January 2007 Mommies - We are 1! Where did the time go?

[January2007Mommies]

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January 2007 Mommies - Part I (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19293)
January 2007 Mommies - Part II (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24229)
January 2007 Mommies - Part III (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=28574)

New members are always welcome!!!

*Please list your stats in RED in your first post.

Username:
Me: Name, age
DH: Name, age
EDD/Actual Birth Date:
Predicted/Actual Gender:
Baby's Name:
Any other children:

*Please posts all updates in RED.

The threadmistresses for this thread are zhannushka , Indiana Bride, Lucy Van Pelt and jmvan74

[January2007Mommies]

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Alegna
Me: Angela, 27
DH: Mike, 31
Any other children: dog Abby

amberwaves
Me: 32
DH: 36
Any other children: Big Sister Gabrielle, Born 7.1.04

amwilson615
Me: Amanda, 27
FH: James, 28
Any other children: I have a 3.75 year old daughter (Avery Beatrice, 8-15-2002) from a previous relationship, he has no kids.

ButterflyJen
Me: Jen, 32
DH: DH, 29
Any other children: DD, August 14, 2004

Dansgirl
Me: A, 26
DH: D, 32
Any other children: Nope, just a cat that's gonna be very jeolous when the little one comes along!

Elenna
Me: Lorelei, 32
DH: Jay, 33
Any Other Children: 2 furbabies..Joey and Audrey

GardenGirl
Me: Tera, 27
DH: Brian, 36

ggclark
Me: G, 27
DH: J, 30
EDD/Actual Birth Date: EDD Feb 6/Actual Jan 30
Predicted/Actual Gender:Girl
Baby's Name: Lily June
Any other children:Not yet
Lily was 5lbs 10 oz, 19 inches, born at 4:28 am



gmooter
Me: 31
DH: 32
Any other children: DD, 08/30/06

IndianaBride
Me: Stacey (31)
DH: Nate (29)
DS: Jackson (2)

Jilly
Me: 29
DH: 28
Any other children: DS: 03/26/05

jmvan74
Me: Julie, 33
DH:
Any other children: DS Collin (born 6-13-05)

katmg
Me: 27
DH: 31

la_bride_2004
Me: 34
DH: 38
EDD/Actual Birth Date: 02/14/07, scheduled c-section 2/06/07, actual birth date 01/12/07
Predicted/Actual Gender: boy/boy
Baby's Name: Malcolm
Any other children: 2 furbabies

lindzgirl
Me:25
DH:23
EDD:1/19/07
Actual Birthdate:2/3/07
Baby Girl: Daphne Nicole
Prediction: Baby girl
Birthweight: 7LBS 7OZ
21 3/4 inches long

Lucy Van Pelt
Me: Ginger, 35
DH: Brad, 31
Any other children: Just our 2 year old cocker spaniel, Lucy!

magdesilver
Me: Margaret, 29
DH: Dan, 29
Any other children: DD Allison, 4/25/05

mommydearest
Me: Kristen, 26
DH: Russ, 26

NYLACHI
Me: Catherine, 31
DH: Allen, 31

purpleorchids
Me: Cheryl
FH: Mark
Any other children: I have a 17 month daughter

quest
Me: quest, age 40
DH: age 43
Actual Birth Date: 1/14/07
Predicted/Actual Gender: Boy!
Baby's Name: Jack
Any other children: DD, 10/03


richards2
Me: Mandi 27
DH: Don 28
Any other children: Daughter Lilianna born August 5, 2005

Robyn
Me: 29
DH: 28

thechick79
Me: 26
DH: Steve, 27
Any other children: Just our puppy, Dory

usafwife
Me: Meri, 28
DH: R, 39
Any other children: Sarah, 6/05

wagsgirl
Me: Tonya, 31
DH: Ryan, 30
Any other children: Briley Rose 10/28/02, Greydon John 2/18/05

wine_o_girlie
Me: 28
DH: 32

Winter Biscuit
Me: Winter Biscuit, 32
DH: DH, 35
Any other children: DD born 12/17/03

zhannushka
Me: Zhanna, 28
DH: Mark, 30
Any other children: Just our furbaby, Malish

[January2007Mommies]

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***December 6th, 2006
Isabella (richards2)

***December 30th, 2006
Reese Katherine (IndianaBride)

***January 4th, 2007
Gretchen Sofia (amberwaves)
6 lbs. 12 oz
20 inches
Born at 12:50 p.m.

Charlotte (katmg)
7 lbs
19 inches

***January 5th, 2007
Lydia Grace (thechick79)
6 lbs 11 oz
19 3/4 inches
Born at 1:17am

Megan Elizabeth (Alegna)
6 lbs 7 oz
19 3/4 inches
Born at 5:21 am

***January 8th, 2007
Carter Lloyd (GardenGirl)
6 lbs 9 oz
20 inches
Born at 7:08 pm

***January 10th, 2007
Joseph Eduard (zhannushka)
8 lbs 9 oz
21.5 inches
Born at 12:44 am

Ayla (purple orchids)
Born at 2:56 am

***January 12th, 2007
Owen Michael (jilly)
7lb 13oz
20.5 inches
Born at 8:11 am

Malcolm (la_bride_2004)
5 lbs, 14 oz
18 inches
Born at 10:39 p.m

***January 14th, 2007
Jaden James Alexander (amwilson)
8lb 9oz
21 inches

Jack (quest)

***January 17th, 2007
Brady (jmvan74)
7lb 14oz
21 inches

Lee Edward (Elenna)
6lbs 7.25 oz
19 inches
Born at 10:27 am

***January 19th, 2007
Alexander Thomas (usafwife)
7 lbs 6 oz
19 1/4 inches
Born at 1:39 pm

***January 20th, 2007
Griffin Todd (wine_o_girlie)
7 lb 3 oz
Born at 2:24 pm

***January 22nd, 2007
Rogan Irey (wagsgirl)
8 lbs 12oz
21.5 inches
Born at 12:16 pm

***January 23rd, 2007
Allison Grace (Winter Biscuit)
7 lbs .08 ounces
20.25 inches
Born at 10:27 am

***January 24th, 2007
Abigail Grace (mommydearest)
6 lbs 7 oz
20 inches long
Born at 1:21 pm

Asher Noah (NYLACHI)
7 lbs 15 oz
Born at 8:21 am

***January 26th, 2007
Ethan George (magdesilver)
Born at 8:21 am

LJ (robyn)
7 lbs 6 oz
19.75 inches
Born at 9:35 pm

Gabriel Marcus (gmooter)
8 lbs 11oz
22 1/4 inches
Born at 1:38 pm

***January 30th, 2007
Lily June (ggclark)
5lbs 10 oz
19 inches
Born at 4:28 am

***February 1st, 2007
Julia Morgan (ButterflyJen)
5 lbs 11 oz
18 1/2 inches
Born at 4:35 pm

***February 3rd, 2007
Daphne Nicole (lindzgirl)
7 lbs 7oz
21 3/4 inches

***February 6th, 2007
Kaitlyn Isabelle (Lucy Van Pelt)
8 lbs 5 oz
21.5 inches
Born at 11:34 pm

Charlotte Ila (DansGirl)
7 lbs 8.5 oz
21 inches

[January2007Mommies]

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[January2007Mommies]

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[GardenGirl]

Just coming in to subscribe - so I will stop posting in the other one.

It's hot here, I think we might go to the pool this afternoon.

Thanks for opening the thread Zhanna.

[zhannushka]

No problem, Tera! I'm sorry it took so long... :o Have fun at the pool! :D

[katmg]

Yay for a new thread! Thanks zhanna!

[jmvan74]

Thanks Zhanna!

[ggclark]

Thanks for posting the new thread...

Here is my most up to date information... in red :) Since i am sort of new to the site and missed all the info in the beginning.. here it is now!

Username:ggclark
Me: G, 27
DH: J, 30
EDD/Actual Birth Date: EDD Feb 6/Actual Jan 30
Predicted/Actual Gender:Girl
Baby's Name: Lily June
Any other children:Not yet
Lily was 5lbs 10 oz, 19 inches, born at 4:28 am

[lindzgirl]

Here is my updated info in red as well.

username: lindzgirl
Me:25
DH:23
EDD:1/19/07
Actual Birthdate:2/3/07
Baby Girl: Daphne Nicole
Prediction: Baby girl
Birthweight: 7LBS 7OZ
21 3/4 inches long

Thanks Zhanna!

[January2007Mommies]

UPDATED TO HERE

[mommydearest]

QOTD 1: This is mostly for ROs, but do you have a gate at the top of your stairs that you like? I went to BRU and there were a bunch of choices in the $50-$100 range. DH doesn't want to spend that much money without trying one out, but our BRU stopped having them out of the box.

QOTD 2: Did those of you still nursing buy new nipples for your bottles since the baby has gotten older? I use Dr. Browns and hadn't bothered but my mom told me it took DD 20 minutes to drink 4 oz.

QOTD 3: Did you buy new binkies? DD is still using the 0-3 month at bedtime only and I'm not sure if I should upgrade to 6+ month ones.

[wagsgirl]

QOTD 1-I can't be of much help. We have one gate but it's at the entrance to our kitchen, not at the stairs...

QOTD 2-We use Avent bottles (rarely) and I switched out the newborn ones to the next size up. I've heard for BF'd babies, it's ok to keep the slower nipples because they're used to it being out of the boob (a bit slower than a bottle).

QOTD 3- I still use the little binkies. Haven't moved up yet. He still seems happy with the other ones. But I do have some new ones bought and "in waiting" ;)

[zhannushka]

QOTD 1 - We haven't bought any gates yet, so - I can't be of any help here unfortunately.

QOTD 2 - I pump and bottlefeed - we went up once, when DS was around 3 months old - from the slow flow to the medium flow size. He's doing very well with medium flow, so - I don't anticipate having to upgrade to the fast flow nipples.

QOTD 3 - We are now using all 6+ months binkies. The little ones were becoming too small for him - he kept spitting them out and getting upset.

[gmooter]

Just subscribing for now!!

[katmg]

QOTD 3: Just bought some 6 mo+ pacifiers and need to sterilize them. I'm trying to be less reliant on them. I haven't decided where I want to restrict their use to. I'm thinking, for now: crib, pack n play, car. No more pacifier at the store or playing on the ground, etc.

[ggclark]

Changed my picture/avatar... :) Something more recent.

[zhannushka]

Changed my picture/avatar... :) Something more recent.
Awww! She's adorable! :)

[Alegna]

Thanks for the new thread Zhanna. :p

Q1 ~ We've got a few gates we use for the dog. But we just lean it up against the door frame for her. Haven't bothered to mount anything for Megan yet.

Q2 ~ We use Avent bottles and I went up to the faster flow nipples a week or so ago. Daycare mentioned it was taking Megan a while to finish and she was getting very frustrated. But she only gets 2 bottles a day so I'm not worried about it affecting my nursing relationship. Althought I did get bit yesterday! Not sure if the faster nipples have anything to do with that or not. But I'm definatley keeping my eye out!

Q3 ~ I bought some new pacis too. A few of her 0-3 month ones got wierd. I don't know if water got inside when I washed them or what. But it was gross. She doesn't use them all that much. She doesn't really have a preference.

