March 2007 Mamas: Babies' First Thread

[littlemia]

Miaclear- what was Aaron's birth weight? He weighs over 5 lbs more than Claire and they're only one day apart. Wow!

[miaclear]

littlemia...he was 9lbs 2oz. He was in the 95th percentile for the longest time and just dropped to the 75th. What was Claires?

[miaclear]

Hearing... Aaron also passed his newborn screen with flying colors. And he never ALWAYS turns his head when I make a sound behind him or to the side. My ped has never brought this up as a concern. I figured he just had better things to look at than to work on figuring out the noise. Often the noise is me and I figure it's his selective hearing feature that will torment me till he's an adult ;)

[shimmerstar]

Noah doesn't always look toward the sound either if he's playing or crying. It might have something to do with the fact that the tv is always on at my house.

He has his first cold. :( We visited the doc because his cough was nasty, but she said he's fine. I have to look for signs of ear infection. He weighed 16 lbs 5 oz. I guessed 16 4 and wowed my dh.

His mood was fine despite his cold, but then MIL watched him yesterday and he got about 15 minutes of a nap. Last night and today he has been fussy bordering on hysterical. He is so tired but doesn't want to sleep and I'm pissed that it happened. He was getting on a great nap schedule until she didn't let him sleep. Now I have to deal with the aftermath. Her response to dh was "oh, he just misses his grandma". :rolleyes:

[Kanga]

Whit - From what I've heard on other message boards (mainly mothering.com and car-seat.org) they said 'nobody has seen them [como and signo] yet.' But, it's been awhile since I've really payed attention to what the latest news on them was since dh vetoed it so I'm sure it's possible some stores got them in. Did they have both of them or just one? Last I knew the como was due out in July so maybe some stores have gotten that one and are waiting on teh signo??

Hearing - Sometimes she does and sometimes she doesn't. Although I'm not sure if it's most the time, some of the time, etc. I"ll have to pay attention over the next day or so and let you know.

[dollface]

I haven't been around much but I hope it looks like everyone is doing well. Everyone is growing like weeds! We had our 4 month visit today and here are Davin's stats:

Weight: 15 lbs. 13 oz. (70%tile)
Height: 25.5" (75%tile)
Head: 17" (75%tile)

He is sleeping off the shots right now. Poor thing screamed like a banshee!
Other milestone stuff:
*rolls tummy to back
*grasps, holds and puts *everything* in his mouth
*responds to voices, sounds, tracks people (especially his daddy)
*babbles a lot more - more identifiable sounds - ga, ma, da do, doh, ba
*blows raspberries -- he started doing this at about 8 weeks but now they are really loud and much wetter :)
*standing with finger support
*sitting support - he almost tri-poding


I think that's about it. I try take video of him a couple times a week but everytime he sees the camera - he clams up.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Kanga & Whit: Thank you for all the information, ladies! You girls have been wonderful! I am still kind of confused on the difference between a como and a signo, though... I feel so dumb that I am completely clueless about this car seat thing!

Whit: Oh man!! You walked away from that car?! How sad... But go figure that it was because of the Volkswagen dealership! Our dealerships around here are horrible. It's a good thing we are Volkswagen people!

A little more info about what we are using right now... we have a Snugride car seat and it is good for rear facing up to 22 lbs and less than 29". I'm not sure how much longer that will be...

The Cosco Scenera looks like a great deal! Maybe we'll get one Recaro baby seat and then one of those. I guess we don't need a really cool baby seat in the Audi, afterall it is a wagon! hehe

IUD: By the way, I had my IUD put in last Friday and I am still crampy feeling and bloated. My doctor told me that could last up to 3 months. She said that if you can get through the first three months, it is totally worth it. She said that the longer you have it, the less likely you are to actually have a period. The IUD thins out your uterine wall so much that your periods tend to cease. Btw, I didn't really think it was that painful for her to put in, did you, Whit?

[goldengbridge]

The March 08 thread is up:eek::eek: Time flies!!!!

[MarriedaGoalie]

OMG!!! No way................

I guess it has been a year (almost) since I found out I was preggo. OMG! How time flies!!! :(

[MrsKinnison]

Ugh, I am so far behind so I'm not even going to attempt SO's, but I have been following along.

ieducate ~ it is so good to hear from you!!

little ~ Ollie doesn't always respond either, or is sometime slow to. More now than before, but for a while DH was always asking me "are you sure he can hear?"

Whit & Mag ~ I've had my IUD for about 2 months now. I felt crampy for a couple of days, and had light spotting for a couple of weeks. I think I spotted for two, then not for a few days, then for another week. By the time I went for my string check 4.5 weeks later, I wasn't spotting at all. Every single person I know IRL says they no longer get AF.

I think the QOTD a while ago was who does DC look like? Most definately like DH! Even people who have only seen a picture of Chris say "wow, he looks just like his dad" when they see Ollie. He is such a little mini-me of his dad that I actually wonder if he is really the mistresses baby ~ LOL :p

Ollies 4mos WBV is tomorrow and I am dying to know his stats. We did the ghetto weigh (totally stole that from you whit and use it all the time know) at my parents 2 weeks ago and he was 15lbs.

As for milestones, Ollie isn't rolling over at all yet. Is he the only one? He rolls onto his side (often goes to sleep that way esp if really tired) and scoots all around on his back, but doesn't seem interested in really rolling over. There has been the odd occasion, but it is totally by accident.

In non baby news, please send home buyer vibes my way. We put our house on the market yesterday, and are (hopefully) closing on our new house in 19days. Crazy? Yes! Stressful? Even more so! But it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up and I am just praying that God works it all out for us.

[miaclear]

MrsK....DH used to always tell me he thought DS couldn't hear too. So one day I proved it to him by dropping a book on the floor which in turn made DS cry.

Milestones....DS just started turning onto his side earlier this week so you're not alone MrsK. He also recently found his toes and loves them, will stare at his hands, and is talking like a little chatterbox. My friends baby who is a week older than DS is rolling all over the place and starting to sit up, his upper body strength is amazing. But he hasn't found his toes or is cooing much, so that makes me feel better. Like they say each baby will learn at his own pace.

AF....Errrrr I got it and I'm still BFing!!!! Errrr.:mad:

[miaclear]

Milestones Update....DS just woke up crying and I went in there to find he had rolled over all the way to his tummy.

[lady1297]

Mrs.K- My older son didn't roll over until he was 5 1/2 months old. This guy rolled over at 11 weeks, so each kid does their own thing. Don't sweat it until the doctor does is my Motto! :)

[Tandis]

MrsK - A only rolls to her side (the TV is her motivation! :rolleyes: ), but V has been rolling from front to back since the beginning of June. Good luck with the house selling!

Hearing - V will usually respond to noise more than A, but then V is also my more social child. :)

ieducate - Julia is beatiful. Glad everything is going well for you.

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

Well, my maternity leave finally ended and I came back to work on Monday :( On one hand, it's really nice getting out of the house and talking to people I'm not related to, but on the other hand I had a major meltdown Sunday night and it's just so hard to let them go in the morning, even though it's only to my parents.

And then I come back to work and find out my boss essentially wants to totally revamp my job (eventually doing away with it) because they did so great without me for all those months, she sees no reason it needs to go back to how it was! :mad: So I've spent the past few days doing a lot of research and gathering feedback from my employees. Thankfully, after another meeting with my boss (where I took all her arguments and showed her how she was wrong), she backed down and I still have my job.

Ahhh, it's so great to be back to work [/sarcasm] :rolleyes:

[happy1nuv]

tandis ` that sucks about work...

So we're back from the beach... it was a great time, but I'm so far behind...hope everyone is well!

[MrsKinnison]

Ollie's 4 Month Stats:

Weight - 13lbs 15.5ozs (between 25-50%tile)
Height - 25inches (50%tile)
Head - 42cm (25%tile)

He was so close to 14lbs, if only I had fed him before we got there ~ lol! Seriously though, I had ghetto weighed him at my parents 2 weeks ago and though he was 15lbs so I was kind of surprised when he was a pound less. I was also nervous since he seemed to be gaining less and was in a lower %tile. The ped told me not to worry about it. He said they are more concerned with how Height and Weight are in relation to each other, and about this time is when his genetic make up starts dictating his growing and gaining. DH is very lean, as are the men in my family, so I felt much better. I actually think his head was kind of scrunched up and he might really be a little longer... I'm guessing like 25.5inches, maybe I will try measuring him myself. They said he is perfect and keep doing what I'm doing :D That is always so reassuring to hear!

Rolling Over ~ I think he is getting pretty close to rolling from back to belly, but ironically has made not moves on rolling belly to back. I would have thought belly to back would be easier...

[Janey]

MrsK - Ollie & K have the exact same measurements. Bizzare!


So ... we are horrible parents. Yesterday morning I walked into the hallway and saw that K was bent at the hips with her legs hanging out through the slats of the crib. :eek: I said, "B! Wake up! Look at this!" and he got out of bed and went into her room to check on her. She was just laying there... smiling, happy, kicking around in her crib.

Later yesterday morning we put her on her play mat and we were both on the computer. I was entering receipts into Quicken and he was on the laptop in the living room, not really paying attention to her. She started fussing and I called from the other room, "B can you fix her please?" And he looked over and said, "Oh! Well, she's on her stomach! That's why she's mad!"

She rolled all the way over for the very first time, and both of us missed it cause we were on the freaking computer. Yep - horrible parents!

[danalou]

Mackenzie's 3-1/2 Month Stats (these are a bit old now, but I still wanted to share them with you gals)

Weight: 15lbs 2 oz (95%)
Length: 25-1/2" long (95%)
Head: 16-3/4"

DH jokes that we are growing a little weed, as DD doesn't seem to have problems getting enough breastmilk!!

Milestones -

Rolled Over - She rolled over about a week ago for both DH and I

STTN - She has been sleeping much better lately not fully through the night, but enough that I leaked at night!! The max span is about 6 hours now and it is a great treat for mom and dad!!

Latest thing - She has learned to spit and loves to do it when she wakes up to get your attention!!

We just got back for a short weekend trip for a wedding and DD did really well with the 6 hour car ride and with sleeping in different places. I hope this keeps up as I don't want to have trouble travelling!!

[whitlockan]

Okay I am covering lunch for the receptionist since the normal gal is out so lets see how far caught up I can get.....

