October 05 moms - You mean we have TODDLERS? But where did our babies go?

[mcl]

lisa--hope you recover soon and feel better. take care.

lvella--that's so cool about jack's video. i'll make sure to watch ellen tomorrow. i love the invitation.

godsgift--have fun at the party. your floor will look awesome. by the way, did you get my email about meeting up after cj's birthday.

i'll post pics of lj's party soon. i had family stay until yesterday and i'm just now cleaning up everything.

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Makenzie!

Happy Birthday Ella!

[DianeCourt]

Happy Birthday Makenzie!
Happy Birthday Ella!
:D :D :D :D :D :D

[hmbay]

Happy birthday Makenzie and Ella!

[Lvella43]

Happy Birthday Ella!

Happy Birthday Makenzie!

[scubasam]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELLA!! :D

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MAKENZIE!! :D

[lorialys]

Happy Birthday Makenzie and Ella!

[1_mommy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MAKENZIE AND ELLA!!!

[mcl]

happy Birthday To Princess Ella And Princess Makenzie!!! Have A Great Day Girls!

[EJM]

Happy Birthday Ella and Makenzie!!!

[jenjen0713]

I saw this in the Sept 05 thread and thought it might be fun for us to do to find out more about our little ones.

What is your child's....
favorite food
least favorite food
favorite activities
least favorite activities
nickname
funny habit
annoying habit
personality trait

[cartersmommy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLA AND MACKENZIE!! :)

[godsgift77]

Happy Birthday Makenzie!

Happy Birthday Ella!

I'll play :)
What is your child's....
favorite food - meatballs (i make them with ground turkey and pureed veggies)
least favorite food - peaches
favorite activities - walking! LOL!
least favorite activities - sitting anywhere for more than 2.5 seconds
nickname - CJ
funny habit - doing stinky face
annoying habit - spitting
personality trait - his HOT temper!

[jenjen0713]

My name is Hunter and......

my favorite foods - graham crackers, pudding, oatmeal, ice cream and peas
least favorite food - peaches or any other fruit besides bananas
favorite activities - looking out the window and banging on the screen, chasing the cats, swinging, clapping my hands
least favorite activities - getting out of the bathtub, having my face washed
nickname - Merry Sunshine (mom calls me that :rolleyes: )
funny habit - sucking my thumb and grabbing my taggie when I go to sleep
annoying habit - sticking leg between the crib slats and getting them stuck. I scream LOUD until someone comes untangle me., trying to empty ever trash can in the house, pulling my socks off and losing at least one of the my socks in any given day
personality trait - happy-go-lucky

[hmbay]

I know I did this in the Sept thread but I'm too lazy to go find it.

my favorite foods - peas, cheese, ice cream, bananas, cheerios
least favorite food - any pureed fruit
favorite activities - walking, climbing, giving hugs
least favorite activities - diaper changes, sleeping
nickname - squeeky or squeek (my brother is "geek" so they have "squeek and geek")
funny habit - not sleeping unless I'm completely 100% full.
annoying habit - pulling hair, stealing remotes
personality trait - very happy

[Tiger]

Thanks for all of the bday wishes everyone! I took off work yesterday so I could spend time with my birthday girl. We had a great day together. It was a beautiful day out so we headed to the park and spent all afternoon outside. It was wonderful. We leave tomorrow to go visit my family and have her bday party. I'm excited to see my family again since I haven't seen them since the end of July!

Makenzie....
my favorite foods - fruit snacks, anything daddy is eating
least favorite food - any vegatables
favorite activities - dancing, blowing kisses, playing with the dog, reading books
least favorite activities - diaper changes, getting dressed, having my nose wiped
nickname - Kenzie, pretty girl
funny habit - sliding the book I want read as close as I can to mom or dad and then trying to throw it at them so they will read it to me
annoying habit - crying until I get mommy or daddy's cell phone
personality trait - very happy

[Kanga]

What is your child's....
favorite food - veggie/fruit puffs
least favorite food - everything except formula, cheerios, and veggie/fruit puffs
favorite activities - 'playing' with the kitties
least favorite activities - cuddling (:( ) sitting still, getting dressed.
nickname - munchkin, monster
funny habit - slapping her diaper just before and after diaper changes
annoying habit - pulling hair, stealing glasses, changing the channels on the tv
personality trait - very happy, bad temper, likes most everyone

[1_mommy]

What is your child's....
favorite food - all fruits!
least favorite food - i hate eggs! don't really care for pickles either, although my mom gets a laugh at the face i make
favorite activities - following my big sister around. getting into things i am not supossed to be into
least favorite activities - going to bed
nickname - Bubba, bubs
funny habit - playing with my hair, or mommys hair when tired
annoying habit - i am always breaking everyone elses things! whining! digging in the potted plant dirt in the house
personality trait - getting happier the older i get, although i am a very whiny baby. it drives my parents crazy

[DianeCourt]

Lvella: So I remembered to Tivo the Ellen Show today. Guess what? A frickin' thunderstorm must have rolled through the instant she started to play your clip, and our Direct TV lost its signal! I didn't get to see ANY of it. I was SO mad just now when I tried to watch it! I can't believe it. What did she say? Tell us about it! :D

[EJM]

I remembered to turn it on 2 minutes before Jack's clip. (I'll let Lvella share all the details) It was so cute, and he definitely got more airtime than any of the other spots! :D You're a superstar Jack!

[1_mommy]

we watched jack too! so cute!

[mcl]

lvella--i thought it was yesterday, so i tivo'ed yesterday--tuesday:(

[cartersmommy]

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b276/aliezert/wagon.jpg

[DianeCourt]

Carter is TOO cute in his wagon! I love it!

We're going through a bit of a rough time with Lily and I have to admit...I'm a little down about it. She's been suffering from chronic otitis media with effusion (fancy name for lots of ear infections) since she was 3 months old. She gets ear infections at pretty much the rate of one per month. We got a little reprieve over the summer, but they're back with a vengeance now that we're getting into cold & flu season again. Her last infection started the week of 9/10, and we took her in for a checkup yesterday. Both ears are STILL infected. After several months of hoping for improvement, we have an appointment with a Pediatric Ear, Nose, Throat specialist next Wednesday. She needs tubes. That's the earliest appointment I could get. In the meantime, we're waiting the current infection out. She seems OK, but I know she's not 100% happy. That kills me. I want to do something about it NOW, but I have to make her wait a couple days. :(

I'm feeling pretty guilty about all of this. I wonder why my poor little girl is so susceptible to these while most other kids her age haven't had one or have just had one or two. I'm trying not to beat myself up, but I can't help but wonder if we'd be going through this if I breastfed beyond one month. I'm worrying about hearing loss, among other things. I'm ready for her to get tubes, but the procedure itself scares me since she'll be put under.

I know that, in the big scheme of things, this is a pretty simple & straightforward procedure, but because it's my daughter, it seems like a lot more. I'm sorry if I sound like I'm whining.

[jh124]

I'm feeling pretty guilty about all of this. I wonder why my poor little girl is so susceptible to these while most other kids her age haven't had one or have just had one or two. I'm trying not to beat myself up, but I can't help but wonder if we'd be going through this if I breastfed beyond one month.


Kristy - I breastfed Hank for 11.5 months (and he's still sorta nursing) and my child has asthma. EVERYTHING I read states that breastfeeding will decrease a child's chance of having asthma, yet I breastfed and my child developed it. So I think it's a crapshoot. Sure, you might have breastfed and Lily wouldn't have this problem - or she might have had the problem, but you wouldn't have the guilt. I might not be doing the best job of saying that you shouldn't feel guilty about it. Breastfeeding doesn't necessarily equal healthy, problem free children. Don't beat yourself up over this. You did the best that you could given your situation at the time. The same goes for now: you are doing the best that you can given the circumstances you are facing. You are a good mama.

(Perhaps I shouldn't have smoked a pack a day during pregnancy...think that has anything to do with the asthma?;) :p )

[Kanga]

I'm feeling pretty guilty about all of this. I wonder why my poor little girl is so susceptible to these while most other kids her age haven't had one or have just had one or two. I'm trying not to beat myself up, but I can't help but wonder if we'd be going through this if I breastfed beyond one month. I'm worrying about hearing loss, among other things. I'm ready for her to get tubes, but the procedure itself scares me since she'll be put under.


From what I've noticed, it also seems to be genetic. Growing up I had a neighbor with 3 kids and all 3 had to have tubes put in at some point. (no idea if she bfed or ffed). My bff has 2 kids and both hers had to have tubes as well.

A chiropractor can do an adjustment to help clear up the ear infection she has now, but I don't believe it's meant to be a long term solution like tubes are. There was a thread awhile back in parenting and all the parents said that the surgery was very quick and their dc were back to themselves by the end of the day.

[Lvella43]

Hey All!! I hope you had fun watching Jack on Ellen, we had to watch at a bar because we are away for the week and the house didn't have the local channels. We didn't get to watch too closely because some people in the bar were coming up to us after the promo to ask "if that was really him". It was sweet, but at the same time we had a hard time watching. Anyway, that episode of Ellen will replay on Oxygen October 5th. Like I said we're away for the week so I'll have to catch up when we get back.

Very Happy Birthday to those I've missed this week!

[mcl]

cartersmommy--how cute is carter in his radio flyer. he's gotten so big! cute smile, too! i'm glad to hear that your dh is home. by the way, i saw carter's birthday party pics and you did such a great job. he looked like he really enjoyed himself.

dianecourt--being a pediatric nurse, i've seen so many kids go in for many things, ear infections among them and to be honest, some kids are just prone to them. yes, breastfeeding is best BUT i also believe/know that environment among many other things, play a big part on why children get sick. it may very well be the anatomy of lily's ear for all we know. the point is i think you're a wonderful mother from what i know of you in these threads and i don't think that you have anything to feel guilty about. also, just wanted to add that i was not breast fed by my mom, but she said i was a very healthy child.

lvella--i'm going to tivo ellen's show on oxygen. we have a future celebrity in the making!

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND EVERYONE!


HAPPY BIRTHDAY SETH!!!

lisa, can you believe you have a 1 year old boy now. i hope that you're recovering well.

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Seth!

[Eliezrah]

Happy belated bday Ella & Mackenzie! Sorry I missed it!!

Amanda, soo glad DH is home!

