Watching the Sept and Oct 2006 Babies Grow as Toddlers

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/5909/glitteryourwayde6109a6ik1.gif (http://www.glitteryourway.com)

September Threads
1st (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12906); 2nd (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=16839); 3rd (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20444); Babies Arriving (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23624); Babies 1st Year (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29048)

October Threads
1st (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=14860); 2nd (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=17630); 3rd (http://www.constantchatter.com/showthread.php?t=20438); Babies Arriving (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=23211);The First 6 Months (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26083); Working our Way to 1! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31316)



Threadmistresses: Ericka_Jarett and Michelle. Any questions or problems, pm: Sept&Oct06Moms. Thanks

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

Adam's Pi - Karen
DH: Adam
Married: June 29, 2002
Due Date: September 23, 2006
NAME: Neila
BIRTHDAY: September 22, 2006
Birth Stats: 8 lbs & 21"
Other Children: Colin, 6/25/04
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Aletheia
DH: Dr. Ramsey
Married: August 7, 2004
Due Date: August 30, 2006
NAME: Oliver
BIRTHDAY: August 26. 2006 @ 2:24pm
Birth Stats: 7lbs, 12oz & 20 1/4"
Other Children: Elliot John, 8/24/08
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AmyS - Amy
DH: Jerry
Married: April 2, 2005
NAME: AJ
BIRTHDAY: October 10, 2006 @ 11:53pm
Birth Stats: 9lbs, 4oz & 22"
Other Children: Adam - 5/2/08
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{b}
D: E
Married: 2002
Due Date: September 10, 2006
NAME: Lauren
BIRTHDAY: September 13, 2006 @ 11:38am
Birth Stats: 6lbs, 13oz & 19"
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/b%20-%20from%20sept%20moms/ecf6b913.jpg
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Brenda
DH: J
Married: September 17, 2005
Due Date: September 22, 2006
NAME: Elizabeth
BIRTHDAY: September 29, 2006 @ 5:46pm
Birth Stats: 7lbs, 3oz & 20"
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Bubeleh - H
DH: A
Married: March, 2003
Due Date: October 1, 2006
NAME: E
BIRTHDAY: September 25, 2006 @3:41pm
Birth Stats: 7lbs, 9oz & 21"
---------------------------------------------------------
bunnybeth - Bethany
DH: Elon
Married: June 23, 2002
Due Date: October 25, 2006
NAME: Simon Maclaine
BIRTHDAY: November 1, 2006 @ 7:41pm
Birth Stats: 8lbs, 2oz & 21.5"
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/bunnybeth/beaverhat.jpg

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

craftgenius - Melanie
DH: Ryan
Married: August 16, 2003
Due Date: September 7, 2006
NAME: Claire Simone
BIRTHDAY: August 18, 2006 @ 5:58pm
Birth Stats: 5lbs, 6.6oz & 19"
http://images1.snapfish.com/347958556%7Ffp352%3Enu%3D3248%3E%3B%3C5%3E%3B79%3E WSNRCG%3D3233%3A959426%3B%3Cnu0mrj http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/Craftgenius/Destin112.jpg
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Dawn05 - Dawn
DH: Patrick
Married: August 13, 2005
NAME: Parker
BIRTHDAY: September 14, 2006
Birth Stats: 6 lb.13oz & 19"
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dzmattie
Kids - DD "E" 9/19/06
Other Children: DS "G" 1/04
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Ericka_Jarett - Ericka
DH: Jarett
Married: December 14, 2001
Due Date: October 4, 2006
NAME: Easton
BIRTHDAY: September 5, 2006 @ 7:27pm @35w 6d
Birth Stats: 5lbs, 6oz & 19"
Other children: Rebekah, 4/18/05 at 24 weeks, with us 71 mins.
Twin DD's: Julianna and Katelyn, born 10/23/07 at 35w 5d
birth, 12 months and 20 months
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n96/erickakulm/Easton.jpghttp://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/Ericka/DSC_7120.jpghttp://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n96/erickakulm/Easton%202008/easton_SP_-1.jpg
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jbemommy - Shana
DH: Doug
Married: June 22, 2002
Due Date: October 4, 2006
NAME: Steven Douglas, Jr
BIRTHDAY: September 16, 2006 @ 12:05am
Birth Stats: 6lbs, 13oz & 20.5"
Other children: Juliana - February 3, 2004
---------------------------------------------
Jenzen01 - Jen
DH: Al
Married: October 4, 2003
Due Date: October 16, 2006
NAME: Ada Grace
BIRTHDAY: October 17, 2006@ 6:00am
Birth Stats: 9lbs, 7.5oz & 21"
Other Children: Gabriel (Gabe)- 12/21/04, Expecting- 3/26/09
----------------------------------------
kate's mom- Cara
DH: Chris
Married: August 2002
Any other children: Kate
Due Date: 10/12/06
NAME: Meg
BIRTHDAY: October 11, 2006
Birth Stats: 8 lbs 4 oz & 20"
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Kemorr
DH: DH
Married: January 5, 2002
Due Date: November 3, 2006
NAME: DD
BIRTHDAY: October 26, 2006 @8:50 am
Birth Stats: 6lb, 13oz & 20"
Other Children: 10/3/08 10/3/08 Twins

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

larslobster - Karen
DH: Mark
Married: October 12, 2003
Due Date: September 11, 2006
NAME: Lillian Emma (Lily)
BIRTHDAY: September 26, 2006 @ 4:06pm
Birth Stats: 10lbs 6 oz & 21"
http://www.tuloy.com/files/larslobster/public/cake.jpg
-------------------------------------
Lily - Erica
DH:
Married: September 13, 2003
1st Due Date: October 4, 2006
2nd Due Date: September 26, 2006
NAME: Mahayla Simone (pronounced like MaKayla)
BIRTHDAY: September 25, 2006 @ 11:30am
Birth Stats: 7lbs, 2oz & 19"
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/Lily/ecaac874.jpg
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maplekitty - Sarah
DH: Curt
Married: August 27, 2005
Due Date: October 6, 2006
NAME: Robyn Abigail
BIRTHDAY: October 5, 2006 @ 12:12am
Birth Stats: 7lbs, 15 oz & 19"
Other Children: Expecting December 30, 2008
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/maplekitty/eca483a1.jpg
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marathongirl - Sue
DH: Tim
Married: December 1, 2001
Due Date: October 1, 2006
NAME: James David
BIRTHDAY: October 5, 206 @ 2:19 pm
Birth Stats: 7 lbs & 20"
Other children: Claire Sophia - September 16, 2004
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Michelle - Michelle
DH: Matt
Married: August 30, 2003
Due Date: October 13, 2006
NAME: Madison Michelle
BIRTHDAY: October 22, 2006 @3:40pm
Birth Stats: 8lbs, 8oz & 20"
http://static.flickr.com/107/280649861_855d9bff12_m.jpg

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

MichelleRenee - M
DH: M
Married: May 29, 2005
Due Date: October 27, 2006
NAME: T
BIRTHDAY: October 27, 2006 @6:37pm
Birth Stats: 7lbs, 8oz & 20"
Other Children: A - 11/27/08
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MidwesternGal - Amy
DH: Nate
Married: January 10, 2004
Due Date: October 7, 2006
NAME: Benjamin EugeneLee
BIRTHDAY: October 14, 2006@ 11:31pm
Birth Stats: 8lbs, 14oz & 22"
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mimieliza - Michelle
DH: Reid
Married: August 9, 2003
Due Date: November 10, 2006
NAME: Miranda Kimie
BIRTHDAY: October 30, 2006
Birth Stats: 7lbs 1oz. & 19"
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nic - Nicole
DH: L
Married: 2002
Due Date: November 3, 2006
Name: Christian Douglas
Birthday: October 16, 2006 @ 2am
Birth Stats: 6lbs & 18"
http://s146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/nniles/th_Picture141.jpg

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

portlandbride - Brandi
DH: Preston
Married: September 16, 2001
Due Date: September 24, 2006
NAME: A
BIRTHDAY: September 24, 2006 @ 8:26pm
Birth Stats: 7lbs 9oz & 19 3/4"
Other Children: B - May 12, 2005 Expecting- 12/8/08
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Rippy1010 - Ally
DH: Jeff
Married: July 23, 2005
Due Date: October 1, 2006
NAME: Logan Anthony
BIRTHDAY: September 24, 2006
Birth Stats: 7lbs 13oz & 21 inches
Other Children: Bailey- March, 2008
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/Rippy/eccae089.jpg
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Roxygirl - Marissa
DH: R
Married: July 10th, 2004
Due Date: October 9, 2006
NAME: Kendall Renne
BIRTHDAY: October 9th, 2006 @ 6:57 am
Birth Stats: 8lbs 14oz & 20.5"
http://www.cmphotocenter.com/is/ImageServer.psp?Cmd=RenderImage&width=300&height=400&I=img10%3A%2F%2F67679%2FIMG_2254
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SlvSpring
DH: Josh
Married: July 30, 2005
Due Date: October 21, 2006
NAME: Jack
BIRTHDAY: October 19, 2006
Birth Stats: 7lbs 8oz & 19"
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/SlvSpring/slvspring.jpg http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/SlvSpring/100_2368.jpg

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

spencer's_girl - Melissa
DH: Keith
Married: September 11, 2004
Due Date: September 9, 2006
NAME: Zachary Alan
BIRTHDAY: September 6, 2006 @ 11:48am
Birth Stats: 7lbs, 15oz & 19 1/2"
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/Spencers%20Girl/1436302398_d3e56a8fa4.jpghttp://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q3/october2006moms/Spencers%20Girl/1435435535_a92814a694.jpg
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TaterBaby - Emily
DH: Josh
Married: May 22, 2004
Due Date: October 4, 2006
NAME: Emily Elaine, - nickname-Lainey
BIRTHDAY: October 7, 2006 @5:18 am
Birth Stats: 7lbs, 8.5oz & 20 inches
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tika
Married: October 2002
Due Date: October 13, 2006
NAME: DS
BIRTHDAY: September 26, 2006
Birth Stats: 5lbs, 7oz & 19"

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7774/glitteryourway84eaca0495bbc84d8465e06eb293ecbcfr6. gif

http://img411.imageshack.us/img411/7355/glitteryourway78630fd8mv3.gif
18 * craftgenius - Claire Simone
22 * 2Jacks&Me - Eliza
26 * Aletheia -Oliver
28 * LyLMyssChaos - Theodore
28 * Alliesmomma03 - Alyssa Grace
30 * cosmic - Kai

http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/2622/glitteryourwayd294d6b6tf3.gif
5 * Ericka_Jarett - Easton Robert
5 * Koala_Gurl - D
5 * Mommy2AlliWill - Owen Joseph
6 * Spencer's_Girl - Zachary Alan
10 * dana b - Henri
13 * {b} - Lauren
14 * Dawn05 - Parker
16 * jbemommy - Steven Douglas, Jr
17 * SuieJ - Amelia Josephine
20 * deliciousjones - Eleanor Christine
22 * Adam's Pi - Neila
24 * Rippy1010 - Logan Anthony
25 * Bubeleh - E
25 * Lily - Mahayla Simone
26 * Kenswife - Ty
26 * Tika - DS
26 * larslobster - Lillian Emma
29 * Brenda - Elizabeth

http://img270.imageshack.us/img270/4109/glitteryourway2142ec14de7.gif
5 * marathongirl - James David
5 * maplekitty - Robyn Abigail
7 * TaterBaby - Emily Elaine
9 * Roxygirl - Kendall Renne
10 * AmyS - AJ
11 * Kate'sMom - Meg
14 * Mrs-Mac - Grace Elizabeth
14 * MidwesternGal - Benjamin EugeneLee
16 * Maxicat - Lauren
16 * nic - Christian Douglas
17 * Jenzen01 - Ada Grace
19 * SlvSpring - Jack
22* Michelle - Madison Michelle
27 * MichelleRenee - T
30 * mimieliza - Miranda

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/5444/glitteryourwaya6c89af7qe5.gif
1 * bunnybeth - Simon Maclaine

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

WELCOME TO OUR NEW THREAD

If there is any information that is incorrect please PM Sept&Oct06moms and we will fix it ASAP.

[Ericka_Jarett]

Hi everyone,

I am one of the thread-keepers and wanted to welcome all the September moms and toddlers (some may have seen me on the Sept thread, since my Oct 4th baby came on Sept 5th instead) We hope you enjoy the new combined thread and we look forward to getting to know you and your little ones better.

[Michelle]

I'm looking forward to getting to know all of the Sept moms! Welcome! :)

So, since we are Sept and Oct moms, that means that this thread is going to have a ton of 1st birthday party pictures! Yay! Especially since my DD will be one of the last to turn 1, you can all inspire me! :)

[MichelleRenee]

Woah... I was not ready for the toddler forum. These kiddos are growing up way too fast!

Yay for a new thread though. I am looking forward to meeting all the September moms!

[MichelleRenee]

I guess a new thread always deserves new pics! Here is Tristan last week:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/AngelyWangely/Tristans%201st%20Year/16.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/AngelyWangely/Tristans%201st%20Year/1-1.jpg

[MidwesternGal]

Hi Sept Moms! I'm so excited to get to know all of you and your little ones!!

MichelleRenee--CUTE pics! I was thinking I need to post a couple of my little trouble maker, too. Oh, and LUV the hairdo in the hair thread, too!


ETA: QOTD: Are you taking your DC trick-or-treating? If so, what is she/he wearing? (Post cute pics if you have the outfits!!). If not, why not? We decided not to go tnt because it's tons of candy we won't let DC have, plus, we'd only go to a couple places. I don't think I'm even going to get DS dressed up for pics, it just seems like a bit of a waste, since his 1st bday pics will be right before Halloween.

[MichelleRenee]

MWGal: thank you so much! I hope you do post pics of your little guy. I hope everyone does! I love seeing everyone little cuties!

Post another pic? ... sure! Here is T in his Halloween costume. We named him after a knight so we decided to dress him as a knight. (The cape is detachable and matches the birthday crown I bought him so he will wear that for his party too.)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/AngelyWangely/Tristans%201st%20Year/DSC01888-1.jpg

We are definitely doing trick-or-treating. We have a lot of family in the neighborhood so we are going with our 10yo niece, 4yo niece and 1yo nephew, their parents and possibly some friends with a 7yo and 3yo.

QOTD Spinoff: if you are taking DC trick-or-treating are you dressing up too?

We aren't sure yet. We definitely missed out last year since DS was due and born a few days before Halloween, but I don't want to be the only parent who dresses up!

[Ericka_Jarett]

QOTD - we don't celebrate Halloween so we will have no dressing up. Last year we went to our church's Harvest party to surprise everyone mostly (they had never seen Easton at that point) thinking this year if I don't have the babies right at that time, we will go to my bff house to visit as she will have given birth to her 3rd son. She is getting induced on the 23rd of October and we will most likely miss her older 2 kids birthdays. So if we go will take their presents to them, just so we don't forget all together. If I deliver before Halloween (really hope I don't) we will take all the kids over to her place to give the presents. Doubt we would go to the church thing (it's outside at the Pastor's house) since the twins if here would only be a week old.

[Michelle]

QOTD - Well, I'm kind of going to take Madison Trick-or-Treating. I'm going to get in the car and drive to some of our friends houses and knock on their doors so we can say Madison Trick-or-Treating. This way I can take her but not get the candy. She's going to be a pink bunny. I can't wait!

QOTD Spinoff - Nope, I'm going to pass on dressing up. I more excited on Madison dressing up!

Here she is in the costume:

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa197/michelle1177/Madison08-20071.jpg?t=1189481865

http://i200.photobucket.com/albums/aa197/michelle1177/Madison08-20072.jpg?t=1189482173

[Adam's Pi]

Adam's Pi - Karen, 27
DH: Adam, 30
Married: June 29, 2002
Due Date: September 23, 2006
NAME: Neila
BIRTHDAY: September 22, 2006
Birth Stats: 8 lb., 21 inches
12 months:
Big Brother: Colin, 6/25/04

Thanks for putting together a new thread!

QOTD: I don't know if we'll take Neila TOT. She's usually asleep by the time our neighborhoods TOT time is going. DS didn't TOT until last year, when he was 2. But just in case I get crazy and let her stay up, she has a ladybug outfit. DS is going to be a snake.

-----------

EMILY (kenswife)--#4?!?! Rock on!

[Rippy1010]

I can't believe we're in this thread! It's crazy!

And thank you to whoever pulled Logan's birth picture from one of the other threads. I was trying to find it yesterday to re-post for your use, but my picture-sharing site was being quirky! Thank you!

