March 2007 Mamas: Babies' First Thread

[whitlockan]

lady you better get on that ;)

Mia just another reminder of how fast they grow....makes me so sad!

Orion oh poor you, I get so sad when mr. man cries it makes me feel like an awful mom, I couldnt imagine 15 minutes of it. But once he gets to sleep are you pretty much set for a good nights rest at least?

kanga hahaha, reminds me we get the his toes are soooo big and long. Um they look normal size to me.

dollface so cute!! I agree, 2nd photo on the back, LOVE IT. Ya know the researchers at my work (they are all psychologist etc) say wrinkles in the forhead means they are thinking.....you might have a thinker. If thats right we have one big time!;) !!

mmm that just happend to me my PC doctor said he was big for 6 weeks, um he is only 45th percentile for height and weight.

Brink wow 3 days a week! Do you have a bustier you use to do handfree pumping? If not then wow I can barely get the double pumping down.

QOTD This is really getting to me, DS has "baby acne" these little red bumps on both of his cheeks that have little white heads on them......could it be from when he gets hot and then lays against something his poors get clogged? I just feel like people think he is dirty and I dont take care of him.

QOTD #2 how long do you let your DC cry. I find myself over and over again dropping everything I'm doing or pulling over as soon as he cries. I feel terrible if I have to wait 5 min to find a place to stop at. This has created a little bit of a monster!! DH said I need to stop because now he is doing it just to get attention and be held and expects it ASAP. I just feel so awful if I let him cry more than a few seconds.

Oh wanted to add we just got back from my work to pick stuff up so I can work from home until June, I really dont think I'll last long once I return, I just cant leave DS all day!

[kindermom]

Brink - Glad to hear work is going ok.
Dollface - Great announcements.
Whit - Good luck going back.

QOTD This is really getting to me, DS has "baby acne" these little red bumps on both of his cheeks that have little white heads on them......could it be from when he gets hot and then lays against something his poors get clogged? I just feel like people think he is dirty and I dont take care of him.
- Not sure why but both DC have had them. Normal. I thought it was because my DC got my hormones from BM and that caused acne. Ditto with the boobs. Yep. DS has little boobs. DDs went away about 4 months after we finished nursing her!

QOTD #2 how long do you let your DC cry.
- With DD she rarely cried for more than a moment unless for some odd reason we did not hear her (happened a handful of times). With DS I have had to make the judgement calls of who to attend to...DD or DS. DD is getting over a bug so she has gotten first cuddles when both are crying. DS has gone upwards of 10 minutes before I could get to him.

[Kanga]

Baby Acne - I was told by my ped that it was from the hormones. Not sure if it's only in bfed babies or if ff babies get it too from the pregnancy/labor hormones.

Crying - I made it pretty clear to dh (who thought the same as whitlockan's dh) from the very beginning that I won't let her cry if I can help it. I still won't let DD1 cry if there is something I can do about it, but if she's whining/fussing and I need to change out the laundry, prepare dinner, etc I don't always get to her right away. With DD2 I always get to her as soon as I can unless I'm driving. I'll pullover once to feed, change diaper, and replace her paci but after that I just get to where we need to go or every outing would take hours. She fussed/cried the entire way home from my parents house once (an hour away) and then when I got home I still couldn't get to her as I had to get dd1 in bed. Family members have made numerous comments about it but I don't really care. I just tell them that I've got one smart baby if she can "manipulate" an adult after only being in the world for a few weeks. FWIW DD1 can regularly entertain herlself for an hour and sometimes 2 and doesn't "manipulate" me or anyone else.

[miaclear]

QOTD1: Always heard it's normal. DS had minor small bumps but nothing bad at all.

QOTD2: I've read in SO MANY places you can't spoil a newborn so when DS crys I attend to him. Unless we're in the car then I just talk to him till we get to where we're going. Granted I'm not rushing like I did the first few weeks. I've been known to let him cry at most maybe 3-4 minutes before I get to him but this is only if I'm in the middle of something. At his 2 month appt I'll be talking to the Dr about when this will start spoiling him.


ERRRR
So I gained 40 pounds during this pregnancy. At my followup appt last week I'd lost 41, and another 2-3 have fallen off since. TGFBFing!!!! So why is it that wedding ring STILL doesn't fit????

[shimmerstar]

My wedding ring doesn't fit either. Boo.

Crying- I will let ds fuss for 10 minutes or so if I'm busy doing something. He almost never cries hard or continuously. It's more like a "hey, come here" cry. He's started doing this annoying screaming thing too, like if I'm not doing what he wants me to do. He will let out a loud, high-pitched scream like his arm has fallen off. He is hitting the 3 month mark, and I *think* that's when they can start being spoiled, but I'm not sure. If we are in the car, I will let him cry unless he starts getting hysterical. Then I will pop his pacifier in a few times.

DH will not let him fuss for even one second. If he even makes a noise, my husband will jump up and run to him. Even in the night, when I am just stopping at the bathroom on my way to get ds. It bothers me because I don't want it to continue until ds is spoiled, and it makes me feel like dh thinks I'm a bad mother.

Noah slept for 9 hours last night! The bad news is that he went to bed at 730. I had horrible insomnia again, so I didn't get to sleep until about 15 minutes before he woke up.

He won't stay asleep in the morning. He's not hungry or anything, he just wants to play. Then he will be back to sleep about an hour after he gets up, but by that time I'm too awake to go back to sleep.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Sorry I haven't been on here much lately... I'm back at work now and they are keeping me VERY busy!

Baby Acne: Carter had acne really bad a couple of weeks ago, but I started using some cream on it and it has cleared up quite a bit.

Crying: I typically let him cry for a little while... he's fine most of the time and doesn't really need anything. Trust me, he's not starving! :)

[MrsKinnison]

Dollface ~ I love those announcements!!! I think we are going to order from there too since I love the ones I've seen here! He really does look like he is deep in thought in that second picture.

MAG ~ Carter is so cute!

Crying ~ I have been blessed with a baby who rarely cries. Only if he is really hungry, or really tired. And both times he cries for just a couple of minutes. When he is really tired, he just needs his pacifier. However, sometimes he has that really tired cry in the car. If we are less than 10 minutes from home I'll just keep talking to him and try to soothe him that way. Longer than that, I find a place to pull over and get his pacifier. Once he has it, he falls right to sleep. If he's awake he's very content and alert in the car.

We are back to work too. I had originally planned to take a couple of more weeks, but I've been trying to work from home since 2weeks pp and it just wasn't working. Plus, the girl we have working for us has been making some pretty big (read costly) mistakes so I really needed to go back. The agreement was for me to only go part-time, but of course I'm working more hours than I meant to. Luckily, Ollie comes to work with me, and our customers LOVE him! At least I know I will always have fridays off because next week Ollie and I start Itsy Bitsy Yoga :D

I went back to yoga for the first time myself last night and I am happy to say I am not as sore as I expected to be today. I practiced right up until the end in my regular classes, so it had been exactly 8 weeks. Some postures were definately harder and I was shaking during some of the longer holds, but honestly some were a sooooo much easier without the extra 30lbs!!!

[pewee9196]

Thank goodness I am not the only one still ringless. that has really been bothering me!!

I am beginning to think my baby girl is a bit high maintenance or I too have a really 'smart' kid who is manipulating me. She loves to be held all the time. The bouncer will hold her for a few minutes as will the swing. SHe hates her bassinet. I don't mind cuddling her but I too wonder when the time is that I need to be less attentive so I don't spoil her rotten. I have heard 3-4 months ???

[Brink]

Whitlock - I really like my hands free system. I tried doing it with just holding them and it was impossible. Now I can type and do everything while pumping. I look ridiculous, but since noone sees me, I don't care. Here is the link to the bra I use. I wear a regular nursing bra, unsnap the cups and put on this halter bra for pumping. Works great.

http://www.easyexpressionproducts.com/

Crying - With having twins I'm forced to let them cry a little more than I probably would if they were single. I guess I try and leave them as long as I can. Sometimes I will try to burp them, but if they don't burp I will put them back down and just let them work it out. If they continue and become hysterical, then I will pick them up again. I know they say you can't spoil a baby, but I think there is a lot they learn from self soothing.

[kindermom]

Brink - Does your hands free top run large for you as well. I think that is the one I have but it is huge on me.

Whit - I ended up loving the halter style as is is pretty comfortable. I tried pumping while holding for the first 3-4 months. Once I was back at work for a week that halter and bustiers were purchased. Worth every penny!

[lady1297]

QOTD: Acne-I was told it's the mom's hormones. My older son would break out with me right before my period would start back in the day. :) Fun times.

crying: (Personal opinion alert) I do NOT believe you can ever spoil a child by holding them. EVER. So, I pick up John whenever he cries. Usually, he is crying for a reason, tired, wet, cranky, hungry, bored. And picking him up helps him calm down so I can figure out what he needs. Now, E, he cries for attention, but he's two and a half. And sometimes his 'attention seeking behavior' is for good reason, he could be tired, hungry, bored, same as a baby. But we are working with him to use his words, not whinning, and most crying fits happen before nap and bedtime so he knows if he cries too much or whines too long he's off to bed. But I don't believe I 'spoiled' him by picking him up every time he cried the first year since this is a newer behavior in line with other 2 year olds. I hate hearing babies cry since their cries are for a purpose when they are babies (and baby doens't mean newborn, it means anyone younger than a toddler). If we are driving, I'll check on him at a red light (paci attempts happen then too). Otherwise he will have to cry unless I can find a place to pull over that is safe. Now, in the case of twins? I'd be losing my ever loving mind dealing with twins this way, I'm sure, but I'd try anyhow and fail miserably I'm sure! God Bless our twin-mamas!

[betsyboop]

Crying- I do let her cry sometimes when it's necessary- like when I get out of the shower, she'll sometimes cry a little, but I have to get dressed, you know? Or she always cries during at least part of tummy time, but that's something that just has to be done, so I let her cry during that too. Luckily, she never cries in the car. We have noticed some behavior from her that makes us think that she is getting a bit spoiled- if Dave picks her up after she cries during tummy time, she calms right down. If I do, she carries on forever because she knows I'll eventually nurse her to get her to stop. But she's so tiny still that I don't see it as a problem yet. I've also heard that you're not going to form any lasting bad habits until 3-4 months.

Miaclear- That sucks that your ring still doesn't fit-I wonder why? But congrats on losing all the weight already! I'd rather have lost all the weight and not fit my ring that be in my place- ring fits just fine, but the last 5 lb WILL NOT go away.

So Millie is 2 months old today. Seriously, where has the time gone? My teeny tiny baby is growing like a weed and she doesn't even look like the same baby in the photos from when she was first born. When people told me that they grow up so fast I didn't take it this literally!

[Orion]

So we are off for our first big trip as a bigger family this week-end. I'm so excited. We are going to Seattle to meet up with DH's brother and SIL who live in Virginia. They are in the process of getting their green card so they aren't allowed to leave the States for a bit so since it is only a short ferry ride for us to go to Seattle, and we've always wanted to go there, we thought it would be a good thing to meet up. Plus they have never seen Sophie or Dalton before so it is really exciting.