Diane, i know it's easier said than done, but don't beat yoruself up over it. I felt soo guilty about not being able to BF Jackie or carry her to term, and look at her now! And then look at Seth... he was BF for over 11 months and look at all his allergies!!

~~~

I'm feeling better now, thanks everyone! I don't think I mentioned this, but I will more than likely need a second knee surgery soon. I find out for sure on Thursday.. Sheesh,what a year it's been!!

So my baby boy is 1 year old today!!!!! OMG, how did that happen???? I can't believe how fast it flew by.... It goes even faster the second time around! His party was soo much fun!!!

~~~~

We had about 40-45 people here including kids and adults. It was a bit crowded, but we had the basement to use as well. We had most of our families and several friends as well. Everyone was happy and excited to help Seth celebrate his bday. Jackie was bust running around with her friends. We had TONS of food and have what seems like even more leftover! LOL He got some awesome gifts: toys, books, clothes, money, and both Seth & Jackie alreayd played with just about all his new toys! LOL Am I really the mom of 2 toddlers now????

Decorations
Birthday banner
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060929/213830.jpg

Centerpieces
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060929/213849.jpg

Candles
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060929/213922.jpg

High Chair
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060929/214902.jpg

Plates
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060929/215312.jpg

Napkins
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060929/215324.jpg

[Eliezrah]

Birthday Doggie
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060929/215425.jpg


Party
Birthday boy (this pic will be included in the thank yous)
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/083214.jpg

Come on, Seth, let's party!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/083433.jpg

I like this construction theme!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/084409.jpg

So do I!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/084747.jpg

Silly Grandpa!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/084856.jpg

[Eliezrah]

FOOD!!
Check out this cake!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/102012.jpg

Enjoying lunch with Grammie
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/123812.jpg

Seth's "smash cake" (made by me and allergy free!)
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/134330.jpg

YUM!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/134334.jpg

Our Family... Seth: "What's going on?"
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/134534.jpg

Yum... CAKE!!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/134632.jpg

[Eliezrah]

I want YOU, to eat cake!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/134821.jpg

Hey, what's up with my hat??
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/134844.jpg

I'll just put this one on
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/135007.jpg

I can get messier without any hats on!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/135247.jpg


Having fun!
These are my balloons and I'll play with them if I want!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/143045.jpg

Jackie wants to play too
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/143106.jpg

[Eliezrah]

Ohhh, pretty boxes! What are they for?
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/144625.jpg

Our helper!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/150338.jpg

Seth's socks!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/r180_151700.jpg


After all that partying...
Too tired for pictures
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/155830.jpg

VERY late nap in Mommy's bed (5 pm!)
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/170130.jpg

Playing with presents
Check out this gift! (click on it, it's a video!)
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/155554.jpg (http://www.dropshots.com/videolink.php?userid=34883&cdate=20060930&ctime=155554&showVideo=1)
Photo Sharing (http://www.dropshots.com/) - Upload Video (http://www.dropshots.com/) - Video Sharing (http://www.dropshots.com/)

[Eliezrah]

So, Grandma, how does this work?
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/174030.jpg

Cool garage!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/174036.jpg

Check out some of my new toys (I also got books, clothes, money, and more toys)
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/174040.jpg

Seth's toys are fun!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/180359.jpg

It's cool to be 1!
http://www.dropshots.com/photos/34883/20060930/175724.jpg

[godsgift77]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SETH!!!
Lisa I absolutely LOVE his eyes! They are just beautiful! Looks like you had a great reaction-free time! So glad everything turned out great! :)

DianeCourt - NO WAY are you a bad mom! I wasn't breastfed because of my laundry list of allergies but i had them from day one - don't really think that breastfeeding would have made a difference one way or the other. One thing that makes you a great mom is that you truly want the best for your daughter and make every attempt to give it to her - just your heart aching for her being sick tells me you are a great mom!

[Lvella43]

Happy Belated Bday Seth!! Lisa the party looks like it was a blast!!!

[hmbay]

Happy birthday Seth! the party looked great Lisa!

DianeCourt--it is NOT your fault. Don't beat yourself up over it. I had a ton of them when I was a kid myself but my kids have only had 1 between the two of them. It's just out of our control I think.

[EJM]

Happy Birthday Seth!!!


DianeCourt: I'll just echo what every one else said, don't beat yourself up. I'm one of 6 children, and there were 2 of us with terrible ear infections -- all breastfed. I had ear infections all the time, everytime one cleared up I got another. My mother was at her wits end by the time I was in second grade and missing 20-30 days of school per year. She saw a tv spot on allergies to cigarette smoke. My dad is a smoker so she talked to the doctor, who said she might as well give it a try. She told my dad no more smoking in the house and aired the place out for weeks. That was the second grade and I can count on probably two hands the number of ear infections I've had the 20 years since. It could be environmental for Lily too, maybe nothing you can do something about.

[DianeCourt]

Thanks, you guys. We're hanging in there. It feels like it's taking forever for Wednesday to get here so we can see the ENT, but Lily is doing OK. She's definitely not 100%, but is still playing & eating well with the help of some Pediacare & Motrin. She's sleeping a little more than normal. I've read all of the articles and I KNOW that most of this is beyond my control, but my first reaction is to be hard on myself. I can't help it. It's something I need to get better at, but easier said than done, right?

I've also read about second hand smoke being a potential factor in kids with chronic ear infections. Our house is completely smoke free, so I don't think that's a problem. We do have a dog, however, so I wonder about allergies sometimes. Well, I'm hoping we'll get some resolution this week.

Happy birthday, Seth! What a great party, Lisa!

[jh124]

Happy (belated) Birthday, Seth!

[DianeCourt]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, jh124!

[lorialys]

Happy Birthday Seth!! Looks like it was a great party.

Happy Birthday also to jh124!

[cartersmommy]

ok, girls, i don't know whats in my water today, but I WANT ANOTHER BABY. I was looking at Carter's baby pictures today... and it made me just crave another baby...am i nuts?!?!?!

[jh124]

ok, girls, i don't know whats in my water today, but I WANT ANOTHER BABY. I was looking at Carter's baby pictures today... and it made me just crave another baby...am i nuts?!?!?!

I'm with you, I miss my newborn and want another one. OTOH, the next baby is the last baby, so part of me wants to wait a good long while, so I can savor the heck out my last baby.

[jenjen0713]

cartersmommy - Heck no, you aren't nuts! A co-worker came in with her 3 week old baby last week and I was just in awe how itty-bitty she was. I couldn't believe I had forgotten already how little newborns were.

[hmbay]

cartersmommy--we waited a year with Colin before TTC Alex so it was about this time...... :)

[DianeCourt]

cartersmommy: I'm right there with you. In fact, we are going to TTC #2 starting this month! :eek: I'm excited & scared all at the same time.

Can somebody please remind those of us participating in the b-day gift exchange to mail our gifts next week? I'm afraid I'm going to forget!

[godsgift77]

Amanda I'm right there with ya! In fact we are TTC #2 NOW! :D

[cartersmommy]

ok ladies.... NOT HELPING! ha! I want another one so bad, i just want to wait and have like 3 yrs. between the two kids. #2 will also be our last one, so i want to savor every moment and stuff.... and dh isn't ready for #2 yet, lol. but man, do i want to snuggle with a teeny tiny baby and smell sweet teeny baby smells..... oh man, am i in trouble!! :) :)

[Gabe's Mom]

I'm with you all but we're not ready for several reasons! Savoring #1!

[scubasam]

Amanda - Right there with ya! Doesn't help that 3 good friends are due w/ babies in the next month and 3 more friends are all due in February! Cutie tiny babies everywhere!

We are actually starting on #2 next month (sorry for adding fuel to the fire.... ;) ). We are always torn between savoring Carter for longer and having another (and being done w/ 2!) so we figured we might as well just go for it. Who knows how fast or slow it'll happen. If it doesn't happen in Nov or Dec, we're waiting until May to try again. We'll see! I am excited about the possibility of being in another mommy thread w/ some of you.....DianeCourt & Godsgift! ;)

Yes.....what's the scoop on the bday exchange?

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday CJ!!!

Happy Birthday Gabe!!!

Oh my goodness, looks like there are a lot of you TTC now or in the near future!! I expect there to be lots of happy news this holiday season!! :D

[hmbay]

TTC--well #3 in our case. We're still on the fence. We're about 90% sure we'll try for 3 (and then be done). If we do we'll start TTC in the next 2-6 months most likely so maybe I'll be seeing some of you guys on another thread too. :)

[cartersmommy]

AHHHH I need to talk to DH and see what his thinking is on #2... Because I am ready now! HA! We really haven't even discussed it, we just know we're having another!

As for the gift exchange, the date I think we had set to send them was October 11... kind of in the middle of everyone's bdays. I just sent mine yesterday because I was afraid I was going to forget... so if you guys want to, I say anytime now is fine... whatever you want. I will post a reminder on the 11th, if you want, to remind though!

[lorialys]

Happy Birthday CJ and Gabe!!

You girls are so funny with all the TTC #2/3 talk. I too have a little bit of the teeny-tiny baby bug, but I am holding it back in favor of my sanity. I am going back to work part time as of tomorrow, so now really isn't a good time for us. In fact, our original plan of TTC #2 next summer is probably going to get pushed back for at least a year. Which is okay with me. Can't wait to hear all the good news and live vicariously through you ladies though!! Good luck!

[jh124]

Happy Birthday CJ and Gabe!!

[hmbay]

happy birthday CJ and Gabe!

birthday buddies--I just ordered mine online because I KNOW I'll forget to mail it. And I forgot to put a note on the "gift receipt" so for now to keep the surprise up if someone gets a gift from Kohls in the next two weeks it's most likely from Alex. :)

[Gabe's Mom]

Happy Birthday CJ!

DH and I took the day off to celebrate with Gabe. Decided that we are headed to the zoo for the first time with Gabe. It's a small zoo so don't need to spend all day and can come back for afternoon nap. Birthday boy has appt with the ped for his wt check/1 year visit and shots at 4 PM too. Think he has an ear infection as well. But he's pretty happy today so we should have a great day!

[cartersmommy]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIDDOS!! :)

[Kanga]

Happy belated bday Seth, and happy birthday CJ and Gabe!!

I haven't posted much lately, but I have been reading along!