Look out Sept Moms, the October Thread always moved really fast. LOL! :D

[larslobster]

I'm glad the threads were combined - DD was so late I almost became an October mom. :p

QOTD: We probably won't go trick or treating but our city has a parade for kids and dogs in the park near our house. We plan on bringing the fam to that and will dress DD as Little Red Riding Hood and our collie/shepard mix as the Big Bad Wolf (if we can get a bonnet on her :D).

[TaterBaby]

I found the new thread!

QOTD: We're going to drive Lainey to see a few friends & family. She has a dalmation costume and I can't wait for her to wear it! I guess I'll be the first to admit that we'll probably collect some candy for DH & me to eat. ;)

[brenda]

Ohmigosh, I left the baby's name out of my post - she's Elizebeth. Sorry!

[brenda]

QOTD - We're probably not going TOT, but we will dress E up and I'll take her to visit her grandparents and aunts and cousins. We're also probably having a costume party, so she'll get to wear her costume twice. It depends how insane I get. As for what costume she'll wear, we still don't know.

[Roxygirl]

Holy cow, I can't believe we're in a new thread. Seems like just yesterday that I was checking this thread everyday for any new babies. Now they are walking soon to be toddlers. Crazy how time flies.

QOTD: We will be taking K trick or treating to just a few houses. Mainly for the photo-op (Since I'm the hardcore scrapbooker). Plus DH will never turn down free candy.

She is going as a spider
http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/18959.jpg?is=350,350,0xffffff
Unless of course I find something cuter.


Birthday plans have been started. I'm doing a presents theme with pink and orange. Pretty much based off of this dress (which I loved, Thanks Taterbaby).
http://www.ragsland.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/f07/AJPK00018F7_TN.JPG

I just ordered her invites from Amber from inababycarriage, LOVE THEM too.
(For some reason I can't get them to post. They are in my LJ, if anyone wants to friend me let me know and you can see them.

So that's about it for us right now.
I need to do K's 11 month stats (which was Sunday).

Threadmistress: could you change my age to 28, thanks.

[bunnybeth]

Hello, new thread! :D

QOTD We're not going trick-or-treating because there is next to nobody who does so in our neighborhood. But, there will probably be a Halloween party at my work as usual and we're doing his birthday party the weekend before (10/27) so we're definitely doing costumes! Pretty much decided on the octopus costume from Babystyle for DS. Still haven't decided what to do for DH and myself, I want us to be a theme for this year. Something sea-related like pirates or Team Zissou. (From The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou)

[nic]

delete

[MidwesternGal]

Oh wow, everyone has way cute outfits for their kiddos!! I love the pictures, keep 'em coming!!

Here's a couple new ones of my little trouble-maker.

Running VERY fast and being VERY happy:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/midwesterngal03/029.jpg

Trying to stand on his head!!! I think I need to find toddler gymnastics!
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/midwesterngal03/024.jpg

[Rippy1010]

Awww ... MidwesternGal! Those pictures are sooo cute! I love 'em!

[jbemommy]

We probably won't actually go TOT'ing, but our town has a Pumpkin Festival with a parade for all the kids in their costumes. DD and DS are going to be Little Bo Peep and a sheep. The costumes just shipped from buycostumes.com. (DS's is the Tom Arma lamb).

I have to share a DS funny from today. He loves copying noises, and today DD passed a little gas and DS went, "Pffff". :p

[Rippy1010]

jbemommy ~ That's so funny. I have a similar story ... once about a month back, my DH burped in the living room. DS was sitting in his high chair, and looked at DH, laughed, and then kept going "uuhhh" every couple minutes trying to make the noise. Oh ... BOYS! ;)

[Lily]

Thank you threadmistresses for starting a new thread. I can't believe our little ones are turning 1 either. Great pictures everyone!

Update: I am now 28. - Thanks.

1st Birthday - DD's birthday party is on the 22nd. The colors will be pink and lime green. I'll post pictures afterwards.

Halloween - DD will be dressing up as a ladybug this year, purchased from babystyle.com. We'll probably be going to a halloween party through our playgroup and then also hand out candy to trick or treaters. This is our first halloween in our new house, and our neighbors said that kid's drive into our neighborhood for the candy, so it's kind of a big deal. :) I'm excited since we never got tot'ers while living in apts.


Kenswife - Congratulations! I didn't even know you were expecting. Take care.

[AmyS]

MidwesternGal: AJ has just started doing this pose as well but I have yet to get a picture of him. I always say he's doing his yoga. :)

Halloween: We might take AJ trick or treating to a few neighbor's houses and my mom's house. AJ is going to be an octopus.
http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a123/amy_stanis/22840_MID_r.jpg

Teeth: AJ is getting his top teeth. It seems like all 4 are coming in at once. One has popped through and the other look like they will any day.

[marathongirl]

I'm still here! All my info is up to date.

Look at all these walkers! DS pulls up on everything but not walking or cruising yet.

Halloween - no idea what they are going to be yet. TOT'ing - probably not. We live on a pretty busy road so it's not TOT friendly.

Kenswife - CONGRATS!!!

Uh-oh - kids are up. Gotta go!

[bunnybeth]

Simon took his first steps yesterday! No more than 2 in a row, but he "walked" to my mom, the dog, and then finally me. At least it will still be awhile until he's a full-fledged walker.

AmyS That's the octopus costume I want to get for DS. Plus, we did buy that Bears jersey at Target. Such matching boys we have. :p

[Bubeleh]

Yay a new thread. Nice work Ladies!

QOTD 1: We are not going TOT, mainly becuase E's bedtime, but there is a halloween fun festival so we will probably go there in the afternoon. I am not putting him in a costume, but we did get a themed tee-shirt.

QOTD 2: I never liked dressing up, so we will be passing. Atleast until DS is old enough to request it.

Everything is in place for DS party. It will be small, just family. Its The Hungry caapillar theme. I made the invites from scratch, and it was really fun, but a lot of work. I can't believe in less that two weeks he will be 1, where did the time go!

[Roxygirl]

Why can't I stop going to the baby and infant group thread. It's habit I guess, I click on the link and search for our thread. Then i remember, shoot, I'm in the wrong one. Just another example of how much in denial I am that my little baby is almost a toddler.

Just checking in. DD actually took two steps yesterday then fell down. Very exciting!!
She is also starting to say what sounds like No. Although it's just rambling at this point, not used in context.

[Lily]

Roxygirl - Me too! It feels almost sad to be in the toddler section. I think I'm especially feeling reminiscent because DD's b-day is in 1.5 weeks.

DD just started standing up without support and is SO proud of herself. :) She'll get this huge smile on her face and start clappling, it's so cute. She also just figured out how to climb the stairs. Not so excited about this one, I guess we need to put a baby gate at the base of the stairs too. Is anyone else going to?

[Ericka_Jarett]

Lily - think we had to do a gate :) He is so proud that he stands up there all the time now.



pic deleted

[Lily]

Ericka - Ahh, how cute. That gate would work perfectly in our place too. What kind are you using? Do those ties work well too? We don't want to drill into the wooden staircase.

[Ericka_Jarett]

It's just a Safety 1st gate that my mom bought, that is pressure mounted. Since we rent, we don't want to do hardware gates since we would like to get our security deposit back and with the wrought iron hard to attach a gate to the stairs if it had to be mounted. We used the cable ties to make things a bit more secure since once you open the gate, it had a tendency to fall some. Hubby did put 2 screws around the bottom pressure mount on the side of the gate that opens. We have 1 of the extensions on the gate.

Here are a few pics of the gate in place:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n96/erickakulm/gate/DSC02770.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n96/erickakulm/gate/DSC02771.jpg
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n96/erickakulm/gate/DSC02772.jpg

1st is the gate as it looks in place. 2nd is the wrought iron railing and how DH zip tied it. 3rd is where the screws are to reinforce the gate to the wall.

I am having Easton practice crawling up the stairs, but that is mostly because once the twins come to try carrying 3 kids up the stairs at once is impossible. We always have the gate closed though when he is in the living room, we just don't want him constantly going up the stairs.

[mimieliza]

I'm here! Miranda is so much younger than most of the babies in this thread, it's fun to see what's around the corner. :)

Halloween - Miranda's going to be a chick - I got the costume from Babystyle back in July. I think it was left over from the previous year because it was only $10. Anyway, here's what happened when I tried it on her:
http://mimieliza.smugmug.com/photos/182321015-M.jpg


First Birthday - M's party will be on Nov. 3. I think we're going to do a general pink theme. I got her this dress and tights this past weekend:
http://www.hannaandersson.com/images/LiveStyle03/07F32265L.JPG
It was on sale, but still a bit of a splurge, so she'll wear it for birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas parties, etc.


M discovered stair climbing this past week, as well:
http://mimieliza.smugmug.com/photos/195247154-M.jpg
She was so proud to be able to climb these two stairs in between our friends' dining room and sunken living room.

[craftgenius]

Mimieliza - Where did you get those tights from? Very cute! And I love the duck costume!

Halloween - We probably won't go trick or treating next year. I would kinda feel silly taking her out and she doesn't even eat candy yet. Next year she'll be able to enjoy it.

Claire finally started walking!! YEAH!! She's been walking for a week now. Here are a few pics...
She looks so proud of herself
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/clairewalks019.jpg?t=1189781461

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/clairewalks016.jpg?t=1189781506

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/clairewalks012.jpg?t=1189781522

[craftgenius]

Here's are a few recent pictures of her taken during our trip to Destin...
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/Destin112.jpg?t=1189781567

Here she was trying to get me to taste the salt water on her fingers...
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/Destin120.jpg?t=1189781652

With daddy...
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/Destin053.jpg?t=1189781698

First birthday party pics...
http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/Claires1stbirthday029.jpg?t=1189781755

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/Claires1stbirthday028.jpg?t=1189781780

http://i111.photobucket.com/albums/n150/craftgenius/Claires1stbirthday010.jpg?t=1189781830

[Rippy1010]

Awww, craft, she is so cute. And I love the dress she wore for her birthday party, too. Very cute! I can't tell who she looks more like, you or your DH ... she must be the perfect combo. :D

[bunnybeth]

Lily We definitely need to get a gate up at the bottom of our stairs, Simon climbs them all the time and then suddenly slips down, so we always have to be behind him. Pressure gates (no hardware/mounting) are fine for the bottom of stairs. But, we do have wooden bannisters on all our stairs, and used the KidCo kit so we wouldn't have to drill into them at all for the top of stairs gates.

mimieliza Simon is actually 2 days younger than Miranda, so I know what you mean! She does look proud of getting up those stairs. ;)

craftgenius Very cute pics, she does look very happy to be walking.

[Tika]

Checking in! Thanks for the new thread ladies! I look forward to meeting the September moms and babies.

T or T: Nope! But we may still get a costume for pictures. It will most likely be the lion from Gap.

Gates: We definitely need them and plan on getting them in the next week or so. DS looks at you with a devious smile and start speeding up the stairs so that you can run after him. He has so much fun doing that. Crazy! lol

Birthday: I'm a little behind on getting things ready for the party, but it will all get done by his birthday.

MidwesternG: Look at him walking! I can't believe it. DS has the same romper.

Mimieliza: M is so adorable! Love her reaction to the costume. Lol

Ericka: Look at Easton! So grown!


Craft: Nice pictures. Claire has gotten so big (compare to the EM pictures)!

[MidwesternGal]

Okay, stupid question for you ladies: How do you keep jeans/khakis on your kid? My little guy walks around with his pants 1/2 way off his butt! His belly is soooo round, they don't stay up!! Do they make such as thing as baby suspenders--and if so, do they work?

Mimieliza and Craft: OMG, your girls are just darling!!! So beautiful!

[SlvSpring]

I've been MIA for awhile because I recently switched to a new job and then soon after found out my mom has stage 4 cancer. It is pretty devastating. I am so glad that Jack is around because he makes me smile and laugh everyday.
I can't believe there is a toddler thread already... that is crazy...!
Here's our info

SlvSpring - 27
DH: Josh, 29
Married: July 30, 2005
Due Date: October 21, 2006
NAME: Jack
BIRTHDAY: October 19, 2006
Birth Stats: 7lbs 8oz, 19 inches
12 months:

Here is a newborn photo:

http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/JoshandOona/100_1861.jpg
And a more recent photo, at 10 months old:
http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/JoshandOona/100_2368.jpg

I don't have a photo of it, but Jack is going to be baby Jack-Jack from the Incredibles for Halloween that we boought from the Disney store. It really easy, just a thin costume and goggles and around here it is still warm enough to wear something like that at this time of year. We are planning on going trick or treating with some friends of ours this year. We also live very close to Disneyland and got tickets a special even they have called "Halloween Treat' where you get to trick or treat with the characters after the park closes down. I think our date is actually October 24th to do that. We are so excited about that!

I hope everyone is well.

[marathongirl]

Happy Birthday Steven!

craftgenius - love your DD's name! My DD is Claire also;) It's getting to be quite popular.

Speaking of DD - she is 3 today!!! My babies are growing up:):(

[jbemommy]

Thanks marathongirl!

Today is Steven's birthday! My mom and both grandmas are visiting, so it was just them and the 4 of us. Steven didn't manage to blow out his candle, but he did copy us and make a blowing sound. It was cute. He picked his piece of cake up and took a big bite. I'd love to share pics, but I just don't feel comfortable sharing pics of my DC online. I'll post one of his cake later. It was a really fun time, very low-key.

I'm so glad to be on this side of the year. Steven is just so much more fun now. I'm not a big fan of the newborn period, I guess.

[Ericka_Jarett]

Happy Birthday to Steven. I totally know what you mean about the little gones being on this side of 1. I love seeing all the stuff that Easton learns to do everyday. I think he is prepping me for when the twins come though, he has been getting up 1-2 times a night for the last 2 weeks. So hard to pull myself out of bed to get him when he starts to fuss.

[portlandbride]

SlvSpring So sorry to hear about your mom.

TOT: We will go trick or treating somewhere. Last year we went to an outdoor mall early in the evening then DD#2 and I came home to hand out candy. Not sure what we'll do this year as I want to both go TOTing and hand out candy, but we'll figure it out. I plan on getting the ON monkeys for both the girls and maybe getting some tutus for them, also.

Gates: I don't have any babygates. We only have 6 stairs on each level (tri-level house) and DD#1 learned quickly to go both up and down. Now DD#2 can go up like lightning, but hasn't figured out the coming down part yet. :)

Birthday: My parents are coming to town for her birthday, so we will do a low-key cake and ice cream birthday. I think we will also go to the zoo as both kids love animals.

Question What are you getting your DC for their birthday? Since DD#1 is only 16 months older than #2 I still have tons of toys, but I want to find a couple of things for her birthday. So far all I have found that I want is this Fisher Price ball popper thing that I think she will get a kick out of. Any suggestions?

[Ericka_Jarett]

Birthday - Easton got a bunch of books, a building block turtle, weebles castle, little people airplane, little people dump truck, learning puppy, sit/walk toy, baby laptop, baby boom box, cash, box of 198 diapers and a GC for Talbot Kids.

[jbemommy]

portlandbride We got DS a Little Tikes dump truck that is a ride-on toy or a walk-behind toy. We also got him the Fisher Price Little People garage, which I'm disappointed with, it just doesn't do much. Our babysitter got him the ball popper thing, and it was a big hit with him and DD. But it does make a really high-pitched noise (the blower) and it's going to have to be limited--maybe when the babysitter is going to be here I'll bring it out. ;) Board books or cloth books with textures are always good, too.

[larslobster]

gates - we have two pressure mounted gates that we move around. I'll gate off the stairs if she can have the run of the first floor or if I'm making dinner, I'll gate her in to the kitchen/family room area. We tried putting a gate with a door at the bottom of the stairs but the dogs freaked out and I actually found it kind of a pain to use. I find putting up or taking down the pressure mounted gate easier.

birthday- Lily is getting a toy Miele canister vacuum just like Mom and Dad's since she loves to pretend to vacuum with ours, an anywhere chair from Pottery Barn Kids because she love to climb on things and this ride on toy:

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/41FR3ZG3GZL._SS260_.jpg

I tried to buy her things that fit her interests at the moment: copying what we do, climbing all over everything and generally moving around constantly. I'd love to buy a few smaller toys but the kid already has quite a few and won't sit still long enough to play with any of them. I can't even read her a board book without her flipping out of my lap to run around. I'm hoping by Christmas she'll be willing to sit still long enough to play with a toy on the floor. :rolleyes:

[kate's mom]

Just checking in. Welcome September Mommies and babies/toddlers. I still am not used to coming to this area!

Happy belated birthday to all the new one year olds!

