Nov-Dec 2005 Mommies: Toddling Through Winter!

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

Welcome, November & December 2005 Mommies!

Our First Summer!


MODERATORS: JRPAGV and Alanna


LINKS TO OUR OLD THREADS:

November Mommies
Second Trimester (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=189)
Third Trimester (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=189)
First Couple of Months (Final Thread) (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=8573)

December Mommies
First Trimester (http://boards.weddingchannel.com/thread.jspa?threadID=487357)
Second & Third Trimesters (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=429)
Third Trimester (Final Thread) (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=7373)

November & December Mommies
Our First Spring! (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=17500)

TO JOIN: Please submit a post to this thread with the following information:

CC Name:
DD/DS:
Me: Name, Age
DH: Name, Age
Married: Date
EDD: Date
ADD: Date
Time of Birth:
Weight:
Length:
Other Children: (If Applicable)

Feel free to also note if you have any other children.


* Please put updates in red to make it easier for me to find them! *

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

MEMBERS

abbytfox
DS: Elliott Solomon
Me: Abby, 30
DH: Adam, 29
Married: 6/22/03
EDD: 12/7/05
ADD: 11/21/05
Time of Birth: 2:44 PM
Weight: 6 lbs. 11 oz.
Length: 19 inches

Alanna
DD/DS: Molly Eleanor
Me: Alanna, 32
DH: J, 31
Married:9.13.03
EDD: November 5, 2005
ADD: November 10, 2005
Time of Birth: 5:02 am
Weight: 10 lbs 2oz
Length: 22 inches
Kitties: Lydia and Inky

Albuquerque
DD: Zoe
Me: Ryl, 33
DH: George, 32
Married: 27 June 2003
EDD: 5 November 2005
ADD: 8 November 2005
Time of Birth: 4 a.m.
Weight: 4.1 kilos (9 lbs even)
Length: 55 cm (21.7 inches)

AMC
DS: Christian John
Me: Alicia, 30
DH: David, 34
Married: 7/6/02
EDD: 12/20/05
ADD: 12/8/05
Time of Birth: 2:36pm
Weight: 7.5lbs
Length:19.5
Other Children: Chloe 18mos

Amypooh
DD/DS: Cameron Grant
Me: Amy 29
DH: Rich 32
Married: 8-3-02
EDD: 11-23-05
ADD: 11-15-05
Time of Birth: 10:23 am
Weight: 8lbs
Length: 20.5 inches
Other Children: Kailey 9-3-04

aprilbride2002
DS: Hayden Daniel
Me: Sondra, 30
DH: Michael, 32
Married: 4/20/02
EDD: 12/9/05
ADD: 12/8/05
Time of Birth: 10:16 am
Weight: 9 lbs. 13 oz.
Length: 21 inches

Bella213
DD: Lauren Marie
Me: Anna, 40
DH: Patrick, 39
Married: 9/6/2001
ADD: 11/3/05
Time of Birth: Unknown because she was adopted
Weight: 6lb 7oz
Length: 19 1/2 inches
Other Children: Our Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Lola & Molly ages 4 & 3

Bliss
DS: Dylan Donovan
Me: Adrienne, 30
DH: Dave, 31
Married: August 30, 2003
EDD: 11/26/05
ADD: 11/22/05
Time of Birth: 10:18p
Weight: 7lbs 14oz
Length: 21 inches
Other Children: Onyx, 7yr old black lab & Lola, 1 yr old yellow lab

burkie
DD/DS:Hadley
Me: J, 30
DH: A, 29
Married: 5/29/04
EDD: 11/30/05
ADD: 11/24/05
Time of Birth: 10:09 p.m.
Weight: 7 lbs, 14.5 oz
Length: 20.5 inches
Other Children: our 10 year old dog Nova

Decemberwed
DD/DSD - Lily Kate
Me: Kassie 33
DH: Kevin 33
Married: 12/15/01
EDD: 11/10/05 scheduled csection
ADD: 11/3/05
Weight:7lbs 5oz
Length:19 1/2
Other Children: Benjamin Rowley 1/20/03

doubleR
DS: Brady Nelson
Me: Robyn, 33
DH: Brian, 34
Married: 9.27.03
EDD: 12.5.05
ADD: 11.26.05
Time of Birth: 2:18 p.m.
Weight: 6 pounds 15 ounces
Length: 21.5 inches
Other Children: none

e&d
DS: Leo Abraham
Me: Elizabeth, 31
DH: Doug, 48
Married: 10.12.02
EDD: 12.16.05
ADD: 11.26.05
Time of Birth: 4:00 am
Weight: 6 pounds, 14 ounces
Length: 20 inches

First-time mom
DD: Kaylin Mae
Me: Krystal, 24
DH: Doug, 24
Married: 7/31/04
EDD: 11/21/05
ADD: 11/10/05
Time of Birth: 12:47pm
Weight: 7lbs 13oz
Length: 20"

fwgirl
DD: Loren Nicole
Me: Katie, 27
DH: R, 27
Married: 9.4.04
EDD: 12.10.05
ADD: 11.22.05
Time of Birth: 3:10 am
Weight: 7 lbs, 4 oz
Length: 19 1/4 inches
Other Children: our puppy, Bailey

happygolucky
DD: Anna Lee
Me: C, 33
DH: D, 32
Married: 09/22/2001
EDD: Originally 12/18/05
ADD: 12/7/05
Time of Birth: 3:13 pm
Weight: 6lbs 13oz
Length: 20.25 inches
Other Children: Two dogs and two cats

Hawaii2SJ
DS: Aiden Kala'i
Me: Deanne 28
DH: Randy 28
Married: January 24, 2004
EDD: November 4
ADD: November 5
Time of Birth: 10:22am
Weight:7lbs 9.4oz
Length:20 inches
Other Children: chinese Pug:Sasha

Helen22
DD/DS: DD = Melanie
Me: Helen, 30
Married: 12/23/2004
EDD: 12/15/2005
ADD: 12/12/2005
Time of Birth: 6:10 pm
Weight: 7 lbs 10 oz
Length: 20.5"

jaredsgirl
DS: Owen Richard
Me: Megan, 27
DH: Jared, 29
Married: 6/19/04
EDD: 12/4/05
ADD: 12/9/05
Time of Birth: 4:00 am
Weight: 7lbs 6oz
Length: 20 3/4 inches

Jaycee
DD: Liliana Chloe
Me: J, 37
DH: D, 31
Married: 07/26/2003
EDD: Originally 12/05/05, then changed to 11/29/05
ADD: 11/13/05
Time of Birth: 6:04 am
Weight: 7lbs 1oz
Length: 20.5 inches
Other Children: Our 2 fur babies, Shayna & Cooper

jengen
DS: Cole John
Me: Jennifer
DH: Jay
Married: 11/14/03
EDD: 12/12/05
ADD: 12/15/05
Time of Birth: 2:35 am
Weight: 8 pounds, 2 ounces
Length: 22 inches
Other Children: Black Lab named Roxy

Jrbnj
DS: Connor Benjamin
Me: Jennifer, 29
DH: Sean, 29
Married: 10/19/02
EDD: 12/9/05
ADD: 12/3/05
Time of Birth: 11:27 am
Weight: 8 pounds, 1 ounce
Length: 21 1/2 inches
Other Children: French Bulldog named Lucy

JRPAGV
DS: Nathan Andrew
Me: Janna, 25
DH: Andrew, 26
Married: 7/26/03
EDD: 12/11/05
ADD: 12/7/05
Time of Birth: 5:38pm
Weight: 7 lbs 12 oz
Length: 20 inches
Other Children: Joey (chihuahua) and Minnie (pomeranian)

kamileer
DD: Maya Lee
Me: Kami, 29
DH: Kris, 29
Married: 12/14/02
EDD: 12/21/05
ADD: 12/9/05
Time of Birth: 8:48am
Weight: 6lb 6oz
Length: 18.5 inches

KarenInSF
DD: Abigail Marianne (Abby)
Me: Karen, 35
DH: Doug, 35
Married: 6/25/04
EDD: 10/31/05
ADD: 11/04/05
Time of Birth: 5:20 pm
Weight: 7lbs 12 ozs
Length: 19”

Kelly's Girl
DS: George Edward
Me: 31
DH: 31
Married: October 13, 2001
EDD: 11/22/05
ADD: 10/10/05
Time of Birth: 8:43 a.m.
Weight: 4 lbs 14.8 oz
Length: 18 inches

kinaida
DS: Benjamin Jared
Me: Kindra, 28
DH: Chris, 30
Married: 2/1/2003
EDD: 11/29/2005
ADD: 11/27/2005
Time of Birth: 6:46 pm
Weight: 7 lbs 14 oz
Length: 21 inches

krbb
DD/DS: Oliver Robert
Me: Kristine, 28
DH: Bobby, 28
Married: 4/5/03
EDD: 12/6/05
ADD: 12/12/05
Time of Birth: 5:03 pm
Weight: 9lbs 11oz
Length: 22 in
Other Children: Figaro J. Kitty

Kristen78
DD: Caitlin Elizabeth
Me: Kristen, 27
DH: Andrew, 31
Married: 8/16/03
EDD: 11/13/05
ADD: 11/3/05
Time of Birth: 9:27 am
Weight: 6 lbs. 4 oz.
Length: 20.5 inches

ktdelsur
DS: Andrew Thomas
Me: Katie, 27
DH: Ben, 28
Married: 8/2/03
EDD: 12/06/05
ADD: 12/05/05
Time of Birth: 6:46 p.m.
Weight: 8lbs, 11 oz
Length: 20 1/4

Lindzee82
DD/DS: Matthew Timothy
Me: Lindsey, 23
DH: Eric, 24
Married: August 21, 2004
EDD: November 14, 2005
ADD: November 15, 2005
Time of Birth: 8:04am
Weight: 8lbs 13oz
Length: 20.5"
Other Children: Kitty, Peanut

LSUGirl
DD/DS: Andrew
Me: Rikki 29
DH: Paul 35
Married: 9-1-02
EDD: 11-10-05
ADD: 11-11-05
Time of Birth: 1:39a
Weight: 8.12
Length: 19 1/2
Other Children: Matthew 8-27-03

malala
DD: Sophia Carmen
Me: 34
DH: 34
Married: 09/21/02
EDD: 12/21/05
ADD: 12/21/05
Time of Birth: 4:15 pm
Weight: 7lb 7 oz
Length: 20 1/2 in.

mamax2
DD2: Cate
Me: 29
DH: 32
Married: 10-27-01
EDD: 12-22-05
ADD: 12-17-05
Time of Birth: 9:11 am
Weight: 6lbs 13oz
Length:19 inches
Other Children: DD1 Claire

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

mrs_barkley
DD/DS: Emalee Rose
Me: Terena, 28
DH: Tim, 29
Married: 9/20/03
EDD: 11/3/05
ADD: 8/22/05 (10.5 weeks early)
Time of Birth: 8:45 am
Weight: 2 lbs 11.6 oz
Length: 15 in
Other Children: Gina Marie 5/1/04 (12 weeks early)

MrsBuw
DS: Jack William Peter
Me: Heather 30
DH: Ken, 31
Married: 08-09-03
EDD: 12-01-01
ADD: 11-18-05
Time of Birth: 4:15am
Weight: 7 lb 13 oz
Length: 20 in

MrsTazlvr
DD: Daniella Jamie
Me: Cori, 32
DH: Hal, 30
Married: 10/21/01
EDD: 1/12/06
ADD: 12/29/05
Time of Birth: 8:06 am
Weight: 7 pounds, 9 ounces
Length: 20 inches
Other Children: Allison Rachael 12/9/03

Natasha
DD/DS: Kelly Ruth Serene
Me: Natasha, 23
(soon to be)DH: Bert, 26
(will be)Married: 12/29/06
EDD: 11/13/05
ADD: 11/25/05
Time of Birth:1:22 pm
Weight: 7lbs 13 oz
Length: 20.5"
Other Children: Ethan Joseph, 2/5/03

Orion
DD: Sophie Madeline
Me: Jess, 27
DH: Justin, 28
Married: August 24, 2003
EDD: December 12, 2005
ADD: December 11, 2005
Time of Birth: 8:25 am
Weight: 6 lbs 6 oz
Length: 18 1/2"
Other Children: Our 11 month old puppy, Chinook

Postkalidurga
DS: Isaac Elliott
Me: Kali, 31
DH: Mr. Kali, 30
Married: 6/19/04
EDD: 12/15/05 (12/14/05 by charting)
ADD: 12/21/05
Time of Birth: 6:56 am
Weight: 8lbs, 0zs
Length: 20 3/4"

rachrich
DD: Olivia Holly
Me: Rachael, 26
DH: Corey, 27
Married: June 21, 03
EDD: Dec. 11th
ADD: Dec. 7th
Time: 8:27 am
Weight: 9lbs. 4oz.
Length: 22”
Other children: Maestro the cat. ?

scarlett
DS: Mattison (Matti for short)
Me: 30
DH: 30
Married: May 17, 2003
EDD: December 16, 2005
ADD: December 15, 2005
Time of Birth: 10:39 PM
Weight: 7 lbs 9 oz
Length: 20 in

Sebski
DS: Joey
Me: Sebski, 30
Married: 10/27/2002
EDD: 11/22/2005
ADD: 11/10/2005
Time of Birth: 1:09pm
Weight: 6 lbs 10 oz
Length: 20.5 inches

sem426
DD: Hayley Ilyse
Me: Stacy, 33
DH: Adam, 33
Married: 11/24/01
EDD: 11/15/05
ADD: 11/22/05
Time of Birth: 4:43 pm
Weight: 6lbs 13 oz
Length: 20 1/3 in

Shirsty
DS: Sam
Me: 30
DH: 33
Married: August 17, 2001
EDD: November 1, 2005
ADD: October 25, 2005
Time of Birth: 10:32 PM
Weight: 8 lbs
Length: 21 in

Tinkerbell
DD/DS: Julia Emma
Me: Amy, 29
DH: Brian, 37
Married: 06-29-02
EDD: 12-17-05
ADD: 12-14-05
Time of Birth: 11:33 p.m.
Weight: 8 pounds 9 ounces
Length: 20 inches

Torch76
DS: Brenden Calvin
Me: Stephanie,29
DH: Jeremy, 29
Married: 6/14/03
EDD: 12/26/05
ADD: 12/29/05
Time of Birth:6:05pm
Weight: 6lbs 6oz
Length:19 3/4 inches

Tulip
DD/DS: Fletcher James
Me: Kelly, 29
DH: Dan, 31
Married: May 25, 2002
EDD: October 28
ADD: October 10
Time of Birth: 5:02 pm
Weight: 7lbs on the dot
Length: 19"
Other Children: Shadow, 13 years & Oatmeal, 4 years (dogs)

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

LIST OF BABIES BY BIRTHDATE

AUGUST
22- Emalee Rose (mrs_barkley)

OCTOBER
10- Fletcher James (Tulip)
25- Sam (Shirsty)

NOVEMBER
03- Caitlin Elizabeth (Kristen78)
03- Lily Kate (Decemberwed)
03- Lauren Marie (Bella213)
04- Abigail Marianne (Abby) (KarenInSF)
05- Aiden Kala'i (Hawaii2SJ)
08- Zoe (Albuquerque)
10- Joey (Sebski)
10- Molly Eleanor (Alanna)
10- Kaylin Mae (First-time mom)
11- Andrew (LSUGirl)
13- Liliana Chloe (Jaycee)
15- Matthew Timothy (Lindzee82)
15- Cameron Grant (amypooh)
18- Jack William Peter (MrsBuw)
21- Elliott Solomon (abbytfox)
22- Dylan Donovan (Bliss)
22- Hayley Ilyse (sem426)
22- Loren Nicole (fwgirl)
24- Hadley (burkiel)
25- Kelly Ruth Serene (Natasha)
26- Leo Abraham (e&d)
27- Benjamin Jared (kinaida)

DECEMBER
03- Connor Benjamin (Jrbnj)
05- Andrew Thomas (ktdelsur)
05- Brady Nelson (doubleR)
07- Anna Lee (happygolucky)
07- Nathan Andrew (JRPAGV)
07- Olivia Holly (rachrich)
08- Hayden Daniel (aprilbride2002)
08- Christian John (AMC)
09- Owen Richard (jaredsgirl)
09- Maya Lee (kamileer)
11- Sophie Madeline (Orion)
12- Oliver Robert (krbb)
12- Melanie (helen22)
14- Julia Emma (Tinkerbell)
15- Cole John (jengen)
21- Isaac Elliott (Postkalidurga)
21- Sophia Carmen (malala)
22- Cate (Mamax2)
29- Brenden Calvin (Torch76)
29- Daniella Jamie (MrsTazlvr)
30- Brandon Michael JR (Cookie777)

MEMBER LIST BY BABY'S GENDER

BOYS
abbytfox (Elliott Solomon)
AMC (Christian John)
amypooh (Cameron Grant)
aprilbride2002 (Hayden)
Bliss (Dylan Donovan)
Cookie777 (Brandon)
doubleR (Brady Nelson)
e&d (Leo Abraham)
Hawaii2SJ (Aiden Kala'i)
jaredsgirl (Owen)
jengen (Cole John)
jrbnj (Connor)
JRPAGV (Nathan)
krbb (Oliver)
kinaida (Benjamin)
ktdelsur (Andrew)
Lindzee82 (Matthew Timothy)
LSUGirl (Andrew)
MrsBuw (Jack)
Postkalidurga (Isaac Elliott)
Sebski (Joey)
Shirsty (Sam)
Torch76 (Brenden)
Tulip (Fletcher James)

GIRLS
Alanna (Molly)
Albuquerque (Zoe)
Bella213 (Lauren Marie)
burkie (Hadley)
Decemberwed (Lily Kate)
First-time mom (Kaylin Mae)
fwgirl (Loren)
happygolucky (Anna Lee)
helen22 (Melanie)
Jaycee (Liliana)
kamileer (Maya Lee)
KarenInSF (Abby)
Kristen78 (Caitlin Elizabeth)
malala (Sophia Carmen)
Mamax2 (Cate)
mrs_barkley (Emalee Rose)
MrsTazlvr (Daniella Jamie)
Natasha (Kelly Ruth Serene)
Orion (Sophie Madeline)
rachrich (Olivia Holly)
sem426 (Hayley)
Tinkerbell (Julia Emma)

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

Coming soon...

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

PICTURES I

Nathan (JRPAGV)
http://images1.snapfish.com/347743683%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D3238%3E596%3E567%3EWSNRCG %3D32339%3A3%3B7%3B395nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477462%3C%3A%7Ffp343%3Enu%3D3238%3E596%3E567%3EWS NRCG%3D323395%3A97%3A74%3Bnu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477463%3A4%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3238%3E596%3E567%3EWSNR CG%3D32339%3A4464594nu0mrj


Jack (Mrsbuw)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a374/mrsbuw/DSCF0962.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a374/mrsbuw/DSCF0986.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a374/mrsbuw/DSCF0948.jpg

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

PICTURES II

Cole (jengen)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v503/jsjewel/100_2684.jpg

Emalee (mrs barkley)
http://tkfiles.storage.msn.com/x1p4JHjVbcjTC-za-8pCueyG_GYz0Xca3h1LKrRY4TX0bAEx988MA7VdVPAt1czFIqT mhqJzeeqa4-v2Cg8KTYsQwzniRK2NaRMMCBNFrm2VNfSQV6CuILliBuM10anQ aGFFKO7FEpASVsmEM-pvdehqA
http://tkfiles.storage.msn.com/x1p4JHjVbcjTC-za-8pCueyG_GYz0Xca3h1LKrRY4TX0bC0V-SE6l58csrbSyvTyL1TQ82qF2N-HBLOO_eAa4TsoDxGX0GXbIGZZPQ40Ms2Vy-STU53CjvAWNC4hWJb83jecinumhsq_L8SC8pyshKxdQ

Zoe (albuquerque)
http://images1.snapfish.com/34777928%3A%7Ffp352%3Enu%3D3277%3E%3A%3B6%3E7%3C8% 3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A634%3B374nu0mrj

Oliver (krbb)
http://www.buten.com/oliver/month08/orb08m14_640x480.jpg

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

PICTURES III

Brandon (Cookie777)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/Cookie777/905a9cba.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/Cookie777/10472d19.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/Cookie777/5c3abb25.jpg

Sophie (Orion)
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477878%3C4%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3256%3E359%3E4%3C5%3EWS NRCG%3D3233%3A247%3B9575nu0mrj

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

PICTURES IV

Elliott (abbytfox)
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/abbytfox/5f7a7ca5.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/abbytfox/5639618d.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/abbytfox/27e260f8.jpg

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/abbytfox/b4ace0fb.jpg

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

PICTURES V

Olivia (rachrich)
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477948%3B3%7Ffp354%3Enu%3D328%3B%3E33%3A%3E9%3C2% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A26667%3A9%3Anu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477948%3B3%7Ffp354%3Enu%3D328%3B%3E33%3A%3E9%3C2% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A26669375nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477948%3B3%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D328%3B%3E33%3A%3E9%3C2% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A26675%3B75nu0mrj

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

PICTURES VI

Kaylin (first-time mom)
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp349%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A3468%3B%3B%3B5nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A3468%3B%3B%3B8nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp357%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A34679%3B4%3Cnu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A34679%3B59nu0mrj

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

PICTURES VII

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

PICTURES VIII

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

SAVING I

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

SAVING II

[dziner]

Hi there...I am a November mommy who has pretty much dropped off the face of the earth around these parts! However, I do lurk from time to time, just not much opportunity to keep up with two monkeys in the house. ;) I just wanted to drop off this link in case it is helpful to any of you.

http://http://www.realsavvymoms.com/parenting/article.php?category2=10&article=9 (http://www.realsavvymoms.com/parenting/article.php?category2=10&article=9)

I refer to it periodically and it is a good guide.

My DD (2.5 yrs) didn't last too long on the purees...she was ready for table food pretty early. DS is the same way, and loves to feed himself. I still give him some pureed veggies like green beans and peas mixed into cereal, but other than than he's pretty much on all table food. I started him on proteins a little early, but very small amounts. At this age (8 mos) he only needs about a tbsp of meat at a time. He eats chicken, hamburger, black and pinto beans (I squish them a bit so they aren't so round/chokable).

I am staying away from dairy b/c he might have an intolerance, but DD ate lots of soft cheeses and yogurts at this age.

Here is what DS ate today:

Breakfast: baby oatmeal, handful of Cheerios, handful of cut blueberries (he just started on these the other day...LOVED THEM)

Lunch: diced soft bits of sweet potato, small chunks of banana, small bits of chicken and lo mein noodles (we were at a party!)

Snack: tea biscuit (I keep Kedem tea biscuits - from the kosher aisle - on hand and they keep him happy...mildly sweet, no dairy in them)

Dinner: rice cereal w/green bean puree, diced peeled nectarine, pizza crust

As someone else said, let your kid lead you. Some kids love the purees and can put a couple jars away at a time! Mine never went for it; they wanted what was on our plates. Avoid the allergenic stuff and just have fun with it! Hope you didn't mind the butt-in. :)

[JRPAGV]

Hey, girls! Hope a lot of you make it over here to the new thread. :) I posted a new picture of Nathan on the first page from our beach trip. Do any of you have any pics you want to add to the first page?

dziner: Welcome! Thanks for the link! Wow, my DS probably wishes he could eat at your house! You're serving lots of good stuff on a daily basis!

[Orion]

Hi Ladies. Just wanted to pop in to see the new thread. I an hoping to be around more as I have discovered that I can access this on my cell.

[Mrsbuw]

Hi Everyone,

I was a December mom who also disappeared but I have stopped by to read the posts every once in awhile. I hope all the mommies/babies are doing great. Jack is a such a good baby, a true joy to have around. He is such a ham and now that he is almost crawling a huge handful. I could spend hours just watching him, I love to watch his expressions when he figures something out.
I hope to be around a lot more. We are also working on the baby feeding thing. Who knew baby food could be so complex. Thanks for posting that link
dziner

Here are a few pics of Jack

take care everyone

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a374/mrsbuw/DSCF0962.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a374/mrsbuw/DSCF0986.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a374/mrsbuw/DSCF0948.jpg

[JRPAGV]

Replying to some topics from our old thread...

Thanks for the beach tips! The trip went pretty well overall. Nathan didn't get burnt, but his Mommy and Daddy did. Ouch. Nathan HATED the sand and the ocean. He cried when he touched both of them! He picked up sand, and then started crying like crazy. He didn't even eat any. :p

Finger Foods: I actually gave Nathan a couple of bites of my vanilla ice cream at a restaurant about a week ago! He loved it, and didn't seem to have a negative reaction. I also gave him a bite or two of baked potato (without anything on it). He liked that too. I've started giving him Cheerios, and continue to give him Gerber puffs. He'll eat anything I give him. I think that's all of the finger foods I've offered him.

Meat & Egg Yolks: Haven't tried either of these yet.

Bedtime: Nathan goes to bed so late! He won't go to sleep until 9-10pm (usually closer to 10).

Bottles: Nathan still gets about 32 ounces of formula in 24 hours. So, he gets about 4-5 bottles per day still (with approximately 6 ounces in each bottle).

happygolucky: What's a rash shirt and rash pants?

Orion: Good to "see" you! Glad you like living in Victoria! Sounds like your little girl is petite! Nathan is pretty small too, but I think he's grown a lot lately. I can't see the pics you posted. I don't think Kodak's Gallery works on CC. Can you try Snapfish or Photobucket? WHOA, I just saw that you're PREGNANT! Congrats!!! Were you guys trying to conceive again, or is this a happy surprise? I'm so excited for you! :D

krbb: I totallly know what you mean about it being harder to post (or do anything!) now that our guys are crawling and getting into everything! I feel like I'm constantly chasing after Nathan or pulling him away from something he shouldn't be messing with.

shirtsty: Congrats on Sam being done with the helmet! Glad it worked! That was fast.

doubleR: Watermelon is a highly allergenic food? Ergh. I was planning to give Nathan some soon.

abbytfox: I try to shower before DH leaves for work. If I can't do that, then I drag the Exercauser in the bathroom and let Nathan play in that while I take a shower. That's great that Elliott traveled so well! Glad you had such a good vacation. :)

Well, it's my bedtime. Tomorrow is my morning to get up with Nathan. I got to sleep in this morning, and DH got up with Nathan. We each try to sleep in one morning during the weekend, and the other is on baby duty.

[abbytfox]

Just popping in to subscribe...

I am hoping to have some new pics of Elliott soon. I love seeing how big all the kiddos are getting!

Happy weekend!

[jengen]

Thanks for the new thread! I'm hoping I can get in here more often, but it is tough w/working full time and I can't go on at work.

Thanks to everyone for the well-wishes on weaning. So far, I've only cut out one session, but this weekend have continued to give him the bm/formula mixed bottles 3x's a day so he isn't all thrown off again after our progress in daycare this week (he really hates the taste of formula, so it was a slow go in getting him to take even the stuff mixed with bm). I am going to take it really slow and not drop another pumping session til next week and then make an adjustment to his bottles again - so there is more formula and he gets used to the taste. I noticed that with my vacation last week and bad food habits continuing into this week, that I am producing a ton of milk, even with dropping a session! When I was eating well and exercising, I couldn't keep up, even pumping 3x's a day and had to supplement w/a little formula anyway.

Anyway, we took Cole to the beach again yesterday. He LOVES it. DH was in the water with him, not paying close enough attention and a little wave hit him in the face. He could care less...just smacked his lips, tasting the salt. Same thing when he toppled over on the towel and landed in the sand. Here he was with all this sand on his face, even in his eye, I thought he was going to have a fit, but he didn't care! We are so blessed with this baby! :) Here is a picture of him on the beach..his eye is a little swollen because he insists on rubbing the sunscreen in it every time no matter how hard I try to prevent it!

Hope you all are having a good weekend!

[sem426]

Just a quick post to say I'm here for the new thread! :)

Will check in later when I have a few minutes to post. DD just went down for a nap so I'm going to try and straighten up the house and jump in the shower.

[doubleR]

thanks for the new thread :) just popping in to say I'm here... we're going away for a few days so by the time I check in again, we could be up to 100 pages already ;)

have a great week everyone :)

GREAT pictures jrpagv, mrsbuw and jengen, our boys are getting so big! and they're all just sooooooo cuuuuute :D

[Lindzee82]

jengen - Too funny that Cole didn't like the Gerber meat. Matthew devours it!!! He can't get enough and gets mad when it is all gone! High chair for shower!!!!! That is a great idea!!!!!! I will have to try that. Glad the weaning is going well. I hate pumping, too, so I can't imagine how it is for you having to pump each and every day. Good luck! Hope you can fully wean without any more mastitis. You have done a great job with nursing for so long! You should be very proud of yourself and Cole.

doubleR - I have not tried the chicken with apples or pears yet. Does Gerber make that? Matthew doesn't seem to like turkey as much as chicken either. I have been thinking about trying some of the Earth's Best baby food because there does seem to be many more varieties but I am nervous to switch brands. Is it okay to use different brands of food like that?

mesh feeder - What is that?

shirsty - Yay! So glad that Sam is done with the helmet and is doing great! Don't worry about the crooked ears. Mine are soooo crooked that I can't buy regular sunglasses! But, unless you really stare at my head you can't notice it.

abbytfox - Hugs, sweetie. I am so sorry that nursing is over for you. You did such a great job and you should be very proud of yourself. Sometimes you just have to do what is best for your own child. It is good that you realized that and didn't try to force Elliott to nurse. I am glad that you are still able to feel close to him by bottlefeeding him. You gave him such a great start with the breastfeeding and I am sure he will always be greatful for that. I am also really confused about what I can and cannot give Matthew for solid food. I am looking forward to our 9 month appointment on August 15th so I can finally get some answers and get some variety into my poor child's belly!

Brushing Teeth - I am so horrible at this. Matthew is supposed to have flouride drops everyday, too. I try really, really hard to remember. I find that the easiest time for us to do it is when he wakes up from him morning nap. When he gets up we get him dressed in his daytime clothes, then I give him his flouride, then I brush his teeth. I find that this is the best time because it is not *right* after he has eaten or *right* before he will be eating. I have all I can do to remember to brush my own teeth sometimes, it is not easy to remember to brush someone elses!

fwgirl - I can't believe you are still able to swaddle your little girl!!!! That is awesome! Too funny about her going to college and having to teach her roommate to swaddle her. Maybe Matthew can be her roommate and he can swaddle her and she can replace his bink at night! haha!

dziner - Matthew wants to come over for dinner with Nathan, too!

Mrsbuw - Jack is so cute!

[abbytfox]

jengen Elliott has the same beach shirt! So cute.

lindz Thanks for your support. It was hard, but I also am trying to remember that mothering is not only nursing/the way you feed your baby. There is SO much more that we do! Let me know what you find out at your 9 month appointment. Can you believe they are 9 months already!?

mrsbuw Jack has gotten so big! He is darling. I love the first pic with that little expression. Elliott does that too. So funny how alike all our guys are!

dziner Great to hear from you! How is it going with two kiddos? I was shocked when I saw how big they both are in that little pic next to your name. Especially your daughter! She was so little before. Gosh, they grow way too fast!

JRPAGV Such cute pics of Nathan. I love the beach one...that hat is adorable! Glad you had fun. I hope you are feeling rested soon. THanks for the new thread.

[shirsty]

I only have a minute have friends coming over for dinner and lots to do - just wanted to say YAY for the new thread!!! :)

[Orion]

Thanks for all the well wishes on the pregnancy everyone. Still a bit freaked out because my mat leave is up in October and I can't return back to my work since we have moved to a different province. I am hoping that I will be able to find something that I can do from home. Any advice?

JRPAGV: The pregnancy is a happy surprise but still a little freaked out about having two babies on 15 months apart! How am I going to handle it. It makes it a little easier knowing that Sophie is such an easy baby so it shouldn't be too bad!

Meat and Egg Yolks: We haven't tried meat yet because I make all my own baby food and not too sure how to do meat yet. Might just wait until she doesn't need it pureed as someone else mentioned. But she has had egg yolks and yogurt. I am pretty anal about the food that goes in her mouth so the egg yolks are from free ranges hen who have not been given antibiotics or animal by-products and the yogurt is organic.

Bed Time: Sophie goes to bed at 6 pm (and that is with keeping her up past when she wants to sleep). She wakes up for a feeding at 3 am and usually doesn't get up until about 7 am. Don't worry, I know how lucky I am!

Better run. Sophie is rolling right out of the room so I better catch her!

