August 2006 Mommies and Babies!

[jesseybell]

I am home sick and it totally sucks. I came down with a 24 hour bug 48 hours ago. I've shed a few tears in the last couple of days because I have so much to do and the fact that I felt too horrible to spend quality time with E.

I had quite the scare last night. I'll admit it- she fell off the couch. It freaked the hell out of me. But after a few kisses to make the tears (she finally has tears!) go away, she was fine. But I felt horrible about it for hours. Later, after propping her up with a stuffed Santa on the couch for pictures, I realized how much she is doing her crunches, so I presume she flung herself into a more upright sitting position and off the couch. I know there will be tons more bumps and bruises in her life, but the first one sucks!

Last night putting the binky in her mouth (3 times) at 2 am didn't work. Thankfully DH relented and fed her.

[Chimichanga]

Oh Jessie - sorry to hear about that :( I felt horrible when I bumped Reagan's head on the beam in the living room. I was crying more than she was. I know it's part of life, but yeah; that first time just completely SUCKS!

I hope you feel better soon.

[JenniferH]

Well, it was a fluke. Cohen woke up again last night, but went right back to sleep once he ate. Maybe tonight will be a STTN.

CHIMI ~ We make it really watered down, but do give it to him on a spoon. It is more like we are sliding it in kind of. He didn't take the cereal as well last night, but that may have been b/c DH fed him while I was at a scrapbook Xmas party.

Jessie ~ Hope you feel better soon. The bug sounds nasty. It is terrible when they get hurt, but just wait until they can tell you that you hurt them. One time, I was carry Caden and he hit his head on a door frame. He immediately told my mom that he hurt his head and I did it. That SUCKED!

[babylove]

Jenn ~ Congrats on the house!! It looks fab!

Jennifer ~ Sorry Cohen didn't give you a repeat performance with STTN but now that he's done it once, hopefully he will do it again!

Jen ~ Sorry that Reagan is cranky from teething...hopefully you'll see a pearly white soon.

Jessie ~ I hope you feel better! Don't feel bad about E falling, I'm sure it will happen to me eventually...

***

Jake had his 4 mo WBV yesterday. Here are his stats:

weight: 16 lbs 0.5 oz (75th %ile)
height: 25" (60th %ile)

Dr says he's doing great! He's just about doubled his birth weight (save for a few ounces) and is doing everything a 4 mo old should be doing. And both his ears are infection-free so I was happy about that.

We are cleared to start solid foods now. Originally the ped said to wait until 6 mo b/c of a family history of food allergies. But this time he said that since Jake has been exclusively BF for 4 mo, he's as protected as he is going to be against food allergies and waiting until he is 6 mo old won't further prevent allergies. I'm really on the fence about starting it though...maybe this weekend? The ped also said that we could give him more EBM in his bottles when I'm at work...so he'll be taking 6 oz per feeding starting Tuesday. I hope my supply can keep up!

I still have a cough and the dr wants me to start antibiotics today. Boo. I'm nervous about thrush, and getting an upset stomach from the antibiotics. :(

[amyinlosangeles]

sorry i haven't been around much. i do try to read along everyday but just can't find the time to post. i hope everyone has a wonderful and happy holiday!!
http://web.mac.com/amydillon/iWeb/babydillonproject/Month%205%20Pix_files/peacebaby_07lo.jpg

[babylove]

Amy ~ That is SO CUTE!!! I love that "card"!!!

[jesseybell]

The suckiest thing about this illness is that my BM supply has completely tanked- no water in,no water out I guess. I know I want to be weaning her, but it sucks when it isn't your choice! I think E has a touch of my stomach bug as well, but she's acting fine and is peeing enough so she isn't dehydrated (unlike her mom).

[Chimichanga]

Jessie - I completely understand about your supply. I'm right there (or was) with ya. Stinks! I hope you're feeling better.

Jennifer - I hope Cohen's helping you out with at least some longer stretches of sleep :)

Tracee - Yay for infection free ears! i think Reagan is starting to get an ear infection; she keeps grabbing at her one year.

******************
We had a BUSY Christmas! Saturday we went over by ILs for an "open house" type of thing. Basically it was SILs and their SOs, ILs and then DH's cousin and his GF came oer (the cousin is Reagan's godfather). It was a nice time, but we were there so late! Reagan was so overstimulated; she was getting cranky at the end.

Sunday was the official ILs Christmas at SIL's house. Again, Reagan was just super stimulated and didn't really nap. She got her excersaucer and LOVES it! It's the Baby Einstein one. She's turning herself around in there and playing with all of the little goodies. She got some more toys and clothes too.

Today we went by my parents - man did she make out!! My sister got her a ton of clothes, a Care Bear and the movie, the Alvin and the Chipmonks Movie (she and I LOVE that movie!!) and an ornament. My parents got her the convertible car seat, some books and clothes. And a very sizeable contribution to her college fund. DH and my dad put the car seat in the car right away. Then we went by my uncle's house and she got even more clothes and books.

This little girl is going to be super stylish for the next 3-6 months !!

[ajlanden]

Hope everyone had a super holiday!!!! WE sure did!

I know I am not around as much as a used to be. So BUSY! Just wanted to drop off my chunky monkey's 4 month stats...
David--4 months
19lbs 5 oz (95 percentile)
26.5 inches long (70th percentile)
He is crazy big. DD was around 14lbs at 4 months. How do these kids have the same parents? :)

David is going through major sleep regression. He is eating twice a night and up more than that. Sigh.... I don't know how I function.

Can't wait to see some good X-mas shots!!

[babylove]

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend!!

Jake has another ear infection...if anyone is counting, this makes THREE. :( We went to the ped this morning after a weekend of ear pulling, and sure enough, it's infected. Thank god he pulls his ear when it bothers him b/c that's the only way I know it's infected...he doesn't have any other symptoms at all. And thankfully it isn't even a full blown ear infection so once again we caught it very early. I'm just at my wits end over this...what can I possibly do to keep him from getting ear infections??

I asked the ped about tubes and he said that tubes are for kids who can't get rid of an ear infection, which is not Jake's problem. Antibiotics clear it up but then he gets another one in the other ear. One option for Jake if this continues is to keep him on antibiotics daily for a while to see if that helps. I really don't want to do that. I'm so upset and I feel like the worst mother :( I just don't know what I can do differently.

[ajlanden]

Tracee-I am so sorry. It is so hard to see your little baby sick. Just know that you are doing everything you can do for him. You are a great mommy. You knew he had one before it was even full blown! :)

~hugs to you and Jake!~

[Chimichanga]

Tracee - you're not a bad mother! Ear infections, illnesses and bumps and booboos happen with babies/children. I had horrible ear infections as a child. I got my tonsils taken out and haven't had an ear infection since. I know this doesn't help when Jake is miserable, but it will get better.

[babylove]

Thanks Jen and Ashley...I just feel terrible. But the good thing is that Jake isn't miserable at all. You'd never know he was "sick" if he wasn't touching the infected ear all the time. His personality and eating/sleeping habits are totally normal, and he doesn't have a fever or anything. I guess even the slightest congestion morphs into an ear infection for Jake...but I don't know how to prevent the congestion! Everyone around him washes their hands before touching him, he's home with the nanny most of the week and he is rarely, if ever, around young germy kids. What can I do differently? I honestly don't know...I know kids get sick and I can't keep him in a bubble but I just don't want these chronic ear infections to cause speech/language problems down the road, or god forbid, harm his hearing. Sorry for venting...I'm just a worry wart :(

[jesseybell]

Being back to work stinks! I hated leaving E off with my parents today. But I am only in the office 3 days - Friday we have a ped's appt to check her uneven flat head :( and then I am 'working from home' the rest of the day.

Her first Christmas went fairly well. Except she was completely overheated at my parents on Sunday because they had a fire going, so we let her hang out in her diaper. All our parents were very generous and thankfully our convertible carseats are paid for via BRU gift cards.

Now that Christmas is over, once my supply stabilizes again after my illness, I will actively work at weaning. Right now she's at 50-50 BM and formula. I have enough stash to probably give her 1 bottle of BM per day through the winter. I need to be better about rotating my stash though. DH thinks I am a geek with all my little calculations - I really do look like a mad scientist when putting her bottles together.

Once weaning is complete, we'll start thinking about solids. We have all the food and utensils. It's just making the decision to do it. DH wanted to give her cereal on Christmas - I vetoed that. I want to wait until she's at least 5 months (which is only 2 weeks away).

[tgoody03]

Glad to hear everyone had a nice Christmas! We had a great one as well. It was really special just having Sophie with us. Of course she had no idea what was going on, but we did. LOL!

Sophie didn't get as many toys as I thought she would. We got a ton of clothes ... I wonder if that's a girl thing ... everyone always gives us clothes. She's pretty much set until 9 months, that's for sure!

Lately Sophie's sleep has regressed. Not sure what's going on but she's been waking around 2 and 4, sometimes more. Seems like she has terrible gas again. I am going to try and take her to the dr. tomorrow. We switched pedis so hopefully the new one will fit us in. I talked to the nurse line last week about Sophie's poop. It's very runny with hardly any of the "seedy" stuff in it. They told me she probably had a stomach bug (can't remember what it's called) that effects her bowel movements and possibly cause pain in her tummy. She doesn't act sick, just has these loose stools. And, sometimes she seems serioulsy crampy and gassy ... like I have never seen before. Tonight she seemed like she was in such pain and she was so stiff I thought she was going to do a back bend in the midst of trying to get the gas out. It was awful. So ... we need to try and see the pedi.

babylove - I know how you feel about the bad mother thing. I feel like that about Sophie when she has gas. I wonder if it's my fault and I hate that I can't fix it. Rest assured it's not your fault Jake has ear infections ... at least you pay enough attention to him to catch the infection early!! See, you're a good mom.

ajlanden - Wow! David is a big boy. I love it! Does he have those squishy little leg rolls? David sounds like Sophie with the sleep regression. I'm tired, too!

chimi - Sounds like you had a fantastic Christmas and that R made out like a bandit. That's awesome!

jesseybell - How do you plan to wean? Do you mix BM with formula? Good luck weaning. I'm going to probably start doing it in the next few months and I'm starting to feel a little sad about it which I didn't expect. How are you doing with it?

[jesseybell]

Weaning-We started mixing small amounts of formula into some of her bottles of a few weeks ago (remember I am EPing so she gets all bottles), slowly getting up to 50-50 for all her 'at home' bottles. Over the weekend we started the 50-50 to all her bottles. So even though my supply tanked when I was sick (and has rebounded some) I am freezing a lot because I haven't really started getting around to actually weaning my body. I plan on trying to give her 1 bottle of BM per day for a couple of months. Over the next couple of weeks we'll slowly add more and more formula until they are all formula :(

Yesterday I actually forgot one part of my pump at home so went almost 10 hours! Luckily my supply had dipped some- 2 weeks ago I wouldn't have been able to go 10 hours without being incredibly uncomfortable.

I need to come up with a plan to actually wean my body and just do it.

I am definitely very sad about it. Today was the first time I sent her to daycare with anything but 100% BM bottles. But at the same time I am SO ready to be done with the pump.

[ajlanden]

Jessie-~hugs!~ I am sorry you are having a sad time with weaning. You have done such a great job! I am sure you will feel better when you don't have to think about it every second. When it comes to weaning your body. Slow and steady.

tgoody-I hope you and Sophie get some answers today!

