July 2006 Mommies - Our little fireworks are here!

[nuhmah]

OMG what adorable videos!!!

wrighty - what a handsome fella! I love my Eurotub, don't you? :D

a_spark - toooo funny!

hokiegirl - that sounds totally right to me, too.

[mia's mama]

ack! CUTE videos of Braeden and Ava!

[mkvh]

Okay, note to self--MUST figure out You Tube!! Cute babies, gals!

I was wondering about the growth spurt because Clara ate every 2 hours yesterday! It also could be because she ROLLED OVER for the first time on Saturday!!! We thought it was a fluke, but she did it twice yesterday, too. What a shocker.

nuhmah--LOVE the carrier! I am thinking of making myself a mei tai because DH doesn't want me to fork out the cash for another carrier, but Clara is getting HEAVY in the Hotsling.

klav--TOO cute! I love the teeny tiny lifevest.

makena--Amelia is darling!

Soulmate--Yay for the transition to soy!!

hokie--yup...sleep sounds totally right to me. Nice work!

I actually made it to the grocery store yesterday! I wore Clara in the Hotsling. Great workout carrying a 14lb kid AND pushing a veeerrry full cart. She was really interested in everything, especially the produce, till she crashed out about 1/2 way through. Babywearing isn't very big around here, so I get a lot of attention when I have her in the sling.

I'm heading to a La Leche League meeting with a couple of girlfriends tonight. I'm really excited. One of the girls has scoped out the local ones and likes this one best. It's in a middle/upper middle class suburb and in the evenings so there's a good mix of SAH and working moms. She went to another one where everyone was militant against bottles and verrrry pro-attachment parenting and didn't make room for other approaches. So hopefully this will be a good supportive group!

[lindybug]

You ladies are making me jeaous with your sleepy babies. Mine only sleeps anywhere from 9-11 hours total. He is just so alert! The Dr. was not concerned, but i drives me crazy.

I am loving the videos! Here are a couple of my boy:

sucking his thumb (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyT0Vl1DH34)

rolling over (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w28WRgAMfBs)

[Soulmate]

Loving the videos guys! I wanted to put some on YouTube but DH was weirded out with it being public.

rolling over I think it is so great (and weird they are that old) that some of your babies are rolling over already. DS absolutely abhores tummy time so his rolling over days are going to be a long ways away. He only tolerates at the most a minute on the boppy and even shorter just on his belly. In the old days before his digestive issues were worked out tummy time would send him shrieking (blood curteling) for literally hours.

hokiegirl That schedule sounds right to me. DS will be awake for at the most 1.5 hours and sometimes only stays awake for 45 minutes. He'll nap for only an hour at the most. I think most babies will nap even longer. Unless you have a content awaker (like lindybug :( ) they can only really stand being awake for 2 hours max. Of course all babies are unique and make sure you follow their sleepy cues.

lindy I'm sorry your little one isn't napping. I know it drove me insane when DS was awake all day. Its like you always have to be on and you have no down time.

[jewamese]

Hi!
I'm trying to read along with everyone, but I'm still going crazy with my 2.5 year old and Avery's not napping well--AND, I never get longer than a 2.5 hour stretch from her at night.

All of these videos are making me melt!

lindybug, you sound so sweet. :)

[a_spark]

ugh. We had a super rough day today. I don't know if I got the timing of Ava's meds wrong, or what, but she had a super bad attack of blood-curdling screaming at our mommy & me class today. It was horrible. She was doing all the old reflux stuff- arching, pulling away, screaming bloody murder. Poor baby. The prevacid is definitely helping us, but we still have a bad day now and then, so I'm not satisfied. We have our 2-month WBV on Thursday, so I'll talk to the doc about it then. This is so frustrating :(

[hokiegirlie]

All of these videos are adorable!!

Thank ya'll so much for resting my mind about Matthew's sleep habits. Im really happy with the way he's sleeping at night, but I miss the extra time with him. It's 8:45pm...my hubby's working late, my baby's sleeping, and I'm bored out of my mind!

a_apark Matthew makes a sound very similar to Ava's when he sneezes and it's our absolute favorite sound!! So cute. I'm sorry that she is in pain...she's adorable, though.

Sleep It seems like 1.5 hours of awake time is Matthew's magic number....and even that, sometimes, is a little too long. It's amazing how there are SO many similarities in all babies.

[a_spark]

lindy Aww, that is so cute! I love that he's rolling over so early!

hokiegirlie Thanks :) That's awesome that Matthew makes that sound for you too.. it really makes my day when I hear it.

[Wrighty26]

It's 8:45pm...my hubby's working late, my baby's sleeping, and I'm bored out of my mind!

This is me Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights! I'm so glad that new TV shows are starting up again! I COULD do something useful (like clean- ha!) but on most days I have no motivation!

a_spark - Awww, poor Ava! Sorry that you are so frustrated :( I hope you get some answers soon!

jewamese - Man, Avery is giving you a tough time with the sleep :( I really don't know how you are doing it with a toddler too!

Soulmate - Braeden is the same way as Logan-- he HATES tummy time. I usually don't even get a minute of him laying on his belly before the screaming begins. There is just no relaxing on his stomach. I think it's because he can't get a good look at everything around him. I'm thinking he may flip himself over soon only because he hates to be there SO much!

Lindybug - The videos are SO cute! I love how nonchalant Ryan was about flipping! Sorry he isn't napping for you :(

[mmisabel]

Hey ladies!

a_spark, wrighty and lindy - adorable videos! Too cute!

Sleep - Thank god for Weissbluth's book. It makes so much sense. We now have Nathan going to be earlier and putting him down about every 1 1/2 hours (when his "sleepy" cues begin). We have nothing that even resembles a schedule yet, but he's a pretty happy guy when he's awake. My only problem is the getting him to the crib issue. I feel guilty if we're out and his sleepy time kicks in, yet I don't want to sit at home all day!!

wrighty - what does your day look like with Braeden sleepwise????

We are off to visit Nathan's daycare. He will be going 2 days a week and the rest of the days with grandmothers (both). I will be off work every other Wednesday. I start back 1 week from Monday. I worked with a girl who was due the day after me (had her baby 1 1/2 weeks later than me) and I just found out she's not coming back at all. Part of me is jealous, I know I don't want to stay home forever, but I'd love to take a few more months. Oh well, gotta pay the bills and I DO love my job (have to keep telling myself that).........

[Wrighty26]

wrighty - what does your day look like with Braeden sleepwise????

He in no way has a set pattern yet--but this is generally when he sleeps:

7:30-8am- wakes up
9-9:30 - eats then naps
10:30 - wakes up
noon - eats then naps
1:30 - wakes up
3 - eats then naps
4 - wakes
5:30 - naps
6ish - wakes up eats
7:15 - bath time
7:30 - eats
8 - goes to bed for the night
2am - wakes to eat goes back to sleep
6am - wakes to eat goes black to sleep (sometimes he will skip this feeding-- I'm not sure why though)

The afternoon varies more than the morning. Sometimes when he gets up earlier (like yesterday morning) he'll take 2 morning naps. If he gets up later (like today--he got up @ 8:30) he'll take one nap. In the afternoons he sometimes only cat naps for 20-30 minutes (which drives me nuts!) and sometimes he'll nap for 2 hours at a time. One thing I've noticed that IS starting to regulate is his eating schedule. He usually eats every 3 hours. Even if he is asleep, he'll wake up to eat.

One thing I've found is that Weissbluth is dead on with saying that morning naps organize sooner than afternoon naps. He is much easier in the morning (and of course, most mornings I'm here at work!).

[Linnybubbles]

Hi Everyone, I have not posted for a long time, but I have been reading along. Who knew that there would be so much to do as a SAHM? Amelia is doing great, she is almost 10 weeks old, and weighed 12 pounds(!) at her 2 month visit. She still gets up once at night, but other than that, things are great. Some pictures of my peanut:
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/Linnyloplop/IMG_0071.jpg
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a279/Linnyloplop/IMG_0114.jpg

[MMK]

great videos! I don't think Drew's even close to rolling over yet! Amazing!

linnybubbles: Amelia sure is a looker!

weissbluth: just started reading and it does make a lot of sense. Who knew that our "normal" 8:30pm fussiness was simply a sign that Drew should have been in bed long before? We still have no daytime schedule to speak of but that seems to be on track since we haven't hit 12 weeks yet. One problem I'm having is that he'll wake up from a nap and 10 mins later be yawning and getting whiny. I feel weird getting him up and almost immediately trying to rock him back to sleep. I'm starting to think he's not napping for as long as he should initially and that's why he wakes up and wants to go back down? I don't know...this all such a guessing game to me!

mmisabel: totally agree...want to have him in his crib but really can't stand being totally confined to the house. He used to be so much more portable. I'm hoping the confinement will however only be for a couple of weeks until we establish some kind of more regulated schedule.

So we had the 2 month visit a little late and man did I hate seeing my boy get those shots! He's now weighing in at a hefty 14lbs 2oz and is 25.5 in long.
He's had a little bit of a chest cold and for anyone else who might eventually deal with this, I learned not to be alarmed by green poop. Apparently since babies can't really cough up the phlem they swallow a lot of it and it comes out the other end. It's gross but I'm happy he's at least passing the nasty stuff out of him!

Has anyone already purchased an ON halloween costume? Wondering about how the sizes run and the quality. Can't decide which one I like the best, they all seem too cute!

[mmisabel]

wrighty - thanks for posting that. Nathan is pretty similiar in what he does. I agree that the morning nap is the most established, although it definitely varies daily. It sounds like he eats 6-7x daily?

mmk - It is so tough trying to figure out all these cues. Basically I confine myself to the house until about 10am so we can at least attempt a good morning nap. Then I "try" to schedule afternoon things around when I think he'll nap, but it's impossible. He inevitably falls asleep in the stroller, in the car. You can't be a slave to it or you'd go nuts! Drew's 14lbs!! You've got a little linebacker on your hands.

daycare - we went for our visit this morning. The teachers are super nice and there are some real cuties in his classroom. I did break down and cry but the teachers assured me that's normal. They kept saying how happy he'll be and that they will take good care of him. I know it will be fine, but the first couple weeks are going to be very trying.

ON costume - We got the monkey. It's so cute in person! The lion was adorable too. I got it in 3-6 mos. and it looks really big, I'm sure it'll be huge on him.

[MMK]

mmisabel: great! the lion was the one I was thinking about getting. My husband would be overjoyed to hear you refer to Drew as a linebacker! I keep warning him that eventually his growth is going to level off (we're just not a very huge familiy!) but I guess you never know!

[rande]

Adorable babies everyone!

Boy, our babies are sure growing fast!!!!! Glad to hear that everyone is having good 2 month visits and getting some routines started. Sorry to hear about some babies still not sleeping well.:( :(

A-spark-Do you think that Ava's fussy days could have something to do with food sensitivities. Olivia is great on her meds but still has some bad days if I eat certain foods! Hugs to you!!!!!

Feels like forever that I have posted. I will have to post some pics of miss Olivia later. Things have been crazy here. Livie is a new baby on her Prilosec. We just got back from Boston on Monday. Can you believe that I flew alone with a 20 month old and a 2 month old????? It was quite an adventure but well worth it. We went back for my sister's bridal shower. BTW, anyone know where I can find a cute dress for Olivia to wear to her Aunt's wedding? She will be 4 months old and it is Nov. 4th???? I have not been able to find anything that I like.