[mrs_barkley]

Subscribing...

Emalee is 11 mos (almost 9 mos adjusted). She is crawling and pulling up on everything. Her birthday is next month (8/22). Here is a a couple of recent pictures :)
http://tkfiles.storage.msn.com/x1p4JHjVbcjTC-za-8pCueyG_GYz0Xca3h1LKrRY4TX0bAEx988MA7VdVPAt1czFIqT mhqJzeeqa4-v2Cg8KTYsQwzniRK2NaRMMCBNFrm2VNfSQV6CuILliBuM10anQ aGFFKO7FEpASVsmEM-pvdehqA http://tkfiles.storage.msn.com/x1p4JHjVbcjTC-za-8pCueyG_GYz0Xca3h1LKrRY4TX0bC0V-SE6l58csrbSyvTyL1TQ82qF2N-HBLOO_eAa4TsoDxGX0GXbIGZZPQ40Ms2Vy-STU53CjvAWNC4hWJb83jecinumhsq_L8SC8pyshKxdQ

[Lindzee82]

abbytfox - Nope, I definitely cannot believe that our boys are almost 9 months old. That is unreal! And, you are right - mother is not only about feeding your baby....it is about wiping their bums, picking their noses, cleaning their vomit, wiping their tears, making them laugh....You are doing a great job!

Orion - Wow, what a great sleeper you have! Glad everything is going well. Wish I had some advice for you on working from home. Hope you can find something.

mrs barkley - I can't believe Emalee is almost a year old! She is getting so big. And she is beautiful!

[Hawaii2SJ]

Yay for the new thread!!

Aiden is creeping up to his 9 month "birthday" mark this saturday (I think I calculated that right) I just can't believe it. His WBV is next Thursday and he has NO shots that day, whew. However, he has been getting into EVERYTHING these days, EVERYTHING. He can open Sasha's (my pug) cage, crawl under and over our little kid size table (I use it to barracade the path to go upstairs)and under and thru his exersaucer and add to all of that he is starting to get the hang of cruising.

BUT he still can't or does not want to hold his own bottle, still not too interested in table foods and isn't interested in walking if we hold on to his hands. Man time has sure flown by though and I was actually thinking about DC #2 over the weekend:eek:

Happy Monday ladies!!

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

Updated to here!

Anymore pictures?

[fwgirl]

Thanks for the new thread Janna! :)

What a great link dziner. Thank you for sharing it!

Lindzee I think that's a great plan. Now we just need to decide where they'll go to college. How does Matthew feel about the West Coast? ;)

And what cute kids we have! The pictures are adorable.

***

Sleep is not going so well at our house. I feel like we're back to the newborn days. I think she might be about to break another tooth, but it's hard to tell. *sigh*

[abbytfox]

I am literally shoveling cereal into my mouth before Elliott wakes up (how do they know the exact moment you are about to put food into your mouth?) and I thought I would stop in for a quick photo post. Janna, Can you please post them to the front page? Thanks!

My Beach Bum
http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1983/3/29/21/71/1/2/201712129305_0_ALB.jpg

Drooly mess, playing at home...
http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos1983/3/29/21/3/42/3/342032129305_0_ALB.jpg

After all the excitement of our Rehoboth beach weekend...there is just something about a sleeping baby.
http://images.kodakgallery.com/photos2055/3/29/11/74/79/4/479741129305_0_ALB.jpg

[sem426]

abby I can't see the pix, i don't think kodakgallery works here anymore.

fwgirl we also are having sleep issues again...DD was STTN great for a few months and now she keeps waking up each night and it's hard to get her back to sleep. I also think her top teeth are coming in and hope that's the cause and once they break through she'll go back to her "old" sleeping pattern!

[abbytfox]

sem So strange. I can see them when I log on...anyone else having issues? I thought that it was shutterfly and another one that didn't work. That is why I switched to Kodak. Ugh. I am really not very technically inclined...anyone have any suggestions?

[Mrsbuw]

Hi everyone,

Oh my god it was hot today. We didn't even step outside. Some cat left a lovely mangled mouse in Jack's little pool so I have to scrub it- so gross!

abbytfox I know photobuckets still works for pictures.

Cute baby pictures everyone.

fwgirl We are also having sleeping troubles due to teething. It's weird Jack has one bottom tooth that just showed up one day. He wasn't cranky at all. I think he is getting more teeth because he is yanking at his ears and his cheeks look a bit swollen. He keeps waking up in the middle of the night which he hasn't done in awhile.

late roller/crawler Jack has just started to roll. He could always roll but I guess didn't see the point. Now I can't keep him on his back he rolls and starts to crawl. This is bad I know but he does sleep in bed with us a bit. I worry now he will roll off and just crawl right off the bed. I guess it is time to really get him totally in his crib.

Anyway gotta go clean before bed. I hope everyone is staying cool

[Orion]

Hi Ladies:

Well I have my first doctors appointment tomorrow to confirm the pregnancy (as if I'm just throwing up for no reason). Pretty excited to find out exactly how far along I am.

Another one here who is having teething issues again. Sophie is getting her top teeth right now and is waking up more at night which is killing me because I am sure you all remember what the first trimester exhaustion is like.

Sophie is starting to figure out the whole crawling thing. She just needs to coordinate all her limbs and she will get it!

[krbb]

I am finally getting around to posting in the new thread, thanks Janna! Things have been busy. Here is an updated picture of Oliver to post on the fronth page.

http://www.buten.com/oliver/month08/orb08m14_640x480.jpg

So I have been busy with tooth problems. I had a root canal today. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I am still numb and that was the worse part. Also, we found a lot we wanted to buy to build on so we have been figuring out if we can afford to build on it. We heard back from the loan guy today and we were pre-approved for enough. So tonight we sign the contract for the lot. DH's dad is a builder and going to build for us. Construction will start next spring and we will hopefully move in next summer. :D DH is switching jobs too. I am so ready for our vacation in two weeks!

I can't remember what I have posted here and what I have on LJ, but Oliver is crawling and pulling himself up. He is all over the place! I miss the days when I would lay him in his crib and he would stay like that. It seems like since he can sit up on his own he will somtimes immediately sit up when I put him in!

Love all the pictures!! :)

[albuquerque]

I haven't been on here in forever! Sorry to have gone MIA, I've been hanging out more at LJ since I got so pissed off at one of the nazi mods here a few months ago.

Updated picture of Zoe:
http://images1.snapfish.com/34777928%3A%7Ffp352%3Enu%3D3277%3E%3A%3B6%3E7%3C8% 3EWSNRCG%3D32339%3A634%3B374nu0mrj

I can't believe she'll be 9 months one week from today! It seems like when she was born, someone pressed the fast forward button in my life.

She's crawling now, has four teeth on top and two on the bottom, and can pull up to standing. She doesn't really cruise much yet but she *loves* to "walk" with someone holding her hands. I'm extremely paranoid about letting her crawl without me right there, because we have marble floors. She's still a little wobbly (not sure how she's going to get past the wobbly stage when I'm afraid to let her get any practice), and one slip means her head cracks down on *stone*. Ugh. I'm already the overprotective mom I swore not to be.

[albuquerque]

duh. Back to hit "subscribe"! Thanks for the new thread!

[rachrich]

Why has it taken me so long to find this amazing thread???
Anyhow...I'd like to join you ladies. here's my info. Can't wait to get to know you all. I'm terrible about getting pictures up, even though i have tons to show off. LOL
CC Name: rachrich
DD: Olivia Holly
Me: Rachael, 26
DH: Corey, 27
Married: June 21, 03
EDD: Dec. 11th
ADD: Dec. 7th
Time: 8:27 am
Weight: 9lbs. 4oz.
Length: 22”
Other children: Maestro the cat. ?

Hope you're all enjoying your first summers!! I sure am!

[ktdelsur]

Orion: CONGRATS! Wow, I commend you. Getting PG again so quick scares me...

Quickie post - we have barely gotten to puffs let alone actual pieces of meat, etc....ack! He doesn't care a whole lot about finger foods yet.....

Everybody's "babies" are getting so big, and so adorable!!!!!!!! Back with more later!

[Cookie777]

Wow I haven't been here in so long! A lot has been going on. I apologize for not doing more replies but I've been trying to stay up to date on everyone.

All of the babies are just adorable! I can't believe how big they're all getting!

Orion ~ Congratulations!!! :D How exciting to be going to that 1st appt again!

Welcome rachrich (Rachael)! :)


------------------
Thank you for the new thread!
------------------

Well I just wanted to drop off the most recent pictures of Brandon. He was just 7 months a few days ago. He's doing great but he does not like food at all! I can barely get a few spoonfuls into him. I'm going by the "Super Baby Food" book.

He is army crawling but not on his hands & knees yet. He gets his knees up underneath him & then they slip back down. He looks for me & says "Mom mom". Very cute :) He says "dadadadadada" but I can tell he's not associating that to my husband yet. He has his 2 bottom teeth.

Here he is!

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/Cookie777/905a9cba.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/Cookie777/10472d19.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y151/Cookie777/5c3abb25.jpg

[Bliss]

Dropping in to say hi on the new thread! We are having a tough sleeping night *sigh* but hopefully I can catch up tomorrow. Last night we lost power, and by the time I got to my friends house it was almost 11p. Needless to say Dylan was up at 7a this morning, and he is SO overtired :( Glad to "see" everyone here! :)

[Lindzee82]

fwgirl - Um, I don't think so. I can't have my little boy being that far away from me. Looks like Matthew has his first breakup already! ;)

abbytfox - I try to plan my meals for when Matthew is napping. So my breakfast is usually around 9 or 10. Lunch somewhere between 1 and 2 and dinner after 8. When Eric is home we are able to have a more normal schedule, but when he is gone this is what I have to do.

Mrsbuw - Ewww on the mouse! I would have died!!!

Orion - Sorry for the puking!! Can't wait to hear how your appointment goes! We have been teething since 3 months along. It sucks!!!! Hope Sophie's choppers come in quicker than Matthew's do.

krbb - What a great picture of Oliver. His eyes and mouth are sooo big! I love it! Glad the root canal went okay and is now behind you! Yay for getting the preapproval. How exciting!!!

albuquerque - Zoe is so adorable!!!

rachrich - Welcome!!! Can't wait to see some pictures of your little girl!

Cookie777 - Well hello there! Brandon is getting so big. He is very handsome!

Bliss - Sorry for the sleep issues. Been there!

Gritting Teeth - Anyone else's children do this? Matthew is constantly grinding his teeth. It drives me absolutely batty!!! It is like the whole "nails scratching on a chalkboard" thing. It sends shivers right up my spine and I can't imagine it is very good for his teeth. I don't know how to get him to stop. And he knows it bothers me and when I tell him to stop and I say, "ew!" he laughs and does it harder!

No - Matthew thinks the word "no" is the funniest thing ever. He has started hitting. And when he slaps me in the face I grab his hand and say, "no" really loudly and he laughs sooo hard and does it again. Same thing when he pulls my hair. If I say, "no" or "ow" he laughs and pulls harder. I don't know what I am going to do with the kid. ktdelsur, I know you posted a thread about this a while ago. I wish people would have taken you more seriously and actually gave advice rather than slamming your parenting style because I would really like to know how to "discipline" a 9 month old. Eric slaps his hands when he is pulling hair or hitting but I think he may be too young for that. I just don't know what the right thing is to do.

First Birthday Party - Well, the party bug has hit me! I have been browsing the First Birthday Party Ideas (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=5832) thread and am getting so overwhelmed. I think we are going to have just one HUGE party down in my hometown. It will be in November. I have no idea what I want to do for a theme and I can't be spending an absolute fortune on this. I am amazed at some of the invitations and cakes and themes some others have done. I am so not that talented and could never pull something like that off. I am already getting scared that his birthday will be a flop. I think I am going to start visiting the party stores in the area and see what I can find. It is only 3 months away!!

[snoopy30]

Hi Ladies!

I've been a lurker :rolleyes: for a while now and have finally taken the plunge! This is a great thread and I hope you don't mind if I join in from time to time. Everyone's babies are so adorable!!

My DS (Spencer) was born in 11/05. 8 months old already?!? :eek:
He's crawling and babbling all over the place these days and is soooo cute!
He's growing up so fast it's crazy but I'm having so much fun watching him grow.

Can't wait to post more!

[abbytfox]

lindz I read what you wrote about discipline and thought I would share what we have been doing. Elliott's thing is biting me. I don't think he is intentionally doing it, but he will blow a raspberry on my arm (or anywhere really) and then bite me at the end. It is like he has his mouth open really wide and makes a funny sound but then realizes, "hey, this would be good to bite" and he'll start to chomp down. He has 6 teeth so it really hurts!

Anyway, I do the same thing I did when he was nursing and bit me. I say (in a calm voice, not really loud or mean) "That hurts mommy." and then I put him down a little bit away from me. Usually we are playing on the floor when it happens so I just sit him down on the carpet, but if we are on the couch or in his glider I just put him on the floor for a minute or so. I honestly don't really know if it is making a huge difference yet, but I am trying to be consistent and hopefully it will pay off.

I have a feeling that Matthew is laughing or doing the behavior again only because you are having a reaction to his behavior. I don't think that he is intentionally trying to defy you. He loves you and loves to interact with you so he may just be trying to get a reaction from you. He knows that when he hits you say "no" which is obviously funny to him because he laughs and then does it again (wanting you to say that funny word again.) Having less of a reaction may actually make the behavior go away faster.

When I was teaching, a lot of times you are told to ignore certain behaviors because kids are just trying to get attention, negative or positive. Having a response is enough attention that the behavior will continue. Ignoring it can make it stop. Like if a child keeps calling out without raising their hand. You ignore them and call on kids who have hands raised. Eventually the one who is yelling out learns that they don't get anything from not raising their hand and they will raise their hand if they want to get attention. Does that make sense? Do you think that could be what is going on? I can understand how hard it must be and obviously I don't really know what the "right" thing to do is, but my thought is that Eric slapping his hand to teach that hitting isn't ok is only going to teach him that it IS ok. Plus, it kind of makes a game out of the whole thing.

I hope you don't find this to be judgemental or preachy, I am only hoping to offer some advice. I hope that you find something that works for you and Matthew. At least you have a cute, short 'do that isn't so easy to grab anymore! (peeked at you in lj last night, no time for a response) Not to make light of it, but I do wish you good luck. Let me know what ends up working for you guys!

Baby pics Everyone's babies are darling! I Love seeing how big they are all getting. Can anyone see my pics in the previous posts, or should I try to repost?

[fwgirl]

Welcome rachrich and snoopy. :)

lindzee I know just how you feel. Maybe they can be pen pals instead! I'm sorry you're having biting/hitting issues. I think the advice from abbyfox is spot on. I think the best reaction is little to no reaction. Sometimes DD will bite my nose or pull my hair. She doesn't realize what she's doing (I don't think) so I say 'that hurts' and set her down away from me. Who knows if this is effective, but I'm giving it a shot. It's similar to what I did when she was biting during nursing. Good luck with the party planning. I'm sure his party won't be a flop!

abbyfox great advice! And no, I can't see your pictures.

***

I ordered a new carseat today. I'm happy to have it done, but a little sad at the same time. I can't believe my little baby has almost outgrown her infant seat. She was so tiny when I brought her home. Hard to believe how much she's changed in the last 8+ months.

[Lindzee82]

snoopy30 - Welcome!!

abbytfox - Thanks for sharing your story and for the tips. It is hard for me to just ignore the hairpulling behavior. He does it when I am burping him or when I am trying to lay him down on the changing table. He grabs right at the roots with both hands. He clenches his little fists so tightly and pulls. Sometimes it makes me cry because it hurts.so.much. I say "no" to him while I am trying to unclench his fists. Usually as soon as I get one done and then work on the other, the first one latches back on. It is awful. He does it every single time and I just don't think that, in this case, ignoring will help. I am going to try it though. Of course I don't find your post preachy or judgemental. I do want to clarify that Eric obviously does not slap Matthew's hand very hard, if hard at all. He kind of swats at it. I don't want you to think that my husband is abusive. I do understand the whole positive and negative reinforcement thing, as I have a degree in education and that is something that was really stressed in all of my classes. It is just so hard to work that into your everyday life. sigh...

fwgirl - Pen pals sound great! They can be each others support in swaddlers and suckers annonymous! haha! Abby did have some great advice. I just don't know if it will work in this particular case. I am certainly going to try, though. The worst that will happen is I will go bald! Yay for the new carseat. Which one did you get? The Boulevard?

[abbytfox]

So happy playing on the beach...
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/abbytfox/5f7a7ca5.jpg

Happy, drooly mess
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/abbytfox/5639618d.jpg

Passed out in the car with milk still on his lips (is there anything better than a sleeping baby)
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/abbytfox/b4ace0fb.jpg

And for Jengen, a pic of Elliott being "twins" with Cole!
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/abbytfox/27e260f8.jpg

[abbytfox]

Ohmigod. He is huge! So sorry. I have no idea why that happened! Anyway, I hope it worked this time.

[rachrich]

Abbytfox-I love the pictures. How cute! yeah, it doesn't get much better than a sleeping baby!
And everyone else's pics. I love baby pics. :)

[Orion]

Hi Ladies:

I had my first doctor's appointment this morning with my family doctor and guess what...I'm pregnant! Kind of funny since I've know for weeks and I have morning sickness, etc! I have my first OB/Gyn appointment for August 25 and they are scheduling me for a 'dating' ultrasound since it is hard to know how far along I am. After my appointment I called my Mom to let her know the news. It was so funny. I asked her what her plans were tonight and she said that she was going to to dinner with the family and I said "Oh, so you are celebrating?". She was perplexed and asked what she had to celebrate and I told her to celebrate becoming a grandmother for the second time. At first she screamed, then she kept saying 'but it's not possible. You're only seven month pp and you are still breast-feeding". I just laughed and told her that it is very much so possible since I got the confirmation for the doctor today. She is so excited. I am know heading to the gym to meet DH where we will call his family, hopefully before my Mom spreads the news around the whole town and his family hears from someone else!

I'm attempting, once again, to post a picture of Sophie here. Here's hoping it works...

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477878%3C4%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D3256%3E359%3E4%3C5%3EWS NRCG%3D3233%3A247%3B9575nu0mrj

[Lindzee82]

abbytfox - Oh my gosh, Elliott is so adorable!!!!

Orion - Congrats again! I am sure it is nice to get confirmation. I can't wait to find out how far along you are. Sophie is such a little doll.

[first-time mom]

Subscribing:)

Welcome rachrich, and snoopy30!!

Orion-Congrats again and cant wait to hear how far along you were? Did you know what you were having last time around? Will you find out with this one?

Lindz-Kaylin also laughs at NO and pulls my hair out when she is going to sleep. Its a comfort thing but it hurts like *&%$!!

Love all the baby pics, I need to post one when I get the chance. I have dial up so it takes forever to download one!

Crawling-SO close, I think by her 9 month appt she will be and thats on the 17th. She face planted today and got her first bloody fat lip:( I am sure there are many more to come. She keeps getting her foot stuck under her when she goes from sitting to crawl mode!!

Teeth-none here, no drooling. Maybe she will get her first one before she is 1?? hah

SLeeping-SHe is finally in her crib but its still in my room. ONe step at a time I guess!! She sleeps from 8-8 most days!

First b-day bash-I too am getting the itch!! I need to start thinking. I know it will be Nov. 11 the day after her b-day but thats as far as I have gotten...

Take care everyone

[rachrich]

Orion- Congrats to you and your family! you must be so excited. I am still getting adjusted to parenthood and can't imagine if I got pg again now. I can't wait to have more children down the road, but right now getting pg is one of my worst fears. hahaha! of course, other than something bad happening to DD or DH.
I can't wait to hear more about your pregnancy. :)

Y'alls babies are sitting up and I'm so jealous. Olivia will NOT! she still needs minimal support (will be 8mo monday). i don't want to force her but i'm getting frustrated because i will pull her to sitting and keep a hand behind her back. then she will fling herself back, not just slump backwards. If I didn't have my hand there she'd bang her head back on the floor. Any ideas to help her sit up alone w/out being forceful??

[jengen]

all of the babies are so cute!! abbygreat pic of Elliott in his shirt! Cole's got the whole outfit - the swimtrunks and sandles. Too cute! Also, thanks for the advice on discipline. lindzeeCole pulls my hair all the time!

orionCongrats again! though I can't even imagine morning sickness again this soon! :eek: :(

cookie we have the same gumball machine toy :)

teeth None here, I can't believe it! It seems like he's been teething forever, but thank God he's still STTN.

carseat at almost 21 lbs and 29 inches, he has exceeded the bucket! I finally decided to get the Britax Decathlon...I got a good deal on the Odyssey print at www.albeebaby.com. $220 including shipping

crawling almost there! He is doing the military style low crawl and also he gets up on all fours and then lunges forward, almost hitting his chin. It is too funny.

Here is the funniest thing he does yet. Whenever he gets frustrated, he would make this growl like the Hulk. So what does my husband do? Encourage it, of course. :D
http://www.dropshots.com/day.php?userid=93249&cdate=20060801&ctime=171401

eta: rachrichwelcome! Do you have a boppy? When Cole was still a little wobbly, I would put it around him (hugging his bottom) for a little extra support. It seemed to help and at a minimum, cushion his fall if he fell back! Sometimes I still do it because we have hard wood floors.

[rachrich]

jengen- yes i do have a boppy! i never unpacked it after we moved almost 2 months ago. Great idea! thanks

[rachrich]

Dang it! I'm trying to post some pictures and i can't get it to work right.
Can someone give dumb me a quick lesson? TIA

[krbb]

rachrich - I second the boppy! It worked really well when Oliver was still new to sitting up. To instert a picture first copy the location. So if you have it on snapfish or something similar open up the picture then do a right click. Look for properties and it will bring up the location of the picture, http:www.etc. Then click the little icon with the mountains on CC and paste that location. I hope that makes sense! What part of nowhere Ohio are you? I am in southwestern Ohio.

abby and jengen - Oliver has the frog bathing suit, but not the shirt. :)

snoopy30 - Welcome!

ftm - That is great DD is sleeping in her crib. If Oliver slept 8-8 I would let him sleep anywhere!

Sleep issue - Is anyone else's DC doing this? Ever since Oliver learned to sit and pull himself up that is all he wants to do. He used to fall asleep fine on his own at night, but now he immediately rolls onto his stomach sits up or stands up. Then he starts crying because he is tired but is sitting or standing. It is so annoying, but funny at the same time! Why won't he just stay laying! One day at nap time I found him slumped over in the sitting position. It freaked me out! Is he just doing this because it is a new skill and he can? I assume he will eventually outgrow this, but when?

[abbytfox]

I can't believe I forgot to tell you...Elliott started clapping two days ago! I was so thrilled because we have been "working" on it for some time now and I guess he was just ready. I happened to look back in the mirror that I have so I can see him and he was just clapping. I was so excited that I said "YAY, Elliott! Clapping! YAY!" and he smiled and then stopped. I wasn't sure if he realized that he was even doing it until I put him back into his carseat (where he had clapped the 1st time) and he did it again. It was so cute. Like he remembered "oh, yeah. I did this before when I was sitting here." Then yesterday I was singing "The Wheels on the Bus" which has been his favorite song forever and as I was making the wheels motion he started clapping. And the BEST is that today he did it to the "Wheels on the Bus" again...he totally knows/remembers the song and understands that you clap to a song! It is amazing. At first I thought it was a fluke, but now it has been a few days and he really is doing it. Anyway, I feel really proud because we have no signs of scooting or crawling over here and I was starting to worry a little (he is 8.5 months) but now I know that he is just taking his time. He was working on getting his little brain around clapping and didn't have time to worry about scooting. I am sure it will all come in due time. My next goal is to get a video of him clapping...if I do I will be sure to post it to dropshots to share with all of you!

rachrich Welcome and thanks! Do you have a Bumbo seat? We used that a lot when Elliott was younger and he got the sitting thing pretty quickly. He totally used to do that pushing back against my hand. The boppy is also a great idea. Or just put some pillows around her so if she falls she is cushioned.

krbb I love that all our guys are wearing their frog stuff! So darling! Elliott hasn't fallen asleep sitting down, but does imediately roll onto his tummy. For a while he was so irritated, but now he can re-roll back onto his back if he wants. I bet it is exactly what you said. He can do it, so he's gonna! Hopefully, once he figures out that sleeping is best on his tummy or back, he'll stop. It is hard though cause you just want them to sleep!

FTM Hooray for Kaylin sleeping in her crib. It must feel so good that transitioning her worked. 8 to 8 is awesome. We can't get Elliott to sleep past 6:30. However, he is down by 7 so I'll take it!

Orion First of all, Congrats on your pregnancy! Not sure I said that already. And Sophie is adorable...what a little girl she is! I am dying over all the girl clothes. We stopped in Janie and Jack today and there is the most adorable purple smocked dress! If I had a little girl our finances would be in serious trouble (it is bad enough with a little boy!)

Lindz Thanks! Of course, I do not think that you have an abusive husband. I was only trying to make the point that swatting might just lead to M thinking that it is a game, more than another reaction may. I can totally understand not being able to ignore it when he is grabbing fistfulls of your hair. Maybe just take his hands off without saying anything (even if you are going to cry!) and move away for a minute. Hopefully after a few times he may understand that you aren't laughing/it isn't funny/ you aren't going to play. Good luck. I think the discipline is by far the hardest part of parenting!

snoopy Welcome!

first birthday Ok, confession, I have been thinking about it since he was 4-5 months. HELP! The other day, I actually had to book the room in our clubhouse that we are going to have the party in and that made it SO real. On one hand I can't wait and on the other I can't even deal with how soon it will be here and how big E will be. I think we are doing a frog or frog pond theme. As you know...I am obsessed! It is so fun to start thinking of ideas and planning. I love this stuff!

period Well, after 18 months I got mine today! It is crazy to have it again after all this time. So far it isn't too bad. Seems very similar to how it was before Elliott. I was expecting terrible cramps...they could be on their way, but I am hoping they aren't.

Off to make hummus for playgroup tomorrow. I love to host...it is so fun to have everyone over!

[first-time mom]

abby-Yeah I am happy that her transitioning is working but its a lot slower than I antisipated. I tried to do cold turkey in her room in her crib but that was a disaster. So I moved the crib back in my room and now she sleeps in that. I eventually will put the crib back in her room but not sure when! I have an air conditioner in my room so if I move her now I dont think she will sleep through the night b/c it so hot! Baby steps I guess, maybe I will move in Next month! Ya for the clapping, we have the wave down and are now working on clapping:)

krbb-Yeah I do have a sleeper. She sleeps awesome at night but hardly naps. Sometimes only 15 mins but I figure I would rather have her STTN then take long naps and be up at night.

[rachrich]

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477948%3B3%7Ffp354%3Enu%3D328%3B%3E33%3A%3E9%3C2% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A26667%3A9%3Anu0mrj

[rachrich]

YAY! it worked after a couple tries. the above pic is Olivia in her excersaucer in just a diaper. it was a few weeks ago and our A/C wasn't working. I love this picture. More to come soon. thanks for the help

[rachrich]

While I'm at it i'll post a few more. :)

falling alseep in her exersaucer.
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477948%3B3%7Ffp354%3Enu%3D328%3B%3E33%3A%3E9%3C2% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A26669375nu0mrj

playing on the floor with her bunny. this is also my desktop image.
http://images1.snapfish.com/3477948%3B3%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D328%3B%3E33%3A%3E9%3C2% 3EWSNRCG%3D3233%3A26675%3B75nu0mrj

[JRPAGV]

rachrich: Olivia is beautiful! Look at that hair! :) I love her name, by the way!

Welcome to snoopy too! I love getting new members in our group!

I'll be back later for more replies.

[JRPAGV]

rachrich: I wish my DS would fall asleep that easily! LOL What a sweet picture! Our babies share the same birthday!

[rachrich]

JRPGAV-thanks! she's ALWAYS had a lot of hair. when she was first born it was super dark brown and has lightened as she grows.
Oh if she would only fall asleep that easy all the time. Sometimes it's not that easy. Funny thing was when i took the pic-just the other day that happened-I was laughing SO HARD out loud at her that my laughing would cause her to jerk her head up real fast and open her eyes for second. It reminded me of the people who fall asleep in church, meetings, etc and jerk their heads up real quick. i felt bad that she was so tired and i was laughing at her expense.

krbb-i live in northeastern ohio-in lorain county west of cleveland. i grew up west of dayton and most of my family still lives there and we visit often.
We were actually going to take olivia to the Beach waterpark last time we were down but it rained. I love that waterpark!

[krbb]

rachrich - She is adorable and I agree her hair is so cute! I live just south of Dayton. I have been here for just over 6 years. I am orignally from Michigan and DH is from northern KY.

Everyone have a great weekend!

[snoopy30]

Thanks for all the welcomes ladies :)

rachrich-Your DD is beautiful! I love the one of her asleep in the Exersaucer. Spencer would never do that!

sleep issue-I have noticed too that sometimes when I put Spencer down for a nap he crawls around in his crib or ends up sitting up and sometimes that seems to keep him from falling asleep. I've heard that when they learn a new "trick" it can sometimes interfere with sleep.

first birthday-I haven't given this one much thought but I know it will be here before I know it! :eek: I just can't believe it. One of my friends is having a Baby Einstein theme for her DS's 1st b-day. He loves watching it so I think it was any easy pick for her!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend! It's hot here so we've been confined to the inside today!

[first-time mom]

The first three are her 8 month pics from JCpenney

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp349%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A3468%3B%3B%3B5nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp348%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A3468%3B%3B%3B8nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp357%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A3467%3A8%3A%3Bnu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp357%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A34679%3B4%3Cnu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/3477%3B3%3A37%7Ffp347%3Enu%3D327%3B%3E745%3E586%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A34679%3B59nu0mrj

[first-time mom]

Notice how light her scar is!!!

[JRPAGV]

first-time mom: Those pictures are wonderful! She's such a pretty baby! I didn't even notice her scar until you mentioned it just then. It is light. :) Want me to add these to the first page?

[first-time mom]

jrpagv-Thanks, yes I would love you to add them to the first page!! Thanks

[Nov/Dec 2005 Mommies]

Updated to here! :)

snoopy30: I'd love to add your stats if you'll post them. You can see how to do it in the very first post of this thread.

first-time mom: I didn't know if you wanted me to add the family picture to the first page, so I just posted the other four. Is that okay?

[JRPAGV]

Tantrums: Is my baby the only one throwing tantrums?? Nathan has all the sudden started throwing FITS when he doesn't get is way or when he's upset. He'll arch his back, kick his legs, turn red, fuss, and fling himself! :eek: He's doing it quite often too! I didn't think this was supposed to happen so early. Is 8 months too early for the "terrible two's?? :D

NO!: Nathan understands the word NO now. Sometimes I'll say it and he'll stop what he's doing, sometimes he keeps on doing it (totally understandable for this age). Sometimes he throws one of the tantrums described above when I tell him NO.

[shirsty]

welcome rachrich and snoopy! Rachrich your DD is beautiful. Snoopy my DS is doing the same thing, sitting up in his crib and not wanting to go to sleep at night :rolleyes:

FTM love the pics, Kaylin is such a cutie! Her scar is barely noticeable, I really had to look to find it. I love her hair!

JRPAGV my DS is starting to show his 'personality' too, no full-fledged tantrums yet but I am sure they are right around the corner. He has changed a lot in the last couple weeks, he's a lot more clingy with me, not wanting to go to other people, fussing as soon as I set him down, etc. Yeah I know it's normal for his age, but it still gets old pretty quick!

Crawling Sam is crawling forward! He went backwards for a long time but just last weekend figured out how to go forward. He is very pleased with himself but making things a LOT tougher for DH and me. We had a swinging gate up and ready to go but now we are finding all the little detail things he's getting into, that we never noticed before. He is definitely getting into stuff! I already miss my startionary babe who would sit where I put him and play with toys ;) OK not too much but my life is definitely more interesting now.

9 month WBV had this a week ago, he is 28 inches long and 20+ lbs. Very average all around. They did a lead blood test which was thankfully OK (we live in an old house). Not too much to report - I am trying to get more creative with other finger foods, he is totally down with puffs and cheerios, I need to mix it up some more. I gave him a small piece of soft potato tonight, he was not too into it.

Everybody have a good week!

[first-time mom]

jrpagv-Yeah adding them all is fine by me:)


Shirsty-Thanks!! Her hair is growing like crazy lately!