MAG yeah this is sick 29.8 the only thing it didnt have was 4motion that was HUGE for my DH so they went to 27.9 but still said no because the way it was handled LONG story,but now were considering a different car now. In regards to my IUD, didnt hurt well I mean the "little" cramp when she was sizing my uterus and then inserted it was not so little but I also have the paraguard so you might cramp a little different but mine was yucky. I'm great now though and no more spotting ( well I wouldnt call it spotting it was way more than that).

kanga I now remember they had the other recaro seats!! Ah ha!

hearing if he is not pre-occupied with something else he is extremely responsive otherwise he is a little delayed in turning his head or just ignores you all together, depends on the mood/stimulation around him.

mia oh I'm so sorry, when I got cramps from my IUD I made my OB laugh so hard and said I'm so not ready for AF this sucks!!

milestones well we roll both way, and as of friday he is dying to crawl. He just figured out how to get his knees up under him but he keeps pushing up with his toes and face plants his face into the floor so he gets no where but its driving him nuts, he will keep his eye on the object and pull so hard with his hands but he just has to get the motion to get it. Were a chatterbox and starting to sit with assistance to balance a little. We do so much I just forget what all is new.

Tandis that sucks!! But at least you salavaged it for now it sounds like.

janey awe your not horrible. DH is going through this guilt thing in terms of that he went away for a month and now DS wants nothing to do with him at night, I come in grab him and he falls right to sleep, DH walks out of the room almost in tears and says Z why wont you do this for daddy anymore.

Waving high to everyone else, sorry time is limited.......

All these stats coming in I'm dying to know Z's real height and weight!! Only one more week.....

Okay well that took forever so now its back to work I go....

[whitlockan]

mrsk I thought rolling front to back was easier too but Z started out the exact same way back to tummy first!

[happy1nuv]

Joe's started with raspberries... its the cutest thing ever, but my 2 year old, who was never really into raspberries is now imitating the baby. Ummm, isn't it supposed to go the other way around?

[MrsKinnison]

Ollie's been putting in some really long hours at work....

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1196/830817526_dec83e7a17.jpg?v=0

[lady1297]

lol!!! I think that is the BEST picture I've seen yet, Mrs.K!!! You know, there are child labor laws!!

[danalou]

Mrs.K - That is a great picture!! I see you work at a flooring showroom from all the samples in the background.

[happy1nuv]

mrsk - LOVE that pic

[shimmerstar]

Cute pic, Mrs. K. It looks like he's wearing a cape.

We visited Noah's new daycare/preschool. It seemed okay, but dh and I are struggling with the fact that no daycare is good enough. I just keep telling myself that if we don't like it we can find another, but I don't think any other ones would be any better. This sucks. Why I can't I just take him to work with me? He could be the smallest kindergartener ever!

He can sit up now, but doesn't understand how to get down without falling.

[Tandis]

Mrs K - Cute pic!

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

Question - For those of whose babies roll from back to front, but not the other way, how do you keep them from doing so at night? Miss V absolutely *loves* rolling now. Refuses to stay on her back and prefers to sleep on her side. That's fine, except she doesn't always make her side and goes all the way to her stomach. Sometimes she'll fall asleep like that, but then end up waking in the middle of the night screaming because she doesn't want to be on her stomach. So, until she figures out how to go back the other way, is there something I can do to stop her going over all the way?

[Orion]

Hi Everyone! I've been MIA lately but my Mom, my brother and Mom's boyfriend were all out for a visit for the last 10 days and we've been on the go ever since. I'm not even going to attempt to catch up or do shout outs but I will be able to keep up from now on.
My Mom is still here for another week and it has been so great having her here. She booked me into a spa for a few different appointments over the next week (they had to be spaced out because I am still ex. bf). Today I went for a pedicure, in a couple of days I'm going for a hair cut and brow wax and than a couple days after that I'm going for a full body salt scrub! Can't wait.
Dalton is doing really well. We have no more sleep issues, thank goodness and he sleeps like a champ now. He goes to bed at 7 pm without any problems and sleeps until about 7 am. He still wakes up usually two times during the night to nurse but usually goes right back to sleep. We've actually ended up co-sleeping since my Mom got here because we moved him into our room since Mom is sleeping in his. It's been kind of nice having him so close but he is getting used to coming into bed with us and it will be a tough habit to break when he has to go back to his own bed.
Dalton is a rolling fool now! He's been rolling over for a while now but he has recently become an expert. He rolled from his back to his tummy last week and had so much momentum that he kept rolling over and ended up halfway across the living room. The look on his face was too funny...I think it really shocked him. He now has become a stomach sleeper too. He seems to sleep better on his stomach but in the middle of the night he gets upset that he is on his stomach and I guess he forgets that he can roll from stomach to back as well and he will start to fuss. DH is nervous that he sleeps on his stomach but I figure that if he is strong enough to roll over and since he has such great head control, that he will be fine. Not as if we could do anything about it since he is put on his back to sleep but rolls over to his stomach himself.
Tomorrow Dalton and Sophie both go for their shots...that should be fun! Looking forward to seeing how much he weighs now. Still having weight issues with Sophie. I had to take her to the doctor yesterday because she has had a terrible cough on and off for about a month now and I figured we should check it out. Turns out that she has lost weight since her last visit...so frustrating! We had to take her for a chest x-ray today to make sure that her lungs are fine. I'm sure that she is fine though...I just don't understand how this kid doesn't gain weight...I load her food with butter, she eats the highest fat cheese and yogurt that I can find. She's just so active.
Daltons awake now so I have to run. I missed you guys this last little while and can't wait to catch up with everyone!

[Orion]

Tandis
We are in the same situation with Dalton right now. Most nights he is happy to stay asleep on his stomach but he does wake up unhappy some nights because he 'forgets' how to roll from his stomach to his back. Our daughter, Sophie, did the same thing and the only thing that worked was rolling up a recieving blanket and putting it in front of her to stop her from rolling all the way over. Dalton just grabs the blanket and puts it in his mouth and it ends up covering his face so we are just going to have to suck it up until he can 'remember' how to roll from his stomach to back.

[MarriedaGoalie]

MrsK: That pic is ADORABLE!!! :)

[littlemia]

Finally have a moment to post-

Thanks for the responses on turning to sounds. I'm going to try not to worry about it unless she doesn't respond any better in the next month or two. She's responding a lot more than she did a month ago, so hopefully she'll keep improving.

Miaclear- Claire was 7lb2oz at birth, so Aaron has gained 3 more lbs. I love that picture of him with the headphones.

Tandis- That makes me mad that they tried to get rid of your position. You know how much trouble they would be in if they let you go. They would be begging you to come back.

MrsK- very cute!

[betsyboop]

Tandis- I can't believe what's going on at your work! Is that even legal? I mean, don't they have to have a job for you to come back to after your maternity leave by law? Sorry, I don't know much about that stuff.

Orion- The spa treatments sound great.

MrsK- Cute picture!

Raspberries- Millie is SO into this right now too.

Does anyone else's baby seem to pick up a new skill each time they are introduced to a new toy? It's the weirdest thing- Millie rolled over the first time she was put on her play mat and she started reaching for toys the first time she was put in a bouncy seat. We just got her a bumbo and now, when she's sitting in her carseat, she lifts her head up constantly like she's trying to sit all the way up (but obviously she can't because she's strapped in).

We have had an eventful week. We took her to the ped last Mon for her 4 month check up and talked about her sleep issues with him. He suggested the Ferber method and described it to me. It seemed kind of scary, but we bought the book and Millie was exactly like one of the case studies described in it (oddly enough, the baby's name was Betsy:p ) So we decided to give it a try starting on Thursday night. It was rough that first night, but the second night and beyond have been wonderful! She went from getting up nearly every hour and taking an hour to get back to sleep (before the sleep training) to sleeping from 10pm-7am, eating, and then sleeping again until 9:30ish. She is SOOO much happier now that she isn't overtired all the time- and so are we:p Plus, she seems to also have put herself on a nap and feeding schedule as a result of this.

I finally got my dad to email me the pictures from Millie's first day at the beach (Dave refused to take our camera because he didn't want it to get sandy:rolleyes: ) I can't decide which is better, so I'm posting both:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSCF1196.jpg?t=1184772279

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSCF1197.jpg?t=1184772193

[danalou]

Betsy - I love the look on your DD face as it is a mix between excitement and fear!!

QOTD - I am curious when your period typically arrives after having a baby? Mine has yet to make an re-entry, but I wasn't sure if nursing postpones it a bit.

[Tandis]

Danalou - I think if you're nursing it does delay it. My SIL just got hers and my nephew is eight months old. However, I just did that half hearted pumping and got mine six weeks PP. :rolleyes:

Betsy - Millie is just too cute! I'm totally loving her little bikini :D Technically my work wasn't actually getting rid of my job - just keeping other people doing my duties and shifting me to a different department. So eventually, when I think they would have done away with my job, I couldn't blame it on my maternity leave. :rolleyes: Either way, after confronting my boss my job is back to being mine, so I'm hoping I have nothing else to worry about.

Littlemia - You and I know they would have been begging me to come back (after all, we know how few real catalogers there are out there since most people in library school do the reference track), but my boss is too far removed to remember things like that. How is everything going with you?

Orion - Thanks for the response! It's funny, but it seems like everytime the girls are doing something new that I wonder about, I come on here and someone else's child is doing the same thing! Last night she rolled herself back from her tummy onto her back in her sleep (yay!), so hopefully this keeps up.

[MarriedaGoalie]

betsy: Super cute pics!!! Your DD's face is priceles!! :)

[MrsKinnison]

Betsy ~ those pics are too cute and so is that bikini! I love the look on her face in the first pic!!!

[littlemia]

QOTD- I think the timing of your first PP AF is different for everyone. I know some people don't get it for a year or more. I haven't had one yet and I'm pumping most of the time and going as much as 8 hours a night without pumping. I'm hoping it stays away for awhile. Of course as I type this I start feeling a little crampy. :rolleyes:

Tandis- You would think that more reference librarians would be appreciative of good catalogers. I know it makes my job much easier when I'm on the reference desk. I think I missed my deadline to go back without having to interview again. It's just too stressful to leave her with her feeding problems. Maybe one of these days she'll start eating better and I can see about going back very part time.

Betsy- how cute! You got her in pretty far. The water temperature was too cold when we were at the beach to get any more than her feet wet.

[miaclear]

QOTD- I posted earlier but I'm so ticked that I got mine already. 3.5 months PP and exclusivley BFing. errr!!!

[MarriedaGoalie]

I got AF 2 months after having Carter. My supply was diminishing on it's own already, though, so I think my body was funky.

School: So, I just enrolled in 9 hours for the Fall semester. I also work full time (8:30-4:30 M-F). Is anyone else doing this? Has anyone else done this? Is it difficult with a new baby? I'm worried, but I really want to get my Accounting degree.... :(

[ieducate]

Hey I just have a minute to post, but for those of you who are upset that you got your AF already or haven't gotten it, just know that it is different for everyone. I got mine one month after PP. The doctor said it was normal because she was a preemie, but I was pumping every three hours while she was in the NICU and I still got mine. :( I was really bummed. I was looking forward to not having it for a while longer, especially since I wasn't preg. all that long.