[GardenGirl]

Yikes - I can't believe Carter is 7 months today. I'm in denial.

QOTD #1 - we don't use any gates, so I'm no help there.
QOTD #2 - and we don't use bottles, so again no help.
QOTD #3 - I tried to give him the 3-6 month size and it was much larger than the 0-3 and he spit it out. So I just bought more 0-3, and the 0-6 Avents are the same size, so we have a few of those. He only uses them in the middle of the night and naptimes when I need him to calm down. Sometimes he'll get them in the car if he's frustrated and lonely.

We're still working on sleep over here. He's put himself to sleep the last couple days but it takes at least 45 minutes. I have to stay in there and I pat him at the first sign of frustration (he tail spins fast if I don't). But one little quick pat and he's okay. But I just sit out of sight and read a book while he plays. I think the success at night should help the naps. He's been a bear to put down for naps lately. He used to be easy.

DH hasn't been feeling well the last 3 days. He has a fever and is achy, but no other symptoms. He agreed to a doctor visit. I feel bad for him, but I also need him well. I can't take care of him and Carter in the evenings, it's tough. Props go to the mothers and/or fathers that do it by themselves.

[Winter Biscuit]

QOTD 1: We have 2 gates (from DD#1) , but haven't gotten them out yet. Both of them are similar to this one: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2267000&cp=2255984.2256222&parentPage=family I like that they fit "normal" doorways, as well as wide doorways. Not sure what we're going to do about the stairs or if I'll be able to use one of those gates on our stairs.

QOTD 2: We use Avent bottles with size 2 nipples. I have the next size nipples (size 3), but haven't felt the need to switch. Allie's caregivers at daycare say that she is doing just fine with the size 2's - it takes her 15 minutes to drink 7 oz of EBM, which they are comfortable with. FWIW, DD#1 stayed with size 2 or 3 nipples her entire first year of life, until she permanently switched to a cup. It was never an issue for us to make sure her bottle nipple size kept up with her age.

QOTD 3: We switched to pacis in size 6+ months about a month or so ago. One of my friends and her husband are both dentists, and they noticed that we were still using the big ol' green Soothie that we got from the hospital when Allison was 5 months old. Being a dentist, my friend couldn't help telling me that I need to switch to an orthodontic paci. She even pointed out the "damage" that was occurring in Allison's mouth due to using a paci :rolleyes: I more or less dismissed her warnings at first, but admit that about a week later, I was at the store and felt guilt tripped into buying new pacis that are designed for babies 6+ months. Allison hated her new pacis at first (and I didn't dare throw out the green Soothies just in case) but within a day or two she was just fine, and I tossed all the green Soothies out. We can now switch between a few different brands of orthodontic pacis with no problems whatsoever.

[quest]

Just subscribing and posting updated info:

Me: quest, age 40
DH: age 43
Actual Birth Date: 1/14/07
Predicted/Actual Gender: Boy!
Baby's Name: Jack
Any other children: DD, 10/03

qotd: gates...we never really needed a gate for DD (she didn't crawl and was a late walker, and by then she just listened really well if we told her 'no' ;)) but I have the feeling DS is going to be a different story. We NEED something to fit at the top of our stairs but so far everything we've tried doesn't work. We're going to need to figure out something sooner rather than later, though!

qotd: nipple size...we're still on 'medium flow'...I tried the faster flow a few weeks ago because DS was collapsing the nipples but he was really po'd about them...I tried a few times but he just hated them. So I bought more medium flow and he's happy. But I still think he needs the bigger size so I'll give it a shot one more time.

new qotd: I think this was touched on a little bit ago...but if you use the mesh feeder, what have you had success putting in it? I bought one last week and still haven't tried it. I got it because DS LOVES the biter biscuits but got a huge chunk off it within seconds the first time he had one...DD never did that! So knowing how he liked the idea of that I thought he'd like the mesh feeder. DS doesn't like bananas, so other than that what works well in it?

[wagsgirl]

QOTD-I've never used a mesh feeder with any of my kids, so I don't know anything about them really...

Update info. As of today, I'm now 31...:o

[la_bride_2004]

Hi ladies! Yaay for a new thread!!

My updates:

Username: la_bride_2004
Me: 34
DH: 38
EDD/Actual Birth Date: 02/14/07, scheduled c-section 2/06/07, actual birth date 01/12/07
Predicted/Actual Gender: boy/boy
Baby's Name: Malcolm
Any other children: 2 furbabies




QOTD #1: We already had baby gates up for the dogs! I'll have to look to see what brand they are.

QOTD #2: He's on #2 nipples, I just moved him up. He doesn't like it to come out fast, so I'll probably keep the same for a while.

QOTD #3: He doesn't like pacifiers! He has a silkie blankie he chews on.

Mesh feeders Haven't tried these yet. If I do, I think I would put some apple or sliced pear in them. We're moving very slowly on solids.

[Elenna]

wagsgirl: Happy Birthday!

Threadmistress, can you update my age to 32?

QOTDs 1,2,3: We don't use gates, bottles, or pacifiers so I'm no help on these. Sorry.

QOTD:mesh feeders: We haven't used these. Though, I have been looking in to getting some. There is a whole threadhere (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35311) about what people are putting in theirs. I'm totally paranoid when I give DS a biter biscuit. I'm constantly pulling the biscuit (and his whole hand with it) out of his mouth to check to see if any parts of the biscuit are coming loose or have broken off.:rolleyes:

DS is getting much better in his swim lessons. He hasn't cried in any of the subsequent lessons. The only time he cries, now, is when we shower before and after the pool. Yesterday he started splashing and laughing as soon as we got into the pool. He doesn't like floating on his back. He raises his head and legs up out of the water. But the instructor thinks by the end of the class DS will be floating.:)

[katmg]

No mesh feeders here.

Swim lessons - We started swim lessons this week. Charlotte LOVES the water!! She is such a little fishy - she really tries to swim when I put her on her belly. Floating is not as much fun - I think mainly because the sun gets in her eyes. The best part is that it wears her little hiney out! She gets great naps when we get home. :D

[quest]

Thanks for the thread link, Elenna! That's exactly what I needed! And actually, today I put a biter biscuit in it (had to break off a little bit so it would fit) and DS loved it! Actually, he got a little cranky when it got really mushy, but at least I didn't have to worry about him getting a big chunk off of it!

Anyone else dealing with tantrums already? I swear, DS has official 'tantrums'...first, when I walk into his bedroom and he knows I'm going to rock/feed him before nap/bedtime...he starts whining. He just knows...even if he's so tired he can't take it..he whines. Then, if he's REALLY tired (if I missed my 'window' of getting him down easily) he completely arches his back and throws his head back and just basically won't have any part of his bottle, me holding him, anything related to him ending up in his crib. And now, when he's cranky about something, he does the 'arched back/throw back his head' thing and just let's the world know he's po'd. Seriously, at 6 months? I figured that started later (once again, sweet little DD never had fits like this until much later ;)).

Oh, and thanks to zhannushka, Indiana Bride, Lucy Van Pelt and jmvan74 for this new thread!

[mommydearest]

Mesh feeder--so far we have only done bananas and they were a huge mess but she loved it.

DD is starting to put herself to bed and naps really well and every time I think we have it down, she freaks out (like now) and is screaming her fool head off. It drives DH nuts. He can't stand to hear her cry.

We definitely get tantrums if I talk on the phone more than 30 seconds, make a sandwich, go to the bathroom...anything where I walk out of the room or pay attention to something else. I'm trying not to react to them and talk calmly while she is throwing it. It is often partly my fault because they are often thrown when she is overtired.

Parenting books: Any suggestions? I'm reading I Refuse to Raise a Brat which I am enjoying. I like her basic ideas, though I disagree with a couple minor points.

I also read a good "real" book last week while DD was learning to put herself to bed and keeping me up: Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner. Highly recommend it when you have some time. Cannie (the main character) is someone every woman can relate to.

[GardenGirl]

Anyone else dealing with tantrums already? I swear, DS has official 'tantrums'...first, when I walk into his bedroom and he knows I'm going to rock/feed him before nap/bedtime...he starts whining. He just knows...even if he's so tired he can't take it..he whines. Then, if he's REALLY tired (if I missed my 'window' of getting him down easily) he completely arches his back and throws his head back and just basically won't have any part of his bottle, me holding him, anything related to him ending up in his crib. And now, when he's cranky about something, he does the 'arched back/throw back his head' thing and just let's the world know he's po'd. Seriously, at 6 months? I figured that started later (once again, sweet little DD never had fits like this until much later ;)).


Umm yeah - you couldn't have described some of our nights any better. I know he's hungry, but he knows he's about to go to bed so he refuses to nurse. It's ridiculous. I just have to be patient. It's taking me on average 45 minutes to get him to fall asleep. But we are making improvements.

I think I've decided to drop his last nap. Monday he didn't get his 5:00 cat nap and he slept for 9 hours (well, after he woke up 30 minutes after going to sleep, but it was 4 hours). Then Tuesday he did get a nap and he was up 4 hours later. Then yesterday he didn't get a nap and slept until 4:30 and went right back to sleep until 7:30. So today I toughed out some fussiness and didn't let him nap. Here's hoping I might have found a solution to STTN ...

Wagsgirl - Happy second anniversary of your 29th birthday (that's how we celebrate in our house).

Mesh feeders - we love ours. We put peaches, nectarines, bananas, and ice cubes in them. He likes the ice instead of teethers. I'd try apples and pears, but they are a little hard for him to bite/chew on for now.

Crap, I just looked out my window and saw I left the water on in the front yard. We've had almost 3 solid months of rain and this week none, so I'm having to water athe lawn nd I just haven't done it so long that I don't think to move the sprinkler. Yikes.

[mommydearest]

Rain??? What's that??? I've forgotten.

[zhannushka]

Tonya - Happy Birthday! :D

Kristen - I read this book a few years ago - LOVED IT! :)

[ggclark]

I need help.. I don't know what happened... over the last 2-3 weeks Lily has been getting up at 5 AM... and she is awake and ready to go... happy and all- she doesn't wake up tired. I should give you some history...since 3 months she would sleep from 7-6:30... always been a good sleeper (I am grateful for that). I don't go get her at 5... she sits in there for a good hour, playing... screaming (happily) and she wakes up the whole house. I always hope she will fall back to sleep, but no chance. She is then tired really early in the morning after being up.

Is this is a phase? Is this a sign that something else in her daily routine (ie naps) needs to be adjusted?

She currently naps 3 times a day... around 8, 11:30ish (both a good hour or an hour and a half) and then a 45 minute nap at like 3:30ish.

I don't know... it's just frustrating.

Any ideas?

[January2007Mommies]

UPDATED TO HERE

[Lucy Van Pelt]

Oh my goodness - I am so far behind!! Katie had her 6 month WBV today. Her stats:
Weight is 18 pounds, 10.5 ounces (90%)
Height is 26 inches (50%)
Head is 17.5 inches (90%)

She is really secure in sitting now and rarely topples over. She has started to scoot a bit more across the floor - yikers!