Dropping by a few Xmas pics!!
http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k149/34landenaj/xmashat.jpg?t=1167233516

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k149/34landenaj/xmasevedavey.jpg?t=1167233574

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k149/34landenaj/xmasfamily.jpg?t=1167237199

[Chimichanga]

Ashley - love the family photo!! :)

Weaning - our doctor suggested not mixing formula and BM in the same bottle. So, we would just give R straight formula. We started with just one bottle a day and increased from there. She did get a bit constipated, but the doctor wasn't concerned (she had one movement per day; down from about 3-4).

Reagan is eating her "food" much better now. She's opening her mouth and getting it. Makes me happy. Although, I think she gets as much food on her clothes as she does in her mouth. We're doing veggies first; right now is sweet potatoes. I'm going to stick with veggies until she's at least 5.5 months (basically for a month) then I'll introduce fruits.

[ajlanden]

I just can't get back in the swing of work. I forgot to mention that I am starting a new job on 1/22. More money, a nice office and a cool Title (the last two are what DH is most excited about!).

Anyway, I thought we should do some updates...I know there are August mommies who are so busy that they just stop by and read...come in and give us some updates, even if you don't have time for replies!!!


Clothes: 9-12 months
Diapers: Size 4--He is so wide around his belly that he needs 4s to get around him.
Eating: Usually every 3 hours or so. I think he is taking about 38-40oz a day. I am getting seriously about solids. We have been on them since 4 months, but now I am starting to give him a consistent meal a day around 5:30. We have just tried cereal. Next week I will start on veggies.
Sleeping: Usually 4-5 naps a day. He can be up for about 1.5 hours before needing to nap again. He doesn't nap well at daycare, but seems to do better at home. Nighttimes are either one extreme or the other. He has been waking 4-5 times night lately and then last night he STTN. I don't get it.
Likes: Putting things in his mouth and pulling his blankie over his head. The blanket things scares the crap out of me. He also likes to watch his sister run around the house.

Jen-Thanks! Family pictures are so hard to get with a 2 yo and a 4 month old!

[K&H's mommy]

Happy Holidays everyone! Life has been busy this time of the year with three kids! We have all had colds too, so that hasn't been very much fun! Allison will be 4 months old next week - time is just flying! She is just a wonderful little girl, I'm glad we could go out with a bang (she is our last!) ;)

clothes - 3-6 months
diapers still size 2's
Eating - still exclusively breastfeeding. Pretty much every 3 hours. DS used to take 45 minutes to eat and it drove me crazy. She can knock a feeding out in 5 minutes.
sleeping - this is why I call her a little Rockstar. Goes down at 7pm and wakes up at 8:30am, with no waking up in between. She takes 2 good naps a day, usually one for an hour and another between 2-3 hours.
Likes - watching her brother and sister, having mommy make her do the chicken dance, grabbing at her toys, sucking her thumb, bathtime
Dislikes - riding in the car, being in her carseat



ashely - DS did the same thing with the blanket. He STILL puts it over his head and wraps it around his head at nighttime. Makes me nervous!

[jesseybell]

Clothes: 3-6 months - a few things are starting to feel a little snug
Diapers: Size 2--They are no where near too big around her thighs, but I was just noticing last night how much looser we are having to close them
Eating: 50-50 formula and BM. About 36 oz a day in 7 meals. Will be starting solids soon.
Sleeping: Goes down around 9-10. For the last week she's been getting up at 5 - over the break we were feeding her and then all going back to sleep until 9. Now we can put the binky in her mouth a few times and she'll go back to sleep. Either that or she'll lie in her crib and talk to herself. She is still swaddled, but we plan on weaning her off that in the next few weeks. She's not a good napper at all.
Likes: She loves to talk- some days I sware she's doing it all day - I am surprised she's not hoarse. Everything goes in her mouth. She loves to put her bibbie over her head- we don't give her blankets yet, but if we did,that would be over her head too.
Dislikes - She doesn't have too many. But being too hot, and the hour of 8pm-9pm make her cranky.

[jennylou]

Clothes: 6-9 months mainly, unless it's carter's onesies - she still fits 3-6 for those for now. Jeans are 12 months.
Diapers: size Medium fuzzibunz
Eating: Still feeding on demand - all mommas milk.
Sleeping: We've been working on transitioning her to the cosleeper (from the swing), as a result, she wakes up more often. I'm hoping that soon, she'll sleep longer stretches. :) She's also fighting sleep and going down later.
Likes: The bouncy chair. Playing with her blanket (I only give her very thin, breathable blankets when she's playing). nursing ;), facing out in her MT or stroller
dislikes - her infant car seat, being apart from her mommy, getting shots

[babylove]

Clothes: 3-6 mo, getting closer to the next size though.
Diapers: Pampers Cruisers Size 3 (since just before he was 4 mo old)
Eating: all BM, baby. He nurses every 3 hours when he's with me and takes bottles of EBM from the nanny/MIL 3.5 days a week. When he takes bottles, he gets 5.5-6 oz of EBM. On Xmas day, we started oatmeal mixed with EBM once a day. We plan to continue this until 5 mo and then increase to 2X a day.I probably won't introduce fruits or veggies for another month or so.
Sleeping: He has been consistently STTN (7:30 - 7:30) since he was about 13 weeks old. He always takes a 1 hr morning nap, and 1.5 hour afternoon nap. Sometimes he will take a mid-day nap but not usually.
Likes: Putting things in his mouth, especially his hands or someone else's hands/fingers; sitting on his activity mat and playing with the toys that hang; reading books with Daddy; bathtime; playing naked on the floor.
Dislikes: being in a crowded room with lots of people who want to hold/talk to him.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/336488043_68e3d60239_m.jpg

[jennylou]

N rolled over for the first time yesterday. It was a big milestone for her, but one that is bittersweet. Once she's rolling all the time, the apnea monitor has to go, and right now, it's a very nice thing for us to have.

This thread is so quiet, I feel like there are only a few people posting anymore.

N had her 4 month WBV (never mind that it was at 4.5 months) last week. She weighed in at 15 pounds, 8 ounces. She was 25 3/4 inches long. I was told that was 75% for both, but someone posted earlier that they were 70% and it was higher than N, so now I'm not sure about these percentiles!

[Chimichanga]

Jenny - I wonder about the percentiles too. N is a touch longer than R, but R is in the 95th% for length :confused: I thought it might have to do with boys v. girls, but we just debunked that...

Clothes: 6-9 months
Diapers: Pampers Cruisers size 3 when in disposable. We normally do cloth during the day. Although our dryer has been on the fritz, so we've just been doin disposable until it's fixed.
Eating: Like a champ! ;) She'll eat any where from 4-6 ounces about 6-7 times a day. Her bed time bottle is 6 ounces with rice cereal. We have also been giving her a feeding of veggies - right now is sweet potatoes.
Sleeping: Normally from 9:30-7:30. but the past few nights she's been waking up; luckily she goes right back to bed after maybe 5 minutes.
Likes: Putting things in her mouth, sucking on her toes, her toes in general, this dancing flower pot that plays big band music (got it as a white elephant gift), watching the dog
Dislikes:not too many...hats are the main dislike

[cocoa_femme]

I can't believe my little boy is 20 weeks and 1 day old!

We had his 4 month wbv on 12/11. Dylan was 14 lbs, 11 oz and 26.75 inches. He's rolling over from front to back and from back to front. We're still giving him tummy time and encouraging him to scoot a bit. He's almost ready to sit up on his own, but for now, we're using the boppy.

Clothes: 3 - 6 months, although he's almost grown out of them.
Diapers: Size 2s (Luvs)
Eating: He'll eat three - four 4 oz bottles of expressed bm during the day, while with my parents (9 - 6 p.m.). When at home, he's at the breast every 2 - 2.5 hours. We plan on starting him on rice cereal this weekend.
Sleeping: Normally from 10 -7:30. On occasion, he'll wake up once between 2 - 4 a.m. to eat.
Likes: Putting any & all things in his mouth, smiling & laughing, his grandmother's high-pitched baby talk, attention from anybody, looking around & exploring, and being nosey.
Dislikes: Being in his carseat, getting his ears/nose cleaned, and being put to sleep.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a334/cocoa_femme/DSCN0612.jpg?t=1167413055

[jennylou]

Jenny - I wonder about the percentiles too. N is a touch longer than R, but R is in the 95th% for length :confused: I thought it might have to do with boys v. girls, but we just debunked that...


Hmmm, interesting, very interesting. I'm going to search around and see if I can't find a chart. ;)

[amyinlosangeles]

Still here and reading along

Clothes: 3-6 months
Diapers: Huggies Size 2
Eating: 6 - 5oz bottles a day - she'll drink between 3-5oz each time
Sleeping: Sleeps from about 7:30 - 7am w/1 bottle at about 10:30pm- She usually makes noise around 4am - 6am but isn't really awake and I'll put her in the bed w/us so I can sleep a little longer. She continues to sleep but thrashes from side to side and moves constantly so I rarely fall back asleep. She naps randomly throughout the day and we still swaddle her at night.
Likes: Her hands, her feet, staring at everything I eat like it's the coolest thing ever invented! Loves bathtime, her exersaucer, anything Daddy does, looking at everything - she's so curious! She loves to stand all the time. She constantly babbles, gurgles, squeals, squeaks & talks to herself - it's the cutest thing.
Dislikes: Cleaning her nose out, not being paid attention to, not getting her bottle to her quickly enough!

Ava's 4month WBV is today so we'll find out about starting solids. She's still spitting up A LOT and I just don't know if we should change formula or not. It also seems like she often has reflux because she'll scream out of the blue in pain and will spit up clear fluid that makes her eyes water.

[cocoa_femme]

I forgot to add...Dylan has a tooth coming in!

[tgoody03]

Officially 4 months tomorrow ... although 17 weeks yesterday

We went to our new pedi 2 days ago to see about some pain Sophie was having. Since we are changing pedis, our 4 month WBV is off ... it will be when she is 4.5 months. Anyway, Sophie weighed 14.7 lbs. She has officially doubled her birth weight!

Clothes: 3-6 months in onesies and shirts. 6 - 9 months in pants. She seems long so pants and even some onesies are too short on her.
Diapers: Size 2 Pampers.
Eating: Still exclusively BM. Starting work 1/8 so we may need to start supplementing. Hoping to BF until 6 months and start solids around that time.
Sleeping: We are all screwed up right now because of the tummy issues she has been having, but before this last "bad" week Sophie was going down between 7 - 8 pm and sleeping until 4 am. Up at 4 am with a feeding sometimes and then back to sleep until 6 am. Feeding at 6 am and then in bed with us until about 8:30 - 9 and then up for the day (well, until her mid-morning nap). Naps - having some trouble with them still since she HATES sleeping on her back.
Likes: LOVES her jumperoo, standing, being held, watching football on tv, watching people/things in general (she's very observant and would rather watch than play), eating, looking in the mirror, and putting her hands in her mouth.
Dislikes - She HATES tummy time, when you try and burp her before she's done eating, books/reading time, and isn't really interested in most toys.

