Sonya! What wonderful news. Congratulations Sully! Welcome to the world, Thomas!



QOTD: What (if any) fingers foods are you giving DC?


Luke is really moving into the "I want to do it myself!" stage of eating. He'd much rather eat things that he can pick up. I'm a horrible mother still and he doesn't always get 3 solids meals a day.:o I was thinking last night that we might all enjoy meals a little more if I started giving him more foods that he can feed himself, but I'm at a loss as to what would be safe at this point...

[QPDoll]

Congratulations Sully!!!!

Leslie: Pete would rather I feed him (faster intake of food - LOL), but Nate wants to eat all by himself. I have been getting ideas from the "what are you feeding your 6-12 month old" thread. I give them anything that I would normally puree, but cut up into chunks instead like sweet potato.

I give him:
wheat toast topped with melted cheese (or puree, or whatever) cut up into pea sized peices,
cottage cheese (loves this, but its messy)
fruit coctail (its hard to pick up/slippery, so I roll it in wheat germ, but you could roll it in cereal if your avoiding wheat),
frozen or cooked peas and peas-n-carrots
veggie soup without the broth, I give him small peices of bread with soaked in some of the broth
string cheese cut up (a favorite)
sliced cheese cut up
animal crackers
mandrine orange sections (canned)
wheat-free egg free waffles (bought on a whim)
hard boiled egg - just the yolk (tried yesterday for the first time...a big hit)

I mainly do finger foods for lunch. After breakfast Im usually cleaning the kitchen, and after dinner Im relaxing, so after lunch is the only time I really deal with the mess.

Im feeling snarky this morning. I better keep my yap shut about everything else.

[cc8]

Happy Friday Mommas!

QOTD - Leslie, I just gave DD her first teething biscuit yesterday, on her 8 month bday. (It took me a while to go out and get the ones w/o wheat). She loved it - grabbed onto the biscuit right away and started gnawing at it :) That's the only "finger food" we've tried so far.

DD gets 2 solid meals per day - lunch and dinner. And then a whole bunch of formula.

I'm being pretty conservative with the introduction of "non-baby food" because I am terrified of DD developing food allergies!

[EJH]

Congrats to Sully!! Welcome Thomas. What wonderful wonderful news this is!!

QOTD--

Haven't really done finger foods w/ A yet. She feeds herself with the spoon, she's a very independent little creature in that regard. Of course, if she's really hungry she'll let me feed her since she knows it's a whole lot more efficient.

She's been on an eating strike for almost a week. Chalking it up to teething. I chopped up a banana for her the other day to see if she'd feed herself banana. Apparently though, banana is not for eating but for smearing all over one's high chair. :rolleyes:

Of course she was acting hungry this morning so I decided to make her cream of wheat with nanners, one of her faves. She refused the offering of food, grabbed the dish from me and dumped half of it on her shoe. I took that as a "Gee Mommy, I really appreciate that you made me this delicious breakfast this morning, but I'm just not in the mood to partake." This kid does not lack in personality. The dog sure enjoyed the remains of Arden's breakfast though. LOL.

Happy Friday to all. TGIF a thousand times over.

Erin :D

[Daniel's Kitty]

Yay Sully!!!!!!!

QOTD Ben seems to think that everything is a potential finger food.
His favorite is toast cut into strips. As a treat I put puree or refried beans on it.
I started giving him the beans since I heard that they won't really get gas from it when they are older if they eat it now.
Ben got to chew on a little piece of ham on Easter and got spoonfuls of a bunch of what we were eating.

[Mickey&B]

Congrats Sully and Welcome Thomas!!!

QOTH
Aidan is getting more and more frustrated with puree's so I have been adding new things just about everyday. And now I have to give him his own spoon or hear his wrath!! Here is what we have tried (he eats what ever is placed in front of him :p )
Cheerios
Puffs
Teething biscuits
Tofu-this gets messy ( great because it's totally soft)
Cut up fruits: pears, raspberries, banana, mango, plums
Cheese cut into bit size cubes
wagon wheels
carrots
peas
sweet potato
wheat pasta
Bread
I know there is more than this but I am brain farting right now. . . need more COFFEE!!!
Aidan has decided to STTN BUThe is back to waking at 5:45 :eek: I think I prefer the 4 am wake up and sleeping until 6:30 or 7

[LeslieR]

Thanks for the ideas, ladies!

Michelle, do you cook the fruits first or just give him chunks tiny enough to gum?

[philnikki]

Alice - I need to friend you on LJ too! I am philnikki there too!

Leslie thanks for asking this question. I think Ava would like to expand her horizons as well. But like you, I am terrified of what is safe and what is not.

Here is a question: what do you guys give your DC it those mesh feeders?? I have given Ava frozen peaches, pineapple, and melon (all were hits), but I was wondering if you guys had ideas for anything else?!?! TIA :D

And I think most of you have seen Ava enough in my LJ, but I will post a pic here too ;)

Check out her Easter Basket...
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c139/philnikki/100_3553.jpg

In her Easter finest!
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c139/philnikki/100_3576.jpg

Taken by new nanny, Tara (taragiraffe on CC)!