[a_spark]

rande I'm trying to rule out food sensitivities- I'm keeping a food/fuss diary and have been off dairy for a week now but don't see any patterns yet. What is Olivia sensitive to? I can't believe you flew with two babies!! Nice job :)

[Soulmate]

a spark We moved Logan from Zantac to Pepcid and pepcid is working sooo well for him. Plus it is very easy to give...only .3ml. Even if it tastes gross (anything is better than zantac) the amount is so small that he has no choice but to swallow it. He actually prefers to sleep on his back now! Now if we can get rid of the gas :mad: Re: Food sensitivies it is so hard to pinpoint them sometimes. Dairy and soy are the two biggies but DS is sensitive to some component in powdered formulas. He will only tolerate ready to pour. The pediatrician said it was probably the corn in the powdered version but he reacts to even the stuff w/o corn. Can you imagine sensitive to corn! :confused: I would have never found that if I were still BFing.

wrightyI'm thinking he may flip himself over soon only because he hates to be there SO much! I would think so too, but it is not looking that way anytime soon! I let him get frustrated and cry a little to help motivate him and build frustration tolerance. Then I roll him like he would roll himself over. Nope, not even a slight sign. He does scoot himself along the floor on his back though (just small distances). I will laugh if he never crawls or rolls and just moves himself along like that until he walks. I can tell already he is just dying to move him self around! He's going to be a handful!

I started work on Monday so I may not be posting as frequently but will still be lurking. I realized that I am soooo not a SAHM and admire you guys greatly. You have a lot more strength and patience than I do. Now I know why people say being a SAHM is the hardest and most admirable job. He is being watched by a friend of ours who babysits kids during the day. I call her his weekday mommy :D My only beef is she'll let him watch t.v. I don't care about the forming of a t.v. habit but of the ADHD risk. There are sensitive dynamics there that I'll have to be careful of how I approach it. She has 2 children who probably were raised that way (and are perfectly fine) plus there is an educational gap that I think she is all too aware of. I don't want to come across as holier than thou but I also need to look out for DS.

[a_spark]

soulmate We started Ava on Prevacid about three weeks ago and there's definitely been a TON of improvement. Yesterday was the first super bad day we've had in almost two weeks, so things are looking up. However, I do want to find the cause of the bad days. She's also SUPER gassy- loud, smelly farts. I'm wondering if the fussy days are gas-related. Like today: she'd be perfectly fine, sleepy in my arms, then stiffen, let out a shriek, and then a huge fart. Poor girl. This is all so confusing! I can't believe your DS is sensitive to corn! I never would have thought of that!

ETA: She's been on Nystatin for thrush and I just read that it can cause gas...I can't wait to stop using that stuff.

[nuhmah]

Our schedule for the day looks quite similar to what others are posting, as well:

7:30am - awake for the day/nurse
9:30am - nap
11am - awake/nurse
1pm - nurse, and then down for a nap
4pm - awake/nurse
6:30pm - nurse, and then down for a nap
8:30pm - bath, nurse, then down for the evening
11pm (or so) - nurse when I come to bed for the evening
5am - nurse
7:30 - start over!

Of course, this is really approximate. But I can pretty much count on him taking a good solid nap in the afternoon. Most times he goes down on the bed, but sometimes (like today) he takes that nap while in the carrier and I do something like paint, tile, laundry, or whatever else.

[hokiegirlie]

mmisabel I feel the same exact way. I'm feeling guilty being out and about because he always falls asleep in the car/in the stroller..but I really don't want to stay in the house. It doesn't seem to be hurting him any, though, so for now, I'm going to try not to worry about it.

I think Matthew is eating less than the other babies. He's having a lot of bottles (4-4.5 oz) during the day b/c he's at the sitters for three days....but he's going more than 3 hours a lot of the time. One night, he ate at 530, went tosleep at 730, and woke up at 200. That's over 8 hours without eating! He's obviously thriving (he's almost 16 pounds at 11 weeks) but should he really go that long?

Matthew has a dragon outfit for Halloween. Steve's aunt bought it so I have no idea where it came from but it's really cute. I hope itf its--it's 3-6 months but looks really long.

I had a hair appt today and took him with me. He was a little fussy in the beginning, but then he just reared back, put is feet up on the front bar on the stroller, and just chilled. It was the cutest thing ever. Every so often, he'd start talking and laughing at absolutely nothing. It's things like this that just melt my heart!

[Soulmate]

hokieI think Matthew is eating less than the other babies. He's having a lot of bottles (4-4.5 oz) during the day b/c he's at the sitters for three days....but he's going more than 3 hours a lot of the time. One night, he ate at 530, went tosleep at 730, and woke up at 200. That's over 8 hours without eating! He's obviously thriving (he's almost 16 pounds at 11 weeks) but should he really go that long?I had a little freak out post in parenting about this same thing. DS went from eating 5-5.5 ounces every three hours down to ~3 ounces every 3, sometimes up to 5 hours (during the day!). It was such a drastic change...I was super worried. It looks as though he was coming down from a growth spurt and just didn't need the extra food. He is getting better but is only taking in a consistent 4 ounces every 3 hours. But he ran right past size 0-3 and into 3-6. (BTW he is 12 weeks and 12.5 lbs). No one ever mentioned that they cut back on eating related to a growth spurt...only that they eat a lot more!

a spark DS has gas that will fill (and clear) a room. They are loud and sometimes painful too. He had this on hypoallergenic formula (no known allergens/sensitivities) so I don't think it is food related. They say that stress can cause extra gas. I know DS gets extra gassy when we take him somewhere outside the house. It makes sense though since they are probably much more tense. Also, some days DS is gassy with no strain or pain and others he is equally gassy but it hurts him and he'll fight it.

[mkvh]

mmk and hokie--SOOO glad that your boys are big. I was beginning to wonder if I had the biggest baby in the thread--and she's a GIRL!! ;)

hokie--Clara sleeps for around 10 hours at night without eating. I think that because our babies are bigger they can eat more at one stretch. Clara only eats about 6x a day now.

Schedule--we really don't have one, but I do agree that mornings are more predictable than afternoons. Clara goes down about 1.5 hours after waking for the day for her morning nap which usually lasts an hour--long enough for me to work out. Then it's all a gamble.

Fussiness soon after waking(I forget who posted...)--Weissbluth says that if baby hasn't slept for at least an hour, leave him to try to sooth himslelf back to sleep because the nap wasn't long enough. Could that be the issue?

Rolling over--Clara definintely is rolling on purpose. Yesterday I laid her down on a blanket on her belly and turned around to get my coffee, and she was flipping like a pro. But would she do it again ALL DAY so that I could get it on video? NOOOO! And Daddy still hasn't seen her do it.

Food sensitivities--two things that really have bothered Clara (and she's pretty easy) are strawberries and cabbage (coleslaw). Strawberries were the WORST...she screamed for three hours.

Cute dresses--I'm having the same problem, rande. It seems that until you hit 12m clothes, most stuff is really layette looking. Sometimes you can find cute stuff in 6m and larger, but it's hit and miss. I did find some nice things in a boutique here in town, but I have had NO luck at the mass retailers.

Confinement--I know the feeling. Clara sleeps SOOO well in her crib. The other afternoon, we went shopping, and Clara slept in the stroller. We had SUCH a rough night that night because she was overly tired. Soon the naps will consolidate and we'll be able to go out more. We just have to be patient, I guess!

Vitamin D Drops--My ped recommended that I start Clara on them. However, I don't want to if I don't need to. At the LLL meeting, it was said that baby only needs 30-45 minutes of sunlight per week to produce enough Vitamin D to make the drops unneccsary. Any thoughts?

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
As I mentioned, I went to a LLL meeting Tuesday night. It actually was REALLY good. I enjoyed the discussion. Although the VAST majority of moms co-slept and seemed very in favor of it. My personal preference is baby in her own bed (because of some history I won't go into), but I almost felt like I couldn't speak up in favor of it. And there was one mom who BF till her daughter went to FIRST GRADE!!! I'm all for extended BF if the mom is okay with it, but really, some things just are excessive.

[Wrighty26]

Soulmate - Braeden likes to scoot like that too! I will not be suprised if he doesn't crawl and goes right into the climbing/walking. He LOVES to "stand" and "jump". Crazy kid!

I must agree with this statement as well:

I realized that I am soooo not a SAHM and admire you guys greatly. You have a lot more strength and patience than I do. Now I know why people say being a SAHM is the hardest and most admirable job.

hokiegirlie/mmisabel - I would go crazy if I didn't get out of the house! I try to get 2-3 naps in a day in the crib and then I'll take him out to run errands and stuff. If I put him in his mei tai, then he generally konks out-- and while I know it's not as "quality" as sleeping in the crib, it's still sleep! Once he starts napping for longer intervals in the afternoons I will work my errand running schedule around that!

I have been writing this for more than 3 hours now...I should really post it, huh? :)

[MMK]

hokiegirlie: at 16lbs my guess is that you're doing everything right when it comes to feeding. Drew definitely goes long stretches over night without eating (10wks/14lbs). I also agree with Soulmate in that I think with these bigger babies they've pretty much been on a constant growth spurt that eventually has to slow down!

mkvh: it was me who posted about fussiness after waking and yes, I definitely think he simply needed to sleep longer/have more time soothing himself. I think I was just having a hard time with how long he really should be sleeping during the day. It seems so counter intuitive that more sleep during the day makes for better days and nights! I'm so inclined to just pick him up immediately during the day as soon as he makes the slightest groan!

Has anyone else experienced a sleep set-back? We were going long stretches from 8:30ish to to 3:30ish during the night for about a week and now for the past two nights he's been waking at 1-1:30am. Is this just a normal baby thing?

[mkvh]

Has anyone else experienced a sleep set-back? We were going long stretches from 8:30ish to to 3:30ish during the night for about a week and now for the past two nights he's been waking at 1-1:30am. Is this just a normal baby thing?

While we haven't, it could be the 3 month growth spurt which I've heard can be a real bear. Just waiting for that myself...

[sunchaser26]

It has been so long since I have posted here I have so much to catch up on...

I admire those of you that have babies that have such a great sleeping/napping schedule. Jacob never naps for more than 45 minutes except in the evenings. He doesn't really have a schedule either, I have been trying but every day is different. Since he doesn't really nap it makes doing my work from home that much harder.

I know what you mean about not leaving the house, we have days like that and I think it drives me insane. Especially now with DH's new job... We only have one car so he has it all day which leaves me stuck at home, the only way to get out of the house is to go for a walk.

Fussiness soon after waking:

I have found this happening some days and not others...

Rolling over :

Jacob is definintely trying to rolling over on purpose. He still hasn't gotten all the way over but we are working on it.

Food sensitivities:

I haven't found that enything really bothers him yet. Although I'm not eating anything different that what I did while PG.


Vitamin D Drops:

My ped recommended that I start Jacob on them at our two month visit. I got them and have started giving them to him but not the full dose yet. He really doens't like them at all.

"At the LLL meeting, it was said that baby only needs 30-45 minutes of sunlight per week to produce enough Vitamin D to make the drops unneccsary. Any thoughts?"

I hope that this is true, I would love to not have to give Jacob them any longer.

mkvh,

Glad to hear that you enjoyed your LLL group meeting the other night. I agree BF your child till First Grade is excessive.