More later, must get to work

[portlandbride]

Thanks for the toy suggestions ladies! I think we are going for these:
http://trus.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-2789362t130.jpg
http://trus.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-2787464reg.jpg
http://trus.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-3130535reg.jpg
Plus some clothes, books, and musical toys from Gymboree.
I can't believe my baby will be one on Monday!

[Michelle]

Portland Bride - I love the first toy your posted. I'm going to have to check that one out! I could totally see my DD love something like that! What brand is? Where are you getting that?

[Rippy1010]

portlandbride ~ Our DS will be one on Monday, too. So crazy!

I was just reminiscing this morning about the fact that one year ago today my doctor told me I couldn't work anymore!

[portlandbride]

Michelle It's called the Laugh & Learn Learning Home by Fisher Price. On the Toys R Us website it says it is an R Us exclusive. It's on sale right now for $59.99. I like it because I think my older DD will get a kick out of it too!:)
Rippy1010 I was remembering taking looonnngggg walks trying to get her to come out!

[Michelle]

Thanks for the info Portlandbride! I'm going to run out this weekend and look at it. We already have the Laugh and Learn table and DD loves it! That house looks like so much fun! I'm thinking we might have to buy it!

[MichelleRenee]

We are on the verge of getting tubes in Tristan's ears. He has basically had an ear infection all month long. He is on his 3rd round of oral antibiotics and just finished a round of the injected ones. Unfortunately the meds are causing him to have diaper rash so he is just miserable all around. He is pretty happy during the day, except during diaper changes.

Reminiscing: I do it every chance I get. With the change of season I am really having flashbacks to last year. Everything fall and Halloween remind me of those last magical (miserable?) days of pregnancy. Memories....

[Ericka_Jarett]

Well I am officially a mini-van mom now :) We bought our mini-van today. It's a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan, nicest part of it is that we got 0% financing for 72 months, otherwise this would not have even been possible.

[Michelle]

Congrats on the new van Ericka! :)

MichelleR - I'm so sorry about T. I hope he's feeling better soon!

[marathongirl]

Happy belated 1st birthdays to the ones I missed!!!

Ericka - congrats on the minivan!

MichelleRenee - so sorry about DS's ears! Poor kid!

For DS's b-day we got him Robeez and a book. Probably his best present was the joint gift he has to share with DD. My brother got them a Radio Flyer wagon and they love to be pulled up and down the driveway. DS rides around going "Woooo! Woooo!" It's so cute!

Hope all is well with everyone!

[Rippy1010]

Has anyone's DC reached a new phase? Temper tantrums! This came on suddenly just this weekend. Right after his birthday party was over, he became quite possessive over his new toys that he received ... and it continued all weekend. Even 4:30 this morning he had a temper tantrum because I wouldn't pick him up out of his crib (kissed him, hugged him, and made him lay back down). He thrashed and threw his body all over the crib.

I don't know where this came from. But, WTH?! Tell me I'm not the only mom experiencing this right now??? I kept thinking all weekend "where did I go wrong?" I think back, and I can't think of any way that I've promoted it.

[TaterBaby]

Rippy, You are NOT alone! My sweet, laid back baby has suddenly become super whiny about everything. It's whiny pretty much all day with a few tantrums thrown in. Fun times. They keep telling me at daycare how "fussy" she is, like I don't know or it's my fault. Please let this be a short-lived phase!

[Rippy1010]

Rippy, You are NOT alone! My sweet, laid back baby has suddenly become super whiny about everything. It's whiny pretty much all day with a few tantrums thrown in. Fun times. They keep telling me at daycare how "fussy" she is, like I don't know or it's my fault. Please let this be a short-lived phase!

Well, at least it's not just me. But, I'm sorry you're experiencing it.

YES!! Total whiny-ness. This was Logan yesterday. He would be whiny about the slightest little thing, and then when something semi-major (in his mind) would happen he would flip out and throw a tantrum. I thought they were too young for this! I thought this happened in the so-called "terrible two's".

Logan's 8th tooth is coming in, and he also hasn't been feeling well (congested and such) for about a week. So, I was hoping this would be the explanation. But, I'm kind of doubting it. :( :confused:

[jbemommy]

Rippy You're certainly not alone! DS has been having tantrums for a while, it does seem to be part of his personality. If we take something away from him, or get him out of the bathtub, etc., he just has a total meltdown, flings himself on the floor, and screams. He's even started doing it if we're holding him and put him down before he's ready. We're trying to ignore it as much as possible. I'm imagining awful melt-downs in public when he's 18 months when the "real" age for tantrums starts. :(

[Rippy1010]

That's what I'm imagining, too, jbemommy. So far I've told him "no" when he's done it ... which didn't work, it made him cry louder. This morning (at my parents' house, no less ... :o ), I said sternly "that is enough" and he stopped and just looked at me with puppy dog eyes. Don't worry ... I didn't fall for it. LOL. But ... how does ignoring it work for you? Does it seem to go on for a while, or does he see it doesn't get a reaction and stop? Logan definitely does it when we take something away from him (and this weekend, when we would do ANYTHING with one of his new toys that he didn't like). He also does it when we try to make him remove himself from an area he shouldn't be in (we "walk" him away by taking his hands) ... oh lord, that's the worst. He collapses his whole body so that I can't make him walk, and thrashes, and screams and cries.

[MidwesternGal]

MichelleRenee--I hope T's ears get better soon. Hopefully you can get some tubes put in--it sounds like he's a good candidate. BTW, I made your Italian soup in the soup thread, and my DS (who HATES table food) LOVES it! I put it in a food processor and he ate about 1/3 cup!

Ericka--Yay about the van! I have heard good things about that model, too!

Temper Tantrums--Um, yeah. I usually ignore them or take photos of them (I think they are hilarious so far, but then again, he hasn't melted down in public yet). . . . one of my IRL friends used to set up the pack-n-play to contain her DS when he'd start thrashing around, to keep himself and herself safe (they no longer used it, so it didn't matter that she used it for this purpose).

__________________
We're still struggling with table/finger foods. Pretty much Cheerios. Sometimes DS will eat a little of what we're eating, but not often. He wants nothing to do with corn or peas (where are perfect for little fingers!). Oh well. I guess I"ll be buying Gerber forever! I should buy some stock in that company!

He's had a massive cold the last week--at first I chalked it up to teething, but then I got sick too. OMG, it SUCKS staying at home and being sick with a sick kid.

DS is teething again though--still only has 2 bottom teeth. . . he's actually MORE fussy this time, so I"m thinking it's the top ones now. Last time, he learned to walk when the teeth popped through, so I think that helped distract him. Now, not so much.

I can't wait to see pictures from birthday parties from everyone!!!

[jbemommy]

Rippy Ignoring Steven's tantrums works reasonably well. I do try to distract him with something else, and that sometimes works also. He responds well to "no" otherwise, but it really doesn't work for tantrums or whining for him.

I will admit that I find it more amusing than anything right now--he's pretty cute when he's really mad. :rolleyes: Midwestern I want to take a picture of him in the middle of one, too, b/c I feel like I need to prove to him in the future that he wasn't always the smiling baby that's in all the other pictures.

[MidwesternGal]

Okay, so I couldn't resist:

Here is FAKING it, totally--no tears at all were coming out:
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/midwesterngal03/TemperTantrum.jpg

And here he is, super mad because he couldn't get his walker pushed onto the thicker carpet in the living room.
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q168/midwesterngal03/MAD.jpg

Notice the lovely cardboard in the background? Yeah, that's how we keep him out of the trash and our shoes (no porch to leave shoes on, so part of the kitchen functions as that).

[kate's mom]

Those photos are so funny! They look exactly like my DD.

QOTD What time is bedtime and wake up time?

[kemorr]

Mind if I join you ladies? I've been following along for a while now and decided it is time to join!

Me - Kemorr, 31
DH: DH, 33
Married: January 5th 2002
Due Date: November 3rd 2006
NAME: DD
BIRTHDAY: October 26th, 2006 8:50 am
Birth Stats: 6 lb, 13 oz, 20 inches

Temper tantrums - My DD has been throwing temper tantrums for about 3 months now, whenever we take something away from her that she wants she'll start to scream and writhe. She often does this in the middle of our gymboree classes when it is "clean up time" - she totally doesn't get the concept of having to put the toys away! I usually cope by trying to give her something else to play with (distract) or by picking her up and bouncing her on my hip. Sometimes it is hard not to laugh, but I don't want to encourage it.

QOTD - Bedtime is 6:30-6:40 and wake-up time is 6:00-6:30. I have a rule that she isn't allowed out of the crib until 6:30, though. She's usually awake before I go in at 6:30 but plays in there contentedly. It used to be 7:00 pm and 7:00 am but then she started waking up earlier and earlier, so we moved bedtime earlier to compensate. I wish she'd go back to 7, I'm not a morning person!

[Roxygirl]

Just thought I'd post this, but I'll probably take it down in a few days.

I can't believe my baby is starting to walk. I hope I'm not the only one having a hard time with this. Where did our babies go.

PS. Oh yeah on the Tantrums. I think we're all pretty much in the same boat.

[Lily]

Ericka - Congrats on getting a mini van.

Rippy - Oh yeah...DD started throwing tantrums one day out of the blue around 8 months. Most of the time distraction works, and sometimes ignoring works (especially when she wants to be picked up and I'm doing something).

Wake Up/Naptime/Bedtime - 7 or 8AM/Between 12 & 1 & 5 or 6/Around 9 or 9:30.

Big News - DD is WALKING!!! She took her first steps this evening, and just in time for her birthday tomorrow. We're so proud of her and she's super proud of herself. :D

[spencer's_girl]

I guess I should stop lurking and join the group if i'm not to late.

spencer's_girl
Me - Melissa, 26
DH: Keith, 36
Married: September 11th 2004
Due Date: September 9th 2006
NAME: Zachary Alan
BIRTHDAY: September 6th 2006 at 11:48am
Birth Stats: 7lb, 15oz, 19 1/2 inches
12 months:23lb, 12oz, 29 inches
hospital picture 1 day old
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1161/1436302398_d3e56a8fa4.jpg?v=0
and birthday pictures 1 year old
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1088/1435435535_a92814a694.jpg?v=0

trying to share with his cousin Kaylee
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1432/1435436905_75dd5a852a.jpg?v=0

My little fighter:p
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1373/1436303480_1350dc5ee2.jpg?v=0

Temper tantrums- Zach hasn't really started tantrums yet but he has started screeching all the time and it is driving me crazy. I can handle the screaming and everything but this high pitched screech gives me an instant headache.

Z is eating table food really well and has switched to whole milk without a problem keith gives him bites off his plate most nights and the only foods he doesn't like so far are peas and hamburger. He hasn't started walking yet but he cruises around the house pushing his toys.

QOTD- Zach normally goes to bed around 9:30pm and wakes up around 10:30am. he sleeps until 10:30am regardless of what time we put him to bed.

[MichelleRenee]

I am so jealous of all the little walkers out there! T is s close but chickens out at the last second. He can cruise like a champ though!

Temper tantrums: yep!

Bed time: down at 7:30, up by 6:30, naps at 9 and 1

[nutter13]

Hi everyone, it's been awhile since I've been here, but I follow along often :) I just posted in the infant and toddler threads but I'd like to see what you guys are doing as well....are you still buying toys Made in China, and do you still let your little ones play with them as long as they haven't been recalled? I'm just worried about DC always sticking stuff in the mouth!! But EVERYTHING it seems is made in China. Most of our toys are...

Just curious about what everyone else does...TIA

[Rippy1010]

nutter13 ~ We haven't banned all toys from China. Mostly because ... what would DS play with? LOL. But, I do check the recall list about once a week to make sure we don't have any of those.

Welcome to spencer's girl and welcome (back?) to kemorr!

Bedtime/Wake Up ~ Goes down between 7:30-8:00pm. Gets up between 6:30-7:00am. Though, lately, DS hasn't been feeling well (and cutting his 8th tooth), so he's actually been getting up between 1-3 times throughout the night. Makes for an unhappy pg momma!

QOTD for today ~ DH and I have been discussing recently "when is the right time to start teaching to put the toys away". We don't really know how to introduce this, and is it too young. So, I'm actually glad that kemorr brought this up when discussing tantrums. Have you guys started teaching to put the toys away, and how do you introduce it at this age? What do you do?

ETA: DS's 1-year ped appointment was today! His stats were: Head circ: 18"; Height: 32"; Weight: 30.34 lbs.

[Lily]

Happy 1st Birthday Sweet Baby Mahayla! We Love You!

http://www.myspaceholidaygraphics.com/birthday/clipart/myspace_birthday_clipart11.gif

Also sending happy birthday wishes to :
Bubeleh's DC
Kenswifes's Ty
Larslobster's Lily
Rippy's Logan
Tika's DS

Wow...there are lots of 9/24-9/26 birthdays. Have a great day little ones!

[jbemommy]

Steven had his 12 month appt. today. He is 23 lbs. 9 oz. and 31.5 inches. He was soooo mad about having his finger poked! He cried a lot for the shots, too, but not as long as he did after the fingerstick. He had a low-grade fever tonight and was more fussy. Poor baby.

[kemorr]

Rippy - Thanks for the welcome. I quite honestly can't remember if it is a welcome back or not! Not sure if I joined the thread ages ago. Mind you, I'm an absent minded fool these days, so who knows! I think we're going to start working on "time to put toys away" at home to try to limit meltdowns in public. Who knows if it will work, though.

nutter - I'm letting DD play with all her toys and the toys I bought for her birthday are all made in china. It is impossible to avoid unless you go to very small, boutique toy stores and spend $$$ on toys. The closet boutique toy store I know of around here is an hour away. I just don't have time to drive there everytime I want to get DD a new toy.

Can I do a second QOTD? How many naps a day does your DC take? I'm getting super concerned that DD is thinking of dropping her morning nap. She has been taking a long time to fall asleep (1 hr 20 minutes yesterday!!) for both naps and then taking short naps. She normally naps at 9 am for 1 hr 15 and takes 10-15 mins to fall asleep and then again at 1 pm for 1 hr 1/2 and takes 10-15 minutes to fall asleep. Over the last week or so, she's been taking 45 minutes or longer to fall asleep and only sleeping for 45 minutes. I'm wondering if I need to make her nap times a little later, if this is just related to learning to walk or if she's trying to tell me she needs to drop a nap. Please, please don't let it be the latter!!

As far as walking goes, she has taken 2 independent steps twice! That's it. She cruises like a champ and can stand independently for quite some time but seems hesitant to take independent steps.

For those of you who have walkers - did it just all of a sudden happen or was there an obvious build-up to it?

Happy birthday to all the birthday babies!

[Ericka_Jarett]

second QOTD - Easton has been only taking 1 nap for ohhhhh at least 6 months now. It's usually 3 hours long although has been ranging lately.

Walking - Easton has been brave and going across the room as of lately. He is starting to prefer walking over crawling now. (although if he falls down he will just finish crawling to where he wants to get to)

Twins - they are right on schedule for growth at 4lbs 2oz and 3lbs 13oz and look perfect, we even got a 3D u/s of each of their faces today which was nice of the tech to do for us. I will be delivering anywhere between 3-4 weeks from now most likely. Baby A is still head down (has been for about 3-4 months now) and Baby B is breech, but the OB said that we have 3 delivery options. Deliver Baby A and B by C-section, Deliver A and try and turn B or deliver A and deliver B breech (he prefers this method as to not prolapse the cord and require an emergency C-section.) Got their seats installed in the new van yesterday and will be working on getting my bag packed, as we are pretty sure that the day the cerclage comes out I will go into labor immediately like I did with Easton. I also lost a lb so my total gain is only 13 lbs now, which of course we know now is all babies and placentas.

[Rippy1010]

For those of you who have walkers - did it just all of a sudden happen or was there an obvious build-up to it?
For me, Logan was cruising around like crazy for a month (maybe two). Then, all of a sudden, one day he took 5 steps at a time twice and didn't want to do it anymore. Then, the next day, he was just WALKING. It was crazy how it happened, IMO. I don't know if it's like that for everyone though. It just got crazier after that ... he walks more and more every day. At times, it seems like he was never not walking. LOL.

[Rippy1010]

Ericka ~ we cross posted. Glad to hear the twins are developing nicely. The delivery options all sound scary to me, LOL. So much to consider when there are two!!! Are you leaning the same direction as the doc? (Hey ... btw ... can you check out my formula-to-milk transition question in the formula thread?)


Naps ~ I think Logan is transitioning himself to one nap. Some days he takes two (for a total of 1-1/2 hours), and some days he takes one (anywhere between 45-60 minutes). He's not a good napper anyway, so it's hard to answer this one. Somedays he only naps 30 minutes for the whole day ... EGADS! Those are bad days!