Kaylin has her 9 WBV on Aug. 17th I cant wait to see how much she weighs. I do have a scale at home (had to have it before her heart was fixed) and I put her on it yesterday and she weighs 21.6lbs! :eek: hah She turns 9 mos on Thursday!

Oh yeah on Thursday make sure you all go to Dairy Queen and get a blizzard!! The proceeds go to make a wish foundation. I love an good excuse to eat ice cream!!

[snoopy30]

tantrums-Yes! Spencer is starting to "fake cry" when he wants something or isn't happy. It's kind of cute but frustrating too! I do feel like I'm having to say no to him more and more these days. I think he understands it or at least it gets his attention. I've heard though that you shouldn't say 'No' too much or it won't be effective anymore. But what else can you say to an 8-month old?? It's fun to see their personalities come out but I'm in denial that I'm going to have a toddler before I know it and will really have to start with the discipline :eek:

pro pics-OK so I'm really behind on this. Haven't gotten any yet! Am I the only one?? I just want one really for his first year but I'm having a hard time figuring out where to go. All my friends here use different places. I'll get it done I know :rolleyes:

[doubleR]

hi everyone! I LOVE all the new pictures, our babies are looking so grown up and so adorable these days! I'm jealous of all the hair ;) it's so funny, Brady's is sloooowly starting to come in. for now, he's still my cute little bald man!

we're back from our little mini vaca and I'm back at work :( it was so great to have a week off, I loved it! we went to hershey park for a few days with my parents, my brother & SIL and their 2 kids - it was lots of fun, a wonderful family vacation spot. tons of families, babies, etc. we didn't seem out of place walking the halls of the hotel at 7 a.m. with Brady in his stroller :p once again, he totally went with the flow and was so easy going... my parents can't believe it b/c compared to my brother's kids, who aren't *bad* by any means, but he is such a *good* baby. so easy going. he's so happy, smiles at everyone, goes to most people, doesn't fuss when DH and/or I are out of his site, goes right to sleep, and for the night... I'm so happy with my little man, I just love him!!

we also spent a few days down at my parents house, just Brady and I, lounging by the pool, visiting with friends and family... aaah, to not have to work, I know I'm not the type of person to get bored and not know what to do with myself. I'd LOVE to not work, lol!

we had an incident with our carseat breaking as we were about to head home from hershey - how convenient, huh? 4 hours away from home... we were able to get him home safely, it turned out we could tighten everything up just fine, it was a struggle getting him out :rolleyes: I was still so nervous though... and then pissed b/c I had to run out and buy a new carseat, paying full price, when the same exact ones are on sale/closeout on a few different online sites and I could have easily saved $50-$60 if I had time to shop around and wait for shipping. so not happy about all of that! I'm thinking I might buy one on sale, wait for it to be delivered, and then return the full price one to BRU... such a PITA though!

anyway... welcome to Rachrich and Snoopy! and any other new girls!!! and btw, I *love* the names Olivia and Spencer, they were both on my list - god, that feels like soooooooo long ago, that I had a list of names I was going through!!

Brady has definitely showed us his version of a mini tantrum. I'm sure he'll kick it up a notch soon enough. he's also started yelling at us. fun, yes. it's actually pretty funny, but I'm careful not to laugh at him and let him know that!

no I think he understands this, but he doesn't have much of a reaction so I'm not too sure... he kind of stops for a second, looks at me with a devilish smile and continues. I'm thinking typical boy here :rolleyes:

crawling not yet, but he's doing the rocking on all 4's more and more and he's taken a few lunges / nosedives. good thing he doesn't have far to fall I guess!

sitting up in his crib totally!!! yesterday, I heard him wake up from his nap, I go into his room and he's sitting in the middle of his crib smiling at me. his little forehead was all red as he must have taken a few falls into the side of the crib. and we do have bumpers, they're just too low for where his head hits. he's also done this as he's trying to fall asleep though, which is more frustrating than anything!

teeth grinding this was mentioned a few pages back, but YES, Brady does this and I cannot stand it. He's doing it less and less, so hopefully once the novelty wears off, he'll just stop. I did ask the ped about it and he said it's very common and that there really isn't anything you can do about it.

pro pics we've only had them done once. and spent a small fortune so I've been hesitant to go back! I just saw a friend's baby pics, she had them done at walmart, and they were fabulous. I'm thinking that walmart's prices are probably pretty good, I think I'll try them out...

oh, almost forgot - last night, it was possibly the cutest thing I've ever seen ;), Brady waved at us! I've been working on that and clapping with him... he was so excited by our reaction, he just kept doing it.

Question for those in daycare ~ have you gone through any transitions yet? Brady is the next one in his room to move up to the Infant 2 room. I'm sure he'll be fine, but I just love his 2 daycare teachers now, they are wonderful with him, I'm dreading this... they do it gradually and they said at some point within the next month they'll start. he'll spend a little bit of time there each day, increasing the amount of time over a few weeks, til he's fully adjusted. just wondering if anyone else has gone through this yet and how it went... I'm thinking that just like daycare itself, the anticipation is probably worse! Once he starts the transition, I'll spend some time with him in the new room too, getting to know the new teachers... I've met them all before, but just hi/bye type thing.

ok, enough rambling... sorry for such a hugely-long post! I hope everyone has a good week!

[first-time mom]

doubler-Welcome back, I am glad your trip went well. Its so nice to get away!! Sorry about the carseat issue. Things like that happen at the most inconvient time!!

Daycare transitions-Kaylin isnt in daycare but before she was born I was an infant toddler teacher in a daycare. I can tell you that the transition is very slow and that the children always do so well. They love the new toys new environment and if anything dont want to go back to the *old* room. I have had lots of parents worry about how they will do and they always transition so easily. If anything the kids are transitioned a lot faster than the time allowed. Dont know if any of this helped but I thought I would chime in:)

[doubleR]

FTM, THANK YOU :D :D :D that helped soooo much, seriously! I didn't think about new toys, new things to check out, etc. that makes a lot of sense. thanks!

I was trying to get to so much in my last post, but I wanted to say that although I do love the pro pictures you posted, my favorites are the last 2, with Kaylin just hanging out in her onesie, her hair all cute... she is adorable!

[first-time mom]

doubler-No prob:D I know the best shots are always the random ones:) She smiles whenever you put a camera on her its funny. Even when I pick up my cell phone she smiles thinking it is a camera:)

[jengen]

tantrums Well, Cole puts his arms straight out and does the growl that we call "the Hulk" and DH encourages. :rolleyes: I posted a video a few pages back...it is hard not to laugh at it.

firsttimemomadorable pics! You can barely see the scar!

propics my aunt got us a package for the 3,6,&9 photos, which only covered the sitting fee. This photographer is WONDERFUL but super expensive and an hour and a half away. Not very practical. :( Needless to say, we haven't gotten his 6mons done yet...

doublerglad you had a good time! That sucks about the carseat!

daycare cole is at an in-home daycare and the owner had like 3 moms decide over the summer not to go back to work and now Cole is only one of 2 kids there and at the same time, two of her older daughters moved back home and they are always there, so he gets SOOOO much attention. It is good and bad. :)

So, yesterday, I got mastitis...again! :( My fever isn't as bad this time, but it is soooo painful! I had to go to the dr and they gave me another round of antibiotics. They attributed it to just not fully healing the first time or the fact that I'm weaning. I can't possibly wean any slower! On a happy note, Cole will finally take straight formula! Yeah, progress!

[ktdelsur]

Man, I started to make a big post a few days ago and lost it...then didn't ever feel like starting another one! LOL

Such cute pics, everybody!!

tantrums: If we tell him no - he'll stop what he's doing for a minute, but then go back to it after a few minutes of *seeming* like he was going to obey. If we remove him from what he's playing with and shouldn't be - he'll fit a bit. Sounds like a cry to the unassuming human - but we can tell it's fake. No tears, and it ends really quickly. We just ignore it. They're actually kind of funny.

milestones: I can't believe Andrew is 8 months old as of Saturday. He's already cruising down the couch, grabbing Daddy's legs to stand up next to him holding onto his shorts. He's such a goober - all smiles. I love when he looks so excited when I pick him up from daycare. He does sometimes fit when I walk out of the room, but he hasn't been that bad about that. He does the same for DH if DH has been playing with him and he quits to go, say, use the bathroom or something.

daycare: We got a slip of paper the other day that Andrew will be moving to the "Creepers" room at daycare in Feb/Mar 07. I have a feeling with all the moving around he's doing, he'll be walking before he's a year old. He's going to be all over the place. We got an "injury report" the other day at daycare - one of the older boys (who just moved to the creepers room today, actually) bit Andrew on the arm. Not in a malicious way, but in a, "I'm laying on the floor next to this chunky, smooshy baby - hey, his arm looks tasty..." There were no breaks of skin or bite marks, but they said Andrew did cry out and give him a dirty look. LOL....his smooshy little arm probably felt like a teething toy. heheheh :D

ear tubes: He's getting ear tubes on Friday. Andrew has had 4-5 ear infections in his 8 months of life, and the doc said it'd be best since he just got one this summer and it's not peak season for it. Most kids stay well around this time of year until flu season starts. I'm not excited about putting him under anesthesia, but its only for 15-20 mins. I'm not worried about the tubes, just the anesthesia, and the fact that we're not allowed to let him eat after midnight, and his surgery isn't until 8 a.m.!! (he usually gets up to eat between 5:45 - 7 a.m.)

ETA...I just watched part of an episode of SuperNanny. This woman had two sets of twins - two boys that were 4, two boys that were five, and a 7-year-old daughter. Single mom. FIVE kids. I cannot even imagine how overwhelmed she must have felt.

[sem426]

I've been reading along...although not posting too often. It's hard to keep up here and also in LJ (where I've been slacking too!)

tantrums thank goodness we haven't experienced this yet!

no i don't think she understands it yet. I usually only say "no" when she starts spitting. she loves to make this spitting noise and of course it's mostly when we're feeding her. I;'ll say a stern "no" and then she'll kind of look at me for a second adn then spit again. It's actually kind of funny! (I'm so tough!)

crawling still nothing here. she kind of still scoots and turns more than moves forward.

standing DD LOVES to stand and hold on to the coffee table or our hands. her legs are super strong. she'd much rather be standing than sitting or on her belly.

food so far we're still doing mostly jarred foods and puffs. she will p/u the puffs herself, but not put them into her mouth (of course that is like the ONLY thing that she WON'T put in her mouth:rolleyes: ) we are mostly using the stage 2 foods...but i have a few stage 3 as well (none w/meats yet). do you notice a difference in texture from stage 2 to 3?? to me it just seems like the jar is bigger...but that's about it??

what "real/table" foods have you given DC? I'm going to try watermelon or cantaloupe maybe this week, but i haven't given her anything else yet.

first bday party we're starting to plan. first, i need to decide if we'll have it our house or at a restaurant. i'm thinking of doing a hello kitty theme, but not 100% on that yet either. I've been lurking in the "1st bday party" thread for ideas.

TTC #2? anyone else thining about this yet? we aren't ready...but i admit i have been thinking about it. i loved being pregnant and can't wait to be pg again. right now, we're very happy w/just DD and i don't think i could handle another one quite yet! I think we'll probably start REALLY talking about it next spring.

[Orion]

Hi Ladies:

All the babies are so adorable in this thread!

Tantrum: Thank heavens we haven't gotten here yet. Sophie is such a happy agreeable baby which makes DH and I just to pleased.

No: I don't really use this word often around Sophie because I don't want to wear out this word and she doesn't really get into anything (yet) that she shouldn't be.

Real/Table Food: Sophie gets it all. I make all her own food (still on mat leave so I have the time) and I am following the book "Super baby food". Right now she is eating sweet potato, avacado, carrots, peas, beans, squash, bannanas, peaches, mango, watermelon, egg yolks, yogurt and for finger foods she loves cherrios. I know there are more things she is eating but I just can't think of all of them right now.

TTC #2: Oops...#2 due March 2, 2007! :eek: I would be more freaked out about this is Sophie wasn't such an easy baby but because she is so great I am looking forward to having two babies under a year and a half!

Sleeping: I am so happy to report that Sophie now sleeps from 6 pm straight to 5 am (gets up for a quick feeding) and sleeps right to 7 am. It makes this pregnant Momma, who needs all the sleep she can get, feel so much better!

Milestones: Sophie has started doing the cutest thing ever. DH and I will stand her up in front of us and ask for a kiss and she will come at us with her mouth open and 'kiss' us on the lips. I love these sloppy kisses!

On another note...I'm kind of freaking out because since I am pregnant again so soon, I need to go back to work to get my 600 hours in order to get my year mat leave again. That means, weaning Sophie from the breast and putting her in daycare. I know that so many of you went through this months ago and how tough it was on all of you so I take solice knowing that you are all surviving but the thought of putting Sophie in daycare kills me. At least it will only be until March (when baby #2 arrives).

[helen22]

OK, someone send me a medal please - have just survived 8 days in England with the in-laws!! My in-laws are not terrible - they just kind of wear me out. Mel was a real trooper - she was great on both the flights, pretty happy to be handed off to all her relatives, and adjusted v quickly to the time difference. It was really fun to see her with my husband's family, esp the last night we were there when we attended a family party for a 3-yr-old - she loved seeing all the kids. But MIL and FIL just get on my nerves after a while - I'm happy to be home. I was happy that DH acknowledged they're difficult - when we got back he actually said "thank you" to me for being such a good sport all week :p

I feel very behind (already!) but it's fun to see a new thread! Welcome to the new mommies. And such cute pictures of our darling babies! :) :)

I am also really behind on food - Mel has a pretty limited repertoire, and we haven't tried any finger foods yet - party because (I'm so embarassed) we still don't have a highchair! :rolleyes: I need to go back and look at our old thread to see what kind of daily food plan some of you more advanced eaters were using - how much food and when, etc. I'm also confused about what kinds of foods are OK to introduce when - for instance, I see berries on some lists as being highly allergenic, but then other places berries are recommended as good "second" foods. Mel had some blueberries in England and seemed to do fine :o

The baby food in England seemed really bad! I felt lucky to have organic, single-ingredient foods available in jars here in the US, since I don't have the time/energy to make a lot of her food myself. In England a jar would say "apples and bananas" but the ingredients would include lots of apple juice (therefore lots of sugar), rice, and added arificial pectin! Plus there were not a lot of fruit and veggie choices - they seemed to jump right into "lamb casserole" and "veal & cheese pasta" - bleh. And so many desserts! What's up with all the baby desserts?? My MIL said "maybe babies like to have dessert with their tea." Um, ok. (she meant "tea" as in the meal, not that babies should drink tea...)

Another interesting difference I noticed is that babies in England don't use bumpers in their cribs until they're a year old. If we didn't have our bumpers Mel would have a lot of bruises!

Milestones - Mel now waves hello, which is adorable. And yesterday she climbed up the stairs out of the living room! (it's only two stairs) Baby proofing is definitely on for this weekend.

TTC #2 - I'm pretty sure we'll start trying in January.

Tantrums/no - haven't employed a lot of "no", haven't seen tantrums.

pro pics - we are going to have a photographer friend take some pictures when my parents are here in early Sept. I think we'll go down to a park near Bklyn Bridge - I thought it would be fun to have some very "New York" pictures from when Mel is little, since (hopefully!!) we won't be here too many more years...

Orion, good luck with work and putting Sophie in daycare - that sounds tough. Do you know what you will do for work, since you moved? Are you sure you have to wean her? Mel is still on breastmilk although I am back at work. Although perhaps you would have to wean Sophie anyway because of baby #2? I don't know much about nursing while pg.

ktdelsur, your story about Andrew's "injury" is funny - I can picture it happening just like you described! Hope the ear tubes go well - it sounds like a pretty common procedure.

jengen, so sorry about your mastitis! I've heard it's so painful. :(

[happygolucky]

Hi all. I know - I post and then I disappear for weeks on end. Bad Happy.

Somebody asked about rash clothes - they're UV ray blocking shirts and pants and hats and swimming suits. Not ultra cute, but ultra protective and we need them to keep Anna's hemangioma out of the sun.

Somebody also asked about mesh feeders -they're called safe feeders and they're mesh bags that you put food into and let the baby suck/gum on. The food comes out through the mesh bag in pieces too small to choke on. I've used Anna's with honeydew melon and she loves it!

Tantrum - not in the classic sense, but she's pretty clear when she's ticked off and trust me, it ain't pretty.

No - haven't really had to use it. When she grabs something she isn't supposed to have, I take it from her and replace it with something else. When she grabs my hair, I untangle her fingers and give her a rattle. When she grabs my face, I pull her off and give her a taggie. When she grabbed the insides of my nostrils, I pulled her off and gave her to my husband.

Real Food I make her food - she gets vegetables and fruits. We're starting on meats tomorrow. She's played with Cheerios but hasn't put them into her mouth.

Crawling - nope. Lots of rocking. No crawling.

Rolling - nope. I think she's the only kid here who still doesn't roll. I'm not sure what to think at this point. I'm spending a fortune on therapy and the kid won't roll. Maybe she WILL go to college without the ability to get herself out of her own bed.

Babbling - we have lots of roaring here but no true babbling. I'm still waiting for a ba-ba-ba-ba or a ma-ma-ma-ma or a da-da-da-da or a ga-ga-ga-ga. The therapy folks are now saying she's probably going to need speech therapy in addition to the PT and the OT she currently gets. Geez. When is my baby going to get a chance to be a baby?

Teeth grinding - nope.

Sitting up in crib - nope. She doesn't go from lying to sitting without help.

Pro Pics - I'm terrible but I haven't had any taken yet. I know. Bad Happy.

TTC #2 - not sure about this. I haven't even gotten my period yet so I should probably go back to the Gyn and see if all the pipes are in working order before I start thinking of having another, right?

Toys I know I'm always asking about this, but what toys do your kids like? Anna is nuts for... wait for it... a ball of yarn. Yes, I did put it out for the cats but hey, the kid wanted it and she's the pack leader so it's hers. She loves to untangle the yarn and hold it up and slide it through her fingers. She also loves my old cell phone. She won't play with the toy cell phone we got for her, but my old one is irresistable. Besides that, she loves her Leap Frog Learning Drum, the tags on the sling I used to carry her in when she was an infant and, of course, the dog. We also broke down and shaved the cats so that she wouldn't be able to grab and extract tufts of hair every time the poor things walked past her. They were starting to get bald spots.


Okay - the munchkin is asleep so I'm going to try to clean up this place and get some work done. Ciao to all!

[doubleR]

hi there. just checking in for a quick break at work ;) the heat wave has broke and it is beautiful, gorgeous, no - perfect weather. at least for today! I can't wait to get out of here and go for a nice long walk with Brady. I am *still* feeling so soft / mushy even though I'm pretty much back to my pre-preg size and weight. not that I ever was a 'hard' body, but I know I wasn't this soft. I have to get back into the routine of doing pilates, it helps so much. and I'd love to get into yoga, I know they're similar, but... that's about all I know, other than a few poses and taking 2 classes a while back. I just think I'd really benefit from yoga in my life right now, physically definitely, but even moreso mentally. anyway, where did all that come from? :p

orion I'm glad you're getting your sleep. that's one thing that scares me about being prego with #2, already having a baby and/or toddler, it will just be so different next time! we're all here for you when you have to go back to work and do the daycare thing. it's not easy at first, but for us, it has turned out to be a great thing. hopefully you'll have a similar experience. and knowing it is only temporary will be huge! I'm so impressed with Sophie's menu - I have to try more things with Brady!!

sem I think the difference in texture for the Stage 3 foods is mostly in the meats... not positive, but I have a few of the mixed fruits and exactly like you said, they're just bigger jars.

ktdelsur good luck on friday and let us know how it goes! poor Andrew with all those ear infections, I'm sure the tubes will help tremendously. my brothers and I all had them as kids - not that young, but it also wasn't as common (I don't think?) 20+ years ago. oh, and that is just crazy about that single mom with all those kids... I'll try to remember her next time I'm feeling overwhelmed. oh my god!

jengen ouch on the mastitis :( you have been so dedicated, I could just hug you for your BFing efforts and success! and I'd love your daycare situation, that is awesome that he gets so much attention. he's so cute, how could he not?

table food we haven't had too much luck, Brady just isn't interested. which is hilarious b/c he's huge, you wouldn't believe me that he refuses any food if you saw the size of him! we keep offering him things - peas, bananas, cheerios, puffs, wagon wheels, avocado, I recently tried egg yolks... he wants nothing to do with any of it. He LOVED cantaloupe the first few times he had it - now wants NOTHING to do with it. okaaay. we tried watermelon the other day, wanted nothing to do with it... so, for now, I'll just keep trying everything and I guess I'll see what the ped has to say at his 9 month WBV later this month. I don't think it's a big deal, I see it as him not being fully ready, but I'm totally guessing. he eats up all his baby food and loves his yogurt so it's not like he's not eating.

TTC #2 definitely not there yet, BUT, I've kinda taken a new attitude that if it happened, I wouldn't freak out. a few months ago I would have. Ideally we'll wait another year - maybe a little less, maybe a little more ;) I can't imagine having 2 right now, but I do think it will be so cute to see Brady as a big brother some day.

standing / pulling up well this morning I put Brady on a blanket in the living room with a few toys... ran into the kitchen quick to pack up his bottles for daycare. I peeked in at him, literally this was less than a minute later, and he had scooched himself over to the coffee table and was trying to pull himself up with all he had... I said 'what are you doing' and he just looked at me and started laughing.

sleep disruption we're experiencing this in our house and I'm pretty sure it's b/c of everything new he's learning, about to do and has just started doing... so much going on these days that I think his mind must be racing, trying to process it all and it's waking him up at night. he usually is only up for a minute or 2, last night it was for about 20 minutes :rolleyes: but he's crying out quite a bit in his sleep lately... he'll put himself right back pretty much (except for last night) but it definitely wakes me up. I've turned into the lightest sleeper ever!

first birthday not even close :p

I LOVE how everyday is a new adventure in the eyes of Brady. he's so excited to see and do everything new for the first time, it is really teaching me to look at things differently and not take so much for granted.

alright, off I go to pick up my little man...

[snoopy30]

Hi ladies!

Unfortunately it is *still* hot here :mad: It's making me sooo tired and just blah. I hate that I can't take Spencer out for a walk, I'm so ready for the fall!

crawling/pulling up-Spencer is crawling but I can still keep up with him, if that makes sense. He's pulling up on things but only get to his knees, not to standing yet. It's so nervewracking these days with him getting into things. He's always hitting his head on something :rolleyes:

toys-Spencer has definitely entered the "I don't want to play with toys anymore just household objects" phase. I mean his fav toys are a bowl, the remote, the phone, his highchair (he's obsessed with the feet on it, who knew!), paper, you name it! He'll play with a toy for a little bit but then move on to some other non-toy. That said he *loves* his Jumperoo! (is that a toy?). I'll say to him "Do you want to jump?" and he starts smiling. Too cute!

table food-I've been trying to introduce more of these. So far he's had puffs, cheerios, cheese, mango, banana, cantaloupe (didn't like it), pears, turkey, waffle, bread...that's probably it. Haven't tried yogurt yet. Gave him some cottage cheese today at lunch and that was a no go! He gets about half baby food and half table food at meals. But for sure some babies just aren't ready yet. It took him a few weeks to get the hang of it.

TTC #2-Not for at least another year. BTW congratulations orion[B]on baby #2! How are you feeling?

[B]helen22-You definitely get a medal for your trip! I'm so impressed. Traveling with little ones is hard. Interesting about the baby food in England though.

ktdelsur-Good luck with the tubes! I'm sure it will make a world of difference w/ his ear infections. Oh and I'm a big Supernanny fan so I did see that episode last night. That woman had so much on her plate! I admire her though for going back to school and trying to make things work. But TWO sets of twins :eek: And all boys at that!

Okay, off to see what else I can do while the little man sleeps...

Have a great day all!

[Hawaii2SJ]

Orion Congrats on DC #2...how did I miss that one? TTC #2 is somewhere in our near future too :)

snoopy how funny....Aiden loves tupperware and also enjoys hanging out by his highchair too.

first birthday I've gotta get on the ball with this one. I've been checking out the planning thread and got lots of ideas but it's gonna be a pretty big event for us and I haven't done a darn thing. So far I've got an Ocean theme and green & blue colors. That's it. Must get my butt moving since it's a out of state party.

[shirsty]

quick post....

TTC#2: we're planning on next summer. I want to take a big trip before we get preggo again, hopefully we can do that next spring. But it took us over a year before so we may not be as in control as we'd like to think :)

jengen so sorry about the mastitis! You are a champ for dealing with all this!

toys now that Sam is crawling around he's not too interested in his toys right now, MUCH more interesting to chase after our 2 cats. Speaking of pets does anyone else have cats?? He LOVES them, but they haven't picked up yet that he will grab them and they should keep their distance. But I don't know how they're going to learn unless he grabs them a couple times - and we can't risk that because he might get scratched. See my dilemma?? Anyone have some good tips for training your pets to keep their distance? At the same time I don't want them to be afraid of him.

table food he has yogurt for breakfast every AM now, with some fruit. He's eating cheerios now too, those are SO GREAT for keeping him occupied while we're getting supper on the table. I am trying to offer him tiny pieces of many things we eat that aren't big allergens. We often slice an apple or pear for supper and I'll give him a good size slice of that, mostly to chew on. I wouldn't let him have that unattended though. Anyway it's still about 2/3 baby food 1/3 non-baby food.

ktdelsur good luck with the tubes! Of my friends whose babies have them I have heard nothing but good reports.

[helen22]

quick comment on toys - Mel loves those put-in-take-out toys - like she has a box with blocks, and a soft "birdcage" box with stuffed birds. Oh and she loves her books, esp "brown bear brown bear" and a baby photo album that we made her with pictures of her grandparents.

But what truly brings her joy in life - oh, if only she could reach it! - is the electrical outlet in the wall. It's like she's faking her crawling speed 90% of the time, and then when she thinks we aren't paying attention she is off at her secret top speed heading straight for the outlet. Why on earth does she find it so appealing??? :rolleyes:

[happygolucky]

shirsty we have two cats and two dogs. Anna absolutely LOVES to grab at them and they are slowly but surely learning to keep their distance. A few things we've done to ease the lessons all around:

1. Never let the animals near the baby unsupervised. It's just not worth the chance on an ear or tongue or tail getting pulled in the wrong way and the baby getting hurt.

2. Help the baby pet the animals gently, saying "gentle" and "nice kitty" and "nice doggie" while we do it.

3. Clip the cat's claws. Our cats get "manicures" once each week or so. It keeps their nails blunted so they can't hurt the baby.

And last but not least...

4. We shaved the cats. (hides head in shame)

Believe it or not, shaving the cats worked great. The baby can't get a grip on them because their hair is so short, so she can't hurt them, but she can touch them so they know to step out of her range if they don't want her hands on them.

Hope that helps!

[rachrich]

TTC #2....ha! probably not till winter 07/08. I want to finish or be within a semester of finishing my masters before I pop out another. But that's not really my call, I can only kind of plan when it can happen. That would be the ideal situation though.

Crawling Another ha! the only crawling olivia does is the "military" type with her butt up. she's having problems coordinating getting her butt AND front up to crawl the right way. she'll try and then flop right over. it's cute. I'm guessing in another 2 months she'll be doing it. She spends a lot of time in her Exersaucer-which she loves-so she's getting a lot of good practice bearing weight on her legs. so she may skip the full out crawling all together and go straight to walking...who knows.
Pulling up- She is doing this in her stroller only so far. I prop Olivia up in her stroller halfway sometimes, and she'll pull herself up by the cup holder/bar in front. and then start gnawing on it. :)
table food- not yet really. sometimes we'll give her a taste of ice cream now and then--yeah yeah i'm sure it's bad but she gets a smidge of it like once a month. i will give her some mashed up things sometime..like potatoes or something. She likes eat 'Nilla Wafers and the puffs as snacks. and she's doing great at feeding herself those little puffs.

i'm running low on ideas for toys too. what are some good age-appropriate toys that aren't insanely expensive?

[krbb]

TTC #2 - The ideal would be for Ollie and #2 to be about 3 years apart. I think we will start TTC late fall/early winter of 07'. That would give me about a year without BF or being pregnant. If we are lucky like were the first time and conceive right away then #2 would be born in fall of 08'. I will avoid another December baby, way too many birthdays in that month already!

Pets - Oliver *LOVES* our cat, Figaro. Now Fig has never been too fond of him or anyone else besides DH and I. Oliver gets so excited when he sees the cat and will start making these happy noises and crawl towards him. Fig just runs away.

table food - The only table food he gets are Purely O's (like Cheerios). They keep him entertained while we are eating. Most of them end up on the floor or stuck to him, but he is getting better at it. When we are on vacation next week, I might give him some fruit if we are having any and see how he does with that.

Tantrums - I really wouldn't call it a tantrum, but if we take something away from him that he isn't suppose to have or stop him from going someplace he wants to go he will start crying. It is a fake cray. I don't really say No either. If he is going towards the plant I will say something like, "Oliver play with this instead", and redirect him to something he can play with.

Toys - Anything I have, car keys, remote, telephone, cd cases, and magazines. Now he doesn't get to play with any of these though he really really wants to. I did get him this pack of 5 little plastic balls by Fisher Price, I think they were like $6. He loves them. He plays with them like a cat. They roll and he crawls over to them and makes them roll more.

helen22 - That is interesting about the baby food in England. I would just assume it would be the same. Here is what I have read regarding blueberries:
**Many believe that blueberries fall under the "no berries until after age 12 months old" rule. Blueberries are not really a common allergen - they are not in the "berry" family. Blueberries are related to cranberries - cranberries appear on many lists of "least allergenic foods" Blueberries are not related to strawberries, raspberries and the like. Those "true" berries may be mild to highly allergenic. In the book, Managing Allergy and Intolerance in the Allergic Infant (published for Health Care Professionals and The General Public), blueberries are recommended between 6-9 months old. There are also several other pediatric allergy books that say that blueberries are ok from 6-9 months old as well.

ktdelsur - Hope everything goes well with the tubes on Friday!

happygolucky - I really want to shave my cat, though I didn't think that was something that was done. He is black haired and shedding like crazy! We have light colored tile in the kitchen, where he spends most of his time trying to stay away from Oliver, so I have to use a swiffer on it everyday!

[Sebski]

deleted

[shirsty]

happy you are brave to shave your cats! I am sure it makes them much tougher to grab though. :) thanks for the tips.

rachrich I think someone else suggested this but try pulling some stuff out of your kitchen, tupperware, measuring spoons, etc. One of DS' favorites is a basket that we put the toys in he loves to play with that thing, turning it over, putting it on his head. You could also try rotating toys too, I found DS was getting a little bored with all of them out at once. Just giving a couple but mixing it up more seems to help.

krbb thanks for posting that about berries! I have given blueberries (geber pear/blueberry blend) and just tonight I considered giving him a piece of raspberry, but didn't because I thought the seeds would bug him. I'm glad I didn't now. I knew strawberries weren't good at this age but I didn't realize it was other berries too. Funny how there's a gerber puree that has strawberries in it, I think it's stage 2 even.

Sebski good luck with IVF! that is awesome that Joey is giving kisses, I wish Sam would pick up on that. I've been trying to teach him to clap, but no claps for this mama!

[helen22]

krbb, thank you for the berry information! I have a gerber strawberry/apple stage 2 sitting in the cabinet, guess I'll save that for quite a bit later.

[fwgirl]

Hi everyone. :)

ktdelsur good luck with the tubes tomorrow. I'll be thinking of you all. I'm sure it will go really smoothly and then Andrew will be so much happier without the ear infections!

jengen I feel terrible that you have mastitis again. Your efforts to nurse Cole are just awesome! He's so lucky to have such a determined mama. I hope that it clears up soon and you can continue weaning. Not only is it painful (I'm assuming) but also frustrating. Hopefully by the time you read this you'll be all better.