QOTD - How long does your dc play independently? I'm probably being over paranoid, but dd plays by herself for upwards of 2 hours at a time. I start out in the morning by playing with her, but usually after 10 minutes or so she goes off onto something else and doesn't seem to care one way or another if I'm there or not. The reason I'm sorta worried about it is because I can remember ONE time that my mom played with me growing up without me asking/begging her to first. She got home from work an hour or so before my dad and always started cooking supper (we weren't allowed to help) and picking up the house until he got home. When he got home he played with my sister and I for a few minutes until supper was ready, then after dinner, my sister and I were pretty much left to entertain ourselves until bedtime because they wanted to "talk without us around and just relax" after work. I just don't want Daytona to feel the same way my sister and I did growing up.

We are WALKING!! She did her first steps on Monday evening, so not walking a whole lot, and very wobbly but she is walking.

Adding more fuel to the fire...everything has been going textbook with #2 which is good, still don't know what it is, we'll find out near t-giving time because this dr. likes to do it later if there's no history of birth defects.

I've recently started talking to a friend again that I was good friends with in highschool. We went our seperate ways after she got into drugs, alcohol and all that stuff after graduation, but now she's due any day now and has started getting her life back on track. She starts school I think at the end of this month, and the baby won't be old enough for daycare, so I offered to do it. Not sure what I'm getting myself into watching 2 babies 11 mo apart, but we could use the extra money and it'd be nice for Daytona to get used to another baby around. I figured a baby that young will most likely sleep all the time, so it shouldn't be too bad, right? Right? If it doesn't work out, I only have to do it until the baby is 6 weeks old and can start daycare.

Did anybody watch that show on TLC called Surviving twins and sextuplets? Oh.my.lord. I have no idea how that woman still has her sanity, especially while trying to sell their house and having all those open houses.

[hmbay]

Did anybody watch that show on TLC called Surviving twins and sextuplets? Oh.my.lord. I have no idea how that woman still has her sanity, especially while trying to sell their house and having all those open houses.

I missed the beginning and taped the last 3/4 of it probably but haven't had time to watch it yet.

[jh124]

I missed the beginning and taped the last 3/4 of it probably but haven't had time to watch it yet.

I've seen it. Phew, it was exhausting. It was nice of her to show her tummy to the world. I was curious, I'll admit it!:p

[EJM]

Happy Birthday Gabe and CJ!! :D


I'm shocked to find myself in the holding off wanting to TTC camp. We want 3-4 kids total, but surprisingly I'm in no rush. I don't even have an urge :confused: despite holding our friend's newborn on Sunday. I really thought I would be anxious right now, even though we have to hold off for a while until our life settles down/we move etc. DH and I are off on vacation next week for a few days. I'll be really sad to leave DD, but I need a few days of me time which I never get. DD will be staying with my parents and will be in good hands. I anticipate lots of discussion about TTC #2, I think DH is more anxious than I am.

Independent Play: Avery would play for a while by herself too if I let her crawl where ever she wants. We are usually out and about throughout the day so it tends to be 20 minutes of play by herself here and there.

We aren't even close to walking which is fine by me. Crawling keeps me busy enough! DD did start signing back to me very consistently last week which was pretty freaking cool. So far she does milk, more, and all done.

[DianeCourt]

Happy Birthday, CJ & Gabe!

OK, Lily is mailing her gift to her secret birthday friend tomorrow. It should arrive Saturday or early next week! :D I hope he or she likes it!!!!

[cartersmommy]

Independent play: Carter has just recently gotten better at this at almost 13 months (oh god, did i just say 13 months?!?!). He will play with his toys for about a half hour and then get distracted by the tv (not what's on but the tv buttons and the dvd player buttons... we're working on "NO", but he's learned to shake his head and say "no no no" when we say it.... VERY cute and VERY mischievious) but he's gotten better.

[scubasam]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CJ!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GABE!!

bday xchg - Ok, so I'm not sure how this worked but I have no idea who I'm supposed to be sending a gift to......were names/addresses sent out? I didn't get a pm or anything. Or was it in a previous post and I just missed it?

QOTD - Carter will do about 1/2 hr or so by himself and then gets bored and begs us to play with him. He's got plenty of toys so I can't figure out why he can't entertain himself for longer. If we don't play with him right away, he starts playing w/ all the stuff he's not supposed to......tv/cable/dvr buttons, the dog's food & water dish (he gets his arms all the way into the dog's water bucket and splashes the water all over himself and the floor :rolleyes: ), the stairs, etc. Carter also has issues w/ "no".......he just smiles a big cheesy smile at us when we say it (even in a forceful/low tone) and continues doing what he wants. :rolleyes:

My mom has said that I would play by myself for hrs on end when I was little....I so wish my child did that! :p I just happened to be (still am) a very independent person who likes to do things by myself and my sister was exactly the opposite.

[godsgift77]

Thanks ladies!!! We had such a good day today. I took the day off to be with my little man and we hung out most of the morning. Then we went to his grand parents house to pick up his first bday gifts (more to come at his party). then we picked up his smash cake which he had a BLAST smashing and then dh gave him his first hair cut. At first he was a little apprehensive to smash the cake but when he figured out that we were not going to tell him "NO" he went to town on it! Too cute - pics to come.

Happy birthday Gabe!!

QOTD CJ will play for about 30-40 minutes alone then he moves on to stuff he's not supposed to touch.... i think its to get out attention *sigh*

[Gabe's Mom]

Happy bday CJ! Glad you enjoyed your smash cake!! You sure are a cutie!

We went to the zoo - had a nice time. Perfect weather. GAbe did great in his backpack. Then to the ped for his 1 year check-up. Only 18 pounds but we got the ok to transition to regular milk and are going to be adding half and half or whipping cream(!) to his milk for added calories. Also has an ear infection as we suspected. Feeling a bit guilty as I noticed signs over a wee ago but wasn't overly clear and was worried I'd be at the ped for no reason. Bad mom. Next time, we'll go earlier. Got Gabe the Little People's School Bus and he LOVES it!!! When he hears the little song, he does a cute dance to it!

QOTD - GAbe will play for about 20 minutes by himself but not much longer.

Anyone out there have a baby that is not yet consistantly responding to his/her name? And not pointing or clapping?

[mcl]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABE AND CJ

[jenjen0713]

So glad the two birthday boys had such good days!

Independent play - Before he was super mobile, he could play by himself upwards to an hour or so...now that he is crawling, it is more like 20-30 minutes before he crawls off to find someone or get into something he shouldn't.

Gabe's Mom - DS doesn't point, even though I point at things all day long to him. He also doesn't wave bye-bye yet. He is pretty good at responding to his name and clapping.

[DianeCourt]

Anyone out there have a baby that is not yet consistantly responding to his/her name? And not pointing or clapping?

Lily responds to her name when she wants to. If she's doing something she's not supposed to, she ignores us! :p She doesn't clap yet, but will reach out for something she wants or likes. No pointing yet.

I think we have a first word.....my sister got Lily a really annoying Elmo that does the hokey pokey. Being silly, I turned it on last week, danced around, and sang "Dance, dance, dance!" When I do that now, Lily bounces up & down and says "da, da, da!" It's been really consistent, so I think that "dance" is her first word!

[scubasam]

Carter doesn't point but reaches out for things. He doesn't clap either but we've been trying to teach him.....he's slowly catching on. He doesn't constantly respond to his name either but given his mischevious personality, I figured he's just ignoring me. :rolleyes:

I forgot to post stats from Carter's 1 yr WBV last week:

Height: 29 in. (25%)
Weight: 22lbs (30%)
Head circ: 45.9cm (35%)

It's so wierd because he's gone down in percentage (he's always been around 45-50%) but everyone always tells us what a big boy he is. I've always thought he was average size so I don't know why people say that. Maybe because he's still so bald so they think that he's younger than he is?

I've got pics from his 1st bday party too that I still need to download & post.

Glad the bday boys had such great days!!

[Lvella43]

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY GABE AND CJ! I had LASIK this morning so I'm being VERY bad on the computer.

Hope everyone is doing well.

[jh124]

Lasik changed my life. I hope your recovery is smooth.:)

[Surftraitor]

HAPPY BELATED, GABE & CJ!!!!

Independent play--probably for about 30 minutes tops. Sometimes I feel like he needs more toys:rolleyes: But right now he is really into turning book pages.

Developmental stuff--DS just started pointing last week. DH is trying to get him to transition from "point" to "I am one" just in time for his b-day party next wkend. So far, not working so well. He waves on occassion, but not much. He claps a lot, but he's confused on the context. When he gets really angry he starts to clap. LOL. Also, one time I went into his room while he was fighting a nap. As soon as I walked in I knew he pooped his pants. He looked at me, smiled and clapped. Yay poop. :D :rolleyes:

New word: So, DS says mama and dada. Word #3 is "mine". Great.:rolleyes:

[DianeCourt]

Lvella: You're so lucky! I want LASIK SOOOOOOOOOOO bad.

[godsgift77]

LOL @ Yay Poop! LOL! :D

CJ claps, points and says mama, dada, up, tee (teeth), aun (auntie), night night, ess (yes) and responds to his name when he feels like we're worthy of his valuable attention... *sigh* He's a great communicator - maybe he'll be the next Bryant Gumble (however you spell it LOL)

[cartersmommy]

carter loves to entertain, so he basically does everything you ask. he will wave when you say "can you wave?", he will clap on command, or when we say "yea carter!", when i ask him if he wants to take a bath, he nods yes and my favorite one... when i say no, he looks me in the eye, shakes his head no while saying "NO NO NO" and then kisses me. i'm in for it ladies. :rolleyes:

[jh124]

Happy Weekend Birthdays to: (and what a list this is!!)

Natalie and Collin
Alex and Kailer

[jenjen0713]

I took the day off to spend with Hunter today! DH and I woke him up this morning singing Happy Birthday and he just stared at us like we are crazy. So far, his birthday is going great...got his 1 year pictures taken a few hours ago and they turned out ok. Since he is mobile now so hard to keep him sitting still long enough to get a good picture. I've been misty eyed all day thinking about the last year. At this time last year, I had just started to push. Where has the time gone??

[jh124]

Happy Birthday, Hunter!

:D :D :D

[DianeCourt]

Happy b-day, Hunter!

Geez, I started maternity leave one year ago tomorrow and I got misty eyed thinking about THAT. What the heck am I going to be like on her actual b-day? :rolleyes:

[mcl]

LJ says, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY FRIEND HUNTER!!!" We hope that you guys are havig a wonderful day. Enjoy today.