[Ericka_Jarett]

Rippy - pretty much leaning as the doctor suggests, he said another doctor with less white hair would want to turn the baby to be head down before delivery, but he said there is more chance of a prolapsed cord that way, so he prefers since Baby A will be head first and already have been through the birth canal that it will leave plenty of room for Baby B to be born breech without much problem. He would rather spare me from having a major surgery to deliver (which to me sounds like a good plan, especially with a little one at home already) (will check out the ?)

[brenda]

QOTDs
Tantrumming - Maybe a little bit. I've pretty much decided that she's getting more interested in her surroundings and what she wants, but I tend to mess up her plans. Bad mama! Since she can't communicate her displeasure any other way when I remove her from danger, she cries. I don't really consider it a tantrum, though, so I'm not sure if we're seeing the same behaviors.

Naps - They're definitely getting more erratic. I'm hoping that it's due to the teething, allergies, and getting ready to walk, but I'm somehow doubtful. Lately she's up 9:30am - 12:30pm and 3-9pm.

Putting away toys - right now E's favorite game is pulling out/taking down anything I put way/up, so I'm not worried about putting away toys when we're done with them. When she seems a little more cognizant of things having a place, we'll try again.

Ericka,
It's wonderful to hear that the twins are doing well. It's also nice to hear that your OB/GYN is so open to doing what you want. A lot of docs these days won't "let" a twin-mom attempt a vaginal delivery. I hope you're able to make a decision you're comfortable with and carry out your plan!

General Post
How is everyone else doing with food? E's still pretty unpredictable about table food vs. baby food. Aside from a definite and unyielding refusal to eat baby green beans and peas, it's always a question mark as to what and how much she'll eat. I know that the recent slimming down is a side effect of her new mobility (crawling and crusing, no independent steps, yets) and is normal, but it's a little disconcerting.

She'll be 1 on Saturday, and I'm worried about transitioning her off the breastmilk, but I cannot keep pumping for much longer. Aside from really starting to loathe the pump, I don't have time! Reassurance or suggestions?

[craftgenius]

Brenda - Girl I know you are ready to dump that pump! I was so happy when Claire made 1...I stopped pumping that week. Since then life has been SO MUCH easier!!! She did well transitioning to regular milk. I started whening her a few weeks before her birthday...I mixed the breast milk with whole milk and gradually increased the amount of whole milk. Claire still eats some jar food too. But she loves basically ANY food we give her.

Trantrums - Yep...Claire is having them too. She gets super mad sometimes when I take something from her that she is playing with...which is usually something she doesn't need to be playing with. Also, sometimes when I put her down she starts having a fit. She also has fits sometimes when she is hungry and I am moving too slow feeding her! :rolleyes: Greedy girl! I usually ignore her.

[larslobster]

Questions:

Food - Lily is eating only table food and she feeds herself. Until about a week ago, she still ate cereal for breakfast but decided that was a no go and unless she could pick it up and feed herself, it wasn't being eaten. Luckily, as long as a food fits that criteria though, she'll eat it.

Tantrums - oh yeah. DH took her and his parents to Ikea yesterday and she apparently had a major meltdown there. He allowed her to run around the kids department for a while and when he picked her up to leave, she lost it. Diaper changes and dressing her are a nightmare now too - she screams and turns over the second she's put on the changing table.

Naps/Nighttime sleep - considering how little she slept as a newborn, she's actually turned into a great little sleeper. She generally goes to bed around 7:30 and sleeps until 6:30. She dropped her afternoon nap about a month ago but now takes a nice long late morning nap that generally lasts 2-3 hours.

Walking - she's been walking full time since 9 1/2 months. She started taking steps about a month before that but didn't decide to really kick it in to high gear until we spent a few days at the beach with friends that have a 15 month old that was walking.

Toys made in China - if we avoided toys make in China, I don't think the kid would have anything to play with. We have quite a few toys from small boutique companies that I figured might be made here but nope, even those are made in China.
______________

Lily turned one today but we had her party on Sunday. Here are a few photos:

In her new chair:

http://www.tuloy.com/files/larslobster/public/chair.jpg

Eating her cake:
http://www.tuloy.com/files/larslobster/public/cake.jpg

[Bubeleh]

QOTD

Napping: He's ot so good at this. He dropped down to 1 nap long ago, and generally only sleeps 1 - 1 1/2 hours in early afternoon. However, he still sleeps 12 hours at night.

Tantrums He threw his first one in the mall yesterday, it was horrible. I needed him to go in his stroller and he was just not interested.

Food He is totally off of baby food, however, the transition to milk has been slow.

Walking He is still mostly cruising. Dr. thinks it becuase of his size that its going to take a little longer to coordinate his mass.

Erika Congrats on the good checkup and ultrasound. I can't believe its just a month away!

DS had his 1 year checkup today. He is now 34" tall and 29 lbs. He's off the charts for both. His party was Tuesday and he did really well, and had a great time.

Hope everyone is well.

[Rippy1010]

For anyone experiencing new tantrums in addition to new sleeping issues ...

I was looking at the Wonder Weeks book, and there is actually a sleep regression on or around week 55. This regression can apparently be accompanied by sudden temperamentalness (yes, I know that's not a word, but pg brain is in high gear this morning) and mood swings.

We've been having a terrible time of going to bed at night for about 3 nights straight, so that's why I looked in to the sleep regression theory. LOL. Thanks to whoever suggested that book ages ago. :)

[kemorr]

Food - I don't seem to be able to get rid of babyfood in this house, although I'm sure DD would be more than pleased if I just threw it all away! However, there are a lot of foods she just won't eat as finger foods but will eat as purees, so I feel like I have to give her purees to make sure she eats a balanced and varied diet. The list of finger foods that she will actually pick up, chew and swallow is fairly small. For example - bananas are the only fruit she will eat as finger foods and these are hit and miss. I don't want her to be fruit free! I made some pancakes that mixed in apple and blueberry puree but my kid won't eat pancakes or waffles, either, so that was a non-event! I'm hoping her palate for finger foods will improve so that I can stop buying babyfood.

[Ericka_Jarett]

kemorr - my ped said that if DS doesn't want the table food version of the baby food, to continue to feed the baby food, it was ok. I know for us I can only get Easton to eat a few things table foodwise and the rest is baby food. He will come to us when we sit down to eat and take a bite or 2 of food from DH or myself. I actually got him to eat a part of a Chick-fil-a chicken strip the other day.

[Rippy1010]

kemorr and Ericka ... we are right there with you. Logan is having some trouble with the whole pincer grasp thing. Either that, or he's just lazy. :o So, table foods are not our strong suit at our house. It's mostly baby food for us, but he'll want to try anything we're eating ... only if WE feed it to him. :rolleyes:

[brenda]

However, there are a lot of foods she just won't eat as finger foods but will eat as purees, so I feel like I have to give her purees to make sure she eats a balanced and varied diet.

I am right there with you! It makes me a little crazed, but I know that the time will (eventually) come. This child loves pureed pears, but won't touch the real thing. What is up with that? Of course, now she's going through times when she won't eat if I feed her, she wants to do it herself. At the same time, she won't eat the real version of her favorite baby foods! Argh!

Like I'm not paranoid enough about the child's eating habits.

[jbemommy]

DS doesn't eat too much table food on his own, it seems to be b/c he doesn't like how they feel on his fingers. He will eat it if we feed him, though. He still eats more baby food than table food, though. DD was the same way, so I'm not too worried. Honestly, he gets more variety with baby food, since it's pretty rare that I make things like carrots or squash. :o

[kemorr]

I'm glad that lots of you are still giving baby foods. It seems like all my IRL friends have been off baby foods for a while and I felt like I was stunting my DD or something! DD won't let me feed her finger foods - if I put them in her mouth she will automatically spit them out, even if it is something she will then pick up herself and eat. She doesn't have any problem picking the food up and will quite often put new things in her mouth, but she then chews once or twice and spits it out. Won't finish chewing or swallowing!

Brenda - DD is exactly the same way. This kid LOVES pureed sweet potato. So, I bought a bunch of sweet potato, roasted it until it nice and soft, cut it into bite size pieces and offered it. She picked it up, chewed it once, spit it out and refused to touch it again. I have so many single serve ziplock baggies of food in my freezer that I have tried that have been a "no thank-you!". Sigh.....:rolleyes:

[Ericka_Jarett]

Just got in from the multiples sale. Got 38 outfits (several things for Easton as well in that mix) and a little chair for Easton for $134. Lots of outfits were brand new with tags on them. One item was a boutique item that retailed for $44, I got it for $3. They had the whole outside pavillion area filled with baby equipment at 8:30, by the time we walked outside at 10, it was almost empty. I highly recommend to everyone, see if your area has a multiples sale. There were so many brand new outfits at our sale, it was crazy. They had maternity, preemie to size 10 clothes available, costumes, toys, all sorts of baby equipment, snowsuits and shoes. You don' t have to be expecting multiples to go to them.

[maplekitty]

i was wondering why there were no new updates...duh, new thread! Now I have 3 pages to catch up on!!!

[maplekitty]

Happy Birthday to all the little ones this past few weeks!

Hi to all the September mommies! Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Halloween - I got Robyn the pink poodle costume from Old Navy and she loves it!!
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/maplekitty/DSC00650.jpg?t=1191001207
I think DH and I are going to dress up as Parisian mimes, hehe.