***

tantrums. Nope, not yet. (Thankfully!)

no. We're really trying not to use the word 'no' and instead saying things like 'that's dangerous' or 'that hurts.' We don't want to over use it and we'd like her to know what's wrong with what she's doing. Who knows if it will work, but we're trying.

crawling. Now quite. But oh so close.

pro pics. We had some taken at 10 days, but none since. We take tons of pictures ourselves. We might have some done at a year. We used our wedding photographers before and I really love their style. They're pricey, but I would like to use them again. We'll see.

table food. We've offered Joe's O's (like Cheerios), Gerber Puffs, Gerber Wagon Wheels, plain rice cakes, diced avocado, pieces of plain baked potato. We'll probably try egg yolk next. Do any of you read the 'what is your 6-12 month old eating' thread? We're not even close to some of those babies, but I remind myself that a lot of those babies are a few months older. I do get some great ideas there though!

ttc. We'll discuss it when DD is two. But like many of you have said if something were to happen I think I would be okay with it. Now that DD is at the age that she would be 18 mos. or older than a younger sibling I'm not freaking out as much about it. I mean, I would probably freak out, but not as much as before.

toys. I read an article in Parents about the top toys for babies/toddlers. It suggested balls, blocks and stacking cups. I picked some up and those are her favorites. Cheap and fun!

[snoopy30]

Good afternoon!

Sebski-Exciting news about the IVF :)

toys-Spencer has some Fisher Price roll-around (?) balls that he loves to "chase" around the room. He also loves to play with one of his plastic bowls...I make it spin on the floor and he goes crazy! Ahhh the simple things :)

feeding/table foods-I do read that "what is your 6-12 month old eating" thread to get some ideas. It can be helpful. Does anyone find mealtimes frustrating these days? Mostly the solids part. I mean Spencer likes most foods but he's started grabbing his spoon when I go to put it in his mouth and he *may* be starting to resist baby food. All normal I know but I have a tough time knowing what the heck to feed him. Some days I just don't have the right finger foods to give him but then feeding him baby food has gotten difficult. I've given him yogurt twice and he didn't like?!? I thought all babies like it?!? Oh well :rolleyes:

TTC#2-I had said probably in at least another year. Right now we're thinking we want 3 years between Spencer and DC #2. It took us almost a year to get pg w/ Spencer so I'm curious to see how the next time around goes. But like others have said if it happened sooner that would be okay. A few months ago I think I would have flipped but not so much now I guess.

Well I better see what else I can get done while the babe sleeps...

[rachrich]

fwgirl- ITA with what you said about the 6-12 month eating thread! I read that sometime and I think that Olivia is WAY behind, but then I remind myself that she's right where she should be. yeah it's a great place for ideas.

hmmm....gonna have to dig through the cupboards to finds some "toys" :)

[happygolucky]

Cheap Toys - Fisher Price Brilliant Basics - balls, stacking rings, etc. Anna loves them. Also, plastic measuring spoons go over really well, as does an empty coffee can and a plastic cooking spoon. Other coffee can idea - clean it out and put some coins, small balls, ear plugs - anything you can think of - into the can. Tape it shut really well and make sure that the baby never has the can unsupervised, since those objects are choking hazards. Let the baby shake and roll the can. Anna goes nuts for that. I have to say - Anna's all time favorites are an old remote control that I pulled the batteries out of and an old cell phone that is disabled and out of charge. If I want to ensure peace and quiet in a restaurant, those are the toys I bring.

Shaving the Cat - I don't deserve any kudos - I took them to the groomer the first time. DH and I shave them together now - he holds the poor beast while I operate the clippers. I've been very happy with the results, though. Much less hair in my home! The dogs look a little nervous though..... ;)

[snoopy30]

happygolucky-I need to get Spencer his own remote and phone...he'd be in heaven! They do the trick anytime he's fussy or not sure what he wants to do. Of course after saying how he doesn't like "real" toys what did I do yesterday? Bought him another toy :rolleyes: I was at Walgreen's and there was this ball that made all this noise and when I showed it to him he smiled really big. How could I resist? Naturally I get it home and he kind of sort of plays with it but then goes right back to his favorite plastic bowl! It was only a few bucks but still...

romance-Did I get your attention ladies? ;) Anyone finding it a challenge to fit it romance (meaning dates, etc) with your DH? I'm sure I'm not the only one and I know it's normal with a baby but lately I've been feeling like DH and I aren't "connected". He has been really busy at work lately so I know that's not helping. How do you all keep things exciting? Or is that possible :confused:

Hope everyone has a nice weekend! :)

[abbytfox]

This is beyond annoying...I just spent about 20 minutes responding to everyone and lost my post when instead of scrolling down I clicked on the ads to the right. Now I don't have time to post because we have playgroup and I have to go shower! I am SO irritated. Anway, hopefully, I will get a chance to re-post during the afternoon nap. Hi to everyone!

[Lindzee82]

Matthew and I were on vacation so I fell behind. Now we are back and I will be better. Here is my attempt at catching up!

first-time mom - Sorry about Kaylin's booboo. Hope she is doing better by now! She is doing great with her sleeping. Like you said, one day at a time. It is great that she is in her crib! Our party for Matthew is going to be on the 11th, too! I can't wait. I am getting so overwhelmed. I told Eric that this is going to be worse than when I planned our wedding! ha!

krbb - Matthew is doing the same thing as Cole when it is sleeping time - sitting or standing up. He actually had started to eat the railing of his crib! Gnawed the thing like a little gopher. I find that putting him in a sleep sack alleviates the problem of standing. But, doesn't help with him sitting up. I am always finding him with his butt high in the air like he was crawling and then just ran out of juice and layed his head down and fell asleep. I think at this point they are so new at sitting and standing that they just want to do it all the time. Not sure there is anything that can be done. As long as he isn't hurting himself, I would let him do it to tire himself out.

abbytfox - Yay for clapping!!! That is awesome! "The Wheels On The Bus" is Matthew's favorite song, too! I sing it to him whenever I need him to do something he doesn't want to do. I guess it is a comfort thing for him. Like if he wont eat or nurse, I sing that song and then he will! Too funny!

rachrich - So cute!

JRPAGV - Matthew totally throws tantrums!!! He does the exact same thing as Nathan - arches his back, kicks his legs, turns red, screams, and tries to fling himself over sideways. He only does this when it is time to change him or when we try to put him in his carseat or jumper. It is so frustrating!

shirsty - Yay for Sam crawling! Glad the lead screening came back negative!

doubleR - Glad you had a good vacation! Sorry about the carseat. That stinks! Glad you got Brady home safely, though. Can't take chances when it comes to the little ones! Sorry that Brady grinds his teeth, too. Isn't it awful?? I have that on my list of things to ask the ped on Tuesday. I am glad that your ped said it was normal and okay! Yay for waving! I have been trying to teach Matthew, but he has no interest.

jengen - Ugh! Sorry about the mastitis. You poor thing. Glad that Cole is taking straight formula now. You can just concentrate on weaning and not have to worry about pumping or anything like that.

sem426 - I just started Matthew on stage 3 foods this week. There isn't a huge selection at all, so it is hard. I do notice that the stage 3's have a thicker texture. The plain ole fruits and veggies have no chunks or anything. Just a thicker puree. Matthew loves it! So far he has had bananas and squash. I made a mistake and bought greenbeans with rice. Well, the rice is actual pieces of rice and the greenbeans were really thick and the combination made him just gag and gag. It was awful! So for now we are sticking to the plain fruits and veggies. The main difference is the size. If you buy the stage 2 plastic containers it is 3.5oz, the stage 2 jars are 4oz and the stage 3 jars are 6oz. It does look like a lot of food but Matthew still gobbles it up like there is no tomorrow! We have not done any table foods yet (other than the mandatory Cheerios - which we just tried today for the first time) mostly because I have no freaking idea what he can and cannot eat. I am so looking forward to his 9 month appointment on Tuesday so that hopefully I can get some ideas. Like I mentioned, the stage 3's have absolutely no variety so I need to find something else that the kid can eat!

First B-Day Party - So overwhelming. I have no idea where to even start. DH and I can't agree on a theme. He wants cars, trucks, or planes. I want trains or animals or polkadots or stripes or.... ;) See where the problem is? I am going to try and hit up the party store this week for some additional ideas.

TTC #2 - I am ready. But, logistically we just can't do it right now. We are only in a two bedroom duplex that we rent and I am not working. We took the risk when TTC the first time that everything would work out (we had a one-bedroom apartment and no savings) and thankfully everything did. Now that we have Matthew and are required to make sure he eats and wears clothes ;) we can't add another to the mix until we have a three-bedroom home that we own and either Eric gets a raise or I go back to work for a while. However, our goal is to be ready to TTC July 2007. I am already looking forward to it!

Orion - March is a great time to have a baby! Yay for finally knowing your due date. How exciting! So cute that Sophie is kissing. Isn't that the best thing ever??!!

helen22 - Glad you survived your trip to England!

happygolucky - I have got to see a picture of your shaved cat. Pretty, pretty please with a cherry on top?

Sebski - How sweet that Joey gives you kisses!

[rachrich]

Snoopy30- I understand where you're coming from with the whole ROMANCE issue. this summer was really busy for us, DH and I both taking grad classes (not at the same time thankfully). But there were many days where we'd travel to the university, 50 min away, and DH would watch olivia while i'm in class and vice versa. Poor baby was practically living out of her carseat so many times. It really did put a damper on the romance part of our lives cause we were so.worn.out!!!!
And of course we tried planning things with friends and family. It just wasn't working. We ended up just having to say NO to people to get our own time. We love being with friends/family, but this summer we barely got time for ourselves and we weren't going to give that up just to be with other people. It may sound selfish...but oh well.
So my advice is to cancel things once in a while-things that aren't necessary, get the babysitter and go do something for a few hours....even if it's just lunch out or a movie. You deserve it for all your hard work as a mom...and dad, of course! and as for sex.....we fit it in during olivia's long afternoon nap. :)

[Bliss]

*phew* I am exhausted after catching up from page 3 LOL :)

Tantrums Ah, yes Dylan has mastered this already. Especially when I take something away that he wants to play with. I find myself making really bizarre trades with him, like "Dylan, give mommy the baby monitor receiver and I will give you the cordless phone" :rolleyes: I love the suggestion of letting him play w. an old cell phone. D is obsessed w. mine and I have an old one, I think I am going to let him play w. that. Now all I need are some plastic keys and I will be all set!

Toys The remote, phone, keys are his faves. Oh, and any of the dog toys *ick*. I have to keep moving them. And the dogs think he is ready for a game of catch so they give him their grody tennis balls, and he loves them. I have to keep picking them up before they can "share" with him LOL. D loves his fisher price toy that is a block w. shapes that you put in, his fave is when I stack the shapes and then he knocks them down. He also loves the oldie but goody toy w. the rings that you stack.

First bday party We are probably just doing something at the house, not too big. DH is not a big believer in making a "big deal" over this since "Dylan wont remember anyway" *sigh* I pick my battles and I dont think this is one of them lol.

TTC #2 We are not planning on it until late next year. I am on the mini pill now, and got what I thought was AF last month, but this month nada. Maybe b/c I am weaning Dylan?? I even did a test and it was negative, so I dont know what is up. D is now nursing only in the AM, and I am officially off the pump *hooray*!! I feel so free :)

Professional pics I am looking at photographers to do some pro pics of D and some family ones. I really want a variety of poses , so I am looking at private photographers. They are so pricey, but I figure he is only this small-read, not crawling around yet- once, so I want to take advantage.

Crawling Nope, D is an expert roller and rolls wherever he needs to go. He can commando, but goes backwards. I feel so bad, he gets so frustrated. But he is so cute, I cannot help but laugh :)

[snoopy30]

Afternoon ladies!

It's quiet in here...

Not a whole lot going on here. Spencer has been fussy the last few days so I don't know if he's cutting a new tooth or what :confused: It's not too bad but it does wear me out at times. I think part of it is just that he's fussing or whining to get my attention. And he seems to fuss more for me than for DH. Anyone else find that to be true??

First b-day-We'll probably have something fairly small, probably at our house with family and a few friends. I'm not very creative when it comes to party-planning and I usually do better with simple so that's probably what it will be!

rachrich-Thanks for the advice :) It is really hard for all of us with our little ones and busy lives to fit in romance. It takes way more effort than it did before kids! I finally got on the ball and found a babysitter so that's helped. It's just hard to fit in "me" time and time w/ DH. Oh well :rolleyes:

family-Who here doesn't live close to their family? Both our parents are at least 5 hours away and I think it's starting to get to me. I'm envious of friends who can call up a parent to watch the baby or even just to have someone else to hang out with. I feel like there are times I really need that support. If you don't have family close how do you deal with it?

Clearly I'm in a funk...blame it on PMS ;)

[Lindzee82]

First Birthday Party - We chose a theme! Stripes and Polkadots. Here is what it looks like:
http://images1.snapfish.com/347883668%7Ffp349%3Enu%3D3278%3E663%3E357%3EWSNRCG %3D3233%3A643643%3B5nu0mrj

http://images1.snapfish.com/347883668%7Ffp352%3Enu%3D3278%3E663%3E357%3EWSNRCG %3D3233%3A643643%3B6nu0mrj

snoopy30 - I am sorry that you are having a hard time right now not being near family. We used to live less than a mile from my parents and it was awesome - for all the reasons you describe. Now I live 2 hours away from them and it is horrible. I don't know what I would do without cell phones, email, or instant messenger. Hugs. I hope you feel better soon!

[helen22]

Lindzee, cute plates!! They look so festive. We have done zero planning for first birthday party - we'll probably just have several small ones with our various scattered family members. I have so far put most of my thought into what cute dress I can buy for Mel :D And thanks for the congrats on surviving the England trip :) Thank goodness we got out of there before the terrorism scare! First because it would have freaked me out, and second because flying for six hours with a baby AND NO TOYS (or diapers, or wipes, or pacifiers) - oy vey. We're going back in November...sigh.

Snoopy, I have no family nearby and am totally frustrated by it. We live in NYC, my parents live on the w coast, and DH's parents live in England. The only thing that saves us is that my sister is also here in NY, just a few subway stops away. I am totally obsessed with moving to be close to my parents. Our plan is to move in early 2007. We even have a realtor looking for a house for us - we might buy before we move and rent it out - so that makes it seem close and keeps me from losing my mind :) I might be exaggerating/hoping for too much, but I think our lives will be soooo much better after we move.

Romance - DH and I are sort of lucky in that we work across the street from one another, so we will sometimes sneak out of work and get coffee or lunch together. Not super romantic, but still nice to have time with each other. I still feel v connected with him, but sometimes more in a good friend way lately - I miss our romantic/dating relationship.

Finger foods/eating - I am so scared of finger foods! I'm such a wimp. I told my mom the other day that Mel will be allowed to have finger foods when she goes to kindergarten and not before :) Next two foods on my list are plums and egg yolks. Should be fun. Both purees of course!!!

Baby sign language - anyone else trying this? I think Mel just learned to say "more"! She is also v enthusiastic with waving "hello" and "goodbye". So cute.

[snoopy30]

Thanks for the support ladies :)

Lindzee- I love those plates! I envision using something like that too for Spencer's b-day. I doubt I'll get to planning or buying for a while now though :rolleyes:

family- I don't think our situation will change anytime soon as far as being closer to family. DH will probably stay in his current job for a year or two longer and even then I don't know if I see us moving. I guess you never know though. I just have days where I really, really want family close. Then other days I'm fine. It's just tough and I never realized how tough it would be sometimes. But I'm glad I'm not the only one! :)

helen22- I know what you mean about being connected w/ your DH as more of a friend than in a romantic way. I feel that way sometimes. Real romance just takes back seat sometimes when you have kids. It just takes more effort now but even little things like what you and your DH do (meeting for coffee, etc) is helpful. It's just not as easy as it used to be. But of course seeing this adorable child that you and your DH created is pretty amazing too :)

sign language-I'm taking a course (a friend's sister is teaching it) on sign language w/ babies next month. I think it can be really great in helping them to communicate. I wish Spencer could do that now I feel like he's whining alot to get what he wants!!

finger foods-I agree helen they are scary. But after a few weeks Spencer got really good at feeding himself and I think he prefers it now. He's also starting to get picky. Uh-oh. I gave him green bean dices yesterday and he did.not.like.them. But he gobbled up the bagel I gave him! Naturally :rolleyes:

Well I'm off to get some things done. I love naptime!!

[fwgirl]

Good morning everyone! :)

Some exciting things are going on in our house. DD started crawling on Thursday (although she stops when she knows we are watching) and she's sttn about 90% of the time. Good stuff. Also we moved her to her 'big girl car seat' and moved her up to size 3 diapers. I feel like so much has changed in such a short amount of time. Whew!

I have been waiting and waiting for her to hit size 3 diapers so that I could start buying the Kirkland Signature brand at Costco. I picked some up yesterday, but we have yet to try them. Now I'm worried (after reading some negative reviews online) that they won't be very good. Have any of you used them? I'm just chalking the reviews up to the fact that nobody likes everything. Hopefully they'll work great for us because at 16 cents a diaper I'm a happy mama! ;)

In the past we've talked about various classes that we have done or are doing with out little ones. When I was signing DD up for her second round of swim lessons at the Y I noticed a 'movement education' class. The minimum age is 9 months and the description sounds a lot like Gymboree. I signed her up since it's included in our membership. I thought I would share since I had no idea such a thing existed. I'll be sure to share how it goes after we attend a class or two. Also, we've signed up for Kindermusik. That starts in the fall. Plus, I think we're going to try mom & baby yoga. A friend of mine told me about it and asked if we wanted to check it out with her and her son. I read the description and it looks like it could be pretty neat. I know it sounds like a lot and I definitely don't want to over schedule our week, but I just need to get out of the house sometimes. Since I've been unsuccessful at finding a mom's group I'm hoping that doing these activities will fill that void. It's just nice to relate to other parents in real life and I think these will all be good things for DD.

***

bliss if it makes you feel better I'm on the mini-pill and my periods are very irregular. They are definitely not like they were on the regular pill where you knew the precise day that it would arrive. It kind of freaks me out every month. And you lucky girl being done with the pump! I'm looking forward to packing mine up in a few months. I'll miss nursing, but not pumping!

snoopy isn't nap time great! I planted a bunch of fall flowers yesterday while DD napped. It was so nice to have a little 'me time.'

***

romance. We try. It can be tough, but I think we do okay. Our evenings out all by ourselves are pretty infrequent, but that's okay. We try and do little things for each other. I put little love notes in DH's lunch each day. He'll start my shower for me in the mornings. We carpool and he always drives so that I can try and catch up on my sleep. We often have lunch together and talk about non-baby stuff. We snuggle on the couch after DD has gone to bed. We try, but it takes work that's for sure.

[Lindzee82]

helen22 - Thanks! Sometimes I wish Matthew was a girl so he could wear cute dresses! ;) They just don't make very cute boy outfits! No diapers, wipes, or pacifiers??!! I didn't hear that they banned those. What is this world coming to? :(

baby sign language - We had every intention of doing this...but somehow it just slipped through the cracks. We never even started. We are so bad.

romance - This is the subject of many a fights in our house. Part of the problem was that DH worked until 12:30 or 1:30am and I did not want to get up to please him when I was getting up 2-3 times a night to feed Matthew. When Matthew naps during the day I use that time to do dishes, take a shower, eat, and clean up. When Matthew goes to bed at night I like to watch tv, or a movie or read a book to kind of "decompress." I do not find sex relaxing at all. Maybe there is something wrong with me. But it just feels like another chore that I have to do. Maybe it is because it still kind of hurts. Maybe it is because I am so freaking tired all the time. I don't know. I am trying so hard to be better about it. I know it bothers DH. But when I have a baby clinging to me all.day.long it is hard for me to want someone else clinging to me. Know what I mean? I am trying though...

snoopy30 - Thank you.

finger foods - Matthew has been eating Cheerios really well. I am going to start other finger foods now that I got the go ahead from his ped.

9 month WBV

Here are Matthew's stats:

weight 20lbs 5oz 50th percentile
height 29 1/4" 80th percentile
head 18" 60th percentile

We got the go ahead to try more food. She said he can eat just about anything I eat as long as it isn't a choking hazard. But still no peanut butter, eggs, or dairy. Some ideas she gave me is pasta, toast, potatoes, chicken. I can do yogurt, but she said no cheese yet and not even egg yolks. I think I am going to try toast for lunch today. Tomorrow we will go shopping for other "Matthew Friendly" foods! This is going to be fun!

[Lindzee82]

fwgirl - Yay for the new milestones!!! The classes sound like so much fun. I wish we had things like that around here.

[helen22]

Hey lindzee did your doctor say why no egg yolks? I thought those were supposed to be a good 8-month-plus food.

And the nothing-on-the-plane-but-your-passport rule was only for a week after the terrorists (alleged?) were arrested, while the UK was still on high alert. Now I think it's all back to normal with carry-ons allowed, only no liquids. Which makes me annoyed, because we're going to a wedding in Montreal in Sept and I think I will have to dump all my breastmilk out, it sounds like I won't be allowed to bring it back with me (Mel is going to stay in NY with my parents for the night). Such a waste.

fwgirl, curious to hear what you think of the costco diapers. We tried the target diapers - one box was totally fine, exactly like pampers cruisers. But the ones we're using now seem to be giving Mel a rash! :(

[Lindzee82]

helen22 - She said no egg yolks because they could still be allergenic. Thanks for clearing up the plane rule. That is crazy. I thought I heard that you can bring breastmilk or formula on the plane as long as you drink some in front of the authorities or whomever. I would definitely research before you throw away some of that good mommy milk!

[first-time mom]

Egg yolks-Hmmm that is strange my ped said no egg whites because of allergies but egg yolks were good to give.

[Bliss]

Geez, I suck at this food stuff. I gave Dylan berries (some tiny pieces of strawberry, and rasberry) before reading on here that I should not give it to him, and also gave him a little piece of egg :o . Bad mommy. I guess I am going to have to read up more on what I cannot give him yet, he just loves getting some of what mama is eating and gets a little snit fit if I dont give him some :)

Romance Only when the Red Sox have an off night. Just kidding. Sort of :D :D DH is baseball addicted, so I am a baseball widow. Once Dylan is asleep he has a small window where I am into it, after that I just want to go to bed LOL. I agree w. PP that its easy to get into this mom/dad/friend kind of relationship. I actually called DH "Daddy" in front of friends who also have kids the other day, and my GF made a point to tell me that is a bad sign & that we need to have sex more LOL. I did finally initiate the other night and seeing how happy it made DH I guess I should do it more often LOL. I keep reminding myself that DH needs me too, not only Dylan, but its hard. There are definitely nights I feel pulled in too many directions.

fwgirl Thanks for the info on the minipill. I got similar feedback on another board I post on and it made me feel a lot better :) Those classes sound fun, I am looking into a mommy/baby yoga class too.

Lindzee Cute plates! I like the theme too.

family DHs family is far from us (5+ hours) and my parents/sister live about 90 mins from us. Its not so bad, we alternate weeks so they see Dylan almost every week if not every week. I do really wish they were closer though, I often tell DH that I think motherhood would be totally different if I could just go over my parents house and leave Dylan there while I got some alone time. My parents are retired too, so they could really help out if we were closer. We are planning to move a little closer, but not for a few years.

Good news on our front, we booked a vacation in December! We are going to Beaches in Turks & Caicos for a week. I cannot wait, they have daycare there that I have heard is pretty good, and babysitters at night. Now I just have to get DYlan used to any kind of daycare before we leave lol. I am planning to check out a gym near me this week, hopefully it will be good and I can go a few times a week and leave Dylan in daycare there. I am already dreaming of a pina colada by the pool :)

[Lindzee82]

Bliss - Thanks! Yay for the vacation. That sounds like so much fun!

[Buckeye_K]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't posted here before and just started lurking. My daughter Mia was born Dec.23. I use to lurk in the March 2005 thread, but when she was born 3 months early and had to spend 2 months in the hospital, I had a hard time looking at the December babies thread and seeing all the ne mom's with their beautiful babies. I had a hard time accepting the fact I couldn't bring my daughter home right away. To make matters even more difficult, she was born while we were on vacation in Vermont and had to stay there for the first month. Mia is doing great now, although she is a little behind most 7 month olds. I think she is catching up pretty fast though.

I look forward to chatting with all of you on the thread!

[first-time mom]

Buckeye_K-Welcome!! I completely understand how hard it was for you to read this thread in the beginning. I had the same problem in the beginning. My daughter was born at term, but we found out when she was 2 days old that she had two holes in her heart and had congestive heart failure at 10 days old. We had a rough time for about 8 wks when she had open heart surgery. For that first 8 wks I couldnt come to this chat because I was so upset. She is now a happy healthy 9 month old. She still isnt crawling or cruising and I know she isnt behind but it can be hard sometimes. I just keep telling my self she didnt have a normal start and in no time I will be chasing her. When you get a chance post some pictures of your beautiful little baby:)

Bliss- No worries, I too have given Kaylin some thing I wasnt supposed to. Every ped is different too. What one says the other wont so really its hard to know what is ok and what is not. I just try to follow what my ped recommends. I think a lot of it is discretionary. They think something could cause allergies but they dont know so they say stay away. I dont have any food allergies so I really am not worried about Kaylin being allergic. I have her 9 mos well child tomorrow so I will find out more about foods:)

[Lindzee82]

Buckeye K - Welcome! I am so glad to hear that Mia is doing good. We had a November Mommy who had her baby in August, so I am sure she can really relate to what you are going through. Her name on here is Mrs Barkeley.

[snoopy30]

Buckeye K-Welcome! I just recently joined myself. It's a wonderful board! :) Can't wait to hear all about your little girl Mia. Wow I bet that was really tough her being born away from home and early! I'm sure it is hard not to compare Mia to other babies but there is such a wide range of what is "normal" and it seems most babies do just fine no matter when they reach milestones.

foods-It's amazing how different pediatricians have such varying opinions on what to feed babies and when. Mine basically said "table foods in August" (at 8 months). I've given him dairy-mostly just cheese, he doesn't like yogurt :confused: I've heard that egg yolks are OK and a good food too for this age range.

romance-On a positive note DH and I do have an anniversary trip planned this fall so that should add some sparks to the romance dept. Bliss I'm a "sports widow" of sorts myself. DH works in pro football (not as a player ;) ) so in the fall I'm on my own alot of Sundays. Good thing I really like football!!


Have a great day ladies!!

[abbytfox]

Hi to everyone! Here's to hoping I don't accidentally delete my post before I send it!

NapsElliott is on a new nap schedule which is working out really well. He finally went down to 2 naps and they are longer which means I can get a little more done. Before he would take 3 naps but each was about an hour. Now he naps from about 9:30-11:30ish and then again around 2:30-3:30 or 4. It is really great! He has started crying when I put him down, but I KNOW he's tired so if I wait it out he'll go to sleep. I think I have gotten better at listening to him cry/fuss since I am more sure that he really is tired.

Family We actually made the decision to stay in Northern CA despite the rediculous housing market because of my family. My parents are about 45 minutes away and my mom comes to visit us every Wednesday. Plus, we see them every other weekend. I hope that we can afford to stay here and maybe even move a little closer to them as E grows. 45 mins is really nice, but 20 would be even better (not that I am complaining, I can't imagine how hard it would be without them close by!) I can totally sympathize with those of you living far from your families. I can imagine it is really tough.

romance We are ok at getting in alone time since Elliott is usually down for the night by the time Adam gets home from work (sad for Elliott and Dad, but great for me and DH!) We usually make a mish-mosh dinner and hang out for a bit before we do some house stuff. THe sex thing is getting better. For a LONG time it was really painful (remember that I had that surgery when E was 4 months? It was a while of recovery) and that made me totally uninterested. I think getting my period back and weaning E has made my hormones a little more regular and that makes a difference too. But it is very different from before Elliott. Lots of the time I am just *SO* tired and can't deal with giving attention to another person for one more second. Being a mom definitely takes a lot out of you! We are planning a trip for my birthday in December (even though my b-day is in November) and will probably leave E with my parents for a weekend. Hope that will up the romance!

Buckeye Welcome! Your story of how Mia came into the world is amazing. I can't imagine having to stay in another state for a month and not bring my baby home with me. Elliott was in the hospital for an extra two nights under UV lights for jaundice and it was incredibly hard. I am glad that you have joined us!

Foods For finger foods, Elliott is eating puffs, cheerios and blueberries. I am SO paraniod about him choking and cut everything into pretty small bits at first...he is finally allowed to eat a whole puff! He is still more interested in playing with the food on his try than eating it which cracks me up! Literally, EVERYTHING goes in his mouth except the things he is supposed to eat. Today I think we had a breakthrough though. I gave him the finger foods before his meal and he was much more interested. Maybe he wasn't hungry before? He can really grasp the puffs, but has a harder time with the cheerios and blueberries (even though I coated them with cheerio dust to make them easier to pick up) I know with time he will get more experienced. I also have a million questions to ask the doc about foods. It is really frustrating that everyone has a different opinion. I think you need to make an informed choice for yourself after gathering all the information. It is really hard!

Lindzee Love the party stuff! I think that enlisting your family as helpers is a great idea. In my opinion, it will actually make it more special because everyone is pulling together to make it a wonderful party for Matthew. I do understand wanting to do it yourself, though.

fwgirl Hooray for all those new milestones! Amazing. Isn't it crazy how everything seems to happen all at once? I feel like that too. Just in the last few days, Elliott has a new tooth, has figured out how to pick up and feed himself puffs, is trying to move to get toys and changed his nap schedule. Also, ALL his clothes are too small! Hello? Can we work on one thing at a time?! :D

Bliss That trip sounds so great! The gym is a great place to get Dylan used to daycare. My friend uses it all the time and says it is awesome. Unfortunately, we don't belong, but I think it is a good way to have them be separated from you for short periods of time. Good luck with that! Just keep thinking "Pina Colada!"

Off to shower!

[Lindzee82]

abbytfox - Glad Elliott's new nap schedule is working for you. Matthew has been down to 2 naps a day for a while now. It works out nice. He usually naps from 9-10:30 and then again from 1-2:30. He goes to bed around 7:30 so it is a very long stretch from 2:30-7:30. That is usually when I plan our outings. Like today when he wakes up we are going to go to the dollar store. Makes the days go by much more smoothyly. Especially with my DH being gone, I need to try and keep things as organized as possible. I had a break down last night, but otherwise things are going fine. That is cool that you have a birthday trip planned. Sounds like fun!

[Orion]

Hi Ladies:

Just have a few questions for those of you that breastfeed/breastfed and have gone throw the whole pumping experience. As you guys know, I am currently pregnant and still breastfeeding Sophie who is now eight months old. I am looking to go back to work sometime in September in order to get another free year off paid by the government of Canada (got to love it). This being said I am going to have to wean Sophie off the breast and I just need some questions answered from you pros! To give you a better understanding of the situation I will give you a run down of Sophie's day:

7 am - Wake up w/ breastfeeding
8 am - breakfast of solids
9 am - nap
10 - 10:30 am - Wake up w/ breast feeding
12 pm - lunch of solids
1 pm - breastfeeding and nap
2:30 pm - Wake up w/ breastfeeding
5 pm - Supper of solids
6 pm - Bed time w/ breastfeeding
3 - 5 am - Middle of the night breastfeeding

Sophie is pretty set on this schedule and doesn't often deviate from it. I am looking to work from about 8 am to 4 pm so I will be able to breastfeed her at the middle of the night, the wake up and the evening feeding and I would like to keep her on breastmilk. I was wondering how I go about switching her to breastfeeding to having to drink the milk out of a sippy cup (she does drink out of a sippy cup and enjoys it with help and I feel that she is to old to wean her to a bottle just to wean her off of it in a few months). How long to you think it would take to wean her from the breast to the cup for the middle of the day feedings? Also, what schedule would be best for pumping? Would I have to pump at work or could I do it in the morning or evening? I would really appreciate any help you guys could offer!

Cheers,
Jess

[Orion]

Now for the replies...

Romance: Obviously we didn't have a problem in this department before because I am pregnant again but that is only because Sophie goes to bed so early and DH and I have the evening together. But now that I am pregnant, that department is lacking but understand how tired I am right now!

Living Away from Parents: This is something that I find so hard. We live on the extreme West Coast and my parents and his live on the extreme east coast. Right now it will cost us about $1000 per plane ticket and a 14 hour day to get home. I miss them so much and they miss Sophie so much.

Buckeye: Welcome to the group. So glad that Mia is doing well.

Lindzee: Love the theme for the birthday party.

[Lindzee82]

Orion - Thanks! You may want to try posting your question in the breastfeeding or moms with pumps thread, as well. If I were you, I would start pumping a few times a day so that you can start to build a freezer stash if you don't already have one. I would also try to start giving Sophie a sippy cup of breastmilk. You can give her the sippy cup before her nap (if she doesn't nurse herself to sleep) and then replace that feeding with a pumping session when she is asleep. This will help you to know that she will, in fact, take a cup of milk. When you go back to work, in order to keep your supply up, you will want to try and pump at least as many times as you would have nursed. I would try to pump at 10:30 and 2:30. That way you don't have to waste your mornings and evenings with Sophie pumping. You can nurse her which is going to be best for both of you. Do you already have a pump? You should have an electric pump. I used the PISA back in my pumping days and I highly recommend it. Hope that helps.