Betsy, those pics are adorable. What a cutie. Also, what is the name of the book you read?

I am dying to find something/ANYTHING that will make my dear Julia sleep through the night. She slept for 3.5 hours tonight, woke up, ate, and went back to sleep immediately, but usually it takes forever to get her to go back to sleep AND she will definitely be up in the next two hours. I can't get her to sleep more than 3-4 hours at night and then it's 1-2 hours for the rest of the night. Her naps are few and far between and they only last an hour at most. AGH. This is one tired mommy.

Hope everyone is well.

[shimmerstar]

School- I am enrolling in an online master's program that starts in Sept. It will help me to be able to do it at home, but I'm so nervous I will blow it. My plan right now is to have an hour of school every night after he goes to bed. But I'm a notorious procrastinator. Mag, will we have to keep each other going. :)

Karen, I'm sorry you are having so much trouble with sleep. I'm exhausted and Noah sleeps well, so I can't imagine how tired you must be. Do you do a bedtime routine? It has really helped us- after about a month he stopped fighting bedtime and puts himself to sleep. He will sometimes wake once to eat. I wonder if she just really needs to eat all those times because she was so little to start with. I hope she gives you longer stretches soon!

[MarriedaGoalie]

Yes, shimmer, please help me keep my butt in gear in regards to school and I will do the same for you! :)

[buffy]

QOTD ~ I BF pretty much exclusively with little or no pumping and no supplementing with formula. AF returned at 14 months PP after my first, 12.5 months after my second and no sign of her yet this time. The longer the better, I wasn't too happy to see her at 12.5 months last time, I'd be extra pissed to see her this soon!

[happy1nuv]

QOTD ~ I bf on demand, rarely pump, no formula. No AF yet. With Nic, it was a lil different because i went back to work and had to pump... AF arrived at 8 mos. I'm hoping she stays away for a LONG time because I really don't want to have to worry about bc ... dh hates condoms, and I am NOT doing anything hormonal (my body is pretty wacky as it is... so hormones really mess me up). So we'll be sorta doing FAM once she comes back, but with me being as wacky as i am...its kind of hard... (once we're done with kids, dh is getting snipped - but we'll do at least one (hopefully 2) more)

orion - does she eat nuts? nic loves date nut balls... all i do is throw a few dates and some nuts in the food processor til its crumbly and then we both shape them into balls.. its takes up a bit of time, and nic eats a ton as he "helps" shape them... (i've done them with cashews, walnuts and almonds ... i use raw ones -- no added salt or anything ...they're actually really yummy). and they even store/travel pretty well. (if they come out too wet, i add unsweetened coconut to it)

[betsyboop]

ieducate- The book is called Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber. It was a lifesaver for us!

qotd- Like the posters above, I breastfeed, rarely pump, and have never given formula and there is no sign of my period coming back yet. I'm actually kind of looking forward to its return though- I'm SOO dry during sex its ridiculous. Sorry if that was tmi!

Littlemia- I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the water temp in New England was a lot colder than in Florida! It was probably no more than 65 degrees or so. She didn't seem terribly bothered by it and it was only for like 2 min.

[whitlockan]

qotd - I pump 7 or so times a day and feed on demand about 4 times in a 24 hour period ds is 100 percent breastfeed and has never had formula. what I thought was af a month or so ago was just spotting. I'm hoping she stays away a while longer.

happy to report we are sitting up in about 2 min stretches 100 percent unassited.....this all just happened last night and I told DH he was helping him but went and checked for myself starring in disbelief my little baby is growing up sooooo fast.

We will take ds swimming for the second time and then boating on annapolis bay for the day with friends......our new Saturday routine. Have to get his life jacket this week......I'm so nervous about this, its a big boat but anything could happen which scares me but no different than a car right?

[Orion]

QOTD: I as well exclusively breastfeed, don't pump, don't supplement so I am hoping that AF stays away for a while yet. I did the same for DD but AF returned at 5 months pp and I got pregnant with DS the next month!

My Mom is still here until next week and although I love having her here, it is so hard having her here at the same time. Dalton is sleeping in our room because she is in his room and he won't sleep in his bed when I am in the room with him. He will fuss and cry until I put him in bed with me. I have nothing against co-sleeping but it just isn't for me. I haven't had a decent nights sleep in about two weeks. So although I will be sad when Mom leaves, I will be happy to have my house back to normal.

[Brink]

Hi all, I've been following daily just haven't posted in a while.

I find myself getting frusrated reading all of your posts about things your babies are doing. My girls were born 1/31 and are almost six month old and still don't roll over or sit up. I know they are preemie and so we can't expect them to be caught up with January/February babies, but my gosh you would think they would be equal with all of your March babies (they were due March 19th)! They do smile and laugh (a little) but that's about it. I know you aren't supposed to compare babies and they will do things in their own time, but jeez.

Also, I posted this over in the infant thread - anyone have cheap place for buying diapers? We are getting killed with the prices of three kids in diapers right now.

[danalou]

Thanks girls for all the comments of AF as it really helps to have input from others!! DD is still exclusively breastfeed and I am hoping that AF will be able to stay away for sometime. I have also been able to increase my supply at work now from around 11-12oz to 16-17oz. DD is still only taking around 12-16oz at daycare. I am still hoping to keep the DD exclusively breastfeed until no earlier than 6 months.

Shimmer & Married - Best of luck with the upcoming semester as I couldn't imagine school and a baby!!

Whit - Have a great time at the lake this weekend and as long as you are an aware parent I am sure it will be fine.

Orion - I hope that things get back to normal for you quickly as not sleeping is never fun.

Brink - I am using Luvs diapers right now as DD is in size 2 diapers and they are the only ones that I can't get from my Aunt. She works at the hospital and I am able to get a case of Pampers diapers size 1, 3, 4 & 5 for around $20 which is half price. I will say that Luvs aren't Pampers diapers, but they work and are almost half the price.

[kindermom]

Quick posting.
With DD 1 AF came back about 5 months PP. With the exception of 2 weeks when I had a stress-induced supply dip, I was EBFing.

Brink- We like Target brand at $14 for a case.

Whit - Have fun boating. This is a great weekend for it.

Kanga - I saw the new Evenflo and they have new straps. I love it.

[MrsKinnison]

Whit ~ We have a boat so I did a TON of research on infant life jackets. We and got Ollie this life jacket. (http://www.salusmarine.com/bijoux.html) It is the ONLY one we found specifically designed for infants. All other infant jackets were designed for <20lbs or worse yet <30lbs, and looked very uncomfortable, wouldn'f fit right, and I just didn't feel like he would be safe. This one seems to be very comfy as Ollie doesn't even seem to mind or notice that he is wearing it. The best price we found was here (http://www.firsttreks.com/ViewProduct.asp?ModelNumber=PG351--RD), but they are temporarily out of stock :mad: If you google it, you'll find a bunch of places to get it.

Brink ~ Don't worry, Ollie isn't rolling or sitting up yet either.

AF ~ I exclusively BF and usually pump once a day before bed. So far no signs of AF for me. I also have the Mirena IUD, and many women don't get AF at all with it, so I'm hoping I never see her again!

[miaclear]

lifejackets....we were searching for one for two trips we're taking this summer. I didn't have any problem finding infant vests listed 30 pounds or less. I ended up getting this one from Target for $24. It's a Stearns and is USCG approved for boat use.

http://g-ec2.images-amazon.com/images/I/41L+AuyG8pL._SS260_.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1354/859097222_ff8b0fbe37.jpg?v=0

The one MrsK posted looks really comfy but this one's less than half the price. I'll have to try it out in our pool and see how good Aaron floats but he didn't seem to mind being in it, and Stearns makes a good life jacket. The neck hole is kinda small but as with all zippers when you put it down it locks in place.

[miaclear]

More lifevest info: Did a little more research and came across this quote from the US Coast Guard

Question:What PFD does the Coast Guard recommend for infants.

USCG response:Frankly, for any newborn up to 18 pounds, we do not recommend taking onboard a recreational boat, because current devices are not adequate for all newborns. Unless the parent is able to test their newborns out in a PFD, sized for infants, in a swimming pool, they will not know if that device will float their child with his/her head out of the water. Unless you know the PFD you have works for your infant, why put the child at any risk.

[MrsKinnison]

Sorry, left out important info... This is the ONLY life vests for Infants 9lbs to 25lbs. All others are less than 20 or less than 30, but not rated or tested on infants.

[miaclear]

MrsK...do you know what the difference is between the Canadian CG and USCG approval systems are? The one I posted said it's USCG approved and the one you have is not Canadian CG approved. Seems they said there are just no standards to compare it too which is why they didn't approve it, but do give it two thumbs up. Now I'm really curious and I can't seem to find if the Bijoux is USCG approved. Where did you find testing information? I can't seem to find any through Google. thx :)

[MrsKinnison]

I researched all over the internet and ended up on the USCG site about pfd's and found that neither US or Canada has an approval for infant specific life jackets. By default, infants basically fall into the category of the under 20 under 30 that are really designed and more suited for toddlers and up. There is nothing in the US that compares to it either, and from what I gather the testing/classes fall about the same. It is recognized with 2 seperate awards and as going above and beyond current regs.

Honestly, if I were you I would just test it before you use it and see how you feel then. Since you are only planning on one or two outings, it might be exactly what you need. We go out all the time, so we didn't mind spending more. We did look around to compare everything we could find too and this was the only one that fit properly.

[happy1nuv]

brink ~ i wouldnt worry ... nic didnt roll til 6 months or so, and even then he NEVER really got into it. He'd occasionally/haphazardly roll once in a while. He was pretty much able to be set in one spot and he'd stay til about a week before his first birthday when he started crawling. Today, I can't KEEP him in one spot! :) ... (Now, he's also speech delayed and when i mentioned that to the speech therapist, she intimated that it was something to know about... that, and that he went from crawling to walking really quick ... seems there is a link between crawling and something (reading, talking...forget which)... AND since i'm spouting trivia ... did you know that you favor whatever side of the brain you dont write with. So, if you are right handed, the left side of your brain is dominant and vice versa... and the left side of the brain handles speech (another theory as to why my left handed son might be speech delayed... we're supposed to try and force him to use his right hand to help train that side of his brain) (ok, ill stop blithering now... can you tell its a rare moment when BOTH my boys are sleeping?)

[miaclear]

Honestly, if I were you I would just test it before you use it and see how you feel then. Since you are only planning on one or two outings, it might be exactly what you need. We go out all the time, so we didn't mind spending more. We did look around to compare everything we could find too and this was the only one that fit properly.