Haven't posted pics of Sophie in a long time. The first is when she was almost 2.5 months and then 2nd was 3.5 months.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/tgoody03/Sophie_smile.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n307/tgoody03/Sophiesanta2.jpg

[Camdynlyn]

Clothes: 3-6 months
Diapers: Size 2 Luvs
Eating: Every 3 hours or so. BF at home and FF at her caregiver's. We may start cereal this week because she's grabbing for our food-- we'll see what the ped says today!!
Sleeping: Sleeps from 8-6am with usually an hour nap during the day, and maybe another 30 minutes on a good day. Doctor isn't concerned about her small amounts of sleeping because she's still a happy baby but gets a significantly less amount of sleep than most of you gal's babies.
Likes: a certain green paci, putting anything in her mouth, sucking her thumb, her new toys we finally put together (exersaucer, jumperoo, play activity center), sitting up with assistance, playing peak-a-boo
Dislikes:being put in her carseat, laying down for long periods of time, sleeping on her back (she's a side sleeper), having the bottle taken away from her when she's done eating.

**
We just got back from her Ped 4 month WBV and her stats are:

Weight: 14.5 lbs - 54%
Height: 24.5 in - 50%
Head: 16- 50%

She's gone down from 95% at her 2 month visit. Doc said she was more active and lost some of her baby fat. Everything looked good. Got her vacs. We also got the go ahead for cereal.

[tgoody03]

So we went to our new pedi on Weds. Sophie’s painful wakings at night seem to be related to her reflux. The last time we got the prescription filled, the dosage was based on 10 lbs (at 2 months). Now she ways nearly 15 lbs so the dosage wasn’t enough and wasn’t helping her at all. The new pedi. had to double her dosage due to her weight gain. You think my old pedi would have warned me that I might need to come in before the 4 month WBV to get a new dosage. I had know idea they gave prescription dosages based on weight. Since we switched pedis, we won’t have our 4 month WBV until Sophie is 4.5 months… but, she did weigh 14.7 lbs which is more than double her birth rate. She’s getting chunky and I love it!

jessey – Why did you choose to introduce the formula into bottles of BM? I’m just curious because I’ll need to start introducing formula soon and I was thinking of doing it like you rather than just doing one full bottle of formula. Not sure what the difference is or the benefit of doing one of the other. My pedi told me to start with one bottle of formula. I hear ya – I’m ready to be done with the pump, too!

ajlanden – Thanks! We did get some answers and boy does the increased dosage of Zantac work … thankfully! Love the Christmas pics. Y’all are very photogenic (the entire family!).

Chimi – You started with rice cereal, right? For some reason I think you did, but then I read what you posted and thought you meant you started with veggies. I have learned that you can actually start with food other than cereal, which I did not know. Are you going to introduce oatmeal soon? Just a warning if you are – my friend started it after rice cereal at the recommendation of her dr. The nurse forgot to tell her that the oatmeal is high in fiber …which can mean (and for her son it happened) lots and lots of explosive poops and then a hungrier baby! Do you know why your dr. said not to mix BM with formula in bottles? I never asked my dr. why to start with a bottle of formula because I didn’t think about it.

K&H – Allison is such a cutie and has grown a lot! Sophie, like Allison, can knock a feeding out in 5 mins. She’s done this since day one and it used to worry me, but now I’m glad she’s an “efficient” eater. LOL! Glad to hear you are all doing well, minus the colds.

jennylou – That’s so exciting that N rolled over last night! Awesome!

Camdynlyn – I noticed that you use Luvs. How do those work for you? I was thinking of taking the “Luvs Challenge.” Wow, I would have never thought 14.5 lbs is only in the 50% range. I feel like Sophie has gained so much weight that she can't be in the 50% range. huh.

[jennylou]

Jenny - I wonder about the percentiles too. N is a touch longer than R, but R is in the 95th% for length :confused: I thought it might have to do with boys v. girls, but we just debunked that...


N had her 4 month appt at 4.5 months - do you think that might have had anything to do with it???? I'm reaching, probably. :p

I found some charts out there where you could plug in the weight and height, but they only do it for newborn, 3 months, then 6 months...so um, that didn't help. ;)

[jesseybell]

tgoody03- My doctor didn't say one way or the other about moving over to formula. In doing research, all I could find was don't mix the two because if the baby doesn't finish the bottle them the BM is wasted. I have more BM than I know what to do with, so I am not concerned there. They say that formula could be upsetting to a BM baby so I just figured that it would be better for her. Plus BM has some "taste" to it while formula is bland, so I figure I'll give her some taste at every meal.
Today we are starting 3 oz formula and 2 oz BM.

I read too that you don't need to start with rice cereal - you can start with veggies, especially if you wait longer. We're going to give her a little rice on Monday to see what happens.

The pediatrician did say to wait on fruits, or do fruits after all the veggies, just because they like fruits better because they are sweet, so it is harder to go back and try veggies after fruits.

[PLNUBRIDE]

I am still around, but now that I am working my life is very busy. I just read along and get all the advice I need :). PLus, I have been fighting a cold for a few weeks, plus I ad the stomach flu this week...


Clothes: Most clothes (onsies, pants, jackets) are still 3 months, but footsies are 6 months and she even wears some 9 month stuff

Diapers – Stage 2 pampers. I LOVE these diapers. Will be moving up to 3’s soon and I heard the pampers 3 are different then the stage 2’s…so if anyone has rec’s for stage 3’s I am all ears

Eating – Last weekend just moved her to 6 oz bottles. So, now she eats 5 bottles @ 6 ozs. (total of 30 ozs/day). She now goes between 3.5 and 4 hours.

Sleeping – Goes down at 8pm and sleeps through until 5:30am. She used to sleep to 6am, but 5:30 is Ok…since I now have to get up at work about that time anyway. But she gets her 1st bottle at 6am. Naps..what naps!? She hardly takes naps…maybe 2, 30 minute naps during the day and a 1hr nap in the early evening. Maybe once a week she will take a 2 hr nap during the day

Likes – To babble, laugh, giggle, blowing bubbles, being put in her swing when she is tired, her changing table, being talked to

Dislikes – the 3 minutes she is in the carseat before it is put in the car and the car is turned on, being held when she is cranky (she would rather have her swing)

UPDATE ON HER SPITUP: We started Zantac 12/11 and for the first few weeks we saw zero improvement. My DH wanted to stop b/c he was not seeing a change, but I told him to lets at least finish the Rx. About a week after that we started to see improvement and since Christmas weekend we have seen a HUGE improvement. During Christmas weekend we hesitantly decided to increase her bottles because she was barely going 2 hrs between bottles. We ran out of Zantac a few days before Christmas, but even without the medicine she was doing great so we went ahead and chanced the bottle increase. We think that the increase actually helped too. This is because she is now able to go longer between bottles, thus giving her more time to digest her food. So, between the medicine and the new bottle size she has improved about 90%...seriously! We are so happy

Solids/Rice cereal – The dr gave us the go ahead last time, but I wanted to hold off since we were starting the Zantac. For some reason, I am really hesitant about moving to baby food. I think I will wait another month and go right to veggies (no rice cereal)…and it seems like that is OK to do…

4 month Picture
http://display.lifepics.com/imgdisp.asp?ForceRefresh=111741&filespec=%60foxhxdc%7Cgr%3B7tta2%3B%3B%3E7%3D5dvmv tkb7A8%3D4%3A2%3C7ptq%0C828599%0F4%3A3827

Christmas Eve
http://display.lifepics.com/imgdisp.asp?ForceRefresh=111534&filespec=%60foxhxdc%7Cgr%3B7tta2%3B%3B%3E7%3D5dvmv tkb7A8%3B782%3A7ptq%0C82858%40%0F4%3A3828

[Chimichanga]

tgoody - Yes, we're on rice cereal. I'm also starting to introduce some veggies in addition to the rice cereal. Reagan is just chewing and slobbering on everything; the doctor said it would be okay. The ped didn't say why we shouldn't mix the formula and BM; it was actually easier not to have to mix. I don't think we'll be trying oatmeal ;)

PLNU - very cute pictures! :D

Today we used the convertible carseat for the first time while running errands. Since we installed it, either DH or I have done the running around and the other stayed with Reagan. It went well. We had her in her snowsuit and then we put her in the stroller. She woke up during "the transfer" but went right back to bed.

And, she actually wore her hat without screaming her head off!
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/jenmathe/100_3021.jpg

[LTJC]

Hopelessly MIA here; busy with the boys and preparing to return to work ft on Tuesday:(
D's 4 month stats: 13 lbs. 6 oz. and 25 inches. Although he is on the smaller size with regard to weight, he's a solid baby.

Clothes: 3-6 months in everything.

Diapers: Pampers Swaddlers size 2 although I feel like we are on the verge of size 3 Cruisers.

Eating: 5 bottles between 6-8 oz each. Plus one meal of rice cereal; just tried some bananas the other day - D LOVES them! Down to one nursing session in the morning.

Sleeping: Sleeping through the night since 12 weeks! Down at 8ish and up anytime between 6-7:30. One 2 hour nap in the morning and another 1-2 hour nap in the afternoon if we're lucky. I'm actually going to have to begin waking him up earlier in the morning as I leave for daycare/work on the early side.

Likes: Big brother M! Hands in his mouth, exersaucer, rolling over from back to front, the remote (just like a man already), and facing out in the Bjorn. Hanging out with our HUGE families during the holidays and Hokey Pokey Elmo. Babbling!!

Dislikes: Not being fed fast enough and poop in his diaper.

****
Life is great here. I'm not especially looking forward to going back to work, though. Over the past 5 months, we've busied ourselves with some great activities: Stroller Strides, story hour at the library, art class, and a baseball class. It burns me that most of these activities are NONEXISTENT on the weekends.

D is a very happy-go-lucky baby and flexible. I'm hoping this continues when he begins daycare on Tuesday. Both boys will be at the local Kindercare which we have been thrilled with, so I'm not anticipating major problems.

We celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas, so the past few weeks have been even busier than usual with spending lots of famliy time together. I've somehow managed to sneak in a haircut/color - my mom ponytail is gone and I've pulled out the flatiron once again. I'm packing my sweats, tees, uggs, and sneakers up for the work suits, stockings, and heels.:D

Even though it's early, we've made plans for our first real vacation with the kids. We're renting a house in the Cape for the week of 4th of July. We're also going to see GO DIEGO GO in March. Although this is clearly for DS #1, D is coming. I'm sure he will be all eyes!

Our house is on the market. Note to self - NEVER do this with two small kids at home. It's virtually impossible to keep the house in the pristine condition it should be. I'm in awe of those who can do this. Now that I'm heading back to work, a cleaning person will definitely be in order.

Love the pics of the babies and have a great new year!!

[tgoody03]

I just had the scariest event of my life happen. My DH went to the Peach Bowl tonight to watch UGA play VT. He usually gives S her baths since I do the majority of the feeding and get more time with her at home during the day. But tonight I gave her a bath. It was a nice evening. Gave her a bath, read a book, sang to her, gave her a massage, and put her to sleep. It was really nice. Then, I went downstairs. I was down there about 15 mins when I heard these really faint weird breathing noises in the monitor (I think only paranoid mommy ears could hear them). It sounded like she was gasping for air. I ran upstairs and into her room and I swear her eyes were wide open, but she wasn't breathing. I immediately picked her up and I heard her gasping for air (sounded like asthma but she doesn't have asthma). Her eyes were open but she looked as if she was staring into space. I went downstairs with her thinking she would become more alert when we walked. But she didn't. I immediately called DH because I was so scared. I was on the phone with him for a few minutes ... I honestly was going to call 911 because she wasn’t breathing normally when finally she started crying. She started breathing normally again ... I suctioned her nose because I thought maybe it was her congestion causing her to have problems breathing. She's always congested at night, but this has never happened. Once I suctioned her nose, sat her upright, and wiggled her around a little, she looked like she was back to her old self. But, seriously girls, I honestly thought she was going to die. I started crying on the phone with DH once she started breathing correctly. It was the scariest thing that has ever happened to me. Now S is sleeping right by me in my bed where she will stay all night!

jesseybell - Yeah, I found the same thing about wasted BM and formula. I was wondering if that was the only reason. Thanks!