Tantrums - oh goodness yes!! I was actualy looking up infant tantrums on google this morning because Robyn is getting especially bad! She arches her bad, kicks her legs and arms, goes red in the face! She does it atleast 5 X a day! It's insane. Mostly everything I've read, for this age is to just ignore it, distract her with something else, and not get angry or punishment. My main concern is whether or not she is going to turn into one of those *terrible* toddlers!!


~~~~~~~~~~

Well, Little Miss Robyn's b-day is next weekend and I'm in full preparation mode!
I'm getting a lot of RSVP's and people asking what to get her? Anyone else wondering what the heck to tell people? I mean, she's one...she'd be thrilled with a paper bag! I say clothes are good, and give one size up, because I know all the winter clothes are out right now, and she'll bea bit bigger once she can wear them.

[portlandbride]

My parents have been in town for DD's b-day, so I had a ton of pages to catch up on!
DD loved all of the toys that I posted and the door from Fisher Price is a HUGE hit. Her and her sister will play with it for a long time.
Her 1 year stats: 28 1/2 inches long and 17 lbs., 5 ounces.

Questions:

Food - She'll eat anything we give her. She only eats table foods and hasn't had any baby food for at least a month or more. Which is too bad, since I still have about 10 jars left!:)

Tantrums - Not really any so far. She does scream sometimes when I change her or try to put on her clothes. Although I could just be discounting them b/c I have a two year old to deal with.:D

Naps/Nighttime sleep - She is in bed by 6:30 - 7:00 pm and wakes between 7:00 - 7:45 am. BUT she still wakes during the night at least once, sometimes up to three times.:eek: I have pretty much dropped her morning nap b/c DD#1 is in preschool, or we have Gymboree in the mornings. I have both of them take a nap in the afternoons for 1 - 3 hours.

Walking - She will walk around things and walk pushing things, but not on her own. She has been standing for a few seconds on her own the past few days.

Toys made in China - I still let her play with the toys made in China. I'm not super concerned about it.

[kemorr]

Ack, I'm SO frustrated and need some advice about what you guys think I should do!

A little history - DD has always been a "cat napper". She sleeps great at night but has always taken pretty short naps. From 4 months to 8 1/2 months she napped at 9, 1 and 4 usually for 45 mins each, occasionally up to an hour for 1 nap a day. At 8 1/2 months she started refusing to take the 4 pm nap (crying when I put her down - which she never does), so I dropped the 3rd nap. She quickly settled into a routine of a nap at 9 am for 1 hr 15 minutes and a nap at 1 pm for 1 hr 30 minutes. She goes to bed at 6:40 and wakes up at 6:30.

She is now 11 months, 1 week old. For the last 3-4 weeks her napping has been very erratic. It started out that she was taking a VERY long time to fall asleep at the 1 pm nap (45-60 minutes). When she did finally fall asleep, her nap was short - 45 mins to 1 hr. (She just plays in her crib - doesn't cry.) To solve that problem, I pushed the 1 pm nap back to 1:30. This initially worked in that she started to fall asleep within 15 minutes of being put down, but her naps stayed short - a maximum of 1 hour. Then she started to take a long time to fall asleep for the 9 am nap (usually she's asleep within 5 minutes for this nap). One day it took her 1 hr 25 mins to fall asleep. So, I started to really "stimulate" her in the mornings - which helped her to fall asleep quickly for a week or so but then yesterday she took a 10 minute nap!! She fell sound asleep 9 minutes after being put down, slept hard for 10 minutes and then was WIDE awake. Her afternoon nap (which I started at 12:30 due to the non-existent 9 am nap) was 1 hr on the dot. This morning she took 20 minutes to fall asleep for the 9 am nap, took her usual 1 hr 15 minute nap but this afternoon took 40 minutes to fall asleep at 1:30.

I feel like I can't win. Now even the 1:30 nap time isn't guaranteeing a prompt falling asleep. I've noticed she's getting more and more tired because she's sleeping in to 7 am or later (although I usually wake her at 7 if she's not already awake) - and the late sleep time is of course affecting her morning nap, which then affects the afternoon nap.

I just don't know what to do at this point. I feel like she still needs 2 naps and am reluctant to drop her to 1, because I know her and she'll only sleep for 1 1/2 hrs max, which just isn't enough nap time for her at this age (she's just turned 11 months).

Any advice? Thanks for letting me vent, I've just had it with her napping!

[Jenzen01]

Just checking in, as it's been a while.

We're doing well here. Nearing the first birthday mark in a couple of weeks. Ada is no where near walking, although she is now cruising along furniture and getting into a lot of mischief. She figured out stairs this past weekend. And she thinks she's funny when we catch her on them. I've got to remember to lock the gate I've been leaving open. She's saying some primitive words ... something that I swear sounds like "pumpkin" and lots of "mamas" when she's ticked off or needs something.

She's going to be a giraffe for Halloween, and Gabe is going to be a fireman. Today is spirit week at the local high school, so the daycare is having the kids participate as well. Today is "Crazy Hair Day," so I gave Ada a mohawk with the help of some styling gel.

She's goes back to the neurologist on Oct. 22 for a check on her gigantic head. I hope we don't have to go the MRI route. She seems so normal in every other way, and I don't see any signs of hydrocephalus, so I'm banking that it's just genetics that's making her head so large. However, it'll be nice to have some confirmation and another checkup.

I'm leaving for a spa weekend this Thursday. I'll be gone for six days, which is a first for me. I've never left the kids before, except for a few short business trips. This will be my first "fun" trip since I had Gabe.

That's about it from here.

Jen

[Rippy1010]

Jenzen ~ WOW! Have fun on your spa weekend. I'm officially jealous of you. ;) Spirit week sounds so cute at the daycare. LOL! Good luck with the circumference check up!

[MichelleRenee]

Just checking in. I have actually been "baby-free" since Monday morning. I had a medical procedure done today (nothing major but I had to be there very early this morning and have been very drowsy all day from it) so Tristan is staying with my grandma until tomorrow. It has been very quiet here at home and a Johnson's commercial almost had me in tears. I am ready for him to come home!

He is so close to walking. You can tell he is thinking about letting go and taking a few steps but he chickens out at the last second. I am OK with that. No rush on walking.

With the change of seasons I did a thorough clearing out of his closet and dresser. I can't believe that some of the clothes and jammies that looked so huge when I got them are now in the tote with things he has outgrown! He has definitely had a spurt in length. His toes are suddenly squished in all of his footsie jammies.

I am not too sure what is going on with his ears. He seems OK but he has been waking at night, which up until now has always indicated another infection for him. His ENT appt is in a week. Hopefully we will be able to move forward with something and get some relief for him!

[kate's mom]

Can someone please tell me where the last year went? I am getting things ready for my DD's first birthday and I can not believe she will be one. What happened to my little baby?

JenzenWOW! Enjoy your vacation. I am so jealous!
Kemor Sorry I am no help, we are also dealing with some crazy nap issues. My older DD merged to one nap around 14 months, so I am wondering if Meg is now ready to start.
MaplekittySO CUTE!!

[Ericka_Jarett]

Easton got his first pair of walking shoes today. We went and got him sized at a Children's shoe store that my mom use to take me to as a little girl. He wears a size 4.5W, glad we got the proper measuring done. So many websites said he would be in a 3.

[Dawn05]

I've just stumbled across this group and would love to join. My info:

Dawn05- Dawn, 34
DH: Patrick, 35
Married: August 13, 2005
NAME: Parker
BIRTHDAY: September 14, 2006
Birth Stats: 6 lb.13oz, 19 inches
12 months: 20 lbs (was up to 21lb but back to back double ear infections this month led to a drop)

Parker has had a really crappy birthday month. He was super sick on his birthday with a high fever, ear infection, head cold (complete with green eye goop) and two new teeth. Just when we thought he was all better, he got another massive double ear infection this week. Poor kid has lost a pound in 3 weeks!

He has been walking full-time for about a month now.

I'm looking forward to discussing our September babies' milestones!

Dawn

[kemorr]

kate's mom - thanks for the commiseration. I'm hoping it's just a phase and she'll grow out of it!

Erica - I had my DD sized as well and she is a 4 wide. I'm amazed at the difference in sizes between brands. I have bought her some Pedipeds 9size 12-18 months, meant to be equivalent to size 5), some preschoolians (size 20, also meant to be equivalent to a size 5) and some see kai runs in a size 5. Although they're all supposed to be a 5, they are vastly different in size, the Pedipeds are a good inch shorter than the SKRs and the preschoolians and much narrower. They fit her perfectly now but I'm guessing in a month or so, she'll be out of them (so sad!).

DD took her first steps on Monday. She's been threatning to "let go" for several weeks now and on Monday she finally did and took 2-3 steps. Since then, she has been practicing whenever she can. She has only managed 4-5 steps in a row so far and at least half the time when she lets go she immediately falls onto hands and knees or butt, but I guess it is a start! DH got all excited and called the family to tell everyone she's walking, I tried to tell them that she is "taking steps" versus walking, but everyone now thinks we have a walker on our hands. LOL. I think it's going to be at least another month before she walks walks.... Maybe this is why the napping has been so crappy, though. Here's hoping!

[Tika]

Hey guys! Haven't been here in a while! I was busy planning DS b-day party which was Saturday. I posted some pictures in the b-day thread: http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=33362&page=95

DS had his 12 month WBV last Weds and stats are as follow: Head Circ = 18 ½, Wt = 21.9 and Ht = 29.

I will come back for QOTDs, but in the meantime, Happy Birthday to all the September and October babies!:)

[Ericka_Jarett]

Tika - Xaiver's party came out so cute.

[craftgenius]

Tika - The part came out great!!! I love buckets for the kids.


I just realized that I forgot to post Claire's 1 year old stats...At her 1 year old checkup she was 17 lbs 14 oz and 28 inches. She is in the 15th percentile for weight. :eek: Yes...she is a shrimp. She went to the doctor on Monday (a month after her 1-year old checkup) and she weighed 18 lbs and 8 oz, so she is growing slowly but steadily. I can't wait till she hits 20 lbs so I can switch her to forward facing.

[Ericka_Jarett]

craft - I actually was waiting for Easton to reach 20 lbs, but everything I read actually said it was safer to keep the kids rear-facing until 30 lbs, maybe check your car seat manual to see what the recommendation is.

[marathongirl]

Welcome to the new people!

James is 1 today!!! :D:( My babies aren't babies anymore!

Happy 1st b-day to Maplekitty's DD!

[Pamela]

I haven't posted in forever but I still follow along (but keep forgetting we're in the toddler section now!).

[Rippy1010]

We had DS sized at Stride Rite the weekend before his birthday ... LMAO ... he was a 7XW!!!! No wonder not a single shoe I bought him would ever fit. Lord ... I'm in for some expensive shoe bills in about 12 years!!!

[Michelle]

Madison was fitted for shoes recently and she is a 4.5 wide. I was at Nordstrom buying her dress shoes. I had to go there because the Stride Rite store did not sell the ones in store that I wanted but thankfully Nordstrom did. Anyway, the salesman brought out a pair of Eccos for her to try on for a casual shoe. They fit so well and stay on great. She loves to stand and cruise in them. Anyway, just an option for all the wide foot babies. I never thought that I would pay that much for a pair of shoes for DD at this age, but they stay on great and this is the first pair that she does not try to take off!

Happy Birthday September and October Babies!

Welcome/Welcome back to all the new people! :)

[Ericka_Jarett]

Michelle - it's funny DH asked how much Easton's shoes were and he was like yikes. I said my mom bought them and didn't have a problem with it. Funny how they are almost as much as adult sneakers are.

[maplekitty]

Happy 1st b-day to Maplekitty's DD!


thank you!!
Robyn Abigail is one today!!! :)

She actually woke up last night at 12:04 am, the exact time of her birth - what are the odds eh?? I went in, gave her a hug and sang her happy birthday :)


She's actually been taking great naps lately (KNOCK ON WOOD!!) I'll probably jinx myself saying that! I think she's going through a growth spurt because shes taking two 3 hour naps a day!!

[Ericka_Jarett]

Easton is 13 months today.

[maplekitty]

omigawsh ericka, he looks like such a big boy! i cant beleive he's going to be a big brother to twins sisters soon! ack this year has flown by!!

[marathongirl]

TM - Please update my age to 33. Today is my birthday!

[Roxygirl]

Happy Belated Birthday to all the babies that our One already. I haven't checked in for a little while.

Happy Birthday Emily!

Everything is good, Kendall's party was yesterday (I'm exhausted) and her acutaly bday is Tuesday. We're going to the zoo and then Chuckie Cheese with DH parents and BIL.

Hope all is good.

I'll post some bday pics when I get home. (I'm in Washington at my parents house)

[MichelleRenee]

Tristan had his first haircut today. The back was very long and curly and the front was in his eyes all the time so DH cut the back pretty short and just trimmed the front. I cried.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/AngelyWangely/Tristans%201st%20Year/6-2.jpg

And here are his Gerber baby curls:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/AngelyWangely/Tristans%201st%20Year/3-3.jpg

He sort of took a step yesterday but I am not ready to call it his "first steps." It should be any day now. He's getting very brave! He also stood without holding onto anything for over a minute yesterday!

[larslobster]

Lily had her 1 year appointment this week and she's now 21lbs 8oz and 30 1/4" tall. The ped thinks she's going to be a tall kid. We turned her car seat around which is making her a much happier camper in the car.

She started doing the cutest thing a few days ago - walking backwards. It started when we told her to leave the cat alone and we saw her back away. Now she'll walk backwards with this huge grin on her face any time we say 'backwards.'

[kemorr]

Well, DD is walking pretty well now. I was surprised how quickly she progressed from just taking a few steps (started 1 week ago today) to now being able to walk across the room without falling down. She's not yet a full time walker - if she needs to get anywhere fast she will crawl, but she's on her way. It's so cute. She's not very good about going around obstacles, however, so she is sporting a huge bruise on her forehead and a minor black eye from an altercation with the dining room chair. Poor baby!

Edited to add - I'm totally going to jinx myself by saying this, but the napping seems to be a little better since she started to walk.

[maplekitty]

Robyn's birthday went really well and she was spoiled rotten ;)

http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/maplekitty/DSC_0070.jpg?t=1191863622
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e29/maplekitty/DSC_0085.jpg?t=1191863593

[kate's mom]

maplekittyLOVE the pigtails! She looks so cute!

MichelleReneeWOW did T get a lot of hair cut off. He looks so handsome!

[TaterBaby]

Hi Ladies,

We had Lainey's party on Sunday, her actual birthday. I'm going to do a recap on the 1st bday party thread as soon as I can catch my breath!

She had her 12 month WBV yesterday and she's 20 lbs 6 oz and 29.5 inches.

[nic]

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[Rippy1010]

nic ~ I'm so sorry to hear about your recent events. I hope that all works out well for you. Just know that I'm thinking of you and DS, and wishing you the best. So sorry about the allergic reaction, too ... thank god it was just a rash, though, and not worse!

[nic]

I haven't posted a picture ina while:

Eating a huge meatball in the North End:
http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/nniles/meatball.jpg?t=1192048590


Meeting his Grandpa (my dad) for the first time:

http://i146.photobucket.com/albums/r246/nniles/dadchristian.jpg?t=1192048767

[Pamela]

...

[AmyS]

Pamela-We use the rear tether and it's attached to the back of the front passenger seat. From what you're describing it sounds like you might have it tethered wrong. The tether shouldn't be interfering at all with you getting DD in or out of the car. I had a pic of AJ in his Marathon and I just can't find it right now.

I've been MIA for a while. Morning sickness is just kicking my butt. I swear this has got to be a girl. I feel like I'm going to puke all day long, but I never do. With AJ at least I knew I'd throw up every night from 6-8p and it would be over with.

AJ's birthday party was this weekend. I still haven't gotten around to loading pics to Photobucket yet. There's some on his blog (http://ajstanislawski.blogspot.com/) if you're really interested. It turned out to be a great time despite the 87 degree temps. Our air was cranking but it will still hot in the basement.

We've figured out that AJ is truly allergic to milk. The pediatrician still won't give us a referral to an allergist. I'm going to try again next week at his WBV. The pedia says we know he's allergic, just stay away from it. :rolleyes: No kidding, but I want to know how hardcore we have to stay away from it.

I hope all is well with everyone. I try to keep up through e-mail updates, but I am so tired by the end of the day. Sleeping is just not happening for me right now...

[Rippy1010]

Morning sickness is just kicking my butt. I swear this has got to be a girl. I feel like I'm going to puke all day long, but I never do.

Amy ~ that's how I was through my entire first trimester this time, too. That's what also had me thinking I might be having a girl. LOL. I have to wait another four weeks to find out if I'm right, though. When are you due again? Hope it gets better!!!

[nic]

delete

[kemorr]

Pamela - In my Britax instruction book (Boulevard), it has a picture of how to tether 3 different ways when the seat is rear-facing. It sounds as though you have the tether coming over the top of the seat and attaching behind the backseat. The picture in my intruction manual states that this method of tethering is for use in Australia/New Zealand (the cars over there don't have LATCH and all seats tether like that). The correct way to tether in the US/Canada is to hook it onto something behind the front seat - so the tether is behind the convertible seat and thus doesn't get in the way of putting the child in at all. Hope that helps!

[Pamela]

...

[mimieliza]

Pamela - Just to chime in on the tether issue, I found a pic of DD in her seat that shows the tether. I have it hooked to the leg of the front seat. They include a special piece (the D ring) to create a tether point there.

http://mimieliza.smugmug.com/photos/198196196-M.jpg


nic - Your little guy is adorable! I love the huge meatball - he looks so delighted. :) I'm sorry you've gone through a rough patch. The allergic reaction sounds scary. I'm allergic to penicillin, so I know how awful those hives can be. I'm so glad he didn't seem to be upset by it.


QOTD: Television We've probably talked about this, but I don't remember. Do you allow your babies to watch any TV?

:o Hangs head in shame. I work from home, and I let DD watch TV. She probably watches an average of 30 minutes a day (some days none, some days more). I never intended to do it, but she really likes it and it extends the amount of time she's willing to entertain herself. She's playing happily in the living room right now with Go Diego Go on in the background. Yet another foot-in-the-mouth parenting episode for me - I always said "no TV before age two!"

[Pamela]

...

[mimieliza]

Pamela - Thank you! :) We don't actually have a tether point there - very few US cars have a dedicated rear facing tether point. Britax allows you to use the tether connector strap to create a tether point on a structure that is bolted to the floor of the vehicle (such as the front seat leg). The manual describes this in two sections on page 22 and 23 - Using the Versa-Tether Rear Facing and Tether Connector Strap.

[Rippy1010]

QOTD: Television We've probably talked about this, but I don't remember. Do you allow your babies to watch any TV?