[makena32204]

real quick post...sorry, no time for SO's

Amelia had her 2 month WBV yesterday. She's up to 10 lbs, 11 oz and is 22 inches long! Quite an improvement from 8 lbs, 13 oz and 20.5 inches one month ago! She also got her first round of shots. She didnt do too badly yesterday. No fever and not too fussy. She slept on and off most of the day and then was awake for a while in the evening. Then, she slept from 8:45 to 4:20!!! DH and I were joking that we should drug her everynight! (Seriously - just kidding)

[Lil_Mrs_0702]

Battles for cutest baby- We have 4 babies under 6 months old in our office. It just so funny because it seems like we all take turns bringing them in for a couple of minutes. But I have to say that Collin brings in the biggest crowds when he comes in. He's just the most social out of the other babies.

Drooling- Collin has been doing this for weeks. We also broke out the bibs.

Fist in mouth- He is so funny because he sticks his fists in his mouth and just starts talking and talking. I usually eat the other side of his fists and talk back to him. He gets such a kick out of it!

Tummy time- So I'm starting to think that he'll crawl before he rolls over. Whenever we get him on his belly he just tries so hard to crawl. He now just rotates in circles. We also have one of those tummy toys that look like a stuffed rolling pin. He is so funny because he crawls goes right over it and gets it stuck under his pelvis and you just see these lil feet kicking in the air. He just keeps trying to crawl.

Also we have another milestone- Collin can stay sitting up! We have to sit him up but once he's sitting and comfortable he can stay there. He was sitting up with out any support for 20 minutes yesterday!

I came home yesterday and he was such a big boy! He was sitting in his high chair just playing with his toys while DH cooked dinner. He was completely content just grabbing his toys and sticking them in his mouth and throwing them. I just can't believe how fast he is growing up!

Well I better get back to work. I am just having a hard time getting motivated today. I am waiting for a bunch of reports to come back to me so that I can start making some more sales calls.

[a_spark]

We are having the best 2 days ever!! I started wondering if Ava's fussiness also had something to do with her being overtired (she sleeps like a champ at night- about an 8 hour stretch, but daytime is a little disorganized) so I went back and reread Weissbluth's "action plan for exhausted parents" and also skimmed the Baby Whisperer book for more insight into different cries and cues and what I got out of both was that she is super gassy and overtired. So, I've been watching her like a hawk, and at the first sign of drowsiness I start to get her ready to nap. That can involve rocking, putting her in the swing, or the bouncy seat or even the boppy on the couch next to me (so she's a little propped up for her reflux), but what is consistent is that I give her her binky and put my hand on her chest/belly and shushhhhh her. She's been napping a lot more and is generally a ton happier! Also, when she cries, I'm learning not to freak out and to just pay attention to the cues she is giving me so that I can help her get to sleep (which, it seems, is usually the problem). This morning, I was holding her when suddenly she started shrieking. I took a deep breath and just watched her for a minute and noticed that she was turning in to my body. This, according to the Baby Whisperer, is a tiredness cue. So, instead of assuming she was hurting, I gently shushed her and held her and rocked her a little and lo and behold, her eyelids drooped and fluttered and her head relaxed. I put her in her crib (she sleeps with us in her bouncy chair, so the crib is new! She's had a few short naps in there in the past week because I want her to be comfortable sleeping in there) and she woke when I put her down and fussed a little, but I just kept my hand on her and fussed and she fell asleep! She slept for about an hour. I did have to go in and replace her binky a couple of times, though. I read that you're supposed to leave them until they really get crying, but if she gets to that state she's impossible to console. So, I kind of went in once she got to a "5" on a scale of fussing from 1-10. Anyway, she woke to eat, then we played a little and not 45 minutes later, she yawned. I immediately put her in the swing (I don't know why I'm rotating sleeping places...just trying things, I guess!) and covered her with a blanket, put my hand on her and shushed, binky in and BAM! 5 minutes later she was asleep. This is wonderful :)

We have her 2 month WBV today and I am dreading those shots. Poor baby.

mucous in poop She's been having mucousy poops, which concerns me...I've cut dairy out for over a week so I'm thinking it's not that...I'm wondering if it's the Nystatin she's on for the thrush. Anyone have any insight?

[Lizard]

Rolling over - I don't think we're close to this at all. Whenever DD is put on her stomach, she either screams bloody murder or she falls asleep. :rolleyes: She doesn't try to roll or do anything other than kick her legs. I keep working on it but she's just indifferent about the whole thing.

DD's been fussy and weird all week - like I mentioned before I think it's her 3 month growth spurt. She's catnapping a lot, isn't really interested in playing, plus she's eating about every 2 hours. However at night, she's sleeping SO well... 2 nights ago she slept from 8 to 5:30, and last night it was 8 to 4:30.

She is also sucking her thumb/hand like mad... she has her hand jammed in her mouth nearly all the time she's awake. I had to change her outfit yesterday because she had totally soaked the front of it. :)

Our 3 year wedding anniversary was yesterday - we weren't able to find anyone to sit with DD so we went to a local family restaurant and Dairy Queen for dessert. Fancy schmancy, LOL. But DH got me a dozen roses and a bag of Brach's Chocolate Stars so I'm happy. :D Plus my folks sent us a gift certificate to the place that DH proposed, so we hope to find a sitter and do that in the next week or 2.

BIL, his girlfriend and their 4 year old daughter are coming down this weekend to go to a semi-annual children's consignment sale with us. We went in March and it was absolutely awesome, so I'm hoping we find her some good stuff. Like DD needs more clothes, but at least it's used and cheap.

[emmjay]

Lizard - I LOOOOVE consignment stores! I have two that I frequent regularly. One is more "upscale" and the other is for basic stuff. I have only bought new clothes from the sale rack at Baby Gap - pretty much everything else is consignment. And Happy Anniversary!

Schedule - I don't pay attention during the day - just try to get him to sleep within the 2 hr window - but at night he usually goes down around 11 or 11:30, then wakes up around 3:30 or 4, then again around 8-ish. Last night he slept from 9pm - 3am, but I think that's becuase he caught a cold from my niece who was visiting over the weekend.

I think I found a mom's group today! I met a girl at Starbucks with a 5-month old and she said she has a group of 5 people who meet at our local park on Fridays and walk around and chitchat. I am bored just hanging out by myself so I was psyched to meet her.

I have a fun thing to do with the babies - if you have a Gymini floor gym, take a wide piece of soft ribbon and tie one end to the baby's ankle (not too tight!) and the other end to one of the overhead arcs. When they kick, all of the dangling stuff moves around. I know they are young, but DS totally knows that he can move the stuff around with his foot and he loves it. You can also do it with a mylar balloon tied to their foot.

[rande]

A-spark-First off, my son Drew was a baby that could go from 0 to a 10 in minutes. My ped. highly recommended that I not let him get himself that wound up. Some kids just have that kind of personality. I think you are doing the right thing with Ava when she starts to fuss. Still to this day, we always go get Drew before he is fully wound up. If he is just fussing a little, we let him be. Also, Olivia is very sensitive to all dairy, strawberries, cabbage, and tomatoes. These are the big things.

Weight-Well, I still have 14 pounds to go. Last pregnancy I was already back to my pre-baby weight. Part of the problem is that Olivia has so many food sensitivities that I feel like I can hardly eat anything so I stick to all carbs to play it safe. All these carbs are not helping me lose weight. Any ideas on good healthy meals to make for lunch and dinner, besides plain chicken?????? I really want to lose 10 pounds before my sister's wedding on Nov. 4th.

Makena- Olivia was also a little over 10 pounds at her 2 month. She is not a huge eater but eats about 3-4 ounces every 2-3 hours. I would love for her to eat more but less frequently.

Cradle cap- Anyone know how to get rid of this?

[maryanne]

Melody has started to purr ?!?!?!?!

[a_spark]

rande I'm glad to know I don't have the only baby that goes from 0-10 so quickly! :) I know how hard it is to eat well when you're avoiding foods- I've been off dairy for about 10 days now and I'm starving! I'm eating a lot of rice and chicken, turkey, salads, etc...

weight Not sure, but I think I have about 8-10 more lbs to go. I'm 2 sizes bigger than pre-preg and I can't wait to wear my clothes again!

wbv We just had Ava's 2 month WBV. Poor thing! She turned purple and held her breath when they gave her the shots. Thank god for my boobs, because nursing her after and when we got home calmed her really well. She's passed out in my lap right now. She's in the 75th percentile for weight (11.8 lbs), the 25th for height (shorty! 21.75 inches) and the 50th for head size (39cm). She also has a bit of a flat head, so we have to keep her off it as much as possible when she's awake. What? Hold my baby more? Ok! :) I just ordered a mei tai, so we'll be using that as soon as it gets here. I asked about the mucousy poop and it was tested for blood with a negative result. The doc and I think it's the Nystatin, because she's been SUPER gassy since we started it, and we realized while there that the mucousy poop started when we started the medicine, so since the thrush has been gone for awhile we're going to stop that and hopefully her poop will be more normal. I've been off dairy for almost 2 weeks and have noticed absolutely no change in her. In fact, she started getting better (prevacid kicked in) before I went off, so it's pretty clear that she's not intolerant to dairy. Plus I am starving to death. I've decided to reintroduce it and continue my food diary just in case (or in case there's another correlation w/her fussiness, which I haven't seen). SO, we've ordered a pizza tonight and I may weep with happiness. :)

[Wrighty26]

Cradle cap- Anyone know how to get rid of this?


Rande - My ped recommended Sebulex shampoo once a week and to rub his scalp with a toothbrush. I haven't had the time to go out and buy the Sebulex yet, but we are rubbing his head with a toothbrush (I do it when it's wet--Braeden doesn't seem to mind) and it already looks A LOT better.

[hokiegirlie]

Last night, Matthew slept from 730-4am!! We couldn’t believe it! Really, I’d rather him wake at 2, like usual, b/c if he wakes at 4, I don’t have enough time to go back to sleep before getting ready for work.

Soulmate—I’m gonna have to go check out your post in Parenting. Matthew is a big boy and he is eating more from the bottle but it still worries me just a little. He’s really happy, has lots of wet diapers, and a big poop everyday, so I figure he must be okay.

mkvh—I am sure that I have the biggest baby here. He was 15 lbs 3oz at 9 weeks. He’s 12 weeks now and lord knows how much he weighs! I counted Matthew’s meals and he only ate 5 times today….4 am, 830 am, 100pm, 630 pm. He went to sleep at 8 so we’ll see if he eats again before midnight.

Wrighty—I would crazy, too, if I stayed in the house all the time. I’m with you….bad sleep is better than no sleep at all. It doesn’t seem to affecting Matthew’s nighttime sleeping, so until it does, we’re out and about.

A_spark—so glad that Ava’s fussiness has subsided some. I know it must be a wonderful change for you!

Rolling over—It seems like Matthew’s gonna crawl, too, before he rolls over. He just scoots along on is tummy and has no interest on turning over.

I took Matthew on a shopping spree today. The poor baby has no warm clothes—everything is summer. I’m in denial that summer is over, but it was 59 degrees when I left for work this morning. YUK!