OMG Chimi, that is the cutest pic ever! I love R's little rosy cheeks and big fluffy hat! I live in the south and (IMO) it rarely gets cold enough to dress S like that. Looks fun! DH and I always wonder how we would fit S into her car seat with a jacket on ... and now I know ... we would use the convertible car seat!! You didn't even know you were answering a question when you talked about using your new car seat. LOL!

Camdynlyn – Meant to ask you earlier about side sleeping. The nurse at my pedis office suggested we try it since S doesn’t like to sleep on her back. Do you just roll up a blanket tightly and put it behind Mia’s back? Does she ever roll onto her tummy?

[LTJC]

tgoody03 - I'm sorry for your scare!! There is nothing worse than not knowing what is wrong with your baby. Do you have a humidifier in the room?

[cosmic]

tgoody-- I can imagine how frightened you must have been!

Oh, boy! I have so much to get caught up on. I feel like I've been away from CC forever.

Just a tiny update here: Kai loves "sitting up" so we got him a Bumbo seat as one of his Christmas gifts. He still wakes 2 or 3 times during the night. We're dealing with a slight case of reflux and the doctor has him on a low dose of Zantac. No real complaints, though. DS is such a healthy, happy child otherwise.

Here are two of the pics we used on our Christmas cards-->
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/cosmicgirlndc/Im000004.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v606/cosmicgirlndc/Im000012.jpg

On a personal note-- I quit my job. My bosses wanted me to come back to working overnights and even to start right on Christmas. That, along with dealing with Kai's reflux was too much. I just wasn't willing to leave him without me all night long, which brings me to a question: Is anyone else's husband not-so-good at settling the baby down? Hubby is good at helping out, playing, etc., but doesn't seem to be able to really put the baby to sleep or sooth him when he's upset. Of course, DH hates it when I rush in or take over. :rolleyes: But how can I just do nothing?

[jennylou]

tgoody - I would call your ped right now and tell them what happened. Then again, some might consider me a bit paranoid, but when you've been through what I have....well, it's hard not to be paranoid.

cosmic - does that mean you're a SAHM now? Welcome to that joy! :) My DH will try to settle N, but he's not nearly as good at is as I am. I think I'm more patient. I have been making him get her ready for bed when he's home - diaper change, shower (though, sometimes it's with me, rather than him - but he does the rest), play time with peekaboo, etc, then he straps her monitor around her chest, puts her pjs on. Then, I feed her and if she's still not asleep (but done eating) DH will bounce her in the bouncy chair. I've just wanted him to become more involved, so I try to get him to at least help with our nighttime routine.

[Chimichanga]

tgoody - Oh my! I'm glad S started doing better, but what a scare!

cosmic - DH is actually pretty good at settling R down. Actually, he can get her to fall asleep in his arms; I usually can't do that. He also feeds her at bedtime so she zonks out naturally with DH.

[jesseybell]

cosmic - I actually am not very good at putting E down at night so DH does it 99% of the time. It really started with him being better at swaddling her than me, plus when I was home on leave it gave him time with her. I don't have a ton of patience, though she's pretty easy to put down. Sometimes he'll put her down pretty awake, but she'll put herself to sleep or he'll go back in after a little break and get her more drowsy.

We are trying rice cereal tomorrow. We figure we'll start out the New Year with something different.

[cosmic]

cosmic - does that mean you're a SAHM now?

Yep, for now. And it's great because I can continue spending my time taking care of the munchkin. :) (Thank goodness for savings!) I'm hoping to find something else eventually, though.
Thanks, ladies, for sharing your DH experiences!

[cosmic]

We are trying rice cereal tomorrow. We figure we'll start out the New Year with something different.

That's great! I was considering starting rice (or bananas) soon, too. But I'm a little worried by a history of food allergies on DH's side. I've heard that in our case it might be better to wait.

[K&H's mommy]

tgoody - definitely call your pediatrician. I hope it doesn't happen again, how scary!

Hope you all have a wonderful New Year! I work tonight so I'll be ringing in the new year taking care of a preemie, LOL!

[Sabriel]

Happy New Year!

cosmic Kai is so cute! Yay for getting to stay home for awhile! I'm jealous! :)

tgoody I would definitely call your pediatrician. That is so scary! I am so glad she is okay now.

LTJC Sorry that you have to go back to work. :(
__________________________________________________ ______________

Solids Our ped wants E eating 3 meals a day by the time she is 6 months old. That's not happening though. We probably won't even start solids until she is 6 months or at least until she can sit up on her own. She is starting to get very interested in watching what we eat. She will try to grab for our food, but then again she grabs for anything. :)

QOTD: Is anyone else's husband not-so-good at settling the baby down? DH can usually get E settled down to take a nap if she is tired. If she is really upset about something, I typically take over which he is fine with. At night, we just bring her to bed with us and she either nurses to sleep or she falls asleep as we do.
__________________________________________________ ______________

Update on E:

E's 4 Month Stats: She had her WBV on Thursday. She is 14 lbs 4 oz and 25.5 inches. :)

Clothes: 3-6 months

Diapers: We use cloth. She is in premium prefolds and medium fitteds and covers.

Eating: She nurses just about every 2 hours. I think she is going through a growth spurt though. Yesterday she nursed every hour. She gets 3 - 3 oz bottles on the days that I work. I've tried to put more in her bottles, but she won't eat more than 3 oz at a time. I think she makes up for it by nursing more when I get home.

Sleeping: E started sleeping through the night at about 3 weeks, but she doesn't anymore. She usually gets up once at night to nurse. She usually falls asleep at about 10 pm, then gets up to nurse at about 2:30 am. I nurse her at 5:30 am before I go to work, then she sleeps until about 8:30 am. She takes a 1 hour nap at about 10:30 am, then again at 3 pm and 5:30 pm.

Milestones: She rolled over from front to back for the first time yesterday! She likes tummy time much better now, because she can roll back over whenever she feels like it. :) She is trying hard to sit up, but can't quite do it yet.

[Camdynlyn]

Camdynlyn – I noticed that you use Luvs. How do those work for you? I was thinking of taking the “Luvs Challenge.” Wow, I would have never thought 14.5 lbs is only in the 50% range. I feel like Sophie has gained so much weight that she can't be in the 50% range. huh.

I really enjoy the Luvs. We've used EVERYTHING (walmart brand, Huggies Supreme, Baby Dry, Pampers Swaddlers) and Mia's done great with all of them but I find that Luvs holds her a lot better than the others. Plus, they're cheaper and I can get 192 (size 2) from BJs with a coupon for $20.


Camdynlyn – Meant to ask you earlier about side sleeping. The nurse at my pedis office suggested we try it since S doesn’t like to sleep on her back. Do you just roll up a blanket tightly and put it behind Mia’s back? Does she ever roll onto her tummy?

When she was a newborn, we rolled up a blanket and put it behind her and in front of her (but starting at her chest so IF she rolled, she wouldn't roll her face on the blanket. Then, I finally got out her sleep positioner when she had a cold (so we could elevate her) and she still sleeps in that. Probably not the best to get her started on but sleepin improved so we're happy (she sleeps through the night). We also wrap a stretchy blanket around her and under the sleep positioner to keep her in place. I know, I know, the controversy but she won't sleep any other way. She hates being swaddled but likes to be restricted some what. She never has rolled onto her stomach, although she'll occassionally roll to her back which causes her to flail and wake up. She's an odd one! ;)

[cosmic]

[SIZE="4"]Milestones: She rolled over from front to back for the first time yesterday!

Yay for E! Kai rolled over for the first time just this morning. :)

[tgoody03]

LTJC, cosmic, jennylou, chimi, k&h, and sabriel – Thank you so much for your concern. I’m glad there are other mamas out there to share this stuff with who do not think you are paranoid!

LTJC - We do have a cool mist vaporizer in Sophie’s room that we consistently use. Sometimes it seems to help, sometimes it doesn’t. The dr. we saw last night told us to keep using it, but said that it doesn’t always work when babies are as congested as Sophie. We are still using it though! Can’t hurt. Do you use one?

Update: I did call my pedi on Sat night. I spoke with the on call nurse and we went thru several checklists. Everything seemed to be in order with Sophie and the nurse seemed ok with all the answers I provided to the questions so I didn’t have to take her to the dr. or do anything more than just to let her rest. Ok, good. Glad she was ok and maybe I was overreacting.

But last night a similar thing happened. I was glad DH was home so he could see that I wasn’t making a big stink out of nothing … not that he thought I was, but I was beginning to second guess what I saw. Anyway, last night Sophie cried for 2 straight hours. I’m not talking about a little fussing. I’m talking about screaming at the top of her lungs for 2 solid hours. This is not normal for her. Up until a few weeks ago, she never cried so 2 hours is a huge deal. Her breathing was off again, although we never saw her stop breathing though she was definitely gasping for air. We called the pedi. They went thru the checklists again but DH talked this time while I held Sophie. We had to take her rectal temp and it was 96.6 or below (took it a few times) so they told us to take her to the ER immediately because her temp shouldn’t be that low …. plus she was obviously in serious pain. Come to find out I was right … the breathing issue is due to severe congestion. The pain is due to severe reflux. A few posts back I wrote about getting a new dosage for Zantac. Apparently, the dosage hasn’t caught up yet so she is experiencing awfully bad pain related to the reflux. So much pain that she’s bending her legs back so far that she looks like she’s going to do a back bend. The dr. put tubes in her nose to drain the gook in there. It was pretty gross … all kinds of mucus and blood came out. It was awful. Even with all that drainage, you could still hear that she was congested. The dr. seemed pleased with what came out of her nose and how her breathing sounded afterwards (although, to me, she still sounded completely congested). He said that I probably did see her stop breathing the night before. He said that often times a baby will stop breathing while they try and clear out their nose and as long as it wasn’t for more than 5 seconds and her lips/face weren’t blue, she was ok. That’s a relief! He also said that we have to have Sophie sleep in her car seat or swing for the next few days at least until the Zantac starts working again.

So the good news is that there is nothing life threatening wrong with Sophie. Phew!! The bad news is the poor little baby has a severe case of reflux and congestion and the increased dosage of Zantac really needs to start working because I can’t stand to see Sophie in this type of pain. I hope she grows out of this reflux soon. Poor baby! We are all tired today because we didn’t get home from the ER until 5 am. I’m off to take a nap!

Happy New Year and thanks again for your concern!

[Chimichanga]

Oh, Tammie - I'm glad you got to the bottom of things (hopefully) with Sophie! I'm hoping the swing/car seat help her.

Reagan was a rolling machine today! I still get all excited when she does it ~ I know, I'm a nerd. She can only do back to front, but she's starting to scoot around now. I had her at a corner of a blanket on the floor and within 5 minutes she was at the opposite corner!

[jesseybell]

Tammie- I am sorry you are going through all that. Hopefully the increased Zantac will help soon.
Elizabeth is so snotty again - for the first time I've actually seen her nose run. It sucks because sucking it out does help. She does cough to try to clear it out and sometimes it sounds like she's having trouble catching her breath. Scary.