QOTD - Crying: I hold very similar views as Lady1297 does about crying. I will not let my babies cry because it is there only way to communicate at this point. That being said, with two babies (Sophie 16 months and Dalton now almost 8 weeks) I have to decide which one is needing me more when they both cry so sometimes one or the other will cry for a few minutes (it's never been more than 10 minutes though and those are the longest ten minutes of my life). I believe in attachment parenting (minus the co-sleeping because it just doesn't work for Sophie and Dalton and DH and I but if it did I would) and during Sophie's first year, anytime she cried I would go to her. It drove DH insane...he is so scared that it will make them whiney/sulky babies. But at 16 months she is a very confident, happy child and I really believe that it is because of how we raised her. Now that she is older, I have had to let her cry it out at times because sometimes she just doesn't want to go to bed because she wants to stay up and play but that usually only involves fussing and not actual crying.

Speaking of crying and sleeping...things in our house are going much better with Dalton and sleeping. I re-read my copy of Weissbluth "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Baby" to refresh my memory and I have been able to catch Dalton's sleep cues and if I get him down right away he will go to sleep without any fussing. I was getting so worried that he would only sleep in his car seat for naps but for the last two days I have been able to get him down for naps in his crib...yay! Also, he has stopped crying inconsolably right before bed-time! Double yay. He just got to the point that he was over tired but yesterday he slept most of the day and actually went to bed for the night at 4:30 :eek: . He did get up for a feeding at 7 pm and 11 pm before going down for a long stretch but he seems to be more rested today.

Lady1297: Since you and I seem to have similar views about CIO and disipline I have a couple of questions for you. DD, who is now 16 months, has started to hit and pinch in frustration. How would you handle this? It is so hard to know what to do because she is so young and doesn't really undertand me sitting down and talking to her about what she is doing and how it is wrong but I need to nip this in the bud before she decides that she is mad at Dalton and hits him. Any advice would be good! Going to post over this over in LJ as well so feel free to respond in either one. Thanks.

[mmm0708]

Crying ~ My feelings are the same as lady and orion. I never let my first son cry... he's 2 now and isn't spoiled at all.. Caitlin... she may fuss for a minute before I can get to her... because of my 2 year old. But I don't let her fuss if I can help it. If she is flat out crying, I make my 2 year old wait. He understands waiting his turn more than she does. LOL I don't have the patience to listen to a crying baby anyway. :)

[lady1297]

Orion-Pinching and hitting...ah the golden years of one and two year olds! :) If it helps, my 2.5 year old still hits on occasion, often because he doesn't get that it's bad when he's playing with other kids! :) How do you feel about time outs? 16 months is about when we started short, short short time outs that we called "taking a break". Like 1 minute. What we did was get real serious, look him in the face say "We don't hit (or pinch)in frustration, we ask nicely for what we want. You need to take a break." and set him in the PNP, the high chair or somewhere else safe and walk out of the room for a minute. I felt is was important to give him an alternative for his actions. Instead of hitting, you say "Mommy I want XYZ". His verbal skills stunk at that age, but it was giving him examples of words and proper sentences for when he got older. He'd cry a bit in his PNP, but usually calm down. I really tried to figure out, though, what was causing the issues, like beign tired really sets him off to this day. He gets almost down right mean if we get him down late for a nap. So, really I try to avoid the situation by getting him on a nap schedule, making sure he's not hungry, ets before we get to that point. The time outs helped when there was no clear visable reason why he did the pinching or hitting. Whatever you chose to do, be consistant: No play hitting, same punishment regardless of why they did it and then think about why they did it and try to avoid it next time around! :)

[Brink]

Crying - I know I'm on the less popular side of letting my babies cry (don't worry, it's not for very long). The twins are just so different than my first DD. I picked her up more often when she cried, but I still let her fuss it out. She is a very well adjusted child, goes to sleep without crying, sooths herself back to sleep if she wakes up at night (really, she just turns on her aquarium and falls back to sleep without a single cry). Now with the twins, there are definitely times when we pick them up for crying, but there are many other times when you just can't (holding another baby) and I'll just sit in front of her and talk and she calms right down. So, I know it isn't anything other than wanting attention and not a pain/discomfort thing. I try to give them as much as I can, but honestly with both of them and a toddler it is difficult.

Kindermom - mine fits just about perfect, but I also have DD's right now (I think they might even be bigger than that). Since mine fit right, I didn't think about the fact they never asked about size.

[Janey]

I'm with Lady1297 & Orion on the crying. I just can't let her cry for more than a few moments. Her crying is like a tuning fork in my soul, vibrating me toward her to fix whatever it is that is wrong.

She has three different cries... "Cry A" is more of a fuss. I can usually catch Dunstan's neh, eh, heh, etc. here (I don't have the DVD; I Tivo'ed it from Oprah ;)) and fix the problem before we hit "Cry B." Cry B is more insistent, and is definitely in the category of crying. This is where I do my darnedest to fix her right away, because if i don't, I know what's coming -- Cry C. "Cry C" is a ballistic, pandemonium cry where she turns purple, and it's unclear if she's going to have an aneurysm or not. I don't get Cry C every day, because I'm pretty good about fixing Cry B before we get there.

... except in the car. Which is why I don't want to go into the car as I wrote in a thread in 0-18 months (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32655) the other day... cause I can't fix the cries, and we end up with Cry C, and I end up in tears. Cry C hurts my heart.

I'm gonna be glad when this phase is over! "Someday, we will make cookies."


We have our 2 month WBV at 1pm today. I'm excited to find out how much she's grown. She also gets some shots today... not looking forward to that part! I'll probably cry right along with her.

[Kanga]

Orion - I'm not really a fan of time outs at this age, or at least not with dd's current verbal skills but when I know she can express her feelings we will probably do something like waht Lady suggested. Daytona doesn't pinch or bite, but she does hit and pull fur/hair. It's been going on since about 9 months and I'll say "Ouch, that hurts!" in a stern voice. And then say "Can you be gentle". Obviously she didn't know those words froma hole in the wall at 9 months but I would take her hand and say either gentle, soft, or nice in a soothing voice and then praise her when she does it. We try to avoid the word No as much as possible because I feel it's too generic and do positive reinforcement instead. Rahter than saying "No, don't hit" We say hitting hurts (or ouch), please be gentle. We need to be gentle to the kitties/sister/mommy, etc. It's finally starting to sink in, but sometimes she'll hit first, and then be gentle or give kisses/hugs so it's like she knows so long as she's nice afterwards, everything is ok. Still trying to figure out what to do about that part. With the cats we move them to the top of the couch or somewhere else where she can't get to them but for us I'm at a loss. She's gotten scratched and a "reminder bite" (like a play bite but out of frustration) from the cats and she'll ignore the offender for a day or so but then is back to her old routine. This probably sounds awful, but sometimes I wish they would scratch her more often when she gets rough because it's the one thing that actually gets her to stop immediately and stays with her for more than a few minutes.

[buffy]

crying ~ I don't think you can spoil a baby either so I have always tried to get to them as soon as I can. Of course Morgan is the 3rd so she sometimes has to cry a little longer but it's usually only a minute or two while I quick fix my other two lunch or something. The hardest was last week when DH was out of town and I had to give baths and Morgan generally hates being put down while she's awake so she cried while I gave my other two baths and got their pajamas on. It sucked.

[shimmerstar]

Janey, I'm getting better at distinguishing the cries too. Only we pretty much never get past cry A, little fusses, even if I have to leave him for a minute. Once in the car we got to your "cry c" and I got scared because he never cries like that!

Question- I mentioned before that Noah has been screaming lately. I was changing his diaper this morning and he let out this horrendous shriek. He was not hurt or anything, maybe a bit hungry. It made me mad for a second, because it sounded like a toddler tantrum cry. He has done it twice more today, right in my face. Is he just "finding his voice?" Is this a normal thing for babies to do?

[mmm0708]

Nevermind. LOL I was trying to add a picture. Didn't work. LOL

[happy1nuv]

crying ~ i totally agree w/ lady and orion... although Joe has cried way more than i ever let nic. the joy of 2 under 2... :)

a word about no ~ I try not to say no as much as possible. I think it confuses him. So instead of saying don't hit, i say be gentle (im bad at this but every day is better) and i notice when i only use positive phrases, he behaves better. Half the time I say no, i dont think he hears the no part and only the do it part...

[Orion]

Thanks for the advice on how to dicipline a 16 month old. I don't know if I could do time outs because I really don't think that she would understand what is going on, plus there are times that I need to put her in her high chair/PNP/crib to feed or change Dalton and I don't want her to think she is being punished everytime I am with Dalton.
I think that positive reinforcement is what we are going to do and just keep her away from Dalton until he can defend himself :p (although she hasn't tried to hit him yet).

Well, I'm off to Seattle ladies...so excited. I haven't been to the States in years!

[Janey]

We are back from the 2-month WBV. She was sooo happy through the whole visit. It was great. The previous visits had all been with a crying baby. Also, the shots weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. She cried, but it was Cry B, not Cry C. I nursed her afterward, and she fell asleep. Slept all the way home, nursed again, slept on my chest for a while, and is now sleeping in the swing. I expect that she'll sleep for a good long while.

She weighs 10 lbs. 12 oz, and is 22" long. She's growin' like a weed!


Have fun in Seattle, Orion! It looks like we should have some comparatively nice weather for you this weekend. :)

[Kanga]

I finally caught a smile on camera! She's been smiling for awhile but either the camera was no where near or I was too slow. I forgot how cute gummy grins are.

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Liz_Adams/th_IMG_0898.jpg

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Liz_Adams/th_IMG_0900.jpg

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Liz_Adams/th_IMG_0896.jpg

And we got her one month pictures taken a few weeks ago combined with D's 18 mo pics.

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Liz_Adams/Camdynsleeping.jpg?t=1178376605

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Liz_Adams/Camdyn1.jpg?t=1178376623

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Liz_Adams/Camdy2.jpg?t=1178376643

[Kanga]

no idea why this one is so small

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Liz_Adams/DaytonakissingCamdyn.jpg?t=1178376688

[happy1nuv]

kanga ~ awww... those are so precious!

orion ~ also check out Love and Logic magic (forget who wrote it) but there's a thread in 12-36 mos ... title is something like my toddlers testing me and it talks all about the book and its methods. I'm reading it now, and it makes a lot of sense (its all about actions speak louder than words...say it once and follow through with a consequence). It's probably better for a 3+ year old, but its one of the few books I've found that even mention the under 2 set. :)

[shimmerstar]

I think all the Love & Logic books are by Jim Fay (Fey?). He is great- I use him at school all the time.

[betsyboop]

I hope everyone was out having a nice weekend and that's why it was so dead in here!