[Lindzee82]

Matthew has been sleeping for 2 hours and 15 minutes. I don't know what to do with myself. I keep going in and checking on him because this is very unlike him. He must be very tired from missing a nap yesterday...I hope he isn't getting sick or anything. (I am such worst case scenario!)

[abbytfox]

Lindz That happened to me yesterday. The funny part is that I was so wiped out, but couldn't nap because of course I knew the second I fell asleep he would wake up...he slept for almost 2.5 hours! I did eventually do some laundry and watch some TV (what a treat!) Hope you find something to occupy yourself (kind of a joke...us moms *always* have something to do!)

Gerber Puffs It is amazing, but Elliott just figured these out today! He can get almost every single one in his mouth. We went to Tomatina (do you guys have that? SO yum!) for lunch and he was perfectly happy in his high chair with his constant stream of puffs. He is so proud.

I kind of got that feeling of "Oh. My baby is growing up so fast." I am so proud of all his new skills and at the same time so emotional about how big he is getting. Where did my little baby go? I wonder if it is always going to be like this...he'll be going to kindergarten and I'll be so happy and so sad at the same time...he'll be going to college, getting married...sorry girls, I guess I just needed a moment! Anyway, I am sure you can totally understand what it feels like. Off to unload the dish washer (I lead SUCH a glamorous life!)

[Lindzee82]

abby - Matthew ended up sleeping for over 3 hours!!! I did find some things to keep myself busy. Although as soon as I sat down with my book he woke up!

***

I am about losing my mind. I don't know if Matthew is getting more teeth or what but he is completely unbearable tonight! He wouldn't eat any of his dinner. He doesn't want to nurse. He wont stop screaming! I feel horrible, but I am so looking forward to 7:00 when I can give him his bath and put him down to bed. I just need a break! I want Eric to come home!!!!! My mom is supposed to be coming tomorrow night to visit so that will help me at least for a little while. She wont be getting here until almost bedtime, though. Then Friday is my birthday and my dad and uncle are coming to visit, so that will help. I feel like such a horrible mom. I don't know how single mothers do it. It is unreal how you can love some one so much but still want to sell them to the zoo!

[Buckeye_K]

first-time mom:We were very fortunate with Mia. She was in the hospital 2 months but her only issue was being premature. I can't imagine finding out my daughter had heart complications. I am so happy your daughter is healthy now. It is so amazing how strong little babies are.

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcomes!

Here is a pic of Mia when she was born:
http://static.flickr.com/86/217274014_a2a78e4589.jpg?v=0

Here are two pics of her a couple of weeks ago:
http://static.flickr.com/89/217275261_7defb2c7ca.jpg?v=0

http://static.flickr.com/50/217274015_bdefc93632.jpg?v=0



First B-day: I just started thinking about this. I can't figure out when to have it. Mia was born Dec. 23rd and it is so hard to have parties around Christmas. We thought about having it in the middle of Dec, but my inlaws and my mother all live out of state and will only be coming in town for Christmas. I also don't want her to feel left out because the date her bday falls. Does anyone else have this problem?


Living Away from Parents: We live in Ohio and my husbands entire family is from Vermont. My mother and sister live in Florida and my father and grandpa live 2 hours away. I find it stressful at times that I don't have anyone here close to us. We are looking at moving back to my home town before Mia starts preschool so she can be closer to our family. At least she will be close to my dad, grandpa, all my aunts, uncles and cousins. I want her to have a good sense of family.

[rachrich]

Buckeye K - What cute pictures! I especially love the one in the tub. Definitely looks like she's up to no good. :) Glad to have you here.
First Bday party: Buckeye- i'm up in the air also about what to do. Half of our December is spent travelling (DH & I are both teachers so we have a chunk of time off in Dec) to Dayton (my family) and western PA(Dh's fam) and we're in northern OH. I hate all the traveling we do that month. Since our families aren't close, I'm wondering if it's worth it to have a formal bday party at our house. Of course I want to have a 1st party for Olivia, but I'm debating whether or not to have separate parties with each sides of our family when we see them during the holidays. but then there's the pain of 2 parties....AAAHH i'm torn and can't decide what to do.
Buckeye-where in Ohio do you live? Maybe we can just get together and have our own 1st bdays. ;)

Sitting up: Okay...it's still not happening and i'm at my wits end. I tried the boppy-and i do it every day for a while. Olivia will be playing with something on the floor and she'll be sitting up good, and i'll pull away the boppy and a few seconds later she'll give up and fling herself backwards. I know she can sit up on her own-she's done it on several occasions but for very short periods of time before she decides to get mad and fling herself back. Do you think she just doesn't like sitting up or what could the deal be? I'll even hold her up by her wrists and she'll buck her legs and try to throw herself back and will start screaming because she can't get on her back because I'm holding her up at her hands. Can anyone shed light on this???!!!! The ped wants her to sit up at her 9 mo WBV and i'm getting nervous, as silly as that may sound.

[abbytfox]

rachrich I have a friend who's son is 9 months and he doesn't sit up. He CAN sit up, but he won't. He will do it for maybe a few seconds and then he is twisting and turning to get onto his stomach and *go* somewhere. He just wants to be moving ALL the time and sitting isn't getting him what he wants. Could it be that Olivia just doesn't want to sit? Is she mobile or does she love being on her tummy? It sounds like that could be the case, especially since you said you have seen her do it before. We call my friends DS an "archer" since he is always arching his back to get into a different position. Maybe that is what is going on with Olivia.

As far as the doc goes...I think that your ped just wants to make sure she can do it and isn't looking for her to sit for a long time. I am sure that if you explain that she has done it and prefers to be in another position, it will be fine. I can understand being nervous though. Just think...she still has a while until 9 months. You know how sometimes it seems like a switch just went off and they are all of a sudden doing something they never could before? I am sure that will be what happens. Hang in there!

[Lindzee82]

Buckeye K - Mia is so adorable! I can't believe how little she was when she was born. How much did she weigh? How many weeks along were you when you gave birth? Looks like she is thriving now!


rachrich - I agree with Abby that the ped probably just wants to see if she can sit, not time her with how long she sits. I would definitely voice your concerns at her wbv, but I don't think anything is wrong with her. Some kids just don't like to sit. Some kids don't crawl. But, I agree, it is hard when you are comparing her to others her age. You never know, she could very well be sitting like a pro by the time she is 9 months! Things like that happen quickly!

Food - So, I think I am going to back off on our solid feedings for a while. Matthew was doing so.good with his eating. He was eating about a jar and a half of stage 2 at every meal and we were just starting him on stage 3s which he would eat all of, too. However, once I got the go ahead from the ped (two days ago, mind you) that we could start doing different types of food, I kind of went crazy. I started Matthew on bits of toast which he did fine. He takes Cheerios fine. Last night I made him a sweet potatoe and I tried giving it to him steamed and in little bity tiny chunks. He wanted nothing to do with it. So then I tried just mashing it and still he wouldn't eat it. Then I gave in and pureed it and by then he was just so angry that he wouldn't eat it at all. Then I tried to give him some watermelon which he refused. This morning I tried YoBaby and he didn't like that. Meal time is starting to be something that he is really dreading. He completely freaks.out when I try to put him in his highchair. He locks his legs and screams at the top of his lungs and gets tears and everything. I think it is because he doesn't like the things I have been trying to get him to eat. My fault. I know that. So, if I can get him back into the highchair today I am going to just continue to give him the stage 2 foods until he gets back into his liking meals again routine. At that point I will probably only introduce one new thing a week. I guess Matthew is like his mom and doesn't really handle change well. I just have to realize and respect that and do things more slowly from now on. So that is where we are at now.

Diapers - Eric and I went to a commisary case lot sale the other day and they had boxes of Huggies diapers for $25! This was a great price compared to what we had been paying for Pampers Cruisers. I was nervous to try them, though, because when Matthew was an infant the Huggies were awful. Well, I tried the Huggies last night and I absolutely.love.them!!!! The fit him sooooo perfect. They are not big and bulky and I love the tabs. They seem so much more secure. I think I will be making a fulltime switch to Huggies!

I gotta clean today because my mommy is coming to visit!!!!!!!!! I am picking her up in Freeport tonight and then my daddy and uncle are coming tomorrow! I am sure they are just using my birthday as a great excuse to come and see Matthew, but I don't care. I miss them soooo much and I can't wait to spend time with them!

[first-time mom]

Today Kaylin had her 9 month well child apt and she is a very Healthy baby girl!!! NO heart murmurs and all is well. I did mention that she isnt pulling to a stand and she said she isnt worried and that she is certain she will by the time she is 12mos. If not we will do some exercises to help strengthen her legs. The ped thinks her temperment is the big factor on why she hasnt done this. She is just very happy, content and has no desire.

Here are her stats:
weight- 20 lbs 6 1/2 oz- 75%
length- 28" 60%
head- 45 cm-80%

At 7 mos we were told she was 97% in height?!! Hmm guess they screwed up. So I dont know if they messed up this time or last time. You would think they would get this right!!!


In other HUGE HUGE newss. When I brought Kaylin home from the peds I put her on the floor and SHE CRAWLED!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was on the phone talking and they thought wait a minute that toy was out of reach am I losing it? So I grabbed a bag of rice and shook it and placed it three feet away and sure enough she crawled to it. Its kinda funny looking she uses one knee and one foot. She moves one knee and then pushes with her foot. But she is all over the living room now!! Out of know where this happened. I am so happy for her even though the fun begins haha!!!
YIPPPEE



Buckeye_K-Yeah we are very fortunate!! Mia is a beautiful baby:)

[pacificbliss]

Hello Nov/Dec 2005 mommies. I am a December 2006 mommy-to-be lurking in your thread.

All the babies are so beautiful! We can't wait.

buckeye I have an EDD of 12/21 and was just talking to a very good friend about her 12/23 birthday. I asked her if she hated it and she said no, that she loved her birthday because people were always around and in a festive mood. She also said her Mom and Grandmother made a big deal about her birthday. Also, they made it clear to everyone attending the birthday party (especially family) that they were not to show up with one present and call it Birthday/Christmas. :p

[snoopy30]

Hi ladies!

first-timemom-How exciting Kaylin crawled! I think babies are so cute when they crawl, with their little tooshies shaking :) Spencer is 8.5 months and so far just pulls to his knees...although...just a bit ago I put him in his crib and as I was leaving he pulled up to standing! So maybe he'll start but we'll see... I agree though about temperment...some babies are just so laid back that they're not all that concerned with moving or getting to things.

Buckeye K-Oh my goodness Mia is just too cute :) Amazing to see how far she's come!

rachrich-I agree with the others, the most important thing is that you know Olivia is able to sit. Whether or not she will could just be her personality or she just doesn't have the hang of it yet. Just keep letting her practice and eventually she'll do it all the time! Spencer *could* sit a few months ago but honestly not until recently did I feel like he wouldn't topple over. That's no fun on hardwood floors let me tell you! :rolleyes:

FeedingI'm with you on this one Lindzee. I've been frustrated lately too. Spencer used to be the kind of baby that would eat anything. Well this week he's decided to be picky and fuss and whine if he doesn't want something. He will eat baby foods most of the time although he grabs at the spoon at every bite which is frustrating...but the last few days for finger foods all he really seems to like is any kind of bread or turkey (deli turkey, the kid loves it! Is is bad for him??). I *suppose* he's exerting his new-found independence but I swear I was close to tears at lunch :(

DiapersGreat deal on the Huggies Lindzee! Spencer's in Cruisers but I recently started putting him in Huggies Overnights b/c he was waking up with his pj's wet alot of mornings. I really like them and they seem to help. I'm thinking of switching too. Either way I think I need to move him to 4's...the size 3's are too "short" on him, if that makes sense. He's got a long torso!!

Fussiness-Any of you experiencing an increase in whining or fussiness lately with your DC? Spencer lately has been whining and fussing off and on throughout the day and I just can't figure it out. I'm sure he's working on a tooth but I also wonder if it's an attachment thing. Alot of the time he crawls to me and tries to get me to pick him up. He's a pretty easy-going baby so it's not like him to fuss a ton. I don't want to over-analyze it (but that's my nature!) but I just want to know how to fix it b/c it wears me out!

Have a great day ladies!!

[Lindzee82]

snoopy30 - Sorry that you are going through the same feeding issues as us. I had to feed Matthew an early dinner because we are going to pick up my mom soon, and tonight was no different. Even though I gave him something that I *know* he likes, I had to just about force every single bite into him. I just don't get it. I have been in tears at every meal for the past two days. I don't know what to do!

Fussiness - I am seeing an increase in fussiness over here, too. His stubborn, needy personality is definitely starting to make its appearance.

[Hawaii2SJ]

Hi :)

snoppy- Aiden is definetly having an off day too. He's doing the exact same thing with the fussing and crawling to me. I really think it's his top right tooth. I can see it almost ready to break thru.

lindzee- Hopefully Matthew is just going thru a phase with the feeding issues. Do you have a booster seat or maybe try feeding him in his bumbo seat in a different area of the house. Just a little suggestion.

buckeye Mia was so tiny and look at her now...she is adorable!

Food Aiden LOVES cheese toast. I also gave him some no salt canned green beans last night and he liked that too. I must say that I am a little stressed about creating a menu for him. I know I can give him whatever we eat but we usually go out or eat crap that I shouldn't be giving him. I also bought a generic splat mat off ebay which is working great for us since he loves to drop his food on the floor when he's done. It's a big help with cleaning the mess.

Abby If I remember correctly your in or around the East Bay, right? We're making the move out there and I'm looking into moms groups or playgroups. Any suggestions?? I'm so so sad I'm leaving our group here and now we have to make new friends. Our home is "almost" sold so I'd like to look into what Aiden & I can do out there.

[first-time mom]

Snoopy30-Yay for the pulling to a stand. That is something we are still waiting to see but I am sure it will come because we have mastered crawling:)

Lindz-We have similiar feeding issues here. I asked my ped yesterday about it. Kaylin REFUSES to be fed by spoon. She wants to feed herself. If I put food on her tray she will go to town eating. If I come at her with a spoon she turns her head and rolls her eyes:rolleyes: My ped said it is common for them to do this at this age. Its new found independence!! My other local friend's baby is 2 weeks older and she is struggling with feedings as well!

[first-time mom]

Just wanted to pop back in and wish LINDZEE82 a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

[snoopy30]

Well it sounds like feeding difficulties and fussiness are just part of having an 8/9 month old! Fun fun! :p

Happy Birthday Lindzee!!

Hawaii-I definitely am suspicious that Spencer is cutting a tooth. He's cut a new one every month so far. But of course I can't get a good look in there to see :rolleyes: With the last two he was "off" for a few days so maybe soon I'll see a new pearly white appear and he'll be back to his old self! ;) That's a good idea about maybe trying to feed in a different room.

Food-I agree, menu planning is becoming a challenge. The other night I made Spencer this nice, well-balanced dinner and he wanted none of it! I'm just going to keep giving him healthy things and new things and eventually maybe he'll like it.

Growing Up-Anyone else surprised at how much less of a "baby" their DC is now? I just always imagined an 8/9 month old to be more of a baby than Spencer is now. He's really like a toddler now it seems. Scary :eek:

Hope everyone has a great weekend. I'm soooo excited about tomorrow...DH gave me an afternoon at the spa for my birthday a while back and my appt. is tomorrow. I can't wait!!

We're having what I call "PJ Day" today...one of those days where we have no errands to run but I have stuff to do around the house. Spencer and I stay in PJ's (or something similar) all day and stay in. It's fun!

[Bliss]

Happy Birthday Lindzee!! Hope you are enjoying your family visit.

FTM Great news on the crawling! You must love seeing Kaylin moving all around. For some reason when I read you had big news I thought you were PG LOL.

Crawling/Sitting up Dylan is not crawling yet. He inches and rolls to everything he needs, and seems most happy when he is sitting up and playing with the tons of toys that my mom and sister keep buying him. I figure he will get there when he is ready, he is a pretty laid back baby so I am not really surprised he is not running around yet. I have noticed that he wants nothing to do with anything that he needs to be strapped into. I used to be able to sit him in his high chair while I got dinner ready/did dishes, but no more. Its like if I am not feeding him, he wants to be sitting on the floor lol. I did notice that he "learned" to really support himself while sitting up seemingly overnight, so it does happen fast.

Mealtime We are still on stage 2 foods, I was going to get stage 3 but my supermarket was having a sale on the 2s so I stocked up. Once we finish those we will go to stage 3. Today Dylan really started noticing the Puffs, he got them into his mouth all by himself (I am so proud :)). Before he just liked to stuff them down the sides of his highchair or in his diaper lol. He is really interested in what I am eating, so I have been giving him stuff at every meal, which he generally gums down. I give him *tiny* pieces though, so he doesnt get freaked out. I have noticed that if I give him another baby spoon to hold, it makes mealtime easier, if not he likes to grab the spoon by the food end, getting food all over his hands, bib, face etc LOL. He can feed himself w. the spoon, but does much better if he has another spoon in his free hand for some reason. Then he goes right into his mouth.

Growing up I have been struggling w. this for a while. I am v. torn most days between loving seeing D grow up and learn new things, and getting sad at how fast it is all going. I saw a group of teenage boys the other day and got all sad thinking someday that will be Dylan, not wanting to be seen w. his parents lol. I was honestly thinking some of it may be a bit of PPD that seems to come and go, since I get SO sad some days thinking of how big my little baby boy is getting. I love his little personality and he is so interactive and fun now, but its tough. I keep telling DH not to let me become one of those clingy mothers that wants their kid to be w. them all the time. :P

Buckeye What great pics. Its amazing how tiny she was, and now she is such a beautiful healthy girl!

Holiday bdays Arent those the worst, I was born on Thanksgiving and used to get a lot of those "for your birthday AND Christmas" gifts. My ex-boyfriend was an identical twin born ON Christmas! Can you imagine, not bad enough having to share your bday but its on Christmas LOL.

[abbytfox]

Bliss I feel exactly the same way about our boys growing up. It is nice to know other people feel it too. Also, I am glad that Dylan isn't into the crawling yet either. Elliott is so content to sit and play and ALL the other baby boys in our playgroup are crawling and moving and into everything. Dylan and Elliott were born one day apart, too! I have to run, but wanted to say thanks for your post...it is so nice to know that someone else is on the exact same page as you are!

Hawaii I belong to Amador Mothers Club and there is also a MOMS club out here. We live in the Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore area. Are you headed our way?

[rachrich]

this'll be a quick post, i'm on the run. :)
sitting up: thanks for all the advice. Yeah, I know the doctor probably isn't all that concerned about it, but I'm such a geek when it comes to following doctor's orders. lol I've gotten a few toys that sit on the floor so Olivia has something to "concentrate" on so it helps her stay sitting up longer. sometimes it helps, sometimes not. Like some of you have said, someday I won't expect it, and it'll just click.

[Hawaii2SJ]

HAPPY FRIDAY :)

Abby we're moving to Livermore and I actually was interested in AMC since the had a specific group for babies born in mid to late 2005. The playgroup I'm in here in the southbay is for all babies in 2005 and Aiden is the youngest and all the other babies are walking/running. The next kid before Aiden was born in July and most of the babies are all born in the begining of the year. I'm also looking at Livermore moms club. How do you like AMC? It is by age right? Any moms from Livermore that you know of? You can PM me so we don't take up space here.

Have a great weekend ladies :)

[ktdelsur]

Holiday bdays Arent those the worst, I was born on Thanksgiving and used to get a lot of those "for your birthday AND Christmas" gifts. My ex-boyfriend was an identical twin born ON Christmas! Can you imagine, not bad enough having to share your bday but its on Christmas LOL.

Yup. My bday is 12/16, so...I feel ya. I didn't get that *too* much, but I've definitely been there!

fussy: Sometimes...he fusses more when I leave the room but I just do it and say, from wherever I've gone, "I'm right here, I'm coming back in just a minute!" LOL...

He's usually pretty happy...

food...we're still on Stage 2 food, and I have two jars of stage 3s to try, but they are so chunky! The only solid foods he's had is puffs, and teeny tiny bites of my cantaloupe or a small sweet potato chunk. I am SO PARANOID about him choking, its ridiculous.

I gave him pureed broccoli this morning that I made (well, at lunch) - steamed/pureed as much as broccoli CAN be pureed, of course its still a little chunky. He ate three bites of it but then started shaking his head, spitting and making barf faces. LOL I plan on trying to sneak in occasional bites of it though.

I gave him Yo Baby apple yogurt this morning, and he ate it up. I took a bite and thought, "NO wonder, this is good!" I have been using the plain, Dannon all-natural yogurt and mixing it with pureed fruit at breakfast for him. He likes either...but he ate the heck out of that Yo Baby.

sad...
I get this way sometimes too - thinking of him as a teenager, etc. Mostly though I can't wait until he is conversational. LOL...most people say that you can't wait for them to talk and then after they talk, you wish they would hush. :D

Gotta go...baby's tired of being in the exersaucer now...

[krbb]

I am so behind! We took our first vacation last week with DS and got back yesterday. We had a great time and Oliver was so good, except for sleeping. He never sleeps well away from home so he ended up in bed with us most nights. It was definitely different being on a vacation with a baby. Usually DH and I are always on the go on trips, this one we had to take breaks for naps. Oliver also goes to bed at 7 and if he doesn't he is not happy. So we were back by then to get him to sleep. We had a one bedroom condo and it worked out perfectly!

3 meals? - For those who have started giving three meals a day, I was wondering when you started? I am thinking Oliver may be ready for it since he seems to be wanting more at his second meal.

food - Oliver has gotten a lot better with finger foods. So far he has just had Purely O's and banana. The O's are a great way to keep him occupied when we are at a restaurant. I make his food, but it compares to the stage 2 consistency. I will probaby skip making it like stage 3 though. I am like you ktdelsur, I am so scared he will choke on something. He likes to fake cough and when he does that will eating his O's it always scares me.

Growing up too fast - I also get so sad thinking about how fast DS has grown. I think the first couple years they change so much in such a short time.

[krbb]

Forgot to say, Happy Birthday Lindzee!!! :D

[snoopy30]

Hi ladies! Hope you're all having a nice weekend :)

3 meals-Spencer started having 3 meals/day around 6.5 months. I had asked my ped about it at his WBV and he said to go ahead and add one. But I certainly think that there are lots of babies that only have 2 meals/day for a while. Spencer is a pretty big kid so I figured he wouldn't mind more food ;)

holiday birthdays-Can't say from experience but there are several Dec. b-days in my family and I'm sure it can be tough. But it seems that we've always made them special even though they are close to Christmas.

attachment-Anyone's DC starting to exhibit a stronger attachment to you? We had an interesting experience last night. About an hour after Spencer went to bed he started crying (very unusual for him) so I went in to check on him and he was sitting up in his crib and seemed really upset. His arms were outstretched so of course I picked him up :) He was immediately fine so after a few minutes I put him down and he started really crying again. DH picked him up then so we could just see if he was okay or hurt or anything. He kept crying even though DH was holding him. So I picked him up and he stopped immediately and was fine. I put him down again and he fussed for 5-10 minutes and then fell asleep. All the books "say" that attachment can start now so I guess we're there!! It's a real catch-22 b/c you want them to be attached to you in a way but then I know when they really only want mommy it can be hard.

Well I better run and fix some lunch...

[Lindzee82]

Hawaii2SJ - Hi! Yes, it does seem that Matthew was just going through a phase with his feedings. I think it was due to him getting another tooth. I seem to blame everything on his teeth, but he does have a really hard time with it. I do have a booster seat...maybe that would be something to try if we got through another feeding strike phase. Thanks! My ped told me not to do cheese yet, so I am a little bummed as I was looking forward to making him some cheese toast. I, too, have a really hard time thinking about a menu for Matthew. Especially with Eric gone during the week I usually only eat Ramen Noodles, Chef Boyardee, or Tuna and Hamburger Helper. Not stuff that I can give my baby. It is frustrating sometimes.

first-time mom - When I am spoon feeding Matthew, I "lock" his arms underneath his try. I make him put his arms down on his legs and then I put the tray on. This makes for a very clean spoon feeding session. Once we are done with the spoon, I let him bring his arms up and then he can eat his Cheerios or puffs or whatever finger foods we are trying. Thanks so much for the birthday wishes!!!

snoopy30 - Thanks for the birthday wishes! I am having such a hard accepting the fact that Matthew is growing up. He is just so smart and understands so much. He pulls himself up on everything. I guess I have never been around a lot of babies for a long period of time so I never realized. I always thought that a 9 month old would be much less self sufficient. If Matthew didn't like mommy milk, he would have absolutely no use for me!

Bliss - Thanks for the birthday wishes! I had such a great time with my family. That is great that Dylan is doing so great with sitting up! It is crazy how fast they do master new skills.

krbb - Thanks for the birthday wishes!!! Glad you had a good vacation with Oliver. When I took Matthew on vacation he ended up in my bed, too. Whatever works! Great that Oliver is getting better with finger foods. I will be heading over to LJ soon to read your vacation recap!

attachment - Matthew is very attached to me. It is only natural because he is with me 24 hours a day. And, with Eric being gone during the week that doesn't help the situation. I feel bad on the weekends when Eric comes home because Matthew still wants to be with me. I try and leave them alone as much as I can, though.

Gotta go...I am being yelled at! :)

[helen22]

Happy Birthday, Lindzee! Hope you had fun with your family visiting. Sorry Matthew has been having some fussiness with meals - I guess some of that might be toddler-type behaviour, starting to assert independence a bit? I'm not sure.

Buckeye, welcome! Your little one has come a long way, wow! She's adorable.

FTM, congrats on Kaylin crawling!! That is so cute how she did it sneakily at first.

3 meals a day - we do 3 meals now, can't remember when we started. Maybe 7 mos? The meals usually consist of
2 TB cereal (rice/oatmeal/multigrain)
1 TB EBM mixed with the cereal
1-2 TB fruit (pears/apples/peaches/prunes/bananas/plums/blueberries)
1-2 TB veg (peas/green beans/sweet potatoes/carrots/winter squash)

Vague plan of next foods we are going to try: avocado, egg yolk, beans (like garbanzo), zucchini, yogurt. We're pretty slow about adding foods - only do two new foods a week.

Mel will eat pretty much anything, but doesn't like the food as much if it's cold. Anyone else heat all the food they give DB? She will eat it cold, but does much better if it's warmed.

And of course as I mentioned before no finger foods yet because I am sooooo paranoid :o Going to talk to ped about it at 9-month visit.

How are your little ones doing with cups? DB still hasn't figured them out. I have tried the avent stage 1 sippy. Just bought the "Take and Toss" cups - we'll see how she does. Any recs for good cups?

Attachment - not so much. Mel has some stranger anxiety, but it's unpredictable - sometimes she is super smiley and friendly to everyone in the neighborhood, other times she's a little freaked out. But she's pretty equally attached to both DH and me. Except she doesn't like DH in his swimming cap at swimming lessons :rolleyes:

BTW, lots of cute summer stuff on sale at oldnavy.com - I just ordered a swim suit for Mel in the 12-18 m size for $5 - partly because it's such a good deal, and party because I'm afraid it will be impossible to find a baby swim suit in Nov/Dec when I expect her to grow out of the one she has now. Also got some summer dresses for next year. Happy shopping! :D

[JRPAGV]

Nathan is napping, so let's see if I can catch up a little...

Happy (belated) birthday, Lindzee82!

Cups: Nathan still hasn't quite figured out how to drink from straw or sippy cups. He spills most of the water down his shirt. We've tried several different kinds.

Heating Baby Food: I heat Gerber veggies for about 10-15 seconds on 50% power, but I don't heat fruits. Nathan seems to like his food a little more room temperature than warm.

Three Meals: Nathan just recently started getting three meals a day. Sometimes he only gets two, though. Here's an example of his daily food intake:

6oz formula bottle
Breakfast: Gerber fruit (stage 2) and some Gerber puffs
6oz formula bottle
Lunch: Gerber veggie (stage 2 or 3) and some Gerber puffs
6oz formula bottle
Dinner: Gerber veggie (stage 2 or 3) and Gerber fruit (stage 2) and puffs
6oz formula bottle

Sometimes he drinks 5 bottles a day (6oz each).

Nathan has had the following finger foods: Gerber puffs, Cheerios, pieces of Gerber Wagon Wheels, pieces of Gerber Biter Biscuits, watermelon, white bread, baked potato (nothing on it), vanilla ice cream :o, and he sucked/nibbled on some orange slices at a restaurant this past weekend. He hasn't had a bad reaction to anything yet.

Teeth: Nathan finally has some teeth! His two bottom teeth just popped through on August 9th. He's been fussy yesterday and today, though, so I'm wondering if he's teething again.

Aack... he just woke up. I'll post some more later.

[rachrich]

Meals: we only do 1 full meal a day-at dinner. Half jar of #2 dinner, half jar veg, half a pieceof mashed up fruit (banana, melon, etc.).
And usually 4 oz of juice to wash it all down. It doesn't seem like enough meals for an almost 9-month old, but Olivia doesn't complain and she's showing all the signs that she's getting plenty to eat. AT her 9M WCC I'm going to talk to the doc about adding more-i'm sure he'll okay it.
How do you know when it's time to move on to Stage 3 foods?

Sippy cups: Helen22-I got some of the Playtex-rec from SIL-about 2 months ago to try Olivia on, she didn't get the hang of them and got real frustrated over it. We haven't pushed it much, but try it every now and then, and she's still not getting it. Our ped said at her 6-month that around 9 months is when he suggested starting one. That seemed late to me but we'll start working with them more soon. I'll keep with the Playtex's for awhile unless she really doesn't get them. I hear the Nuby/Parent's Choice from wal-mart are good.

Growing up: I'm excited about what's to come for DD, but man I'm gonna miss her the way she is now. I'm torn.....

[rachrich]

I tried to edit my previous post, but it wouldn't let me...dunno why. no big deal.
I just wanted to add/clarify that Olivia gets bottles the rest of the day, and a mid-late morning snack of puffs or crackers.

[JRPAGV]

I'm back, but it may not be for long. :D

Naps: Nathan's naps have been all over the place lately. He just kind of sleeps when he crashes. :o He fights sleep so hard, and he'll only fall asleep if he's lying on me. He usually takes one long nap a day (up to 2-3 hours) and then one short nap (30 minutes to an hour).

Buckeye K: Welcome to our group! Mia is such a beautiful baby! :)

pacificbliss: December will be here before you know it!

first-time mom: That's awesome that Kaylin is crawling now! Congrats!

Okay, DS is crying again. Gotta go.

[snoopy30]

cups-We use the Take & Toss (First Years I think) and Nuby ones (they have a soft spout). I think Spencer likes the Take & Toss better b/c they don't have a valve so he can get the water out faster. I think this age range is good for introducing one. For a while he just played w/ it but likes them now.

meals-Here's how Spencer's meals usually go:

Breakfast~6 oz. bottle, oatmeal w/ stage 2 fruit mixed in, usually a handful or two of Cheerios
6 oz. bottle after morning nap
Lunch~Stage 2 "dinner" or veggie OR bits of cooked meat, cut-up fruit (he likes blueberries,banana,mango,pears,freeze-dried fruit snacks), water, puffs
6 oz. bottle after afternoon nap
Dinner~Stage 2 dinner or veggie or bits of meat if he didn't have that at lunch, maybe a cut-up veggie if he's not having pureed veggie, some sort of starch like pasta or waffle (he loves those!)
6 oz. at bed

heating baby food- I heat most things other than fruits, but only for 10 seconds or so. Just to get it to room temp. maybe.

growing up-I get so torn too. It's so fun to watch Spencer learning new things and getting more and more like a little boy. But I wonder too how time has passed so quickly :eek: I feel some days like DH & I were just TTC.

I better run before you-know-who wakes up...

[krbb]

Thanks for those posting about the third meal. He went from eating two cubes for dinner to four. I think I will try to give him something when I eat lunch.

cups - We have the Avent sippy cups, Playskool, and Nubby (both the straw and other). The Nubby straw cup is Ollie's favorite. It is kind of a pain to clean, but he can work it the best.

heated food - For the jar food I use I do not heat it unless I had it in the fridge. The food I make is frozen cubes so I have to heat it up. He does seem to care one way or the other.

attachement - DS is attached to DH and I equally. For strangers he will usually flirt with them or just give them a look like who are you. The only person he has ever cried because they were holding them is my MIL. The one time she practically ripped him from my arms right when we arrived at their house. DH and I think it is because she gets all in his face right away. We will not tell her that he is the only one he reacts that way too. I have to say it amuses me ;) .