I just spent 2 hours cleaning out her nursery and lugging a ton upstairs to the attic - like the 30 receiving blankets we got which we've used about 2. I also had to move her clothes around because I think I put her in the same 5 outfits and she has a ton of 3-6 clothes she needs to wear more because who knows when she'll outgrow them - the waist-band is getting a little snug in some.

We didn't try cereal today. We were just too busy - I don't mind delaying it a couple of weeks. I have given her a sippy cup with cold Brita water a couple of times - she loves playing with it.

Did I say we put her in the highchair last night at dinner (at a restaurant) for a little while, before she started slumping over and she quickly fell asleep in her carrier.

[babylove]

Can you girls believe it's no longer the year that our babies were born? How time flies! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

Hopelessly behind since we were out of town so I won't even attempt SOs except to say tgoody, I'm so glad that you got to the bottom of Sophie's breathing issue. How terrifying!! I hope the reflux medicine kicks in soon!

We were in CT for NYE weekend at my uncle's 60th b-day party. Jake was wonderful and slept great despite being in the PNP. My whole family was teasing that I don't deserve such an easy baby since I was a horrible baby! :p That's ok, I'm sure #2 will be hell on wheels! :eek:

***
We had a tiny scare over the weekend when it appeared that Jake pooped blood. I got so upset, especially since we were away from home. As it turns out, it's not blood, just the way his body is metabolizing his antibiotic + his multivitamin with iron. Apparently, when the antibiotic (Omnicef) is mixed with iron (like in a vitamin or formula), it turns poop red...would have been nice to know ahead of time!

[Chimichanga]

Tracee - yikes about the blood scare! :eek: Yeah, stuff like thatis good to know ahead of time. Silly doctors....

Jessie - That's okay not giving E cereal yet. She's doing just fine with momma's milk :) Have your parents/ILs started insisting that she's hungry and needs "real food" yet? Mine were doing that since two months. :rolleyes:

Reagan was a stinker yesterday. She didn't take a nap at all during the day! :eek: I finally decided that she was tired and left her in her swing at about 5:30. She fell asleep until 9. She got up, had her bottle and slept from 10-5. I wasn't too happy about the 5 a.m. thing, but at least she got some sleep. She's in her swing now; it's been about an hour.

Back to work today after more than a week off. But, I'm working from home and there's not a whole lot to do. So, it's "work lite" :)

[jesseybell]

Jen- My mom and MIL learned early on that things are quite different now than they were when we were young so thankfully they don't say anything. Plus they've been warned by their friends about what happens to the poops once solids are introduced, so since they watch her one day a week, they don't mind the waiting.

I am home today. Day 1 of the year and I have to use a freaking sick day. I woke up with pink eye :eek: I've been expecting E to get it since she started day care, but I came down with it out of the blue. So I am waiting for the nurse to call, but I am without a car today so I have to wait for DH to get home to get the prescription. And E is with me because my parents didn't want her today since she's been exposed to me.

Weaning is going slowly. Sudafed (the real stuff) is not doing any good (isn't doing any good on my cold either). I bought cabbage leaves to have on stand-by but I am not quite ready to go that drastic yet.

[isaacsmommy]

Updates on Grant:

Clothes- 6-9/6-12 mnths depending on the brand

Diapers- cloth med fuzzi bunz or GAD. 4's in huggies supremes. (yes, I said 4)

Stats-if I remember correctly at 4mths (he is 5 1/2 now) he was 17 lbs and about 26 inches
Milestones- he can roll over both ways. he can sit.

Food- Still nursing, no formula. We have started cereal and actually started veges a bit last week. He LOOOVES to eat, lol.

Sleep- Not so great lately. He was up constantly for a couple of nights, but that seems to be going away now.

Likes- sitting, toys that makes crinkle sounds, his brother, his bumbo, his MT oh and eating.

dislikes- not much, hes a pretty happy baby.


I have been soo busy between going back to work and buying a house, plus all the holiday hoopla thrown in. Well gotta run, hopefully I can post more later.

[Chimichanga]

Grant sounds like a happy baby, Jenn :)

R has been snoozing like a champ today! Probably because she hardly slept at all yesterday. She took a nap around 7:30-9. Then again from 11:15-2 and went down at 2:30 and is still sleeping (although I think she'll be up again soon).

[JenniferH]

Cohen's update:

Clothes- 3-6 months

Diapers- Swaddlers 1-2 during the day and 2 at night. He leaks through 1-2 at night.

Stats-13lbs 1 oz and about 24 1/4inches

Milestones- Rolls both ways and is trying so hard to pull himself up to a seated position.

Food- Loves Rice and Barley cereal!

Sleep- Still the same. Up once a night. Goes to sleep at 730ish and up at 730ish.

Likes- Talking, sitting, his brother, his bumbo, cereal, and chewing on anything.

dislikes- sleep and laying down.


Really bisy with work but will SO soon. Hope everyone had great holidays!

[jarocha]

Clothes: Still fits in a few 3-6 months but I already pulled all her 6-9 months clothes out.

Diapers: Actually just opened a new box of size 3 (Huggies) today.

Stats: 14lbs 3oz and 24 1/4 inches

Milestones: She finally rolled over from front to back.

Food: We do 50/50 BM and FF. We just tried Oatmeal cereal and he loves it.

Sleep: She was doing so good sleeping through the night but with the holidays and all the events, her schedule is all messed up right now.

Likes: She loves her binky and loves sitting at the table with us when we eat dinner. I have a feeling she is going ot be a good eater. She just stares at all the food.

Dislikes: She hates being in a room all by herself. If she doesn't see anyone she screams her little head off.

[Chimichanga]

Ugh - Reagan slept like crap yesterday :( She only took two 30 minute naps for DH during the day (was up at 7 a.m.) I tried putting her down at 9 and she woke up again at 10. I think she had gas, but she did finish her bottle. Then she woke up again at 3:30. She got up for good at 7. I can just see it in her eyes that she's tired. So, after she woke up I fed and changed her and just put her in her bouncer. I hate doing that, but she didn't need any more stimulation - she needed sleep!

Today is Reagan's 5 month birthday!
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/jenmathe/100_3021.jpg

[duke's flygirl]

Hi Ladies, I haven't been around in so long! Life is just crazy with 2 little ones!

I can't believe that my little guy is 5 months old! (David too!), we had a really busy Holidays season between a flight to my Parents for a week, and then a 3 hour car ride to my IL's when we got back for NY, the schedule is WAY off! I am trying to get things back to order with him now, but of course yesterday he pretty much refused to sleep other than while he was nursing, little booger!

Clothes: Still fits in a few 3-6 months but I already pulled all his 6-9/6-12 months clothes out.

Diapers: Size 3 Pampers Cruisers

Stats: 17 lbs 2.5 oz, and 25.5 inches at 4 month WBV a month ago

Milestones: Rolled from Back to Front on NYE, and has done it a bunch more times since, stil not Front to Back! Will sit unassisted for 30 sec-1 min. He is grabbing EVERYTHING and putting it in his mouth!

Food: Still 100% BM, but we are starting to think about solids, lots of indications that he is ready.

Sleep: Still not a good sleeping day/night. He is up 1-2 times at night to nurse, and sometimes it is a good 2 hours to get him back to sleep in the middle of the night! Those nights are ROUGH!

Likes: LOVES the Jumperoo and Exersaucer! He loves to watch his sister run around like a crazy woman. He LAUGHS his little head off at Daddy and his Big Sister too. LOVES to be paid attention to, is also starting to be REALLY interested in the 4 legged fuzzy things that roam the house too!

Dislikes: He hates being in a room all by himself. Sleeping!


I won't even try to do SO's, glad everyone seems to be doing so well! Take Care!

[Chimichanga]

Hoo - we're quiet today! :)

Reagan is now a rolling fool. She will roll back to tummy to back to tummy to back all day long if we let her! And she's so quick at it now; hardly any struggle. My little girl is growing up!! *sniff sniff*

[babylove]

What are everyone's thoughts about the new report on infant carseats from Consumer Reports just about every single carseat out there performed miserably, including the Graco SafeSeat!

[jesseybell]

Elizabeth actually broke out of her Miracle Blanket swaddle last night - our days are numbered swaddling her, but at the same time I was up and down all night because she was chatting away- I let her chat for a while, but she wasn't going back to sleep. It is going to be very hard for us once we decide to stop swaddling her.

Car Seats - I just read the report. I don't even want to think about it. It makes me cringe.....Plus I guess the fact that my car is too old to have the LATCH system isn't a good argument for moving up the purchase of a new car. I am scared to see how convertible car seats are installed when they are still facing backwards - just visually in my mind it doesn't seem safe.

Tomorrow is finally rice cereal day. She is definitely ready. I had her sitting on my lap last night while I ate some jello. I gave her one of her spoons to play with - she loved putting it in her mouth (okay, she puts everything in her mouth). We'll see how it goes with something on it.

[jennylou]

jessie - rear facing is safer!

I have the graco snug ride, so no worries here. Also, we don't have latch. Most seats did better installed w/seatbelts than latch.

[babylove]

The only SnugRide that was tested and did well was the one with EPS, which is only available in the 2007 model and is not even widely available in stores yet. Any SnugRides purchased at or before our August babies were born do not have EPS. So really, we have no idea how an "old" model (no EPS) SnugRide did, or if it was even tested at all.

Now that I've had some time to let this sink in, I'm not panicking. I know that my carseat was installed properly by a professional and the SafeSeat did pass all government mandates for carseats. I'm not going to run out and buy a new carseat. But I will definitely NOT be spending $260 on a Britax when it is time to upgrade!

Jessie ~ Don't worry about not having LATCH. I have it in my car and we didn't even use it when we had our carseat installed. LATCH is not failsafe and in many cases, the carseats performed BETTER when installed with a seatbelt.

[jesseybell]

Sure doesn't feel like winter here in Boston. It was 70 degrees, so we took the opportunity to try Elizabeth in her stroller (without the infant car seat). I put her in the infant swing at the park for a second but she screamed.

We also tried rice cereal. Pretty uneventful. I am not exactly sure how much actually got in her mouth-or I guess in her stomach. She didn't spit it out and I think her tongue reflex is fine for solids, but she definitely didn't really seem to know what to do with it.

I am having to pump and dump right now because I am on medications for this nasty virus I have - After a week of not taking anything and being miserable I finally succumbed and went to the doctor. The prescriptions recommended not BFing while taking them. I slept for 13 hours (only getting up once to pump and once because the baby was screaming) - ah, the joys of Codeine!

[jennylou]

babylove - well isn't that a kick in the pants? I think they should have tested the ones that are being used in stores now!

[babylove]

Jenny ~ Agreed. CR didn't even test all the carseats on the market. It's so strange.

***

Yes, it's almost 2am and I'm awake...b/c my son won't freaking sleep. He's been up since 9:45 after having gone to sleep without a problem at 7:30. My awesome 12-hr-per-night sleeper has totally done a 180. He did this Thurs night b/c I thought his tummy was upset from being constipated. But he's not constipated anymore yet he's still wide awake...I don't know what's going on. I think he might be teething. *sigh* If this is the way it's going to be for the next few weeks/months, I just might have a nervous breakdown. :(

On the brightside, DH *finally* saw him roll over today! And the best part was that Jake did it in front of DH's 89 year old grandfather, who loved it! Oh and on Friday he finally rolled from front to back. Of course, he did it when I had my back turned re-filling his diaper basket. :rolleyes:

[Abby'sMom]

Ugh, Tracee, I'm sorry to hear about Jake's sleep issue. As you know from LJ, I totally know your pain. I've not slept more than 3 hours in a stretch since a few months before L was born. And lately? Forget it. Two hours max. We're trying CIO and hoping for the best. Otherwise I too will join you in the loony bin.