[Soulmate]

hokie I would say Matthew is ok looking back on my experience. There were friends IRL who said that there are times when they just don't want to eat but they have older kids and I can see that for them not our little ones. But DS is inching back up to 5 ounces. It just sucks that you read so much saying how much they are supposed to eat, blah, blah, blah but not one single thing mentioned that they go through times when they barely eat anything. I talked to two peds (on call) about it and they both didn't seem worried at all. One asked how much he had eaten that day (only 16 ouces between midnight and 3pm) and she was like, "oh yea, he is just fine". He would've normally eaten 25 ounces by that time. As long as they are peeing enough and happy...it is probably just a growth spurt rebound. Last night, Matthew slept from 730-4am!! We couldn’t believe it! Really, I’d rather him wake at 2, like usual, b/c if he wakes at 4, I don’t have enough time to go back to sleep before getting ready for work.DS did this a couple of times too (tonight looks like one of those nights). I would rather him drop the 4am feeding rather than the 10pm though!!

weight I would love to be able to go back into my pre-preggo pants but it is doubtful. I only have 5-8 extra lbs they are not budging. Minus the pooch I really like my post-preggo body. I have a really nice butt now! But I really don't want to have to buy all new pants. I had finally found jeans I like :mad:

randeOlivia was also a little over 10 pounds at her 2 month. She is not a huge eater but eats about 3-4 ounces every 2-3 hours. I would love for her to eat more but less frequently.DS did this early on and it was driving me nuts feeding him every 2 hours. I would try to stretch out the time between feedings a bit. 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there. As much as I could w/o him going ballistic (and he is a 0 to 60mph crier when hungry). When you do this they'll eat a little more and eventually be able to go longer on their own. It turned out that he would act hungry when he was really tired and I was just getting his signals wrong (I learned this when he would fall asleep while comforting him when he was fussy trying to stretch out his feedings). It made sense that he never really ate a whole lot...he wasn't all the way hungry!

[hokiegirlie]

Matthew went to sleep at 8pm last night...it's 655am and he's still asleep. I have checked on him about 20 times now and he's just as peaceful....sometimes he's sucking his thumb in his sleep.

For those of you BF/Pumping....when they go all night like that, do you still get up and pump? One lact consultant told me not to pump at night.

[Wrighty26]

hokiegirl - I'm so jealous! Braeden reverted back to waking up twice again last night @ 1 and again at 5. DH got up to feed him @ 5 (he also fed him at 1, but he was still awake)-- he begrudingly got up-- but really I have to get up @ 6 for work and he can sleep in until Braeden gets up for the day (usually @ 8).

As for pumping- why did she tell you not to pump at night? It depends on how I'm feeling, but yes I usually get up. I didn't feed him at all last night but got up to pump once.

Has anyone else experienced a sleep set-back? We were going long stretches from 8:30ish to to 3:30ish during the night for about a week and now for the past two nights he's been waking at 1-1:30am. Is this just a normal baby thing?


MMK - Yep, this has just started happening to me. Grrrr. I have my fingers crossed that it's just the 3-month growth spurt (a little early). He has also been napping crappy during the day (he's become the king of catnaps) and eating a lot more.

[isaacsmommy]

Cradle Cap- I have been using one of the treatments you can buy in the baby section (can't remember the name the bottle is green). Grant actually hasn't had cradle cap though, but I want to prevent it .

[mkvh]

hokie--I DON'T get up to pump and never have (but Clara has always slept at least 10PM-4AM. I think it's up to you. The only thing is that if he really is transitioning to STTN, then you'll be encouraging yourself to continue producing milk at night and thus necessitating pumping.

Sleep--ARGH! We had a rough evening last night. I knew we were in for it when FIL said that Clara only had slept about 45 minutes total since 1PM--I picked her up at 6! She was so overly tired. She would nurse for a few minutes, fall asleep, I'd put her in her crib, and 10-15 minutes later, she'd wake up screaming. I'd try to rock her back to sleep, and she'd stare, trying to stay awake. So I'd nurse her again, and the cycle would repeat. This went on for about an hour and a half. And of course, my DH had to work late last night, so I was on my own. She finally fell asleep a little after 9 after almost a full 2nd nursing session and slept in my arms till DH got home at 9:30 and put her in her crib. Anyone else having issues with their childcare providers not getting the baby to nap??? I think my ILs think that since she's not fussy, she's not tired. Which isn't true. If she's fussy, you've totally missed her tired cues and now you're in trouble. I think they just wait for her to fuss or to fall asleep on her own. How have you approached the sleep discussion with those who take care of your DC?

Other than that, things are going well, though I am haivng a TERRIBLE time getting to work on time. Any other working moms have tips for the morning routine?

[isaacsmommy]

hokie- I agree w/ mkvh if he is really going to start sleeping through the night then no, but just a warning you may be somewhat engorged in the morning for a few days.

[a_spark]

hokiegirlie Congrats on the long stretch!! I don't pump, no...my supply eventually adjusted itself, and thank goodness because in the beginning I would get super engorged and would leak all over the bed and it was so uncomfortable. If you keep pumping, you'd never adjust, so it would just perpetuate that too-full cycle.

Ugh. So Ava slept in my lap until about 9pm when I had to get up off the couch to pee. I handed her to DH and she immediately woke up and her Tylenol must have worn off at that point, because she started screaming these INSANE screams. I thought she was a loud crier before? No, that was just a 5. Last night she cried at a 10 and it was horrific. The animals all ran and hid and I had DH call the doctor on call. She sounded like knives were going into her skin. Horrible. We gave her another dose of Tylenol at the doc's recommendation and eventually she just passed out again. She would only tolerate being held by me and would scream again if I tried to put her down. So, I took off my shirt and hers and cuddled her skin-to-skin until she was completely asleep and we eventally got her into her bed (the bouncy seat). It was so sad. But she's happy and bright today, so we survived.

[mkvh]

a_spark--Clara screamed those horrible screams the night after her vaxes as well. OMG. Glad you got her to sleep, poor baby! You're lucky she was herself today. Clara was miserable the next day too, fever and everything.

As for the animals all running and hiding, that had me cracking up because all I could picture was the scene at the beginnign of Bambi where the animals were running from the forest fire.

Nursing Pads--Why is it that even though you can't see the nursing pads through the bra, they look like they have spotlights on them when you put on a shirt?? Especially under flourescent lights. I look fine at home, but when I get to work, I'm like, "Hey, I'M BREASTFEEDING!!!!"

[Lizard]

cradle cap - DD doesn't have full-blown cradle cap, but she does have a really dry scalp. I think the hair & body wash stuff we're using is causing it. I saw on the cradle cap thread that you can use a small amount of Head & Shoulders...well, I have that in the house because I have dry scalp issues too. That combined with scrubbing her head with the cradle cap brush we were given in the hospital seems to be doing the trick.

Pumping at night - I don't bother to pump overnight because I never know when DD will wake up... sometimes she sleeps until 4 AM, but other times she wants to eat at midnight. Since she's been going to bed around 8 PM for the night (and often times her last feeding was around 7), I've been pumping around 9:30. If I don't do that and she sleeps until 4, I am in some serious hurt when I wake up. :(

Dori's still in the middle of her growth spurt, I think... she was a little stinker yesterday, barely sleeping at all and being super fussy. She didn't want to play either. Finally around 2 PM I put her on my chest and she passed out until 4:30. I went and worked out, and when I came home DH said that she drank 7 oz while I was gone. :eek: I'm worried she's not getting enough milk from me... I think I worry about this every growth spurt though.

Also, DD's getting a bald spot on the back of her head... when she gets tired she moves her head back and forth like she's doing a Stevie Wonder imitation. :) So it's rubbing all the hair off the back of her head.

Gotta go - I have SO much to do today since I was so lazy yesterday.. it rained for 24 hours straight so we didn't go out at all.

[Wrighty26]

As for the animals all running and hiding, that had me cracking up because all I could picture was the scene at the beginnign of Bambi where the animals were running from the forest fire.


Hee...that's what I thought of too!

a_spark - Sorry you had a rough night, but I'm glad Ava is back to her normal (happy) self again! As for screaming-- Braeden's crying has erupted into some very interesting screams lately (usually when he's hungry/tired or both). I think he even surprises himself!

Nursing Pads- I don't understand that either. Though I do have to say 2 words-- Lily Padz. The best things ever! I still have a mild case of nipplitis that is viewable for all of the world to see every now and then, but you can't tell that I'm wearing anything at all. Sometimes I actually forget they are there when I go to pump. Hee.

I wanted to retract my statement on pumping at night earlier... when B is sleeping a long stretch I DON'T pump. I only pump in the middle of the night when he wakes to eat and DH gives him a bottle. I think I was half asleep when I wrote that first post!

[klav]

Cradle Cap- I have been using one of the treatments you can buy in the baby section (can't remember the name the bottle is green). Grant actually hasn't had cradle cap though, but I want to prevent it
I belive the stuff is gental naturals, my DH say's it stinks but I think it just smells like baby some people may smell something strong in it that I don't. My girlfrind also has used JJ baby oil because she is one of the ones that does not like the smell. MY little guy has it on the top of his head I ry to brush his hair to loosed the dry skin.

rolling Liam is rolling over when he's in a good mood and not screaming being on his tummy.

Baptism is this weekend so we have been cooking and cleaning and fixing up the yard for everyone to come to the house after!! my brother is on his way here from Colorado and mom will be her tonight also. my dad and grandmother should be here areound 2

so excite to see everyone!!!

for got to say I got my second sling the other day and love it!! I had to sell the first one , it was too small but got this one from sweet fletcher! and love it at first I thought it was again too small but he's so content sitting in it next to me and it gets him off his back to stop him being on his head to stop the flat head syndrom!! he has a bit of a flat spot that the DR said he had I have yet to really see it...? but this will certainly help since he hates the tummy

[smurf]

Geez, this thread is moving fast these days! I’ll try to catch up a little bit:

Schedule: We don’t really have one, I just try to follow the two-hour rule throughout the day. She’s up for the day at around 7:30 and down for the night around 8:30. She’s been so great about sleeping lately, it’s almost too good to be true. I keep waiting for her to regress back to her old self, but so far, so good!

Rolling over—If you remember, Kate rolled over fairly early, but now she seems to have forgotten how to do it! She does it every now and then, but I can’t say for sure that it’s on purpose.

Getting out of the house—I have a really hard time with this. It seems like every time I want to go somewhere, I’ve just gotten Kate down for a nap. She won’t sleep in the stroller because she’s too interested in what’s going on, so when we get home, we’ve got a very tired baby on our hands.

Vitamin D—My doctor said they weren’t necessary for Kate as long as I get her out in the sun for a few minutes each day. Of course, we’re in Texas where there is plenty of sun. It might be different for babies in less sunny places.

MKVH—We went to our first LLL meeting on Tuesday. I didn’t really get much out of it, but it was nice to be around other moms and babies. I found there were a lot of moms there who are much more into attachment parenting than me—I told one mom that Kate started sleeping in her crib when she was 5 weeks old, and the lady looked at me like I was an alien! She just couldn’t believe that I would make such a young baby sleep in a room all by herself.

A_spark—I’m glad that Ava’s feeling better. Those shots are the worst. I’m already dreading the 4 month WBV.