I had shown my husband the vest you posted because it does look a lot more comfortable but like you said we'll be using it just a handful of times so he didn't see the cost being warranted. I'm going to try out the jacket in our pool tonight. If it doesn't work I saw that Body Glove has a jacket that's shaped a little different than the Stearns one and is also only $24.

[Tandis]

Wow, we've all been really quiet this weekend! What, is everyone reading Harry Potter? ;)

The girls had their four month checkup on Friday. Here are their current stats:

V --
Head: 18"
Weight: 17.8 lbs
Height: 26.5"

A --
Head: 17" (92 percentile)
Weight: 17.3 lbs
Height: 27"

So, besides A's head, everything else about my girls are off the charts! :D The bad news is that they're almost out of their infant car seats, and half of their 6-9 month clothing that I have is almost too small - without them ever wearing it!

My Dr. said once the girls are eating 8 tablespoons of cereal a day, we can start with fruits. I don't think that's going to be very far down the road, since we've just added cereal to their breakfast, and there's a possibility of adding it to their lunch as well (they've been eating rice/barley for dinner for over a month).

[Kanga]

sitting up - mot even close here. dd1 didn't sit until nearly 7 months though so not expecting it any time soon for dd2.

Tandis - WOW! 17lbs? I can't imagine lugging around dd2 at 17lbs, let alone two babies. Cami is not quite 13lbs unofficially now.

AF - back at 7 weeks (:mad:) for dd1 and just got it back for dd2. No formula and rarely pumping. I was hoping for a year or longer. Although i must say since i got my diva cup i don't mind af half as much as i used to. Love love LOVE it!

We are just back from a long weekend in Kansas City. The girls were troopers and are catching up on their sleep now. It was so nice to get away.

Diapers - when we use sposies, we use target brand, cheap and reliable and they even have stretchy tabs.

[betsyboop]

Wow, it is really dead around here! I, for one, have been reading Harry Potter:p I started the first book about a week and a half ago and tried to read them all before the new one came out, but obviously I didn't have enough time- I just finished book 4 last night. 3 more to go!

Millie and I had a weird day yesterday- I went to give her a bath and there was just a trickle of water coming out of the sink and then even that stopped. I called Dave to see if he had done something (he's been messing with our boiler a lot lately) but he said no. So I called the police dept and it turns out that a water main down the street had burst! So we didn't have water all day- I had to drive 45 min to my parents so I could bathe Millie and take a shower. So weird.

Tandis- Wow, your girls are so big! I can't believe they're growing out of 6-9 month stuff already- Millie is still growing into 3-6 stuff:o Are you and your DH big/tall people?

Brink- There's a Kmart near me and that's pretty much where I buy all her diapers. They always seem to be on sale there.

[happy1nuv]

Hmm... add me to those reading harry potter. I was going to wait til the library had it, but i sooo couldn't wait. I splurged on a hardcover (even though i really wanted to wait and buy them all as a set, since my sister gave away all my early ones -- she thought she was lending them, but they never came back and she no longer talks to the guy she gave them to...ugh). I'm having a hard time putting it down...

4 month well baby stats:
16 lbs 3 oz (75%)
26" (75%)
i forget his head circum but it was 50th % ...

He jumped up 25% in height, but the rest is tracking along his curve...

:)

[MarriedaGoalie]

Carter had his 4 Month WBV this morning! We found out that one of his legs is longer than the other. :eek: We also found out that we are supposed to start feeding him out of a bowl once a day. Here are his stats:

Weight: 16 lbs (75%)
Height: 25 1/2 in (50-75%)
Head: 42 1/2 cm (75%)

[miaclear]

Starting Solids....just curious what everyone's doing. Our Ped said we could start them if we wanted to...or wait till 6 months. I decided to wait. I see no reason right now to complicate our day further ;) We're still EBFing and my goal was to do that to six months. I don't want to mess with our system right now cause it seems to work. I may...just may, possibly try Rice Ceral at five months just to see how he reacts to it.

Harry Potter...waiting for the movie ;)

Therapy...we have therapy today. We've been in it for over a month now! I see improvments, he's keeping up with all his milestones. I'm going to ask her today what will designate enough improvment to where we can start going every other week. We got the bill from them the other day and they charged $800 for his first session! After insurance discounts it was only $120 but still. $120 a week for a 30 min stretch is going to break me eventually. It's all deductible coinsurance right now too.

We had our 4 month photos taken the other day. Here are a couple of the preview shots she gave us. I can't wait to see the rest.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1234/897096908_0b56b1e64b.jpg?v=0
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1354/897096890_ad727d9333.jpg?v=0

[danalou]

Add me to the list of Harry Potter readers!! Last night I only got 6 pages read before falling asleep. DD got me up @ 4:45am yesterday and at that point I figured I better just get to work early as I had a deadline.

I still can't believe how quickly our babies are growing up. We ended up getting a Evenflo convertible seat to use in our 2nd car on clearance at Target. Saved ourselves 20% and used gift cards to get it!! I am going to get the primary one once everyone gets in the new models.

As for solids we started rice this weekend and she has had it twice now and seems to enjoy it. We just have to figure out a routine for the whole solids as I am use to this whole BF thing now!!

Here are a few pictures I just had to share with you gals from the newborn sessions I have to date -

1 month -
http://blog.charmingsnapshots.com/images/45489-41430/IMG_6938.jpg
3 months -
http://blog.charmingsnapshots.com/images/45489-41430/IMG_192.jpg

I just love the mohawk in the 3 month session and am so glad I decided to add that one to my package. I hope everyone is doing well and as always be safe!!

[betsyboop]

Cute pics, Miaclear and Danalou!

Miaclear- Is that the Felted Shag Rug from Pottery Barn in the second photo? If so, do you hate it as much as I do? Ugh- we have it in our living room and it sheds like you wouldn't believe. The day after I vacuum, you can find clumps of it all over the house- even upstairs in the bedrooms! I had been hoping it would stop shedding as it got older, but we've had it for over a year and a half now and it hasn't even slowed down. We call it our pet yak:p I can't believe the therapy is so $$, even with insurance!

Starting solids- Not yet. Our ped said any time between now and 6 months would be fine but we've decided to wait because things seem to be going fine now, so why mess with it?

[danalou]

Miaclear - We must have posted at the same time!! Your proofs look really neat and I love the close-up shot of DS.

Pottery Barn rugs - I have one of their area rugs (not shag) and is has been shedding for 2 1/2+ years now and I hate that part of it.

Betsy - As for the solids I felt the same way, but DH wanted to start so she has had it twice now.

[miaclear]

Danalou...thanks :D I love your 3 month profile picture. super cute ;)

Rug... mine is actually from Pier One but it does shed. Whenever I vaccum it I have to immediatley empty the dirt container because it's overflowing with rug remnants. I do really love the rug....but could do without the shedding.

[shimmerstar]

Cute pics, everyone. I have ours from over a month ago that I haven't posted yet.

Solids- We have started. He has had rice, oatmeal, and carrots. He is much happier and loves to eat. I feed him twice a day.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Adorable pics, girls!!

miaclear: Your little one's eyes are adorable!! It looks like you have a great photographer.

danalou: HAHA I love the little mohawk thing your little one has going on! :)

[Kanga]

LOVING all the pics! Note to self - take more pictures!

solids - We're waiting until she can feed herself, so not til 8-9 months. It's unnecessary at this point and only for fun so as some pp have said, why bother if it's going so well at this point.

Harry Potter -Not me. I've never understood what the big deal is about it. It doesn't interest me in the least, and no offense to the HP fans but the movie previews look like they would bore me to death.

[happy1nuv]

kanga...BOO... I couldnt put the book down and even with 2 kids, managed to read it in two days. LOVED IT!!! (altho im totally NOT a fan of the movies - i never am with books near and dear to my heart)

solids ~ i'm on the fence between 6 mos and when he can feed himself... (we totally skip the cereals though and go straight to real food ...if i wont eat it, i wont feed it to my kids and i wont eat fortified wallpaper paste (no offense to those that do)...

[Tandis]

Solids - As I've mentioned many times, we're already doing cereal and my girls love it. They've quickly jumped to eating six tablespoons, plus their 32 oz. of formula a day. I think at the beginning of August, when they turn five months, I've going to try them with fruit. As it is now, they both love licking grapes, watermelon, cantelope and pears, so I'm sure they'll enjoy eating it as well.

Betsy - I'm 5'8" and DH is 6'3", so I'm sure that's a contributing factor for our girls. We both have some Slovak hertiage, and my Dad's side of the family are all big boned people (tall and large, but not necessarily over weight). So I'm thinking genetics are really playing a part for our girls :)

How long were you without water?

Harry Potter - Started on Sunday and finished on Monday. :D Loved it.

MAG - Is there anything they can do for his legs?

Miaclear - Aww, what cute pictures! Wow, the cost of therapy really sucks. Glad you're seeing an improvement though.

Dana - Awesome about the car seat! Aww, you have cute pictures too!

Shimmer - Can I ask about your sig with the "Pirate baby?" Curious what your story is because that's why I call A due to the fact she's always saying "Arrgghhh" :D

[whitlockan]

not much time.......

mia/dana gorgeous pics ladies....oh how we should have done 3/4 month shots oh well 6 months are our next ones.

MAG my DH has this, his is caused by CP though.

Harry Potter NO way dont have time for that.....

solids nope not at least until 6 months....confirmed at todays WBV since he has no interest. YA I was worried

PBK Rugs yep mine sheds like CRAZY thats what I hate as well.

4 month WBV today:

Height: 25 (50th)
Weight: 14 lbs (47th still)
Head: 41 cm

All went well 4 shots 1 oral again, cried during and has been perfect since, not one bit of fussiness and only gave him tylenol 1 hour before!!

[MarriedaGoalie]

Apparently they are going to be doing a sonogram on his legs to determine if his hips are out of socket. They say sometimes they form out of socket and they want to make sure that is not what has happened. I am not sure when that is, though. I really hate that i can't take Carter to his doctor appointments! :(

[littlemia]

We're back from visiting my parents. We had a good time although Claire ate and slept horribly the whole time. I think waking up in an unfamiliar place freaked her out; she cried a lot more than usual. She was fine on our trip to the beach; maybe now that's she's older she's more aware of her surroundings? Has anyone else's baby had a tough time traveling? I hope this isn't how she'll be all of the time as DH and I really like to travel.

Here are a few pictures from our stay:

Swimming-
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1013/908868076_f019332671.jpg?v=0

Trying to get out of the bumbo-
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1250/908868098_8ccc7914e4.jpg?v=0

My mom thinks it's 1976. That's my blanket and my toy.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1205/908868130_6c7ac4f71d.jpg?v=0

Miaclear- Cute pics. I hear you on the cost of therapy. Our insurance doesn't cover it and we pay $90 a 30 min. session.