She is well started on solids (yeah, we a re a bit behind most of you since she was a late arrival!). She has really liked everything she has tried so far (sweet potatoes, peas, peaches) and I am looking forward to seeing her reaction to everything else. We haven't tried a mesh feeder. Maybe I will pick one up next time I am at Target.

I am afraid my nursing days are coming to an end. I calculated the money I am currently spending on medications to keep my supply and right now my breast milk is costing me about $4 an ounce to produce and I just can't afford to keep paying for all the medication. However, I have horrible guilt about stopping so I may give in and keep spending the money. *sigh*

Here are some of Katie's 6 month pictures!

http://bradandginger.googlepages.com/070806_p01.jpg

http://bradandginger.googlepages.com/070806_e19.jpg

http://bradandginger.googlepages.com/070806_e15.jpg

http://bradandginger.googlepages.com/070806_p17.jpg

http://bradandginger.googlepages.com/070806_e23.jpg

http://bradandginger.googlepages.com/070806_e10.jpg

[jmvan74]

mesh feeder: Brady loves it. He's had banana, peach, avacado, plum, and grapes in it.

ginger: Sorry BFing is so expensive for you. You need to do what is best for you and your family. You shouldn't feel guilty if you need to wean. You made it a lot longer than many women do. *HUGS*
Great pics.

Kristen: I'm actually reading a Jennifer Weiner book now, "The Guy Not Taken." It's a collection of short stories. It's pretty good, but not as good as "Little Earthquakes," by the same author. ;)

Tera: I couldn't help but laugh at your dream from the previous thread. I could just picture you arguing w/ the person who cut Carter's hair. LOL!

ggclark: Unfortunately, you may just have an early riser. Her schedule looks good. If she'll play for an hour, I'd just let her be.
Brady wakes between 6am and 6:30, but I don't take him out of his crib until closer to 7am. He takes his first nap between 8 and 9. It's normal for this age to take a first nap soon after getting up. Sorry I don't have any advice.

[Alegna]

mesh feeder ~ haven't tried it yet. I need to get to the grocery store and buy some stuff to put in it. :)

I think we've turned a corner with solids. I don't know if it just took her a while to get used to the idea of something with flavor or what. But she has eaten peaches, squash and peas without any complaints. I'll have to go back to retry the green beans, applesauce and sweet potatoes. Maybe she'll eat them now.

I picked up some more food at Target today. I used the web coupon for $1 off two Gerber foods. I figure it was basically buy one get on free. I got the 2nd foods. Well try the combo foods once we've gotten through all the singal ingredients. Someday I might get adventurous and make some of her food.

Megan has been going down around 8pm and waking at midnight for food and then she's back down till 6:30am. She eats and plays for an hour so so and then is back to sleep till about 9am. We've got to leave the house around 10am so I can get to work by 11am. The schedual is working well for now. I'm not sure how it's going to work in Janurary when I go back to work full time. I guess she'll just have to take that early nap at daycare. She just hasn't been napping well at daycare lately. I think there is too much going on and she doesn't want to miss out.

I think she's working on tooth #3. She's really been chewing on her upper right side. I don't see anything yet, and if I try and stick my finger in there she bites me with the lower teeth.

We took her to the pool for the first time last night. The tot pool was a lot colder than the adult section. We almost left before trying out the adult side. Megan was just shivering in the tot pool. But we did get a few pictures. Please ignore me....focus on the baby. :)

http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h83/baby01_2007/IMG_4364.jpg
http://i62.photobucket.com/albums/h83/baby01_2007/IMG_4368.jpg

[Elenna]

alegna: I buy DS's baby food at Target, too. They have a bigger selection and better prices than my local grocery store. Very cute pictures. Was she splashing in the fountain?

ginger: You've done a great job being able to breastfeed her this long. Nice pictures.

gardengirl: I wish we could have some of your rain.

mesh feeder: I bought two mesh feeders yesterday after DS bit a big chunk off his biter biscuit and I had to fish it out of his mouth. I was so terrified he'd try to swallow it while I was trying to get it out of his mouth.
I bought some frozen mangos to put in them. I hope it is ok to feed him already frozen fruit. I, also, chopped up some bananas and put them in the freezer to put in his feeder.

organic solids: Is anyone else feeding their DC only organic foods? I've only been buying organic fruits and veggies, jarred baby foods, and biter biscuits. DH isn't sold on the organics, but I feel better not having to worry about pesticides.

standing up: DS started pulling himself up to standing from sitting yesterday. It is exciting that he's doing that, but I was really hoping he'd crawl first.

[Alegna]

Was she splashing in the fountain?

She wasn't sure what was going on. She was trying to grab the water. But since she was cold she wasn't have very much fun. Maybe next time.

[robyn]

I'm behind and it's hard to catch up! I love seeing all the cute babies, though. We have a very good looking group! :)

mesh feeder: We have one, but honestly, I'm afraid of the mess! Per my ped's suggestion we've gone back to veggies and cereal only (we had tried a couple of fruits) and I'm not sure what veggies, other than sweet potato, could be done in a feeder. Maybe I'll wait a few more weeks and try some fruits.

pacifier - Strangely, DS has taken the 6+ month pacifier from about 4 weeks. He never cared for the smaller ones. I was previously limiting the paci to the crib, car or when we were in public and didn't want to cause a scene. ;) But lately he's been a bit of a bear and I've slacked and allowed him to use it during playtime and such. Otherwise he was screaming if he wasn't held, and I had to be able to get a few things done!

organics - We've done all organic so far. I use the Earth's Best cereals, and jarred foods. Along with the Happy Baby frozen foods. I'm not always a stickler for organic/natural stuff, but I figured when I have the choice in front of me ... why not? I feel a tiny bit better about the organic foods and figure DS has the rest of his life to consume other crap ... might as well be as good as possible while he doesn't know any better.

standing - DS has been pulling up to standing in his crib for about 2 weeks now. Thank goodness we lowered it on a whim shortly before that! Now he tries to pull up on everything. It's tiring watching over him like a hawk since we don't have much of anything safe to stand up on. I went out and bought a FP activity table so that he would have a safe standing toy. He loves it!

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b210/robynld/C5522_b_1.jpg

We FINALLY had our first ever pro pics done. I spotted pics from another CCer who I was pretty sure lived in our area and she was kind enough to refer me to her photographer. She was great! My son, however, was not the greatest subject. He is normally so smiley, but he's been so cranky lately (teething?) and seemed confused by seeing someone other than me behind the camera. Oh well ... she posted a couple of cute previews on her blog. Hopefully she has more good shots to come!

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b210/robynld/DSC_1669bw.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b210/robynld/DSC_1545.jpg

[wagsgirl]

I have no advice for sleeping/naps. Rogan's not the best sleeper ever. It could be worse, but it could DEFINITELY bet better...

Thanks for the bday wishes gals! It was a great birthday. My DH gave me cash, so I went out and bought this pretty little thing...YAY!
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/wagsgirl/10986_SKHTO_t.jpg?t=1186976607

I had Rogan's 6 month pics taken a week or so ago. I was a bit behind

This one is my fave:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/wagsgirl/0c309542-41ec-11dc-a42a-0016764b3ec.jpg?t=1186976041
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/wagsgirl/b9c94e8c-41eb-11dc-a42a-0016764b3ec.jpg?t=1186976164
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/wagsgirl/rogan6.4.jpg?t=1186976215
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/wagsgirl/rogan6.13.jpg?t=1186976243
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/wagsgirl/rogan6.19.jpg?t=1186976279

[ggclark]

My baby just started daycare today... first time ever!! I am a teacher, so I go back to work on Wednesday. We started her today to get used to it before I went back. This is the first time I am leaving her-- I have been home since she was born. I am so upset today.. crying all over the place. Tell me this gets better.

To make matters worse, the daycare wasn't ready for her today.. (even though she was signed up and her start date was set for weeks). The girls had to scramble around to figure out which crib was going to be hers and all. I gave them attitude about it b/c I wasn't leaving until I knew she was all set.

In the meantime, we have been searching for a SAHM in the area that could watch her at her home... more one on one attention, but haven't had any luck thus far.. so we are in a daycare center for now.

I hate this.

[mommydearest]

ggclark--This is the part of teaching that I hate. We started last Thursday. It is so hard to leave her in the morning!

[ggclark]

mommydearest- thank you for that! I know... as a teacher, you get all used to being home...

More on the daycare: We pulled her from the daycare center after only one day. I didn't like what was going on ... they just disregarded my schedule, requests and did their own thing... which resulted in Lily not sleeping ALL day and she cryed most of the day they said. She was all bloodshot and miserable when I picked her up. I don't think the daycare "center" type place is for us. So... I searched high and low yesterday... begged and finally we found a nice woman that watches kids in her house... I am hoping this is a good fit. I go back to work tomorrow.. so the trial days are over... I need peace of mind now!

[mommydearest]

ggclark- Sorry this is ramble-y.

You posted that at a good time. I love that my mom is watching DD. However, if I leave school at 4:30 (which I have to kill myself to do since the kids leave at 3:55 and I have to pump, and get any other phone calls/email/issues taken care of and that is not even including tutoring any kids after school), then I get to her house at 5:30, get Abby packed up, and am getting home each day at 6:15.

I then nurse DD, then feed her solids, then make dinner for us and it is 7:15 or 7:30 before we can do anything, and DD crashes and burns at 8:15/8:30. Not being able to go anywhere or do anything in the evenings is driving me nuts, plus spending 90 minutes in the car in rush hour traffic before I get home when my school is only 25 minutes from MY house adds to the frustration. And, my poor mom is also caring for my grandparents, so she is pretty stressed getting everyone taken care of. But I know that DD is getting good care from a nurse who has raised many great kids and done daycare for years, plus she has a vested interested since she's grandma.

I was considering looking at a couple centers near where I work so that I could spend more quality time with Abby instead of so much time in the car. But hearing what you said confirmed every fear I have about a center with an inconsistent staff who want to follow their schedule, not DDs, and ignore my requests. I would have been livid in your situation. I hope you got any deposits and money back.

So, I am very sorry that you had to deal with that terrible situation. But I am glad you posted it because it makes me not so anxious to find a place and more able to tolerate all the traffic.

[ggclark]

Mommydearest.. and all really:

If you can find family and/or yourself to care for your children... do it! I tell you, I would give anything to be able to stay home, even a few days a week... mommydearest- I think if your mom can handle it all, to keep Abby with grandma! I am glad my story could help you!!! It is tough to be on the go and rushing around so much, I know, but the alternative may or may not be any better. Lily was soooo miserable at daycare.. actually, so was I. But some ppl love it though. My advice is, if you do find a center and go that route... find one that has a small amount of kids (ours had 16 in one room) and a seperate NAP area or room. This one was one big great room... and it was bright and loud for the babies to sleep. I just didn't have a good gut feeling about it the moment I dropped her off, you know?!

[Lucy Van Pelt]

I really feel for you gals that are having to go back to work. I can't imagine leaving Katie.