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c139/philnikki/346863A5547Ffp3453Enu3D3273B3E4563E.jpg

[JillyB]

QOTD - I get a big 'ole F on my Mommy report card in this area. I feel like we're so far behind y'all when it comes to solids, but I'm going to try my best to use everyone's lists as ideas of things to try. We've done puffs & wagon wheels. And he tries to shove the entire wagon wheel in his mouth, so I usually end up just breaking it up into small pieces.

On a related note...is there any reason to try those icky Stage 2 meats? I bought some the last time I stocked up on baby food, and I decided to give him a little of the chicken one last night. It was the first food that he's refused, and I don't blame him. I tried it, and it was incredibly gross. I think part of my problem is I'm totally weirded out by meat in a can (like Spam & Treat), and these jars are just baby versions of this grossness for me. And I think those couple of bites that L did eat of the nasty chicken upset his stomach. We had the hardest time getting him to sleep last night (and he woke up 3 more times before finally conking out around 1 am), and you could tell he was in pain & tooting up a storm. I felt horrible, since I was the one that fed him that nasty stuff. :o

[namrodda]

ugh just lost my post. Anyway....up to date on LJ I think. I've got two names for Kim...anyone know which to use?? Kim if you're out there :)

mesh feeder...so far we've done slightly peeled grapes and melon...bagels didn't work so well but he does fine with those as is...I could use suggestions too I guess!

just got back from my second stroller strides class....collapsed in a heap on the floor :) Still don't know why it costs so much but I think I will stick with it because it makes me accountable to exercise which is crucial and its a good group of moms...kinda like having you guys there in person!

eta my reply about meats....I'm with you Jill on the ick factor. I tried the stage 1 chicken I had around and couldn't bear the smell so no more of that. I occasionally will give him the chicken or turkey and rice or and veggies....Thats not nearly so bad, smells like veggie soup or something and he likes it alot. So far it hasn't upset his system.

[EJH]

RE: Meats. Our ped. said that kids can basically be vegetarians for the first 2 to 3 years, they don't need the meats.

We've got to get a mesh feeder this weekend. Someone suggested to us that frozen mango (from Trader Joe) in a mesh feeder is a great teether. We are so in need of that!

[LeslieR]

Now I feel like a real slacker mom-I just re-looked at the chart on wholesomebabyfood.com-I didn't realize that we are now in the 8-10mos age group. There are A TON of foods I could be giving to Luke now. duh.:o

[Mickey&B]

Leslie I don't cook the fruits anymore, I just make sure they are really ripe and cut them into small pieces. Every once in a while he'll get too much in his mouth and gag but then he regains his composure ;) and eats the rest!

Meats Nope can't do it either! I think I mentioned I was a vegetarian before I got preg so I can bearly tolerate chicken itself, much less in a jar or a can. I did try to give him some shreaded chicken but I made the mistake of putting pears on his tray as well, and he didn't even touch the chicken well at least I can say I tried ;)

Mesh Feeder I don't use it very much only when he is really teething, but you can put any type of frozen fruit, or you could also make yogurt cubes and freeze thoose and put them in there. I used to make yogurt pops for the kids in my class they were always a hit!

[QPDoll]

mesh feeder - I don't understand it. My boys just grip the food part and bang the handle on their tray or chew on the handle. :/ Perhaps I don't put anything yummy enough in there. But they get a lot of whole foods, maybe they are like "What are you thinking mom...you want me to suck on food now?" LOL I end up just cutting up whatever things were in it, and give it to them that way.

I bought frozen mangos at Albertsons too. We don't have a Trader Joes or anything of the sort around where we are. Albertsons and Safeway are about it. Oh, a QFC, but its ghetto.

I buy some meat dishes in a jar for when we are on the road, but not the little sticks of meat. The jarred meat dishes do seem like they give them gas. And the sticks of meat just look gross. The other day, I did take left over pork chops, mushroom sauce and rice and puree it up for the boys. They LOVE it. They each get about 2-3 oz of it at dinner times. It actually doesn't smell or look too bad. I can't stand chicken, I don't know why, it use to be a favorite, but anyway, I have made it once for the boys and thats it. I just can't stand it anymore! I have also given them halibut pureed with peas. They like that one too, but not as much as the pork chops.

Oh, and copying Kat (LOL) I gave Nate a smallish peice of steak the other day. Freaked my DH out and he eventually tried to fish it out of Nates mouth and laughed because he had pretty much gummed that piece of steak to death and there was nothing left of it. He liked it a lot. LOL

[QPDoll]

Thanks Ericka! And Congratulations to you to! An October baby? Yay!!!

[philnikki]

Congrats to Sully!!!!! That just warms my heart :)

[snowzilla]

Somebody mentioned the frozen mango in a mesh feeder last week and I practically ran to ToysRUs to get Avery one - they had the refills, but not the handle part. How annoying! Maybe I'll check back today - if they don't have it, I might just suck it up and order one - I'm fairly sure it would be worth the expense to give her some comfort.

Congratulations to Sully!

We haven't done any meats here, and I don't know when