We had an eventful weekend. We went to the mall on Saturday and saw that Kate Spade bags were all 20% off at Macy's, so I got my Mother's Day gift:D It's this one in green:
http://ksp.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pKS1-3640154reg.jpg

My parents spontaneously offered to babysit Millie on Saturday night, so Dave and I had our first evening out just the 2 of us. We just went out to a casual restaurant and sat at the bar watching the Red Sox game. It was nice to get out.

Millie got her first boo-boo on Sunday:( She was rolling over on her mat thing with toys hanging overhead but for some reason, she lifted her head up really high just before she got up on her side. So her head came crashing down onto the mat really hard. Since the mat is on a hardwood floor, it hurt quite a bit I'm sure. Poor baby immediately got to Janey's cry C and kept at it for like 10 min. It was pretty awful. We immediately moved the mat under the dining room table where there is a rug!

[whitlockan]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who rushes over and picks him up when he starts to cry, it just breaks my heart to hear a peep.

Thanks for clearing up the baby acne, I had no idea it was related to hormones for him at least.

? for anyoneROs you probably know best but another really dumb question: my bottles (I keep 2 in the refridge at all times) when they seperate cream rises of course, but we noticed whats left at the bottom has like a blue tint to the watered down substance. Is this normal, its in all the bottles which are steralized in an electric stearlizer before being used??

One more stupid ? I keep forgeting to ask the Ped normally his poop is always yellow and what not but sometimes its mixed green and sometiems its just green. I'm wondering if when its green he is just passing all the extra iron his body doesnt need. My prenatal vitamins have an insane amount of Iron and the entire pregnancy the OB noticed my body was just passing off so much of it since it had plenty. Is this possible that he is getting enough to and just passing the rest through?
kanga very cute, and so precious.

shimmer I think he is finding his voice perhaps. He is right around that age to be finding the higher pitched ones.

betsy cute purse and that is nice you two were able to get out on yoru own. I thought about that when I put his tummy time mat on the floor I put a folded up towl under the top portion, hope that works, its one of my fears. Poor little girl.

Well I'm sitting her pumping the rest out of me, he never eats it all and at 2:00am I'm not going to fight him to stay on and eat more to get the hindmilk, which seems to be what I do, he is such a casual eater which drives me crazy. He will pull off and rest for 30 min and decide he is hungry again....I dread pumping it out once he gets done for that reason. Oh well plenty of bottles, like to make sure I get at least a few in for the hindmilk if I notice that he didnt get much that day. Have my 6 week PP in the morning, should go well! My arm well have to have an MRI next week, why cant they just have it all set up prior when they know! Argh.

Okay looks like my time is done here........*still waiting for the 1 month photos to arrive*

[kindermom]

Quick flyby today -
Kanga - I love the pics.
Betsy - Glad you can get out.
Whit - The blue tint is normal from what I understand. I recently read that you should not vigorously shake the milk but just gently swirl it. Whoops. I did that all through my first DDs feedings. :o And good for you for pumping in the middle of the night. I love my sleep too much.

[lady1297]

Betsy-love the purse
Kanga-how sweet the pics are!
Whit- Blue is normal in the foremilk. The poops sound normal. Green can indicate a slight inbalance in foremilk and hindmilk and usually is accompanied by 'frothy' poop, but if it is just occasional, I wouldn't worry about it at all.

kindermom-I just read about not shaking the breastmilk too! I never knew that with DS1. I have to write up directions for my mom to thaw milk tonight and am including that because I'm sure she wouldn't know either!

----
Us: DH built a playset for DS1 this weekend. It has the tower and swing arm, a slide, ramp and ladder. We've been basically living outside since Saturday. I love the fresh air and John has been enjoying the change I think. Both boys are sleeping well (though John isn't sleeping through the night just yet which is fine). It's been a fun weekend with the new play set. I also got my back porch cleaned off so we can sit out there and have dinner. It's screened in and DS1 and I spend practically all day out there throughout the spring, summer and fall. That's about all around here. Oh, my mom is asking about feeding John food already. She just can't get over that you don't feed them at two weeks anymore!! LOL! She and I had the conversation about homemade baby foods again. I think I'm going to do homemade foods this time around and am thinking about getting started with freezing things that we don't eat often that John can try later. It should be fun! I'm heading over to the homemade foods thread here on CC next to start reading up. I did all Gerber with my older son. But he started food at 4 months. I want to wait til 6 with John. So that should make a difference.

[happy1nuv]

lady ~ i found making my own babyfood with nic SUPER easy... basically just took some out for him from whater we made for dinner pre-salt/spice and mashed... no extra work, no pile-up of babyfood jars...

whit ~ ive heard that green poo is foremilk/hindmilk imbalance, but ive also heard that its normal because bm gets digested so fast and thats why its green (something about the liver and it not staying long enough to get rid of the green or something like that) ...if you're really concerned ill try and find that link again (i believe it was from a dr's site somewhere, but not dr sears)

[shimmerstar]

Whit- Noah is a grazer like that and I was losing my mind. It was like eat for 10 min, fall asleep for 10 min, decide to be hungry again, etc. It has gotten better lately, and once he even at 7 oz at one time! I laughed at the ped because she said "oh, offer him 5 or 6 oz", and he will usually only eat three. I still have to take the bottle away to wake him up, and burp him a lot, and play with him.

Betsy- Poor Millie! I think it's harder on us than it is on them. Noah slammed his eye into dh's chin the other day and I thought dh was going to cry!

Kanga- those are sweet pictures.

Lady- How fun! I can't wait to get a jungle gym for mine.

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

Noah is grabbing everything. He learned how to make the music play on his bouncy seat (you have to reach up and pull a string), and he is having a grand old time. Dh is sick with a cold, so I have to do everything. And it's my last week before I go back to work, so I have a lot on my mind.

[Orion]

OMG..I just discovered a web site for baby lullaby cd's and it is wicked. It's www.babyrockrecords.com. MIL bought a cd of lullaby's for Dalton and it is such a traditional Cd and I am getting so sick of it. I am so getting the Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Beatles.

I haven't been around lately because life has been so hectic (but in a good way). We took our first trip as a family of four this past week-end to Seattle and it was wicked.

We took the Clipper down to Seattle on Friday night and stayed at The Edgewater (such a nice hotel right on the water). The Edgewater is the hotel that The Beatles stayed at in the 60's.

We went to Seattle to met up with BIL and SIL who had not met Sophie or Dalton yet so it was so nice for them to meet. We spent all day Saturday walking around Seattle and seeing the sights. We went to Pike's Market, the Space Needle, rode the Mono-rail, did some shopping, went to the orignal Starbucks and went out for a really nice dinner.

Sophie and Dalton were really good and really enjoyed their time down there and meeting their Aunt and Uncle for the first time.

Glad to hear that everyone is doing so well.

[dollface]

Cute pics Kanga! DS smiles a lot but as soon as I break out the camera - I can't get a shot of it - he just stares at the lens:p

Hope everyone is doing well! DS has his 2 month visit and shots today. I think I will probably do worse with the shots then he will :( I am anxious to see his growth though.

[Kanga]

baby food - I made dd1's baby food. I spent several hours one day steaming, pureeing and freezing a whole freezer stash only for her to not eat more than a handful of cheerios until 14 months.:rolleyes: Of course by then the food was bad and she was past that stage. This time I'm just going to skip the baby food stage entirely unless she seams to really need it. Too much of a hassle to me for something that's just for fun.

shaking of breastmilk - I've never heard that before! (and of course that's what I've done with all the bottles.) Anyone care to explain or post a link?

orion - glad to hear your trip went well.

We just got back from the zoo. Camdyn slept the whole time and Daytona had a blast and is zonked now. I couldn't even wake her up for lunch when we got home.

[kindermom]

Home early today.

Link 1 (http://www.bflrc.com/ljs/breastfeeding/shakenot.htm): Note that this is also linked to by kellymom which is a good BF site.
Because shaking expressed mothers' milk (or boiling or freezing it) denatures the shaped molecules of the protective proteins, leaving only the pieces - the amino acids - the parts. Lactoferrin, lysozyme, and other protective components work their protection magic when they are in their original shaped molecular structure. Some components remain intact, even during freezing, shaking or heating. They not only protect the gut from many kinds of infection, but also prevent inflammation of the gut lining. Even broken up, the separate amino acids are still really good stuff and are digested by the baby as nutrients.

Link 2 (http://www.corporatelactationprograms.com/use_pump_storage.pdf): From Ameda that just says to swish not shake.

[whitlockan]

shaking BM that was the first thing I was told in our breastfeeding class, it apparently breaks down the milk. I always swirl it, glad to know my milk is not funky...haha DH was sort of freaked out by the blue though

poop that makes perfect sense, yesterday he was off on his eating and today were back to our yellow stuff again and he is eating more "balanced"

shimmer dont think it doesnt drive me crazy sometimes I have the time during the day to do it but so glad he doesnt wake up at night to eat I dont have time for that while everyone is snoring away.

orion sounds like you had a good time.

lady FUN!

Wen't to my 6 week pp today on our wedding anniversary (3 year) and I'm 100% healed, I saw a different ob and she couldnt even tell if I tore or was cut, guess that means it healed nicely. Of course we had to go for some BC avoided the mini pill I suck at remebering to take things, shots, well they are not for me, were going for the IUD since we dont want any other children as of right now and its very much long term but I'm really nervous about getting it inserted I keep reading it feels crampy during and after, eekk. Oh can I just say I had a pap today, and OMG she cranked me open and wow it was a little tender. (sorry if that was TMI)

In other news DS is spoiled and will be hurting when he goes to daycare. We were at the doctors today and DH was with us he got hungry so he feed him a bottle and he just fussed and fussed and ate like 2 oz maybe we came home and he was screaming to get on me, must love his momma but hes never rejected a bottle before but these past 2 days he will hardly take one. Normally he loved them!!

[Brink]

Hi everyone, hope things are going well. I've been back at work for a week now and it feels like I never left. It is nice getting out of the house for a while and away from cyring babies. I miss them, but it's still a nice break.

Kanga - very cute pics.

Lady1297 - sounds like you got a play structure similar to one that we put up about a month ago. We had to get the one with two arms so we would have enough swings, but sounds similar. Took my husband two days to put it up. Now my daughter stands at the back door and says "swing" half the day. We have terrible mosquitos and can't go out after a certain time of the day, so the poor thing doesn't get out there as much as we would like.

Orion - glad to hear you had a good time on your trip to Seattle.

[betsyboop]

Whit- Millie just started rejecting bottles too. I'm not sure why though. I went out today and bought a few different types to see if a different nipple will apeal to her more. We were just using the ones that came with my pump before- Avent. What are you using?

Dollface- Good luck with the shots! Millie had hers yesterday and I was so nervous. She choked pretty badly on the rotovirus one and ended up projectile vomiting it-eek! The nurse said that was the first time she'd seen a baby react that way:o The shots were also traumatic, but they were quick at least.