So today at around 11:45am I got a call from the portrait studio at JC Penneys. They are having a special fantasy fairy sitting and wanted to know if I could bring Katie over to "model" for their promotional display! I had an hour and a half to get both of us ready and headed over to the mall. Well, what a disaster that was. Katie was a mess. She screamed and screamed and then screamed some more. She was ok until they put her wings on. They are looped around her arms and she didn't like that at all! We finally were able to get her calmed down enough to get some pictures, but I think we have been crossed off their list of models...LOL I don't think any of you are in the SF Bay Area, but if you are, check out your local Penneys Portrait Studio and you will see Miss Katie in her little pink fairy princess outfit!

I got Katie home and discovered what may have been the major problem...her first tooth is showing!!

[zhannushka]

ggclark - So sorry about the daycare problems... :( I hope that the in-home place will work out great for you and Lily!

Ginger - YAY for the first tooth! :D We just got our first one last week - Joseph was super cranky for about 2 days prior... He's kind of getting this way again now, so - I think he may be getting another one... :rolleyes:

Joseph is all into sitting nowadays. Ever since he learned how to sit up and stay there all by himself, that's all that he wants to do! The second I lay him down in his crib or PnP - he sits up, smiling very proudly! ;) Once, he woke up in the middle of the night to practice his sitting up skill. I woke up because he was talking to himself (it was around 4 am) - all I could do was laugh, it was too funny! :)

Well, I decided that it's time for me to go back to work. Not that I don't enjoy my little man and not that I don't love being with him, but - I feel like I need some adult time and I actually miss working... So, I've been sending out my resume and interviewing here and there. I am looking for something very specific (job-wise, location-wise and pay-wise), so - until I find that perfect combination, I won't settle for anything else.

I do know which daycare he will be going to whenever I go back to work - it's about an hour drive from home, but right around the corner from my parents' house. It's also in the area where we'll be looking to buy a house as soon as we finally sell our condo. So, I'm looking for a job in that specific location now.

I spoke with the daycare owner yesterday and DH and I have an appointment with her in 3 weeks. We'll go over all the details and give her a security deposit, which will guarantee Joseph's spot in the infant group, whenever we're ready. My good friend's son has been in this daycare center since he was 3 months old (he's 1 year old now) and she LOVES them. Since he started there, 2 of our mutual friends have brought their babies to the same place and they both love it as well. So - I am actually very excited about this! :)

[wagsgirl]

Ginger- I thought I recognized Kaitlyn. On the Jan07 board on LJ! I just read that story and did a double take. I'd just read it on LJ, too :)

[Lucy Van Pelt]

How funny - I didn't know you were a member of the LJ group too!

Quick question - How much is everyone eating these days? Katie gets solids twice a day - late morning and then for dinner. Usually I mix whatever "solids" she is getting with cereal. She will eat a whole serving of the fruit/vegetable AND about an equal amount of cereal. It just seems like she is eating too much! Tonight she ate a whole serving of carrots and about that much rice cereal and was still crying and wanting more when she finished it. She's already in the 90 percentile in her weight. I don't need her going off the charts! :eek:

[katmg]

Sleeping - We started using DD's FP aquarium in her crib more. Well, she has now learned how to turn it on herself!! I came in to her room at nap time and she was having a little party in her crib. She had the Aquarium on and two pacifiers in her mouth! I ran to get the camera but wasn't fast enough to catch her with both pacifiers in her mouth.

http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n33/katgalpin/Charlotte/CharlotteAugust030.jpg

I've also heard the Aquarium going at 2 am. We're never going to leave this one home alone when she's a teenager - she'll have a party! ;)

Solids - Still not great about having a regular schedule for solids. I think she would eat more than I'm giving her but she doesn't seem to "demand" it or get fussy. I need to get on a regular schedule of eating at least 2x a day.

Creeping - I think DD creeped yesterday. Isn't creeping like crawling but they don't hold their bellies up? Anyway, I think she creeped a bit trying to get under her crib to the rubbermaid storage containers. :rolleyes: Why am I worried about toy recalls - she doesn't want toys, she wants to play with the crib base, or the ottoman, or the doggie furballs under the sofa. :rolleyes:

[zhannushka]

katmg - We have the FP Aquarium as well - sometimes DS turns it on in his sleep by kicking the blue shell button with his foot. It used to freak me out, since I couldn't understand how is it that the music is on if the baby is sleeping, but then I saw him do it in his sleep once... :)

solids: DS eats 4 times a day. I mix some oatmeal, rice or buckwheat cereal into his morning and night bottles. His "lunch" consists of 4 oz of yogurt and 4-5 oz EBM. His dinner is 4-5 oz homemade soup (chicken and veggies) pureed and 2-3 oz of fruit, followed by 4 oz of apple juice.

[mommydearest]

Solids Breakfast is pears or peaches and rice cereal, Lunch is 1/2 to full jar of chicken, full jar of veggies, half jar of fruit, Dinner is full jar of chicken, full jar of veggies, and maybe some fruit if she's still begging for more. She also gets nursed at 2 and 6 am, bottle at 9:30 nap, bottle at 4 pm, nursed at 6, and 8:30pm. So, 7 milk sessions and 3 solids meals.

FP Aquarium I hated this thing because she used to wake up by up kicking it in the middle of the night, esp. the red thing. Now that we lowered her crib all the way, she can't turn it on herself anymore and it isn't used much

Creeping Abby is mostly creeping backwards. She hasn't really figured out forwards yet and when she tries to go front, she goes back. She can move herself around in a circle though.

Crib height I feel really dumb that I didn't figure it out earlier. I always hit her feet on the rail and startled her when putting her to bed. Duh. If you put the mattress down all the way, you can leave the rail down too. I can't believe it took me 6 months to figure this out. Bedtimes are dramatically better. It also doesn't hurt that g'ma rocks her 5 minutes and puts her down completely awake during the day so after about a week and a half, she's finally learned to put herself to sleep.

[ggclark]

Lily starts monday with her new daycare! I am hoping for the best!

Solids: we have lunch and dinner... no breakfast yet. Our ped said b/c lily is not a big eater in the am, that we should stick with just the milk for now and when she is ready to finger feed, we could do cheerios or something like that for breakfast. For now, we do one jar of fruit for lunch and one jar of veggies for dinner. I took a break from the oatmeal for a while... if felt like we had so much of it! So we have 2 solid meals and 4 bottles each day

Crib: When did you all lower the crib to the lowest level? I am going to this weekend.. we have had it up this whole time and this morning's nap, I found her climbing up to the mobile.. so it's time!!!

Crawling: not yet... but she rolls all over the house and the poor thing occasionally bumps her head on stuff.. the sad lip comes out! breaks my heart.

katmg- ADORABLE she is!!!!

[GardenGirl]

Well we did it – Carter finally got his (much needed) first haircut. He looks like a little boy now (not so much like a girl :)).

Here's the before... To be fair, I purposefully fluffed his hair up so you can see how long it had gotten. I would never let him leave the house like that.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/terashelton/CartersFirstHaircut008.jpg

Here's the some of the missing hair. She took off more but this is what she kept for me to put in his baby book. Actually, it was really great – they put it in a plastic envelope and attached it to a certificate with his name and the date of his first haircut, it was nice...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/terashelton/CartersFirstHaircut020.jpg
Here's the after, he was a happy boy during the whole thing.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/terashelton/CartersFirstHaircut028.jpg

Solids - I'm not very consistent. He doesn't like to eat much at breakfast so unless we are going out for breakfast he just nurses. If we go out for a bagel or brunch or something, I'll bring cereal so he has something to eat in his hairchair while we eat. If I feed him he'll get 2-3 ounces of fruit for lunch. If my mom feeds him she gives him a whole jar of food. Then at dinner he gets about 4 ounces of veggies. We have cereal every now and then, but he's prone to constipation so if he gets some it's only 1 or 2 ounces and then I cut back on the fruit/veggie. I think I should start feeding him a little more now. I've just been selfish with the breastfeeding.

[robyn]

Tera - that is the cutest haircut!! I am LOL at the "before" picture. Where did you take him? DS needs a little trim and I had done it a couple of times before when he was tiny (he had a mullet and I couldn't stand it) ... but now he is so darn wiggly that I can't even imagine him sitting still for a haircut. How do they do it?

- - - -

Solids - We nurse 6 times a day (including the 3-4am feeding) and try to get in two solid meals. I always do dinner, which is cereal mixed with about 1.5 oz BM and then usually a jar of veggies and we've been adding in fruit as well. Tonight we did oatmeal, avocado and then pears mixed with rice (since the pears seemed way too thin). I will do either breakfast or lunch, which is usually a jar and a half of veggies, or the homemade equivalent. Not sure when we will go up to three meals a day. I find it hard to work it into our schedule!

[Winter Biscuit]

ggclark - good luck with the new daycare tomorrow! The first place you described sounded horrible. Both of my girls have been in center-based care since they were 12 weeks, and I cannot imagine a center operating like that, especially in an infant room. ALWAYS trust your gut! I feel fortunate that we've had nothing but good experiences with our centers. I spent a LOT of time researching all our options and I will never forget visiting a few places during my search where I just knew that it was NOT the right place for my child. Never underestimate your gut feeling - it's usually right! I sincerely hope that the new place tomorrow is 110 times better than the first place! Keep us updated.

GardenGirl - love the haircut! But hey, send some of that hair our way - Allison is still such a baldie, she could use some of it :)

Solids -- Allison gets three (3) 7-oz bottles of EBM at daycare, and they also give her a bowl of oatmeal cereal. I nurse her in the morning, and usually nurse her another 2 to 3 times between the time I pick her up and the time she goes to bed. She is still waking up once in the middle of the night to nurse, as well. She only gets 1 jar of veggies or fruit for dinner. Yeah, we're taking the solids slow ;) and we're pretty inconsistent, too. Really, she isn't showing that much interest in them, so I'm not pushing it. She likes what we give her, but she's content with our feeding routine now. And most importantly, she's thriving and growing just fine. I'm following her cues and will gradually increase her solids intake.

Teeth - none yet!

Crawling - not yet, but she scoots forward on her belly all the time. (Not sure if that is what some of you are referring to as creeping? We might be talking about the same thing!) We can place toys in front of her, and she'll scoot on her belly until she can reach/grab the toy. She has scoot backwards on her back just once (that we've seen) - but put her on her tummy, and she's boot-scootin' all over! Today she got up on all 4's and rocked a few times. She wants to move - it's just a matter of figuring out how. I think she's getting close. She's been moving around in circles for a while now. Just needs to figure out how to get up on all 4's and then crawl!

[jmvan74]

FP aquarium: LOVE IT! We have the old version and Brady loves it. I turn it on everytime i put him down and he goes right out. He can sits up and turns it on in the morning and entertains himself. (our crib is lowered all the way, so he can't kick it in his sleep).

Tera; Carter's cut looks adorable. Brady really needs a good cut, but I just can't do it. :(

solids: Brady is just not all that interested. He usually gets 1-2 tbs of oatmeal and a piece of fruit in the mesh feeder for breakfast or lunch and then 1 4oz jar for dinner. He's starting to get the hang of the sippy cup, but still only takes 1-2 oz from it. Still BF's like a maniac. :rolleyes:

Crib: We lowered it a few weeks ago. As soon as Brady was sitting and moving. Now he is trying to pull himself up to standing. So far, he just makes it to his knees. :p

crawling: he's still got the army crawl/creeping going on, but man he is soooo fast!

teeth: I think I felt a little point coming through, but he won't let me get a good feel. I really would like the teeth to stay away until he is weaned! uggh.