Pumping at night—I don’t pump at all at night. Sometimes if I’m not feeling too lazy I’ll pump right before I go to bed, but I’m usually feeling too lazy :D

MKVH—Kate’s not an easy baby to put to sleep, so her babysitters just give up and assume she’s not tired when they can’t get her down right away. Even my DH has a hard time getting her to sleep. Could you just ask your sitter to put Clara down after she’s been awake for 2 hours, even if they don’t think she’s sleepy? That’s what I told my mom when she babysat last weekend, and although she thought I was nuts, she did it and Kate got the sleep that she needed.

Nursing pads—I HATE them! I was hoping that I would stop needing them by now, but I still leak if Kate goes longer than 3 hours without nursing. I guess I should invest in some Lily Padz like Wrighty suggested.
__________________________________________________ _________
Everything is going along pretty well with us. The weather is finally cooling off so we’ve been able to get outside more, which is nice.

Question—Have you gotten professional pics taken of DC, and if so, what did they wear (if anything)? We’re going to get pics done this weekend and I’m just not sure what we should all wear. We’re doing some of just Kate and then some family pics. Any ideas?

And last, but not least, a couple of new pictures of Kate.
I finally got a picture in the bumbo. I laugh every time I put her in there!
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/jblogan1/bumbo.jpg

All dressed up for church:
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i5/jblogan1/kateinhat.jpg

[mkvh]

OMG, smurf--Kate reminds me so much of my DD! Right down to the being to nosy to sleep in the stroller. Her expression in the Bumbo is hilarious. I realy do need to just tell MIL that 2 hours max awake time is the rule...I think I need to "grow a set" :rolleyes: Yeah, we're BAD moms for making our kids sleep in their cribs. :rolleyes:

klav--yay for a sling that works!

Lizard--Hoping the growth spurt ends soon! Hang in there...

Wrighty--thanks for the rec. I remember reading somewhere, though, that Lily Padz dont' work well if you're larger than average??

[makena32204]

Also, DD's getting a bald spot on the back of her head... when she gets tired she moves her head back and forth like she's doing a Stevie Wonder imitation. :) So it's rubbing all the hair off the back of her head.


Same here!! PLus, the hair under the bald spot is getting long, so she's staring to get a mullet look!

[a_spark]

bald spot/mullet Same with Ava! :)



As for the animals all running and hiding, that had me cracking up because all I could picture was the scene at the beginnign of Bambi where the animals were running from the forest fire.


LOL! That is so funny. That's exactly how it was.

[Wrighty26]

Wrighty--thanks for the rec. I remember reading somewhere, though, that Lily Padz dont' work well if you're larger than average??


Hmmm... I think I read that somewhere too, but I haven't had any problems. I think I'm a little larger than average (DD). I guess it depends on how big your nipples are (and I'm in no way asking you to share!) and how much you are leaking. The Lily Padz don't absorb any leakage-- they just stick on your bbs (well nipples really) and stop the leaking from occuring in the first place.

Let's see if I can fit the word "nipple" in any more sentences today :D

Pro pics - Braeden got pics done at Target @ 1 month-- and I'm going to take him back again at 3 months. I suggest something that is bright colored (we dressed B in a light green onsie and it kinda blends in with the white background). Oh- and something solid. I don't think patterns come out as well.

[Amaye]

Hey everyone. I've been reading alone but haven't had much time to post. Last time she got weighted was at 7w5d and she was 11pd 7ounces so she is growing well.

Mia is doing well and growing. She has her 2month WVB on Monday. I am so not looking forward to it but have bough Tylenol to give her before the shots.

Schedule/SleepHa! What is that? It seems like our schedule changes every 2 days or so. I give her a bath around 7.30/8pm, get her dressed (while she screams bloody murder for removing her from the water), fed and she goes down. She might sleep till 11pm or 1am. And from then on, we are up for the night with her finally falling alseep around 4am. She wakes up around 8am, eats and then is asleep again by 10ish. She might then sleep till 1 or longer and then is up again. She eats and might take another nap. Around 5pm, we go for a walk and she usually takes a little nap.

When she is up during the night, she eats, wants to play, talks, tries to look around (room is very dim) and is fussy. I don't know what to do to get her to sleep. She will nurse and start to fall asleep and then jerks away all fussy. She also farts a lot. I have stopped all dairy and I'm lost as to what is causing the gas. I have given up dairy and have not introduced anything new to my diet.

Everyone keeps telling me that she is confuesed and will change back to sleeping at night but she is supposed to be over that stage at this point. Any suggestions from anyone on how to get her to move her long stretches of sleep to the night time?

Smurf We did take professional pics of DD when she was 1month old. We just had her in her diaper though now l think we should have used a cute diaper pants but they came out lovely. Here is one of the pictures.

http://static.flickr.com/98/249939211_54952dd456.jpg?v=0

Getting out of the house We go for a walk everyday in the evening and during the weekends, we might go to visit a friend. We try to go visit in the afternoon after she has had a long nap and is happy. Then if she falls asleep while we are at a friends, we put her down in her car sleep or make a safe area on their bed.

Rolling over She has done this twice but we haven't seen her doing it. She is usually in her bassinet and playing/waking up when she does it.

Ok got to run, she is awake again.

[isaacsmommy]

klav- You're right it is gental naturals. My dh thinks it stinks too! Lol. The smell is strong, but I don't think it is a bad smell.

[sunchaser26]

Cradle Cap:

My little guy has druy skin on the top of his head I have tried to brush it out but I can only get so much before he has had enough. Is there any reason to get it off, does it hurt the skin or keep new hair from growing??

Pictures:

I have wondered the same thing about photos, what kind of outfits or outfit should you choose for photos...

Balding:

Jacob keeps loosing more and more hair mostly around the sides and back, but low on the back he has some and on the top where the cradle cap is.

I can't believe that my son will be 3 months old on Monday!

[MMK]

wrighty: not that I'm happy to hear Braeden is waking more often over night again but it does make me feel better about our situation. I've been really frustrated feeling like we're regressing but keep reminding myself that babies will be babies! He's also started to scream more which I guess has really added to my frustration. Drew was NEVER a big crier/screamer before the last few days so now when he does it I'm completely taken aback.

Amaye: beautiful pic!

hair: around 3 weeks Drew started losing the hair from the top of his head and sides but it stayed longish above his ears and around the back. He seriously looked like he had male pattern baldness or was is training to be a monk. It was kind of funny but really looked pretty dreadful!:rolleyes: Anyway, he's now filling back in at the top so doesn' quite resemble an old man so much.

Oh, for dry skin, rash, hair issues, I really like using Cetaphil (both the wash and the lotion). It's pretty cheap and really did wonders for us.

[nuhmah]

hair: around 3 weeks Drew started losing the hair from the top of his head and sides but it stayed longish above his ears and around the back. He seriously looked like he had male pattern baldness or was is training to be a monk.

JJ is doing the same thing.... it has not started to grow back, though. It is really thick at the back of his head (near his ears) and is pretty long.

[Sophia]

OMG, I haven't posted in 8 days! :eek: :o

Hand Sucking & Drooling: Lili's definitely doing this. She's even managed to suck/chew on her thumbs a few times, but usually it's the whole fist.

Videos: Those are so cute! I need to upload some of ours at soem point.

Tummy time / Rolling over: I think it's going to be a while for us because Lili doesn't like to be on her tummy very long. Sometimes I let her get a little fussy so she can try to self soothe, and I think if I left her long enough she might accidentally roll over from her flailing, but I don't like her to get too worked up.

Schedule:

9:30--down for the night
7:00--awake/eat/30 min. break/eat
8:30--nap
10:30--awake/eat
12:00--nap
2:00--awake/eat
4:00--nap
5:00--awake/eat
6:30--nap
8:00--awake/eat/break/eat
9:30--start over

THe morning is much more predictable than the afternoon/evening.

Pumping at night: When she started STTN I stopped pumping at night because I'm trying to have my body follow her schedule as closely as possible. I pump around 10PM and then again at 6AM.
Here's my pumping schedule (I'm EPing):
6AM
10AM
2PM
6PM
10PM

Sleep habits: She's still sleeping in the swing at night, but she's taking more naps in the PnP or crib, and she can even be put in the PnP totally awake, play/look at her mobile for a while, and fall asleep on her own with only minimal fussing. This usually happens while I'm pumping or washing the pump/bottle stuff. It's really exciting because it makes me feel she's not relying on the swing too much.

[maryanne]

Ugghhh, Poor Melody is running a fever and has been up and screaming since 10 am. I finally got her to fall asleep. She was so overtired that she literally couldn't calm down.

A few minutes ago (13 hours since she first woke up) I grabbed a blanket and swaddled her so tightly that she couldn't move. She feel asleep within three minutes of it. Usually she hates anything limiting her movements but she was on overdrive and couldn;t stop the herky jerky movements.

I hope that she will sleep well tonight and that the fever will break

[a_spark]

maryanne Poor Melody! I hope she woke up feverless this morning.

amaye That is such a cute picture!!!! :)

[nuhmah]

maryanne - I hope Melody is feeling better and she finally got some rest!!!

We went to the drive-in tonight! It is quite chilly here, and there was a breeze, so we dressed him super warm! Jeans, l/s shirt, heavy socks, sweater, wrapped in a blanket, and snuggled with either one of us. His sweater is the most adorable little thing from Gymboree - it has monkey ears on top of the hood (which he wore without a fuss the entire evening!).

http://jamieandjen.com/Gallery1/albums/album32/100_4762.sized.jpg

I am going to a NINO meeting with a friend tomorrow - I am excited to meet up with other Portland mama's and talk shop about baby carriers!

[Mystikal]

maryanne I hope she feels better this morning!
nuhmah how precious!!

Am I the only one with a child that will refuse to nap for more than 20 minutes at a time some days and still be happy? I'm always looking for her sleepy cues on weekends when I'm home with her, and when she shows them I start getting her ready for a nap, but when she goes down some days she won't sleep longer than 20 minutes, and that's only twice a day. The rest of the day she's awake and happy and content to play on her kick and crawl or the blanket on the floor. It's so weird. :confused:

[lindybug]

Well, DH is finally back from his trip. He was gone a week and a half. Luckily my Mom was able to come visit and help me out. It actually went pretty fast.

naps ~ DS isn't much of a napper either. Some days he's just awake and happy, other days he gets overtired and fussy, but still won't nap much. It's exhausting. Lately, DS will fall asleep in his swing in fron of a Baby Einstein DVD. I hope I'm not being a terrible parent by encouraging this, but I figure some sleep during the day is better than no sleep. Hopefully one he gets better at napping, I can worry about transitioning to the crib. He sleeps there at night at least.

night ~ Things are improving, it seems. Two nights ago he slept a 6 hour stretch, 9pm-3am. Last night it was two 4 hour stretches, 9:30-1:30, then 2:30-6:30. So, we are getting there...

back to work ~ I am still so torn on this! I'm due to go back to work in a couple weeks. I would work at home Mondays and Fridays and go in to the office Tuesdays-Thursdays. Our daycare fell through at the last minute, but we've been able to find a replacement. She's a nice lady, but I get queasy thinking about leaving him with a virtual stranger. (We have no family nearby.) On the other hand, we could really use the extra money my salary brings in. It would be very tight without it and we'd have to make many major lifestyle changes. Plus (and I hate to admit this) staying home with DS every day can be very hard on me. When he has his fussy days and can't sleep, I can get pretty depressed. But then I feel guilty leaving him. Add to it the fact that we'll probably have to start giving him formula since I don't think I'll be able to pump enough to keep up with his bottles while at daycare, and I get even more depressed. I worry going to daycare will mess up his nighttime sleeping because he'll want more Mommy time when I'm home... But then I think daycare might be good to get him on some sort of nap schedule during the day, since I haven't been able to do it. Ugh, it's a no-win, very very difficult decision.