Speaking of vaccinations, Millie actually had a little bit of a reaction to hers:( The injection sites swelled up and we think they were also sore because she screamed non stop from 8:30-10 last night. We had to hold her without touching her thighs for the rest of the night or else she'd start crying again. Poor thing. She slept really well though- 11:30-6:15 and then 6:30-11am. She's not nursing much today and seems to be spitting up more than normal. I hope she feels better tomorrow!

Oh, and she's now 10lb, 12oz.

[dollface]

besty - poor Millie! Davin did okay. It was traumatic - probably more for me then him! I just hated seeing him upset like that. I gave him some Tylenol before we left the office and he konked out as soon as we came home.

2 month stats:

12 lbs. 10 oz. (75%tile)
23.5" long (75%tile)
16" head (55%tile)

He is doing well. The ped has mentioned several times how well-endowed he is - DH asked her what percentile he was in that area! :p

[whitlockan]

betsy were using Dr. Browns and yes they really do work. I'll try giving him a stage 2 nipple see if that helps. He is rejecting pacifiers too and we use Gerber Nuk Ortho, Soothie and the Gerber w/ flex tip (like the soothie) and he has been a huge pacifier baby

[ladybug0525]

Breastmilk Question - If you aren't suppose to shake it which I did with DS #1 and with #2 how do you combine it once it seperates in the fridge?

betsy - So sad about the reaction but yeah for the good sleeping!!

[MrsKinnison]

I feel like it's been a while, but I'm really not sure... My back to work part time is quickly becoming closer to full time. I need to be better about staying in touch here. I'm glad to here everyone is doing well!!

Ollie seems to not be napping during the day anymore, making for one cranky baby at the end of the day. I have no idea why, but he will only take short catnaps ~ usually not more than 15-20minutes at a time. I have no idea how to get him to sleep longer, but hopefully we can fix this soon. He doesn't even fall asleep in the car. The good news is he has been sleeping a much longer stretch at night. Last night he slept from 9pm to 5am, nursed, then slept until 7!

We tried stage 2 nipples this week. They were waaaay too fast, and the poor kid was literally having to chug the bottle. The bottle went down in about 5minutes. Stage 1 nipples seem to be too slow though and can take him up to 30minutes. I wish there was something in between.

Whit ~ I'm getting the IUD too. Everyone I have talked to said it was no biggie getting it and absolutely love it. We always knew we would be one and done.

[MrsKinnison]

Oh, and I was guilty of shaking too. You can still swirl it after it's been in the fridge, but it takes longer...

[Kanga]

Brink - I forgot to put in my other post that I saw a mom of a toddler (2ish?) and 5ish month old twins at the zoo today. I remember you saying something about trying to decide what triple stroller to get way back when we were all still pregnant (seems like forever ago). It was a Valco Runabout Twin with a toddler seat attatchment. It's the coolest contraption I've ever seen! I don't get out much, obviously:o

http://www.babystrollershop.com/Runabout%20Twin%20Toddler%20Seat%20200.jpg

http://www.babystrollershop.com/valco_runabout_twin.htm

[kindermom]

Whit - I had the Mirena inserted at my 6 week postpartum visit. It was slightly uncomfortable being inserted. I have had spotting for the past 2.5 weeks. The cramping disappeared after a few days and really were not a big deal for the most part. The spotting was irritaing piece. The only thing I do not like about it is that I think it is the source of PPD for me. I started getting depressed about a week after it was inserted. I have a history of not dealing well with artifical hormones and the ones in the Mirena are low and of the type that I do better with. Unfortunately it is still too much for me. Hindsight, I would have gotten the copper one (Paraguard?) that are hormone free and may need to switch depending on what my OB says when I go back for a follow-up.

[Brink]

Kanga - thanks for thinking of us and passing that along. I had not seen that stroller. We ended up getting the one below. Instead of the third carseat in the front, we got a toddler seat (like the ones for the back of a bike).

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m65/Brink_06/stroller.jpg

It works pretty well but is HUGE!

[whitlockan]

kinder I am really confused, every place I look and asked the lady who process the IUDs she said the copper on is the Mirena (baby center lists it as estrogen free) and the Paraguard is the opposite, I asked her for the copper one though.

MrsK I am so happy I am not hte only one I get a lot of slack people telling me I'm being selfish because I only want one and it wont be good for him. SO nice to meet someone else who doesnt want anymore, well at least right now. When we were talking about it the OB said she would only do the 5 yr because I'm too young to say I dont want anymore (I am 25 in june, so what a 10 yr one I'd be 35, tons of women are waiting until then to have kids). My DS is just hte oppposite, he sleeps all the time still, is this still normal for a 1 month old? Thanks for posting that about stage 2 nipples. I think we'll stick with stage 1 then, if he chugs he spits it all up, if he takes it nice and slow he eats it all no problem.

Brink wow what a limo, I hit things with our stroller right now I couldnt imagine navigating that!!

dollface haha thats funny! Wow you have a nice sized boy, in a good way. I think Z is small he is only 45th though for height and weight and 25th for head.

lady we've mixed bottles from the same day and it seems to mix and then just seperate again, I dont think its nearly as harsh as shaking would be.

shaking I'll admit the only reason I started to swirl wasa because you cant shake our bottles with all the parts in them. I would have probably did the shaking too if not, I seemed to lost all my comprhension with the pregnancy and birth.

OMG DH just doesnt get it, I dropped the bottle with the pump part still on it and I freaked it started spilling otu and hes like why are you so upset thats like a 1/2 oz of milk. I am like no every oz of milk is a priceless commodity. Am I just a freak or does anyone else feel this way?!? He got to work and we talk on aim all day and I told him I was so grumpy today and he said why you still fretting over spilled milk....what a dork!

Anyone else lost their brain with the pregnancy/brith. I'm an idiot, I was at the OB yesterday she told me what to do DH came in and I said oh no I dont remember what I was and was not suppose to take off. I cant remember anything ever, its like 2 seconds later its gone!

Off to get the windows tinted on my car :( it will look sooo stupid (I have a sand colored car) but DS does not like the sun on him and my experience has been the sunshades those are for the birds not to mention a safety hazard!!

[buffy]

milk ~ I always swirled but never really knew why. DH always shook it so I'll have to tell him to swirl if we ever try a bottle. I have pumped a couple times and intended to try a bottle with her but never got around to it. Maybe when MIL is here in a couple weeks, she's always loved being able to feed the babies. I have a feeling Morgan is going to hate it judging by her reaction when I tried a paci.

stupid ~ yep that's me! :D I can never seem to remember anything!

weight ~ I am happy to say after a few weeks of not losing much of anything it is finally starting to come off again without really trying. I gained so much I was beginning to think I'd never be at my PP weight!

Morgan has her 2 month checkup next week and I have my PP visit. I am so not looking forward to it and I've already had one dream about it. I'm not getting BC just because I don't want the appointment to take longer than it has to. :p

[kindermom]

kinder I am really confused, every place I look and asked the lady who process the IUDs she said the copper on is the Mirena (baby center lists it as estrogen free) and the Paraguard is the opposite, I asked her for the copper one though.
I just double checked at the paragard and mirena sites. Paragard is made of plastic and copper. It is completely hormone free and lasts a really long time (although you can have it removed at any time). Mirena is completely plastic. It is estrogen free but still releases a low does of levonorgestrel.

It is thought that the small amounts of that are released by Mirena make your cervical mucus thick and tacky. This is why sperms are immobilized and can't enter the uterus. And the thinning of the uterus is why you may have less menstrual bleeding over time. In fact, about 20% of women will have no period after one year, a safe (and, for most women, preferred) condition.
source (http://www.mirena-us.com/howmirenaworks.html?C=&c=)

brink - what a stroller! wow!
buffy - yay for weight loss!

I took the kids in to my office yesterday to meet everyone. DS slept the entire time and DD was a total ham by the time we left. I so do not want to go back in to the office though. I want to work. Just from home. Oh well.

A coworker mentioned that her 7 month old was 22 pounds already! Can you imagine? What a little brute. He is just a big guy.

Well, I am off to see my lawyer regarding my last car accident. I hope this does not take 2 years to settle like my last one did.

[Janey]

Whit - We call it Liquid Gold at our house -- every drop is precious. NFW did I spend my time pumping that stuff out of my body to have it dribble down her neck and get wasted!! When we feed her EBM from a bottle, we are careful to give her nice little pauses so it all goes down the right chute. When I transfer it for storage, I am so careful it's like I am dealing with boiling oil. NOT A DROP WASTED! :p

[Brink]

Wasted Milk - I think we are all the same way in treating it like "liquid gold" (our term too). Just wait until you send them to daycare and you get there and they have poured out several bottles because your baby didn't finish them. HELLO - they can go back in the fridge to feed them later! I haven't done it with the girls, but when I was feeding my DD EBM, I knocked over a bottle and spilled about 4 oz on the kitchen counter. I actually got a turkey baster out and tried sucking it back up - didn't work too well but I'm sure I was a site - crying and trying to suck up the milk.

STTN - We had our first STTN last night. Kristi went to sleep at about 9:00 last night and didn't wake until 7:00 this morning. Thats about 10 hours for her. Of course, Katie didn't go down until 10:00 and woke up at 4:30, but she went right back to sleep until 8:00. We are starting to see a little light at the end of the tunnel.

[Kanga]

wasted milk - I did the same thing as brink w/ dd1 only I tried wipe it off the counter with my hand back into the container. Between the hormones, not having bfing work out like i wanted and sleep deprivation it was just too much to handle. I choked back tears and dh thought I was crazy.

[buffy]

kindermom ~ wow that's a big baby! I just took my 2 year old to the doctor yesterday and she is 22 pounds.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Carter had his 6 week doctor's appointment today and DH pretty much got scolded for his weight. He is 11 lbs, 2 oz. The doctor went on a rant about how we are not feeding him enough and how he is too skinny. DH is very upset after our appointment, but now I am becoming concerned. While I am not happy with the way he was treated at the appointment (she also scolded him for me not being there), she may be right on his weight issue. DH and I have been wondering why Carter has been so fussy the past few weeks and if he is hungry, that would explain it. The problem lies in the fact that he will eat 6-7 oz in one feeding and still be SCREAMING afterwards. Is this normal? Should he really be eating this much at this age?

[betsyboop]

MAG- What did he weigh at birth? I only ask because Millie is 10lb 12oz at 2 months and our doctor said that was great. I'd think that over 11lb at 6 weeks would also be good, but I guess it depeds on what he started at.

she also scolded him for me not being there

That seems really sexist to me. I hardly think she'd be scolding a mom if her husband wasn't there for an appointment:rolleyes:

wasting milk- We've had to dump milk and it truly pains me to do it. She's just recently gotten really bad at taking her nightly bottle and I think I read somewhere that if it's been defrosted for over 24 hours, it's not good anymore, so we've had to dump for that reason. Ugh- all that effort down the drain, literally.

whit- Oh, Dr Browns was the one brand that I didn't get any of- d'oh!

dollface- That is too funny about your doctor commenting on how well endowed Davin is:p I'm sure your DH is proud!