[abbytfox]

Elliott is 9 months today! Where has the time gone? We won't have our WBV until next Wednesday and I am so excited to find out how much he weighs and how tall he has gotten. I think he is average in weight, but tall. We'll see if I'm right in a few days!

Milestones I feel like all of a sudden he is accomplishing a lot! He recently (like within the last 2 weeks) has transitioned from 3 down to 2 naps, is self-feeding (instead of playing with or just picking up the cheerios), and is doing "downward facing dog" and "the plank" positions from yoga. :) Just today he really started sticking his tush in the air...I think crawling is coming! I am going to give it 2-3 weeks.

3 meals He also went from 2 to 3 meals just last week (so almost 9 months) It is crazy how fast he transitions. One day he is fine with 2 meals and the next he is already adjusted to 3 (same thing with the naps...one day he was taking 3 and all of a sudden he was down to 2). Plus he has added snacks really suddenly. He has a bottle at 6-6:30 and by 7 he is wanting to sit in his high chair and eat some cheerios and puffs. He wasn't into snacking at all before. I am finding that I feel like he is eating all the time nowadays...this must be the 9 month growth spurt!

attachment I don't think E had much separation anxiety before, but it has recently come out. He really looks around for me if he hears my voice (even if he is playing with DH) and doesn't want me to put him down. It is all momma, all the time!

cups Elliott HATES water! He won't take the sippy ever (just wants to chew on the spout) and even if I try to give him water in a bottle he pushes it away and looks at me like I am insane. We have tried the Nuby, Nuby straw, playtex and gerber cups. He likes the nuby the best and was taking them for a while...but now he won't drink anything out of it, even formula. I am worried he isn't getting enough water, but I think his pee would be really yellow if he was dehydrated, right?

Oh-oh, crying guy.

[first-time mom]

Lindzee- Hope you had a good b-day!! Yeah Kaylin can easily slip her arms back up if I tried that haha! Oh well it is different everyday oh how she is with being spoon fed vs finger foods. Last night I gave her a meal all finger foods and she barely touched it. Then I spoon fed her and she was happy. GO figure ha!! I think she is a little squirmish on different textures. I gave her cooked carrots cut up and she didnt care for it. Didnt like green beans or turkey but puree it and she loves it hmmm.

JRPAGV-Thanks she is a busy body now:)

Helen22-Thanks, she is sooo sneaky ha

Abby-Kaylin was doing that downward dog too and about 2-3 wks later she started to crawl so I think you are right:) Kaylin started to crawl at 9 mos 1 wk to the day ha!

Sippys-Kaylin *loves* the nuby cups cause they are like the bottle nipple. She has been using them for a while and does so well. She knows to tip her head wayyy back to drink, its so cute.

3 meals-Kaylin started to get 3 meals from the beginning it was recommended by the ped. I thought it was too in the beginning but now its fine!

heated food- I usually do 15 sec in the microwave unless its a fruit.

attachment- Kaylin is very attached to me but I am with her 24hrs a day!

[sem426]

I can't believe my baby is 9 mos today! SHe had her WBV today and here are her stats:

weight 18lb 11oz 50%
height 28 1/2 in 75%
head 17 3/4 in 75%

water/sippy cup we have the avent one and DD just loves the cup...but won't drink from it! she likes gnawing and chewing on it! i'm concerned that she doesn't get enough water, bc she refuses to drink from the cup and doesn't really have interest in water while it's in the bottle. that was one of my questions for the ped today, so we'll see what he says.

3 meals we're still at 2 meals and she doesn't seem to be hungry for more.

attachment she seems to be ok w/other peoiple we leave her w/my parents and she doesn't seem to mind.

sleep recently DD has been screaming when we put her to bed at night. this just started a few days ago. she usually goes right into the crib and doesn't really make much of a fuss. I'm not sure what's going on w/her now. we let her CIO for about 1/2 hour last night and then she fell asleep and STTN, but i hope this isn't a new thing...mommy can't handle the crying every night :(

heated food nope. straight from the jar, room temperature. if i had it in the fridge sometimes i'll warm it up, but i think sometimes, DD likes it cold. if it's applesauce or bananas i give them to her cold. i think it helps her gums when it's cold.

teeth we still have just the 2 bottom ones. she's definitely working on the top ones though. she will chew or bite on anything pretty much these days.

finger foods DD loves her puffs...but only when I feed them to her:rolleyes: i'll put them out on her tray..she'll play w/them, lift them up and then drop them. i don't get it. she will put basically EVERYTHING in her mouth except FOOD!!

helen22 i also got some GREAT stuff at old navy. they are having a huge summer clearance sale and i got DD about 9 things there for a total of $31 for next summer! shorts and tshirts for $1.97 each! can't beat that. i just hope i guessed her size right! i got 18-24 mos so i figure they should all fit next summer.

birthday DD's birthday is right around thanksgiving...so we are making her party either the 11th or the 12th of Nov. We will actually be in Florida on vacation for her actual Bday which is the 22nd, so that will be nice to celebrate in warm weather!:) I've been stalking the 1st birthday party thread (i've seen many of you guys in there too!). we are most likely doing the party in our house (after much deliberation) and will do just close family and friends.
i'm thinking about a hello kitty theme...but haven't decided yet. I need to figure out where i'll have the food catered from and decide on invites, decorations, favors etc. I have a whole "hayley party" folder on my desktop w/ideas and websites!

[Lindzee82]

helen22 - Thanks for the birthday wishes! I really did have a great time with my family. I think some of Matthew's fusiness stemmed from the fact that his two front teeth just came in - bringing our grand total to 8!

Heating Food - Matthew has a very sensitive mouth. He only likes his stuff warm. His water has to be at room temperture as well. Therefore, I am having a heck of a time trying to get him to eat yogurt. I don't want to heat up his yogurt, so I keep trying it, but he just wont have it.

Cups - Matthew drinks great from the Nalgene sippy cup. It is quite heavy and big though, so he can't do it himself. I don't mind helping him though. We tried the Avent for a while and he just didn't do well with them. The Nuby was a no go right from the start.

JRPAGV - Thanks for the birthday wishes!

3 Meals - Matthew gets three meals. Here is what our schedule normally looks like:

7am - Wake up Nurse
8am - Stage 2 or 3 fruit
9am - Attempt a nurse, nap
12pm - Stage 2 meat (ex: vegetable chicken, pears and chicken, turkey and rice)
1pm - Nurse, nap
4:30pm - Nurse
5pm - Stage 2 or 3 veggie
7:30pm- Nurse, bed

Finger Foods - Matthew has done Gerber Puffs, Cheerios, Toast (white and wheat).

Teeth - Matthew just got his two front teeth this morning. Our grand total is...8 teeth!

rachrich - We started trying the Stage 3 foods when Matthew would eat a whole stage 2 jar and still seemed hungry. You have to be careful with them, though. The plain fruits and veggies are great. They are a thicker consistency but they don't have chunks. The meals and mixed ingredient jars do have chunks, though. Matthew has eaten bananas, sweet potatoes, and squash in the stage 3 jars.

Naps - Matthew gets two naps a day. He usually sleeps for an hour around 9am and then at 1pm will sleep for up to two hours. I think it is a very good schedule.

first-time mom - Thanks! My birthday was great. Matthew is very finicky, too. He will like something one day and refuse it the next. I think he is just trying to test his limits with me! haha!

[Buckeye_K]

We've had family from Vermont in town so I haven't had time to get online the last several days.

Lindzee82: Mia was 2lbs. 3oz and 14 inches long when she was born. She was a tiny little thing with the skinniest arms and legs I have ever seen. I was 28 weeks along when I went into labor. The first hospital I was at stopped the labor for about 4 hours, but they started to get worried that the baby was underdeveloped for her age. They transferred me to a larger hospital in Burlington where they have a NICU in case I delivered. It took 25 minutes to get to Burlington in the ambulance with the worst pain I have ever felt. We kept hitting bumps in the road and that would trigger a contaction that was horrible. I went from 1cm dialated to 7cm in the 25 minutes I was in the ambulance. As soon as I got to the hospital they did an emergency c-section. Mia was quite a trooper. She didn't need put on oxygen right away. They were impressed with how developed her lungs were for being 28 weeks. She did get 4 hours of the ventilator later in the afternoon and then when to a nasal cpap. We were very lucky. My company had travel insurance that paid to fly Mia and I back to Columbus on a jet with a medical team. Now, if I could just get United Healthcare to pay their portion of the bills, I would be very happy. It has been almost 8 months and the are still denying claims.


first-time mom: I am so happy that Kaylin is so healthy. I Mia is only 8 months and I can't wait to see how much she weigh at her 9 month appointment.

Food: Our ped didn't want Mia starting on solids until she would have been 4 months corrected, which was almost a month ago. She has not taken to the rice or oatmeal cereal. She has no intrest in it. She does like vegetables though. I hope skipping the rice isn'tbad. The ped told me to try it for a month, but she spit it all back out. With the vegetables, she grabs the spoon and shoves it in her mouth.

Sitting: She learned to pull herself up and sit a little over a week ago. Since then she doesn't want to lay down unless she is trying to crawl. Now she sits on the floor and plays with her toys and occasionally rolls over to another one. I can't wait until she crawls.

I was so happy yesterday. Mia's great-grandmother was holding her when I came home from work and I walked over to her and said hi and she held her arms out to me for the first time. It almost made me cry. She is acting more grown up every day.

We are planning Mia's baptism for Sept. 30th. Does anyone have suggestions on where to get cute invitations and announcements?

[Lindzee82]

Buckeye K - Wow, I can't even imagine. So glad that both you and Mia made out okay. Sorry about the insurance woes. They definitely don't like to make things easy on new mothers. How sweet that Mia held her arms up to you. That is awesome.

[Orion]

Hi Ladies,
Just a quick post to let you all know that I had my ultrasound today and I am officially 11 weeks pregnant which makes my due date on March 13! It didn't seem really until today when I got to see the little bean. I'm going to upload my ultrasound pic for the March Mommies group and perhaps I will share it here too!

In Sophie news, she has started to reject the breast. She still wants her morning, bedtime and middle of the night feedings but she doesn't want her daytime feedings. I've tried to pump but my supply has decreased a lot due to being pregnant again and I can't pump anything so as much as I hate it I had to supplement with fromula. I really didn't want to give her formula but I can't let her starve. I was really upset over the week-end about this but after talking to a lot of other Mom's and my Mom and DH we figure that she has had over 8 months of exc. breastfeeding and it isn't like I'm taking her off breastmilk completely...just supplementing...but I am still having a hard time with it. And to top it all off, Sophie doesn't really like the formula to well. But on a positive note she does take it from a sippy cup so I don't have to put her on a bottle.

Hope everyone is doing well. I will be posting more in the next little while because DH and I have joined the you all in the computer revolution and we bought a computer. We should get it in about a week or two and will also be getting internet. This is a big thing for us since we don't even have cable for our tv! We are so stuck in the stone age!

[helen22]

Orion, congrats on the soon-to-arrive computer! We only recently got cable - for a while we even lived without a TV :eek: The ultrasound must have been very exciting!

Buckeye, what a trooper your daughter is! I can't imagine dealing with what you guys have gone through - totally amazing.
One thing about cereal - I think that the reason cereal is important is because of the iron that it has - our ped told us babies can get anemic when their iron stores start to deplete around 6-7 months. You might want to check with yours about whether it's important. If Mia won't eat the cereal but will eat veggies, you could mix them all together. Mel doesn't like the new multigrain cereal we have for her, so we mix it with fruit/veggies. She loves the plain oatmeal cereal so we keep that separate.

Cup - still not a lot of success, although Mel likes the "take and toss" better than the Avent and will get some of the water out. I'll have to check out the Nuby cups. Partly I think it's that Mel just isn't that interested in water. Maybe she'll do better with the cup once we really try to transition her from bottles and put milk in. Orion, that's great your daughter will drink from a sippy - was that a hard process?

Lindzee, glad my baby is not the only one who is particular about food temps :)

Sem, what did your ped say about the water? I worry about that with Mel as well. I guess I would worry more if she got constipated, but no issues there :rolleyes: Hope the going-to-sleep gets better! Is she working on crawling/walking, or teething? Those seem to be the big sleep disrupters that I read about. But I can never figure out why Mel has some bad nights once in a while, it's mysterious...
And glad you got some good shopping on at Old Navy - awesome deals! :D

[Orion]

Helen22: Sophie took to the sippy cup when we started her on solid foods at 5 1/2 months. She would take little sips of water and now that she is used to it she will drink out of it no problem.

I feel so relieved today. As you guys know, I am pregnant, and having to return back to work in order to get another mat leave. My neighbor said that she would take Sophie while I go back to work (it will only be about four or five months) and this makes me feel so relieved. I'm been looking around for daycare but I haven't found one that seemed good for Sophie. My neighbor has a baby who is three months younger than Sophie and they love playing together. Also, I have had to wean Sophie since I am losing my breastmilk. I am still breastfeeding but I have to give her formula twice a day to supplement. It works out well since I am going back to work sometime soon. I tried to pump but my supply is low and it just wasn't working. I am still breastfeeding in the morning, the evening and the middle of the night. So she is getting breastmilk 3 out of the five feedings she gets. Also, I didn't want to put her on a bottle since I would just have to wean her from the bottle in a few months. Yesterday was the first day Sophie had formula and she didn't really like it and didn't take very much so I was worried. But today she drank the whole thing. I am only replacing one nursing session right now because I want to wean her slowly. But so far so good...I am so relieved!

On another note...I took Sophie to the park for the first time today and put her in the baby swings. She loved it! She was screaming and laughing and it was so cute to see the wind blow through her hair (all three of the hairs on her head!).

[abbytfox]

I am so excited. Yesterday I ordered a jogging stroller and it should be here on Tuesday! Yippee! I have been walking every morning and using our Peg Perego stroller which I love but it isn't really for walking long distances. It has started to creak a bit I think because I am just using it way too much. I originally was going to get the model below this one and purchase it from Costco. However, with shipping and handling it was going to be $165 instead of $130. I had recently gotten an email from Baby Age stating free shipping so I looked and they had this one on sale for $150 from $200. Plus with no shipping it was the same price! So I ordered it and can't wait!
http://www.babyage.com/icons/localhost/products/medium/M-13_sc506.jpg

In other news, Elliott has been on this kick where he is waking up at 4:30-5 every day. I feel terrible but we let him fuss/cry until 6. I know that if I got him up earlier he would be a mess. It is really starting to get to me though...not a good way to start the day, you know. I want him to be happy! I started a thread about it and we'll see what I come up with. It is not a good situation.

Orion That is so great that you can rest easy knowing your DD is well taken care of. I can imagine the relief you must feel. It sounds like you are dealing with the weaning really well. It was hard for me (Elliott weaned himself at 8 months) but we are all so much happier now. I hope that it continues to go well for you!

Lindz I feel awful...I totally forgot to wish you a happy birthday! Happy Belated B-day! I hope you had a good time with your family!

finger foods Elliott has had puffs (just got the banana ones...even I love them!), cheerios, bits of cheese, tofu, and rice pasta. He HATES the tofu but I am going to keep trying. LOVES the cheese even though he makes a funny face while eating it. His "chewing" sounds crack me up!

Buckeye What an amazing story about the birth of Mia. I am so glad everyone is doing great now. Insurance companies sure make things challenging sometimes! It really makes me mad. I hope that they pay for what they are supposed to. That is why we HAVE insurance!:mad:

semSounds like a great appointment. I can't wait until next Wednesday when Elliott will get weighed and measured. I am also curious about water. E will not drink it at all. What did your ped say? It seems like 9 months is a transition for sleep patterns (just judging by what other moms have said) Elliott is having a hard time in the mornings (as I posted above) I am hoping both of our kiddos get it figured out SOON!

[fwgirl]

DD was 9 months old yesterday. Whew! Where did the time go? We had her 9 month WBV last Thursday and she's perfectly healthy and growing. She's 16 lbs 8 oz, 26 1/2 inches. She's still on the small side, but I really haven't given it a second thought since her ped wasn't concerned and she's hitting all her milestones. That and I'm pretty sure she has a hollow leg because my girl can eat! :)

cups/water. Add us to the list of people who love the Nuby straw cup. That's the only one DD will use. We have a few Avent cups with the soft spout, but DD acts like she's offended if I offer them to her. I'm not sure exactly how much water she drinks a day, but I feel like I refill it on almost a daily basis.

heated food. Nope, I don't warm her food. She either eats it out of the jar, the fridge (she likes cold veggies!) or I defrost cubes until they thaw. It's a combination between not wanting to deal with it and not wanting her to only accept food at a certain temperature.

milestones. Now that she's got crawling down pat she's moved on to pulling up. I usually find her standing in her crib after naps & in the morning. Also, last night she pulled herself up against the wall. DH & I thought that was a pretty big deal since before that she always needed to grab at something in order to stand. After she got up she just stood there for about 5 minutes. We're pretty sure she was thinking, "okay, what next?" Finally she sat down and decided it was time to play with our dog. (Who by the way we've started calling "Jungle Gym Bailey" since she likes to climb all over him. Luckily he's the most laid back dog I've ever seen.)

Congratulations on the good ultrasound Orion!

Welcome Buckeye!

Very cool stroller abby. We have the Peg too and I've been thinking we might need a jogging stroller. Please post once you get it and tells us what you think.

[Lindzee82]

Orion - Congratulations on your ultrasound! That is awesome that you are already 11 weeks! Definitely share your ultrasound pictures with us! So sorry to hear that Sophie is rejecting the breast. I have read that can happen when you are pregnant. I can't imagine how hard it must be for you, though. But, like you said...you did give her 8 months of exclusive breastfeeding. That is awesome. You should be really proud of yourself. Yay for the computer and internet! And in response to your second post - so glad that everything seems to be working out with care for Sophie and with weaning. That is great news!

helen22 - Nope, you are definitely not alone in the food temp saga! Matthew is so very particular about it. Drives me crazy! He was the same when back when my dad was babysitting him when I worked. My dad would have to keep reheating the breastmilk because he wouldn't get it to the right temperature for him.

abbytfox - Love the new stroller! Sorry that Elliott is waking up earlier. I haven't seen your thread on that. I will check it out tomorrow probably when I get my daily 0-18 months update. Matthew sometimes wakes up at 4:30-5 and I just feed him and put him back down. Sometimes I have to rock him to get him back down, but there is no way I am getting up that early! Sorry it is bumming you out. Oh gosh, don't feel awful. Thanks for the birthday wishes. I did have a great time with my family. It was nice to see them. I only wish my brother was able to have come.

[first-time mom]

Teeth- Ha is my baby the only toothless one ha. She still has zero. Lindz I cant believe Matthew has 8!! ha

Pulling to a stand- Do you guys remember how long after your babies learned to crawl that they did this? I have see her balance on her knees and look like she is going to stand in the middle of the floor but she hasnt. I had her up against the couch standing wiht me and then put her down and she tried to pull up but didnt follow through. She has never been a fan of standing so I am not sure how long before she will do this. She has mastered the crawl! Well she uses one knee and one foot ha!

Abby-Love the new stroller I too want one of those. Mine is junk!

Orion-Ya for the ultrasound please post thos pics:)!

Buckeye-I hear you about insurance Kaylin's bill was 65,000 but luckly insurance did pay

be back later

[Lindzee82]

first-time mom - Kaylin still has no teeth??!! Wow! Lucky girl. Yep, Matthew has 8 and at the rate we are going I think we will have #9 here soon. *sigh* We just can't catch a break. It has been non-stop teething since he was 5 months old.

Abby - How did Elliott sleep last night with the earlier bedtime? Did you get to sleep in until 6?

[sem426]

water we told the ped at her appt that she hardly drinks any water and doesn't "get" the sippy cup. he didn't seem concerned. he actually said he'd rather her drink formula still then get filled up on water. so for now it's fine. maybe i'll try the nuby cup since everyone seems to like that better.

sleep so i'm hoping it was just a fluke when DD was having trouble getting to sleep and screaming. we let her CIO for 3 nights...each one less time...down to only 9 minutes on Tues night. Then last night...she went to bed w/no problem! so i'm hoping that is the end of it!

abby great new stroller! sorry about E's early wakeups. I saw your thread in parenting, but i'm sorry i don't have any advice. hopefully the earlier bedtime helped!

[happygolucky]

Buckeye - I got Anna's christening invitations from www.cardsshoppe.com. I also saw some lovely, affordable invites at www.invitingsmiles.com.

[Bliss]

Dylan had his 9 month WBV yesterday. He weighed in at 22.5 lbs (75%) and measured 30.5 inches. Which is off the charts :) My ped said he is as long as the average 13 month old :o But thankfully his weight and height are very symetrical and the doc said he is perfectly balanced so I am not worried that he is too chubby LOL. Plus his legs are actually getting thinner, I guess all that length is distributing the chubby all around. He had a blood test and all came back OK, so we were relieved at a good visit.

Sippy Cup- Dylay loves the Nuby, I am going to get him the one w. the straw next since he likes to drink out of my straws if I have water. I have taken to carrying straws w. me everywhere in case I have a water bottle he wants to share lol. I am lucky, he loves water and drinks it from a cup, or the nuby, or w. a straw. He still gets it all over himself from just the cup though.

Development- The new thing at our house is D pushing things away when he does not want them. Its so funny, DH offered him a paci last night and he pushed it away, then DH tried again and he made this little scrunched up face and pushed w. both hands, as if to say "cant you see I dont want that??". It was so funny. Still no crawling, but my ped said crawling can be harder for bigger babies (so much to lift lol) and that he may skip crawling and go to walking. He does take "steps" if you hold his hands, so we will see. Right now he still rolls/inches anywhere he needs to go.

Teeth- D is cutting 4 (!) teeth, his top 2 and the incisors next to them. The incisors are actually through now, the top 2 look close. This just adds to the fun of his new fave thing, biting mommy while he nurses in the AM (only time we nurse now). Some fun wakeup call :) I have tried everything, but me yelping "ouch" just makes him laugh. I am hoping to nurse him for another few months, but we will see what its like when those teeth come in.

Solids- This is our schedule;
8a- breakfast (nurse)
9a- cereal (2-3 tbsp)
10- nap
12n- 7oz bottle
130p-fruit (stage 2)
230p-nap
4p- 7oz bottle
6p- veggie (stage 2)
830p- bedtime, 7-8oz bottle
*yes, I feel like I am feeding him *all* the time. I sometimes wonder if that is why he is a bigger baby, but seeing everyone elses schedules makes me feel a little better :)

He is starting to get puffs in between some of the meals, like if I am eating and he is not I HAVE to give him something or he freaks lol. I admit I am kind of laid back about solids, as long as its tiny pieces I share most stuff w. him. My ped said not to worry too much about allergies, just to avoid chocking foods like hotdogs, peanut butter, popcorn and grapes. I usually hand feed him "real" food, but he can pick up his puffs by himself.

Puffs Question- Dylan loves his puffs, but he likes to put them all in his mouth at the same time. I dont give him more than 2 or 3 at a time, b/c I am paraniod. Anyone elses kid do this? I am wondering how long to wait before giving him more at one sitting. Also, how many puffs are you usually giving at one time? I swear, D can eat 20 in a sitting if I let him lol.

Abby- Nice stroller!

Orion- Congrats on the sono, lets see pics :)

Buckeye- I printed out D's baptisim invites myself, Target has some really cute ones.

Attachment- D is still going through some separation anxiety, but not as bad as it was. He is v. mommy-centric, but I think that is b/c he is w. me all day long. He loves his daddy to pieces, but if he is upset/in pain he wants me :) I just joined a gym w. daycare, so I am hoping he will stay there and get used to someone else watching him for an hour or so.

[snoopy30]

Afternoon!

Spencer had his 9 month WBV this morning...he's 21lbs. 3oz (65%) and 30 inches (95%). I could tell lately that he's gotten longer b/c he's grown out of his sleepers. I'm in that phase where I'm having to buy him new clothes. I guess that won't end for a while! He's doing great though according to his ped so that makes mommy happy :D

The ped said to start watching for tantrums and separation anxiety. I think we're starting to see the beginnings of some of that but lately he's been so flirty when we're out. It's so cute!

abbytfox-Love the stroller too! We don't have a jogger, I use my MetroLite for walks but I wonder if I'm going to want one. I want my Graco to last a while and I can tell that sidewalks are hard on it.

Bliss-Yes, Spencer likes to put several puffs/cheerios in his mouth at once. Freaks me out! If he's really hungry he does that with any finger food really. He's like a little pig! Just shoveling it in as fast as he can!

pulling to stand-Spencer started pulling to his knees first and that was about a month after he started crawling. Just this week he's started to pull all the way to standing. Now he pulls up on everything! Needless to say my coffee table is very bare :rolleyes:

Teeth-Still only the 2 bottom teeth right now. I can't really get a good look at the top but I expect one to pop through any time.

[Hawaii2SJ]

Hi Ladies :) Things have been in such a whirlwind for us here that I haven't had time to keep up with CC or LJ these days.

Food Aiden is doing great with his solid foods. He's gone international :P with filipino, indian, hawaiian, thai and italian. We kinda took the whole DR approval to another level. He seems to enjoy anything we put in front of him. We basically have been eating out for the past week since we had visitors AND I didn't restock his Gerber foods. I'm still finding it hard to give him home cooked meals since I'm not use to cooking all that much. I am getting better.

teeth So far we've got 4 and working on the 5th. Aiden tends to bite more often too. I still get a little paranoid when he gives me kisses

Gerber Puffs Bliss Aiden does the exact same thing as Dylan. I will put a bunch of cheerios or puffs in front of him and he'll scoop up as much as he can and put it in his mouth. I use to worry about it but he seems to do fine. Usually if one gets into his mouth he'll stop and chew that one before shoving another one in. WOW is Dylan tall! Snoopy Spencer is a tall guy too :)

Lindzee I don't think I ever said Happy birthday to you :( sorry about that...Happy Belated Birthday! I'm almost done with Little Earthquakes, it seems to be taking me forever. I told my mommy friends about it and they love it too.

Abby Great stroller! I'm gonna have to get one of those too. I see myslef taking lots of walks in the near future and I'd hate to beat up my trusty PP that I love so much.

Well I'm off to try and put something together for dinner tonight.

[Lindzee82]

Hawaii - Thanks for the birthday wishes!

[JRPAGV]

Nathan is walking!!!!!!!!

He's only 8 1/2 months old!!! :eek: I think I posted the other day that he's taken up to three or four consecutive steps before falling or quitting, but at 4:46pm today he officially started walking. Yes, I noted the time. :cool: He walked a couple of times this afternoon (more than 3-4 steps), and then I stood him back up and he took like 12-14 consecutive steps!!! He only quit because he reached his destination (the truck he was going after). He made it at least halfway across the room! I say 12-14 because he took a couple of steps before I picked my jaw up off the floor and started counting.... I counted 12.

DH was gone with our neighbor, so he missed it. I called him all excited and freaking out after it happened the first time, though. I also caught some of it with our video camera.

Just had to share that with everybody! I'm so excited and proud (not to mention nervous)! Have a good weekend!

[abbytfox]

JRPAGV Oh.My.Gosh. That is absolutely amazing! Good luck! Are you posting the video online? I would love to see how darling he is taking his first steps!

Hawaii FYI...I PM'd you the other day. Just wanted to make sure you check your messages. How is the move going?

Teeth Elliott has 7 and is a drool machine. I keep thinking that bottom left one has to pop through soon. My kid is still the only one in playgroup that needs a bib constantly!

[shirsty]

JRPAGV congrats!!! Things are going to get A LOT more interesting at your house now I bet! How cool you caught it on video.

Pulling to stand FTM Sam started doing this only a week after he started crawling forwards. We think he's going to walk soon, just today he was hanging on the coffee table and I was sitting a few feet away, he had this look in his eye like he wanted to walk to me but wasn't quite ready. It was almost like I saw the thought cross his mind!

3rd tooth just poked through!

10 months old That's how old Sam is today, WOW!

Clothes I need to do some major clothes shopping for Sam this weekend. This sounds dumb but I don't understand when he's supposed to transition from snap onesies to regular shirts w/pants. I'm not ready to give up the onesies yet!!! But you don't see much for them over 12 months. Anyone care to share what they're buying for clothes for fall/winter??

[ktdelsur]

Congrats Nathan and Janna...wow!!

As far as 12 mo stuff - we found a good sale at a Carters outlet and a Children's Place outlet - he got lots of "workout" looking outfits (jersey pants w/ stripes down the sides and long sleeved shirts). He's got some overalls and jeans/khakis, etc. I'd like to find some 12-month long sleeved onesie type shirts that button/stay tucked in!!

[snoopy30]

JRPAGV-Wow!!! Congrats on your new walker! :) My how our babies are growing up!

Clothes-Lots of shopping going on here too. I had to buy 12 mo sleepers and some other clothes for fall. I love Carter's stuff too...I got a set of onesies there, they're short-sleeve but I figure when the weather is cooler but not cold yet he'll be in pants and short-sleeves alot. So far I've gotten mostly "playclothes" but my Mom had gotten him a few cute outfits too.

Cruising-No walking here yet but Spencer did "cruise" on the coffee table this morning. Before now if he was pulled up and wanted something he would move only his upper body. That doesn't work very well ;) Speaking of, I feel like Spencer hurts himself all the time now that he's crawling and pulling up. I try to keep things safe for for him but I know it's inevitable :(

Not much going on here this weekend. DH is working today so it's just Spencer and Mommy. We did walk to the park this morning and Spencer got to swing for the first time. Very cute! I can't wait until the weather is cooler and we can do that every day!

[JRPAGV]

Thanks for the congrats on Nathan walking, ladies! We're pretty excited. :D abbytfox asked about a video of it...

(Cross-posted in my LJ)

I only have a second since dinner is ready, but I wanted to post this video that I just took a video of Nathan walking. He's been walking all afternoon, but he hasn't taken as many consecutive steps today as he did yesterday. The video I took of him yesterday was filmed using our Sony Handycam, not a digital camera. I don't know how or if it's even possible to transfer a video from that type of camera to our computer. So, this is the best I could do. He's grumpy since he's fighting naptime, but at least you can see him walking a little...

You have to watch the whole video since it's toward the middle or end. ;-)

http://www.dropshots.com/nathanv

I'll be back after dinner to catch up and reply!

[rachrich]

JRPAGV-that is an amazing video! i can't help but laugh at babies beginning to walk because they look like they're drunk. I also cracked up at the dog running away-I'm sure it's scared to death now that nathan's walking!
That must be so exciting for you, and a little scary too. WOW! Olivia is still getting the hang of crawling, she'll get up on all 4's and just hang her head down. it's cute....but if she would just get that head up she'd be good.

Question for you all: Since all the discussion about sippy's, and the Playtex's not working well for us, I decided to try a Nuby. At wal-mart today there were like 3 different styles of Nubys and i wasn't sure which specific style works best for those of you who like them. I picked one up anyway-it's a clear/purple color w/ purple ring and clear spout-no valve and it's not the straw type. I think it was called No Spill or Spill-proof...i can't remember and i threw the packaging away.

Olivia's top teeth are coming in-one is actually peeking through and friday was awful. she had a temp of 101, snotty nose/cough/congestion, and she had diarrhea ALL OVER her crib during her nap. she got 2 baths that day. she was so miserable. Gave her some tylenol for fever reducer, that helped a great deal, and we tried a bunch of "cooling off" techniques which helped. I'm 99% sure it's due to teething-i guess it's just my motherly instinct. :) Did any of you find the top teeth to be more problematic coming in, vs. the bottom? Olivia's bottom teeth came in with NO difficulty.

Hope you all have a happy week!

[snoopy30]

rachrich-The Nuby sippies you got sound like the ones we use. No straw but it has a clear, soft spout. I think they work well when you're transitioning from a bottle. But all babies seems to prefer different ones. Spencer never liked the ones w/ two handles but that works better for some. It does seem though that the Nuby's are very popular. Good luck w/ them! Sorry about the teething :( Spencer only has bottom teeth so no advice on the tops ones yet.

push toys-For those of you that have one is there one you'd recommend? Spencer is working on cruising but I though he might like a push toy-i.e. a toy he can hold on to and walk. Any thoughts?