[GardenGirl]

Haircut - thanks for the sweet comments. I was really nervous at first, but in the end I'm glad we did it. He looks so cute and MUCH less like a girl! Robyn, we went to Little Lords & Ladies. I had called Cool Cuts 4 Kids, and when the lady answering the phone could barely speak English and said "Uh, yeah, I can cut a baby's hair" I was turned off. Then I called LL&L and they said exactly what I wanted to hear - they make the first haircut a big deal. They keep the locks, tell you to bring your camera and then give you a certificate with his name and date. It was exactly what I wanted - a great experience.

We are flying to Indianapolis on Friday to see the ILs and rest of DH's family. I'm excited for the visit, but the incredibly long list of things to bring is quite daunting. The ILs have nothing for DS (or any child for that matter) so I have to think of everything. We bought him his own seat so that opens up the # of check bags which means I can pack more things for the week.

Teeth - we are definitely working on them, his gums are swollen but I don't see the buds from the top. He is drooling a bunch - and I didn't think that was possible.

Mattress - we haven't lowered it yet, but should in the next few weeks. He isn't moving and can't put himself in a sitting position, but I would hate for him to figure that out for the first time while he's in his crib!

[Alegna]

Well, I sent food to daycare for the first time today. I had to go into work early and didn't get time to feed Megan this morning since she was still sleeping.

Wow, this kid is growing up fast........ :(

Mattress~ we haven't lowered hers yet either. She's just now getting to the point where she'll get up on her hand and knees. She rolls around a lot too. I haven't seen her try and sit up on her own yet. I think we're ok for a while. I'm not looking forward it. I'm pretty short and it's going to be hard to put her down once the mattress is lower. I don't want to drop her into bed.

[ggclark]

Lily did OK at the new babysitter... it's a nice woman who watches little ones including mine... and she has a loving environment at her home. Lily did good with her naps and she ate and seemed to have an ok day. She cried alot in the morning, but I expected that, being in a new place..

BUT to complicate the situation, I have her home on what would be her second day with the babysitter b/c she was coming down with a cold. I took her to the doctor and she has... not one, but 2 ear infections... both ears!!!!! The Dr. said it is from her teething so bad-- she is cutting the top two teeth AND the ones on the side of the top two are not far behind they said... Apparently she wasn't draining all that drool... I was sooooo upset b/c I has hoped she wouldn't need antibiotics for the first year... but there goes that!! hahaa I asked if I NEEDED them and they pretty much said it was a must... and we don't want to mess with her ears... you know? SO... the ears would also explain the insane fussiness she has had over the last several days.

A tough couple of days for my little munchkin! She is resting now and should be ok by tomorrow-- I HAVE to be at work-- its the first day of school and I am a teacher!... so let's cross our fingers!

[zhannushka]

Tera - I love Carter's haircut! What a handsome little boy! :)

ggclark - I'm sorry about Lily's ear infections. :( Hope that the antibiotics do the trick and everything clears up real soon! Glad to hear that the new daycare is working out for you!

Mattress: We just lowered ours all the way a few days ago since Joseph is all over the place now - getting up on all fours, sitting up by himself, rocking back and forth and trying to grab on to the crib rails and pull himself up (he hasn't succeeded with this yet, but I have a feeling that it won't be long until he does...)

We booked our vacation last night! I'm soooooo excited!!! We're going to South of France (Cote D'Azur) for a week in October. We have a timeshare there and have been there many times before, so - we won't be doing much sightseeing, just hanging out and relaxing... A childhood friend of mine from Russia (haven't seen her in 5 years!) is coming to meet us there - she really can't wait to meet Joseph. It should be a good time! I just can't wait! :D

I have a few job interviews scheduled in the next few weeks and an appointment at the daycare center in 2 weeks from tomorrow. I hope that we love this center just as much as my friend who recommended it to me! I love the fact that the center is right around the corner from my parents' house - that way, if I have to stay late at work, my dad could always pick Joseph up and bring him to their house (my dad makes his own work schedule, so - he's pretty much available anytime.)

[mommydearest]

ggclark Hope Lily is feeling better. Good luck with the new daycare! I hope it works out for you.

Zhanna What a fun trip! We are so excited about going to Disney in October. This summer went by too quick without a fun vacation.

Crib Abby keeps getting her legs stuck in the rails. Twice she went in sideways and then turned to her tummy, and her knee is too thick to get out. So, DH of course freaked out the time he went it and found her, and he immediately went and got this bumper (http://www.onestepahead.com/product/osa/352762.html) at BRU. It is not very padded, but has stopped the legs getting stuck and I really like it. I wasn't worried about padding since she has had no bumper for several months. It also keeps the pacifier from falling down the back of the crib. They are about $20 and worth every penny. I think at some point I'm going to have to safety pin the velcro closed because she will be able to pick at it when she's older. But it will be worth it.

[Winter Biscuit]

Mattress -- ours has been pretty low since the beginning, so even if Allison pulls herself up soon, she won't be able to fall out. This is still a long way off, but I am really hoping that she won't attempt to escape from the crib like DD#1 did. DD#1 was leaping out of her crib Superman-style when she was 18 months old. I think I'd like to keep Allison contained a little longer than DD#1 was ;)

Loveys -- anyone else using a lovey?? Allison has 2 that I have encouraged her to attach to. One is a small pink blanket, probably 12 inches by 12 inches, it's really soft. The other is one of those Carter's blanket loveys, about the same size, only it has a stuffed animal head in the middle. They really do help her fall asleep. I can lay her down in her crib and hand her the loveys. She'll roll onto her side and stroke one or both of her loveys until she falls asleep. It's almost like she needs something to hold onto while she falls asleep. DD#1 never used a lovey and I have mixed feelings about them. Part of me says - whatever helps her fall asleep and stay asleep is great! The other part of me says - we're going to get stuck dragging that lovey with us everywhere we go, and what if (God forbid) we lose it? It's kinda like the pacifier -- I have a love/hate relationship with it :) But right now it's working and she has been sleeping great, so the lovey is welcome in our home. :eek: Did I really just mention that she is sleeping great?! I probably just jinxed it....

mommydearest -- my niece was (and still is!) a very chunky baby with VERY chubby legs. She got her legs stuck in the crib rails a few times, and they had a hard time freeing them because she is such a chunk. My SIL resorted to putting her in a sleep sack every night, and that solved their leg-stuck-in-slat problem. My niece slept in a sack until she was 1. Just wanted to mention this as an alternative, although the bumpers will certainly help too. Yeah, I know what you mean about how it also prevents the pacis from getting tossed behind the crib. Those little stinkers always seem to throw them BEHIND the crib. Sometimes I'm convinced that Allison enjoys watching me get down on my hands and knees to fish her pacis out from behind the crib...it's like entertainment for her :rolleyes:

[Elenna]

loveys: We haven't used one, yet. But only because DS seems to fall asleep right away when I put a receiving blanket over him when he's being slightly fussy before falling asleep. (Not sure why that works.) We're thinking of introducing a lovey.

zhanna: That vacation sounds dreamy. We just booked our vacation to Las Vegas, to see family, this X-mas. Not as relaxing sounding as your vacation.

fp aquarium: DS loves his. He now plays with the on/off button, spinning ball that opens the clam, and lever that spins the starfish. (I think we have an older model.)

DS sat himself up yesterday! He only did it once and I hope he repeats it. He'd fallen forward onto his stomach. He put his knees under him and walked his hands backwards until he was sitting. One of his legs was bent back under him once he was sitting and I fully expected him to cry, but he figured it out and got the leg in front of him pretty quickly.

DH and I learned infant CPR in DS's swim class at the Y yesterday. I'm very happy they offered it as part of the class. We'd been wanting to learn ever since my brother had to do the heimlich on his DD a couple of months ago. (She'd swallowed a piece of a styrofoam cup his DS had thrown next to her carseat.)

[amwilson615]

I forgot to subscribe. Oops. I wondered why no one was posting. Well they were, I just wasn't getting notifications. hehehehehe.

[GardenGirl]

Loveys - my parents brought Carter back a flat puppy ( about 12x8) with satin paws and ears. He loves it. It has really halted the nursing to sleep habit we were forming. Now he can put himself to sleep about 60-70% of the time just by rubbing and holding it. Plus, he grabs it in the middle of the night and puts himself back to sleep. So we are down to only one night waking at 2. I can't figure out why he can put himself back to sleep all the other times except this one. Weird. Anyhow, I'm very happy he likes the lovey.

Vacation - we are flying out to Indy tomorrow afternoon to see DH's family. I wouldn't call it a "vacation" but we are travelling to somewhere out of state. I packed all.day.long - I'm exhausted. I don't think I forgot anything yet and my MIL will probably make a bunch of jokes about how much stuff I did bring, but oh well. I'm a little nervous about the flight because it's from 4:30-7 which is normally a what I like to call "High Needs" period (aka fussy), but that was the only flight that worked with DH's schedule and wasn't an arm and a leg. Wish us luck.

I think we are going to have to purchase a convertible car seat when we get back. I noticed the straps are getting a little low on his shoulders. He's barely 19 lbs and 27" but I think he must have a long torso because the straps don't hit quite right anymore. Almost 8 months isn't too bad.

Question - anyone still not have their first post partum cycle? I thought AF was right around the corner 7-10 days ago because I had spotting and cramps, but nothing. I told DH and he was surprisingly excited to hear my cycles were back (or so I though). I didn't say anything, but the way he said that sounded like that meant we were able to have another baby. I'm not ready - hence why I didn't say anything. Maybe in another 6 months, I don't want 2 under 2. Of course, I'd be blessed for another. But I think I'd rather wait.

Off to bed early, big day tomorrow.

[zhannushka]

Elenna - I've been meaning to sign up for the infant CPR class for weeks, but keep forgetting to do that. Now that you reminded me, I think I'll go online and sign up! :)

Amanda - Nice to see you in here! :) I was wondering where you were all this time... (haven't seen you in LJ either)

Tera - Have a safe and fun trip!!!

AF - For me, AF returned at 2 months PP, which was definitely too soon... :rolleyes: I know a girl who didn't get AF back for 9 months (she was BF as well).

Lovey - We don't have anything yet, but I do want him to have one, so - I'm on a mission to find something really cute. :)

My baby is sick for the first time. He's got a runny nose, he's coughing and sneezing. :( No fever though. He's a little more cranky than usual, but not completely horrible. He's been playing and eating just like every other day... I called the pedi this morning and she told me to give him 1/2 of the Triaminic strip twice today and 1.5 dozes of Tylenol Cold once (before bedtime) and to come see her tomorrow morning, just in case. We are supposed to go to my uncle's birthday party at their house on Sunday - I hope Yosik is feeling better by then, I would hate to miss it...

[mommydearest]

Garden It is so incredibly hot here in Indy right now...they had a half day of school for heat in IPS and have another one tomorrow. The heat index today was something like 110. But Sunday is supposed to be fabulous at only 83. Have fun while you are here! When Carter gets older, you HAVE to take him to the Children's Museum. We have the world's largest one here. It is totally cool. As soon as Abby can crawl, we are going since there is a baby room.