[shimmerstar]

MAG, I'm mad for you. It sounds like your ped wants to do a lot of scolding and not a lot of helping. Noah only usually takes 3 oz at a time, but the other day he took 7. Maybe your babe is just a big eater.

Dollface- that's too funny.

Fun picture of my boy:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/191/489959373_b979f5abee_m.jpg

[buffy]

MAG ~ that doctor sounds like a piece of work. DD was 12 lbs at 6 weeks and I think she was a good half pound or so bigger than Carter at birth, wasn't she? So just over 11lbs doesn't sound too skinny to me. Also since when are both parents required to be at the well baby checkups? DH has come to one out of all that we've had for our 3 kids.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Carter was 9 lbs at birth, but dropped to 8 lbs 6 oz before we left the hospital.

The reason she yelled at him for me not being there was because I am BFing and she had questions for me regarding that. That makes sense, but she went about it all wrong.

[lady1297]

MAG- I wouldn't worry about his weight. DS is just now 10 lbs at 3 months. They grow different. Are you feeding on demand? If so, don't sweat it. Tell the doctor that the next time you send DH in with the baby if she has questions to call you on the phone. No big deal! Geez, she's a piece of work. She's probably just not used to babies with their dad's instead of their mom's. I think it's rare.

[kindermom]

MAG - I can see where she may be worried if he is dropping in the percentiles (if that is indeed the case). If his percentiles are relatively consistent, then I would not be worried about my child's weight. However, I would have real issue if my ped is "scolding" me, particularly if one parent is not at the visit. That is not cool in my book. I

[MrsKinnison]

MAG - If you go from his discharge weight, isn't that a gain of an oz a day? If I did my math right, that would be a great gain. Maybe she was only looking at his birth weight??

[dollface]

MAG - your doctor needs to shut her piehole. I don't understand why she has a problem with his weight. 6-7 ounces is a lot for one feeding! How many times a day does he feed? It seems to me he is thriving just fine!

ETA: here is a percentile growth calculator
http://www.babycenter.com/growthchart/

I guessed his height at 24" and that puts him at between 50-75% for weight - that's awesome!

[happy1nuv]

mag ~ do you like your ped? cause id be ped shopping! ditto everyone else

[whitlockan]

MAGI'd be finding a new Ped!!! "Z" one month he was 9 llbs 11 oz; only a 2 lb 6 oz gain from 4 day visit. she said that was perfect keep doing what your doing, he is still at the same percentile so his growth is right on track. I just did carters discharge weight vs. 6 week weight that is 3 lbs 11 oz I'd say he is just fine. Our Ped likes a healthy baby not a heavy baby, he is "skinny" just no baby fat rolls all over. But she said he is fine because DH and I are so small.

[miaclear]

QOTD: I know DS is only 7 weeks old but I am really wanting to make sure to get him in good sleep habits.

When can you start sleep training?
What is your DCs bedtime and waketime?
How many naps each day and for how long?

Generally we try to put DS down about 9:30 or 10:00. And depending on how the night goes he'll either get up at 7ish or 9ish. As for naps we're doing 3-4 a day with at least two of them a good two hours, sometimes I'll wake him up if he goes longer.

[shimmerstar]

Miaclear, you are lucky! I wish my ds would sleep those hours. He usually is zonked by 830, and then will sleep until 4, but then he's up again at 6. He doesn't sleep well in the early morning. I like to sleep from 10-8. Then, after I feed him he does back to sleep within two hours, but I'm already too awake.

We started ds on a bedtime routine when he was 2 months old. We try to put him to bed at the same time. If he wakes up before 4 now, I will either ignore him (he will put himself back to sleep) or give him his pacifier. If he won't take that, I know I need to feed him, but he usually doesn't really eat a lot until 7am.

As far as naps, I try not to keep him awake for more than two hours. He usually likes to take a nap every 1.5 hours, so I just watch for him to get sleepy.

[miaclear]

Shimmer...thanks. How long to you let him nap for? I should say that between when I put DS down and he gets up for good in the AM he wakes about 3 times to eat ;)

[whitlockan]

when to call the Ped I feel like I'm a super worry wort and do nothing but call the Ped I've already called them this week about his allergies he had to cat dander to see if he could have anything OTC. Now he has a "phelmy sneeze" and I bulbed out a bunch of green snot still has a little bit of a dry cough. No fever though, I did just give him some tylenol to see if that would help. But for sure congested because he is breathing through his mouth and drooling ALOT!!!

[MrsKinnison]

Whit ~ have you tried saline nose drops? I felt bad giving them, but they really did seem to help. I think they were called Little Noses. And I say call the ped whenever!

Ollie and I start Itsy Bitsy Yoga this morning :D

[shimmerstar]

Shimmer...thanks. How long to you let him nap for? I should say that between when I put DS down and he gets up for good in the AM he wakes about 3 times to eat ;)

He will usually nap for about an hour, but sometimes will go three, and sometimes will go 30 minutes. I just never know, but swaddling him helps.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Schedule: We've got down a fairly decent schedule. Carter usually goes to bed around 9:30-10:30 (somewhere in there) and then he will sleep until about 3:00. I feed him, he goes back to sleep until about 6:30 and then I usually put him in bed with me (because I don't get up until 7:30 and I don't want to feed him at 6:30). He goes right back to sleep and then I usually wake him up at about 7:45 to feed him before I go to work. He is with the sitter all day. I'm not sure what type of a schedule he is on there... I think he usually just takes one nap (maybe two) and then he is awake from the time I pick him up until he goes to sleep that night. He is awake quite a bit now.

[danalou]

I can't believe how quickly these past couple of months have gone by!! It seems like just yesterday we were all pregnant and he we are getting ready to celebrate our 1st Mother's Day!!

I want to wish everyone a very early and Happy Mother's Day!! Enjoy time with your families and as always be safe!!

[Orion]

Hi Everyone! Happy Mothers Day to all!

I have a quick question. DS will only sleep in his car seat for his naps during the day. If I get him to sleep in his crib, he only sleeps for about 30 minutes and than wakes up crying so needless to say I let him sleep in his car seat. He goes to bed at night in his crib and stays there all night with no problems. I am just wondering if it is a bad thing to let him nap in his car seat every day. Should I try to get him to nap in his crib?

DH leaves for sea on Monday so I don't want to spend much time on here while he is home so I will be back Monday and give a longer update on us and s/o's. Thanks!

[dollface]

Schedule: he goes to bed around 9-9:15, wakes between 3-4 a.m. for a feed and then back down til around 6. After his morning change and feed, he will sometimes go down for a good 2 hour nap, but only in his swing. I would love to cut out that that 3-4 a.m. feed...any suggestions? As for his day, he usually just catnaps most of the day - 30 minutes every 2 hours or so and then a longer evening nap of 1-2 hours. I just listen to his sleep cues during the day. I found when he slept a longer stretch during the day (afternoon nap), he would have a real cranky/fussy time around 6 p.m.

[whitlockan]

scheduleDS sleeps most of the day, he is up for 30 min at a time then back asleep...hmm dollface he is extremely fussy around that tiem as well, I bet its because I let him sleep too much?? Maybe I should be keeping him up longer, but he falls right to sleep on his own all the time.
When he is up we play but when he has enough of tummy time he just puts his head down and goes to sleep.

Today we went and bought his Baptism Gown (wow I had no the price on them but found out). He gets baptized next next weekend. It was rather humorous, DH always makes fun of me because I put him in collared polos and collared polo rompers and tells me oh no your preppy just like mommy. Well he went shopping with us today and he wanted to go into Nautica Kids (he wears pretty much nothing but Nautica too but doesnt think its the preppy stuff they make, whatever) anyways he picked out his outfit, OMG you cant get much more preppy than that. **There are hardly any cute super dressy outfits for boys, tons of cute dresses for girls but its hard to find something for a little boy his size.
Anyways that is our weekend so far.....

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY

[betsyboop]

Whit- You bought DS's wedding outfit??

Schedule- Millie goes to bed at around 11:30, gets up at 6ish to eat, and then is up for the day around 9:30. She naps whenever- I honestly couldn't tell you her daytime schedule or pattern because I haven't noticed one yet:p

Dollface- I was just reading this month's section in What to Expect the First Year and it suggested gradually decreasing the amount of milk/formula you give the baby during the feeding you want to eliminate and increasing the amount in the feeding before it. It also suggested waking the baby to top him off when you go to bed (I'm assuming here that you stay up later than his bed time of 9pm) and that would hopefully make him sleep longer.

Speaking of sleeping, Millie's Mother's Day present to me came a day early- she slept for 8 hours straight last night! My boobs didn't exactly appreciate it, but the rest of me definitely did;)

Happy Mothers' Day, everyone!!

[dollface]

Besty - thanks for the advice! Lately, I have been going to bed within an hour of him but if I stay up later, I do a dream-feed. I will definitely try decreasing his middle of the night feeding and see how that goes. As of now, he takes a full feeding during that feeding. When he wakes up in the morning he typically isn't hungry and doesn't eat right away, so maybe if I cut that middle of the night feeding in half, he'll eat right away when he gets up for the day.

[Brink]

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. Here is a little something my mom sent me and I thought I would share it with you. I liked this one......


This is for the mothers who have sat up all night with sick toddlers in their arms, wiping up puke laced with Oscar Mayer wieners and cherry Kool-Aid saying, "It's okay honey, Mommy's here".

Who have sat in rocking chairs for hours on end soothing crying babies who can't be comforted.

This is for all the mothers who show up at work with spit-up in their hair and milk stains on their blouses and diapers in their purse.

For all the mothers who run carpools and make cookies and sew Halloween costumes. And all the mothers who DON'T.

This is for the mothers who gave birth to babies they'll never see. And the mothers who took those babies and gave them homes.

This is for the mothers whose priceless art collections are hanging on their refrigerator doors.

And for all the mothers who froze their buns on metal bleachers at football, hockey, baseball , or soccer games instead of watching from the warmth of their cars, so that when their kids asked, "Did you see me, Mom?" they could say, "Of course, I wouldn't have missed it for the world," and mean it.

This is for all the mothers who yell at their kids in the grocery store and swat them in despair when they stomp their feet and scream for ice cream before
dinner. And for all the mothers who count to ten instead, but realize how child abuse happens.

This is for all the mothers who sat down with their children and explained all about making babies. And for all the (grand) mothers who wanted to, but just
couldn't find the words.

This is for all the mothers who go hungry, so their children can eat.

For all the mothers who read "Goodnight, Moon" twice a night for a year. And then read it again. "Just one more time."

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to tie their shoelaces before they started school. And for all the mothers who opted for Velcro instead.

This is for all the mothers who teach their sons to cook and their daughters to sink a jump shot.

This is for every mother whose head turns automatically when a little voice calls "Mom?" in a crowd, even though they know their own offspring are
at home -- or even away at college.

This is for all the mothers who sent their kids to school with stomach aches, assuring them they'd be just FINE once they got there, only to get calls from
the school nurse an hour later asking them to please pick them up. Right away.