[hmbay]

Happy birthday Hunter

Happy birthday (early) to Natalie, Collin, Alex and Kailer!

[Eliezrah]

Can somebody please remind those of us participating in the b-day gift exchange to mail our gifts next week? I'm afraid I'm going to forget! Is it next week already? YIKES! I better get shopping!! I think maybe I'll go online and buy mine this week so I don't forget! My buddy might get his/hers a bit early...

Happy Bday to anyone I may have missed!!!!

TTC again... I want a 3rd and DH isn't sure yet. WE can't start until we move and right nwo we can't sell our house... I really wanted to start TTC over the summer at the latest since it takes us about 6 months w/ clomid to conceive.

Kanga, it's not only ok, but it's good for them to learn to entertain themselves as long as you don't ignore them. Seth ususally is left to paly alone during Jackie's nap (around 2 hours a day) since that's the time I need for me. I'm in the room with him, but I'm online (or sometiems cleaning the house) and he's palying with is toys (today he's been wandering aimlessly around the livingroom! LOL). They say it's healthy for them. I just wish he'd be more ok with being totally alone in a room w/o me there so we can put him in for a nap w/o rocking him to sleep first, but that's another story... Congrats on the walking!

Lvella, hope you have a speedy recovery!

~~~~~~~

I've been pretty busy lately and tons of stuff has been going on with us. I just typed out a long e-mail to send to everyone on my e-mail list so I decided to copy and paste it here. This is the easiest way to update all of you!


Hello everyone!! I hope you are all doing well. Since I have good and not so good news to share, I'll start with the some of good news first!!! This is a long e-mail, but I wanted to update you on Seth turning a year, Seth's allergies, my upcoming knee surgery (yuppers, having more surgery), my new car I'll be getting soon, and some cute new Jackie-isms!!

Seth had his 1 year check up 2 days ago and it went GREAT!!! While we were in the exam room waiting for the doc to come in, Seth was running around (he's been fully walking for about 2 months now), chasing Jackie and laughing hysterically. They were both yelling and screaming with joy. When the doc walked in, she was cracking up from hearing them and told me she didn't have to ask about his milestones since she saw and heard them! LOL I then told her that he can say 23 words and she was in shock!! She said that's an 18 month level and they really only expect 12 month olds to say 2-3 words! She saw him running and climbing and was very pleased with his development. He weighs 23 lbs (in the 50th %) and is 29 inches (between the 25-50th % but closer to the 50th). He got 3 shots and did very well with them. He knows the hand motions for The Itsy Bitsy Spider, Open Shut Them, Twinkle Twinkle, and Where Is Thumbkin. When he wants us to sing one of them, he shows us the motions for it and says "This."

Now for the bad news about him... more allergies!!! But we did find more safe foods for him so that's good news too! LOL Allergic: milk, eggs, beef, soy, wheat, peas, peanuts, sesame seed, lamb, onion, garlic, bananas, avocado, chickpea, plum, pineapple, zucchini, strawberry, oats, lemon, malt, sunflower seed, yeast, orange, peach, barley, buckwheat, rye, white bean, coconut, mustard, cat dander (anyone want 2 cats?). Elevated: apples & rice, but eating them and watching him. Avoiding: all fish, shellfish, all nuts, red grapes, potato (tested fine, but reacts to it) Safe foods:Basil, mushroom, cucumber, walnut, chicken, turkey, oregano, corn, broccoli, carrots, green grapes, pear, blueberry, melon, vanilla, chocolate, tomato, cinnamon, paprika, black pepper, celery, lettuce, parsley, kiwi. We are seeing a dietitian, but are in the process of trying to find another one who has more experience with multiple food allergies and children. If all goes well with his eating, which it seems to be, and he keeps getting enough protein and fat, then we can eventually get him off the VERY expensive formula (that's not covered by insurance) and on rice milk with added oil for fat. He's now been fully weaned for 4 weeks (I still miss it) and doesn't seem to miss it. We're now working on getting him off bottles and onto sippy cups.

Now onto me.... I'm getting the second knee surgery. I went to the orthopedist again today (I've gone quite a few times in the 5 months since my last surgery) and we discussed it. My knee got better after the last surgery, but only for a bit. It gradually was getting worse again and is now swollen and constantly hurting me. I can barely walk up stairs again (thank goodness Seth can now climb them himself so I don't have to carry him as much). About a week ago the doctor gave me the choice of more surgery or living like this. Scott & I agreed I need the surgery. The procedure we chose for him to do is called OATS or Mosaicplasty. He can do it arthroscopically, which is good. He'll take pieces of my cartilage from a non weight bearing part of my knee and use a cookie cutter type took to cut out eraser sized pieces of it. He'll then take those pieces and put them into the bad part of my knee. I'll be on crutches, without bearing any weight on my leg at all, for 6 weeks. I'll have to be on a machine called a CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine. This machine, which they'll hook me up to in the recovery room I think and will need for several hours a day for several weeks, moves my knee by itself. This is supposed to help speed up the recovery process. The doctor and I agreed to have it done ASAP. I should be getting a call tomorrow or Monday with the date, which they figure should be in about 3-4 weeks. I'll let you know when I get the date.

Now onto my good news! I'm getting a new car soon! Scott & I went to Saturn tonight to look at the new Outlook and compare it to the Relay. We decided I'm getting the Relay since it's bigger. It's more van like than an SUV but has a 3rd row of seats, which I need! I'm 5 months away from the end of my lease, but GM pays for 3 months and Saturn has a loyalty program where I can get cash back, which totals to about 2 months of my current payments. The salesman we spoke with is going to look into the exact numbers for us and if they work, I'll be ordering my new car sometime in the next week or 2! If they don't work, we'll wait until I'm 3 months out and order the car at the end of next month. I've had my Vue for 4 1/2 years so I'm sooo ready for a new car! Jackie LOVED being at the dealership and had a blast climbing in and out of the cars. She did ask me where her "seatbelt" was when she first went in and I told her it was ok for her to sit in those cars w/o her carseat. So she tried ot buckle the regular seatbelt around herself! Out of both the Outlook and Relay, she seemed to like the Relay better as well!

I have to share some cute Jackie things, she's been cracking us up lately!! A few days ago, she was trying to nap and the landscapers decided to use the leaf blower at that time. So over the monitor, I suddenly hear her yell out "Hey, stop mowing the lawn! I'm trying to sleep!" She used those exact words and said it perfectly! She then got out of bed, and yelled to them out the window (it was closed obviously, but she had no clue they couldn't hear her!). After they were done, she climbed into bed and fell asleep! LOL Another night, Scott was teaching Seth Where Is Thumbkin and after singing several rounds, he stopped after the pointer finger. Jackie looked at him and said "Hey, you're not done!" She's speaking in full sentences with correct grammar, including using correct tenses and pronouns most of the time. She's excitedly awaiting her Dora party next month for her birthday on "Momber 28" (November 28)! LOL Oh, and she tried to say orthopedist today and called my doctor an "ordo-penis"!!

[Eliezrah]

Oh, thanks for all the compls on Seth's party and his eyes! lol

[DianeCourt]

Eliezrah: I work for GM & can get you a discount on your new Relay! It's the same discount that GM Preferred Suppliers get. You can also combine it with any incentives that are out there, which makes it a great deal. Tell your dealer that you have a friend that can give you a "GM Supplier Discount for Friends" authorization code and ask them how much it will save you on your new Relay. If they participate in the program, then all I'll need from you is the buyer's birthdate & last 4 digits of SS#. I'll pull an authorization number for you instantly and then you just give it to the dealer when you buy or lease. Let me know! :D

[Tiger]

Happy Birthday Hunter!!!!

Happy Early Birthday to
Natalie, Collin, Alex and Kai

[Eliezrah]

Diane, thanks. Scott works for Medco and he said he gets the same discount. He did want me to ask you, though, what the percentage is (we're trying to figure out fiances and which options I can get).

[DianeCourt]

No problem! It's not a straight percentage & the discount varies by model, unfortunately. The only way to know for sure is to ask the dealer. I hope you like your new Saturn!

[Lvella43]

Happy birthday Hunter

Happy weekend birthday babies to Natalie, Collin, Alex and Kailer!

[EJM]

Happy Birthday Hunter!!

Happy (early) Birthday to Natalie, Collin, Alex & Kailer!!

Avery raises her sippy to all of her CC birthday month buddies ;)

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e70/erinjmackenzie/IMG_4063_1_1.jpg

And a cute one just for kicks. :)

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e70/erinjmackenzie/IMG_4069_1_1.jpg

[godsgift77]

Lisa- WOW 23 words!! :eek: what a little genius you have! He'll be the next Ted Copple (sp?) LOL! :D

Happy birthday Hunter

Happy weekend birthday babies to Natalie, Collin, Alex and Kailer!

EJM i love that shirt!! :)

We're getting ready for a party around here! I am nervous and excited at the same time! Time sure flew by and yes i did cry thinking about my baby who seemed to morph into a toddler overnight... i miss the way he would snuggle in the crook of my neck and the way he would fit in dh's forearm... i miss that gummy smile :) but i am excited watching him grow and learn more every day!

[godsgift77]

Before...

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m123/cjsmommy7/100_0651.jpg

Then...
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m123/cjsmommy7/yaycake.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m123/cjsmommy7/cakeyum.jpg
http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m123/cjsmommy7/100_0673.jpg

[dragonfly_71]

Happy Birthday Hunter!
Happy early Birthday Natalie, Collin, and Kai!

Well just in time for his birthday Alex got his first ear infection and he is walking!!!!!
He has been standing for a few weeks now on his own and on Monday he started taking a step here and there. Then Thursday night all of a sudden he started walking.
My parents are here for his birthday and they brought him a wooden caterpillar pull toy. Alex really wanted to pull this thing and so he was pushing his highchair with one hand for support and pulling the toy with the other. At some point he figured that was too cumbersome and he let go of the highchair and just kept walking. Then he walked all over the house for the rest of the night. But yesterday and today he mostly went back to crawling. We did get him on video though while he was walking! Yay

[Kanga]

A very Happy Birthday to Hunter, Kai, Collin, Alex and Natalie!

i miss the way he would snuggle in the crook of my neck and the way he would fit in dh's forearm... i miss that gummy smile