For convertible seats...We have a marathon and 2 boulevards and love them. They are stupid-proof to install with latch and really plush. Even her great grandpa can do it correctly, which is saying something. And, britax are the only ones that tether rear-facing. It really makes for a rock solid install. Albee baby usually has the best prices and selection of fabrics, as well as free shipping and no tax. The fabrics at BRU are often really ugly. Their boulevard fabric was really scratchy.

Sleepsack--We use one sometimes. It is so hot that I feel bad putting her in it some nights. I bought a cotton one, but even that is hot, though its better than the fleece.

Lovey I am trying to get her to attach to a Carters one that is a lion and velvet on one side, satin on the other. At grandmas, she has a gund one that is a frog. So far, she could really care less, but I always snuggle it up against her so eventually she'll figure it out.

AF returned at 7 weeks. But when I went on the shot, I spotted the first month and haven't had anything since. Though the shot has messed with my hormones so much that there hasn't really been a need for it...

[wagsgirl]

QOTD: No PP AF for me yet. Rogan was 7 months yesterday :) I'm not looking forward to her return. Since we're done with kiddos, when she comes back, it will be FOREVER. At least til menopause anyway ;)

Cribs: We've had ours lowered from day one. Rogan actually doesn't spend much time in it :rolleyes: He's been in our bed more often than not lately, because like ggclark's Lily, he has a double ear infection right now. But my one HUGE piece of advice, please lower your cribs sooner rather than later. I thought we were safe because DD, now 4, wasn't pulling up yet or anything, but one day she decided to start doing it at nap time and flipped right out of the crib onto the floor :eek: I've left it way down on the bottom setting ever since that day...even with newborns.

solids-2x a day. At lunch time and around 6:30/7. He does pretty well. Most of the time it's cereal mixed with half a thing of the #2 veggies. He's not a huge fan of the fruits. Although he takes prunes pretty well.

No huge news on this end. Just a new pic ;)
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y148/wagsgirl/8-20-2007-161.jpg?t=1187931074

[ggclark]

Wagsgirl- Is your baby teething right now? I think that is what caused the ear infections... have you experienced that?

Teeth- we have the bottom two and 2 more are on the way!!!!!! I can't believe my girl is getting so big

[zhannushka]

QOTD: Joseph has had a runny nose and some cough for the past 2 days, so I took him to his pedi today. Turns out he has an ear infection and slight fever (I took his temp at home yesterday and he didn't have a fever, but this morning he did.) However, he hasn't been cranky or crying or seemingly in pain - nothing. If it wasn't for the runny nose and some cough - I would never have known! Anyway - she prescribed some antibiotics to him, but told me to start out with just giving him Motrin twice a day and 1/2 of the Triaminic strip twice a day. She said that it looks like his body is fighting the infection pretty well without the antibiotics, so - I should only start giving them to him if he becomes really miserable (which he is not) or if the fever goes up (which it hasn't.) Does that sound like common practice to those of you whose babies have had ear infections before? TIA!

[wagsgirl]

Yup, Rogan is teething. He has the bottom two and on the top, tooth #3 broke today. And the 4th is coming in soon. I can see it's just about there. So, I'm sure with all the drool, that was his problem with the ear infections...

I've always given the antibiotics for ear infections. My kids never fought them on their own.

[ggclark]

It is the age of the ear infection... geez... 3 in this forum alone, in the last week... WOW...

[katmg]

zhanna- there is a lot of dispute these days on whether ear infections actually need to have antibiotic treatment. Many doctors are no longer giving antibiotics for them so that may be why your ped. wanted you to wait and see on them. There is some evidence that some EIs are caused by a virus.

[ggclark]

QOTD:
How much are your DC eating each day? I feel like Lily has a small appetite and I want to make sure she is getting the "norm" for her age at least.
She eats:

4 - 6 oz. bottles a day (but sometimes she only takes 5oz)
1 Fruit (stage 2 size) (she sometimes leaves a 1/4 of it)
1 Veggie (stage 2 size) and sometimes I mix it with cereal for dinner

Is that enough??? I sometimes feel like she eats so little, and her appetite hasn't increased in a while... I thought she would get hungrier as she went on??

[zhannushka]

QOTD:
How much are your DC eating each day? I feel like Lily has a small appetite and I want to make sure she is getting the "norm" for her age at least.
She eats:

4 - 6 oz. bottles a day (but sometimes she only takes 5oz)
1 Fruit (stage 2 size) (she sometimes leaves a 1/4 of it)
1 Veggie (stage 2 size) and sometimes I mix it with cereal for dinner

Is that enough??? I sometimes feel like she eats so little, and her appetite hasn't increased in a while... I thought she would get hungrier as she went on??

Breakfast - 8 oz bottle of formula with 1 teaspoon of oatmeal cereal mixed in

Lunch - 4 oz of yogurt and 6 oz bottle of EBM

Dinner - 8 oz of chicken soup pureed (chicken, potato, carrots, squash, zuccini, a bit of onion), 2.5 oz of fruit and 1.5 oz of freshly squeezed apple juice mixed with about 3 oz of water.

Before bed - 8 oz bottle of formula with 1 teaspoon of buckwheat cereal mixed in

[Elenna]

zhanna: I've, also, read that giving antibiotics right away for ear infections is in dispute. Some doctors are now taking the same attitude of your DS's dr.(Which I personally agree with.)

solids: DS doesn't eat, alot, either. And I thought that his appetite should increase now that he's more mobile.
Breakfast: a little bit less than 4 oz (two food cubes) of fruit/veggie with 2-3 tbl cereal mixed with 1-1.5oz breastmilk
Lunch: piece of fruit or teething biscuit in a mesh feeder (just started doing this to get DS used to eating solids three times a day)
Dinner: a little bit less than 4 oz (two food cubes) of fruit/veggie
He nurses on demand throughout the day. He wants to nurse every two hours. I'm not sure how much he gets at each nursing session. (I can't seem to be able to pump much anymore.)

af: AF started for me at 4 months pp.

[wagsgirl]

Solids-Twice a day, Rogan gets the same thing. 2-3Tbsp cereal mixed with half a stage 2 veggie. And also 1/2 a stage 2 fruit. Although, he doesn't always eat that. He's not a fan of fruits. Sometimes, for lunch, I won't mix cereal in, but I always mix it for dinner. I'm thinking soon, I might give him the whole veggie container. He nurses on demand all day. No bottles for him unless I'm out for the day/night. Which never happens ;) Usually every 2-3 hours, but goes 4 sometimes...Usually about 5 times a day.

[mommydearest]

Solids--

cheerios on the tray always to keep her occupied

most of stage 2 pears and some cereal for breakfast

jar of chicken, 1/2 jar of veggies, 1/2 jar of fruit for lunch

jar of chicken, jar of veggies, sometimes 1/2 jar of fruit for dinner. She also LOVES rice, so if we are out at a restaurant, I hand feed her one or two pieces at a time and she chows down.

I let her eat until she indicates she's done. Sometimes it depends on when we nursed last.

[Alegna]

solids ~ Megan eats 2-3 T of cereal and a stage 1 fruit for breakfast. Lunch is just a bottle at daycare. Dinner is a stage 2 veggie and some fruit. Usually another stage 1 or half a stage 2. Depends on what time she eats. She still nurses 4-6 times a day and gets two 5 oz bottles of EBM at daycare. I stocked up on the rest of the stage 2 gerber cubes from the sale at Target this week. Once we're through those Megan will have tried all the gerber cubes except the desserts. Personally, I consider fruit a dessert. She doesn't need apple cobbler.

af~ Not yet. I was pretty irregular before getting pregnant. My typical cycle would be between 60 and 90 days. I got an IUD in March so who knows if I'll ever see af again.

[Elenna]

Solids--

cheerios on the tray always to keep her occupied



Oh, yeah, I started doing this, too, a week ago. I break the cheerios in half and let DS have at them.

[Lucy Van Pelt]

I sent DH to the store last night to restock our baby food supply. He pretty much picked up one of everything. Unfortunately, this means, he got "Apple Strawberry and Banana", "Banana Orange Medley", and "Vanilla Custard Pudding". I am concerned about the first two because of the strawberries and citrus that I thought Katie isn't supposed to have right now and the pudding because it contains sugar. Am I just being overly neurotic? We have no history of allergies in either family and Katie hasn't' had a reaction to any of the stage 1 foods. Should I go ahead and feed these foods as well or should I return them? Can you return food to a grocery store? I've never had to before and I'm not sure they take things like this back...:o

[zhannushka]

I sent DH to the store last night to restock our baby food supply. He pretty much picked up one of everything. Unfortunately, this means, he got "Apple Strawberry and Banana", "Banana Orange Medley", and "Vanilla Custard Pudding". I am concerned about the first two because of the strawberries and citrus that I thought Katie isn't supposed to have right now and the pudding because it contains sugar. Am I just being overly neurotic? We have no history of allergies in either family and Katie hasn't' had a reaction to any of the stage 1 foods. Should I go ahead and feed these foods as well or should I return them? Can you return food to a grocery store? I've never had to before and I'm not sure they take things like this back...:o
I heard that you're not supposed to feed them Strawberries and Oranges (any citrus actually) until at least 1 year old... I do know a girl who's given strawberries to her 6 month old and he's OK, but - I wouldn't do it... I've returned unopened baby food to the store before (we bought a bunch of chicken jars, but DS refuses to eat them.)

[Winter Biscuit]

Am I just being overly neurotic? We have no history of allergies in either family and Katie hasn't' had a reaction to any of the stage 1 foods. Should I go ahead and feed these foods as well or should I return them? Can you return food to a grocery store? I've never had to before and I'm not sure they take things like this back...

I'm pretty sure you could return unopened baby food with a receipt. Whether you offer those items to Katie or not is a personal preference. I, too, am confused about all the baby foods that include things we aren't supposed to give until they're older, so I am personally just staying away from them. I probably wouldn't offer pudding at this age, but that's just me. I figure that Allison will get all the natural sugar she needs from BM and fruits.

AF -- no sign of her return, and that's fine with me! She didn't return until 10 months PP after I had DD#1. I'd be happy if she stays away just as long this time around. Like wagsgirl, I'm pretty sure we are done manufacturing babies so once AF comes back, she's here until menopause :eek:

Paci -- I forgot to mention, Allison has been able to put her paci back in her own mouth for about a month now. I assume that the other paci users in this thread can do the same, or will soon. She even turns it around if it's in upside down, until it's in the right way. She can even do it at naptime or in the middle of the night if she needs her paci. I thought that day would never come :) I've been limiting her paci to nap time and bedtime only. Now I look forward to the day when the binkie is gone FOREVER! :o


Here's our very rough feeding schedule as of today. Obviously, if I am home with her, all bottles of EBM are replaced with milk straight from the tap :)

6am - nurse upon waking
8am - cereal mixed w/ water
9am - 7-oz bottle EBM @ daycare
11am - Stage 2 veggie (whole jar) @ daycare
12pm - 7-oz bottle EBM @ daycare
3pm - 7-oz bottle EBM @ daycare (or nurse, if I pick her up before they give her the bottle)
4pm - Nurse
5pm - Stage 2 veggie (occasionally, I'll offer a Stage 2 fruit but we're primarily focusing on veggies. Like Alegna, I consider fruit a dessert)
6pm - Nurse
8pm - Nurse to sleep
Between midnight and 1am - wakes to nurse (sometimes she'll wake, sometimes she won't. This one still varies and is very unpredictable.)