Our little updates while I'm here -

Clothes: 3/6 months fit fine around his middle, but he's fairly long so we're moving toward 6/9 months.

Diapers: Finishing up a size 2 box of Huggies, then we'll move to size 3 Costco diapers. (SO excited to be able to use Costco dipes for him! We save a good $10/box using those.)

Stats: He's about 15.5 lbs and I measured him at about 27 inches at my mom's house last month.

Milestones: Sitting up well by himself (for indefinite periods - usually he knocks himself over while reaching for a toy), and starting to work out of 'tripod' stance. Wriggling lots while on his belly and trying to pull his legs up underneath himself.

Food: Exclusively BFing - he loves his mama and refuses bottles. UGH. We'll be starting solids on his 6-month 'birthday' - 1/31. (It's a little rite of passage for our kids - 6-month pictures, lunch out, then rice cereal. DH might even take the day off.)

Sleep: I don't want to talk about it. Seriously. Based on what I read, I have to sh!ttiest sleeper in this entire thread.

Likes: Adores his big sister and thinks she's just about the greatest thing in the world. Thinks it's hilarious when she 'wrestles' with him on the floor (with careful supervision, of course). He also likes nursing A LOT.

Dislikes: Ditto Joelle - being alone and sleeping.

On the bright side, we think his food intolerances are improving. Over Christmas I ate small amounts of things that I know contained milk and or butter and he didn't respond badly to them. We're hoping to have him allergy tested once he's 6 months old so I can get into a better cooking-groove.

[Chimichanga]

Oh, Abby'smom, I'm sorry to hear Logan is not a great sleeper :( Maybe the cereal will help? Trying to be positive for you... :)

Tracee - sorry to hear about Jake. Could he be going through a growth spurt? I know when Reagan did her 3 month one she hardly slept at all.

Although, Reagan is a HORRIBLE day sleeper. Seriously, if we get her down for an hour it's a blessing. of course today is the exception. She took a 4 hour nap aroun noon and is down again. She has just looked soooooooo tired. But, she is sleeping okay at night. Although last night she didn't want to go down (after 10 ounces!! :eek: ) but finally went to bed around 10:30 and got up at 6:30.

Tonight she's all DH's. He doesn't work tomorrow so he gets to get up with her at night and stuff. Sometimes I want to be mean and not put in the rice cereal and see if it's the cereal that's helping her sleep or that she's just at that age. But I'd only try that on nights when DH takes care of her. ;) :D

[jesseybell]

The last couple of days E has only taken 6 bottles instead of 7. Last night she did sleep okay so we'll see if that continues. We'll be giving her solids in the evening so maybe that will help. 2 more days of rice cereal and then on to sweet potatoes.

My mom was so cute this morning - she was telling Elizabeth how excited she was for it to be spring so she can take her to all the places she hasn't been since I was little, like the zoo.

Jen - God I wish I could have DH take care of E in the middle of the night. Knock on wood we haven't had to feed her in the middle of the night in a few weeks, but there have been middle of the night wakings to replace the binky. Somehow DH does not wake up (or chooses not to) even when he's the one sleeping with the monitor (I've been sick on and off for 3 weeks so there's been quite a few evenings of DH on the couch - kind of like my third trimester!) - I can be in a room, without a monitor, door closed and white noise on and I wake up and he doesn't. Mother's intuition or PITA DH? :) There is no way I will let that continue when teething starts (or before that).

[JenniferH]

Abbysmom ~ I have a bad sleeper too. He is up one to two times a night and sometimes (mostly when DH gets up with him) he doesn't go back to sleep. Cereal helped a little.

[Chimichanga]

Mother's intuition or PITA DH? :)

Hmmm - some days I think one more than the other! :)

Lately Reagan has been moving all over her crib. I don't mind the scooting so much (turning in a circle) but she has started rolling over in the mornings and it scares the living lights out of me.

Last night DH fed her and put her down while I was downstairs watching Desperate Housewives. All of a sudden she is screaming bloody murder. I jump up (as does DH) and we find that she caught her arm in between the slats of her crib. :( Poor baby! She was really tramatized by it. And so was I!

I put the sleep positioner back in the crib immediately. Last time we tried it she scooted out and that worried me. This time I made sure she was snug in it. She didn't want to go back in the crib until about 10:30 ~ DH thankfully stayed up with her. I checked on her around 1:30 and she was still in it; she turned to her side, but still positioned.

DH got her this morning and said she scooted down so her head was parallel with the hip pads and one arm was sticking up. Her head being parallel worries me; any advice on this?

[Abby'sMom]

Jennifer - I'm sorry in advance if this sounds snarky - but I'd LOVE IT if L only got up twice a night. As of now, he gets up 6-8 times. And he's usually screaming. Last night he was up 9 times between 8:30 PM and 7 AM (when I finally gave up and got up for the day).

Jen - I'm hoping the cereal will do something, too. As for the sleep positioner... honestly, I'd get rid of it since R is so mobile. I can't help with what else to do instead since we just used crib bumpers for DD (she rolled both ways super early though so we weren't really worried about her getting stuck or smooshing her face into them and not being able to move).

[jesseybell]

Bumpers - I am thinking of getting the mesh bumpers, just because I am a paranoid mom. I took off her bumpers when we moved her to her crib at Thanksgiving, but once we stop swaddling her I think she'll start moving around her crib (especially since Mommy attached fun toys to her crib) and I don't want to put the original bumpers back on.

[Chimichanga]

I think I might get some breathable bumpers when I'm out on Saturday. I don't want her limbs getting caught in the slats, but the "cute" bumpers scare the jeebus out of me - especially since she's rolling so much.

[Camdynlyn]

We gave Mia some Rice Cereal and she hates it! haha. She spits it right back out with the ugliest face. Tonight, we thought she'd swallowed some and then she smiled and it ran out the corners of her mouth... she was hiding it in her cheeks. Funny girl.

Some pictures.... these are WAY old but I've not posted any lately and haven't uploaded many more that are postworthy. These are from November:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/138/351050353_d63d41dbf2.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/160/351050363_39d1e3b349.jpg?v=0
From December:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/155/351050384_98f69911e5.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/156/351050379_8df84fbfaf.jpg?v=0

[tgoody03]

I started work today! I'm only working PT - M,T,W. It was pretty uneventful, thankfully! DH is home with Sophie today, tomorrow, and Wednesday since our daycare doesn't officially open until next Tues. The real test will be next Tues when DH drops Sophie off at daycare while I'm at work. Not looking forward to that! Ugh. Sophie slept from 7:30pm - 6 am last night. It was awesome! The longest she has gone before is to 4 am. It's like she knew I had to wake up at 6 am to get ready for work so she slept in for me. Let's hope that continues.

I pumped at work today. I really did not enjoy it. I don't mind doing it at home, but for some reason doing it at work was just a really awful experience for me. I'm going to keep trying it, but if I hate it I'll stop pumping. Sophie takes 6 oz bottles now. I'm only pumping once at lunch time and I get 12 oz. I'm also feeding her on one side in the am and pumping the other side. I'm planning to nurse her in the am and pm after work. I actually kind of missed nursing her today!

Sophie is doing much much better! Raising her mattress and increasing her Zantac really did wonders. I still really hate my old pediatrician, but I'll stop harping on that. I'm still in awe of the fact that GERD can actually cause a baby to stop breathing. Thanks for all your support!!

Chimi - I think my new pedi and the BFing class instructor said not to use a sleep positioner when the baby is mobile like R. She could wedge herself into a position that she could not get out of and suffocate. I'm in a similiar position, though. Sophie cannot sleep without being swaddled and now she's on an incline which she slowly slides down at night. I have found her two nights where the blanket is slightly over the bottom of her face. It was loose, but still scary!!

Babylove - Ugh! I hear you on the sleep issues. The last few weeks Sophie slept horribly. I think it ended up being a result of the reflux worsening. Does Jake have anything similiar that might be keeping him up?

bumpers - I have three of the four still in the crib. I took the front bumper out to appease my paranoia. However, of all the mommy's I know, I'm the only one who has taken one out. They still have theirs in. I think once they start rolling and have good neck control, there is less worry about the bumpers being in the crib because the baby can move her head if she gets close to the bumper. Right? Or am I exactly opposite?

[babylove]

Jake is sick again. I swear, I must have the sickliest baby around here. I came home from work and he had 103 fever. Interesting that my nanny didn't notice...Anyway, I suspect he has another ear infection, but we'll find out for sure tomorrow at the ped. I really should have my own designated parking space there...I have been there once a week since his 4 mo appt--no joke! :rolleyes:

Oh and we're taking a hiatus from cereal. He HATES it. I tried adding peaches b/c he was so constipated and he hated that too. I never really thought he was ready for solids so I think we're going to wait a few more weeks.

***

Sherry ~ I feel lucky that Jake has been such a great sleeper. You get a medal for not going crazy these past 5 month. Oy.

Jen ~ Nope. I think he was getting sick and that's why he was waking up. I'm willing to be it's another ear infection. I think it's great that your DH gets up with R at night. My DH would do it if I let him but I never have...besides we are still BFing and I don't want to delve into my freezer stash. :o Oh and Jake *always* scoots off his positioner or buries his face in the round thingies...I just sneak in and move him. But usually he wakes up completely off of it and turned sideways in the crib.

Jessie ~ My mom says the same thing about how excited she is to take Jake places like the zoo :)

Summer ~ Adorable! Jake hates cereal too.

[K&H's mommy]

Hello everyone-

Reading along as always.... Allison had her 4 month appointment today (well actually 4 months and one week).

weight - 15 pounds 11 ounces
length - 25 inches
Both were in the 86th percentile. Although I know how that varies it seems, ha ha! We were given the go ahead to do cereal but we are going to hold off. I remember what a PITA it was with the other kids and she isn't really showing any interest in it yet. Some s/o's and then some pics from her photo shoot today.

Tracee - I just posted in your LJ....I hope Jake gets better soon!

tgoody - Glad the first day went well. What do you do again? Can you only pump once at work? We have all of our bumpers in our crib. I don't plan on taking them out until Allison can sit up. That's what I did with the other two.

sherry - I don't know how you function sometimes. I think I would throw a pillow over my head at some point!!!

[Chimichanga]

We took the sleep positioner out. I don't think we'll use it anymore. Kind of waste, but it was a gift that we registered for, so we didn't spend any money on it.

We're still doing good with food. We finished our carrots yesterday and we'll move on to maybe green beans today. Veggies only right now.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/jenmathe/100_3093.jpg
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/jenmathe/100_3097.jpg
Really, she does get some in her mouth! :D

She's still a happy baby, which makes momma happy. She slept from 8:30-7 this morning; whoot whoot!

On a sad note, DH told me yesterday that OSIL had another m/c. This one wasn't as far along as her last one (previous one was at 12 weeks). It happened right before Christmas...and then MIL had to make a big production of giving her the "loss" ornament from Hallmark (she didn't know OSIL had another m/c). I feel horrible for them - even though we're not very close. I'm sending a card today. I didn't send one last time because I was still PG and I didn't want her to take it the wrong way. Plus, we've always had a shaky relationship so I didn't want it to potentially be non-existant.