Ok, until now I've been able to hold back the tears with the thought that I'll soon have a tiny baby again to snuggle with all day AND see a toddler grow and change. But that was just too much! *sniff sniff*

EJM - I love Avery's shirt!

Lisa - 23 words?!? Wow! Sounds like you're going to have a little chatterbox on your hands in a few short months.

Godsgift - I love that picture of CJ waiting for his cake...he looks so excited!

Daytona has been clapping for about a week now and pointing for about a month and a half, although she doesn't understand the context of clapping. Usually she does it when I take something away she's not supposed to have or change her diaper. It's just something fun to do that keeps her entertained. She *loves* her kitties (more on that later) so she rarely points at anything besides them. Sometimes I wonder if she thinks the sign for kitty is pointing. I'll have to start pointing at other things as well.

The one thing I wanted to pass on to my kids is my love for animals and well, I'm about 400% sure I succeeded with Daytona. Her first word was 'meow' and the second was 'kitty' (these are the only two in context so far). She first learned to climb the stairs because of the cats (she wanted to know what was so interesting at the top of the steps - they just wanted to get away, lol-, and she got the courage to take her first step because of one of the cats. He ran past her as she was standing next to the coffee table and she didn't have time to get down to crawl, so it was walking or nothing. Gee, I see how mom and dad rate:rolleyes: This kid is obsessed with cats. I can't wait until she learns the right way to treat them and go up to them so they'll like her too.

[DianeCourt]

godsgift: Good Lord! Look what CJ did to that cake! :p

[Lvella43]

CJ demolished that cake; too fun!

[Eliezrah]

Hey everyone. My grandma's dying. We're not sure if she'll last the night. My mom and her sisters are down in FL with her now.

[godsgift77]

OMG Lisa! So sorry to hear that! I'll be keeping you and your family in our prayers

[hmbay]

Lisa--so sorry about your grandmother and your knee. :( but yay on the new car and finding a few more things Seth can eat.

[cartersmommy]

oh lisa, i am so sorry. you and your family are in my thoughts!

O--- WHAT a cute picture!! he totally destroyed that cake!! too funny

so this weekend we had a lot of firsts for little Carter! HA! It was homecoming at our college (University of Kansas) and we took Carter to the game. We had a blast, but had to leave at halftime because Carter needed a nap :(

Today we took little man to the pumpkin patch! we plan on doing this every year, and we did last year, he was just way more fun today! HA! Here are some pictures... i just put a link into my shutterfly album because there are too many to post :)

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AasWzhs5cN2EB

[dragonfly_71]

Lisa: I'm so sorry to hear about your grandma!

Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. Alex's party was a big success and we have enough toys now to fill a whole toy store. We didn't do the smash cake yet though because we had the party at a park so I wouldn't have been able to clean Alex up. We were going to do it last night but then Alex was so tired and cranky that we though we'd wait until he is in a better mood.

My parents are here from Germany and I took the week off. We are contemplating taking Alex to the beach. I took him only once for a short time and he liked it. I'm just worried about him being in the sun for too long.

[jenjen0713]

Happy Belated Birthday to Natalie, Colin, Alex and Kai!! Hope you all had a great day!

Thank you to everyone for Hunter's birthday wishes!! I spent the day with him on Friday and at the exact moment he was born, I was standing over his crib watching him nap with tears running down my face. I just can't believe it has been a year.

He got lots of toys, books and clothes for his birthday. His favorite toy right now is the Little People bus...he even makes a car noise! He had a blast with his cake, but unfortunately, DH handed the camera off to a 6 year old to take pictures, so the ones I have aren't very good. :mad:

Today is his one year appointment and I can't wait to see how much he has grown....not looking forward to shots though!

[DianeCourt]

and at the exact moment he was born, I was standing over his crib watching him nap with tears running down my face.

You're totally making ME tear up right now! I was remarking over on LiveJournal about how this month is turning out to be a total emotional roller coaster for me. One minute I'm deliriously overjoyed, the next I'm moved to tears over the fact that my baby is turning one. It's like being postpartum all over again! :p

Lisa: I'm so sorry to hear about your grandma. Let us know how things are going, OK?

[mcl]

lisa--i'm praying for you and your family. boy, you have had a rough few weeks.

happy belated birthday to natalie, colin, alex and kai. i hope that you all had a wonderful, memorable birthday celebration.

godsgift--cj just devoured that cake. what a cute little man he is now.

cartersmommy--thank you for sharing the pics. as always, carter is just too cute. we're taking lj to the pumpkin patch today.

jenjen--i'm glad to hear that ds had a fun birthday. your post totally touched me. i, too, spent ds' birthday reminiscing about his birth. how's your pregnancy going by the way? are you having similar experiences as the first time?

[lorialys]

Happy Birthdays to Hunter, Natalie, Alex, Collin, and Kailer!!!

[cartersmommy]

Happy Birthday Kiddos!! :) :)


Ok, got an offer that I don't know if anyone wants to take part in. I have a Baby Einstein DVD that is a duplicate of one we already have. Would anyone be interested in trading for one? I don't care if it's previously viewed or anything... I just can't return it (already tried) and thought this would be a good option. The one we have is : Baby Da Vinci From Head to Toe (with the monkeys on the front). If you're interested PM me or reply. TIA!!

[Eliezrah]

Thanks everyone. Grandma is in critical condition. Mom and her sisters are down there now and it doesn't look good. She had a heart attack a few days ago and she coded 3 times yesterday. She's now unresponsive and intubated. The girls signed a DNR. Her temp rose to over 106 today and her blood pressure is so low that they can't get a reading on it without putting her on meds. Her blood is only going to the vital organs so her extremities are cold and turning blue. When I last spoke with Mom, she said Grandma looked jaundiced as well. Mom has a flight home tomorrow but I have a feeling she'll be staying for a bit longer. Grandpa is very depressed and isn't doing too well with all of this. Mom may lose both her parents very close together.

[godsgift77]

Happy Birthday to Hunter, Natalie, Alex, Collin, and Kailer!!!

Lisa my goodness! So much to deal with :( I'm really sorry...

CJ had some stomach virus on Friday night and threw everything up all night long. Then he threw up about an hour before his party and didnt really have a good time (so thank God we did the cake on his actual b-day) This was all followed up by diarrhea and not eating. The diarrhea has subsided and I think the not really eating is because he's getting all of his 1year molars at once :( He doesn't have a fever but i am wondering if we should take him to the doc or wait til Thursday since he has an appt anyway.

Oh and it was highly contagious - i got it last night and my mom got it as well... do you think i should contact the parents of the other children to warn them? CJ didnt interact with the other children at all. The only people he let hold him were my mom and me. And we got his virus... *sigh*

[jenjen0713]

Lisa - I'm so sorry to hear about your grandmother. I can't even imagine.

godsgift - Poor little CJ. I would say if he isn't running a fever and the only symptom is not eating, I would wait until Thursday. If he isn't acting like himself or has a high fever that won't come down with Tylenol, then I would probably take him in. As for the people at the party, if you and your mom already got it, I would think if anyone else at the party got it they would have already been sick, so probably a moot point at this time.

Happy Birthday to Kai, Fletcher and George!!

Oh, I totally forgot. Took DS to his 1 year doctor appointment yesterday.
Weight - 21lbs 6 oz (30%)
Height - 28 3/4 inches (20%)

He also had to get 4 shots yesterday and was none too happy about it. I don't know whether I should be pleased or offended, but my doctor said he didn't know any polite way to ask me, but was wondering if I was pregnant again. I guess I either look liked I've gained a bunch a weight or I look small for being pregnant. I think I'll go with the later.

[lorialys]

Happy Birthdays to Kai, Fletcher and George!!!

Lisa So sorry to hear about your Grandmother. (((Hugs)))

[hmbay]

Happy birthday Kai!
Happy birthday Fletcher!
Happy birthday George!

[jh124]

Happy Birthdays to Kai, Fletcher and George!!!

Lisa - I'm sorry to hear about your grandmother.

Hank pulled himself up on Saturday and stood on his own holding a toy for a few seconds before he realized what he was doing and toppled over. And the child is doing a new sign now, "more." He does dog whenever he sees them, and milk when he has a bottle (or when he was nursing, but he's not now,) and I think he might be doing "all done," or maybe he's just waving.

[lysh79]

I'm so sorry that I'm such a horrible journal buddy. I've missed a lot of happy birthdays. I'm going to try and get them all but I might miss someone.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAI, FLETCHER, GEORGE, HUNTER, NATALIE, ALEX, COLLIN, KAILER, AND CJ!!!
I'm soooo sorry if I missed someone. I've caught up on the last 10 pages or so.

Lisa- I'm so sorry for what your family is going through.

Godsgift- I hope you and CJ feel better soon. Poor little guy. Oh, his cake pictures were adorable by the way.

As for us, we are well. I have been so busy with Kiley's birthday party plans. Her party is this weekend and we will have about 50 guests. I'm so excited for her party but so sad that my little girl is not a baby anymore. Kiley is walking around and finally says words (only 2 but still). She is such a little ham when we are out but if we are at home all she wants to do is nurse. :rolleyes: My pregnancy is good. I'm 12 weeks and my tummy is finally starting to feel a little better. We are just so busy. I will try to do a big LJ update (with lots of pictures) after Kiley's birthday party. Besides the party we are having our house built, packing and moving out of our apartment soon (and into my dads until our house is ready), and DH just changed jobs. WOW!! :eek:

[scubasam]

Happy Birthday to Hunter, Kai, Collin, Alex, Natalie, Kailer, Fletcher & George!

I hope all of you little ones had/have a wonderful birthday!!!

Lisa - I'm so sorry for everything your family is going through right now.

O - Awesome cake shots!!! And poor CJ - I feel so bad for him!! I hope he's doing a little better today.

Amanda - Super cute pics of Carter! Hey, can you pm me about the bday exchg? I'm not sure who my buddy is.....if I ever had one.

Jen - Your post totally made me cry. I've been doing the same thing.....it's total ups and downs about Carter turning one.

I totally relate about not having cake pics too, Jen. We were downloading pics from the digital and the card freaked out so while we got most of his bday pics, we lost all the ones w/ him eating his cake. Luckily I videotaped it but that's not the same as having still pics. Then I sent the pics out to everyone on yahoo and people kept emailing back "what about the cake pictures.....we want to see him all messy!" Yah, thanks. I was so depressed about it. I literally sat here crying about losing them.......doesn't help that this is my first month going off the pill and my hormones are all wacky!!! :rolleyes:

Carter surprised me yesterday in signing "eat/food" to me....rather I should say that I finally realized he was doing it. It was so cool - I honestly didn't think that he was picking up what we've been trying to teach him and now I look back and he's been doing it for days and I didn't realize the motion he was making was that sign. Nice, Mom! ;) Oh well. It's just uber cool that I can communicate w/ him now about being hungry!!

Have a wonderful day, everyone!!! :D

[jh124]

Carter surprised me yesterday in signing "eat/food" to me....rather I should say that I finally realized he was doing it. It was so cool - I honestly didn't think that he was picking up what we've been trying to teach him and now I look back and he's been doing it for days and I didn't realize the motion he was making was that sign. Nice, Mom! ;) Oh well. It's just uber cool that I can communicate w/ him now about being hungry!!


DH gets frustrated with the Baby Signing Times DVDs and yells at the TV, "THEY AREN'T DOING IT RIGHT!!" I know they show different variations to demonstrate that all kids won't do it the same way. That's why I wonder if Hank is "all done" or if he's just waving.:confused: Could be one, could be the other.

[Kelly's Girl]

Thanks for the birthday wishes! I guess like every other parent whose baby is celebrating a birthday, DH and I can't stop thinking about what we were doing last year at this time! Where did my baby go?

We go for G's one year WBV tomorrow and if his ear infections haven't cleared up, then we'll be seeing an ENT.

He doesn't sign- b/c his mommy didn't stick with it. :( And his baby babble only seldomly is directed at us (w/ Mamama or Dadada) but he does bark at the dog occasionally when we ask what she says. He's pulling up and crawling all over the place with some cruising in between but no steps yet. I hope that his being a preemie isn't making him "behind".

DS is going to be a candycorn for Halloween. What is your DC dressing up as? We don't plan to trick or treat since he doesn't eat candy, but maybe we'll go to a family party or answer the door to trick or treaters. You?

[DianeCourt]

Birthday Wishes to Hunter, Kai, Collin, Alex, Natalie, Kailer, Fletcher & George!

godsgift: Ugh, we went through the stomach bug thing in May. Whole family got it except DH. Not pretty.

Lily's surgery for ear tube insertion has been scheduled for 10/30. I'm so ready to be done with it, and I just hate that she has to wait almost 3 more weeks.

Kelly's Girl: Good luck tomorrow with G's ear follow-up. Don't freak if you have to see the ENT. Initially I sorta did, but I've totally made peace with the whole situation now.

[Lvella43]

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY TO:

Mackenzie (amtaylor)
and
Donnie (Shushyk)

[hmbay]

Happy birthday Mackenzie and Donnie!

So I got my online proofs from pennys. Just wanted to share one of my favorite of each boy and what happened when we tried to get them to pose for a picture together:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hmbay/fb2652c9-5704-11db-8dc7-00132036a48.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hmbay/f938b392-5704-11db-8dc7-00132036a48.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v237/hmbay/f85afdbf-5704-11db-8dc7-00132036a48.jpg

[Tiger]

Happy Birthday Mackenzie and Donnie!!!

I know I have missed a lot of birthdays during the past few days. I am sorry!
Happy Belated Birthday to everyone I missed!!

hmbay Great pictures! The one of them together is too funny. It looks like they are so mad at each other!

Kelly's girl I am headed to the ENT in a couple of weeks too. I am anxious to hear how your appt. goes. Are you having a hearing screening done?

Dianecourt I think we may be headed towards tubes too. Please let me know how the procedure goes! Good luck to Lily!

I took Makenzie back to the dr. this morning. She is still pulling at her ears A LOT. It seems her ear infection from 3 weeks ago still hasn't gone away even after a week of Zythromax. So, she was put on some stronger antibiotics and referred to the ENT. The soonest she can get into the ENT is Nov. 1st. It is the same dr. that I have seen here for my ear problems, so at least I know the dr. already. I have a feeling she will end up getting tubes put in. This is her 6th ear infection. It just seems like we are always battling an ear infection. I just wish we didn't have to wait so long to see the ENT.

[jh124]

Happy Birthday Mackenzie and Donnie!!!

[1_mommy]

Happy birthday Donnie and Mackenzie!!


Thanks for the b-day wishes for Kai! We started the day out at the mall where Kai got to have his very own sugar cookie :) we went to picture people for a picture and got a free 10x13 with my free coupon. :)
Went home for a nap and daddy came home with his present, a ride on toy that is the tow truck from Cars. really cute and Kai really LOVES it! I also bought him the Fox and Hound since it came out on his birthday.
Later that night some friends from Kaimis ballet class came over for some cupcakes and to watch Kai demolish his cake. He really took only 3 bites, but managed to tear up his cake! :)

His big party is on Saturday and as of right now there is a 40% of rain. we have 43 people rsvp'd right now, so an inside party wouldn't be alot of fun. To top it all off, i have came down with a nasty cold, and really don't feel like doing much of anything. I just hope the kids don't get this and are miserable for Saturday!

[lorialys]

Happy birthdays to Donnie and Mackenzie!

[DianeCourt]

Happy 1st b-day Donnie and Mackenzie!

hmbay: That's so funny. Their individual photos are great! I think I might go there for Lily's one year photos.

Lily received her secret birthday gift in the mail today! We were so excited that we couldn't wait two more weeks to open it. A special thank-you for the sender with photos is in my LiveJournal! :D

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Donnie!

Happy Birthday Mackenzie!

[cartersmommy]

O-- I meant to tell you! We love the outfit you sent Carter so much that we had his school pictures taken in it!! I will post pics as soon as I can... they aren't digital so it'll be a bit, but I wanted you to know that!! :)

Hope everyone is having a good week! We have a WALKER now! Yikes! He's into EVERYTHING. Seriously, I thought I couldn't take my eyes off of him before.... now it's ever worse! But it's adorable watching him and his little toosh walk!! Very fun. Tomorrow, I am very excited... every year there is a Heart Transplant picnic for all the families and recipients, and we go every year. Last year, Carter was only 3 weeks old, but this year will be a blast to take him and show him off to all the people we know and have met over the years!! I am very excited that this is a tradition of ours... I have always wanted this to be something special and "sacred" to our family, and this is a wonderful way to share it with our kids who weren't there for the whole ordeal. Very cool!! :)

Hope everyone is great!! Happy birthday to all those I have missed!! I can't believe we're all almost one! Where did the year go!?

[Kanga]

Happy birthday Mackenzie, Kai, Donnie, Fletcher, and George!!


Thanks to our secret sender for the outfit! We love it. And btw secret sender - you've got mail. (I don't want to say who it is so those who haven't received theirs yet don't guess by process of elimination)

hmbay - I love the pics!

DianeCourt, Kelly's Girl, and Tiger - Hope your babies get rid of those ear infections fast and for good!!:(

halloween - dd is going as an octopus from babystyle. There's a contest at BRU and the winner gets a $25 gc and all entries get a professional pic. I think I'll have to enter Daytona.

[Kelly's Girl]

Great news on the ear infection- the 3 shots of rocephin he had to endure last week wiped it out! (At least for now, he started a new day care yesterday with new germs!)

He is 19# 4 1/2 oz and I think 27" long. Don't know where that puts him on the charts but he seems to be doing just fine. I don't think that I chatter with him enough and need to work on that, and his language skills.

Tiger, they did not do a hearing scan. His old day care was doing one this week but we moved him prior to the date. I didn't even think to ask the pediatrician for one and I don't know if his new school will be doing it. Yikes!

[DianeCourt]

Hearing Test: They did one for DD at the ENT - our family practitioner didn't have the test facilities in his office. DH went in with her and she sat on his lap. They had a speaker on the right wall & a speaker on the left wall which they played sounds through and tried to get DD to turn towards the sounds. When she turned toward the correct wall, they flashed a blinking clown to reward her. DH was all freaked out because he thought she didn't do well, but the Dr. said she did just fine when he came in afterwards.

[Eliezrah]

Hi everyone. I'm sorry I'm only going to do 1 SO since thigs are crazy here. I read everything I missed, so I'm up to date on all that. Happy birthdya to all the bdays I missed! Yippe for walking and signing and pulling up!

Scott's going away on Sunday for 2 weeks so I'll be a single mom... Sooooo not looking forward to that!!

My Grandma is doing eh..... she's still alive, but barely. She's non responsive and is still intubated. Her heart rate went over 200 when they tried to do her dialysis so they had to stop it. She was on BP meds to raise it since it was so low there was no reading, but those meds were what was rasiing her heartrate. My momis going back down to FL on Sunday. The end is definitel near. :(

On a bright note, Seth got his Bday buddy gift today!! Here's my 1 SO... Lisa, OMG it's GORGEOUS!! Thank you soooo much!! WOW! Scott's working fromhome today and saw it too and we LOVE it! Seth's napping on the couch now so we put it on him already and got a pic!!!

Lisa MADE Seth the softest, cutest blanket with his name on one side and dinosaurs on the other. She also sent a TRU/ BRY GC so we "wouldn't feel slighted" since the gift was handmade... OMG we sooo don't feel slighted at all!! THANK YOU!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v410/eliezrah/DSC01235.jpg

[jenjen0713]

eliezrah & lvella - OMG, that blanket is awesome!! It looks so soft!

eliezrah - I'm so sorry about your grandma. I'm sure this is a very rough time for your whole family.

[Eliezrah]

Thanks Jen. I did forget to post my good news... I'm going to be an aunt!!!! Scott's bro and his wife are having a baby!!!!!!

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Lucas!!

[DianeCourt]

Happy Birthday, Lucas!

[godsgift77]

Happy b-day to Lucas and all those that i missed!!!

CJ had his 1 year WBV Thursday and got a TB test that we had read today (it was negative) Here are his stats:
31 inches (90%)
21 lbs (50%)

He lost weight since he was sick but we're ok with it. Everything else is lookin good :)

We got out secret gift today!!! Thanks so much Alisha and Kiley :D We *heart* Target!! Thanks for being so thoughtful - we do have a TON of toys :)

Lvella that blanket is SO nice! I wouldn't have felt slighted either! So sorry about your grandma :( and CONGRATS on pending aunt-hood :)

Also, i finally uploaded pics of his party -- too many to post here so here's the Shutterfly album (http://share.evite.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8Sct2jlq0YVU&cid=EVTSTEMODTX)

[hmbay]

Happy birthday Lucas!