Danalou- love the mohawk.

Whit- CP= cerebral palsy? If so, my DH has CP, too.

MAG- Sorry to hear about Carter's legs.

Harry Potter- hopefully my mom will finish it soon so she can lend me her copy. It will probably take me awhile to read it. I was in the middle of a book before I went into labor and I never got around to finishing it.

Pro pics- I don't have much to spend on pictures but would like a few with a backdrop and a better camera and a photographer. Has anyone had any luck with places like JC Penney or Sears. We have Picture People in our area too, but I think they're pretty pricey. Hopefully we can get a few of her smiling. I have over 500 pictues and I can count on my hands how many she's smiling in. I can not get her to smile for the camera.

Non or delayed vaxxers- How often are you doing WBV? The front office staff was gone when I left my last appointment, so I didn't set up a new one. I know I could call and see when I'm supposed to go in again but I kind of don't see the point in doing them that often since we're not doing shots. I'm thinking of not going in again until 6 months.

[whitlockan]

little yes ma'am!

[miaclear]

Traveling....we've only been on the one trip so far and DS did well. The plane ride went great and most our long car trip went well. As for sleeping it was an adjustment. We have a bedtime routine here that involves nursing and rocking to sleep. Not having a rocker or glider really made it difficult for me. It wasn't completely awful but it was harder to get him to sleep. Naps here are always in the swing (yea gonna work on that) and having no swing there meant DS usually fell asleep in someones arms or I'd have to lay down with him to nurse him to sleep on the bed. We're going on another vacation next week so we'll see if anything has changed. Our plane ride is twice as long this time so that sucks either way you look at it.

[Kanga]

traveling - didn't have any problems. We either walk or rock to sleep. The wierd kid doesn't nurse to sleep with the exception of night wakings.:rolleyes: Not a fan of much except for the slings and that's easy enough to bring with us. We co sleep normally, but she did find in a pnp when we've only had a double bed and there was no room for her.

ped appts - we don't vax at all. We went to 2wks and 2 mo. I may or may not go to the 6 month one. She's on the small side so I want to make sure she's gaining enough weight.

[Brink]

Hi all, everything is going great around here. The girls are still getting up somewhere between 4am and 6am. They go right back to sleep, but with two of them you don't get much rest after 4.

Thanks for all the reassurance on their milestones. I know I shouldn't compare but it's hard.


Littlemia - We have used Sears for all of our pics since DD was born in 05'. They do a great job and the pricing isn't too bad. I usually purchase a "package" that includes the CD so I can reproduce pictures at a later date. We've been really happy with them and plan to keep taking all three girls there.

[kindermom]

Great pics ladies!

Littlemia - We go to the picture people and just get the free 8x10. We are building quite the collection as the sale is every few months. I am not sure if they are that fantastic in our area though. I think it is dependent on who is taking the photos. Our JC Penny's is awful. I hear our Sear's is great.

Travelling - No probs with DS. But then again, he is pretty easy going and loves to sleep in the car.

Sleeping - We have ended our pattern of good sleep. We are not getting back to waking 2 times (12 and 4). I am so tired between the night wakings and getting up at 5:30 for work. DD does not go down anymore until about 10 and she will only let me put her down. Sigh.

[betsyboop]

littlemia- Millie does the same thing- I guess they're trying to fling themselves out of the bumbo:p Cute shots- Claire has so much hair already!!

travelling- We've gone away (to the same place) for 2 weekends up to now and her sleep stayed the same as it was at the time at home both times.

Tandis- We were without water for just the one day, thank goodnes! However, we seem to be having some bad luck with water this week. Dave went to take a shower this morning and we didn't have any hot water. It turns out that we ran out of oil because the oil company didn't come for a delivery in time. So I'm sitting here, unshowered once again, waiting for the oil delivery guy to give us some oil and bleed the air out of our pump:rolleyes:

[shimmerstar]

Tandis- That was what we called him when I first got pg. There is a horrid little internet video called the Pirate baby. It's a cartoon where the pirate baby has to fight all these creatures or something. But I liked the name.

Travelling- We took a 12 hour car trip this weekend. Ds was wonderful! He just hung out in the car and slept just fine in the pack n play. I was shocked. I think I may have already posted that though.

Harry Potter- Read it on the trip. Loved it, but I'm sad it's over.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1008/824749020_0dd4a85996_m.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1362/824748726_ee110e9a62_m.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1424/698319507_25e5ebd2ff_m.jpg

These were almost two months ago. He looks completely different now!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1356/818828104_3e978f140a_m.jpg

[betsyboop]

We must have posted at the same time, Shimmer. Noah is so adorable! The family photo is really nice.

[miaclear]

Kindermom....we've seen to revert back to old patterns too. We used to get up at 5:30 and then 8:00. Now it's 1, 5:30, sometimes 6:30 again (which I'll usually bring him in bed with me at this point) and then 8:00. Sucks. I hear ya!

[miaclear]

Cross Posted with my LJ.....but it makes me so mad I just wanted to vent again....:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

DS and I joined DH at Happy Hour last night. DS even wore his cute Happy Hour onsie with a bottle of milk on it. My old co-worker/friend was there and she was holding DS and talking to him. This is the first time she held him because although she's the mom of two (by two different dads) she is a self proclaimed kid hater. Nice. Anyhow....I'm not sure how he got passed to her but he did. DS was sucking away on his fingers and she says to him...to my Little Baby Boy all of four months old...."You think that's fun, wait till you start playing with your dick".

Um Excuse me???? Her boyfriend called her out on it and said how rude it was. She said that her eight year old is obsessed with his dick so I should get used to it.

I'm still shaking my head in disgust. This is a baby, he does not have what you say he has. He has a pee-pee, or a wee-wee. And just because you let your eight year old walk around the house naked playing with his might just mean something about your mothering skills.

Give me my baby back!

Oh....and worse yet she's coming to our house this weekend for a birthday party for a friend. I'll be sure to have my baby wear his ear muffs!

ETA...we were in a family eating establishment that's smoke free and I wasn't drinking ;)

[Tandis]

Miaclear - OMG, that is so *rude*! How can someone say that to a baby?! Wow, way out of line. I assume she was just trying to be funny?

Traveling - I'm glad someone brought this up. We're vacationing with our girls in September, with a drive that's roughly ten hours one way. How often should we be stopping to let them "stretch" their legs? We're upgrading them to their convertible car seats before we leave since those are more comfortable. Any tips on traveling with six month olds?

Shimmer - Your DS is so adorable! Love those pics.

Betsy - Maybe you were just meant to be stinky this week ;)

Sleep - A is still sleeping 8-6 every night, but V has taken to waking up between 4-5 (if I'm lucky) because she's hungry. We've increased her food during the day, but that seems to have helped only to get her to around 5:30. For some reason she's stopped drinking 8 oz for her first feeding, and is cutting herself off at around 5 oz. Don't know if that is contributing to the waking up at night or not.

Littlemia - Your DD has so much hair! Did she enjoy swimming? LOL, I had that same toy.

[happy1nuv]

mia ~ you weren't drinking, but id bet she was? (or hope, not that it excuses her)

littlemia ~ we went for a 2 week, 2 month, 4 month so far. (at the 4 mon, they made me sign a waiver about not vaxing... i had a cranky baby on my hands and didnt really read it and am sooo regretting that at the moment...not that itwould have changed my mind)... dr said she would see us in a month, but im thinking that is way too soon (unless they are going to try to push shots on us, which i doubt...she's pretty lax about it with my toddler, although she always has to ask, argh) ... im thinking we'll cancel the appt and do a 6 mon instead. i actually have a friend who doesn't do the whole wbv thing... and im kinda wondering what the point of it all is...

Harry Potter question alert...Don't look below if you don't want to know.. (sorry, don't know anyone irl who is reading)... BUT, i have to say I LOVED the book... BUT, what did harry do afterwards? i know what he did family wise, but what did he do job-wise??? i wanted to know that... and unless i skipped a part, i dont think she said???? could she really have left that detail out??? other than that, i loved the book...

[MarriedaGoalie]

Shimmer: What an adorable family!! Great pictures! Thanks for sharing!! :)

[danalou]

Tandis - We have only taken DD on a 7 hour car ride and she has handled it really well both times. I am still exclusively breastfeeding her so I made it a point to take one extra bottle with me from what she would normally have at daycare. She actually sleeps really well in the car and I just let her tell me when we need to stop. It typically was around every 2-1/2 hours that we will stop and change her and then give her a bottle once we get back on the road. I think switching them to the convertible seats will be an added bonus and just make sure to take plenty of bottles and then toys!!

Shimmer - The pictures of Noah are really cute!!

[MarriedaGoalie]

Coughing: Carter has been coughing like crazy the past day or so. Last night he was up half the night coughing so bad... along with that, he is congested. Any ideas on what could be going on?

[shimmerstar]

MAG, Noah got that a few weeks ago. It started with congestion and he had a nasty cough for about 1.5 weeks after that. The doc just said to elevate the head of his crib, which helped a lot, and we used vapor bath and nose drops. Hope he feels better soon!

[littlemia]

We had a GI visit today and Claire was weighed and measured. Here's her 4 months 9 days stats:

Weight: 12lb1oz
Height: 25"
Head Circumference: 39cm.

So, she's a tall, skinny baby with a little head.

Tandis- We're only a few days apart aren't we, so I guess it's no surprise we had the same toy, but it's still kind of funny. I bet you don't still have it, though. Claire seemed to like swimming, or at least she didn't hate it.

Whit- your DH is military, right? His CP must be really mild. DH's is mild but always assumed that he wouldn't qualify for the military but he never looked in to it.

[shimmerstar]

littlemia- Claire has almost the exact same stats as Noah's 4 month. He was a few oz heavier and a little taller. Everyone comments on how long and skinny he is! She's doing great!

[whitlockan]

mia that is sooooo bad!!!

mag sounds like a cold, thats what Z had his first week of school. The ped told us a while back a cough could stick around for 4 weeks easily once the cold goes away. But we put a few drops of vapor bath in his humidifier and then also elevated his mattress worked perfectly!

little lets just say something happend to his records. He spent 2 years in therapy and braces when he was little. Still has a limp but thats mainly due to one leg being shorter than the other but he got into USNA and USMA no problem so its not a big deal anymore.