This is for mothers whose children have gone astray, who can't find the words to reach them.

For all the mothers who bite their lips until they bleed when their 14 y ear olds dye their hair green.

For all the mothers of the victims of recent school shootings, and the mothers of those who did the shooting.

For the mothers of the survivors, and the mothers who sat in front of their TVs in horror, hugging their child who just came home from school, safely.

This is for all the mothers who taught their children to be peaceful, and now pray they come home safely from a war.

What makes a good Mother anyway?

Is it patience? Compassion? Broad hips? The ability to nurse a baby, cook dinner, and sew a button on a shirt, all at the same time?

Or is it in her heart? Is it the ache you feel when you watch your son or daughter disappear down the street, walking to school alone for the very first
time?

The jolt that takes you from sleep to dread, from bed to crib at 2 A.M. to put your hand on the back of a sleeping baby?

The panic, years later, that comes again at 2 A.M. when you just want to hear their key in the door and know they are safe again in your home?

Or the need to flee from wherever you are and hug your child when you hear news of a fire, a car accident, a child dying?

The emotions of motherhood are universal and so our thoughts are for young mothers stumbling through diaper changes and sleep deprivation...

And mature mothers learning to let go.

For working mothers and stay-at-home mothers.

Single mothers and married mothers.

Mothers with money, mothers without.

This is for you all. For all of us.

Hang in there. In the end we can only do the best we can. Tell them every day that we love them. And pray.


"Home is what catches you when you fall, and we all fall."

[MarriedaGoalie]

Happy Mother's Day (a day late) to you all!! I hope everyone had a wonderful day!!

This is what I got... it is Carter's birthstone!

http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/HelzbergDiamonds/1614569-s7?wid=252&hei=252&op_usm=0.8,4,0,0&resmode=bicub

[Kanga]

MAG - I love that ring...very similar in style to what I have for DD1. Do you mind if I ask you where you got it from? I want something like that for DD2.

I had a great mother's day. I had a bachelorette party the night before, so I didn't get to bed til 4am. Dh took the kids to his parents' house and stayed the night so I got to sleep in til 9am which is really late for me. I got a ton of stuff done around the house including laundry which looks like it was just in time. I did a load today and there was water on the floor around the washer. I hope it's nothing major but it's really old so not a huge loss if we have to buy a new one. I just hate spending money on things like that....I start adding up in my mind how many cute outfits or cool new toys I could have bought with that money for the girls:rolleyes: :o Dh gave me heck for doing house chores on Mother's day, but if it means I get to do them uninterupted I don't really mind and makes the rest of my week sooo much easier.

Both sets of parents came up for a picnic style lunch. Mother's Day and Father's day are the two days a year in which we refuse to go anywhere so if the parents want to see us or the kids, they have to come here;) Dh grilled out and bought cole slaw, potato salad and things like that. We used paper plates so minimal clean up for me. Dh got me a bird bath for teh backyard. I was hoping for an aquamarine piece of jewelry as I have a ring in DD1's birthstone that I plan to pass down to her for either her wedding day or graduation day so I need something for DD2 for it to be fair...I may just have to go shopping one of these days and buy something myself ;)

[MarriedaGoalie]

Kanga: He got it at Helzberg's. That is where we get all of our jewelry. I love that place! I think it was like $120.

[dollface]

Hope everyone had a great Mother's Day! I got a camcorder :) I had DS write Daddy an email from his own email account telling him what Mommy wanted...it worked like a charm!

Beautiful ring MAG!

[kindermom]

I had DS write Daddy an email from his own email account telling him what Mommy wanted...it worked like a charm!
Thanks for the idea! That is priceless.

All I asked for was a cup of coffee ready to go on my nightstand and a card from my DD. I woke to my coffee and 2 cards. There was even a photo on the camera of DS (2 months old) holding the purple crayon he used to sign his name!

[whitlockan]

I got a refridge, hood, stove and new dishwasher but the stove was actually delivered on mother's day, w/ breakfast in bed (which I dont think counts since thats every weekend), they did the housework and he watched Z the entire day.

MAG nice ring, and wow thats a good price.

kanga that sounds like me, I never stop! Last night at 10:00pm while Dh was watching heros and DS was asleep I scrubbed and disinfected the bathroom, have to do what you can when you have the time.

dollface I'll have to remember that one. Great idea!!

kinder how cute!!

[betsyboop]

Dollface- What a cute idea!

MAG- Love the ring. I really like the March birthstone- our kids lucked out with that one!

I posted last week that I got a Kate Spade bag for my Mother's Day gift. We also had my parents and sister over and Dave and my sister made brunch (bloody mary's, blueberry muffins, home fries, bacon, fruit salad, quiche). Dave gave me a card from himself and one from Millie and he wrote a sappy note inside each one that made me cry:o My parents gave me a card and a plant in a nice pot for the deck.

I have a silly question- When you are driving somewhere with the baby in the car with you, what do you do about listening to the radio/cds? Do you put the volume on really low or do you listen just like normal or what? Am I being silly worrying about her delicate baby ears? It's just that, with road noise and music playing, it seems like a pretty loud enviroment, you know?

[kindermom]

Betsy - Until DD was about 12 months old, the radio was set to play only out of the front speakers and was not played loud. I do not think you are crazy to worry about their little ears.

[buffy]

car music ~ I have the sound faded to the front speakers so I can listen to it on the loud side of normal without feeling like its too loud for the baby. Although when my other 2 are watching a movie on the dvd player I have the sound faded to the back so I guess she's getting full sound there.

Morgan had her 2 month appointment today.
She is:
13lbs 4oz
22 3/4 inches
head: 15.5 inches

I think her weight would have been up a couple more ounces at least but unlike her mommy she doesn't like to eat first thing in the morning so I hadn't fed her yet before she got weighed.

We are delaying vaccinating so no shots, just a clean bill of health and a note about how incredibly strong she is! :)

[MrsKinnison]

I had a wonderful Mother's Day. I got cards from both Chris and Ollie, and Chris surprised me with a 1ct diamond journey necklace to symbolize our new journey together ~ having Ollie has made him very sentimental :D Then we went out for a really nice lunch and had probably a once in a lifetime experience ~ we were there with Ollie who was exactly 2mos old, and the Mom at the table next to us was 101 years old!!! There was a century of life right there in the same room.

Ollie absolutely LOVED baby yoga!!! He was smiling and talking away the entire time. We had so much fun, I can not wait for fridays now. If you have one near you, I definately recommend it!!!

Car Music ~ I am such a bad mother, I never even considered this...

We are off to our WBV. Not looking forward to the shots, but am excited to see how much he's grown...

[whitlockan]

mrsk awe thats sooooo sweet!!

car music YEP i'm bad too, never even thought about it. But today I did see at the exchange the baby einstein CDs for the car (travel tunes apparently) and then also U2 makes a baby lullbye CD I might have to get it for car rides.

I guess I'm a good and bad mom all at once. I didnt consider the music but after he screamed because of sun we got the windows tinted on my car and they used 51% heat reflective tint so it doesnt get hot on him hardly at all and then 34% transmission. Keeps it cool and the sun off him so much better. He doesnt have the luxury of tinted windows plus the window shades that pull out of the car door like we do in DHs truck. I just thought those sunshades were a JOKE!! The guy did an amazing job you can barely tell from the inside or out that its after market tint.

[dollface]

Car music - I usually fade it to the front. Although most of the time he is in the car with me, it is during the day hours and I listen to talk shows during the day. If it is music that's on - he is going to get used to First Wave (80's) and BackSpin (old skool hip-hop) on Sirius!

[MarriedaGoalie]

Carter likes when the music is up loud. I don't adjust it for him. Call me a bad mom if you want, but he seems to be happier when he's listening to it!

[miaclear]

Car....music faded to the front, windows just got tinted (looks like a new car!)

Mothers Day.... I got a beautiful card with a lovely note in it from DH and a giftcard to Old Navy. Not exactly what I was imagining but it means I don't have to think much for fathers day. Love the personal email from DS idea! Will be stealing that one.

In more exciting news DH and I discussed me going back to work and decided that I wouldn't. I'm so excited for my new "job"!

[danalou]

Car Music - Actually this was one of the first things DH did when we started taking DD out. We have several Baby Einstein cds and my girlfriend copied all of her cds as well. We did get DD a toy for the car that is great idea if you need entertainment in the car for longer trips ->

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/51FXBNQXXPL._SS260_.jpg

Miaclear - I have to admit that I am a bit jealous of you as having DD at home now makes we want to get a similar job. Right now that is just not possible financially with the cost of our health insurance.

Mother's Day - DH was too sweet as he got me a card as well as one from my DD!! I can't wait until I get to enjoy my day at the spa as it will be a nice treat!!

[goldengbridge]

Mia- There is NO better job in the world. I've been a SAHM mom for the last 2 1/2 years and it is the most difficult and the most rewarding job ever! Congrats!

Mothers day- I got a card from the kids and one from DH and they took me out for a wonderful lunch!

Ashlyn is sleeping great. She usually goes down around 8:30 and sleeps straight through till around 4 or 5am. Gets up and nurses and goes back down till around 8. I feel so lucky- DS didnt sleep that well till he was almost 15 months old! Shes getting so big. Shes in all 3-6 month clothing now. She is smiling so much now and cooing like crazy!

[happy1nuv]

happy belated moms day!

bbl....

[Tandis]

Hi ladies! The girls are napping on me so I finally have a few moments. :)

Mother's Day - We went on a picnic and the girls bought me a pair of aquamarine earrings.

Car radio - Add me to the bad mothers. I keep it at the normal volume.


We're all doing good. The girls are going to bed around 8:30 - up at 10 to eat - and then back to bed to sleep anywhere between 3-5 am. So I'm down to only getting up once a night which has been wonderful.

Their pedi appt is tomorrow, so I'll get their official weights, but they're both in size 2 diapers, wearing 3-6 month clothing, and eating 5-6 oz. at each feeding. I'm thinking they're both almost 13 pounds.

Next Sunday (5/27) is their baptism. We're having a party afterwards tom celebrate. 85 people have been invited, so hopefully most will show up.

Girls are starting to stir, so I'm going to have to get off. Hope everyone is doing good.

[whitlockan]

we finally figured out how to use the hotsling!! YAYA I'm such an idiot, I didnt know the seam had to go towards the center, no wonder his butt wouldn't fit. DH laughed at me because was so excited when he got home and told him and he was like why didnt you ask me, how do you think I got him in it when I did it (he did it but of course the sling was entirely too small but he did it for kicks). HE LOVES IT!!! Makes my life easier and now I can do house work (he is in a huge I have to be held phase), just not of course use chemicals or vaccum, I think even though its quite it would be too loud to run the Dyson with him on me.