[mcl]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LUCAS!

O-those pictures are great. CJ looked like he had a great time.

[Lvella43]

Happy Belated Birthday Lucas - hope you had a fun day!!!

[Lvella43]

Lily &DianeCourt We received our gift last week THANK YOU!! We don't know what it is yet, as we're waiting until his actual bday to open, but we're very excited.

[DianeCourt]

Lily &DianeCourt We received our gift last week THANK YOU!! We don't know what it is yet, as we're waiting until his actual bday to open, but we're very excited.

Oh goody! You have more will power than we do. :rolleyes: I have to say, though....after seeing all of these amazing gifts that have been exchanging hands, I'm afraid mine won't be terribly exciting. :o

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Henry (Hank)!!

mcl - Love that new picture of LJ you have in your avatar.

godsgift - He looked like he had a blast! Cute pictures!

[Lvella43]

Happy Birthday 16 - Hank (jh124)!!!!!!

and a very belated Happy Birthday to JenJen0713!!!

[jh124]

Thanks for the birthday wishes. We have had a wonderful day (even though MY day started off horribly.) I'll recap it in my LJ and save CC the space. I'll come back to post a couple photos tomorrow.:)

Happy Belated Birthday, Lucas!

[1_mommy]

Happy Birthday Lucas!
Happy Birthday Hank!

[EJM]

Just back from vacation and missed lots of birthdays!

Happy Birthday Alex, Kailer, Kai, Fletcher, George, Mackenzie, Donnie, Lucas and Hank!


I swear Avery became a little girl while we were gone. She definitely kept my parents on their toes and they loved every minute of it! She came home with about 5 new tricks thanks to my dad. :rolleyes: ;) She was dancing a little bit before we left if you asked her to "boogie on down". Well she now stops whatever she is doing and bops up and down in a sitting position, or if she is standing/crawling she'll sway her hips. LOL, what a ham!

[Eliezrah]

Happy bday to everyone I missed!! Sorry I haven't been the greatest thread buddy, but it's been crazy around here....

[lorialys]

Happy birthday Hank!!


Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes for Lucas. We had a great day! The recap and pictures are in my LJ.

[jh124]

This is the Girl's Week:

Happy Birthday to Kiley, Avery, Jillian, and Gigi!!

[Surftraitor]

I haven't been here in a week! Sorry! Happy belated to all the new one-sies and Happy birthday to our GIRLS this week!

Popping in for a QOTD: Are you giving DC a flu shot this year?

[jh124]

Popping in for a QOTD: Are you giving DC a flu shot this year?

Getting, gotten, we're good. We got the thimerisol-free version. Now DH and I need to get our shots.

[DianeCourt]

Happy Birthday Kiley, Avery, Jillian, and Gigi!

I haven't been here in a week! Sorry! Happy belated to all the new one-sies and Happy birthday to our GIRLS this week!

Popping in for a QOTD: Are you giving DC a flu shot this year?

Lily got Part I of her shot on Saturday, a half dose. If you're getting your child vaccinated this year and it's their FIRST flu shot ever, make sure they get TWO doses of the vaccine one month apart. (I explain why in the Flu Shot thread here (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7774&page=7).) ;)

[Kelly's Girl]

If you're getting your child vaccinated this year and it's their FIRST flu shot ever, make sure they get TWO doses of the vaccine one month apart.

Yep, and DS got his first installment at the 12-month WBV last week.

Should note that they gave it to him in a separate leg than his other 2 immunizations b/c the nurse said the flu shot could make his leg red and tender. It didn't, but just FYI in case you're getting +1 shot at a time.

[EJM]

Flu Shot: Hopefully, we were supposed to go next week but got a call that the ped is already out of the first shipment and the second shipment has been delayed. We've rescheduled it for her next WBV and hope they have them in by then.

[godsgift77]

Happy birthday to all the little ladies!!! :D

I guess i am the voice of descent - no flu shots here. I have an allergy to egg (as noted on past pages) and when i got the flu shot in years past, i had a SEVERE reaction to it. I am so scared that ds would have the same rxn - the doctor agreed... I am at a slight advantage with ds being kept by my MIL all day with no exposure to other kids...when he starts school, we'll have to give it a try - until then, i dont want to chance it...

[hmbay]

godsgift--we're not doing flu shots either. Well I actually get one every year but DH isn't getting one (he got one each year the boys were born since they were fall/winter babies) and neither DC is getting it.

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Kiley!

flu shot - We are also ones that aren't getting the shot for any of us.

I think we have finally made the transition from bottles to sippy cup. He hasn't had a bottle since last Friday and he is drinking more and more out of the sippy cup each day, so I think he realizes that the sippy cup is here to stay. Luckily he'll drink the milk/formula mixture cold, so I no longer have to warm it up for him. The transition to whole milk seems to be going well. He currently is taking 1/2 milk/1/2 formula and no problems.

[Kanga]

Happy BirthdayHank, Lucas,Kiley, Avery, Jillian, and Gigi!!!

Flu Shot - We don't do any shots at all, so no flu shots. I heard there's a shipping problem with the children's (3 and under) this year which I assume is the thimerosal free version so if you want it, you might want to make an appt pretty quick just in case.

This Saturday is Daytona's birthday party and I still have no idea how many people to expect:rolleyes: I'm just going to assume that the people who I can't get ahold of and didn't rsvp aren't coming, so that leaves us with about 20-25 which is what I was hoping for. We're just having it here at the house, so I didn't want a ton of people.

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Avery!!

Finally got DS's 1st birthday pictures uploaded. Off to add them to my LJ!

[hmbay]

happy birthday to anyone I forgot. I was in training earlier this week and got limited internet time and I'm not about to go back and figure out where I left off in the birthday wishes!

[jh124]

Dropping off a bday photo:
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b136/fatdogrox/littleprince.jpg

QOTD: How often to you brush those sharp little teeth? We are really good about doing it every night, but can't seem to get to it in the mornings. Gah!

[lorialys]

Happy Birthdays to Kiley and Avery!!

Lucas had his 12 month WBV today

Stats:
Weight - 20 lbs 15 oz - 20%
Height - 31 inches - 85%
Head - 19 inches - +97%

He has a big head. :rolleyes: Hehehe... She wasn't concerned about his weight, as he's stayed pretty much on the same curve for a few months now. Developmentally he's doing great. His ears, eyes, throat, belly, and everything else physical looks good. She did a finger prick for a cbc and a lead test. She got the cbc results back right away, he looks great on everything there. The lead test will come back in a few weeks. He got the MMR, Hepatitis A, and the flu shot. I mentioned that he had another reaction when we tried whole milk. She gave me a referral to an allergist. I also got the number for the dermatologist she wanted us to see about his arm thing.

*TMI poop talk*
I asked about his poopy diapers. He almost always has chunks of undigested food in his diaper. Typically black beans, corn, carrots, oranges, and green beans come through undigested. She suggested that we have some bloodwork and a stool sample done. Because of his recent history of little weight gain she is a bit concerned that it could be something somewhat serious like a thyroid condition or an absorption disorder like Celiac disease (which is where you can't process Gluten1, a protein found in wheat, rye and barley and is in just about all foods). So I'll take him in in a few days for the bloodwork, and we'll go from there. I'm not going to get worried about it at this point because there isn't any sense in that. We'll just see what comes back. Most likely he's fine I'm sure.

I made the appointments for the dermatologist and the allergist when we got home. We also have to go back in a month for his second flu shot. Our doctor is having a baby in December! I've been curious the last few times I went in cause I thought she might be PG, but you could definitely tell today. So she'll be on maternity leave when we go back for his 15 month WBV in January, we'll be seeing the other Dr in the practice, I've heard she's great.

[godsgift77]

Happy Birthday Kiley and Avery!!!

QOTD: We're good about night time but horrible about the morning too...

jenjen HOW did you go about weaning from the bottle? Seems like we're at square 1 - sippy cups are fine but he won't to to sleep without a bottle!

jh124 Hank is ADORABLE!

Lorialys - hopefully everything will come out ok...

[jenjen0713]

godsgift - What really worked for us, was advice from our doctor. He told us from the beginning to put DS to bed awake, so he learns to fall asleep on his own. I had also read on different threads and from friends IRL, how hard the nightime bottle habit was to break, so DH and I tried really hard to put DS to bed awake and not have a bottle (or breastfeeding) be a part of his nighttime ritual. This was really hard in the beginning, but I'm so grateful we did this b/c it worked for us.

The sitter has gradually been weaning him from bottles to sippy during the day. Last week, he was taking 1-2 bottles a day when he was with her. After reading some of the threads in the parenting thread, I decided to go cold turkey and do it at this age as it sounded like it got harder and harder to wean the older the child got. Last Saturday, I put all the bottles away and only offered sippy. I kept the sippy around all day long and he was not happy...batting at it, pushing it away, but I refused to give him a bottle. I will say he didn't drink as much as he normally does those first few days of going cold turkey. The last four days have gotten better and better each day. The sitter only gives him sippy cups as well and DS has finally accepted the sippy cups. He is now pretty much taking as much drinking as much as he did with a bottle.

Good luck with the weaning. The above worked for us, but I know it won't work for everyone, so take it with a grain of salt. Is there anyway, you could start to alter his nighttime ritual...maybe taking the bottle away after 5 minutes in bed and then the next night, taking the bottle away after 2 minutes and so on and so on? Maybe some of the other moms here might have some words of wisdom for you!

[cartersmommy]

weaning: we are totally weaning except for the bedtime bottle. i should have NEVER started putting him to bed with a bottle. i really regret it now. but what can ya do? daycare weaned him onto a sippy cup to take during the day, so we didn't have to worry about that. and at dinner and night he does a sippy cup. it's just those bedtimes! i have yet to brave it out! lol

[godsgift77]

Daytime on weekends is good - sippy cups only. My MIL keeps him all day and INSISTS that he's too young to wean... *ARGH* :mad: The night time bottle is going to be TOUGH but i might try the minute theory... sounds like it might work but ya never know with my kid!

[DianeCourt]

Sippy cups: So are your DC's drinking from the cup INDEPENDENTLY? Meaning, do they sit by themselves and drink it all by themselves? I still have to hold Lily in my lap while she drinks hers, almost like it's still a bottle. Just curious what everybody else is doing.

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Jillian and Gigi!!