After all, how can I leave this face?
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y43/lindybug/111259370403_0_ALB.jpg

[hokiegirlie]

lindybug--I know it's a tough decision to make. I went through the same things and decided that I really just had to give it a try. If I find that I'm miserable or that the baby isn't doing well with the sitter, then I'll quit. I've only been back two weeks, but it's going great and I've really enjoyed getting out of the house and back into the swing of things.

p.s.....He's adorable!

[MMK]

lindybug: I have to say, every time I see your avatar it makes me laugh! You captured that sad face so perfectly. Some days I think I may be making that face! For the foreseeable future I'm going to be a sahm and I SO hear you on the desire to get out of the house a few days a week. If I had a job that would allow that kind of flexibility I'd probably do it (and feel guilty as well!). As for the guilt, it is really a no win situation...I spend so much time on my own with dh that I feel like that is just as problematic as him spending time at daycare. I just feel like all of our alone time prevents him from learning the socialization skills he needs (a mama's boy in the making!). It's all a guessing game!

rolling over: when you all talk about roling over, do you mean tummy to back? I've always heard babies always go that way first but it seems to me Drew is MUCH closer to going the other way (back to tummy).

naps: some days I get a few hour plus naps other days (today) he's awake after 20 minutes every time I put him down. I'm trying to just let go of the whole obsessision I have with how much he's sleeping and trying to figure out a schedule. It was/is starting to drive me crazy.

[mkvh]

lindy--The work/SAH decisions definitely is VERY difficult, probably because either way there is sacrifice involved. I agree with hokie--give it a try. The worst thing that can happen is that you HATE working and you quit later rather than now. But I think you have to set a time for the trial period. If I just said, "If I hate it, I'll quit." I wouldn't have made it through the first week. I think maybe a month is a good timeframe. I still want to quit at least once a week, and I'm dreading going in tomorrow. But at the same time, it's nice to be more than Momma once in a while.

[Can't_Wait]

We are thinking about switching our car seat from the peg perego viaggio to the britax decathlon. We just took a short trip this weekend (3 hour drive w/o stops) & Isabella was miserable. I remembered reading on here about the viaggio not being comfortable from cece (unfortunately we already had the seat!). So anyway... I was wondering about those of you who have a convertable car seat how you deal w/ grocery shopping or trips to target. You can't put a convertable in the shopping cart and our babies are not big enough to sit up on their own & sit in the stroller or shopping cart.

TIA!

[mrst2b2003]

Back to work- I do envy those who are not going back to work. I have to go back in two weeks and even though I have a great flexible job that I work from home, I still am worried about leaving my DS. My mom is going to watch him at our house on mondays and wed. so I will try to schedule all my client visits on those days and then me and my husband will work our schedules around each others meeting the other days of the week. We both work from home so we will see how it goes in the next couple of weeks. If we need to hire someone to stay with him at our house for the other days then we will, but for now we are going to try and make it work. At least until he is a little older.

2 month appointment- Avery had his this morning. At 10 weeks he is 23.5 inches and 13 pounds 6 oz. He is a big boy. 75th percentile for weight and height and head circum. He had his shots this morning too and didn't like them at all. Mommy cried right along side Avery. Once he nursed he seemed better


Here are some pictures from our vacation to the cape two weeks ago. I finally got a smile on camera.

Avery lounging on the beach:

http://static.flickr.com/93/252644564_f76a07995c.jpg?v=0

Avery in the sand castle his dad built for him:

http://static.flickr.com/83/252644573_08c6d383af.jpg?v=0

Avery and his daddy on the beach:
http://static.flickr.com/50/252644554_3b02dae6ef.jpg?v=0


and some smiles:

http://static.flickr.com/101/252638229_314200713c.jpg?v=0
http://static.flickr.com/90/252644551_0a8741625f.jpg?v=0

[mmisabel]

Mrs2b - Avery is just gorgeous! Cutest smiles!

numhah - what a cutie. Love that sweater!

Lindy - So cute!

Going back to work - This is my last week off :( I've been having quite a few breakdowns this week, so I understand your feelings of guilt Lindy. Just about every one I've talked to who went back to work after a baby say it gets easier and you get into a routine. It still doesn't make it easy, but there is no ideal situation. I have to work or we couldn't pay our mortgage, but to me I also want to take our son on vacations, go out to dinner, etc. Staying home and staying out of Target would be tough! Winning the lottery would be nice ;)

rolling over - Nathan doesn't last long during tummy time. I don't see it happening anytime too soon.

[Amaye]

So we went for our 2 month shots today and Mia did pretty well. She was kinda cranky by the time we got to the ped (prickly heat rash) and was fussing/crying when she got examined. The ped told me to nurse while she got her shots and that was a great idea. She screamed with the first shots but barely flinched with the other 3 - thank goodness! I couldn't even look at the needles.:o

She is growing well - at 9weeks, she was 12pd (75% percentile) and 23.5inches (85% percentile). She just has 2 types of rashes that are all over her body and they are killing me. I nearly cried when l looked at her on Sat - the rashes were all over for back and front. Luckily my friend who is a ped was able to look at her and suggest some things to do which l did all weekend. I hope they go away soon.

Lindy It's a hard decision either way. As much as l love being at home with her, I think l am slightly losing myself. Mia still doesn't want to take the bottle so l can't go out without her and I need to do so. I am supposed to go back in the middle of Oct but have 3-4 weeks of vacation left so l think l will go back end of Oct. I am torn - wanting to go back but knowing l am going to miss Mia a lot. It's a tough decision.

[klav]

Baptism!!!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/klynch/liam/DSC03865.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/klynch/liam/DSC03860.jpg

with his great grandmother!!
http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y219/klynch/liam/DSC03843.jpg

wow sorry soo big

[Soulmate]

Can't WaitSo anyway... I was wondering about those of you who have a convertable car seat how you deal w/ grocery shopping or trips to target.We have not transitioned to a car seat but part of me would really like to since he has gotten so friggin heavy in that car seat. I was thinking of slinging him. Sort of a PITA when you are just running in and out though. Maybe put her in a stroller that is easy to fold and lift.

[nuhmah]

can't wait - I sling him everywhere I go! I have a pouch for quick in and out trips, and I use my MT for longer outings, and when we go out to eat.

[Wrighty26]

Can't Wait - I still use my infant carseat (he doesn't seem to mind it for the most part), but I love to wear him when we go anywhere for a longer period of time. Highly recommend the Kozy-- or any kind of MT. I get so many compliements too!

MrsT - Awww...Avery is such a sweety! Love the beach pictures :)

klav - Liam is so cute-- and serious! How did the baptism go?

lindybug - I agree that going back to work is such a personal decision. It's working out great for us. I feel like when I am with Braeden I can really give him 100%. It takes a lot more patience than I have to be a SAHM (IMO). I actually feel guilty for NOT feeling guilty. Yes, there are some days when it's hard to leave, but I know that it's for the best. And to whoever said it's good for the bank account-- AMEN -- I spend way too money when I am alone with him for too long (especially at Target-- that evil, glorious place) :)

NIP - I'm SOOO proud of myself-- I just had to share. I whipped out the bbs (I did cover myself though) at the mall, the very nice mall to boot, this weekend, not once but TWICE and did not bat an eyelash. I have been super self consicious about doing this--but it really wasn't as big a deal that I thought it was going to be. I did get one dirty look--but I just gave her a dirty look right back. Bitch!

I was emailing with my college roommate tonight and she is trying to get pregnant. It struck me as odd, but if she gets pregnant this cycle she could possibly have a July 2007 baby. Can you believe that we all got pregnant almost a year ago?? It totally blows my mind!

[maryanne]

I know Wrighty. Our first wedding anniversary is this weekend--I can't believe that we'll be celebrating it with our three month old...lol!

What a strange year it has been. If you told me last year while planning the wedding that a year later I would be up to my ears in diapers- i would have thought you were crazy!

[lindybug]

Am I the only one whose DC is still not sleeping consistently?!

Last night he went down at 8:45, was up at 9, 11, 1:15, and 5. UGH! I gave up then and brought him in bed with me where he ate and I napped until 7.

The night before, he slept 9-1, then was up for 3 hours, and finally back asleep 4-6 (in the swing).

The two nights before that were great, for our standards. Two four-hour stretches on Saturday night and one six-hour (!) stretch on Friday night. I had high hopes. *sigh*

He still isn't napping during the day either, which drives me crazy. Everyone tells me it gets easier at 3 months. Well, we are almost there and I am seeing NO improvement.

[Amaye]

LindyBug You are not the only one. DD is still not sleeping well at all. She doesn't sleep most of the night and then takes a long nap in the morning from about 9/10 to 2/3 and maybe another nap around 4ish but from then it's all playing it by ear. She gets a bath around 7.30pm and eats and is supposed to sleep. At times she does, at time she doesn't or sleeps for 1hr and is up for the rest of the night with mini-naps. I am so frustrated but just hanging on and praying that her schedule changes.

[Sophia]

So anyway... I was wondering about those of you who have a convertable car seat how you deal w/ grocery shopping or trips to target.


Do you have enough room in your trunk to keep the infant seat in there and only use it for shopping trips? It's not like the weight restriction matters if you're not actually driving around.

Or you could sling.

[nuhmah]

Well... I am flying today! I am heading home for 2 weeks to visit my parents. Problems have arisen with our trip to France, so in the meantime my parents bought the ticket home for me. Their reason - they want to see their grandson! LOL I will report back on our experience when I get to NY. But I am super pissed... I bought a carseat bag/case with wheels on it so I can gate-check it and easily pull it through the airport and I paid for upgraded shipping. It is STILL not here, and I purchased it a week ago. I have been on the phone all day yesterday with UPS trying to intercept and pick up the darn thing, but no such luck. :(

Wrighty - yay for NIP! I hate those stares that you get from people, at least she didn't make a comment!

Amaye - glad that nursing during shots worked for you! I hope that her rashes go away! Poor thing!

klav - Liam looks so cute in his baptism gown! Great pictures!

[Can't_Wait]

Thanks for the ideas on the car seat dilema. I was thinking about slinging her when I go for longer trips. I ordered a Kozy... so we'll see how that works out. She is not fond of the hot sling for very long. Not sure why. I could fit the infant car seat in the back too... as long as we didn't need to get very much. I guess it will work out. Just a little bit more work than it is now.

[makena32204]

lindybug - You are not alone! Amelia was going so great up until recently. She's reverted back to waking up every two hours. I go back to work in 2 weeks, so I'm a little nervous. I hope she goes back to just getting up once during the night. I'm going to need the sleep.

[mmisabel]

klav - too cute!

numhah - what a bummer! I hope you got it in time.....

lindy - Nathan reverted to waking up 3x a night a few weeks ago, now he seems to be at 1-2. I really think it varies, but I bet it's temporary.

wrighty - yeah for NIP! You're a braver woman than I am. I just went to the regular MD and had to put down the date of my last period. It was 9/05!! I couldn't believe I haven't had AF in a year. Can't say I miss her!!

leg stiffness - has anyone noticed this? Nathan seems like he constantly wants to be trying to stand. Is this normal??????!!??!