On occasional weekend mornings we turn it on for him, but he's not actually all that interested in it. He watched some cartoon (??? no idea what it was) on Saturday morning with DH ... it held his interest for about 5 minutes and it was back to the toys. LOL. However ... he loves a commercial with a good beat. :o :rolleyes:

[jbemommy]

TV DS doesn't watch much TV, but that's b/c we are still having PT'ing issues with DD and we've basically taken away her TV privileges until she's PT'ed. We do have the TV on when he's in the room and he generally doesn't pay attention to it unless there's a commercial with music. I have put one of the baby einstein DVD's on that has babies and he'll pay attention to it for a little bit.

[MichelleRenee]

When we are home the TV is pretty much on the whole time. (Mostly on Food Network) I really think of TV as a non-issue. I grew up in a house with the TV on all the time and I think I turned out OK. He really doesn't pay attention to it yet.

Tristan took his first steps on Friday. Exactly 15 days before his first birthday. I can't believe we are so close!

[brenda]

TV - It's on at night when she's around, but aside from music-y stuff, she doesn't pay attention. We only watch grownup TV, which some people seem to think is cruel and unusual. But the truth is, she's our first and I only work when she's asleep or DH is I'm home with her. We don't have to use TV to amuse her because I don't have anyone else to care for or anything else I have to get done when she wants to play. Also, she's pretty good at entertaining herself. I imagine the next one will watch more TV just because E will be older and more into it, so it'll be around more. Right now we don't have any baby/kids show DVDs and we don't watch them.

[Rippy1010]

We only watch grownup TV, which some people seem to think is cruel and unusual.
brenda ~ Don't worry, we're the same way. Logan only pays attention to the music of the commercials anyway, and I can't hack it with these new cartoons. And once I tried to put on The Wiggles for DS ... ugh, that was "cruel and unusual" for ME to have to sit through. :o :p

[larslobster]

television - I rarely have the tv on these days but when I do, DD has shown no interest in it. I tend to keep music on if I want background noise and she loves that.

QOTD: Inspired by the television question - does anyone have a kid that still can't entertain him/herself at all?

Lily still needs my constant attention, even if that means I'm just running around after her telling her not to hit the dog or pull stuff off a shelf or flush the toilet for the 10th time. And she'd rather do any of those things than play with a toy. The only toy she'll play with is her vacuum and that she only uses if I'm vacuuming next to her with the real vacuum. Even if she *appears* to be keeping busy, the minute I, say, pull out a cutting board and knife to prepare dinner, she immediately decides she needs to be picked up. It's driving me up a wall. The kid is a year old - shouldn't I be able to make dinner yet? Is this normal? I can't figure out if DH and I created this problem or if it's normal behavior for her age.

[MidwesternGal]

nic--Sorry to hear about your recent troubles. I hope it all works out for you. I'll be thinking of you!

AmyS and Rippy--Ugh, I remember m/s from DS pregnancy--yucky!

Television: I WAH and it's on pretty much 80-90% of the time, and is 100% on when DH gets home. Sometimes I watch it, sometimes it's background--but it's ALWAYS "adult" programming. DS is actually more interested in what's going on with the computer, because sometimes he catches pictures of himself, LOL (editing photos!). As for DS sitting and watching TV. . . I plan to avoid doing that as long as possible.

Entertaining Onself: I have a champion self-player IMNSHO, for a 1-year old. I worked danged HARD at getting him that way, too! I equate it to as difficult as getting him STTN, actually. Since I WAH, I *have* to get stuff done or the bills don't get paid. We have a play yard set up in the office with his toys. I've gotten it to where he objects for about 10 minutes (squaking) then will amust himself for 30 minutes to upwards of around an hour at a time!! Sometimes I worry that he plays a little *too* well by himself! Lars--is your DD walking yet or just crusing/using walkers? DS has been playing by himself much better since learning to walk.
____________________
I've been MIA lately. . . I have been getting the feeling MIL is maybe snooping around, trying to find *my* boards, and I wanted to keep them private (or as private as the internet can be). I have been lurking, however. So if I don't post much, don't worry!

DS bday was Sunday, it went really well. He did.not.like cake. At all. But he got a ton of toys and clothes--spoiled rotten by his grandparents!

He is still not eating much of anything but purees. However, if it's liquid, he'll eat it. So I guess that's good? Sigh. Oh well, at least DH and I can continue to eat "our" crap longer until I have to make healthy meals for all three of us!

He's breaking 2 teeth on the top. . . otherwise, we're still at only 2 on the bottom.

No words other than "dada" and "nigh-nigh" (night-night).

We started whole milk but he's not too fond, and broke out in a diaper rash, so we're back to 1/2 formula and 1/2 milk, which seems to be doing much better.

In mommy news, I applied for a FT job because we sorta need the money. . . now DH is thinking of putting in an app for a different position in his company (which would require a move if he gets it), and then as soon as I applied, I regretted it, I don't think I can go back to work quite yet. . . . and then of course, they called for an interview, the same week DH puts in his app for the new position. I'm very torn as to what to do. Sigh. The joys of mommy guilt! I'm sorta danged if I do and danged if I don't!

Anyway, I hope all is well with everyone and their DCs!

[Ericka_Jarett]

deleted

[Rippy1010]

MWGal ~ It's still slow-going for us on the table foods, too. Oh well. We are kind of thinking the same thing ... at least we don't have to re-route our entire mealtime *just yet*. LOL. I hope the job/money situation works out soon! Hopefully a solution/answer will come to you on what to do. The guilt is hard when you go back to work, I know! Some Mondays are hard even now, and I went back to work after 12 weeks. :( Sorry to hear the reason you haven't been posting much. I hope that situation gets better.

larslobster ~ My DS definitely plays by himself for longer periods now. But, I still have to keep an eye on him because he notoriously wants to play with anything that isn't actually a toy. And, we've taken to keeping all of the bathroom doors shut, because he, too, is fascinated with the toilet. Although he is becoming a good independent player, we still run in to the problem of him wanting me as soon as I'm incapable of doing anything about it. For instance, when I need to use the bathroom, he HAS to come in with me. Or, when I'm cleaning dishes or making dinner, he is clinging to my leg, playing under my feet, or asking to be picked up. :rolleyes: It's a slow road, but it gets better. It got A LOT better when DS was walking full-time rather than crawling.

Ericka ~ OMG! It's getting so unbelievably close! If I don't see you again this week, know that I'm praying for the delivery and wishing you well! I hope Easton has an easy transition in to being a big brother from being an only child! (This is my big fear for myself right now. :o) Logan has been cutting his 8th tooth for, I swear, WEEKS! It's killing me ... I can't wait for that thing to pop. Hopefully Easton's comes faster!

[TaterBaby]

Hi Ladies! Glad to hear that everyone is doing well!

TV: I literally watch NO TV anymore and it's all because of DD! Seriously, I catch a couple of shows a week after she's in bed. It's not that I'm terribly opposed to her watching or having it on in the background, but when we play, it's in her room, not the den. We do have 2 Baby Einstein DVDs that she likes, and she watches one per weekend usually. I do work full-time so I can imagine that if I didn't, there'd be more TV action in our house. We're doing good to get dinner, bath, a little play time, books and bed during the week. There is just no time for TV.

Entertaining herself: She's actually quite good at it, although lately I have to sneak out of the room or she'll get upset. She's always done a good job entertaining herself, so I think it's more of her temperment than something we did.

Ericka, I can't believe you'll be meeting your girls next week!

[Jenzen01]

Hi All,

I went into labor a year ago today. I can't believe it's been a whole year!

We'll be having Ada's party on Saturday. I'm planning a chili luncheon with lots of fall themed stuff ... like decorating pumpkins and making caramel apples.

Ada still isn't walking. She just started standing by herself for a few seconds. She can walk pushing her walker-toy thing, but that's it. She just cut her top two teeth, and the next set is ready to come in. Can you say "cranky?" Lots of temper tantrums lately ... mainly involving the stairs and taking away her utensils. She's learning to use a spoon and fork, and they are her favorite things.

Words: She's saying "pumpkin" and "apple," but they are pretty garbled. We also heard her say "all done" last night. At least I'm pretty sure that's what it was because she also used her sign for "all done" at the same time.

Ada goes back to the specialist on Monday for a look at her head, and then she has her WBV on Friday.

Ericka - My midwife said you can use mix gentian violet with your diaper cream for tough yeast infections. It'll turn his bottom purple, but it's supposed to help a lot. Plus, it's OTC and it's really cheap. We used it on Gabe's thrush. When the yeast infection spread to his diaper area, I used Lotrimin, and that cleared it up for us. Sounds like you've got a stubborn infection.

[kemorr]

TV - I never have it on when I am home with DD alone and have told my nanny (2 days a week) not to have it on when DD is around. DH watches a lot of TV on the weekends, so there is an opportunity for DD to catch glances but I insist he turns it off if she is in the same room. She is totally the stare and zone out type baby when she does manage to see some, so I'm avoiding it as much as possible for the moment.

Independent play - DD is actually very good at this as well and I often worry that she is too good at it. She is quite happy playing with her toys so long as I am in the same room or exploring things, although like any toddler her favorite things to explore do seem to be the ones I don't want her too - the pets' food dishes etc. As I am a SAHM who mostly does chores while she is napping there is little I "have" to do while she is awake, so most of the time I'm interacting with her.

[AmyS]

TV: I try not to watch TV during the day. DH on the other hand has the TV on all.the.time. I was subbing yesterday and when I got home from school, DH had the World Series of Poker on. DH and AJ were sitting on the couch together and DH was just tickled that AJ clapped whenever the people on TV clapped. Sometimes DH puts on Sesame Street, but otherwise it's adult TV that's on. I try to have on music.

Playing Alone: Once I got my BFP we started something I like to call Big Boy Play Time. After AJ's bottle in the morning I make a big deal parading back to his bedroom singing It's big bly playtime, it's big boy playtime. He loves it. Then I put him in his crib with some toys and books because I jsut have to go lay back down. 6am is too early no matter what time I go to bed in the morning. He will play for 30-60 minutes alone. When DH is with him, he plays wonderfully by himself in the basement. When I'm home with AJ, he wants to be up under everything I'm doing. Sometimes he'll play by himself, but not for long.

Ericka: Wow the time has sure gone fast!

[Ericka_Jarett]

deleted

[TaterBaby]

New QOTD: Brushing your DC's teeth - How is this going for you? I don't feel like we're doing too well. At first, I was using a wet washcloth to wipe off DD's teeth, but now she has her own toothbrush and non-fluroride paste. She wants to do it herself, of course, and it's a struggle to get any kind of decent brushing done. She usually gets the Hello Kitty end of the brush in her mouth and when she lets me try, I get all tongue. Any tricks?

[brenda]

Brushing Teeth: So far E is fine with letting me brush, so I don't have any good advice. She only has the 2 teeth in front, though. And I think she likes the feel of the toothbrush on her gums. So we scrub-scrib the front two, then do little scrubbies all around her mouth. Sometime she'll stick out her tongue, and I'll scrub that, too. She seems to think it's a game.

[Rippy1010]

brushing ~ Our ped still hasn't mentioned moving on to the actual brusing, and said just to use the washcloth to wipe off the teeth. So, I'll be honest ... I had know idea when to start doing that. :p :o As you can tell, no real advice here. LOL. I'm not looking forward to trying it ... Logan absolutely DESPISES me putting anything in his mouth other than food.

[Ericka_Jarett]

We use the little tooth cleanser and fingertip brush set by First Years. Easton likes the toothbrush, guess feels funny on his gums since it's just little teeth on it. The cleanser is strawberry-banana flavored

[maplekitty]

TV: Honestly, I have the tv on in the background most of the day. I've always done that, I feel more comfortable having "background noise". Robyn usually doesnt even watch it, only if a commercial with a dog comes on and then she points and says "dog". Or if there is music, she'll start bobbing up and down and dacnes.
I let her watch TreeHouse channel, and she likes singing shows and shows with lots of music...but most other shows don't really keep her attention

Teeth brushing: We've been brushing her teeth now for about a month. Now too regularly, usually just after a bath (which is every other day). She knows as soon as she's done that it's toothbrush time and she points to the medicine cabinet. I use a teeny tiny dot of kid toothpast, and "brush" her 4 teeth for as long as she'll let me, which is about 3 seconds, LOL. Then I just give her the brush to chew on.

[Pamela]

...

[kemorr]

brushing teeth - I've been brushing since DD got her first teeth at 6 months. I use both the finger brush (plastic thing you put on your finger) and a toddler toothbrush. I use the toothbrush for the top teeth but for the life of me can't get her to move her tongue out of the way to use it on the bottom teeth, so I use the finger brush for those, otherwise I just brush her tongue! DD is pretty good about it, she'll open her mouth for me when I say "tooth-brushing time" and tolerates it for about 1 minute (30 seconds up top, 30 seconds below) until she starts fussing. I brush them everynight in the tub. I had gotten into a routine of doing them after breakfast as well, but that only lasted 2 weeks or so. Need to get back into that routine....

[AmyS]

brushing teeth: I try to brush AJ's teeth, but he really fights me a lot. I don't know how much I'm really getting accomplished. We have a todler toothbrush. Maybe I need to try the finger brush.

12 month WBV update
28 lbs, 32.5"

AJ did great at the doctor except for his shots. He doesn't cry at getting the actual shot, he screams when the nurse holds his legs down for the shots. I keep trying to tell them that if they just grab his leg at the last second it would be a lot easier. :rolleyes: The doctor still wouldn't give us a referral to an allergist. He still feels that we would get a lot of incorrect results if we test him at this age. I wish we didn't need a referral, I'd take him on my own. Oh well. The doc just said to avoid all dairy products, soy, peanuts, eggs, strawberries, tomatoes and citrus fruits. That's what we have been doing, so I guess we'll just keep it up.

[Rippy1010]

This may sound like a stupid question (sorry!) ... but, what do you guys do when it's time for the DC to spit (when brushing teeth)?

[TaterBaby]

Rippy, You'll need to buy toddler non-fluoride toothpaste. It's fine for them to swallow. I use a tiny, tiny amount and then "brush" again with just water on the brush and don't worry about any kind of spitting whatsoever. Hope that helps.

[Ericka_Jarett]

Easton's tooth cleanser is safe to swallow, no fluoride in it

[kemorr]

Same thing here, no spitting - I just rinse out with a wet cloth afterwards, but the toothpaste is safe to swallow. Make sure you buy the infant or toddler toothpaste that says flouride free (read the labels, though, I have found that some toddler toothpaste contains flouride).

[Michelle]

So did anybody get sentimental and weepy when their DC turned one? Or am I just strange? :o I've been so sentimental today reliving the past year that I had the hardest time leaving for work today because I did not want to leave Madison on her first birthday! One year old, wow. How did this year go by so fast?

[Ericka_Jarett]

deleted

[maplekitty]

its interesting reading all your comments about the flouride-free toothpaste, because my doctor said to get the kind with flouride, and use only a teeny little half a pea size dot on the toothbrush. she actually commented that this was a good way for DD to get flouride into her body, as she would probably end up swallowing a bit of it.

[Ericka_Jarett]

maplekitty - depends on if there is fluoride in your water or not usually. We have some in our water so we don't want him to have too much.

[Rippy1010]

Logan takes "prescription" vitamins with fluoride in it, so I know our dr would definitely not want him to swallow toothpaste with fluoride in it. I think it just depends on the situation. Plus, a lot of "city" water has fluoride in it, compared to private well tap water or bottled water.

[Jenzen01]

Update on us:

Ada saw the pediatric neurologist again yesterday, and we were told that "there is absolutely nothing to worry about," which, you can imagine, was a relief to hear. The dr. said Ada is a beautiful young lady who just has a big head. We still have to go back in 6 months for one more visit, but the dr. said she expects to "release" us at that time.

We also celebrated her birthday on Saturday with a fall chili luncheon. We had beautiful weather, and it was a lot of fun.

Fluoride - I use non-fluoride toothpaste. Re: spitting: Gabe is almost 3, and he is just starting to spit.

Ericka - I can't wait to hear an update on the babies! I've been reading all of your posts in anticipation of their arrival. Good luck!!

[Michelle]

Hey guys, this was in Ericka's journal from her DH.


Update from Jarett. Ericka's water broke at 9am this morning. She called me, I rushed home. Picked her up, got everything ready and in the van, then rushed over to the hospital.

She was 2cm 90% effaced. She had her Epidural, and once her cerclage stitch was removed (about 12pm), she went to 4-5cm. Friend came to watch Easton just now.

It's 2:30. She is on oxytocin trying to push things along. 35w5d as of today. The twins heart rates look good still.

We are just awaiting the appearance of Julianna and Katelyn, it'll be any hour now.

Keep us and the babies in your prayers.

[Rippy1010]

Thanks for posting that, Michelle!

[Pamela]

Good Luck Ericka! Love the names :)

[Ericka_Jarett]

deleted twins info

[portlandbride]

Congrats Ericka!
Sounds like a dream labor for twins! :) Love the names and what great weights on both the girls.

[brenda]

Congratulations Ericka!

[Rippy1010]

Congratulations, Ericka, Jarett, Easton, Julianna, and Katelyn! I'm so happy for you guys, and relieved that all went well!

[Ericka_Jarett]

Thanks everyone.

How you doing Rippy? When do you find out the sex of the new little one?

[Rippy1010]

Ericka ~ That's so great about Katelyn. I'm glad all turned out well. And the delivery did sound so much better this time around. I think you are becoming a pro! ;) Practice makes perfect. LOL. In our labor/delivery plan with Logan, we asked that he not be given a pacifier at all. So, we did not have to deal with the confusion of pacifier vs. bottle. Glad to hear that they are taking well to it. I think the names are beautiful ... if I didn't say so before.

We find out the gender at our big u/s on 11/12. It still feels like a lifetime away. I want it to be tomorrow. LOL. I've been too focused on DS, so we haven't really planned anything and barely discussed much for names ... better to just wait until we know the gender anyway, I guess. It's funny how fixated you are on the pregnancy and baby when it's the first pregnancy, but then don't really have time to think about it when you have a little one at home. LOL.

[TaterBaby]

Congratulations, Ericka! Beautiful names! I must say that I'm extremely impressed that you're already posting. Wow.

[Ericka_Jarett]

Glad to hear it Rippy.

Thanks Tater. Not like I get too much sleep right now just want to see the girls all the time :)

[dzmattie]

HI All!

It has been awhile but I have occasionally been reading up on all of you but thought I would join in again....


dzmattie
Kids - DD "E" 9/19/06 and DS "G" 1/04
Married