We leave for our big trip at 2:00 am yaya should be interesting to see how he does on a 10-12 hour drive. He was fantastic on the 6 hour one so we'll see. I have to go get a toy for the seat if I can find one that securely fastens to the seat, but I'll be back there with him so I may just use the toys we have. I'll just have 1 fresh bottle in the cooler (the medela one should last until his 1st feeding) and then I will just pump everytime he eats (that should put me at 1 bottle ahead, thats what we did last time) so we dont have to stop nearly as much and when we do stop it will be so much quicker since I always change his diaper in the backseat of the truck I just get out and do it with the door open since his seat is in the middle, I just HATE using rest stop changing things even with putting our pad down on it.

Now I am getting everything ready, DH comes and takes the dogs to the base kennels (I hate using the term kennels eekk) but they are so nice and cheap at lunch, I can't take them I cry, yes I know I'm pathetic but this will only be the 2nd time they have not come with us anywhere. Last time I bawled when we had to drop them off. I'm also sitting at home and waiting for hte UPS man, our proofs are being delivered TODAY!! I'm so excited, I'll be sure to post some tonight. Busy Busy day!

dana where did you get that and does it fasten to the seat? I love it!!

car music I faded my speakers last night :). DH wont let me get the CDs he is afraid they will put him to sleep ( on long drives he gets SUPER tired), and at 2 am I dont think its a good idea in that case.

golden hurray for sleep!!

tandis they are growing like crazy, I cant imagine your schedule, 1 is enough. I feel bad I only invited a select few for his baptism this weekend. But that will be fun!!

Okay UPS man just came......gotta open the package!!

[MrsKinnison]

Ollie is gowing like a weed. Looks like he is going to be long and lean like his daddy.

Weight: 11lbs 10.5ozs (50%)
Height: 23 3/4 inches (75%)
Head: I forget exactly because it was in cm and that threw me off, but it was 25%. I asked if that meant my kid had a small head, but the Dr assured me that that was where he was when he was born and it's just the way he is made. It has nothing to do with brain size. Of course I knew that, but lets be honest, I was still wondering ~ lol!

The shots were very sad, but he was over it by the time we left (I think it took me longer). He definately felt lousy the rest of the day.

Ollie is starting to wear some 3-6 tops, but bottoms are way too big. And is still in size one diapers, though just this week the tabs don't touch anymore.

Whit ~ He might actually like the vac. I had a friend who would run the vac to calm her daughter down and it worked everytime. Ollie likes the hairdryer and often falls asleep while I'm blow drying. Have a great trip!!

Tandis ~ I don't know how you and Brink do it. I have my hands full with just one!

Mag ~ I could be repeating myself, but that is a beautiful ring!!!

Mia ~ Congratulations on the new job :D I would love to be a SAHM, but I guess I have the next best thing. Speaking of, Ollie and I should probably head to work...

[whitlockan]

mrsk with him on me it wont be to loud? I'm not sure I run it when he is in the swing or crib but I'm not sure about on me. Wow he sure is growing. He is a tall/long baby!

mia I forgot to say congrats. I am contemplating it as well :) after 2 months of being home I cant imagine going back right now.

Okay I have a HUGE stack of proofs I narrowed it down to 23 and I'll post a few of my absolute favorites, remember these are PROOFS of 4x4 roliflex flim and 35mm black white, they are marked up to show us where she will crop to enlarge:

done at 3 weeks 6 days

*only leave photos up for a day and remove for added security/privacy*
Family:
*removed*

Z and DH, I edited this one but all of them are to this effect his little parts are just showing:
*removed*

[whitlockan]

Z:
*removed*

**sorry for so many I couldnt resist those are just the ABSOLUTE favorites if I had only a few to share**

[miaclear]

Whit... I love his headshots. So cute! What big dark eyes he has :D

SAHM....thanks for the congrats ladies. I'm VERY excited about the opportunity!

2 month WBV.... Aaron had his today and it went pretty good. Only cried for a bit with his four shots. The Dr mentioned that A was favoring his head to the right and that it might be leftover from being crammed in my uterus (much like it takes a few months for the legs to straighten out). So now we have to do daily exercise/stretches with him to get his head on straight :D As expected he's eating like a champ! 14lbs!!!! 95th percentile!!! 22.5 length is 50th, and 40.5 head is 75th. He stressed getting him to sleep in his crib now which will be a challenge for us. But I'm hoping that by his 4 month visit I can say we did it!

Sleeping....last night he slept for three hours and then was up pretty much the rest of the night after 2:00 with an hour here and there of sleep. Man that was rough!!!! He passed out after the Drs visit. I hope his vaccinations doesn't make him any more cranky than I expect him to be today.

[betsyboop]

Wow, I can't believe how big the babies are in this group! I hope Millie isn't too small- she's the lightest one that's posted their 2 month stats so far and she still fits her newborn and 0-3 month clothes with no problem. She is in size 2 diapers though.

I guess I should check out my radio and figure out how to fade to the front- thanks for the idea!

Whit- What great pictures. I can see why you love your photographer so much.

I wanted to post a couple of pictures as well:D

This is Millie's favorite thing ever- listening to Daddy play the guitar. She coos and smiles like crazy and she even waves her arms and legs around like she's trying to dance. So cute! (if I do say so myself:p )
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_0542_filtered-1.jpg?t=1179336189

And I finally captured her biggest trick on film- rolling over!

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_0563_filtered.jpg?t=1179335567
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_0564_filtered.jpg?t=1179335619
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_0565_filtered.jpg?t=1179335656

[miaclear]

Betsy...SO Cute! I wonder if I should break out my trumpet and start playing that for Aaron :D I think I can still play my school song!

[kindermom]

Whit - Great pics - I really love that last one you posted. Good luck on the trip!
Mia - Congrats on the SAHM thing.
Betsy - I love your photo of SH playing to Millie. You took a beautiful pic. And it reminded me that you have a gorgeous nursery to boot. And way to go Millie for rolling over!
MrsK - DDs head was in the 10th percentile until she was about 6 months, then it moved up to the 25th percentile. I was worried about intelligence too. I asked about it at like the first 6 visits. :o At 21 months she is so incredibly smart. Really really smart. So the too are not associated.

I go back to work in 3 weeks and am looking forward to it. Is that wrong?

Henry had his 2 month WBV (9 w 5 d)
Height 23.75 in (75th)
Weight 13 lbs 0.5 oz (80th)

As a comparison, Madelyn was the following at 10 w 4 d
Height 21.75 in (45th)
Weight 10 lbs 2 oz (5th)

[danalou]

Whit - I got the BabyEinstein toy at Target and it cost $24.99!! I think it is well worth the cost for entertainment in the car. Not sure if you have a Target by you, but I know they have it on their website. The pictures are great and he is such a cutie pie!!

Betsy - I love the pictures of and I am glad to hear that someone likes Tummy-time!!

[Kanga]

Betsy - I always love the pictures you take....you could pass them off to me as professional and I wouldn't even flinch.

miaclear - congrats on becoming a SAHM. I thought I was going back to work too until dd1 came. I absolutely love it.

kindermom - Nothing wrong with wanting to go back at all in my book. I'm a homebody and didn't have a job I loved (or even liked) so teh SAHM thing works well for me but I can see how people who get bored at home and love their job can't wait to get back.

Had Camdyn's 2mo WBV today.

Weight - 10lbs 10oz50%
Height - 23" 75%
Head - 15 1/2" I think? It was 50%

This was our 2nd visit with this ped (we recently switched from the one we had with dd1) and we LOVE her. I expected to get a lot of flack about not vaxxing (we had 2 sets with dd1 so we couldn't pull the religous card) but she first asked if we were doing shots for either of the girls today and then didn't even blink when I said no. Asked if were delayed/selec or none at all and I told her we don't do any and then that was that. We don't live in a very mainstream area so I'm thrilled to have found a ped with similar beliefs.

[dollface]

Besty - Great pics! That picture of your husband playing to her is so beautiful - looks like it's straight out of a magazine!

[MarriedaGoalie]

We are having some sleeping issues lately. Carter has been going to bed around 9:30-10:00, which is GREAT, but he wakes up at 3 am, 4:30am and then again around 6am. I don't usually get out of bed until around 7:15 - 7:30 so I was hoping to extend his sleep a little bit. Any suggestions? Should I try to get him to take a nap after picking him up from the sitters and then maybe get him to go to bed a bit later? What do you think?

[dollface]

We are having some sleeping issues lately. Carter has been going to bed around 9:30-10:00, which is GREAT, but he wakes up at 3 am, 4:30am and then again around 6am. I don't usually get out of bed until around 7:15 - 7:30 so I was hoping to extend his sleep a little bit. Any suggestions? Should I try to get him to take a nap after picking him up from the sitters and then maybe get him to go to bed a bit later? What do you think?

That is alomost Davin's EXACT sleep schedule - goes to bed about 9, wakes up between 3-4, and then again at 6. Last night was the first night I didn't feed him at his 4 a.m. waking (just soothed)and I am going to keep trying that and see if he'll stop waking up. Ideally, I would like him to sleep til 7 (which is when he eats), but if he will sleep through the 4 a.m. waking, I'll be fine if he gets up at 6-6:30. Oh, I should mention that he does go back down for a morning nap after he eats and that nap usually lasts 2-3 hours.

[miaclear]

sleeping....My little guy goes down at 10:00, is up around 2, then again around 4, then again at 6. Must be the in thing to do :D I've been putting him in bed with me at that point (figure am doesn't = family bed) and we get up somewhere around 8ish for the day. The Dr just yesterday said that's very average for his age. I felt better knowing it could be worse.

Pic from today with A. Man I love him so much.
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/502527770_de270fc40f.jpg?v=0

[shimmerstar]

Noah goes down at 8:30, wakes at 4am and 6am. Lately though, he's been waking at 11, 12, 3, 6, and 8. It sucks. I think it's because I am back to work and dh is watching him. Dh does a great job, I think it's just a change in routine.

[lady1297]

miaclear- I play trumpet too!! :) I'm still afraid to pull it out though thinking it would scare the pants off the boys! I used to be fairly good and will be disappointed to learn I've lost my range! :)

Love the pics everyone! I'll update soon-DS1 is being a pain in the arse about dinner and DH still isn't home yet so I'm stressed pretty bad...

[miaclear]

Lady.... too funny. It is sad to think that I used to be 2nd chair and now I can hardly remember my scales.

[lady1297]

mia-- SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I was second chair too! First chair was a suck up, though!)

[Kanga]

sleep schedule - Down around 9:30, up between 4 and 5 and down til around 8. Although last night I think she slept 10 hours straight (10-8) I can't for the life of me remember if I fed her or not (we co sleep after her first waking) and she didn't start out in her crib which is how I usually tell if I'm not sure. Don't hate me though, Daytona didn't sleep that well until she was over a year old and not til 16.5 months consistently.

Dollface - I did the same thing you're doing with dd1. It worked, but she was much older (7m?) and it took a long time.

[miaclear]

lady... Aren't they all ;)

[betsyboop]

Thanks so much on the compliments on my photos:D I have zero artistic ability, so I'll let the camera take most of the credit! (Well, and maybe my gorgeous baby and husband too:p )

Kanga- That's awsome that Camdyn slept 10 hours!