What the heck is going on with my not so "perfect" baby now. I think we are having a bad case of seperation anxiety. We put him in his crib at night where he has slept 2 months no problem and he screams and screams we bring him into our bed and he shuts up, it was to test and see if thats what it was. Then I go to pick him up today and he was screaming, I simply said his name and he stopped crying and was fine the rest of the night, but he just wont sleep unless we are holding him. Any suggestions, I cant stand to hear him cry he has never been a baby that cried so this sucks!

[pewee9196]

Isabella
4 months
14 lbs 12 oz
24+ inches (did not write down the fraction! Arg)
41 cm head
Yep I have me a chnky little monkey! I am loving it!

Question: She rolls over the 2nd she goes down in her crib and goes right to sleep for 12 hours. Yay...problem is she is leaking pee out her diaper because the front gets way to saturated. My sister suggested going up a size in diapers another person said try cruisers instead of swaddlers. Any suggestions? It doesn't bother her but it bothers me greatly.

[betsyboop]

pewee- I know a lot of people seem to like Pampers better, but I have found that Huggies Supreme actually hold more pee and last all night without a problem. I used to have to change her at some point in the night when she was in Pampers but I never have to with Huggies.

Littlemia and Shimmer- Millie had just about the same stats too! Do you guys find that the waist on pants and shorts is still too loose on the 3-6 sized clothes? Millie just doesn't seem to have much of a belly and clothes literally fall off of her.

Miaclear- That woman sounds like one classy lady;)

Silly question- Millie has recently started sleeping in her crib for naps. I bought a monitor yesterday so I could go outside while she's napping to water plants, etc. My question is- where do you put the monitor in the baby's room? Do you put it in the crib or what? If it's on a surface outside of the crib, does it pick up the little noises before the baby starts cying? Just curious.

Another silly question- When did/do you take out the head support thing in the car seat?

Rolling over at night- Millie has just started doing this becuase we just took the swaddle away. She can roll in both directions, but she doesn't seem to realize that she can go 360 degrees. Once she goes from back to belly, she doesn't seem to get that she can keep rolling to get back to her back again. This causes random freak outs in the night- ugh.

[happy1nuv]

joe has really good head control and has for a really long time (people always comment hes really strong) ... we've been sans head thing in caseat for about 2 months - once he started to hate it...

[miaclear]

Monitor...we have ours on the dresser next to the crib. It picks up he noises really good. We set it on the voice activated setting otherwise we'd hear the white noise all night long. Any time he makes a peep though it comes on.

Headrest...I took out the one I bought at about 3 or 4 weeks cause his head was so big. But the one that's in the carseat can also be removed, I haven't yet...seems to just add more cushin for his noggin.

[kindermom]

PeeWee - We were having nightly wet beds until we moved Henry into Size 4 Huggies overnights. When we tried plain size 4's we still have a leak every 3rd night or so. With the overnight size 4's. they are big on him but they contain the pee. Normally he wears a size 3 diaper. Anyhow, we have gone from soaking through nightly to not at all since the switch to overnights.

I prefer Huggies on him as they fit his big body a little better.

[Kanga]

Ugghhhh, and I finally thought we were getting somewhere for naps. Yesterday I got one good nap out of her. I refuse to hold her for her naps anymore, otherwise she is pretty much held all day long and normally I wouldn't even mind that but it isn't fair to Daytona. It was getting so bad that the second dd2 was set down on the floor, dd1 would make a beeline for my lap. My original plan was to hold dd2 about 1/2 the time she was awake and do house chores the other half since she is good about entertaining herself. Then during her naps, dd1 would get my undivided attention. But she refuses to take a nap by herself. We were doing so good for about 2 weeks, then yesterday (also dh's first day back to work after vacay:cool:) she flat out refused to lay down for naps. She did for the first one on the third or so try, but the rest of the day was spent rocking then laying down, repeating until dd1 got whiny. Play with dd1 while dd2 was whiny from being overtired. Rinse lather repeat. Dh got home and I told him I refused to do anything for her other than feed her for the rest of the night. I hate feeling that resentful towards her :( On the good side, she went to bed at 7:30 and got up at 9am, waking at midnight and 3. At 3 she didn't go back to sleep but I think it's because I brought her into bed with us* and confused her and she had a poopy diaper) With dd1, it's a blur but I think I remember just being consistent about laying her down even if it took several times and following the 2 hour rule. I wish the kid would just nurse to sleep like I hear most kids do. Any ideas other than CIO? Maybe I have given up too soon, and just keep trying unti she gets it? I tried 7, yes 7 times to get her to nap today, and nothing. She falls asleep just fine while being walked or rocked but wakes up every.dang.time I transfer her to the pnp, crib, bed, etc. Finally on the 7th one she stayed down, but lasted no longer til I got downstairs to get something to eat.

*We had been cosleeping but recently stopped because no one was getting any sleep anymore.

[Brink]

Kanga - I completely relate with the older sibling. Between splitting time with the twins and trying to make sure she isn't left out it is hard. I put the twins down on the playmat quite a bit during the day. They usually crash out there for their naps. I also hold DD1 at the same time on my lap when I have a baby. Sometimes she will try to hold the bottle for the baby and I tell her what a good helper she is and she smiles. Other times she has come over to me and said "baby swing" and I say "do you want me to put the baby in the swing?" and she says "yes". When she does that I will always put the baby down because I know DD1 needs me. I think we have done a pretty good job balancing our time, but I know it is really hard so much of the time. No advice, just sympathy - hang in there.

whitlockan - sorry to hear about the change with crying. I am probably one of the few on here that believes in letting them cry themselves back to sleep. If I know they have been fed and burped, I leave them to cry. We went through a lot of that with DD1 for a period and she learned that it doesn't do any good to cry because we didn't go and get her. I know it sounds harsh, but now she is a great sleeper and we never have issues with her.

Monitor - we have ours for the babies on the other side of the room from their cribs. Having them next to them we heard too much. Everytime they made the slightest movement it came through. By moving it to the other side of the room, we still hear when they wake up but not every time they change positions. It's helped mommy and daddy sleep a little more.

[shimmerstar]

Betsy- Yes! He is almost out of 3-6 months because of his length (long torso) and they still don't fit in the waist. He is out of 9 month sleepers but could fit into them twice if he were shorter.

We took the head thing out when he was about 2 months because he was getting too long for it. It was pushing his head forward.

[Tandis]

Head support - I just took mine out a few weeks ago when I realized the girls had really outgrown it. Their head was touching the top - not that it ever seemed to really help since their heads still went all over the place when they were smaller.

Monitors - We have a small table set up between their cribs which is where I have their monitor set up. It picks up sounds from both girls with no problem - in fact, usually I have to keep the monitor turned down because otherwise I hear everything!

Kanga - Have you tried a bouncy seat? This past weekend A was on strike from taking naps in her crib and this was the only way I could get her to sleep - with the vibration on and me rocking it. Good luck. I can't even imagine how I would cope with an older child.

Littlemia - If I hadn't seen the picture of me with the toy at my 1st birthday party, I wouldn't even know I had it. My Mom was always good at giving away my toys to my cousins.

Danalou - Thanks for the suggestion. My girls do pretty well in the car, so I'm hoping they'll sleep most of the time. Did you find that DD was harder to put down that night because she had slept most of the day?

Happy1nuv - I heard she's supposed to be writing an encyclopedia where she will answer those questions. Considering that she's now writing two other books, separate from HP, I imagine that it will be quite a while before anything like that is published.

[danalou]

Tandis - We are really lucky with DD in the car. She has a habit of sleeping to the motion of the ride. I would estimate that with both trips she sleeps about 90% of the drive time. We leave right after her morning feeding and have made it to our destination by early afternoon. I don't remember her having a hard time falling asleep for the night either. I do know that when we got to our destination she had plenty of contact with people as we saw DH family both times. I do know that you have to be strict with your nightly sleep schedule when they are traveling as they tend to get overwhelmed with a bunch of new people!!

[happy1nuv]

Joe wants to crawl sooo bad. He was on the floor this morning and he saw this toy he likes about a foot away... he flipped onto his tummy and literally DRAGGED his face across the floor (he gets the legs more than the upper torso part of crawling) ...poor baby had rug burn on his cheeks! (nic was helpful enough to move his toy off the blanket...)

tandis ~ really? wow, thought she was done with hp! very cool!

[Kanga]

Tandis - We have a bouncy seat and for the first 3 or so months, she took all of her naps in it. I would bounce it and she would fall asleep there. Now she doesn't like it much. Or the bumbo, exersaucer, jumperoo, or swing. She's just not a 'thing' baby. I fear I may have a very active wild child in a year or so:p So far today, I've not had any problems. The first I cheated and she slept in the stroller when I took dd1 to the park though. I've had good luck twice now by laying her on top of a pillow on my bed. And last night she went down the first time and was very easy during the night last night as well. I'm hoping it was just a fluke! If it's a trend though, I may drag the bouncy chair back out and see if it helps.

[MarriedaGoalie]

I feel like such a horrible mom letting Carter sleep on his belly lately, but it is the only thing that makes him happy. If you put him on his back, he freaks out and starts crying. If you flip him back over on his tummy, he is right back asleep. It is so weird.

Monitor: Carter's monitor is on the floor next to his crib. We usually keep the sound on a 2 because it picks up so much.

Head Rest: I was wondering that, too... Carter's is still in his car seat.

[betsyboop]

Ok, so I guess I'll take out the head support thing from her carseat soon. I can't say that it seems to bother her or even that she's noticed it at all though. And I guess keeping the monitor nearby, but not too close seems to be the consensus. We aren't using it at night though, just during the day if I'm outside while she naps. Or if we're at my parents' house during a nap (my parents' house is pretty big and you can't hear anything from the bedrooms when you're downstairs). My house is so small that I can hear her from any room if she cries out, especially at night- I think it's probably 5 steps from the side of my bed to her crib:D

I spoke too soon about her not being able to roll 360 degrees. She now rolls all over the house:eek: I used to be able to put her down on her play mat and she'd basically stay put. Now she rolls right off of it and I usually move the dining room chairs out from under the table so she can have the whole rug to roll around on. It's so funny!

Belly sleeping- Now that she's not in the swaddle anymore, she is taking full advantage of the fact that she can move all around her crib. We've found her sleeping on her belly a few times now, but I'm not too concerned.

happy1- Wow, crawling?!

[happy1nuv]

mag - dont worry about the tummy sleeping... lots of us do it! (raising hand). some babies just sleep better that way!

betsy ~ nah, hes not crawling yet so much as using his legs to push himself around. hard to describe... his belly/face is on the floor, but his legs push forwards...

[Kanga]

MAG - Another bad mommy who lets their kids sleep on their tummies. I don't deliberately put them on their tummies, but I lay them on their side and let them decide which way to go. I was pretty paranoid with Daytona, but she slept fine on her back. Had she screamed on her back i probably would have flipped her. Also, you've probably heard of the Angel Care monitor (I think there are knock off's now too) but it will sound an alarm if your babe stops breathing for a certain amount of time. Might be worth it if you're not getting any sleep with him on his stomach.