I've thought about asking daycare to mix the morning cereal with the veggies (seems like it'd be a lot easier to mix them so they can kill 2 birds with 1 stone), but I want Allison to get the flouride from the water, since we have well water at home. If she didn't get the flouride from the water, I'd have to mess with flouride supplements (which I probalby would never remember to give her). So for now, I'm keeping them separate.


wagsgirl - LOVE the "mmm....boobies" shirt :D

zhanna - I agree with katmg that many doctors are playing the "wait and see" game with antibiotics when it comes to EI. That seems to be common practice among many peds these days. Dr. Greene offers one perspective on this issue: http://www.drgreene.com/21_768.html

[jmvan74]

AF: Not yet, but I don't think it will be much longer before she shows.

Solids: This is still a bit of a joke. He's only nursing 5-7 times a day now.:rolleyes: 2 times at night (usually midnight and 3:30).

1/2 jar stage 2 in the afternoon
stage 2 jar in the evening

Yup, that's it. He really has very little interest.

sippy cup: I've been working on this and brady now takes 1-3oz of formula a day from a sippy. I hope to get that up to about 4-6 oz and drop a nursing session.

pulling up; In addition to crawling, Brady is now pulling up on everything. I went in to feed him last night and he was hanging on to the crib rail for dear life! LOL!

[Alegna]

I was tell DH yesterday about how some of your babies were getting themselves into the sitting position all by themselves. We turn around to look at Megan on the floor and she does it!

So then of course I talked about sleeping through the night..... :) No luck with that one.

Citrus ~ I gave Megan the Bannana Orange Meledy for breakfast today. She didn't really seem to like it. The ingredients listed mango, pineapple and orange juice along with the bannanas. I figure since there are no allergies in our families and as long as I don't give it to her EVERY day she will be fine. I can honestly say I've never heard of anybody being allergic to oranges.

Oh well.

[zhannushka]

I can honestly say I've never heard of anybody being allergic to oranges.
I am! :) We think it's because my mom obsessed about oranges when she was pregnant with me - she ate them every single day. I get a rash every time I have orange juice (or oranges)... :rolleyes:

[katmg]

Alegna - I think the "issue" with oranges and citrus in general is that it can be acidic and give them diaper rash. Oh and mangoes are totally fine for them to have at this point. :)

Straw Cup - We weren't having much luck with a sippy cup so I found a straw cup and DD seems to really like it. It is not spill-proof (at all!) but if she can learn how to use a straw I'll be happy!

[Elenna]

I can honestly say I've never heard of anybody being allergic to oranges.



DH's Grandmother is allergic to oranges.

alegna: That's awesome that Megan sat up on her own. DS has only sat up himself once.

[mommydearest]

We haven't done oranges or strawberries, but DD's favorite is Hawaiian Delight. I spread it out so its about every 4 or 5 days, but she gobbles it down like there's no tomorrow. I know about the citrus thing, but she hasn't shown any reaction to it and loves it so much I'm going to keep letting her have it. She eats it with a full jar of chicken, so she has something to balance it out.

[Elenna]

mommydearest: What's in the Hawaiian Delight?

[mommydearest]

Elenna--

Here is an ingredients list:
http://www.epinions.com/kifm-review-6AF9-9E8BB3E-392C903E-prod1


A bunch of no-no things...

Water, nonfat milk, pineapple juice from concentrate, sugar, rice flour, corn starch, Citric acid, lemon juice from concentrate and Ascorbic acid

[jilly]

Hi all!
I just wanted to check in for a quick update! It's so great to see all these growing babies. I can't believe how quickly the time is flying!

Owen will be 8 mos on the 12th - I just can't believe it.

Motor Skills
He's been fighting sitting up because frankly, he'd rather stand. (no he can't do that on his own...yet). Most times, when I try to sit him down, he stiffens up like a board. Little booger! When I'm lying on the floor with him, he just fights to pull up on me. Het gets to about his knees.

He's army crawling all over the house, and is rocking back and forth. So I know the real thing won't be too far away.

This is all in stark contrast to DS #1, who was a Michelin Man with rolls upon rolls, and just sat contentedly wherever I put him for the longest time. O is definitely a mover and a shaker. :)

Solids
Three times a day for us. I think I he would probably eat more. But right now he gets a cereal/fruit mix in the AM, Veggie at lunch, and a variety for dinner (fruit/veggie, veggie, cereal)

Cup
He likes to chew on it!

Sleep
I had to put an end to the third nap. He'd take it about half the time, and is always tired in the afternoon, but I think it was messing with the schedule. Plus with a toddler, one more nap is such a pain.
So I'm trying a 9 and 1pm nap schedule, but it usually ends up more like 8:30 and 12pm because he's so tired. And he's out most nights between 6-6:30pm.
We're still waking up at night for a feeding. He eats pretty good at that time, so I guess he really needs it. I'll probably just keep it going until our next WBV and check with the dr. about it then.

AF
Nope. But I've only had one since July 2004. I BF DS #1 for a year, and a month after I still had no AF. I had to go on hormones to get a cycle started. We were getting ready to TTC soon, so I wanted to start charting my cycle for a few months...well we got preggo after one cycle.
So who knows who long it would've taken on its own. I won't be pushing it up this time around. ;)

I hope you all have a great holiday weekend!!!

:D

[jmvan74]

Sleep
I had to put an end to the third nap. He'd take it about half the time, and is always tired in the afternoon, but I think it was messing with the schedule. Plus with a toddler, one more nap is such a pain.
So I'm trying a 9 and 1pm nap schedule, but it usually ends up more like 8:30 and 12pm because he's so tired. And he's out most nights between 6-6:30pm.
:D


That is exactly what's happening with Brady and naps. I really want to get him on the 9am/ 1pm nap schedule. It would make life so much easier. baby steps...

[quest]

Cute pics of cute babies!!

I just have 2 words: teeth.ing. (okay, one word, but you get the idea ;))

When DD got teeth, she just...got them. She'd chew on toys and fingers for several days, and then little white teeth would appear. With DS, omg, the world is alerted that teeth are on.their.way. Poor baby, though...his top gums are so swollen! It even looks painful!

I'm hoping they pop through very soon, since the whole thing is throwing his sleep out the window...

[Alegna]

There is some type of bug going around at my daycare. Megans bottom is just raw. She pooped 3 times in 30 minutes! The 14 month old at daycare is the same way and one of the other little boys went home because he was throwing up.

Yikes! But I think we're on the upswing. She doesn't scream when you change her diaper anymore. And I think the redness is going down. But it's been a rough couple of days. It just hurts me to look at it.

I ordered Megan's Halloween costume today. She's going to be a monkey.

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/brandsonsale-store_1964_12897386

I hope it looks good on her.

[ggclark]

That is exactly what's happening with Brady and naps. I really want to get him on the 9am/ 1pm nap schedule. It would make life so much easier. baby steps...


Hi all... this post couldn't come at a better time.. b/c we too just dropped that thrid nap. Lily is doing like a 8:30 to 10 and then a 1 to 2:30-3ish nap and it is SOOOOOOOOOO much better... how much did we hate the 3 naps!?!! The only thing, like you guys, we had to move bedtime up a bit... she is exhausted by 6ish and by 6:30ish she is in bed.... She sort of fell into that 2-3-4 thing we all talked about earlier in the posts... up 2 in the morning.. then up 3 hours til the next nap then 4 til bedtime.

One more sign that our babies are growing up!

PS... on TEETHING: here is a weird question-- Lily is getting her third tooth-- first were the bottom two.. ok.. well, the third tooth is not the top middle ones.. its the one on the side of the middle teeth. WHAT IS THAT ABOUT?! not the order that it is supposed to be.. is that OK? :eek:

[Elenna]

ggclark: I hope getting teeth out of order is fine. DS is showing signs of getting his bottom side teeth before his top ones.

mommydearest: The Hawaiian Delight sounds yummy! I can see why she gobbles it up.

alegna: Good to hear the bug is already passing.

vegetarian meals: Is anyone else raising their DC vegetarian? I've been looking at all the stage 3's and "My first soups" in the store to get ideas and it seems they all have meat in them. I'm kinda at a loss as to what to feed DC when it comes to that time (I'm thinking ahead here). I am making his own foods, but I buy store bought to introduce a food first (that way I don't waste food making a batch of food DS will never eat).

[zhannushka]

Angela - I love the monkey costume! - too cute! :) We decided that since DS will not know the difference yet this year, we won't be dressing him up for Halloween. Maybe next year...

Teething - Joseph has his 2 bottom teeth now, I think that he's about to start cutting the top ones, since he's constantly rubbing his top gum and is drooling all.the.time.

Teeth out of order - DH's cousin is a pediatric dentist - we had a teething conversation with him a few months ago and he specifically told us that while the majority of babies cut teeth in the order of bottom 2 - top 2 - bottom 2, it's not unusual for teeth to come in out of order (2 top first or 4 bottom first), so - that's nothing to worry about!

Cup - Joseph is just not getting the concept! I try to give it to him every day and try to get him to drink a little out of it, but he just plays with it and chews on it, he has no clue that he's supposed to drink out of it! :eek:

Sleep - We are still on 3 naps a day. It's working out fine so far, so - I am not changing a thing until it becomes a problem. He also STTN for about 12 hours now - I am loving it! :D

Solids - He is still on 2 meals a day, but I'm about to make it 3. For breakfast, I've been giving him an 8 oz bottle with some cereal mixed in. I think I'm going to start giving him some cereal with fruit + the bottle (no cereal in it). He also gets a yogurt for lunch and chicken vegetable soup + some fruit for dinner.

[katmg]

Elenna - We're not raising DD vegetarian but the book, Super Baby Food does have information on it. Basically, she just doesn't introduce meats to her kids but relies on combining beans/legumes and grains to form complete proteins. Since you're making your own food that book might be helpful.

[ggclark]

QOTD: When do you introduce meat-- baby food meat purees?? I was tempted to buy some at the store... the chicken dinner and stuff like that, but I didn't know what the deal was.. do you have to wait until 9 months or can I do it now, at 7.... anyone have the answer?

[gmooter]

I've already given Gabe meats. The Dr. said it was OK at his 6 month WBV!

[zhannushka]

QOTD: As per our pedi, we've been giving Joseph chicken since about 6.5 months old. She said to start with chicken for now, so - that's all he's had so far.

[mommydearest]

We do chicken at lunch and dinner and have since about 6.5 months. DD will eat turkey occasionally too. But she doesn't like beef much. I mix it with peas and some BM and then she'll eat it if every third bite is applesauce.

But...FYI the chicken and rice dinner is not just chicken and rice. It has tomatoes in it, which I figured out about halfway through dinner tonight. I read they shouldn't have them until a year, but she was liking the food, so I let her finish the jar. Why they are in a stage 2 food, I have no idea. DD hasn't had any reaction to them, but I probably won't buy them again.