I don't really like to post alot of stats so I hope this info is enough! Hope to get to know all of you again!

Thanks! B

[maplekitty]

Robyn had her 1 yr WBV today.
She is 23 lbs 10.5 oz, cant rmeember how long, and except for a teensy bit of excema, she is perfect;y healthy.

We also had her vaccinations and I felt so torn. This isnt to start a debate, I dont even care if anyone comments...but I felt so out of sorts giving her the shots after all this info and news on vaccines and autism and everything these days. I havnt had the chance to rad everything, nd honestly I dont know if I could actually sit and read *evrything* and even have a straight answer. In the end we got them, I'm scared and nervous, but I dont know if I even should be...

ANywho, Robyn was all groggy after I gave her some baby tylenol so hopefully she'll go down for a nice long afternoon nap.

eta: Huge congrats Ericka!!! welcome to the world little Julianna and Katelyn!
eta2: picture 54 is so adorable!!!

[Bubeleh]

Congrats Erika! Wishing Health and Happiness to your family!

[maplekitty]

QOTD: How is DC reacting to the word "no"?

Robyn either gets mad at me and starts to hit me and cry...or she laughs at me. But I can't seem to get her to stop doing whatever she's doing if I say "no". She'll either put up a huge fuss, and then just go ahead and do it, or think its a game and laugh at me...and go ahead and do it.
This is getting so frustrating, and I know that at this age they dont really understand the concept, but I dont want it to be so that she just grows up thinking she can do whatever she wants.
How is everyone dealing with this with a 1 yr old?

[Ericka_Jarett]

maplekitty - Easton does the same with "no" He gets mad and throws a tantrum at times. We usually will tell him no in a stern voice and then move him away from whatever it is we just told him no to.

Lately, since he is teething it's been his box that we use to keep his toys in. Jarett had to tape the other corners of it the other day to keep him from chewing on another side. (it's just an old box from a box of diapers we got for his birthday) We try not to freak out at him, since we know he doesn't really understand. He also has started taking to throwing toys around as a game, he thinks it's fun, unless he is mad than he will find all the toys he can and we tell him no. He has enough of his food he just turns his head and if you keep trying to give him more, he gets mad and starts to swat your hand away. When he has had enough of being in his highchair, he throws his puff and cheerios to the floor, then he gets a no and we take him out to the other room.

[Rippy1010]

QOTD: Reactions to no Logan used to be good with this ... he would pout and put his head down and stop. Then, he started pouting, putting his head down, then going back 905 times to do it again. (yes, slight exaggeration ... ;) ). Then, he started laughing at us and continuing OR throwing a huge temper tantrum OR seeming to stop, but trying to "sneak" going back to do it again. In the past two days, he has just started listening again ... he puts his head down, pouts, sticks his hand in his mouth, and just stands there. :rolleyes:

(I'm fearful of admitting this, as I think I might get flamed but, we shall see ... ) During the laughing/not listening/tantrum stage, we did start swatting his hand and saying "no" sternly at the same time so he would understand that "no" meant stop touching what you're touching. It wasn't a smack to the point of pain, or even a sting at all ... it was just a swat to get his hand away. However, the first time we did it, you would've thought we were trying to murder him. :rolleyes: He's quite the drama king.

[Ericka_Jarett]

lol Rippy about the drama king. :) Easton does that too when I would tap his leg and tell him no kicking during a diaper change. He would get so upset when I said no and tap his leg. Afterwards I would hug him (he was kicking my stomach or use it to push away from me during changes) He usually will lie still now when I change him, he does all he use to do to me to Jarett now during changes, but he is learning to behave slowly with him.

[Rippy1010]

OMG! Didn't diaper changes just become THE WORST as they got older?! Logan has ants in his pants, I SWEAR! He wants to stand up, he wants to roll, he wants to kick ... you would think diaper changes were the kiddie version of "Chinese Water Torture" or something. Logan is starting to push off of my stomach with his feet or knees when I'm trying to hold him lately. I have to tell him "no" and hold him tightly to restrain him ... isn't that kind of scary when you're pregnant?! Sometimes I swear he does it on purpose because he knows I'm having another baby ... :o

[Ericka_Jarett]

It's usually painful when he kicks the stomach, just because as you get bigger your stomach just gets harder with the baby in there. You have the baby moving inside causing some discomfort and than a yr olds feet kicking you so hard. Would drive me crazy sometimes. Wait until you deliver and you try to carry Logan or he starts to kick while holding him, UGH!!!!!!! That is really painful, I tried to cuddle with Easton as much as I could the last 2 days but once he starts to kick, he is on the floor and having a fit if need be, hurts too much if you get a stomach kick.

Well we go home today, so I have to get my act together and get the girls clothes out so we can get out of here in the next couple hours.

[Rippy1010]

maplekitty ~ I meant to reply to your "controversial" topic. ;) I know what you mean ... I was fearful, too, when we went for our 1yo WBV ... just because there isn't really enough research one way or the other to support a definitive answer. But, we went ahead with it also. I sometimes wonder if it was the right choice; but overall, I feel pretty confident that I did the right thing. That's all we can do as parents, is make the right choice for us. Everyone has different beliefs about different things so no one should hold it against each other, or flame each other for it, right? ;) :)

[kate's mom]

A quick congrats to Erika!
I have been following along, will try to catch up later today.

[jbemommy]

Congrats, Erika! I'm glad everything went well, and I hope things go smoothly at home.

maplekitty I'm a ped, so I'm probably biased, but I will just say that for me, the risk of serious and life-threatening illnesses like polio, whooping cough, and meningitis far outweigh any unproven risks of vaccines. I am very glad that I'm a ped now and not 50 years ago when many of these illnesses were common and children died so much more frequently. And that's all I'm going to say about that. :)

[MichelleRenee]

Congrats Ericka!!!

Saying No: T thinks it is hilarious!!!

2 days until T turns 1. People keep asking if we are ready for #2 and I wish I could say yes. Maybe next year.....

[maplekitty]

Robyn is the same way with diaper changes! she starts to cry as soon as we even get near her change table. I try and distract her by giving her soemthing to play with, whether its a shoe, or diaper rash cream bottle, ro whatever just to get her to sit still.

And dont worry Rippy...I've swatted Robyn a few times too, nothing hard, just a tap, but I always feel SO BAD afterwards cause she'll whine or cry and then I think, OMG, I'm a hitting mom, I cant be a hitting mom, and then I hug her and apologize over and over...LOL its hard feeeling like *nothing* will get to them, nothing you cna do will make them understand "no".

[maplekitty]

maplekitty I'm a ped, so I'm probably biased, but I will just say that for me, the risk of serious and life-threatening illnesses like polio, whooping cough, and meningitis far outweigh any unproven risks of vaccines. I am very glad that I'm a ped now and not 50 years ago when many of these illnesses were common and children died so much more frequently. And that's all I'm going to say about that. :)


you know what, and that's exactly why I did go through with them, because i know the vaccines work against serious life-threatening diseases. my mom had polio and lived a year in an iron lung, and she grew up in a generation where that was a seriously feared virus. So we are thankful that we live in a time where we can prevent that.
But still, theres that fear...and all we can do is hope for the best and pray for healthy children.

[Ericka_Jarett]

maplekitty - we have gotten on the vaccines recommended so far for Easton, but chicken pox and the flu shot. The girls will get all of theirs as well, rather be on the safe side.

[Maxicat]

I am not sure where to look for this information. Lauren had her 1 year check up and received 2 vaccines and the flu shot October 19th. Exactly one week later she has broken out in a red bumpy rash that is everywhere except her legs.
Does anyone know if this is normal or should I panick?

[Ericka_Jarett]

I wouldn't panic, but definitely call the pediatrician, sounds like she may have an allergic reaction to something in one of the vaccines. Hope she feels better soon.

[brenda]

Maxicat If your ped did the same set of vaccines as mine at the 1 year WBV - the Flu, MMR, & Chicken Pox - this is a known reaction. Low grade fever, crankiness, light rash, inflamed injection site all starting between 1 and 2 weeks after reaction. My ped gave me a handout on what to expect. If I hadn't been warned, I'd have flipped because this is the first time E has had any of the typical reactions.

You may want to check-in with your ped just to be sure, though.

[MichelleRenee]

Ericka: they are precious!!

We had T's party today. It was a lot of work, but it was fun. I love planning parties so I am very excited to plan his party for next year! I have a ton of pics in my journal. I just can't believe the little fella is 1!!

[MidwesternGal]

First of all, CONGRATS Ericka and Jarett on the beautiful twin girls!! They are just precious. How is Easton reacting to his new sisters?

Re: Vaccines: I feel the exact same way as jbemommy. Also, we did get the chicken pox and ended up with a Hib A vaccine because the gal told us it would be required by the time DS started kindergarten. I've done some research and I can honestly say I feel confident about vaccines.

Rippy: Yeah, swatted a few times here. I only do it in situations where DS could harm himself (ie, oven or outlet--my DS has figured out a way past most of our babyproofing in areas he REALLY likes! ARG!).

Things here are going well. DS is getting his 4 top teeth, so he'll finally have 6 if they ever get through!!

He's become quite the tantrum thrower and is getting kind of "fussy" all day long now. . . not quite sure what that is about.

Q: Talking: How many words does your DC say? DS still only says dada and doesn't *really* mean DH, and then he says "nigh-nigh" (for night-night) but he knows what that means. I read somewhere kids shoudl have 50 words by 19 months and while that's still 6 months away, I'm kind of worried! DS imitates my "tones" but still doesn't even really do typical baby babbling (ie, gaga or baba or even much of mama).

[jbemommy]

Midwesterngal I wouldn't worry about your DS's speech yet! There is a huge explosion of words between 12 and 18 months. Most are only saying 1 or 2 words at this age. DS says bye-bye and hi, sometimes da-da and na-na (what he calls DD). I was all excited b/c he started doing the elephant noise when I asked him what the elephant says, but then when I asked what the kitty says, he did the elephant noise again. :rolleyes:

[Rippy1010]

DS says hi/hey (not sure which one he's actually saying), hat, dad, momma (hardly regular on that one ... once a month maybe ... :rolleyes:), quack (for a duck noise), meow (for a cat noise), cat, out, uh oh, go, no, and "dat" for "that". He tries to say new words, but they only come out as the tone, not really the word. LOL. Most of those words only happened in the last month or so. The gears are working in there ... I can see them turning. LOL.

I wouldn't be too worried about the speech yet. He'll get it!

Speaking of ovens ... DS had his first run-in with a hot oven door this weekend. :( :mad: DH is not used to having to tend to DS AND cook/bake something at the same time evidently. :rolleyes: Luckily no real damage was done ... no blisters or anything. At least now he backs away from the stove when the oven door is open. :o

[Bubeleh]

Ericka They are soooo cute! and I'm very impressed that you still have time to post!

Words DS says Dada/Abba, Dog, bottle, hi, yes, up up, zebra without the z, and bye. Most of them are obviously not very clear but he and I both know what he is saying.

We officially have a Walker! Up until now we have had a few steps here and couple there. This time he stood up and took off. He walks from room to room and laughs the whole time. Its very exciting and very scary!

[kemorr]

DD turned one on Friday and we had her party on Saturday. It was fun but I can't believe she is one! I did a "your first year" memory photo book on shutterfly and got all nostalgic looking at the very early photos that I haven't seen in a while.

Vaccines - I am about as pro-vaccination as you get but decided to delay the MMR until she is 2. My ped didn't even question it, she just said, I'll make a large notation on your file that she is getting MMR at 2. She got Hep B and flu (thimerosal free) at her 12 month (we delayed Hep B, didn't start until 9 months) and she'll get chicken pox and the second flu shot in 6 weeks time. As DD isn't in daycare and not around kids all that often, I decided delaying the MMR wasn't all that great of a risk.

Words - DD is a little slow on this as well. I wouldn't worry Midwestern, I read that at 12 months, only 2-3 words are expected. DD knows dada and says it consistently when DH is around. She says sat consistently when she sees the cat, so I guess that counts as a word. She will occasionally say Fetcha (for Fletcher, our dog's name), dag (for dog), ya (for yes - my fault, I say ya all the time instead of yes) and light. The last 4 are pretty occasional, definitely not on a daily basis. The rest is just a lot of mumbo jumbo. She doesn't yet say mama, which is worrying me. I have some IRL friends whose kids are around 10-14 months and it seems like she is about on a par with the rest of them. There are some that are obviously way out there with a lot of words, but most seem to fall into the 2-6 word camp.

[maplekitty]

Well we are on day two of operation bottle weaning! I thought we were just going to do it cold turkey, but I caved and gave her a small bottle for her afternoon nap. She went to bed last night without a bottle, this morning without, but only after about 45 mins of crying and then only slept for 1 hour as opposed to her usual 2 hours. Then this evening she went down for bedtime withouta bottle and only cried for 2-3 mins.
I caved this afternoon because she wouldnt stop crying and I know that if she doesnt nap well then bedtimes are usually harder, so I wanted her to have a better afternoon nap. We'll see how it goes tomorrow. :)

words: "mum", "dadda", "uh oh", "wow", "hi", "shooooos" (shoes), "wassat" (what's that?), and I'd say her first *real* word that she says with the most recognition to the real thing or pictures is "dog".

It is so amazing how grown up they are getting!!!

[MichelleRenee]

Words:

We have: mama, dada, uh oh, and a really long, drawn out mooooorrreeee?? Which always sounds like a question. He usually says it during meal times.

He is a total mimicker though. When we shake our head no, he does it. The other day DH burped and T tried to make the same sound. The cutest though is that DH likes to stick out his tongue and wiggle it at him and T does it right back.

Bottle weaning is going OK for us. We have successfully eliminated his after dinner bottle and his before breakfast bottle. He still has trouble with sippies. We have tried every different kind out there but he still ends up with more milk ON him than IN him.

[Jenzen01]

Words - We've got some weird ones. She says, "umpkin" all the time right now for "pumpkin." I've also heard "apple" and "all done," and she's saying something that sounds like "what's that?" because we say it to her all the time. Plus a LOT of gibberish. Sounds like she's having a conversation in another language. I love gibberish because it means they're catching on to the flow and tone of conversation.

No walking yet, but it's getting closer. She's taking steps now with me only holding one hand. She's so cautious!

[Pamela]

Ericka, your girls are too precious!

[craftgenius]

Words - I THINK Claire is saying Dadda. And I believe she is trying to say "Mama" when she gets upset and repeats over and over, "Nananana". The other day she repeated "Thank you", after her sister told said thank you to her.

Christmas trees - The other day my DH said that we don't need to get a tree this year! :mad: I know that Claire is getting into everything, but I still want a tree!!! I don't care what he says...WE ARE GETTING ONE! Do you any of you have plans regarding this???

[Rippy1010]

Christmas Tree ~ I never even paid it a second thought. I'm sure I'll have to watch DS a lot around the tree and ornaments, but it wouldn't seem like Christmas to me without a tree. So, we still plan on having one.

[Ericka_Jarett]

Christmas trees - we will have one up. Probably put it on the coffee table which is behind the couch presently (due to Easton whacking his mouth really good a few weeks back where he cut the gum (bled a lot) right where a new tooth was coming in) If we didn't have it up there it would be out most likely, just would have to find the right place for it since the living room is sort of small now with the PNP, swing, DH's desk, coffee table, couch and all of Easton's toys.

When I use to nanny the boys were all 5 and up so we put the tree up even though we were all heading back to NJ from CA for Christmas. Boss had her sister come out for a visit with her 1 yr old, she about had a cow the day I put the tree up (the whole family was out and came back to find the tree up) she said the baby was going to break all the ornaments and it was going to be crazy. I told her, she will touch the tree and feel that it hurts and not touch it again. Sure enough baby did exactly as I told her mother. We found 1 broken glass ornament that was under the tree skirt. Apparently the parents broke it and instead of cleaning it up, stuck it under the tree skirt (all breakable ornaments were at the top of the tree so we know it wasn't any of the kids.

Midwestern - Easton is adjusting well to his sisters. He stands at the PNP and looks in. If we are holding one of them he comes to investigate. He debates touching them. He did touch Katelyn's head the other night and it was so cute to watch his face when he touched her hair. He comes over at diaper changes as well now.

[MichelleRenee]

We are starting to think about the Christmas tree thing. I know that if he can reach it he will grab it and try to chew on it. I really have no idea what we are going to do. I am pretty sure that just having one out in the open is not an option!

[jbemommy]

Christmas trees Since DD was born, we've had a small tree in our bay window which was out of her reach. DS is much more into things, and I'm not sure it's going to work for him. Also, we're spending the week before Christmas at my parents house, so I'm not sure if it's worth putting one up. We probably will try since I love Christmas trees.

[maplekitty]

We'll still do a christmas tree. I'd rather teach her that its something to stay away from and not to play with, than to avoid it all together, I dont think she'll learn that way. Besides...theres no way I couldnt hav ea xmas tree! We actually do TWO trees in the house.

[marathongirl]

Congrats Ericka!!! Beautiful names for beautiful girls! I know I'm a bit behind, but best wishes to you and your family!

and from DS's 1 yr WBV
height: 30.25 inches
weight: 20 lbs 10 ozs

Gack - between 2 P/T jobs and 2 kiddos posting is tough. I hope to get better at time management :rolleyes:

[marathongirl]

Just a fly by post with a pic of DS. He looks royally ticked off!
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2280/1813382199_6ae9c2ae4d.jpg?v=0

[Mrs-Mac]

I've been completely MIA lately, but still reading when I can. I've been focusing on starting a photography business. So much work, but moving along. Seems like every spare minute is spent doing something for photography.

Grace is doing well. Such a personality. She's walking pretty much all the time now and has 6 teeth.
1 year WBV
19.6 lb
29in

Vaccinations - I work at Merck, in vaccine research, so I'm pretty pro-vaccines. Given all that, I still had some doubts about my decision. It is scary and there is my science side and my mommy side. I did decide to delay chicken pox and didn't get the flu shot. My ped was fine with that.

Words Nothing consistant yet. Sometimes ball, cat, bye, Mama, Dada. Lots of babble. Its so cute, she even "talks" with her hands.

Christmas Tree We will get one. It will be funny though because my DH hates that we have to keep ornaments away from the bottom branches of the tree because of the cat. He'll learn we have to do the same thing this year with the DD.