Camdyn has started scooting now. Not too far, only a few inches at a time. Sometimes forwards and sometimes backwards. I find her in all sorts of crazy positions in the morning. My newborn isn't such a newborn anymore:(

We recently switched her to her sister's room and OMG, what a difference. She was waking at least 3x usually, sometimes 4 or even 5. I moved her into the pnp in Daytona's room (we only have a 2br) and now she's down to 2 wakings usually and last night she woke only once. *Doing a happy dance* I hope it continues.

On the nap front....I hate to jinx myself but she has been back to normal lately and also put herself on a loose schedule. She naps three times a day, with the second one being the long one (2-3hrs) AND in conjunction with Daytona's nap most times or at least overlaps it. Finally some Mommy time all too myself!

It's tax free weekend here in Iowa so I did some shopping for fall clothes. I found a bunch of stuff in the little BOYS section for Cami. *shurg* I can't WAIT for it to get cold enough so MIL can see her in it. She'll flip for sure since apparently little girls are supposed to wear pink flowered ruffly dresses. Most of it's blue and brown....one even has a race car on it and is very obviously a boys outfit (the other ones could pass for GN)but with her other granddaughter named Daytona - what did she expect?:D The Carter's line is seriously the cutest I've seen in a long time, even compared to Gymbo, Janie and Jack, etc.

Need some opinions from some of you -While shopping today I ran into a friend I went to college with. We used to be very good friends and did everything together but parent very differently and are both very busy now so we've somewhat drifted apart. She is due in two months with her 3rd girl and invited me to her baby shower. She had one for her 2nd, and I would assume her first but I didn't know her at that time. Her other kids are 5 and 3. I asked her what she needed and she said pretty much everything since she got rid of her 2nd dd's stuff. The same thing she did with her first dd. I guess she gave it all away to her brother. Is it just me or is it a little odd 1. To have a baby shower for the 3rd same sex child(and a full-on babyshower, not a meet the baby, etc) and 2. To invinte somebody whom you don't really talk to all that much and never bothered to tell you're pregnant until the baby shower invite? If you all think I'm the wierd one (and please do tell me if I am...I want honest opinions) I'll gladly shut my trap.

[Orion]

Hi All! I just wanted to post to let you all know that I am still around. Life has just been really busy and I haven't had the time to post. My Mom, and Brother were out visiting for three weeks and since it was their first time to Victoria, I played tour guide for three weeks. They left about a week ago so we are now just recovering from it all.

Dalton is doing really well. Growing bigger and stronger everyday. He is sleeping really well now that he is back in his crib (we co-slept while my Mom was here because she was in his room and he wouldn't sleep in our room without being in bed with us...great birth control!). He only wakes up once a night for a feeding and he goes to bed between 6:30 and 7 pm and sleep 12 hours! He takes three naps a day and they are progressivly getting longer. His morning nap is his longest (three hours this morning!). He is such a joy to have around the house.

Sophie is doing well too. She will be 20 months on the 11th and walking and talking up a storm. She's actually said Dalton's name a few times and it was so cute. She loves her little brother so much but does show her jealous side every once in a while but nothing too bad.

DH is doing well with his courses in the Navy. He had to pick his top three ships that he would want to be posted to and we picked all East Coast ships in hopes of getting posted close to home. If we do get posted to Halifax, we are looking to buy a house in the Windsor area. Our familes both live in Amherst and it would be so nice to be so close to them, especially for when he is out to sea for weeks at a time.

Since life is starting to settle back into the norm, I'm hoping to become active on this thread again. Hope you are all having a great summer.

[Tandis]

Just wanted to post real quick:

Have you all heard about the Target Gerber coupon? It's $1 off two Gerber items. Well, the little jars of stage 2 foods are $.52 each! So two jars cost $.04!! :eek:

I went last night and there were only ten jars of the stage two left, so I bought those - and 90 jars of stage three! So 100 jars of food cost me $16.50!!!

Unfortunately, that really only translates to about seven weeks of food for us, but it's still an awesome deal. The majority of the Target stores don't limit how many of these coupons you can use - I used 50 coupons last night! So I'm planning on going back a few more times and stocking up as much as I can.

http://coupons.50webs.org/coupons37/coupon2.html

[goldengbridge]

Tandis- Yes! I've been stocking up over the past few weeks as well. What an awesome deal!

[whitlockan]

Tandis thanks, I was and still am going to make our own food but for this I just went ahead and stocked up.

baby foodUnfortunatley the target I shop at only sells the baby food in the plastic containers that come 2 to a pack but I went ahead and got some anyways. In the end it ended up being the equivlent to buy one package get one free....not bad. 88 2 to a pack packages only costed me 43.98, which thats 176 containers worth of baby food. I got half stage 1 and half stage 2, wasnt sure how long it would be before he would be in stage 3? I really dont understand the stage stuff so if someone could explain that would be great. Either way we got a termendous savings since I'd have to purchase the containers to put his food in anyways after I made it. The place was fully stocked for the most part, I mean I got a great assortment of stage 1 and 2 but I'm going to hit up a few other targets in the area and get some more. The lady behind me was so nice she was like man where did you get those and I giggled. I can stock up now we will start introducing a little after 6 months, of course with cereal first but the food has a shelf life of a year so it doesnt hurt. My husband said dont worry if you buy to much we will just have to eat it, I laughed and said um no you will have to eat it.....I can actually return it too so if you ladies think I have to much stage 1s let me know. And the plastic doesnt bother me because I HAVE to send it to school in a plastic container even if I make it they dont allow glass. But I did get a kick out of this, they sell the organic in plastic containers whats the point of getting it packaged in that. The containers in itself will have just as many chemicals as the non-organic baby food.....well thats the theory that makes sense to me since plastic does break down - not trying to start a debate just something I noticed and thought was ironic.

**Oh guess what....we hit a milestone. Last week at our WBV she told us to try to reintroduce dairy to my diet and I was so nervous so we went slowly one thing the first night, he had no reaction to any feedings over 24 horus so I added a little more, I am happy to report after 4 months of being dairy free we are clear and over our sensitivity!!! But now I must say milk is soooooooooo GROSS, including real ice cream. I swore up and down to my husband that I got a spoiled batch of ice cream from DQ but he wouldnt turn the car around because I was crazy thats just real ice cream tastes like....hes like see I dont know why you ever liked it so much in the first place its not that great. I'll be sticking with soy but at least I can eat what I want and not have to watch it now. What a relief.

[Tandis]

Whit - Wow - that's fantastic! As far as I can tell, the difference between 1 & 2 is mainly the size of the container. The girls have been eating one plastic container of Stage 2 for three days now (they're finishing it up tonight) - but that's with milk and cereal also, so they're not eating much of the bananas.

It looks like the Stage 3 is a little chunkier - not as well pureed.

Yay for DS being over his dairy sensitivity. LOL about the taste of real dairy. I was dairy free for years until I got pregnant and suddenly had a craving for milk. Totally know what you mean about it being gross.

[whitlockan]

oh and our seperation anxiety was short lived we are back to sleeping all night in our crib and napping well. Were also a happy camper at school but we do HATE strangers and scream when they look at us.

Anyone know what the bleach/water ratio is that schools use to disinfect? Or what do you use on toys I need to do some major cleaning of his excauser ones since he does nothing but chew on them

orion good luck, I hope he gets his top choice.

[goldengbridge]

Whit- Trying the clorox anywhere spray. Its a safe cleaner that they say you can even use on the highchair. I always use it to clean DS's toys and it cleans great!

[littlemia]

Shimmerstar- I didn't realize Noah was a long and lean baby, too. Now that you said something I noticed how tall he is in the most recent pictures you posted.

Betsy- Pants, or anything with a waist except for bloomers, don't work too well for us. She's received a few really cute outfits that I'm going to have to take in in the waist so she can wear them.

Whit- that is fantastic about Z's dairy allergy. I know he would react strongly to even small amounts of dairy, so what a great turnaround.

We had a Bumbo accident a few days ago. I walked out of the room for a second and heard a horrible scream and she was face down on the tile in the bathroom. Poor baby. Luckily she wasn't hurt; it probably scared her as much as anything else. I feel terrible because I was just thinking that she could probably get out of it and hurt herself yet I still walked out. And she did it reaching for a plastic bag on the floor. :rolleyes: I guess I won't be winning any mother of the year awards.

[kindermom]

littlemia - If it makes you feel any better, we learned the hard way that Henry is not safe on the sofa anymore after he face planted into the hard wood floors.

whit - I use white vinegar to clean. Straight vinegar, like you buy in the store, kills 99 percent of bacteria, 82 percent of mold, and 80 percent of germs (viruses). I keep a spray bottle in the kitchen for spraying off everything. The best part is that it is nontoxic and really cheap.

[Kanga]

Eh, I forgot to feed Daytona breakfast this morning. Apparently she forgot too, otherwise normally she'll drag me into the kitchen and make me open the fridge so she can pick what she wants.

[shimmerstar]

I still clip Noah's skin almost every time I clip his nails. I don't do it until he is scratching the crap out of himself.

We swam at the lake today. Noah seemed to like it and just watched everything. Then he pulled his hat down, sucked his thumb and went to sleep while we were still in the water. I guess it wasn't that exciting, but I had a lot of fun.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1406/1011680112_c49af949b0_m.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1297/1010799533_bb4ee80d42_m.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1230/1010795201_8155e0e8e0.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1149/1011665628_9273a2e8bd_m.jpg
Trying his mesh feeder- he loved it so much that he screamed when it dropped.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1138/1012468795_a55a7cf96f_m.jpg
I was trying to get a picture of his outfit, so I leaned him up against the back of the chair, and he stood up for a few seconds! Then he leaned back against the chair. I thought it was cool.

[betsyboop]

Tandis- Wow, thanks for the info on that coupon! I was going to make my own food, but that deal is too good to pass up.

Whit- You must be so glad to not have to worry about dairy anymore. I can't only imagine what a hassle that must have been!

littlemia- Scary! I almost had a heart attack a few days ago when Millie came about a milimeter from rolling off the bed. I've put her in the center of our bed while I get dressed every morning of her life. That particular morning, I turned to get something out of a drawer, heard the covers moving and turned back around to see her teetering on the very edge of the bed:eek: I also have clipped her skin accidentally while clipping her nails. Nail clipping has been Dave's job since she was about 2 months old:p

Shimmerstar- That's amazing that Noah was standing! I can't believe how big our babies are getting!! It's a little bittersweet to me:o

[kindermom]

To those ladies who are going to make your own food but want to act on the Target coupon, you may want to stock up on the harder to make foods like green vegetables. It is nearly impossible to get a creamy texture with peas and green beans. I never got bananas to come out the same way either. In addition, you may want to buy the veggies that are more expensive per pound/size unit. According to consumer reports and my produce guy, I would hold off on buying babyfood for sweet potatoes and applesauce. They are both better off being organic and they are crazy easy to puree to boot.