[Wrighty26]

leg stiffness - has anyone noticed this? Nathan seems like he constantly wants to be trying to stand. Is this normal??????!!??!

I was noticing this about Braeden today! His legs have gotten SOOOO much stronger-- even in the past couple of days. His prefered position (when he's not sleepy) is either on my lap facing out or standing. I sure hope it's normal :)

[klav]

thank you everyone!! tha baptism went really well and the party after was great!! everyone was raving about the food and loved the private ceramony we got!! it was wonderful!

[Mystikal]

Stiff legs/standin Julia has been doing this a lot lately, too, as well as trying to sit up on her own. Whenver we have her on our laps facing out she always leans forward to get away from us. lol. She's very independent.

I finally got Julia to laugh for me tonight!! I was so excited. I was just talking to her while she was in her bouncy chair and she kept grinning at me like crazy so I took her hands and started acting goofy and all of a sudden she just laughed! I got her to do it a couple more times and was so excited I kept laughing. lol. I must have looked like a goof!

[mkvh]

stiff legs/standing--yup..Clara has been doing this for a couple of weeks but a lot more in the last few days. She's also trying to pull herself upright when she is seated reclined a la the carseat. It's amazing how quickly they get strong!

nuhmah--have a safe trip! How fun!! Enjoy your family.

klav--great pics. So glad the day went well. Liam has the cutest look on his face in the first picture! And you look great!

AF--I have a sneaking suspicion that I'm going to get back to "normal" sooner rather than later, so I've started temping again. Oh how I wish AF would stay away longer!

[mmisabel]

leg stiffness - thanks ladies! I convinced myself yesterday he had too much muscle tone and started to worry! I was pretty sure it's normal, but it's great to feel reassured.

Ocean wonders crib aquarium- anyone have this with a convertible crib?? How the heck do you attach it on?

[Lizard]

I haven't posted for a while, we've been busy around here!

mmisabel - We have that aquarium, it has straps on the back that we attached to the top rail of the crib. It was pretty easy, but the aquarium is an older one that was handed down to me... maybe yours is different?

nuhmah - I can't wait to hear how your flight experience goes. I've been entertaining the idea of flying DD and myself to Milwaukee to visit my family, since it's an 8 hour drive but a 1 hour flight. Both options scare me at this point!

NIP - Good for you! I haven't had the opportunity to do this yet... I don't have a problem with it, but I know that DH would. When I'm in the living room feeding DD, he'll pull the blinds and curtains even though there's no way anyone outside can see anything. :rolleyes:

klav - You look great and so does Liam! I think we're going to do a baby dedication around Christmas when we're home, as my uncle is a minister and offered to do it.

DD has been great lately... sleeping and eating well for the most part. Doing things with her outside the house is very hit and miss though. We went to the zoo on Sunday with BIL and his family, and she slept nearly the entire time. But then if we go out to eat, she screams like crazy. I guess she enjoys the movement and the fresh air (she falls asleep all the time during walks). I really really wish we could go out to a restaurant with her though. :(

She has been reaching for and grabbing toys! It is the cutest thing. We got some small Lamaze toys at the consignment sale this weekend, and she LOVES them. She's also been smiling like crazy and scooting around by pushing her legs on the ground and pushing off of things. I find her backwards in her crib all the time. No laughs yet, but I think we're close - she is chattering a lot.

All in all we're just puttering along. Most days are really good. Every once in a while though, I get a day where even though she's good, I feel depressed and crappy. Anyone else have this? I almost always feel fine again the next day, so I'm thinking it's still hormonal.

Here are a couple recent pics:

Big smile:
http://members.cox.net/lcruver/092206-1.jpg

We bought her a winter hat, this was her reaction when we put it on. :eek: :D
http://members.cox.net/lcruver/092406-1.jpg

[mkvh]

NIP - Good for you! I haven't had the opportunity to do this yet... I don't have a problem with it, but I know that DH would. When I'm in the living room feeding DD, he'll pull the blinds and curtains even though there's no way anyone outside can see anything. :rolleyes:

Man, do I identify! I NIP all the time when out w/ friends but w/ DH, I have to pump a bottle. Dh specifically has said he doesn't like it. Good thing we have a big back seat!!

[Wrighty26]

Most days are really good. Every once in a while though, I get a day where even though she's good, I feel depressed and crappy. Anyone else have this? I almost always feel fine again the next day, so I'm thinking it's still hormonal.


Yep...I get those days too. All in all I am overjoyed at how smoothly this mommy thing is going for me, but some days I just want to sit around and mope. I also have a hard time looking at pregnancy-related stuff...it makes me sad because I'm not anymore.

This may also sound a little weird but I have a few friends who are TTC right now and I'm a little jealous. I'm nowhere NEAR ready to be trying for #2, but I think that I miss the excitement of trying (although I don't miss the frustration) and everything surrounding pregnancy.

I keep hoping that this jealous/desire to be pregnant thing will go away soon because we don't intend to try again until Braeden is 2 or 3!

Lizard - Love that picture of Dorla in the hat! So cute :)

NIP - I don't think DH would mind, but I can kinda understand why he would get a little freaked out. Our HOA has a lawnservice mow our lawn each week and we have a huge sliding glass door that leads out from our family room. When I nurse during the day, I generally sit on my chaise with my back towards the glass door. It DOES freak him out that I will continue to nurse B even when the lawnguys are doing something in our backyard. I'm pretty sure that he would have to look REALLY hard and from a certain angle to see anything so I just ignore the freak out!

[Can't_Wait]

That is so sad that so many people have a problem with nursing in public or around other people. Nursing is the reason we have breasts for goodness sakes! They were not meant to be a sex-object as many people see them as. If my baby gets hungry while I am out, I find a place to sit & nurse her. I do use a blanket to cover up b/c of my own modesty but I don't mind anyone knowing what I am doing. In other countries mothers nurse their babies right out in the open... while standing in line w/o any cover up. Wish our culture was more open to that! We would have a lot more moms breast feeding their babies.

[lindybug]

Lizard ~ Your DD's faces are too cute! :)

[nuhmah]

Well, everyone - flying was GREAT!!! For anyone toying with checking vs. gate checking their carseat - gate check it! There were open seats on both of my flights. On the first one, I gate checked my carseat, and then wandered around the airport until boarding time. When I came back, there was an agent waiting for me and told me that since there were a few empty seats he had moved us, and taken the liberty of installing my seat for me! :eek: :D All throughout each airport (Portland, Atlanta, and Albany, NY) the agents were helpful and amazing. I nursed him during each take-off and landing, and he slept most of the rest of the time. He chilled in his carseat when we were not nursing, and I got tons of compliments on how great he was on all of his flights. I am actually looking forward to the flight home and not dreading it. I was nervous how this was going to go, and I had no reason to be!

The wheelie bag did not come in time. :( But DH is going to mail it to me to use for the flight home. What pisses me off is that I paid for quicker shipping, and now he has to pay to ship it to me. I should get some sort of partial refund, although I don't forsee that happening.

NIP - DH doesn't have a problem with it, but I don't think he is overly comfortable about it, either. But I think he knows it is a necessary "evil." He just doesn't want me to feel uncomfortable about it, because I have received glares and comments about it before.

Lizard - LOVE the pic with the hat!

Off to go shopping with mom... she has Osh Kosh, Gymboree, and Carter's outlet stores right here in Lake George. DH bought something for JJ today from Gymboree too! Good thing... he is outgrowing most of his 3-6 month stuff already. The problem is the length - so I may get some stuff to make some extenders for his onesies that he wears with pants and such. They just snap in the regular snaps to make them longer. He is swimming in them, otherwise.

[Soulmate]

Lizard When I see that pic of Dorla in the hat I totally get an image of that being a part of a photo montage at her wedding ;)

[hotmama]

hey everyone!

sorry i don't have time to get here more often. life with 2 kids is busy but going very well. i'm LOVING every moment of being a stay-at-home-mom. my heart goes out to those of y ou that have to return to work soon...or already have returned. HUGS!

my older son, Aiden, is turning 2 in about 2 weeks. i've been busy planning his bday party...in between everything else, of course. since my entire family will be in town for Aiden's bday party, we scheduled Graham's baptism for the following day. it's going to be quite the entertaining weekend for us. it's the weekend of the 7th and 8th. wish me luck! we'll have tons of family in town.

and i just tallied Aiden's bday party list. wow! how did we get 28 children and 32 adults? yes, that would be 60 people!!! gosh, we have too many friends and family members. just kidding! :) it's going to be a blast and will be sure to come back and tell you all about it. maybe even get a chance to upload some pics. haha!

otherwise, Graham is doing well. he is too precious for words. such a mild mannered baby. still never cries or makes a peep unless he's huingry or tired. we don't even get those yucky gas pain cries. he is a much different baby from his big bro. we had his 2 month well baby apt on monday. he's 12.3 pounds (75%), 24 inches (90%), and 16cm head. we had the horrible shots and i'm glad those are over with. i cried more than he did. no, it doesn't get easier with the 2nd baby. sorry.

as far as development, he's following us around the room with his eyes/head, we're getting HUGE open-mouthed smiles and tons of adorable cooing. it's amazing! i melt every time. we're doing tummy time once a day. his head is nice and round. :) his schedule was predictable up until yesterday. normally, he sleeps from 9am-1pm every day and then catnaps all afternoon. it is a blessing b/c that is precious time alone with my older son. the evenings are what is getting less predictable. sometimes he wants to go to bed early. other nights it's late. last night he didn't go to sleep until midnight. that is unheard of for him. usually, he wants to be in bed by 8:30, right after a bath. don't know what happened last night and hope that is not the case this evening. i've been home alone (hubby is in europe on business) and i need some down time at night for myself.

regarding STTN, not yet around here. he has been waking me up somewhere around 1 or 2 and then again around 5. he always goes right back to sleep tho. he's such a good sleeper that i hope soon enough he'll begin to sleep right through. he's been sleeping in a basinett since he was born. we're going to move him to the pack-n-play by the end of the week b/c he's getting so long. hopefully being in a bigger bed will help. my older son is still loving his crib so no chance of Graham having a real crib anytime soon.

BFing 100% right now and it's going really well. i am pleased to see him gaining so much weight.

birth announcements went out a week ago and we ended up ordering with amber from inababycarriage. she is fabulous. everyone has been raving about them and the pics we chose are so cute. we went with a 2-sided design so we could include some pics of Aiden with his baby bro.

well, i think i've gone on enough here. and Aiden is up the street at a friends house. he's playing while i'm *supposed* to be grocery shopping. better run...this is precious alone time for me.

hope you all are doing well, too!

[emmjay]

I haven't posted in a little while but I think I have read everything!

NIP - I have supply issues so I can't do this (I'd have to give him a bottle after anyway), but even if I could I think I would be too self conscious. I think it's great when people do.

Trying for #2 - we're going to try starting at the end of this year. I was just thinking today that I want another baby already! I must be crazy.

Flying - our first trip will be Thanksgiving and DH will be with me. We paid for a seat for Seamus just because I know the plane will be full due to the holiday, so I think it will be fine. It's a short flight anyway - only 2.5 hours or so.