[babylove]

Sara ~ That pic is adorable! Yay for a great WBV!

Jen ~ Those pics are adorable! Sprry to hear about your OSIL (what does the "O" stand for??)

***

Jake has a virus and NO ear infection, for a change. Though there are no guarantees that this won't become an ear infection. Jake had his first strep test too...that was no fun. I think he's starting to recognize the ped....that can't be good.

[Chimichanga]

Tracee - "O" stands for OlderSIL. I also have a Y(ounger)SIL. :) Sorry to hear about the virus. :( That's no good for Jake. I hope this is the last of the ped trips; well, for another month then it will be his 6 month.

[jarocha]

Can I ask how everyone is going about with introducing solids?

When we went to our 4-month visit, our Ped gave us the okay to start with cereal once a week. She also gave me a handout that with the following:
Week One: 1 tbls cereal once a day
Week Two: 1 tabls cereal twice a day
Week Three: cereal twice a day mixing with fruit or veggies

I can't find the handout and I think my cleaning lady threw it away. I called my ped office already asking them to fax me a copy but the girl in the front desk just keeps telling me she already did.

We started last week with cereal but it seems 1 tbls is not enough. After she finishes she starts crying for more. I think I might do 2 tbls.
How much is everyone using per serving?

[ajlanden]

jarocha-The week plan sounds reasonable. I'd say if she still is hungry maybe finish her off with some formula/BM. We have the opposite problem in that David HATES solids. He will not eat them without some trickery. But once I give up on a feeding I usually give him a bottle to fill him up. He is happy then!

[Abby'sMom]

jarocha (and a general comment about solids) - if your baby is still hungry after solids, give her BM or formula. The rule at this age is BM/formula first and then solids (if you choose to give them at all - they're really not necessary at this point anyway). Solids have zero nutritional value and are just for practice until 6 mos., so the nutrition should come from liquids anyway. :)

[ajlanden]

Abby'sMom-Great minds think alike! :)

[Abby'sMom]

aj - don't we? ;)

[tgoody03]

k&h - Allison is still a cutie! So is her brother!! Allison and Sophie are just about the same size. Sophie has her 4 month WBV next week. She'll be 19 weeks so a little later than 4 months. I was a credit manager at a bank, now I am an back to being just a plain old analyst. Basically I underwrite very large commercial loans - typically commercial real estate. My bank's customers are not typical in that they are not consumers, but rather other banks. For example, if you wanted to develop an $80,000,000 condo building on the beach you might go to your local bank. They would approve your loan and then come to me since all bank's operate under a regulatory lending limit and with a loan that large they would certainly be over their limit. Then, I would make sure the deal works financially, the market can absorb the units, etc. and then I would approve and fund the loan. That's my job in a nutshell. Exciting, huh? LOL

Jen - I'm so sorry to hear about your OSIL. That is so sad! I hope she is ok. Having just one must be devastating, but two? I hate to hear that! My ex, who I dated 6 years, just had one as well. His wife was 7 months pregnant and went for her regular check-up and the baby's cord had wrapped around her neck and she was already dead So sad! And the worst thing - that is the 2nd person I know that has happened to in the past 6 months. Very scary! We are all so lucky in this thread!! On a happier note ... Reagan looks like she is having fun with her food! Good times! She's still precious as ever.

babylove - Glad Jake "only" has a virus and no ear infection. Is the virus contagious? Sophie apparently had one as well (really only affected her stinkies) and they said it wasn't contagious. Hm ... how'd she get it then? HA - I was also wondering what "O" in OSIL sood for. I was thinking, would Jen really write "O" for "other"?

jarocha - Wish I could help, but we haven't started feeding solids yet. We are waiting until we get closer to 6 months for the reasons that abby'smom said, plus once you start you can't really go back. I'm still trying to hold on to the newborn days. :rolleyes:

abby'smom - That's exactly what I was going to say! And, the same reasons I haven't started solids yet. Soon enough, though, soon enough!

[Chimichanga]

jarocha - we put cereal in Reagan's bottle. I know some don't because of the potential for choking, but Reagan has not had any problems with it, so we continue it. She would NOT eat cereal from a spoon ~ hated it and still won't to this day. But, she will eat foods. Right now we give her one bottle with cereal (although today was two) and she eats one "meal" of solids. Usually it's half the Gerber container. We keep her on the same food for 3-4 days, then try another.

[JenniferH]

jarocha ~ our ped told us this. At 4 months, first week tbsp ceral one time per day. Top off with BM/formula. Second week 2 - 4 tbsp cereal 2X per day. Top off with formula. He recommends not starting veggies and fruit until 5-6 mths. He said to make sure 95% of the babies calorie intake comes from BM/formula for the first year.

[jesseybell]

Solids- It is all so confusing and so much conflicting information.
At our 4 mth WBV the ped pretty much said anytime between 4-6 months and that he personally had done it at 5 months. So that's what we did - Elizabeth had become increasingly interested in our food, so I figured she was ready for a little bit.
She has had rice cereal 1x/day for 4 days. Tonight I want to try sweet potatoes. My mother looked at me like I had 5 heads - she asked me why I wasn't going to be trying all the other cereals first before vegetables (this is coming from my mom who has been pretty good about keeping her mouth shut so far). I think she thought I was never going to give her rice cereal again. She didn't know about the only trying something new every 4 days. So every 4 days I want to give her a new vegetable or fruit and I may throw in a little cereal too, but she's not eating a ton yet - I just want her to try them first, then once she's tried them, we'll work on meals and combining foods.
Our pediatrician said she doesn't need to have solids more than 1x/day until 6 months.

What we've been doing is giving her the solids a little while before one of the bottles after I get home - either the dinner time one or the before bed one. So she is a little hungry, but not really, really hungry. Then after the solids we clean up or have a bath, put on pjs, and then it is almost time for a bottle.

QOTD: Bath Location - What are people doing now about bathing? About six weeks ago we moved her from putting the infant tub in the kitchen sink to putting it in our tub. I feel like she's outgrowing the infant tub so I am not sure what I want to do from here. I know there are seats they can sit in before they can fully sit up themselves. Or just wait until she can sit by herself?

[Chimichanga]

Jessie - we're still using our infant/toddler tub for R. She is still in the reclining/infant position but once she can sit up consistently I'll put her in the toddler position. She's getting long and when she stretches out she hits the "back" of the tub. After she outgrows the tub, my mom got her an inflatable duck tub (I think BRU has them, but she found it at a garage sale). It's bigger and a bit more "fun". But I'm not sure it's super stable. I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

*********************************
I am officially jealous of DH. He's been staying home with Reagan since I went back to work. But I'm just getting jealous of them now. He is only working his PT job (got downsized at his FT job) she he's always with R. I feel like I get home and don't really have much time for her. It makes me super sad, but there's nothing I can do about it.

It was like, when we both had our 9-5's, I was still more involved in her life. I dropped her off and picked her up at daycare. Even though DH was with her W-F, I also had Tuesdays with her (I work from home). Now DH watches her T-F and I "get her" on weekends. I feel like those 1950s dads and I'm not sure I like it :(

[ajlanden]

Jen-Sorry. That must be hard. I would feel the same way. I think about what it would be like if my parents offered to take the kids. I think it would be too hard because I would to consumed with jealousy!!

Bath-David is still in the infant bath. We have always put it in the tub. He is however, getting too big for it. I had to laugh because when I took him out last night there was only like a inch of water still in it. He is SO BIG he displaced all the water! LOL! Our bath props up so they can sit in the regular tub and still have a little support for the back. He is not quite ready to sit though, so we are going to make do.
http://ec2.images-amazon.com/images/P/B00067IYYQ.01.PT03._SS400_SCLZZZZZZZ_V37057900_.jp g

[jarocha]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. Feliza is really enjoying her cereal right now. I think we will start her on veggies next week.

Bath- Regarding the infant tub. I too feel like Feliza is outgrowing it. Its starting to get difficult at bath time. She loves the water but she wants to paddle her feet and when we sit her she just wants to lay in it and splash away. By the time I get her out, there is hardly any water left. Might have to move it to the bathtub.

[Abby'sMom]

Bathtub - We've always just put the infant/toddler tub in the large tub - less mess that way. L is too long to lie down in the tub anymore, but ours came with a ring that can be added so he can sit up. Which would be great since he does sit up pretty well... but we can't find the ring anywhere. :rolleyes:

[Chimichanga]

Reagan is driving me crazy with her rolling at night! Last night she rolled over at around midnight. She woke herself up and started crying because she was on her tummy. I turned her over and she went back to bed. She did the same thing at 2:30, but this time wouldn't go back to sleep. I gave her a bottle and she was good. I knew she wouldn't sleep well - and she didn't. Up again at 5. I rolled her back over again and let her babble. She ended up going back to sleep but woke up at 6:45 (normally sleeps until 7:30) because she was on her tummy.

It freaks me out to no end that she rolls over. I know tummy sleeping was once the thing to do, but now that it's not - I don't want her to! :(

Anyone else's DC constantly roll over in the crib?

[ajlanden]

Jen-My chunky boy still doesn't roll. :mad: But, I do remember when Dani started to roll in her sleep. It was a ROUGH month or so until she figured out it was just as easy to roll back. I hope that it goes fast for you!!!

[jesseybell]

Jen - Sorry I can't be of any help. Not only is E not rolling yet (except for a month ago) on solid ground, she's still swaddled....though that is going to change either this weekend or next (not looking forward to it...though part of me is).

Sweet potatoes last night - actually went over pretty well! I hate having to wait 4 days for something new, but I am being patient!

[Chimichanga]

Thanks Ashley :) Well, my chunk-ball figured it half out. If she has plenty of room she can roll back onto her back, but in her crib - that's still a little tricky.

Oh, and I saw today is Abby'sMom's birthday - Happy Birthday!!

[jennylou]

Can I ask how everyone is going about with introducing solids?

How much is everyone using per serving?

We are not starting solids until 6 months - which is what the AAP suggests for BF babies.

When we do start it will only be with 1-2 tablespoons.

[Abby'sMom]

Wow Jen, you're good. Thanks! I was just coming by to say TM, can you please change my age to 29? It's my birthday.

[duke's flygirl]

Happy Birthday Sherry!

Solids: We are starting slowly with Liam, he has been exhibiting all the signs of being ready and our Doc told us it was okay. So far he seems to like the rice cereal! But like Jennylou said, we are doing only 1tbsp right now, and really it is for practice.

Bathtub: We never used a baby tub, we both found it so awkward, we have always just used the regular tub with only about an inch of water in it, and Liam just loves to SPLASH now! We have a liner made by Rubbermaid that is REALLY soft on the bottom of the tub and it goes the whole length of the tub.

Rolling in the crib: Liam will only roll back to front, but he is still swaddled at night, so I'm so help there. Sorry. I hope R figures it out soon for you Jen.

[jesseybell]

Solids -
We waited until 5 months per the ped (but we could have waited until 6 months, but she was showing signs).

I read once to only feed them a teaspoon the first time but she really liked it so I gave a little more (plus who knows how much actually made it in the mouth)

We did 4 days of rice cereal - I first made it really runny (with BM) then thicker because she could handle it. I used 1 TB of cereal with variable amounts of liquid.

With the jarred food, they are in 2 oz containers, so we are splitting them into 2 servings, though she didn't finish the whole ounce last night.

We are going to go through the veggies and fruits until her 6 months appointment ( was on her 6 mth b-day, now moved to 1 week later), then we'll talk to the ped about quantity and moving to more than 1 meal a day.