Not a whole lot going on here. We're going to my parents' this weekend so that will be fun. DH is working late all this week though so that *won't* be fun :rolleyes:

Have a great day ladies!

[Hawaii2SJ]

abby I p'md you back. Thanks for the info.

shirsty we are also needing to buy some new clothes, sleepers especially. As for gear for the fall, I'm probably gonna buy some long sleeved onesies to go under his tee-shirts. (DH does that "look/style") or whatever you want to call it. Last fall I got some clearance stuff from gymboree so all I actually need are some pants. I scored on some sweaters and jackets last winter clearance:)

Today the weather is a little blah and Aiden has a little cold too :( Over the weekend we went to my nephews birthday party and my nephew kept kissing Aiden and he had a runny nose. So of course Aiden has the runny snotty nose today. What a bummer. I hope it doesn't last too long because we are flying to vegas on Thursday (to visit family)

cruising Aiden has mastered this on furniture, walls and will let go once in a while, but that's about it.

push toy We are still waiting for our leap frog learning band push toy I ordered from babycenter. It should be here anyday now.

[Lindzee82]

push toy - I just bought Matthew a Fisher Price one. He hasn't quite mastered it yet, though. Pretty far from it, actually. He likes to sit in front of it and play with the toys on it.

[ktdelsur]

Re: sippy cups...

Andrew has the hardest time with his!

He *loves* his, don't get me wrong, he just won't suck the liquid out. He chews on the spout and it gets EVERYWHERE. I have a NON-spillproof sippy from Ikea that was a gift, and he loves that since he doesnt have to suck. But...I don't like it because when he's done with a couple of sips, he bangs the cup on the highchair and liquid goes everywhere. Can't win either way. LOL

We've tried Nubys and some others - he doesn't seem to have figured out how to *use* them.

[jengen]

just popping in, I try to keep up but I'm not on CC too often. When I am, I'm too busy lurking in the first birthday party ideas thread. Anyone else an obsessive planner? :)

janna that video is amazing! I can't believe he's already walking!

cruising Cole is just starting to try to pull himself up on things. No cruising yet!

teeth I think Cole is finally about to pop some teeth - his two bottom ones are buldging and he has been really cranky and more drooley than usual.

Like all of you, i have a lot of shopping to do also. It's starting to get a little cooler here and I have no idea what to dress him in every morning.

[helen22]

Janna, that is so awesome that Nathan is walking!!! The video is adorable. Your dog does look a little nervous :)

Clothes - I actually have to stop buying clothes - we have so much! A lot of it is gifts, or things I've bought on sale over the last few months. So no more 6-12/9-12 month stuff. Shirsty, we do probably 50/50 onesies/t-shirts - I've seen lots of snap onesies for 12-months-plus at Target, actually, you might want to check there.

Sippy - I give up. I'm trying to teach Mel to drink from a regular cup. She does fine if I hold it, and seems to like it better than the sippy.

Push toy - keep those recommendations coming, I definitely want to buy one! The leapfrog one looks pretty cool.

Teeth - still nothing on top, but lots of drool the last few days. I would be happy if they held off - I think the arrival of teeth is going to mean the end of nursing, which will make me sad.

Mel had her last swimming lesson on Sunday - she got a cute little certificate. I think she wants a doll toy - she was totally obsessed with the doll that the teacher uses to demonstrate stuff. I think we'll take a break from swimming and maybe do a gymboree class this fall. Any thoughts on gymboree?

[krbb]

Pulling to Standing - I think it was about 3 weeks after he started crawling he started successfully pulling himself up. Though he was trying for awhile. Poor thing would go so frustrated that he couldn't! Then it was about 2 weeks after that when he started cruising.

Clothes - Oliver is pretty much all set for fall. I have some stuff that was my nephew's. I bought some stuff last spring when the winter items were on sale. I want to get him some long sleeved rompers and he needs more pj's. He is currently wearing 12 months and most of his stuff for the fall is 12-18. I plan on keeping him in onesis, but more for an extra layer. I also bought him some long sleeved onesies to wear underneath his short sleaved shirts.

rachrich - I have both the straw nubby and the one you got. I like the straw one because DS can use it himself, he doesn't have to tip it to get water out of it.

push toys - I want to get one for Oliver. Not sure which one. I really want this one, but it is $120!

http://www.oompa.com/mas_assets/full/HA1646.jpg

helen22 - They are opening a new Gymboree by me and I was thinking of trying on of their classes. Either that or Kindermusik.

[shirsty]

clothes I have bought a few things over the past week, a couple long-sleeve shirt/onesies with matching pants for daycare. I am always living in fear everyday that Sam is too cold/warm at daycare, I feel like he is never dressed right!!! :rolleyes: Children's Place has nice cotton long-sleeve sleepers in bigger sizes for those who haven't checked them out. I also like the long-sleeve sleep sets from Old Navy, got one as a gift last year I haven't seen them in the stores yet this year though

push toy KRBB that looks like a totally awesome push toy! At 120 bucks it's a little out of my budget too ;) I have actually bought quite a few toys 2nd hand, it makes me feel better since he may not even play with it very long. I have found many things that are like-new and available in Target, etc. right now. As long as they can be cleaned I am all for saving a couple $ on toys. I found a Leapfrog learning table for $14, totally clean and fully functional.

sippy count us among the sippy strugglers. Helen22 Sam does fine drinking from a regular cup so I have thought why bother with a sippy? But he's going to be switching daycares soon and will need to use one there, so we will soldier on. He can drink from a Nuby but can't tilt it back yet, I figure he'll get there eventually. He is not into the ones with the handles, it's like they're too distracting or something he just wants to play with them.

Teeth #3 on the top has broken through and #4 next door is not far behind. These 2 are SO MUCH easier than the first 2, it almost seems like Sam doesn't even notice. We are still nursing though and BOY those top teeth hurt compared to the bottom two! :(

[fwgirl]

Hi ladies.

fall clothes. We have a few things, but like most of you I have some serious shopping to do. I'm picking up a few things here and there. Do any of you have fall/winter coats for your little ones? I think we'll need one, but I'm not sure what to get. What have you done?

push toy. I picked up a Parents Magazine Around the Block Wagon at Costco earlier this week. I love it! It's so sturdy and comes with blocks which DD loves. I would highly recommend it! I don't normally post pictures, but here is DD playing with it. (I'll probably take it down in a few days.)

edited to remove picture

halloween. I ordered the pink octopus costume from Babystyle for DD yesterday. I can't wait for it to arrive. It looks so cute!

birthday madness. Even though it's months away I've started thinking about DD's 1st birthday...just like many of you. We went to a really fun and adorable party on Sunday and that got me thinking. Now I've got lots of ideas running through my head and the bday thread here is full of good stuff too. Mainly I'm thinking of invites. How early before the party do you plan to send them? What will your RSVP time line look like? Also, I found some that I love on inababycarriage.com. They are more than I thought I wanted to spend, but I love them! For those of you that used Amber for you baby announcements were you happy you did? I didn't since we had so many to send, but I'm thinking that they would make a great 1st bday invite and keepsake. Thoughts? Thanks!

[doubleR]

hi moms. I can't believe I haven't been on here in so long, wow!

here is a weak attempt to catch up...

Janna, I cannot believe that Nathan is walking already :eek: amazing! that video was absolutlely adorable, thank you for sharing! and ITA with helen, your dog looks a little nervous, lol!

teeth he's got 6, 4 tops and 2 bottoms.

sippy cup the only one we have and have ever tried is an Avent naturally ~ got it at my shower, he seems to love it so I haven't bothered to play around. he can do it himself, but he prefers to be Mr. Lazy and have his mama hold it, he opens his mouth wide whenever he sees me with it... but we're working on that.

he's crawling all over the place, but still can't pull himself up, so no to any cruising, not yet...

shopping / fall clothes yup, this weekend. my poor little guy has pretty much outgrown all his pants and the weather has been really odd here - cold & rainy one day, sunny and 80 the next, so... it's time! I've picked up a few things here and there, but nothing much. also, winter coats, my FIL gave us a faux suede toggle coat last year that might work for some more dressy occassions - who knows, maybe he'll wear it all the time depending on the fit, etc. I'm not sure how warm and/or practical it is, but it's cute. ANYWAY - I just found out today that LL Bean carries baby clothes and I saw that on their sale site, they have fleeces, vests, even down jackets. I'm thinking b/c of the whole car seat factor and not wanting too much bulk in order to strap him in tight, I might go with a heavier, warm fleece and then once he's out of the seat, quickly add another layer (maybe a vest) on super cold days? I don't know, I mean, I don't see having him out too much (or for too long anyway) in the real cold weather. I'm curious to see what others are doing too, sorry for the long-winded response!

push toys something else we need. fwgirl, I love that parent's magazine one... and what a little cutie your DD is :D

let's see, what else? we had our 9 month check up earlier this week. Brady weighed in at 23.2 pounds and is 29 3/4 inches long. my little big boy! he's moving up to the Infant 2 room in his daycare next week :( I'm sure it will all be fine, but I just feel like it's all going so fast. I'm definitely excited for what's to come so it's a bag of mixed emotions, but I can't help but get a little teary-eyed knowing he's moving up in "school" ;) already! I've really grown to feel so comfortable with his 2 teachers now, so I just hope that we'll have that same experience in the new room.

also, in the next 6 weeks or so I'll be making a gradual transition to go back to work FT, which you can read as a big fat BOO-HOO! our mortgage has gone up several hundred dollars a month due to taxes and it's tight as it is now. what really blows is that we won't really be getting ahead any by me going back FT, we'll still be cutting it close... I think anyway, I don't really know, DH is way more stressed about it than I am, but he's the better saver, I'm the better spender, that's just the way it has always been and will always be :rolleyes: my parents, as awesome as they are, are treating us to a trip to florida in october, to visit my grandparents. we're all going actually... my mom called me up at work one day, said she was on jetblue.com, was getting tickets for her and my dad, would we want to go... their treat. so, that was pretty much THE BEST news I had gotten in a while :) of course we want to go!!!!! it's just a long weekend, but I am so looking forward to it and I'm sure it will be wonderful.

so that's pretty much it, not too much new over here... just keeping up with the adventures of Brady, it's always something!

I hope everyone is doing well and I'll try to check in a little more regularly! we've just been bizzz-e. trying to enjoy the last days of summer.

will be back soon, ciao!

[snoopy30]

Hi ladies!

Great ideas for push toys...fwgirlthe one you have is so cute! as is your DD ;) I was at a friend's house yesterday and Spencer tried her son's push toy. He wasn't sure what to do really but I'm sure if he had one he would figure it out. We've put up the exersaucer and the jumperoo, he's just not interested anymore. Now he just plays on the floor or w/ his LeapFrog toy.

inababycarriage-I got my announcements from Amber and *loved* them. I would definitely recommend using her. I love the b-day invites too. We won't be sending that many so I'm thinking I might use Amber again.

Not much going on around here. Spencer is busy busy!! Pulling up on everything and following me around all over the place! Anyone else's babies follow them? If I walk away from him he crawls right after me.

We're going to my parents' for the weekend so I'm excited to see them and have more sets of hands to help with Spencer ;)

Have a great Labor Day everyone!!

[helen22]

Snoopy, Mel follows me everywhere too! It's so funny. I want to pack up the exersaucer too, it's so huge and taking up so much space - but what do you do with the baby when you have to go to the bathroom or take a shower? the exersaucer is a lifesaver for me then. Any advice? DH is mostly around when I take a shower, but sometimes he travels so I don't know what my strategy would be...

winter coats - we have several coats/fleeces (see, I can't do any more shopping!!), and we also have an all-in-one polartec snowsuit that I think Mel will still fit into for at least the beginning of winter. Plus we have several hats that people gave us as gifts that were gigantic last winter. One has bunny ears. Poor baby, I am going to take a million pictures of her in that one :D
doubleR, two of my friends put their babies in the "sherpa fleece coverall/bunting" from LL Bean last winter and loved it.

Another clothing tip someone gave me - I have been frustrated that Mel is only just growing into some rompers and shoes, and she can't wear them now because they don't have any grip-y things on the feet - on our hardwood floors she just slips around when she climbs/stands/cruises. So my friend suggested putting puffy paint on the soles - genius! I just hate for those things to go to waste. So we'll see how that works.

[first-time mom]

Does anyone have the a video monitor? I am looking into buying one and I dont know what brand to go with. Safety 1st or Summer Infant. There are good and bad reviews on both. Just wanted to check in and ask if anyone has either. I am moving Kaylin to her own room AGAIN!! I think it will work this time she sleeps in her crib now all through the night. NOT in my bed anymore:) Let me know if you know about the video monitors thanks:)

[Bliss]

Video monitor- a few moms on another board I post on have given really good reviews to this video monitor http://www.healthchecksystems.com/svat_baby_video_monitor.htm#gx5010. I ordered it today since Dylan is really starting to move all around in his crib, so I want to keep an eye on him :) I will let you know how it is! I have also heard that the Summer ones are good. This one was a little more $$ but I read that it had better reception, and you can hook 2 cameras up to it. So whenever we have #2 we will not need to buy another whole system, just another camera. I dont know if the summer ones have that option.

[Sebski]

deleted

[abbytfox]

WBV We went to Elliott's WBV on Wednesday and it was pretty good. No shots and he didn't even need an anemia test which made me happy (I hate that he is getting stuck with a needle everytime we go to the doc...don't you?) He was 50% for weight at 20 lbs 15.5 oz and 95% for height at 30 and 1/4 inches! He is a tall boy! The doctor doesn't seem concerned at all that he isn't scooting, crawling or pulling himself up on the furniture. It was wierd that he asked me if he was doing all those things and then when I said "No, No, No" his comment was "Well, that's ok." I felt like he obviously should be doing those things or else the doc wouldn't have asked me. Needless to say I am just going to relax and try to enjoy Elliott's sitting phase! Oh and Lindzee I asked AGAIN about the penis thing and he reassured me (yes, again!) that it is normal and will look fine and be perfect when Elliott is older. Ok, I will now stop the obession with my son's penis!

Now I have a sleep question...
We have been having the worst time with sleeping in our house and I am just at my wits end with it. My stress level is through the roof and everytime he wakes up crying it just gets worse. Basically, we agree with/follow Weissbluths theories (Mainly that sleep begets sleep and having a set routine and bedtime helps babies to get the rest they need. Also that bedtime should be earlier, not later, to encourage later waking) Elliott recently transitioned to 2 naps and usually gets 3+ hours of daytime sleep a day. Until recently he was sleeping from 6:30-6ish everyday and having no disruptive night wakings (he didn't have a nighttime feeding and could soothe himself back to sleep within a couple minutes if he woke up). About 3 weeks ago everything seemed to change. He was having a consistent 4:30-5 wake up (chatting/crying/playing in his crib) and eventually because we didn't go to him he would go back to sleep until about 6:30. But he was doing this EVERYDAY. I took the advice of a fellow CC momma and started putting him down a bit earlier (around 6) and things were a little better. Now for the past 2 nights he has had terrible sleep. Last night he was up at 1, 3 and 6. I went to him at 3 and he ate an 8 oz bottle. He slept until 5 and then cried/chatted for 30-45 mins when he fell asleep until 6:30. His naps were wacky and he only got a little over 2 hours of daytime sleep. Tonight he was exhausted by bedtime and went down without a fuss. Since 6 he has woken up 5 times crying for short periods of time! Both DH and I do not know what to do next. I don't know who to ask for advice. My ped recommended pushing bedtime back to 7:30-8 and I just know that is the wrong thing to do. He can barely make it to 6! How is keeping him up supposed to help him. He will be a miserable mess by the time he makes it to bed. So now I am asking you ladies. HELP, please. Can you help us figure out what our next step is? How can we help Elliott get the rest he needs when he is having so many disruptive night wakings? I have had the thought that it is teething (but we gave him Tylenol as a pain reliever before bed, just in case), it could be separation anxiety (but he went down without a struggle and I would think it would start then)...any thoughts? Thanks so much! (FYI, since writing this he has woken up 3 times! Please HELP!)

[shirsty]

Abby that is so tough, sorry you are still struggling with sleep. I can't remember what your feelings are about CIO. Sam was beginning to fight sleep more and more (instant super freakout as soon as we'd put him in his crib) so 2 weeks ago we did some CIO. I know E is going to bed OK, my point of telling you this is that Sam has had fewer wakings at night since we've done this. I know CIO is not for everyone, and I have not been comfortable with it up until now (10+ months), but it has worked pretty well for us. If he wakes up he is better able to put himself back to sleep. I think E could be having SA even if he goes down OK initially. Sorry I don't have more ideas, hopefully it will work itself out for you soon!

[abbytfox]

shirsty Thanks for your ideas and support. We have done a modified CIO (started at 5.5 months) and continue to do it when he needs help remembering. Basically, we do our little routine (bath, pjs, bottle/rocking, bed) and then leave. He usually goes to bed with little to no arguing (and if he does fuss I just think of it as him settling himself) and does the same if he wakes in the night. That is why this is so strange. I will say that I am more and more convinced that he is getting his molars or is under the weather. Today he has a mega-runny nose, watery eyes and is tugging at his ears and rubbing his eyes/nose like crazy. In our house I am pretty sure that is teething...however, we have never had it disrupt sleep *THIS* much. Normally, he is just clingy, a little more fussy than usual, and has a harder time falling asleep, but not staying asleep. I am just SO done with it. I will keep you posted on our progress (or lack, thereof!)

[Lindzee82]

Abby - Isn't it so frustrating about the penis!!!??? I guess we just gotta trust our docs. Regarding your sleeping issues. Could it possibly be a growth spurt? Matthew was doing sooo good with his sleeping. He was only waking up once. He would go down at about 7:30, get up between 4 and 5, and go back down until 7. Well, for four nights in a row he got up every 2 hours and was up for the day at 5:30am. It was awful. Yesterday, though, Eric was feeding him his dinner and after eating the whole stage 2 container of squash, he was still opening his mouth for more. So we gave him another container. He gobbled that down, too. He then nursed before bed and he slept from 7pm until 4am got up and ate and went back down until 7. Depending on how tonight goes, we are thinking that our problem was a growth spurt. Maybe Elliott is going through one, too, since him and Matthew are just about the same age. I really hope that things get better for you. Hugs!

[snoopy30]

Hi ladies! Hope everyone had a nice weekend. We visited my parents which was fun. It was nice to have more people around to entertain Spencer! He *loved* all the attention of course :) He did come down with either a cold or is teething (top teeth). He has a runny nose and is sneezing alot. He didn't get like this w/ the first two teeth so I'm not sure. He seems warm at times too but I haven't taken his temp. He slept fine last night and is napping now so we'll see. He's acting normal just occasional fussiness.

abby-So sorry about the sleep issues. That is no fun!! We agree too that sleep begets sleep so it's never a good sign when naps don't go well. I think though that around this age teething and separation anxiety can be to blame for alot of sleep troubles. I think that babies wake up sometimes in the night and wonder "where is mommy?" so they cry out for you. Around here though we let Spencer fuss for a while before going into his room (unless of course it's a cry that is unusual or sounds like something is wrong). It seems to work but certainly all babies are unique. Does Elliot (love that name by the way) eat regularly in the middle of the night? If not then maybe try not feeding him when he wakes up. I know they learn quickly that's a way to get food! I'm sure this will pass but in the meantime I know it's really stressful and tiring!!

helen - When I go to the bathroom I've been taking Spencer w/ me :rolleyes: I bring him a toy and he plays on the floor until I'm done. I shower during his morning nap usually so that's how I've solved that dilemma. I used to shower at night after DH came home but that just didn't work as well.

[abbytfox]

lindz Hmmm...could be a growth spurt. E has been eating a TON and the night he woke up at 1 and 3 I fed him an 8 oz bottle (and he doesn't have night feedings anymore!) A growth spurt could definitely account for all the eating, but I guess I would think he would be dead tired and sleeping a ton (not less) if that was it. You never know though. Thank goodness last night was SO much better. He went down super easy at 6:10 and slept until 6. That is pretty perfect in my book! Times like these make it easy to deal with the tricky times. Hope sleep is going better in your house.

snoopy
I think though that around this age teething and separation anxiety can be to blame for alot of sleep troubles. I think that babies wake up sometimes in the night and wonder "where is mommy?" so they cry out for you. Totally agree and definitely think that could have something to do with it. We absolutely let Elliott fuss if he wakes in the night and he has been off nighttime feedings since about 5 months (isn't it amazing that I literally can't remember when he stopped eating in the night? It wasn't THAT long ago!) So waking the other night and downing an 8 oz bottle was really wierd for him. Also, we believe that not going to him will have an extinction effect (he eventually will figure out that crying doesn't get him anything and so he would stop waking up in the middle of the night). However, after 2 weeks it seemed he wasn't getting it and I was beginning to get really drained (as evidenced by my previous post!). Then, sleep last night was miraculously better and I am thankful for it. Hopefully tonight will be more of the same! We have the same runny nose and sneezing going on here! I am totally blaming it on teething.

winter coats Well, we live in Northern CA and it does get cold (but not by you East Coaster and Midwest standards!) I actually bought Elliott his winter coat at Gymboree when he was probably a month old. Someone had returned it and it was on sale for something like $9.99 from $40.00, or something crazy like that. Anyway, it looked HUGE at the time, but it is cute, red and quilted, but not puffy. It should be perfect for our winters (it gets down to the 30's and 40's). Now I just need to get him a hat because it doesn't have a hood.

helen That "what do you do with the baby" question is my eternal dilemma. I am just thankful that I can count on a morning nap because I literally don't know what I would do with Elliott. For the longest time, he would hang out in his bouncy seat (just until maybe a month ago) and now he still fits in it, but tries to climb out and I get scared he'll fall out and crack his head on the bathroom tile. I have thought of bringing the highchair upstairs if I need to. That is probably the only place he would stay (happily) for more than a few minutes. Also, some people have suggested the PNP, but Elliott wouldn't stand for that for even a second. Have you come up with anything that works for you? Speaking of that...

Off to shower!

[helen22]

abby, I feel like we are having a lot of the same issues with sleep! melanie has done a lot more night waking lately. we try to be consistent with the weissbluth/ferber sleep methods - we are too wimpy for total extinction, but we go in when she fusses in the early evening at gradually increasing intervals, and do the same thing for her night wakings. but - why does she keep having so many night wakings??? I don't know what to blame. my theories have been:
- teething. but how could teething go on for so long?
- growth spurt. ditto - why isn't it improving?
- needs to eat more. well, maybe. we are trying to give her bigger meals. but I'm not convinced.
- trying out new skills. she now ALWAYS stands up when she wakes up, and I thought for a while she didn't know how to get back down. but now I've seen her get back down, so don't think that's it.
- sharing our room. I thought this might be it - because she sees us and doesn't want to go back to sleep when we might play with her - but it sounds like you are having some similar problems without sharing a room, so not sure we can blame that.

Anyway, keep me posted on this - definitely want to know what works for you!

and as for what to do with baby when showering...still not sure what the answer is, but can't pack up the exersaucer - it's the only thing that works! I also sometimes use the bumbo, either in the kitchen or the bathroom, when I need her to sit still while I do stuff. I am too scared to even set her on the floor in the bathroom for a minute because there is so much in there for her to get into, and she is so fast! plus now she climbs up walls, including wall-like objects like the vanity for the sink, and if she tipped over and hit her head on our extremely solid porceilan tub - oy.

[Orion]

Hi All:

Just wanted to pop in to drop off my ultrasound picture! This is from 11 weeks and he/she is just adorable, in my opinion!

http://static.flickr.com/89/235223224_42f7f8b299_m.jpg

Sophie is doing just wonderful. I hate to say this when some of you are having sleep issues but Sophie has started to sleep through the whole night. I am loving it!

[Lindzee82]

Orion - Aww, thanks so much for sharing! Your new little baby is so cute!

[snoopy30]

Orion-What a beautiful ultrasound. Thank you for sharing :) When I was pg I was so amazed at how much the baby had developed by 11/12 weeks compared to 7 weeks. Pregnancy is truly a miracle!

Doing fine here. I guess S did have a cold b/c now I have a bit of one :rolleyes: Although...I do see some of his top teeth trying to break through so that may explain some of his fussiness and clinginess lately too.
I'm going to a baby sign language class tonight...anyone doing that?

The weather here is *finally* cooling off so we've been taking walks and going to the park lately. I'm soooo ready for fall!!

Hope mommies and babies are doing well today!!

[sem426]

Does anyone else's kid have no interest in putting FOOD in their mouth?? DD will pick up everything we put on her tray, but won't put it in her mouth! I mean she puts EVERYTHING else in her mouth, but not food. What's wrong w/this kid!!!?? she'd rather eat the remote control than her lunch:rolleyes:

sippy we're still trying to get the hang of it. she will chew, gnaw etc on the cup, but still won't drink from it. we've tried the avent and nuby cups. both with the same result. i tilt her back and show her that if she sucks on it, she will get the water out, but then she has no interest in doing it herself.

*sigh* i guess she'll "get it" eventually!

food allergies unfortunately, DD tested + for a few food allergies. it came as a shock to me since we have no food allergies in our family, but we are trying to adjust to it. she was + for egg whites and peanuts, and slightly + to soy. it's so bizarre since she's never had eggs or any nuts and really only had things w/soybean oil (which the allergist said was ok for her to eat since she tested very low). i've been doing major research on the internet and feel very informed now. it's totally made me search my panty and really read what ingredients are in things. eating out is going to be a challenge, but we will manage. we are hopeful that she will outgrow the allergies (it is common) so if we eliminate the foods now, she will have a good chance.
she will be retested at her 1yr appt as well as monitored for the next couple of years when she will be tested for environmental allergies as well.

[Lindzee82]

sem - So sorry to hear about the allergies. Poor girl. Was it just routine testing? Or why did they decide to test her? That is great that you have been so proactive with researching on the internet. You are such a good mom! That is crazy that she is allergic when there is no family history of food allergies. I guess we all have to be really careful even if we think we are in the clear.

[Bliss]

Sem, Dylan was like that too w. food for a while. I would put puffs on his highchair tray and they would end up on the floor, in his diaper, in the chair folds, everywhere but his mouth lol. Then one day he got it, put it to his mouth, and that was it. Its so funny watching him eat cheerios (his fave) since he basically shoves his whole hand in there to get the food in. My boy is so funny, he is so good at learning anything having to do w. eating. Now crawling, forget it, he is still going backwards w. no sign of forward movement. DH and I keep joking that if there was a food incentive for crawling, he would be past crawling and walking by now LOL. I guess they just learn these things in their own time. I hope things are OK w. the food allergies, I am allergic to shellfish so I am worried about Dylan, but my ped doesnt seem concerned and says most young babies outgrow allergies. When you think about it, they didnt test us when we were young for these things, makes me wonder how much we "shouldnt have" eaten. I was curious as to why they did the testing too.

Showering I take my shower when D is napping. If I cannot do it then for whatever reason, I put his toys on the floor in my room and he plays on the floor while I jump in a quick shower. He likes to sit up and play, and I surround him w. pillows in case he tips over.

Moms of boys Yes, another penis question :) Dylan has "discovered" his...especially when I am changing his diaper, his hands are all in there :P I have noticed that the area around his circ is a little red...I am wondering if its irritated b/c he keeps putting his hands down there, or if I should call the ped. I asked DH if he thought D was hurting himself, and he was like, "no that does not hurt" while smirking. I dont know how I will handle all this boy stuff :)

jerky movements Anyone elses kid do this? Dylan has a tendency to move his head like he is nodding yes, but it looks a little jerky. He also loves to throw himself backwards in his highchair-I think its when he wants to get out but DH seems concerned and does not know if the movements are voluntary. I am thinking he is learning to control his muscels, but figured I would see if this is at all common.

Ah, I thought we were almost past separation anxiety and it reared its ugly head again today at my parents. Although he got more comfortable quicker, so that is progress. He is such a wiggle worm now even when I hold him, he just wants to climb me like a jungle gym and then go on the floor. But try explaining that to a grandma who wants to hold him all day long :)

[ktdelsur]

Hey girls, quickie question...

sem: How did you get them to test for allergies? My pediatrician told me they won't test this young! My brother had LOTS of allergies, but I really didn't have any until I was older (just shellfish)...

[sem426]

allergy DD had some bad ezcema for a while, which thankfully went away after we saw a derm, so the ped decided to test for allergies at her 9 mos ppt. i guess it's good that they did since she came back positive for a few. i've heard that testing uder a year old can be inaccurate, but the allergist we saw didn't seem to think there was a mistake in the blood test they did. DD will be retested periodically to see if anything changes.

we are hoping she will grow out of them by eliminating them from her diet. i guess she won't miss most of the foods since she's never had them before anyway!

bliss DD is also a backwards crawler still. she turns in circles like a champ also, but no real forward motion. at least it makes it easier to keep her in one place for now!

[rachrich]

Hello ladies! It's been super crazy around my house and I'm trying to catch up reading everyone's post.
Orion- your ultrasound picture is just so cute! What a perfect picture!

milestones- Well olivia is sitting up just great and i couldn't be happier about it. She keeps working on the crawling thing, but doesn't quite have it it figured out yet. She's also turning pages when I read to her. It's the coolest thing-don't know if it's a "milestone" but it is to me! I'll read and say "turn page" and she'll grab it and move it herself. She only does this with cardboard books for the ease of grabbing the pages. Does anyone else's DC do this? I find it SO adorable!
sippy- i think we've found the one. Nuby's work great for us. It seems that if the nipple part is squeezed fluid seems to come out. And because Olivia chews at them she gets the juice/water just well. She doesn't understad about tipping it back so we still help her with that, and of course the openings are much bigger than her bottles so she gets it all over her. but they are more successful thatn the playtex cups so I got 2 more Nuby's at WM today. I'm wondering if I should try putting her formula in a cup...or is it still to early for that?

[abbytfox]

Quick post to report that tonight Elliott started army crawling! I feel like we have been waiting forever so this is a major accomplishment for us. I'll be back tomorrow during naptime to respond and catch up but I wanted to share. SO EXCITED!

[helen22]

yay for all the milestones around here! anyone else get sentimental about them? I'm always so proud, but think at the same time - oh, where did my little baby go!

my parents have been here for the past week which was so great. I loved seeing them with Mel. the only frustrating thing is that they are not as vigilant as DH and I are - like they want to just sit and watch from the couch while she plays. that was fine a few months ago, but now Mel pulls up constantly, climbs on everything, and cruises from one thing to another - and her confidence definitely outstrips her skills. so, when DH and I returned from our weekend away - we went to a wedding - we found our poor baby with a bruise! I know this is going to happen as she gets bigger and more mobile, but still - it was v upsetting :( :(

allergies - I'm definitely going to ask our ped about this at our appt this Friday. DH and I don't have allergies, but DH had v bad asthma as a child, and I am super paranoid that Mel will have it or other allergies. I didn't realize they could do tests so young, that's v cool.

Sem, I'm in the same boat with finger foods - Mel will put everything in her mouth, but not food! She will even put her toys in her mouth and then crawl/cruise around carrying them which is just too hilarious. If we had a dog I'd think she was imitating him!

Orion, amazing picture! You must be so excited.

Pro portraits - we had a photographer friend come over to Bklyn yesterday and do some pictures of our family - really really hoping some of them turn out well! We took pictures down on the promenade with the Manhattan skyline - kind of a sad time of year to do it, but my parents aren't planning on coming back for a while, so we thought we should go ahead.

Sleep problems - yes, still having them! last night poor baby was totally miserable - she either has a cold and/or has her top teeth coming through - she was so congested plus her gums were swollen. However, we had a few nights last week of glorious sleep - shh, don't tell Dr Weissbluth, but we put a couple of extra pacis in the crib for Mel to find in the night. It seemed to work! :o

[abbytfox]

rachrich Yay for sitting up! Don't you feel so relieved? I have that exact same feeling about the crawling. I had kind of resigned myself to thinking that he just wasn't going to do it and then...he did it! Once he did, I realized that I was really wanting him to get there even though I had conviced myself it was ok. Also, so cute about the reading! Elliott does it too, but sometimes it turns into eating the book. He'll turn the page and realize that he has something to chew on in his hands and then grab the book and chew on it. Pretty funny!

allergies - Sem so sorry to hear about the allergies. My ped hasn't said anything about testing Elliott and thank goodness we haven't had any problems yet. DH and I don't have any allergies, but my grandmother was allergic to EVERYTHING, even chocolate! Yikes. I hope that your DD grows out of them!