dianecourt - DS can drink independently from his cup. We use primarily the Nuby straw sippy that is 12-14 oz. (I think) and doesn't have any handles.

http://www.nuby.be/en/cups/flipit/30-ID830-group_2.jpg

[Kanga]

LOVING all the birthday pics!! I can't believe how much our kids look like little people now instead of babies. When dd was little it was so hard for me to picture what she might look like as she grows older, but it's been getting easier by the day. *sniff*

jenjen - Have you found out if you'll be having a boy or a girl yet? I switched dr.'s and this one does it at the same time as the GTT (24 wks) unless there's a history of birth defects so I haven't found out yet. It seems like I've been waiting forever!

lorialys - I've heard it's totally normal for food to go undigested in babies and toddlers (and even corn in adults) so I'm sure it's nothing, but the tests sound like a small price to pay for peace of mind and better safe than sorry.

Weaning - We haven't even begun the process. I always offer the sippy, but dd won't drink anything except for formula and juice, which we only give when she's constipated and will only drink it out of a bottle. The couple times I've tried to give her formula in a sippy she was MAD!! (And I think we've tried every kind they have) I've actually never seen her so mad before or since then so back to bottles it is. I'm going to talk to our ped and dentist to see if using bottles longer than a year or so causes any dental problems, because other than that I really don't see a reason to get rid of them just to switch to sippies and then have to wean from those as well. I guess in Europe they go straight from bottles to cups and skip over sippies entirely. She still gets a bedtime bottle as she won't eat anything more than a handful of hard grains (toast, cereal, veggie puffs, etc) and won't try to get rid of it until she has a more balanced diet and eats food regularly. When it is time to get rid of the night time bottle, we're going to start by feeding her bottle in the living room (where we spend the vast majority of our time) and then go upstairs right afterwards, change, and then bed. So it's basically the same except the bottle is before pjs and in a different room. Once she gets the hang of that then we'll gradually increase the time inbetween the bottle and bed to where she no longer sees the bottle as a bedtime cue and then hopefully she won't miss it when we take it away completely. We don't put her down for naps with a bottle (never have) unless it's time to eat and she doesn't seem to mind so I'm hoping this will go smoothly when teh time comes.



My sister is coming down today to watch Daytona for me so I clean the house and get ready for her birthday party. I would have thought I'd be an emotional wreck by now, especially with pregnancy hormones, but surpisingly I'm doing fine. Maybe because it's not her actual birthday. I KNOW I'll be a wreck on that day. Dh has to work on her bday, so I'm not sure what we'll do. Probably have left over cake after supper and maybe Daytona and I will hit the mall for her 1 year pics during the day. Although now that I think about it, maybe dh would like to come as he usually misses that kind of stuff. So I guess that brings up a QOTD - If your dc bday is on a different day than the party, what are doing (did) for the actual day?

[jh124]

QOTD - If your dc bday is on a different day than the party, what are doing (did) for the actual day?
We went to the pumpkin patch, opened Mommy and Daddy presents and any cards that came in the mail, made a special dinner and read bday bedtime stories (we have read them all week.)

Henry's Happy Birthday
Birthday Monsters, and
http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0316739073.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Tomorrow we are having his party.

[hmbay]

just wanted to say "have a nice week" to everyone. Leaving on vacation tomorrow and I doubt I'll get online tonight. Whoever had Alex's name for the b-day thingie if I don't get the gift today you won't be getting a thankyou until we return next week. Hopefully you sent it USPS (I'm having my mail held) because if its UPS or FedEx it's going to be sitting on our porch for a week!

[dragonfly_71]

Happy Birthday to all I missed!

flu shot: we are not getting one. Our ped only recommends it for children with asthma or certain other health issues.

weaning: Alex still gets a bottle first thing in the morning and last thing at night. I'm not ready to wean him off the evening bottle. Since Alex still doesn't like to be read to this is our alternative to a bedtime story. I sit in the rocking chair with him and give him his bottle (it's just milk, not formula), when he has had enough he will turn around and I have to hold him over my shoulder as if I were trying to burp him. This is the only time he ever lets me just hold him, usually he is always on the go and way too busy to be held. So I really enjoy this time with him. I do put him in his crib while he is still awake and he goes to sleep on his own.
During the day he only drinks from a sippy cup. He either uses the regular Nuby or a target brand straw cup. He does hold the cup himself and now he also walks around with it in his hands.

My poor little guy got tortured today. We had his WBV and he got his shots and a TB test and then I had to take him to the lab for bloodwork. They tried both of his arms and couldn't get enough blood for both tests. He screamed the whole time and they made me pin him down. It was awful. And the worst is that we have to go back again to give more blood. I'm going to make DH take him that time. He is an RN and hopefully will be able to handle this situation better than I did.

Tomorrow DH and Alex will be watching football together and I am going to the beach by myself. I am so excited. I haven't had any real me time in forever.

[Lvella43]

Lisa & GodGift I saw this in parents magazine and thought of you guys

http://www.jeeto.com/allergycollection.html

[godsgift77]

Too cute! I ordered a pink "No Tree Nuts Please" tee :D

[scubasam]

Happy Belated Birthdays to Hank, Lucas,Kiley, Avery, Jillian, and Gigi.....and also to upcoming birthdays, Lily, Daytona, Jack, Jeremy, Kaleyn, Brandon, Amber!!!!

Todd and I are off to Mexico tomorrow (hence why I included the rest of the weeks bdays) for 5 days :D ......without Carter :( . He'll be staying w/ grandma & grandpa and luckily, they're staying at our house so he'll have his own bed, toys, etc. I am so excited for some serious R&R and much needed couple time but wow, it has totally hit me the last couple days that we're leaving Carter. We wrote up a quick will/letter of guardianship for Carter if something happens to us and that was just painful. Not that anything will happen of course, but we needed to be prepared.....we needed to do it anyway and this just pushed us. Certainly having some alone time w/ my husband to reconnect and be a "couple" again vs. a "couple who are parents" is worth more than the fear of leaving and I'm SO pumped for sitting by the pool w/ a margarita! And Carter will have a GREAT time w/ the inlaws....he loves his gma and gpa so much!

We went to the pumpkin patch the other day. Carter was due for a nap so he didn't smile in hardly any of the pics but it was fun nonetheless.

This one was so cute - we call it "Waiting for the Great Pumpkin"

http://static.flickr.com/68/278407077_aa4fc10ecf.jpg?v=0

Notice the mountain in the background

http://static.flickr.com/99/278407073_15e1426967.jpg?v=0

Me & the boy

http://static.flickr.com/114/278407085_94e45e1378.jpg?v=0

And just for fun......I was out one afternoon and when I came home, DH showed me this pic.....classic "husband".....he gave Carter my Wedgewood china to eat out of

http://static.flickr.com/108/278407086_d2367d49ef.jpg?v=0

Have a great rest of the week!! Wish us a safe trip!!

[scubasam]

Forgot to say a huge "THANK YOU!!!!" to our secret bday exchg partner!!! Carter loves his book and yours should be arriving shortly!!!! You rock!!!

[jenjen0713]

Happy Birthday Lily and Dakota!!

Kanga - Nope we haven't found out yet...they tried to look at 15 weeks, but it was too early. We go next Friday for a 3D-4D u/s so hopefully they should be able to tell since I'll be 25 weeks at that point. How have you been feeling?

dragonfly - That brought tears to my eyes reading about your poor boy being held down to get blood.
:(

scubasam - Have a great time in Mexico! What great pictures of Carter! I love the one of him holding the bowl up! :)

[jh124]

Happy Birthday Lily, Daytona, Jack, Kaleyn, and Brandon!

The month is winding down and soon all of our babies will be a year old. Speaking of which, have you seen my baby? He was here yesterday, but this morning there was a toddler in his place. The new kid is really getting on my nerves.:eek:

[DianeCourt]

Happy Birthday Daytona, Jack, Kaleyn, and Brandon!

I can't believe Lily is one year old today. We had her party on Saturday, and it was nearly a disaster. Lily is getting over another ear infection, and she was too sick to enjoy the party. On top of that, my cousin overflowed our toilet in a BIG way, so we had to deal with that unnecessary drama. A few pictures are posted here (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23831&page=40).

Lily is scheduled for surgery to get tubes on Monday, so we're trying to get her well so we don't have to delay it. I'm very nervous about possibly having to put it off more. She needs them NOW in the worst way.

Tonight we're going to give Lily some of her cake again - she was too sick to really enjoy it on Saturday. We're also going to give her the present from us, a Radio Flyer Pathfinder wagon.

[lorialys]

Happy belated birthdays to Gigi and Jeremy, and Happy birthdays today to Daytona and Lily!!

[mcl]

hello everyone,

both LJ and i have been under the weather (stomach virus) so we were both just miserable, which is why i haven't posted much. we're doing better now but ds lost some weight and i on the other hand just felt miserable but didn't manage to lose weight:rolleyes: (sounds terrible)

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY TO ALL THE GIRLS AND BOYS THAT WE MISSED GREETING.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO DAYTONA AND LILY TODAY!!!

dianecourt--like i said on the birthday thread, your party looked amazing. lily looked like she enjoyed herself considering the ear infection and toilet overflow.

jenjen and kanga and lysh--how are all of you RO doing? hope that this pregnancy is much easier this time around now that you all are experts.

by the way, LJ WOULD LIKE TO SAY THANK YOU TO OUR SECRET BIRTHDAY EXCHANGE PARTNER. 1_mommy and KAI got him the most fun toy. we have the leap frog magnetic animal set on our fridge and ds has been playing with it everytime he enters the kitchen. he's yet to make a match but he loves the music and dances each time. my silly son puts a horse+cow, sheep+duck etc.

to our secret exchange partner, your gift is on its way. we feel terrible that it's kind of late but we're just now feeling better.

take care everyone.

[Kanga]

Happy Birthday Lily, Brandon, Kaleyn, and Jack!!/

DianeCourt - I hope Lily is well enough for her tubes and so sorry she couldn't really enjoy her party. : (

scubasam - Have fun in Mexico! It's been colder than normal here for October, so I'm feeling pretty envious right about now. And I love that first pic of carter on the pumpkin! That is definitely one for the scrap/memory book. He looks like he's meditating.

#2- I've been doing really well and enjoying the 2nd tri. I alm