My biggest concern right now is the BFing. I had a reduction 8 yrs ago so I did anticipate supply issues, but right now I'm trying to decide what/how to manage his feeding. It's such a procedure at the moment - I usually BF, then give a bottle, then pump. It takes forever. Sometimes I just pump then give a bottle. I also think my already small supply is getting smaller so I am trying to freeze a couple of ounces a day just to have them for later. I'm planning to use those as his intake needs grow. As it is I only provide about 1/4 to 1/3 of his intake per day, so some days I don't think it's worth the effort.

Most of the time it's OK but I hate pumping at 3 am, I hate that he nurses for 5-7 mins then needs a bottle, and I hate all of the time it takes!! The only things keeping me going are that I know some breastmilk is better than none, and I know he likes to nurse sometimes outside of being hungry. It's just frustrating - I wish I could just stop the BFing altogether but I would feel too guilty. My first goal is to make it to 3 months (end of October), then to the end of the year. By that time he'll be eating solids and I'll feel better about stopping. Until then I think I'll just have to deal.

Sorry for the diatribe - I think today has been extra annoying for me!

We have the 2-month appt on Friday, and I"m looking forward to seeing his measurements. Not looking forward to the shots thought...

[mkvh]

hotmama--great to hear from you. Glad things are going so well!

Can't Wait--I feel the same way you do. If only everyone else did...

nuhmah--WOOO HOOOO for an easy flight! I can't believe JJ is growing out of his 3-6 month stuff already!

emmjay--kudos to you for working so hard to give your DS mama's milk! Keep nursing and pumping to keep up your supply...we'll be here cheering you on!!

[MMK]

emmjay: wow, I'm so impressed by your dedication. I don't have much in the way of advice but just wanted to let you know what a great thing it is you're doing!

wrighty/number 2: YES! I so hear you on the jealousy thing. My sil and good friend told me within days of each other that they are expecting. I must admit I had serious jealous pangs. I tried to explain the way i was feeling to dh but he really didn't get it and was just mostly nervous that I wanted another baby right now! I think what really makes me sad is that even when we are ready for number 2, it won't have the same impact as number 1. I think these feelings must be hormonal!

emmjay: jealous you already have plans to try again (see above!).

nip: I haven't done this yet (I generally find a dressing room if we're at the mall or use my car) but I want to give it a try mostly just for the experience. DH is definitely not a fan so I think that's one of the reasons I have hesitated this long.

well, we're all headed out of town for a wedding this weekend. It will be the first time I leave Drew with a sitter (sil) for several hours. I'm nervous but looking forward to some grown-up time! Have a great weekend.

[mkvh]

#2--MUST be hormonal! I didn't want to give up my maternity clothes at 6 weeks pp :rolleyes: We are planning on trying for #2 starting next summer, and I am EAGERLY counting down. Although we're also not preventing right now. Just in case I O so that we get another summer baby. Yes, I am insane.

[Lizard]

#2 - Wow, I am in awe of you ladies that are thinking about it already. :D DH originally wanted to start trying right away because we wanted the kids close together in age. But, I think both of us have reconsidered that. I don't want to think about it until she's at LEAST a year old now. But who knows, maybe that will change. We are only planning on having 2 kids.

DD slept from 8:15 to 6:15 last night, which was awesome, but the BEST part was that I went to bed at 10 and slept until she woke up! Usually I wake up at least once to check on her. So that was 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep... I can't remember the last time I've had that much sleep, since most of the pregnancy I was waking up several times a night to pee. Yay!!

[mkvh]

YAY LIZ FOR A GREAT NIGHT'S SLEEP!!! Go Dori!!!

[klav]

LOL my DH was asking about #2 while I was in the hospital haveing #1 but I think we have agreed #2 will come in about a year or so..

[lindybug]

#2 ~ Ha! If things don't get easier soon, I think DS may be an only child. But if we do decide to have another, we've agreed not to start trying until he is at least 2 years old.

Lizard ~ So jealous of your sleep!!!

[emmjay]

Lizard - we want to have 2 kids too, but I'm 34 now so we need to get on the ball (no pun intended :p ).

ETA - I went to Weight Watchers this morning and Seamus was shrieking the whole way over there for some unknown reason. By the time we got there he was calmer but still looking pissed off. I had him in his carseat on the floor and this old lady says, "Oh, look at the baby" and I made a comment in passing that he was mad about something. So she said in this definitive tone, "He's upset because he's vomiting". WTF? VOMITING? He had a tiny dot of spit up in the corner of his mouth - it wasn't even the size of a pea. Shut up, you old bag! :rolleyes:

[smurf]

Numah—yeah for a good flying experience! Kate and I will be flying home for Christmas (DH will drove down later), and I’m already getting nervous about flying alone with her!

Ocean Wonders Aquarium—we have this on our convertible crib, but it really doesn’t do much good. We had to put it on the end b/c it wouldn’t fit on the side. So, Kate can hear it but really can’t see it very well.

Lizard—Dorla is so cute, I love the hat picture! She sounds a lot like my DD—pretty content to be out in the stroller, but very difficult to go out and eat with. We pretty much have to limit ourselves to fast food places if we want to eat out because Kate gets to antsy if we stay too long in a real restaurant. Oh well, on the bright side, it’s saving us money!
Oh, and I totally hear you on the emotional days. I guess those hormones are still messing with us a bit.

NIP—I did this for the first time this weekend. We were at the mall and I didn’t want to have to find a dressing room to fit the stroller into, so I just found a somewhat secluded spot and went for it. I think I’m way more self-conscious than I need to be. People didn’t even pay attention to me—I think they just thought I was holding a sleeping baby.

Jealousy/#2—I have several friends who are preggo right now, and I have to admit that I do get jealous every now and then. It’s such an exciting time in your life, especially when it’s your first baby. We’ll probably start trying for #2 next summer.

Well, Kate’s sleep has taken a step backward the past few nights. Last week she was pretty much STTN, but this week she’s been up 3-4 times. I try to just pat her back to sleep, but she insists on eating. Last night I fed her at 9 and she woke up at midnight acting like she was starving to death. I guess maybe this is part of the 3 month growth spurt. Hopefully it ends soon cause I was getting used to those 6 or 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep last week!

[Amaye]

So to add to DD thrush and multiple rashes, I have now developed mastitis which is so not fun. I am on antibiotics to clear it up but I'm worried because that will make DD's thrush even worse! Ugh! I just feel like we've had one thing after the other to deal with. I just hope that this will be the end of it because it's started to really get to me. DD is still not sleeping well so l don't get to sleep a lot. I can't see how this is all going to work when l go back to work.

#2 With everything happening, there is no longing at all for #2 anytime soon. DH and I had always talked about starting to try when DD was 2yrs old and that's what we are sticking to.

emmjay Ugh!! I would have been annoyed too. Thanks a lot for the unsolicitated advice!:rolleyes:

NIP I've had to only do it in a friend's resturant but I feel pretty comfortable doing so. It's sad that some of you are getting glares/mean looks. To me, BF is so natural and normal and as far as the mom is minding her own business, what are people's problem???

Anyways, I just to share a pic of Mia's smile that I managed to catch!

[mmisabel]

amaye - she's so cute! Bummer about the mastitis. I've heard it's painful :(

hotmama - glad your doing well. We don't hear from too many of the RO's, I can't imagine how busy it must be!

smurf - bummer about Kate waking up again. These babies keep us on our toes!

emmajay - that's quite a commitment you have going on. Good for you!! I hear you on the once he's on food, you'll feel better about giving it up. which leads me to -

how long are you planning BFing for?- My goal is 6 months, I'll have to see how pumping at work goes. If it goes great I may go until 8-9 months, definitely not past 1 year though.

#2 - I hear you guys with the longing and bit of jealousy. It was such an amazing experience and will never be exactly the same again, so it's a little sad. BUT, I'm eager to watch Nathan grow and someday do it all again. I was going to wait until he's 3, but now I'm thinking 2. Ask me when he's 1 though! It's just got to be so much harder with 2 kids.....

work - I go back Monday. I've been crying on and off all week. I'm just so torn. I really wish I was going back on a part-time basis, then I think I'd be ready. Bear with me girls!!! I truly didn't think it would be his hard:(

[hotmama]

hey girlies...had some time to clean out my coupon organizer again. have too many formula coupons and would love to share. i'll send them to you via mail. first e-mail...first receive, just like last time.

my e-mail address is samanthapregenzer @ cox.net

in your e-mail please be sure to let me know which one(s) you want and your mailing address.

here is what i have:

nestle good start: 3 $11, 3 $1

similac: 1 $5,

enfamil: 1 $7, 3 $5

i also have an enfamil coupon for $4.50 to be used at Ralph's grocery store

i am looking forward to giving these away. :)

[emmjay]

Thanks for the kind words about the BFing, everyone! I feel better about it today.

BFing - as I said, my ultimate goal with all of this pumping and everything is through the end of the year. He'll be 5 months then, and I'll just see how it goes after that w/out pumping (just nursing and bottle).

Amaye - Mia is adorable!! :)

Here's a picture of Seamus doing some tummy/boppy time - he's sort of smiling.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m261/mollyj6/boppysmall.jpg

[ShelbyMay]

#2 ~ Ha! If things don't get easier soon, I think DS may be an only child. But if we do decide to have another, we've agreed not to start trying until he is at least 2 years old.



Ditto this. All of it. :)

[Soulmate]

#2 About a month ago I would have said no way. Now that he is growing up so fast I really miss his little scrawny chicken days. He was sooo tiny and I don't think I fully appreciated it. A friend of ours who has 2 children says that even with the 2nd it is hard to appreciate because you are chasing the first you don't have a lot of time to appreciate the 2nd either :( That just makes so so very sad. I guess the lesson is not to wish for milestones because they will never be this little ever again :(:(

[maryanne]

Love to all the mommies! I smile everytime I see the pictures of the babies. I can;t believe how they are all growing.

http://www.smugmug.com/photos/98664781-M-2.jpg

what is this thing you put me in moma?
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/98665005-L-1.jpg

oh...ok, it's pretty cool!
http://www.smugmug.com/photos/98665006-M-3.jpg

I've got some pretty big news! Josh has the opportunity to apply for a new job that he is very interested in. The company that he is with now designs financial software, but this new job would be working IT running their software for a bank. He could either work in a town that is about 30 minutes from here or at the headquarters in NYC. It will pay over DOUBLEvwhat he makes now!!!

this means that i could really be a SAHM and not feel guilty about it...and that we could possibly think about #2 :)

we also revisited the idea of moving into the city!!!! I would LOVE living there. Suburbia is not for me....put me either in the country or the city and I am at my happiest. New York is amazing, I think that we would thrive in there, especially juxaposed with being able to come back out here for the big house yard and pool at his parents.

so we'll see. He needs to talk with HR tomorrow

[isaacsmommy]

Hi ladies! My dh left on Wed for eight days. Yesterday was my first full day completely by myself all day and night and lets just say I am really tired today so I have no energy for SO.

Next baby (#3 for me)-I don't know that there will be a #3 for me, although I really want one more my dh doesn't. The wierd thing is that for the last week I have been having some all too familiar symptoms (very sleepy, emotional, super sensitive smell) and if I didn't know better I would think I was already pg :eek: . I am almost 100% sure I am not though as I am EBF, haven't had a period on top of using condoms, plus everything can be caused by other stuff too. I think my body just likes