Finger foods - For a long time Elliott would pick up the cheerios and look at them and then just throw them on the floor. It was hilarious because everything else went directly into his mouth. I mean, he has been wearing a bib since the second he came out (ok, well not exactly, but it seems like that!) Recently, maybe in the last 2 weeks, he really has gotten into finger foods. He picks them up with his whole fist (none of this neat pincer grasp over here) and shoves the food into his mouth. THen other times he leans forward and just wants me to feed him the little pieces. Kind of like a dog. It cracks me and DH up!

Orion- What a beautiful u/s! I can remember vividly what it was like to see Elliott on the screen for the first time. How exciting for you and your family! When are you going to tell Sophie? Do you think she will "get" it?

Sleep problems - I think that it must be teething that is causing all of us to have sleep problems. Also, don't you guys feel like our babies are changing into big kiddos everyday? I truly believe that with that much going on in their little brains they have a hard time sleeping and focusing on staying asleep. I feel like it is when I was planning my wedding or getting ready for the baby...your mind is going a mile a minute and it is hard to sleep. Maybe I'm crazy, but I think that is part of what is going on with E. Who knows? I have realized that the minute we think we have it all figured out, he changes. Keeps me on my toes, that's for sure!

sippy Urgh. Elliott will not drink from the sippy. Around 6 months when he was still nursing he would drink his occassional formula from the Nuby sippy, but when he weaned and started on formula all the time, he started refusing the sippy. I mean literally one day he was fine, and the next he drank 1 oz from it and started crying. I switched to the bottle and he drank the rest. He will sometimes take a sip of water from the sippy if I hold it but otherwise it is just like the rest of you are saying...he just wants to eat the cup and chew on the spout. I am starting to dread the transition to sippy cup full time at 1 year. I hope that it goes smoothly and he is ready at that time.

helen22 I know exactly what you mean about parents not being as vigilant as you are. My dad will just hang out on the couch while Elliott plays and so far it has been fine, but now that he is getting more mobile it may be a problem. Hopefully, he will see that he needs to be a little more involved. Last time we were at their house he was playing with him while sitting up on the couch...so that is a help! Hope your photos are what you want. It is so great to capture them at every stage. I totally get sentimental about E growing up so fast and changing so fast. I constantly have a happy/sad feeling about him. I just can't believe what a big boy he is becoming right in front of my eyes!

[Orion]

Hi Ladies:

I am going crazy right now. My beautiful, well mannered little angel has turned into a screaming, crying, un-happy girl. She is 9 months old today and she is teething. She has never really cried too much before now she is fussy all the time and just unhappy. A lot is going on in her little life right now...getting her top teeth in, had to stop breastfeeding and now she is on formula full time and I think that she is going through a growth spurt. Please tell me my angel will return and that I'm not a bad mommy and that she is just fussy do to the teething and growth spurt. My emotions are all over the place right now with the pregnancy and I just can't handle her crying and fussy all the time. Is it true that getting the top teeth is so much worse than the bottoms. When her bottoms came in she was fussy for a day or two but that was it. Do you think that her attitude could have changed because she is on formula and not breastmilk (I should mention that the weaning was led by Sophie and not me...she just didn't want it anymore)? I need some reassurance that she still loves me and that I'm a good Mom! I am so happy that I have a place to vent my emotional, pregnant feelings!

Cheers,
Jess

[snoopy30]

Afternoon ladies!

rachrich-Hooray for Olivia sitting! Babies just seem to do things when they want to no matter how much we try and encourage them! Spencer knows to "turn the page" of his books when we say that too...so cute!

Orion-So sorry you're frustrated. No you're not a bad mommy! Spencer is cutting some top teeth too and yesterday he was soooo cranky! It can really wear you out. I think teething plus their age- i.e. they know they can get things now if they fuss and they're more attached to us- makes them go through these days/weeks when they don't seem happy :( I don't know why growth spurts make them fussy but everyone agrees on that one. Is there a big one at 9 months b/c Spencer is eating like a little piggy lately!! I bet the Sophie you long for will return soon...is there any way you get can a break and get out of the house alone? That can be tough I know.

growing up-I just can't believe either how fast this is happening. Spencer is such a little boy now! I love seeing him become more aware of things but I just can't fathom that he'll be a toddler in a few short months :eek: Where did my baby go?? I guess this is why you have more ;)

[doubleR]

hi ladies. I'm so out of the loop at this point, but just wanted to say hello and catch up since I read up on what's been going on with all the beautiful babies in here :) life has been so insanely busy, as you can all relate I'm sure!

Orion hang in there, I know we had a few days, maybe even a week where brady was really fussy and was kinda yelling out, doing this high pitched piercing scream at me... yeah, fun, right? I thought my sweet little guy had vanished, but he returned ;) not sure what it was, maybe teething, but... hopefully sophie is going thru something similar and it only lasts a few days. loved the picture of your u/s, congrats again!!!

growing up oh god yes. I look at brady now and think he looks more like a little boy than a baby, it is *crazy* to think that we'll all be celebrating first birthdays really really soon - too soon if you ask me!

sleep problems ouch, sorry! we've had some weird nights and disruptions here and there, but nothing too bad (KNOCKING ON WOOD FURIOUSLY OVER HERE!!!!!!!). it seems like whenever I talk about sleep, I jinx myself. abbytfox, I definitely agree with what you posted... I think I even read in some sleep book or magazine article at some point along the way how when they're trying to sleep it's the only time they have to process everything that they're doing and learning in their busy day, so as quickly as they can fall into a deep sleep, they can suddenly come out of it, trying out or thinking about some of their new skills and/or just busy days. now how about that for a run-on sentence?

helen oh, I'm jealous, your photo shoot with the manhattan skyline in the background sounds fabulous. I think it's great that you were able to do something nice in NYC during such a profoundly sad time...

finger foods it's funny b/c for the size of him, you'd think he'd be eating steaks at this point. he's finally getting a few cheerios into his mouth. and what I've noticed is that he's way more interested in bigger things that he can kind of gnaw on, maybe b/c he's teething, again :rolleyes: example - tiny cut up pieces of whatever end up becoming a messy game, but a half of a bagel, just broken into 2 big pieces that he can chew on and bite is a big hit. I've also done strips of a waffle and toast with melted cheese.

stage 3 foods is my guy the only one who totally gags on these? he loves the plain veggies and the fruits, but as far as the ones with noodles and/or chunks, they're coming right back up... I even tried mac & cheese thinking who doesn't like mac & cheese, but... nope, didn't like it, gagged and had I given him 1 more bite, I'm sure it would've gotten ugly. so I'm resorting to either 2 jars of stage 2 and/or 1 stage 2 and a side container of fruit or a veggie. sometimes I even will give him yogurt number 2 for the day - which, i don't like to do and i should probably check with the ped. about this... can that be bad for him, too much yogurt? he gets 1 every morning (a yo baby), which i did run by the ped and he thought that was fine.

boys discovering themselves! brady hasn't yet, but i recently saw my nephew get a diaper change, he is now 13 months - well, he grabbed a hold of himself and pulled-pulled-pulled. to the point where it really looked like he was going to hurt himself... but my SIL said she had spoken to her doctor about it, with that same concern and the doctor basically said that boys rarely hurt themselves and that they all seem to learn quickly what hurts and what doesn't. so, i guess i'll go by that when the time comes? not really looking forward to that, diaper changes and getting him dressed are enough of a challenge as it is right now!

alright, well, i'm now distracted by all the 9/11 sadness on tv. i just have to say that i love my baby boy so freakin' much and today, such a sad, sad day, it was just so nice to have him to hug and squeeze and ok, smother with kisses. god, i love him.

hope all is well with everyone, it was great to read up and hear all that is going on. congrats on all the recent milestones to everyone.

[Orion]

Hi All:

Thanks for the support yesterday, as it was really needed. Today seems to be a better day for Sophie so here is hoping that my little angel is back. It is just so hard to see her in pain and so uncomfortable. Also, it didn't help that Sophie's aunt (who is here visiting for the next few days and who doesn't help clean up any of her mess...exactly what a new mom who is 14 weeks pregnant needs right now) dropped her about a 1/2 foot onto the hardwood floor yesterday...oh...did I mention that it was on her head! Exactly what a small baby needs when they are in pain from teething. I was just seething after that happened. I can understand that mistakes happen because honestly, who hasn't been the cause of a bump or bruise on their little one (I know that I am guilty of it!) but this happened after DH and I both told her how to properly hold a very squirmy baby. She was not happy that we felt the need to tell her how to hold a baby but we knew that 1) she doesn't have kids of her own and isn't around too many small babies and 2) we knew that the way she was holding Sophie was not a good way for Sophie because she is so squirmy. Needless to say, the day got worse before it got better because not only did her mouth hurt from teething, I am sure that she had a headache as well. But on a more positive note, she seems to be back to her happy smiling self today but she is giving her aunt a few dirty looks now and than! :p
I have a pregnancy question for you guys: I am going to be posting this over in the March Moms thread but I figured it would be best to ask here because we are all experienced with being pregnant. I am wondering if any of you experienced a pinched nerve feeling in your upper back while pregnant? It is located in what feels like my shoulder blade and the pain runs up my spine to my neck. The reason that I say it is a pinched nerve feeling is because I have taken motrin but to no avail. I've tried a heating pad which helps a little but during the night I am in so much pain that I am not sleeping at all. I should mention that this happened to me when I was pregnant with Sophie but it wasn't as severe as it is now. I have a ob appointment on Friday (where I will hear the heartbeat for the first time...yay!) so I am going to ask her about it but let me tell you, I am suffering right now!

On a more positive note (thanks for letting me vent all...I will be more positive from now on!) here is a recent photo of Sophie taken on Salt Spring Island a few weeks ago. As you can she my little girl is still as bald as her daddy!

http://static.flickr.com/95/241635626_08ec1a9710.jpg?v=0

She's my little hippy tree hugger! Takes after her Mommy!

[rachrich]

Orion- The whole pinched nerve feeling may be ciatic (sp?) nerve maybe.... I remember having a similar pain but lower in my back and someone was telling me it might be ciatic nerve, which is common in pregnant women, because of the strain on muscles from supporting a growing belly. I could be WAY wrong. Maybe the pain like you're having that is higher up the back is from a different source. It's def. a good idea to ask your OB especially since things you've tried aren't alleviating your pain. How long have you been having these pains? Hope you get feeling better soon.
That pic you posted is too cute!

[abbytfox]

Orion Sophie is adorable! I love bald babies...of course I love babies with hair now that Elliott has a gorgeous head of hair, but I do look back on his bald days very nostalgically. Love those blue, blue eyes. So pretty! I know I am late in chiming in on this, but I can say that I distinctly remember a time when I was so worried that my sweet baby was gone forever. He was getting his top teeth and was a total bear. He wouldn't let me put him down (at all!) and was so clingy and needy. Plus, it felt like he cried all.day.long. It was scary and exhausting and I can't imagine how it would have felt if I was pregnant. I will say that it was a long time (maybe 3 weeks) and then he completely changed back into his normal baby self again. I had some serious talks with myself during the teething time about how I needed to accept who he was and whoever he was was just fine, blah, blah, blah and I can say that when it passed and he was back to his old self I was SO thankful! Also, that is terrible that her aunt dropped her, but I'm glad that she seems to be okay now. Did your sister (or SIL) feel bad? I would be mortified if that happened in front of the parents of the baby. I hope you are feeling better today! Not sure what the pain could be...I also had sciatic nerve pain when I was preg, but it was radiating down my leg instead of up my back. I would call your doc and just check it out. Hope that it gets better soon!

doubleR With regard to foods...Elliott has had one episode of gagging on food that was too thick and it was so gross to watch it all come back up. Yuck! He actually likes to chew the pieces in foods though and is enjoying the 3's. He LOVES cottage cheese and sometimes when he won't eat anything I will give him cottage cheese 2x a day. I think it is fine to give yogurt more than once a day as long as you are giving Brady a variety of other foods too, which I am sure you're doing. I wouldn't be concerned, but obviously if you are just call and ask your doc. Sometimes it just makes me feel better to know I checked.

Pulling ears I have got to shower or I am going to miss my window of opportunity, but quick ?...is anyone having some serious ear pulling going on? I think E might be getting his molars and he doesn't have an ear infection (we went to the doc to check) but he is constantly pulling on his ears. It is hard to watch because it looks like he is so uncomfortable and just will do anything to make whatever is bothering him go away. I think its molars. Any ideas?

[Lindzee82]

Pulling Ears - Matthew pulls on his ears all.the.time! We have taken him to the doctors many a times thinking it had to be an ear infection. But nope, it wasn't. Maybe they are just learning that they have ears and want to play with them?

Baths - How often are you all bathing your children? I usually try and do Matthew every other night before bed. But, with us giving him more and more finger foods, meal time is getting to be quite messy. I would hate to send him to bed with peas in his hair! At this age, do we still have to worry about their sensitive skin or can I bathe him every night?

[krbb]

x-posted from LJ:

Oliver turned 9 months on Tuesday, goodness where did the time go? He had his 9 month WBV visit today. He did great eventhough it was during his nap time. We saw a different Dr than normal because his is on maternity leave. The Dr said he looked great and that he can eat most table foods. She said to wait on eggs until he is closer to a year. Pretty uneventful visit.

Here are his 9 month stats:

Weight: 22lbs2oz (75%)
Height: 29.25 in (75%)
Head: 18 in (50-75%)

So I am going to start giving more finger foods. I bought him some cheese, frozen mango cubes, beans, whole wheat couscous, whole wheat pasta, asparagus, and avocado to cube. I will offer a little with each meal.

Bath - Oliver gets a bath every night as part as his bed time routine. He has since he was a couple months old. He loves it and it really helps him relax. I know what you mean about finger foods and getting more messy. He had a teething biscuit yesterday and I think he got it everywhere but his mouth!

Top Teeth - Oliver is in the process of getting his top four teeth, I am not looking forward to those! They don't seem to be bothering him too too much. The Dr said that the top teeth usually bother them more than the bottom since the are larger. I think someone was asking about this before.

ear pulling - Ollie hasn't done that, but I know it can be a sign of teething. They may just like playing with their ears though too!

Naptime is over, gotta run!

[first-time mom]

ear pulling-Kaylin does this as well. I took her to the docs once b/c of it and it wasnt an ear infection. She doesnt have any teeth either so I think she just discovered her ears.

Baths-Kaylin gets one every night as a bedtime routine. I noticed if I dont give her one she goes to bed hard and doesnt sleep as sound.

[abbytfox]

baths We do one everynight before bed as part of our routine, not sure how soothing it is though...Elliott loves to splash and play in the water so we have a ton of energy during bathtime. Also, he has started to want to pull up on the ledge and even though I am right there it scares me. He also wants to eat the side of the tub and I am worried he is going to knock out his teeth. Goodness, am I a worry wart or what?! :rolleyes: I sometimes do a baby massage with lotion afterwards to keep his skin soft, but he seems to be pretty soft without it. lindz, I think the concern for their sensitive skin was mainly when they were teency tiny (wait, wasn't that just a minute ago?) I would say if you want to bathe M every night go for it!

ears Good to know others are doing it too. The doc mentioned that he may just want to play with his ears because they stick out and are fun to lay with, but for us I really don't think thats the case. He just looks uncomfortable when he's doing it, not curious like he would if he were playing and exploring. Oh well, at least he's "normal."

[Lindzee82]

Thanks for the input on the baths, girls. I think I will start making it an every night occurance. Matthew loves his tubby!

[Bliss]

baths- Dylan gets one every other night. He has finally graduated to his Primo bathtub, and loves it :) He splashes around like there is no tomorrow. Of course tonight he was reaching for a toy and put his face into the water-he sat up (or I pulled him up, I did it so fast) and he was sputtering and looking like what was THAT?? I got so upset, for about 4 seconds until he was bending over trying to do it AGAIN lol. My little daredevil. His new fave thing is for me to hang him over my shoulder upside down :) but I digress-I am thinking of making bathtime an every night thing soon too.

stage 3 foods- tried these again today, still a *yuck* face response. D can eat "real" foods no prob, but the stage 3 seems to throw him off for some reason. So we are sticking to stage 2 supplemented w. real food, like a stage 2 squash and some cut up pasta.

ear pulling- we have this too. Oh, and the new thing, hair pulling. On his own hair. Its like he just discovered that there is something on his head :)

Oh, and I have to share the best part of my week-on Monday Dylan said "Mama" :) :) He is saying it all the time now, it melts my heart. He knows it always makes me smile so he says it to get me to look at him :)
On that note, do your kids make weird noises to get your attention? Dylan added this horrid noise that sounds like he is gasping- it scares the hell outta me so of course I run over and he is laughing. That goofball. Now that he knows it works he did it ALL day today *sigh*. Good thing he threw in some "mama"s for good measure!

[abbytfox]

Bliss That is amazing that Dylan said "mama"! So exciting! Yes, Elliott is really into raspberries and he does this funny sound like a motor "uh-uh-uh-uh" Kind of in rapid succession. It is so funny! When I do it back to him he will repeat it and he thinks it is hilarious. He also is doing zerberts on my arms and he does have a wierd gasping kind of sound but it is more funny than scary. He is just babbling SO much more, I feel like real words are almost here! Enjoy hearing your name!

[Lindzee82]

Bliss - Awww, that is so sweet that Dylan is saying "mama." That must be so amazing. Matthew makes the sound, but I don't know if he associates it with me yet. He says it a lot when he is mad at me.

[helen22]

Bliss, that's so cute!! You must be so excited. Mel doesn't seem to have any associations for words yet, except when she's mad she says "nein nein nein!!" I guess her German is better than her English :)

[JRPAGV]

Sorry I've been MIA. I've been hanging around LJ a lot more than CC lately. Speaking of LJ, have any of you newbies started a LJ? If you have, I'm JRPAGV (http://jrpagv.livejournal.com/) over there if you want to friend each other. I just like to throw that out there every now and then. ;)

Baths: Nathan gets a bath every other day.

Attention-Getting Noises: Yep, Nathan makes all kinds of strange noises to get attention. He coughs, makes a sound like he's hyperventilating or somehting, and yells among other things.

Teething: It sucks.

Cups: Nathan has finally figured out how to use the Nuby straw cups! We like them a lot.

Bliss: Congrats on Dylan saying "Mama"!

Orion: Sorry about your back! I had all kinds of weird back pains while pregnant, and there wasn't much that I could do to make them better. I love that picture of Sophie! She's beautiful!

Nathan is walking all over the place now. He walks more than he crawls now. He's such a busy boy... it's hard to keep up with him these days! He acts more like a toddler than a baby (including his attitude!). I asked the doctor if it's normal to have such frequent temper tantrums this early, and he said for some babies it is. The good news is that babies who begin throwing tantrums early are more likely to *stop* having them earlier! I hope that's true.

Oh, there's some new videos of Nathan if anyone cares to watch them: http://www.dropshots.com/nathanv

[JRPAGV]

NEW QUESTIONS-

For those of you who formula feed, how many ounces of formula are you giving your baby per day now (day meaning from when he/she wakes up until bedtime)?


Does your baby mind when you try to wipe his/her face clean? Nathan freaks out when we try to wipe his face. Just wondering if he's the only one.


Does teething make your baby want to eat less sometimes (solids and milk/formula)? I've noticed that Nathan's appetite isn't what it was a few days ago.


Do any of you own the Brainy Baby Right Brain or Left Brain DVDs? I'm thinking about getting one or both for Nathan.


Nathan has become *so* difficult whe it's time to change his diaper. I change him on a blanket on the floor, and he just gets up and walks off during the diaper change or he crawls away. He flips out too when we try to keep him lying down. I've tried giving him something new to play with everytime, but that doesn't always work. Anyone else having this probem? Any tips?

[first-time mom]

Formula feeding-Kaylin takes 24oz a day

Face cleaning-Kaylin HATES having her face cleaned too.

Diaper chaning-She also HATES this too.

Teething-No teeth yet!!

[abbytfox]

For those of you who formula feed, how many ounces of formula are you giving your baby per day now (day meaning from when he/she wakes up until bedtime)? Elliott takes 3-5 bottles a day and the amount varies from 3 oz to 6 oz per bottle. His average is 4, 4 oz bottles a day. I don't know if that is technically "enough" but he isn't wasting away or anything so I am not concerned.

Does your baby mind when you try to wipe his/her face clean? Nathan freaks out when we try to wipe his face. Just wondering if he's the only one. I have noticed that Elliott dislikes face wiping more when he is teething. We have had some major freak outs during that time. I think it just really hurts. Normally, he doesn't like it, but tolerates it, and definitely tries to turn away when I am doing it.

Does teething make your baby want to eat less sometimes (solids and milk/formula)? I've noticed that Nathan's appetite isn't what it was a few days ago. Totally. Also, even without teething his appetite fluctuates. Somedays he is a little piggy and will sit in his highchair forever (I mean, literally almost an hour) and happily eat whatever I give him. Other days he eats 2 bites, complains the whole time and wants out of that chair NOW. It is really funny (and sometimes irritating!)

Do any of you own the Brainy Baby Right Brain or Left Brain DVDs? I'm thinking about getting one or both for Nathan. We don't let Elliott watch TV (unless DH is watching the JETS!) and don't have any DVDs for him. I know plenty of families that have the Baby Einstein Videos and let their babies watch them, but its just not our thing. I haven't heard anything about those particular DVDs. (If I do have the TV on while Elliott is awake, which is rare, he is totally and completely mesmerized, so I have no doubt that he would LOVE to watch a baby DVD, we just plan on waiting a little while to formally introduce him to television :) )

Nathan has become *so* difficult whe it's time to change his diaper. I change him on a blanket on the floor, and he just gets up and walks off during the diaper change or he crawls away. He flips out too when we try to keep him lying down. I've tried giving him something new to play with everytime, but that doesn't always work. Anyone else having this probem? Any tips? Sorry, no tips here, just sympathy. I do think it is kind of cute (when I am not in a time crunch) to see him flip over and his little tush wiggle away. It is SO darling! I have started changing him on the floor so he can't roll off anything and I give him a toy. Also, sometimes it helps to give him something he doesn't usually get to play with...like a plastic hanger or closed bottle of diaper cream. He seems to be pretty interested in those things and I feel ok giving them to him because I am right there. I saw a mom give her baby the diaper to hold once and thought that was a good idea, but E just tries to eat it. Curious to see what other moms have to say about this!

[krbb]

Face Cleaning - Oliver HATES having his face washed. It sounds like we are torturing him. Some days he doesn't mind as much, but there is always some fussing that comes out!

Teething and appetite - I haven't noticed this, but I don't think it is uncommon. Teething doesn't seem to bother him that much. I just noticed today that he has another bottom tooth coming soon and I haven't seen any change in his behavior or eating.

Right/Left Brain DVDs - I never heard of them. Are they similar to Baby Einstein? I will let Oliver watch a Baby Einstein video about once a month other than that he really doesn't watch anything.

diaper changes - Oliver squirms during them too! I do like abbytfox and give him something that he doesn't usually play with like a hair brush or comb. It occupies him for long enough I can change his diaper!

[snoopy30]

formula-Spencer has 4 bottles/day...anywhere from 20-24 ounces total. Lately it's dropped some...maybe teething? He takes 4-6 ounces per bottle.

face cleaning-Spencer hates it too! I try and do it really quickly and he's usually fine. If he has a runny nose though he freaks out when you try and wipe it!

teething & appetite-Spencer's appetite has been good for the most part lately and he's been cutting his 4 top teeth :eek: But like I said above his formula intake seems to have dropped some which I'm not worried about but don't know why it has. I have heard that around 9 months or so babies' growth slows some and so do their appetites. Plus at this age they just want to move all the time! Who has time to eat!!

diaper changes-Man these can be rough! Spencer's fine for some and totally uncooperative for others. I do give him a toy which helps or sing to him but it seems like I'm usually saying "Spencer, no!" alot! Naturally he seems to wiggle the most when it's a poopie diaper :rolleyes:

videos-We have one Baby Einstein video that he watches maybe once a week. He's never really gotten into them though.


I have another question-For those of you who have taken a long car trip with your DC lately (meaning after they started crawling or moving more) were you able to stop anywhere that was "safe" for them to crawl around? We're taking an 8 hour (ugh...) drive this weekend and I just worry that Spencer will get really ansy and fussy if he can't move around some. I'm thinking maybe we could stop at a rest stop and he can crawl in the grass but I don't know?? We've done 5 hour drives but we got to our destination before he was really tired of the car. Any thoughts??

[sem426]

We don't let Elliott watch TV (unless DH is watching the JETS!)

LOL! DH is a season ticket holder for the JETS! We got H a Jets jersey and she wears it on Sundays! too cute. DH is trying to get her to learn J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS!!

[sem426]

Back for replies now.....

formula feeding DD gets4 bottles per day. As most others have posted, the amount varies...usually b/t 4-6 oz per bottle on average. Sometimes she's just not interested in her bottle!

face cleaning DD hates this too! We have to trick her into looking up in the air so I can get under her neck after she eats. She will squirm all over in order to avoid a wash cloth on her face.

appetite I also agree that it depends on the day. Sometimes she'll eat tons...and I think she is still hungry. Other days it's a fight to get her to eat anything. DD still refused to p/u her own food and feed herself. She'll p/u food and then drop it on the floor. I need to put her food in her mouth in order for her to eat it:rolleyes:

diaper changes she isn't too bad yet w/this. She definitely moves arojnd and squirms but it's not impossible to get a diaper change. Another ? re: diapers...what size dipes are your DC's in now? We just moved up to Cruisers size 4. I can't believe we are in size 4's already! weren't we just in newborn swaddlers??

videos we have a few baby einstein videos, we actually haven't watched them in quite a while. we also have a sesame street one that we haven't tried out yet. we'll give it a try soon since DD has so many sesame st related toys that she loves.


crawling still no "real" crawling here. She goes backwards and in circles, but not forward yet. She's so cute when she scoots all over the floor. She loves to "walk" holding our hands....so maybe she'll just skip right over the crawling stage.

noises oh..what noises does DD NOT Make?? she makes this raspberry sound....loves to "cough" and make mommy think she is choking and then start laughing. :rolleyes: also makes this wheezing sound....again not a funny noise..although she seems to think it is!

[doubleR]

howdy :)

Formula feeding – definitely varies, but ideally, 28 ounces / day. He gets 4 bottles / day, between 7 and 8 ounces each. I do 7 for daycare and 8 for the 2 he has at home. There are days when I’m happy if he takes 20 ounces. It seems anything less than 20, and I’m in for a not-so-good night of sleep. And then of course there are days when he’ll fall asleep a sip into his nighttime bottle, I’ll worry, and he’ll sleep through the night just fine.

Less of an appetite while teething – definitely. To the point where I try not to worry b/c he’s a pretty big boy, but it’s hard no to when he goes from 4 bottles down to maybe 2 and those are a struggle and also wants nothing to do with his meals. Frustrating, but I think it’s somewhat normal?

Face cleaning – starting to become somewhat of a struggle.

Diaper changes – total struggle. I also tend to give him something he’s not usually allowed to play with. Diaper cream usually keeps him pretty happy. His hairbrush is another one I use. If we’re somewhere other than his changing table, the wipes case is a great distraction, he loves that green case! But of course that makes it tougher for me, trying to battle him for the wipes!

Video/TV – haven’t heard of those specific ones, but I’m curious, they sound like they’d be pretty cool. As far as letting B watch TV - guilty. It just started recently, but my morning routine now consists of him watching 10-15 minutes of Noggin. At first I felt horrible about this, but after talking to lots of friends IRL, I’ve come to accept that it’s not *so* bad. He loves it (of course, right?) and it keeps him occupied while I’m trying to get ready and out the door. We also have 2 Einstein DVD’s which we’ll throw in on occasion – again, he loves them and is totally mesmerized by the TV, even when it’s off and he can see his own reflection :rolleyes: I didn’t think I’d willingly be putting him in front of the TV, especially so soon. I’m definitely not thrilled that I do, but at the same time, it’s not like he’s watching hours a day, it is Noggin, and it is only 15 minutes – ok, I didn’t realize I was still feeling ***so*** guilty over this. vent/attempt to rationalize over!

Road trips – we haven’t done anything that long, good luck snoopy! if it’s nice weather and you throw a blanket down, I think the rest stop idea could work!

Noises – yes, and these to me are so funny. It’s like he’s playing around with the different noises he can make. The coughing has almost stopped. He’s constantly doing raspberry’s and also this noise where you kind of roll your tongue, almost as if you’re going to roll your R’s. I don’t know how he even discovered that he can do it, but it’s his favorite new thing.

Bliss that must be the sweetest thing you’ve ever heard… mama! Love it.

Brady will be 10 months old next week :eek: I feel like he's turning into such a little man. of course he's still just a little baby and will be for a long time, to me at least... love all the new avator pictures, everyone is looking so absolutely adorable :D :D :D

[helen22]

Hey all. Mel had her 9 month WBV on Friday. She is...
19.5 lbs (65th percentile)
28" (60th percentile)
I forget her head measurement but it was the 50th percentile. She was sooo wiggly it took all three of us to hold her still for the head measurement! She did really well, even with getting blood out of her tiny little arm vein - oh I felt sooooo sorry for her :( I was so happy not to get shots, but I didn't realize the anemia blood test would be so brutal :( :(

Face cleaning - not Mel's favorite. If I make it a game, she's OK (like making funny noises). And in the bath she's distracted enough by her toys that she doesn't notice. DH tries to be all business when he wipes her face after meals and she isn't into that.

Diaper changes - and getting dressed/undressed - so challenging! We never got around to buying a changing table and now I guess there's no point because she is soooo wiggly! And hates being held still! We too have special toys for changing, that I wouldn't let her play with normally - two giant stuffed animals that are really more for older kids. But they are losing their charm...

Video/TV - haven't done any yet. If it's on and catches her eye she is totally hynotized. It kind of freaks me out.

Road trips - we haven't done one lately, but we have had loooong days of Mel being in the stroller/bjorn for an entire afternoon/morning. She does get grumpy, but seems OK if she is able to get out and sit on our laps for a while. We haven't tried setting her down on a blanket or anything. Snoopy I bet if you stopped at a couple of rest stops/restaurants and walked him around for a little while he would do ok. Good luck!

New question for you guys: do you like your ped? I am now totally not into ours. She seemed so uninterested in us at our 9 month visit - asked very few questions, didn't seem engaged at all. And I felt like she didn't even seem to have a clear list of issues to discuss with us - the 9-month WBV checklist or something - like at the end DH said "Oh, how and how often do we clean her teeth, now that she has some?" and she said "Thanks for bringing that up! It's REALLY important to clean them" etc etc. - well, so if it's so important, why didn't she bring it up herself?? Maybe my expectations are too high, though. Do you all like yours? Do you feel like s/he is interested in you and DB?

[Lindzee82]

teething and appetite - Matthew's appetite goes waaay down when he is teething. He will refuse both breast and solids.

diaper changing - Matthew absolutely hates to be on his changing table. He will scream and arch and throw his back. He will kick. If I give him something to play with he will throw it. It is awful. I dread diaper changes and clothes changes with a passion.

face cleaning - Matthew hates to have his face cleaned. He will gasp and claw at me. It is not much fun for anyone involved. Therefore, you can usually tell what Matthew has eaten throughout the course of the entire day by looking near his nose and in his ears.

diaper size - Matthew has been in size 4 for quite a while. I don't see us having to go up another size for a while, though.

ped - Since moving, we have only seen our new ped twice. I like her okay. You can tell that she is very busy, though. I find that if I have questions I have to always bring them up because she usually doesn't take the lead and give away any information.

[jengen]

New Question about FF DH is mostly FF now, except am and pm. Question is, when do you give them the bottles? With the meal? Or how long after the meal? I'm confused about the feeding schedule as dr said he really shouldn't have his day "centered around eating" and before I was really giving the bottles in between his meals, so in sense, he's eating all day.

face washing Cole hates it, too. We try to make funny noises when we do it, or pretend to wash ours first. He gets a kick out of that.

diaper change Yup, Cole hates this too. Some times the toy distraction will work, but most times he growls and arches his back. :rolleyes:

road trip the longest one we ever took with C was 2.5 hours. He was great the first 1.5, but had a meltdown after that. I ended up in the back seat with him and that helped. He did the same thing on the reverse trip home. And this is a kid who normally enjoys car rides! I know this might sound bad, but do you have a portable DVD player or something you can bring if that happens to distract your DC? Good luck!!

I don't get in here as often as I'd like...too busy with work, but hope you all are well!