We are definitely winging it some! I've been reading the 'What's your 4-8 month old', 'Master Solids' and 'Has anyone made your own babyfood' threads - once we go through the different types of food, we may try to make our own, though right now our freezer is pretty much taken over by BM!

[tgoody03]

Solids - We haven't started solids either. Sophie is still 100% BF and our pedi said if this is the case it would probably be better to wait until 6 months. That's a-ok because I'd like to put it off. Once you start, you can't stop! Well, I guess you could. Our pedi said that formula fed babies are ready to start solids earlier than BF babies. I didn't think to ask why, but I should have. We may start solids in between 5 and 6 months instead of waiting the full 6 months. Just not sure. Sophie seems to be really, really hungry lately.

Jen - Sophie has only rolled once, so I can't really be of any help there. But, I can tell you that our pedi told us that once Sophie can roll, than it's fine for her to be on her tummy. She told us that because Sophie is also swaddled and we were asking her how to get her to sleep unswaddled. She freaks out when she's unswaddled and starts swinging her hands in the air (now her feet as well) and it wakes her up. But, she said that we should look forward to the day she can solidly roll because then if she rolls to her tummy we could leave her there. So, maybe you don't have anything to worry about. Although, like you, I worry about bumpers in the crib so I'll probably worry about the rolling in the crib! Paranoia, I tell ya!

[PLNUBRIDE]

Hey everybody….it has been awhile since I have posted so I think SO’s are going to be very behind. However, I did want to chime in on a few of the current topics.

Solids – I have been reading (and rereading) everyone’s comments about the solid food issue. Funny thing is Lily is 5 months today and I have yet to introduce anything to her (not even rice cereal). I kind of feel like a bad mom for not knowing more about this subject, but there seems to be SO many different ways to do it I feel overwhelmed. I figured we would skip right over the rice cereal and start veggies at 6 months (Lily is FF FWIW).

Bath Tub – Hum…we got a baby bath tub (with a removal mesh bouncer seat to go inside) at our baby shower. We used it for about a month and felt that Lily was already growing out of it. We ended up getting a bath seat (basically looks like a bouncer seat for the tub) and have been using that ever since. We place it in the tub. However, it holds Lily up out of the water so I am trying to find something that holds her but allows her to be in the water.

Rolling at night – Again, Lily is not much of a roller (I feel bad b/c I can’t give her that much tummy time because when she is on the floor the dog likes to play with here). We still swaddle her at night and put her in a positioner. So, she doesn’t move much at all. Question – Do you think she is too old to be swaddled and contained that much in her sleep?

[jesseybell]

PLNUBRIDE
Don't feel bad about not starting solids or knowing anything about them. I don't really know much about them either! We really are winging it for now, which is okay because she's still getting the same amount of formula (she's still on a BM/Formula combo but we're moving to all formula with 1 bottle of thawed BM per day this weekend :( )

I am heading to BRU today at lunch and looking at the available things for the bath. I remember seeing seats years ago, but like you said, I don't think they really allow the baby to be in the water. So I am not sure what to do. I took her in the shower with me for the first time the other day and she loved it, but it really was a family operation with Daddy standing outside for assistance.

Swaddling - The doctor didn't say 5-6 months is too old. I just feel that it is. I feel more that we are still doing it because DD is sleeping well and we don't want to distrupt that (and we are being selfish and haven't decided to potentially give up a weekend of sleep to deal with it). But I just feel that it is time. She's not going to bust out of her swaddle the way we do it, so I don't feel that is a good indication. We need to just do it. I actually want her to have the freedom to move (and roll!) in her crib - she is very good at lieing in there awake by herself - I want her to be able to entertain herself better by moving around.

[Chimichanga]

I think the decision to give up swaddling is a personal thing - personal for you as a parent (general you) and personal for your baby. Reagan wasn't a huge fan of the swaddle. She'd sleep in it, but after about 4-6 weeks, she began breaking out of it. At that time I figured why even try if she's out of it in like 5 minutes then there is an extra blanket in her bassinet that could be harmful. but, if she liked it - I'd probably still do it.

I'm hoping this mention will break the cycle. Reagan has been getting up again in the middle of the night. Ugh! Usually it's around midnight (down by 9) then again at 3:30 or so. Yeah, fun times for mommy since daddy doesn't hear a peep. After the 3:30 one I can't fall back asleep since I constantly hear her. More often than not she just wakes herself up, but she will take a bottle at one of her wake ups.

I'm still able to function though - thankfully. But when i get home from work DH is exhausted from taking care of her so I generally give him a reprieve to shower and nap, even though I'm tired too. Ahh, it's a vicious circle :)

[jennylou]

plnubride - Don't worry - you're not behind on the solids issue! There are still a few of us who are waiting for six months. :)

[Abby'sMom]

plnu - We're waiting til 6 months, too (which is currently only 19 days away :eek: ). It's amazing how fast these babies are growing up. It seems like SO much faster than DD did.

[cosmic]

Can I ask how everyone is going about with introducing solids?


Kai had "solids" for the first time last night. We mixed 2 teaspoons of rice cereal with EBM. Kai didn't get much down, but he seemed to have fun with it. He's been so interested in our food that we decided to work with his curiosity. There's no real eating going on, only tasting. And that's fine with me. :)

ETA: Kai had his 4 month WBV yesterday. He now weighs 14 pounds and 8 ounces. :)

[Camdynlyn]

I know it's controversial but here's my latest LJ post about Mia and solids. She's doing wonderfully, better than I could have imagined. I knew she was showing signs and after giving her rice cereal, I wasn't sure. Now, she's a pro...

Solids: Mia's now eating 2 tbsp of oatmeal and bananas and LOVING it. She's ready for it, that's for sure. I guess if the child is swallowing all of it with little to none left on her mouth from spitting out and is opening her mouth waiting for the next bite, she's ready. She's doing an excellent job. We'll probably stay on bananas (tonight was the 3rd night) for a couple more nights and then move to something else.

I wrote down to start with veggies and our pediatrician said there's no real proven fact that shows veggies in front of fruits. I did buy all kinds of stuff because 1) she's ready for it and 2) it was on sale. I think I may start with peas next although I have no real rhyme or reason about it. I'd love advice or websites. I'd like to go to the library to pick up a book on baby food recipes. I'd like to steam some stuff and store in the freezer. How do I steam stuff?? Yes, I'm that cooking-stupid.

Rolling: Mia has started rolling back to tummy now. She started tummy to back at 12 weeks so I feel like it's time for a new 'trick.' Now, if I could keep her still during diaper changes! :rolleyes: I'm worried about the bumpers now. Her bumpers are thick and not 'kooshy.' They are tight. Should I worry (she's not rolling in her sleep, FWIW.

Got a few pics:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/140/357750072_f558cb044f.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/156/357750059_59dec55664.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/141/357750086_65fdf77337.jpg?v=0
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/163/357750065_07252cec30.jpg?v=0

[jesseybell]

I am working today :( I would have stayed home, but DH decided to call in sick. I don't know if he was going to take E to daycare or not. I don't think he was really that sick, so I wasn't going to cater to him acting like a baby (you know how men are when they are sick). Especially when I was up every 1/2 hour - hour with E all night - finally at 5 I told him he had to get her, and then she was screaming when I had to get up at 6:30. I am not sure what is up with her. She had a complete meltdown Saturday afternoon and then this morning. We've checked for teeth and nothing appears to be coming in. We've also backed off on the 100% formula. I told him that maybe he should keep her home today - she isn't feverish and is all smiles when she's not screaming.

So since I don't actually feel like working, here's a couple of pictures:

The obligatory first solids picture - it was 70 degrees here in Boston 9 days ago. She likes to put her left hand in her mouth along with the spoon or right after - I've learned to put a burpy on her lap, otherwise her left pant leg gets covered in food.
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j215/jesseybell/solids1.jpg


Her trying her Nubby sippy cup
http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j215/jesseybell/SippyCup.jpg

[Chimichanga]

Yesterday my parents came up and Reagan was acting the ham. :) She was loving the attention from her grandma and poppa. She was cooing (first time she's done that!) and rolling all day. My parents were in heaven.

We got lunch and we brought her and her Bumbo on the table with us because she didn't like waiting in her exersaucer for us. Then she decided to grab DH's empty soda bottle and play around.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/jenmathe/100_3131.jpg
What's this cap doing here?
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/jenmathe/100_3127.jpg
Let me top off your glass
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m76/jenmathe/100_3128.jpg
Looks so easy when you do it.

We kept a VERY close eye on her when she was playing with the bottle. The rest of the night she was a fuss-bucket, but then she slept - and slept hard - all night. She went down at 9:10 after an ounce and she was still sleeping when I left for work this morning at 7. DH is taking her into daycare when she wakes up and eats.

[babylove]

Summer ~ So cute!

Jessie ~ Adorable! Sounds like you are having sleep issues just like we are...

Jen ~ What is it about soda bottles that babies love? :p Yay for a good night of sleep!

***

Jake seems to be recovered from his latest illness...but his sleep is all out of whack. He's not tired at his usual time and he keeps waking up through the night for his pacifier, which is not so much fun for me. He doesn't seem to be getting into a deep sleep anymore. I live in fear of him waking up at night so I don't sleep well either...maybe he's teething? But I don't see anything...

[tgoody03]

Summer - Mia looks like she's sitting up like a champ! That's great, because she's a younger baby in here. A day or two younger than Sophie. Sophie doesn't want to roll or sit ... all she wants to do is stand. Maybe she'll be one of those babies that skips it all to walk? Hm. Anyway, I've done a lot of reading on solids and plan to make my own. Don't worry - I don't know how to steam either! LOL. But I don't think it's controversial to start with bananas and cereal. From what I know (albeit limited), you do not have to start with rice cereal and many people don't. There is a list of good first foods and bananas is on it. Personally, I want to start with bananas but now I'm worried that the old wives tale is true - that you start with sweet foods then the baby will get a sweet tooth and be a fussy eater. You'll have to tell me how it goes once you introduce less sweet veggies.

Jessie - Love the first food pics! Is that the new rainforest line? Pretty high chair!

Jen - As usual, R is just a cutie!

Summer, Jessie, Jen - Just thought this was funny so wanted to share. Sophie has every one of those outfits your girls have on! LOL! We all think alike.

babylove - Sophie isn't sleeping well anymore either. Maybe it's the age ... they go through something at this age that we don't know about?

*****************

I'm typing on my new laptop! I'm really excited about having my own new computer. I have off work today because of Martin Luther King day. Banks get so many paid holiday! :)

Like jessie and babylove, my cute little baby is not sleeping well either. And, that makes her not so cute at nigth! LOL. I'm not sure what is going on. She has only slept from 7:30 - 6 a hand full of times, but the other times she was only waking once and many times I could just put the paci back in and she was set. Not so much any more. Her sleep got all screwed up when we had the reflux issue ... but we don't have that pain any more so I have no idea why she has turned into such a poor sleeper. Also - she took great naps. Not so much any more. I purchased two sleep books - "Healthy sleep ..." and "The No Cry Sleep Solution." I have read that latter and am currently reading the former. All I can say is that Sophie is not a CIO baby. She will cry and cry and cry ... seriously. I think the poor sleeping is partly to blame for still being swaddled. I think she wants out of the swaddle, but as soon as she gets out she starts to spaz out. Ugh.

Our daycare is still not open. This is crazy. I started work last week and DH worked from home