Henry is finally rolling more. I am pretty sure because my little guy is so big he is going to be a little delayed on some things.

His sister is finally getting into being a big sister. Last night without prompting, she was kissing in, sharing her toys, and trying to help him play with them. It was absolutely adorable to watch her give the Little Leaps animals to him and make them dance all over his back. She was making him crack up.

[Brink]

Hi All,

We just got back from a camping trip with all three girls. We cheated and have a motorhome, but it was still a big deal for us. It was the five of us plus our two dogs for 5 days. The place was far away and took us about 7 hours to get there. The girls did great and we stopped three times along the way on the way down for feedings. On the way back we left at night and drove straight through without stopping.


Stages - if you go to the gerber site at http://www.gerber.com/phase/index it tells you what foods are for what stage. Basically it is:

Supported Sitter - Stage 1
Independent Sitter - Stage 2
Crawler - Stage 3

There are other guidelines like when they can eat the biscuits/crackers and such. Just click on each phase and it has a list of products that can be used.

[betsyboop]

I was just looking through a pile of coupons that was in my junk drawer and found one that is $1 off any 2 gerber or earth's best food items at babies r us, so I guess they are running the same deal. The coupon came in a little cataloge a week or so ago, will multiply at checkout, and doesn't expire until 4/30/08. Just an fyi:)

[danalou]

I think I am going to act on the Target coupon as well as like others said it is just too easy to pass up!!

Kindermom- Thanks for the info on foods to stock up on versus making. I would like to make much of her food, but with the coupon it would be nice to get the ones that don't turn out as well. About your white vinegar as cleaning do you use it at 100% strength or do you dilute it?

Brink- Thanks for the link I will save that one for future reference.

Whit- I can't imagine giving up ice cream for that long, but when it comes to the health of our kids I would give it up as well!!

Littlemia - I am glad that hear that nothing too serious happened from the fall. I think we are entering the stage when you can't just leave them for a minute!!

Betsy- I will have to look for that coupon.


DD might be having some teething issues these days as she was really cranky last night and would only settle down when she was held. This isn't normal for her and she even had a different cry that is something new a well. I will have to keep an eye on her and she if is was just a one time thing or if it is indeed teething.

QOTD - I am curious with all this talk of solids what people plan to make for the kids as homemade baby food?

[kindermom]

Danalou - I use full strength white vinegar. Another use for it is when you cook in a non-nonstick pan and the cride gets stuck in the bottom. I will boil vinegar and water in the pan for a few minutes and it comes right out. I wish someone told me that stick a long time ago.

QOTD - I made all of my own food last time around. I would guess that outside of grains, DD had 4 jars of food. If it is fruit that has a thin skin or if it gorws in the ground, my rule of thumb is to buy organic. Meats are hormone free for the babies as well. At least this is whenever I can choose. Other than buying some peas and beans and bananas this time, i will be making everything else.

Ah. Teething. Got to love it. H is teething up a storm right now. He was going to town chewing on a teether last night.Poor little guy is so cranky as well.

Well, to work I go.

[miaclear]

So do I need to print a billion coupons or will they just take one?

[Tandis]

Miaclear - You mean the Target coupons? You have to have however many coupons you want to redeem, ie, 20 coupons for 40 containers of food, etc.

[Brink]

Coupons - Tandis - that was a wonderful find. I just printed 30 of them and went to Target. The sales person thought it was great that I could get so much for so little. I'm going to print another 30 and take them to a different Target tonight. I can't believe Target or Gerber would have thought so many of us would be flooding their stores with these. Wonder how long before they make that mistake again!

[Tandis]

Brink - My Mom was just commenting today that perhaps they'll have another coupon like this around the time I run out. I told her I highly doubted they would ever make this mistake again.

On a slight side note, I went back to my Target today - for the third time - and used another 60 coupons! So all together, I have used 170 coupons and estimate I have roughly 210 days worth of food - but that's only if each of my girls only eat one jar a day. My grand total for all that food? $70!!! :D That's only $5 a month per child (assuming they only eat one jar a day, which they won't). Heck, if I only had one baby I'd have 420 days worth of food!

LOL, and I'm going back in a couple days to get more. I don't think I have enough yet.

[happy1nuv]

Ha, great finds! I don't think it would be worth it for me to do it... the ONLY baby food i bought for Nic was prunes (he had some so UNfun constipation issues which only prunes would work for... ) ... and I plan to do the same again. I just didnt feed Nic the peas/etc. until he could chew them as I could make them... Starting at 6 mos and waiting 4 days between introducing foods -- i really didnt run out of stuff to introduce, even avoiding the hard to puree stuff (but, two months later, he could handle the chunkier stuff, yanno?)

I did all organic for Nic the first year, then i relaxed a bit after that but still did organic for the important ones (of course, since then I've come across 3-4 idfferent lists of what the important ones are, so who knows what ill do for joe)... I'm in denial that 6 months is soon....

BUT, can I vent for a second? With Nic, we waited til 6 mos to start solids. EVERYONE and their brother told us that the way that kid ate (at the boob) and the way he watched everyone eat - he wanted food (from like 3 mos on) ... and that milk just wouldn't be enough for him. Well, now EVERYONE is saying the same for Joe. Ummm, he's the biggest chunk with no end in sight... all on mama's milk. Believe me, he's not crying for "REAL" food! ...Argh! (And, whether he's watching me dangle a toy in his face or stuff something yummy in my face -- its the same lemme suck on that for a sec look!)

That felt good to say, to people who would actually understand...

:)

[danalou]

Coupons- Just and FYI that Babies R Us has a similar coupon that would have been mailed to you a few weeks back that is good for $1.00 off two Gerber or Earths Best baby food. Best part is that it is good until April 2008 and can be multiplied at the store. It does say the store can reserve the right to limit the quantity, but if you need more after the Target coupon expires next week it is an option!!

Happy- Everyone has their opinions about how to raise your kids and you just have to tune it out and stick to your instincts!! I am curious if you have found any good websites for making your own baby food?

[betsyboop]

For those who have used the coupons already- were you able to find stage 1 foods in the $.52 jars? I went to 2 different Targets yesterday and all they had was stage 2 in those jars. The stage 1 stuff was in plastic jars that came in a 2 pack for $.99. Just curious.

When I went to check out, the kid at the register didn't know what to make of me- I think I got like $30 worth of food for $4. All he said was "whoa" :p

Danalou- I have this book called the Petite Apetite which has lots of good ideas for making baby food and what to give at what ages/stages. I've obviously never used it, but I read it a while ago and it seems pretty good. It got good reviews on Amazon as well.

[goldengbridge]

Betsy- Our target only had the stage 1's in the plastic containers too! And in fact our store only have a few kinds of the stage 2 in jars. I had to buy mostly the plastic containers also!

[whitlockan]

betsy ditto golden I got all in plastic, have to send it in that for school anyways but it essentially turns out to be buy 1 get 1 free. I got 88 2-packs (half 1 & half 2) for 43.98 which is still awesome considering it would have been 87.12 before taxes, still a significant savings if you ask me.

I'm printing more today and hitting up another target. My check out lady was like people do this all the time, its great. Everyone in line wanted to knnow where they could get them either for themselves or people they know.

happy ignore them is what I do, Z's cousin started solids at 2 months and I made it VERY clear to them, that was not going to happen to Z, 6 months at the earliest! Z still could care less about my food, he will watch me for the first 2 bites or so then go back to what he was doing!

[Sherb]

We used the coupon last night. Someone had already hit our Target pretty hard but we still managed to get over 140 containers of food for $30. Not too shabby since the original total was almost $100. Approximate cost per container = $.25. Almost half of it was the two packs of stage 2 & 3 food.

[Orion]

Wow...what a great deal you guys are getting at Target! We don't have Target in Canada but I make my own baby food anyway.

Happy: Don't worry about what other people say (easier said than done, right!). I am also holding out on feeding solids to Dalton and people are telling me that because he isn't sleeping 12 hours straight through the night, that he is starving and I should be feeding him more. Number one: I breastfed. A breast fed baby needs to eat more often than a formula fed one. And number two: he, as well, is a chunky little guy and all on Booby Juice, thank you very much. When people say something like that to you, mention him being all fed on booby juice and it usually takes people by surprise and they leave you alone.

Danalou: I don't know about websites but I have a great book. Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron is a great book that breaks down what you should introduce month by month, how to prepare it and how to store/freeze it. It is filled with so many different answers to so many different questions. I highly recommend it.

[MarriedaGoalie]

WOW, I'm so impressed with you girls and your wonderful deals! I haven't even thought about purchasing baby food yet... *eek!*

[Kanga]

Baby Food - I'm planning on making my own and pretty much skipping the puree'd stuff anyways, but that deal is too good to pass up for when I'm feeling lazy. I don't think we'll use much of it, especially if Cami is anything like Daytona was, but if we don't go through it all I can always donate it to a woman's shelter.

Happy - I think you and I have the same family. Everybody is always asking when she can eat, would she like some of this, can I give this to her, etc. I think it's because our parents generation was told to give cereal in a bottle starting from a couple weeks old and they find it so hard to believe that isn't the case anymore. Babies are even worse than pets, in that people can't help themselves from constantly sticking things in their mouths!

Well, it's just me and Cami for the next few days. It's Knoxville Sprint Car Nationals, which is basically the Super Bowl of sprint car racing so dh took Daytona down to his mom's (in the same town this is going on) so I owuldn't be alone with 2 kids for so long. I'm a little worried about how she'll do being away from for so long, but dh will be there with her all during the day, it's just the evenings that she'll be without mommy and daddy. I'm a little sad to miss out this year, but no way do I think his mom could handle both girls, and Cami doesn't do well away from me anyways. As a side note, I can not believe how CLEAN my house is. Daytona isn't here to drag out all of her toys 50,000 times a day and dh isn't here to make a huge mess in the kitchen. REally, I'm grateful he does most of hte cooking, but the man has no concept of clean as you go. Oh, and miraculously, all dirty laundry has found it's way to the hampers.

[danalou]

Betsy- Thanks I will have to check out that book!! As for Stage 1 jars -> I have been to 4+ different Targets in my area and I have yet to find any. They have a very limited selection mostly stage 2 meat combos and then larger jars of stage 3 fruit combos.