Miaclear- Aaron is so cute! And is that your yard? If so, I'm jealous! We have a hard time with plants:rolleyes:

Today is my birthday and my ILs are coming up to babysit tonight so Dave and I can go out to dinner to celebrate. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm also a little nervous because she can be so difficult about taking a bottle. We'll see, I guess!

[Brink]

Betsyboop - Happy Birthday - I hope you have a great day.

The twins are doing great - they are STTN for the most part. They go down around 9:00 and sleep until 5:30, eat and then go back down until about 8:30. They are starting to smile more, so that makes me laugh when I'm talking to them.

I went the other day and picked up my "mommy" present. It was actually a combination of Christmas, Birthday, Valentines Day, Mother's Day and my mommy gift. I am having a custom pair of diamond earings made. They won't get here for another 4-5 weeks. I'm so excited. They are an exact duplicate of a friend of mines earings that I have been drooling over for years.

[miaclear]

Betsy....hahaha, TOTALLY not our yard :D It's the Dallas Arboretum. Our yard looks like an abandoned lot! The previous owners were retired and loved gardening. Before baby we didn't keep it up. After baby....well let's just say that it looks like a jungle out there.

GREAT SLEEP ALERT!!!!....Aaron went to bed at 10:30 last night and didn't wake till 4:15. Back to sleep at 4:45 and didn't wake till 8:00!!!!! A few more nights like that and I'll be a new person :D I hope it's a sign of progress and not just a fluke.

[Tandis]

Sleeping - My girls are on almost the same schedule as everyone else. We put them to bed between 8-8:30, they're up to eat at 10, and then usually between 3-4 am, and 6-7 am (depends upon whether they hear DH's alarm or not). Last night though, Audrey was up at 2:30 to eat, then again at 5:30 (though I made her wait until 6 am, so she laid in our bed and sucked on her Nuk until it was time). Miss V however slept from 10 pm to 7 am! :eek: And even then she wasn't overly hungry. Of course they had their shots on Thursday, so neither were feeling very well.

2 month stats:
Weight: 13.2 lbs (95th percentile)
Height: 24" (95th percentile)
Veronica's head - 17 cm (off the charts for percentile)
Audrey's head - 15.5 cm (75th percentile)

So Miss V has a really large head, which we already knew. Hopefully she eventually grows into it :p Also, I think the whole percentile thing is totally subjective to the pedi, considering how we all seem to be right around the same %'s but the weights/heights are different.

Betsy - Hope you had a great birthday! :D I can't believe your daughter is rolling over already! She's only a day older than my girls, and I don't think they're ready to do that yet. Does she get a lot of tummy time? She's absolutely adorable BTW. :D

Whit - I saw the pictures before you removed them. Absolutely beautiful. Your son is adorable.

[Kanga]

Also, I think the whole percentile thing is totally subjective to the pedi, considering how we all seem to be right around the same %'s but the weights/heights are different.


There's differen't charts for boys and girls and also ff vs bf although I htink most peds used the ff one for all babies.

[shimmerstar]

Speaking of percentiles, I was measuring Noah last night for his baby book, and it seems like he's falling. I'm esp. worried about his head size, since he's been in the 10th %ile, and the ped said it was fine as long as it stayed consistent. By my calculations, he's now in the under 3rd %ile. I'm worried, and we don't go for another month, so I don't know if this is worth bothering the doc or if I'm just being silly.

[whitlockan]

I'm a little behind....

betsy I agree you either have a great camera, great lighting or just talent you dont know about :)! Too cute! Happy belated b-day

mia adorable...I want a yard even if it were a jungle...hahaha. Hate condo living!

tandis thanks we are VERY pleased with them, in fact we get our 6 months done in Oct. I'm already excited about those! I cant wait to get the enlargments back in the matts so I can frame and hang them. But anyways sounds like the girls are doing great!!!

Percentiles our ped uses the bf chart I believe because my not so small baby is small on the charts. He is only 47th percentile for height and weight and 25th for head. We are 2 months in like 3 days and just a little over 10lbs. But I'm so annoyed when people hold him and say wow he is heavier than what I thought.....um not really!

shimmer I would first make sure your using the same chart as your Ped. If they use a FF and your doing the BF that could sway your calcs. But I dont know much about this stuff.

OMG this weekend the trip down was great the way back what a disaster!! DS was great most of the weekend, he slept through the entire wedding service, was incredibly over stimulated at the reception so we left after we ate. Once we got back to the room he was happy as can be. We took him swimming (ped said go for it so we did, he loved it!). Sunday morning he was baptized and slept through church and his baptism which was great! Although he did jump when the pastor used the COLD water but didnt wake up. Sunday morning we had breakfast with my dad's entire side and I asked the server if the hashbrowns were cooked on a grill that used oil or butter. She said natural oil, okay great and verified no lactose. Around 7:00 ish pm it was time for his bottle that I had pumped and shortly after he screamed so I thought it was because of hte bottle all weekend I could feed a bottle but he'd still cry until he got me. So I gave him me and he screamed out in pain, I made the situation worse apparently there was whey in the oil so he was having his allergic reaction and I had a screaming baby until about 11:30ish pm last night....I felt TERRIBLE. I was so upset DH took him and just talked him through it, helped once the mylanta kicked in a little, while I sat and cried. DH felt terrible and I was explaining to him how hard it is to be dairy free and so he has voluntarily gone dairy free with me so he can understand a little better.....so sweet!! But its not that I miss the food I just have to rely on labels and servers to know EVERYTHING about there food and not pretend they asked and then assume instead. People just dont get it. His body cannot break down the lactose protiens, how painful to have it go through the system like that. So thankfully I had 20oz + of bottles from the ride and he ate those through the nighta nd I have pumped and dumped 22+ oz combine from my 3 and 8 am session. It should all almost be through my system by now but wow what a pain! I just fed him the last bottle about an hour ago and so I'll try me again but if not thankfully I have a little over 197oz frozen.

wow that was my long exhausting post!

[Orion]

Thought I better pop in and update as I haven't done an update in a long time.

Dalton is doing really well. He had his shots last week, which I was worried about because I had to do it by myself since DH is out to sea, and it went fine. He is about 12 lbs 3 oz now and growing! We are still having screaming issues when it is bed time and he still likes to nap in his car seat on the kitchen table! I'm working on the bedtime issues right now but it is so hard to do that by myself with a 17 month old whose bedtime is at 7 pm.

I've tried putting him to bed early (between 5:30 and 6:30) but he just ends up screaming/crying (unless he is picked up) until about 8 or 8:30. I've tried putting him to bed later but he is just so overtired by that point that it just doesn't seem fair. But I think that a later bedtime is in order (about 7:30pm or 8 pm) because I can't stand him crying for two hours or more. I'm going to go to the dr. and see if it could be acid reflux.

This past week without DH has actually been pretty good (except the bedtime issues of course!). We have gone to play groups almost everyday last week. I'm kind of bored today because it is a long week-end here so there are no play groups and none of my friends are around because most of them have gone away.

I don't think I've mentioned my Doula in a long time. I'm sure you all remember that my DH wasn't suppose to be at the birth but due to me being overdue and him getting off the ship a few days early, he did make it but to cover our bases we hired a Doula (Rachel). Well, Rachel and I have become such good friends now and we hang out all the time. Sometimes it's kind of weird to hand out with her knowing that she saw me naked, screaming and throwing up (most of my friends only see me that way after a night of drinking!!! ;) ). But I'm so glad that we have become friends and our kids love to play together so it is great.

So all in all life is great right now and I am just counting down the days until my Mom comes out for a visit in July and meet Dalton for the first time...so exciting!

[lady1297]

I'm keeping up (barely!)! Not a bunch of time, but I'll try.

Whit- I'm so sorry to hear about the diary issues. That does have to be hard. I didn't realize there could be whey in oil! Why?! I'm glad you've been so dilegent about pumping that you have some back up for such things. Glad babe is okay.

Orion- Sorry about the sleep issues. How cool that you and your doula are getting to be great friends! You need that support right now!
---
Us: It was a nice Saturday. DS1 played outside most of the day while DH did yard work. John and I hung out inside most of the day, but did manage some sun time. That night though, things got rough. DS1 started getting chills during his bath and then had a fever spike of 103+ and was crying that is ears hurt. He's known for killer ear infections. So we dosed him with Motrin and put him to bed. He had temp spikes all night and all day Sunday. His ear started draining Sunday afternoon (he has ear tubes, one of which is still in place, hence the draining). So we KNEW it was an ear infection. Today I took him to the peds and I guess both ears are really really nasty. So we are on round the clock Motrin/Tylenol and an antibiotic twice a day. Poor kid is miserable. He does okay once the meds kick in and he's almost his normal self, but if they even start to wear off a little, he's back to cranky and whiny. He spent the ENTIRE day yesterday on his Daddy's lap. Today, he just wants to be as physically close to me as possible. Add in a 3 1/2 month old who wants to eat a lot and it's been fun. My only relief today was the ped appointment! Sad! DH is on his way home now so we'll have some extra hands thankfully. Maybe I'll go make some soup for us all.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Is it normal for a child not to nap very much during the day? This weekend Carter only took a couple 30 minute naps during the course of the day... shouldn't he be sleeping more than that? He would go to bed at 9 - 10, get up at 3 and then again at 5 or 6. It just seems like he's awake an awful lot...

[Kanga]

MAG - the general rule is no more than 2 hours of wakefulness, but of course it goes w.out saying that it doesn't work for every kid. If he's not showing signs of being tired (yawning, rubbing eyes, etc), isn't cranky/fussy more than normal, or showing any other signs of being overtired, than I would just let him be. If you generally only put him in one spot for his nap (say his crib), you could try holding him, your bed, the swing, bouncy seat, etc and see if you get a better nap that way. If you do and are afraid of making that a habit then go back to the crib or wherever and when he wakes, see if you can soothe him back to sleep.

[pewee9196]

Wow, it is so hard to keep up! I just wanted to post how cute all the pictures and stories are! I can't believe my little girl will be 2 months this week!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

[goldengbridge]

Does anyone need a similac coupon? I have a $5 one and i hate to throw it out! Please PM me

[betsyboop]

Tandis- Um, I guess she used to get the recommended 40 min/day of tummy time- up until she was about 7 weeks old. Then she decided that she HATED it and will now only stay like that for 5, maybe 10, minutes and then will suddenly start screaming and crying. 7 weeks is when she rolled over for the first time, so I'm thinking that the 2 must be linked somehow. You might be surprised when they roll over though- I know for Millie, it was very sudden. She never showed any signs of doing it before she did it.

Things are going well around here. I think she may be having her 3 month growth spurt right now- she's been eating constantly for the past day and a half. Ugh. She's also finally growing out of some of her smaller outfits. I can't wait until she fits her 3-6 month stuff because that's mostly what I bough