[Alegna]

Got the best birthday present on Saturday. Megan started crawling! Of course the dog, who she was chasing, isn't too happy about it. ;)

Other than that DH got me a Roomba. All I have to say is I LOVE ROBOT VACUUMES! And it works out great now that Megan is mobile. I'll feel better thinking the floor is cleaner.

Mesh feeder ~ Megan doesn't like it one bit. She will throw it down and gag when you try to give it back to her. Before it even touches her lips! She did it with both watermelon and a grape. I tried to put it in her mouth with the grape last night and she gagged so hard she threw up. The mesh hadn't even made it to her gums yet.

I guess we'll stick with purees for a while longer. She is getting the hang of eating Gerber puffs off the tray. I bought a chicken dinner at the store for her. Haven't tried it yet. I'm kind of grossed out at the thought of pureed chicken.

Hope everybody is having a good holiday. We're having a bunch of people over from work about 6pm. We're going to light a bonfire and cook some hot dogs. It was supposed to be cooler this weekend but instead it almost 90 degrees. Oh well. Hopefully people will bring cold salads to eat with the dogs. :)

[mommydearest]

Alegna--Be warned...the chicken smells like cat food. It smells disgusting! But DD sure loves it anyway.

I bought myself a new stroller this weekend. We needed something small that can fit in a sedan trunk with a wheelchair. I got a Maclaren Triumph and I LOVE it. It has a great carry strap that you yank on to fold it and DD was really happy the whole time. It won't replace my P3 for long days out, but for quick trips, the thing is awesome. I went for the Chicco cheapo little stroller, but DH actually said..."I thought you really liked the pink one." Uh...I didn't give him more than about 30 seconds to change his mind before the thing was paid for and out the door. It is super cute and really convenient. I probably wouldn't have gotten it except that we are going to Disney and the carry strap and easy fold will be great for their buses and in the airport.

DH also installed a gate yesterday for DD. She is moving so much that I was worried about the top of the steps. She also went for her first electrical outlet, which happened to be the only one in the whole upstairs that wasn't covered. Figures. It had a night light in the upper plug and I think that is what she really wanted. But needless to say, every outlet in our house is now covered.

Hope everyone else is having a great Labor day!

[GardenGirl]

Home at last! We went to Indiana to visit the ILs last week, got home and turned around and went to Austin the next day for my grandparents 60th anniversary party. I'm pooped.

Kristin - thanks for the tip about the Childrens Museum, we didn't have time for it this trip, but will add it on the next one. The zoo was great though - SO much better than ours in Houston. I like Indy (ILs live in Carmel), but it's still hard to get used to what I call "Christmas Trees" everywhere!!

Carter is officially on the move - although he only goes backwards for now. He started about a week ago while we were out of town. He loves moving and can get pretty much where he wants to go. At first he was frustrated because he was going backwards, but then figured out that at least he was moving. Now I'm uberparanoid about clean carpets too Angela.

He is eating cheerios now, he doesn't like the taste of the puffs. It took a couple tries to figure out how to mash them but he's got the hang of it now.

I called the ped's office on Friday about meat - I was told to go ahead. So we went out and bought several choices. He didn't like the chicken at first, but then ate it just fine. I do have to give him some fruit with it though (follow it, not mix it). The nurse also said egg yolks are fine as well as diary now that he's 8 months. I'm holding off on the dairy until I can actually discuss it at our 9 month WBV. I think I recall waiting until 10 months, but I'm not positive. I figure there are tons of things for him to try/eat that I don't need any yogurt/cheese yet.

Halloween - I've been meaning to order him a costume but I just can't decide. I have given myself until the end of the week to complete this task, I'd better do it before everything is sold out.

I bought a new car seat before our drive to Austin. We got a Brtiax Boulevard and I love it. Although I haven't installed it in MY car yet - just my parents Suburban since they drove us up there. I got a super deal since I had a couple BRU coupons. I ended up saving $64 off the $299, so I was pretty proud. Carter is so much more comfortable in it, I can't believe I waited so long.

Carter made his first art project - we did a big plate for my grandparents anniversary. I put his handprints on the platter 12 times (60 fingers). It turned out cute and he did a relatively good job, it's still hard to keep his hands out all the way. So some of the prints are smuged, I just figure it gives it more personality - check it out.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j99/terashelton/Plate001.jpg

Naps - Carter started dropping his 3rd nap about 2 weeks ago and fortunately started extending his naptime from one hour to about 2 hours so he's still napping almost 4 hours a day, it's just two times a day instead of 3. But what I didn't think about was moving up his bedtime. It was 7:00-7:30, but now he can't make it to 6:30. So even though DH won't get to see him much in the evenings, it is better for DS. Fortunately DH doesn't have to go in early, so we get lots of good morning time as a family.

Well, I need to get to bed early. In the past 11 days I've only spent one night in our bed. My back is killing me!

[ggclark]

GardenGirl- What a cute idea that plate is!!! I love it. Glad you are home and in your own bed :)

Halloween- I also need to order the costume THIS week! I think we decided to go with the hershey kiss... it's a cute costume and it will allow her to move around... sort of.

Crawling- SHE IS ON ALL FOURS!!!! she rocks and it is too cute. Not sure how long before DD realizes that she can go! I know it will complicate things around the house with safety and all, but I can't wait!!! I think it is the cutest thing.

Meat- I am going to go get some and try it this week... the dinners.... she is still so hungry after the 4 oz. of veggies that she could use something of more substance.

[Alegna]

Megan wouldn't crawl when Grandma came over to see her. :(

But if you sit her down in a room with a bowl of dog food or a pair of dirty old flip flops she's all over it :rolleyes:

Apparently she'll only crawl to gross, disgusting things.

Oh well.

[Elenna]

crawling: DS became really mobile this weekend. He's started crawling (but not on his knees, he does it straight legged). He only seems motivated to crawl to stuff he's not supposed to get into. Which means we really, really needed to baby proof NOW. We've spent the past couple of days constantly taking "no, no" things out of DS's hands and relocating him and the objects to safer areas.

babyproofing: Has everyone babyproofed, yet? I just started yesterday. So far I've only taken books off the lower levels of our bookcases (now boxed up and in our basement :(), moved breakable and "no,no" objects to higher areas (which I'm going to box up and put in our basement, too), and put in outlet covers.

teething: Well, it looked like DS was going to get his bottom side teeth next, but two days ago a top side tooth broke the surface without any warning. He doesn't have his top middle teeth, yet!

katmg: I have the Super Baby Foods book. I'm just worried about giving DS legumes. He's had allergic reactions each time I've tried to give him peas. I guess, if DS tolerates soy, we'll just use a lot of tofu for meat.

gardengirl: That plate is very clever and cute.

DS "ran" in a 5K race with DH on Labor Day. There were a lot of people running that race with jogging strollers. DH said DS cheered him on for a bit during the race by yelling "dada".

I learned valuable lessons that day. Don't put your coffee anywhere where your DC can reach it. I, unthinkingly, put my coffee on DS's jogging stroller tray while I put DS's socks on. Next thing I know DS gave a little wimper and I saw he'd dumped my coffee all down himself. Very luckily the coffee wasn't scalding hot anymore. It was warm enough, though, that it turned his skin red. It doesn't seem to have burned him. The redness faded pretty quickly. He was fine and happy again as soon as I changed him out of his coffee soaked clothes. I felt like a very bad mommy.

I also learned you have to put on the stroller breaks whenever you let go of the stroller. It was really crowded at the race and I'd let go of the stroller a moment to double wave (arms over my head) to DH to let him know where DS and I were. I turned around to see the stroller, with DS in it, was rolling away from me down the street (good thing the street was closed off for the race, so no cars were there). I wasn't a very good mommy that day.

[jmvan74]

Awww, Elenna, we all have our bad mommy moments. Glad Lee is okay.

Adorable plate, Tera!

Halloween: I think I'm just going to put him in a halloween onsie w/ some black sweats this year.

babyproofing; We've been baby proof b/c we have a toddler, but I had to go through all of Collin's toys and move chokables to his bedroom. It's very tiring to chase the boys around all day so Collin isn't giving Brady anything dangerous. *sigh* Brady has already choked on an apple peice and some cardboard. :( Honestly, it's a nightmare.


teething: No teeth yet, and that is FINE with me. ;) His bottom gums are pretty swollen, though.

crawling: We've moved from belly crawling to a hybrid of all fours and belly crawl. He instantly moves toward any object he shouldn't have or directly to the couch to pull up. Many bumps and falls over here. I seriously can not wait for him to be a proficient walker.

[gmooter]

teething Gabe's getting 3 teeth right now too! One of his top teeth is just about to poke through and the 2nd 2 bottom teeth are on their way too!

crawling Gabe gets up on all 4's, rocks and scoots his back legs forward and then does a belly flop. He doesn't get it that he needs to move his hands/arms too!

babyproofing Our house is all set since I have a 2 year old too!!

[ggclark]

teething[/b]: Well, it looked like DS was going to get his bottom side teeth next, but two days ago a top side tooth broke the surface without any warning. He doesn't have his top middle teeth, yet!.


Elenna.. .We have the SAME situation over here... teeth are sprouting up left and right with no warning but not the ones I expected. Lily has her two bottom, then the two fang like teeth popped out and then today the bottom side tooth broke through. I swear, she is getting all her teeth in a matter of 2 weeks time... it's insane over here. Major teething and some crankiness.... Seeing that you and I have the same scenerio, it must not be that uncommon after all.

On bad parenting moments: Don't worry Elenna... my DD rolled off the couch the other morning. DH was with her in the AM so I could sleep and he rested her on her boppy for a second (which used to work) and he turned around for a second and she rolled off onto the floor... I was sleeping in (not anymore) I heard the thump and ran out... she was sooooo crying. My DH was devasted and really shook up about it as was I. It is so hard... they are going to get hurt a million times, but it is never easy to see your baby upset.

Babyproofing- the most I have done so far is the outlet covers. I have to get the cabinet door clamp things and move a few things around.... and i should be all set (that is until DD discovers something while on the move)

[Alegna]

Bad mamma ~ My baby eats dog food. :rolleyes: What can I say? She's a lot quicker than I realized. Turned my back for a second and she's crawled over to the dog food and has a handfull. I fished one piece of kibble out of her mouth. I'm pretty sure she didn't actually swallow any.

Babyproofing ~ I put in some outlet covers. A friend gave them to me, they were left in her house when she moved in. We haven't actually bought anything yet. Going to have to check out that isle at the store next time we go.

[katmg]

Bad momma moment - Dude, y'all have nothing on me. I had to take DD to the doctor's about two months ago. She fell out of her highchair onto the chair I had been sitting in and bonked her head. She wasn't very wriggly at that point and I had unhooked her from the highchair and then turned to put her bowl on the counter. Well, she leaned forward and came tumbling out. I caught her before she hit the floor but she did bonk her head on the seat of the chair. Scared the beejesus out of me - she did it so fast!! Anyway, she is/was totally fine and the doctor's office was really nice about the whole thing. Told me that's how mothers get grey hair. :rolleyes: DD cried more when she got her shots than when she fell. Not me though!

Park - We went to the park yesterday and I put DD in the swing for the first