No She throws a fit. She definately understands. She will stop what she is doing, look and then throw herself down on the ground and start whining.

Ericka Congrats on your new baby girls. So beautiful!

Jenzen So glad to hear Ada is okay after all the tests.

To all the RO - Congrats!!

Happy Belated 1st Birthdays to all the Sept and Oct babes!

[Sept&Oct06Moms]

UPDATED TO HERE

REMINDER: Please post updates in RED Thanks

[kemorr]

Posting stats from our recent 1 yr WBV...

1 yr WBV
30.5 inches
24 pounds, 9 ounces

I have a big girl, although with the amount she eats, I'm not sure how she got so big!

DD has developed a raised, red bumpy rash on her face. I started whole milk on Monday and the rash has developed since then. I did 2 oz whole milk to 6 oz formula until today when I increased it to 4 oz. milk/4 oz. formula. I'm wondering if the rash is related to the milk or not. She is on a hypoallergenic formula, but that was for GI issues. I haven't seen any evidence of GI issues since starting the milk. Also, she's been eating cheese and yogurt since 9 months with no issues. Anyone else's DC get rashy with milk? I don't know if it's related or not. She's also got a cold and her 1 yr molars are coming through, so fun times here!

[AmyS]

kemorr- She could be having a reaction to the milk protiens. Milk is processed differently in cheeses and yogurts. The protiens are more broken down and easier to digest. I could eat cheese and yogurt when I was breastfeeding AJ, but I couldn't drink milk. Now AJ can't tolerate any dairy at all. Maybe go back to all formula for a bit and see if the rash subsides.

Vaccinations - I used to teach kids with autism and AJ has gotten all of his. I think the risks of not vaccinating far outweigh the other risks. And is God chooses to give me the gift of a special needs child, so be it.

Words: Dada, dog, nanananana (no) and he's trying to say book.

Christmas Tree:I can't imagine Christmas without one. DH wants 2 actually. One in the living room and one in our finished basement. I told him we might need 1 floor where there isn't a tree.

No: AJ just laughs when you tell him no. :rolleyes:

[Lily]

I've also been MIA lately, but post when I can. DD is doing really well. Her 12 month WBV was last month and she was 23 lbs./31" long. I think that I already posted that she's walking. It seems like she's already speed walking when on carpet with no shoes on, but put her outside with shoes on and she's still very wobbly.

Her ped. says that she's talking a lot for her age. She can say da da, daddy, ma ma, mommy, na na, bye-bye, hi, and all done. Right before her 1st birthday she even put 2 words together and said bye-bye dada when my DH was getting ready for work. Now she'll also say bye-bye mama and hi dada/mama.

We're going out of state for Christmas, but I still want to buy a tree. I love the smell of pine during the holidays. I was thinking we could put a Super Yard around it to keep DD away.

[Lily]

I forgot to add that DD will sometimes hit her head with her hands when she's frustrated or is told not to do something. I normally just say, "No sweetie, hitting hurts and we don't want to hurt anyone." Is anyone else going through this?

[kemorr]

Lily - DD doesn't hit her head but she will pinch and grab herself during diaper changes when she's mad (diaper changing is like wrestling a wild animal). She inches/grabs her belly and does it quite aggressively - hard enough to leave red marks. I just ignore it. I've read that if you react to it, it encourages the behavior. They're looking for a reaction.

[MidwesternGal]

Lily--No hitting here, although sometimes DS will grab his own hair and pull it, or do the genital grabbing (and YIKES, it looks like it hurts!) and tummy slapping like kemorr's DD.

I just posted in the toddler section about DS covering up his ears all the time--does anyone else's DC do that? Should I worry?

Well, DS FINALLY learned a new word!! We live on the same street as the county vehicles are stored, so a lot of loud trucks go by during the day. I said to DS. . . "Look at the truck!" and he looked at me and said "duck?" LOL. So, only *I* know what he meant, but now, with some effort (you can see him actually trying soooo hard, it's kind of funny), he now will say "uck" or "duck" for truck! He barely ever says "mama" but now he can say his own version of truck. Go figure!

Went to the mall with my parents. I think seperation anxiety has set in big time. He FREAKED OUT when I left him in the car with my dad. (And apparently he kept repeating "momomomomomom" the whole time he cried, but I don't know if he meant me or not--sometimes he just says it when he's upset).

Does anyone have any good ideas for keeping sane during cold weather months if you don't live very close to anything? I mean, we don't even have story hour at the local library (sad, sad, sad, I know!). No mall, no playgroups, nothing, nada (town of less than 2k people). Those of you who have older DCs, what did you do all winter?

[Rippy1010]

I forgot to add that DD will sometimes hit her head with her hands when she's frustrated or is told not to do something. I normally just say, "No sweetie, hitting hurts and we don't want to hurt anyone." Is anyone else going through this?

YES! I was saying "no smacking", so that he knew it wasn't okay to smack anything. But, that would make him laugh, so then I tried using the "ignore" technique so that it didn't get him extra attention, and that only worked a few times, too.

Does it concern you?! Sometimes it really concerns me that he's going to be one of these teenagers that internalizes everything and hurts himself. I know, I know ... I'm being overly neurotic. But, still, I worry.

[kemorr]

Time change - Anyone else messed up by the time change? DD woke up at 5 am both yesterday morning and this morning. Yesterday I put her down at 8 am (instead of her usual 9 am) and she took a good morning nap but an awful, awful afternoon nap. This morning I left her in her crib and she was awake from 5 am until 6 am when she fell back to sleep. 6 am is her usual wake up time, so I wasn't sure what to do. Well, I let her sleep for 35 minutes then went in and woke her up. Now she's resisting her 9 am nap. Sigh....napping was tough enough in this house without a time change to make things even more difficult. And I'm really, really hoping the 5 am wake-up thing changes, because I am NOT a morning person. Also, does Weissbluth "work" for your child? His suggestion for almost any problem seems to be an earlier bedtime, but if I put DD to bed earlier, she wakes up earlier (which is a total contradiction to what he claims will happen).

Midwestern - DD grabs the side of her head, covering or grabbing her ears all the time. Sometimes I worry she has a chronic headache, as it looks like she's nursing an aching head. She has never had an ear infection (and I've taken her to be checked numerous times due to the head holding thing) and she's generally even tempered, so I'm guessing it isn't related to ear/head pain. It might be teething related? Or maybe just a "thing" they do.

[Rippy1010]

kemorr ~ Sorry about the time change sleep issues. I was totally expecting to be awoken on Sunday morning at about 5 or 5:30 am, as we had an absolutely awful experience with the last time change. As it turned out, DS decided he would sleep an extra hour that day. So, thankfully, this time change went very smoothly. Although, he was super tired and pretty cranky at dinner last night, since it would've been right around his bedtime. So, I put him to bed about 20-25 minutes earlier than normal, to kind of "transition" him to the new hours. I hate time changes in general ... they are so annoying.

[AmyS]

kemorr- Weissbluth works for us! AJ goes to bed between 545p and 6p and doesn't wake up until 6a or 630a. If for some reason he goes to bed later or has bad naps during the day he will wake up earlier. I have been made fun of by many people, including family members, for putting my son to sleep so "early". I just laugh it off knowing I have a well rested child who is happy almost all day long. We are friends with a couple who is a pediatrician and the other is an ER doc. They're the ones that told us to read Healthy Sleep Habits. Their 18 month old son goes to bed at 5pm every night and sleeps til 730a without so much as a peep all night long! I say give it a shot. It never can hurt!

time change: Sunday AJ was up at 5am on the dot! I let him chat to himself until he started crying at 530a. By 430p he was ready for bed but I was able to stretch him until 515p. Monday he was up 5a and fell back asleep ~525a until 615a. This morning we went in to check on him at 715a because he still wasn't up- so not like him! I can't wait. In less than 2 weeks we get to do the time change thing all over again because we're going to AZ to visit my IL's for 2 weeks. What was I thinking agreeing to stay with them for 2 weeks??!??!?

[maplekitty]

Hitting/Angry baby - Robyn has a huge temper, and when she gets mad, watch out!! she flails her arms, tries to hit you, she'll pinch and even bite me! I have NO IDEA where she learned this?? Its like they just *know* how to vent their anger physically! I try not to react, because I dont think at this age she really gets it. If she bites me or hits me, I hold her hand away and say "no hitting/no bitting, that hurts mama". I've done some reading up on this, and most "experts" say they eventaully stop, but I'm still fearful that I'm going to have "that kid". :(

[Rippy1010]

Their 18 month old son goes to bed at 5pm every night and sleeps til 730a without so much as a peep all night long! I say give it a shot. It never can hurt!
HOLY COW! That is amazing. I think earlier to bed, longer to sleep usually works, too ... from everything I've seen. The whole "getting their second wind after being overtired thing". But, wow ... 5pm. I don't even get home from work until 5:40pm. How do they have dinner and such?

[AmyS]

I think they eat dinner at 430p or so. I know it's early but it works for them! They have #2 on the way next month. I wonder if #1 will still be going to bed that early and sleeping that well with a newborn in the house.

[Rippy1010]

I keep meaning to ask this ...

Those of you that have mentioned having success over weaning from the bottle ... do you mean weaning from milk/formula, or just weaning over to a sippy cup from a bottle?

I guess what I want to know, is how many oz of milk or formula/milk mixture is your DC getting right now per day? And as a secondary question, how did you decide where to drop a bottle, and did you substitute milk with something else (like water, maybe) in order to transition?

[TaterBaby]

Rippy, We did the transition to whole milk first. So, she was getting whole milk in a bottle. I did 75% formula/25% milk, then 50%/50%, the 25% formula/75% milk, until we were 100% milk. I did this all over the course of a weekend.
Then, a few weeks later we did the transition to the sippy cup. Daycare helped me tremendously with this. They did nothing but sippy with milk during the day. I was still doing bottles in a.m. and p.m. Once she got really good with the sippy, we started doing a sippy with breakfast. We kept the bedtime bottle for about a week after that and then ditched it. We do a sippy of milk with dinner and then a little more before bed. I'm estimating anywhere from 12-18 oz milk/day. She also eats quite a bit of dairy. Does that help?

[kemorr]

Amy - In general, DD is a "weissbluth" baby. I have tried to follow his rules since she was born, but I'm in a little bit of a conundrum here. She has been waking at 5 am for about a month now (versus her usual 6 or 6:30 am). Sometimes she will go back to sleep, sometimes not. She naps at 9 am and 1/1:30 (depending on what time she wakes from her first nap) and bedtime is usually 6:30. If she naps poorly, I will put her to bed earlier (usually only 15 minutes, though) but she still seems to wake early. She is generally very happy during the day. She does get a little fussy/zoned out towards nap and bed time, but nothing major. Also, on the nights I put her to sleep earlier, she often lies awake in her crib until her usual sleep time, anyway. I don't know, I guess I'm hesitant to put her to bed any earlier than 6, 6:15 for a number of reasons, but maybe I shold try 6 and see if it solves the early waking issue. (But, then I read Ferber, who totally contradicts Weissbluth with his "too long in the crib theory" and explicity states that if your kid wakes too early to put them to bed a little later, so they sleep a little later. Ferber also acknowledges the overtired theory but it seems like he thinks it occurs if baby naps very poorly or not at all or goes to bed really late, versus Weissbluth who seems to think baby becomes overtired if he goes to bed 15 minutes later than s/he should. I dunno, who do you believe?)

Sorry for the ramble! :o

Weaning - I went cold turkey on the bottles about 2 weeks before DD turned 1 and just started offering formula in the sippy. The exception is the right before bed bottle - we still do that. She took to the sippies fine. After she turned one, I started weaning onto whole milk - 25/75, 50/50, 75/25 then 100% milk. I did 3-4 days of each percentage mix and am just on 100% milk today. I offer 3 x 8 ounce sippies plus 1 x 8 ounce bottle before bed. I would say she drink about 4-6 ounces of each sippy, so she is getting a max of 20 oz. of milk a day. Now that she is on 100% milk, I am going back to 100% formula for the before bed bottle (because she usually drinks all of this and I don't want her to have too much milk). However, I am going to start weaning her from that bottle in the next couple of days. I will do 6 oz x 3 days then 4 oz x 3 days then 2 oz x 3 days then stop. After that, she'll only get the 3 milk sippies each day. I'm a little nervous about stopping the before bed bottle, because I'm scared she'll be hungry and this will exacerbate the early waking, however I'm just going to do it, because my fears may be unfounded.

[Rippy1010]

kemorr ~ I'm very fearful of eliminating the bottle just before bed, also. I think that he might get hungry and wake around 3am or something. Plus, it's worked so well for getting him in to that "groggy, ready to sleep" state. :(

tater ~ We are fully transitioned to milk now. Just happened this week. We did smaller percentages, but the same basic theory. LOL. I think I was being overly cautious with the transition. Now, I just can't figure out how to cut down the ounces, because I feel like he'll be too hungry. And, I'm really not ready to give up the bedtime bottle. How did you just ditch it? Just put her to bed without it? Did it go over okay? Or was there a lot of fussing?


Adding to my troubles ... we haven't yet found a sippy cup that DS loves. So, we are mostly bottles still, and try a new sippy cup at every dinner meal. Fun, fun.

[Lily]

I just have to say once again that it's so great to have this thread. I'm glad that I'm not alone in all of the transitional adjustments our little ones are experiencing.

Midwestern - Wow, I feel your pain. Are there any other moms near you that might want to form a playgroup. Also check out www.meetup.com to see if there's anything in your area. I've found some really great playgroups on that site. Here are a couple of links to older threads for more ideas.
http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9171&highlight=indoor+activities
http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=17226

My DD is also going through separation anxiety. The other day I had to go to my car for something and even though her Dad was with her she cried so loud that I could hear her all the way outside. I've read that it dies down a little around 18-24 months old.

Rippy1010 - Regarding the hitting, Mahayla used to laugh, then she started getting upset when I would say no, so now I'm just ignoring it which is really helping (at least her tantrums don't last as long), or if she's really upset I'll sit on the floor and give her a hug/soothe her which helps as well.

Great job on weaning to milk. We are giving DD milk, but will also give her formula if she has an upset tummy. No more bottles though which I'm so relieved about. I was so tired of cleaning all of the parts for the Dr. Brown bottles. We are only giving DD 12 - 16 oz. of milk though. We've increased the amount of table foods and snacks during the day to increase the lost calories. Oh yeah, I'll give her water in between meals and snacks to keep her hydrated. Are you removing the suction part on the sippy cups? DD did much better with them when I tried that.

Maplekitty - I worry about that too, but I also try to remind myself that it's just a phase and she'll grow out of it. You know I was thinking about signing up for a Baby Signs class to help her communicate better which would hopefully decrease some of her frustration. Do you have these classes near you?

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I know that there is a thread on this, but are your DC eating meat?

DD will spit out chicken, beef, ground turkey, and deli meat. The only thing that I just discovered she likes are Boca Burgers. Any advice on how to give her more protein?

[portlandbride]

Quick drive-by.
For protein try beans. Both my girls love black beans.

[Rippy1010]

I know that there is a thread on this, but are your DC eating meat?
We are still on jarred, baby food meats. I find that DS really can't chew them up as well, and then he'll either spit up the pieces or choke on it a little bit. Of course, I'm sure if I would get myself a food mill, we wouldn't be having this problem. That's at the top of my list.
Are you removing the suction part on the sippy cups? DD did much better with them when I tried that.
I did try removing the suction inserts because I noticed that some of those valves were super hard to drink through (yes, I'm a dork enough to have tried drinking through it, because it seemed like he was having a lot of trouble. LOL!)! But instead the beverage of choice was EVERYWHERE when I did that, and he was taking gulps that were way too big. He'll get it eventually, I guess. :o :rolleyes: I probably do need to start offering water more often between his meals, though. And right now we do a snack between lunch and dinner, but the gap between bfast and lunch seems to go so fast that I've never really thought to offer a snack then.

[kemorr]

Well, I'm just gonna do it tonight - she's going to be in bed at 6 pm, which means starting bedtime routine at 5:30. I'm at my wits end with this early waking - 4:45 this morning and she didn't go back to sleep. Whilst she's not particularly fussy, she's obviously tired and probably overtired because she's not a great napper and now instead of the 13 1/2 - 14 hours of sleep she was getting a month ago, it's down to 12. So, I'm going to try Weissbluth's earlier to bed theory and see if it works. Amy - Any idea how long to try the new method, to see if it's going to improve her waking times?

[Roxygirl]

So really, am I the only one with a one year old still up in the middle of the night screaming?? Oh my gosh I'm so tired.

[Ericka_Jarett]

Roxy - Easton has been waking at night, but I think it's more because he hears his sisters fussing, he has a stuffy nose and is teething

[AmyS]

kemorr- How did it go? going to bed earlier last night? Sorry I haven't been back in a few days. I've got a horrible sinus thing going on. We usually noticed right away if going to bed earlier made a difference. I'd give her at least a few days to catch up on her sleep. Is you DD about to hit a major milestone? A month or 2 ago DS was waking up at 430a/500a and my friend thought it was because he was just about to start walking. Sure enough in a few days he was walking. About a week after he started walking he was back to his regular wake-up time.

[kemorr]

Amy - I have put her to bed at 6 pm for the past 2 nights. She woke at 5:30 am after the first night (versus 5 am) and then 5:50 am this morning, so we seem to be making improvement, but it's too early for me to call it yet! I'm not sure that I understand why she all of a sudden needed/needs an earlier bedtime, when she had been doing 6:30 pm - 6:30 am for as long as I can remember, but if this is going to work, I'll stick with it. I have seen enough improvement to keep trying, that's for sure. I don't think she is about to hit any milestones, she started walking about 1 1/2 months ago and I don't think a "language explosion" is about to happen. She does seem to be chewing on her fingers a lot, though, and the ped said she could feel her molars starting to come through at her WBV, so maybe that's it, although in the past when she's been teething she has awoken in the night, crying versus just waking up early. But, who knows, they like to change things to keep us on our toes! Hope your sinus infection clears up and you feel better soon!

Edited to add - Well, I put her down at 6 pm tonight and she didn't fall asleep until 7 pm. No crying, just playing in her crib for an hour. It makes me feel guilty that I'm just abandoning her and dumping her in her crib when she's not tired, although my DH thinks I'm an idiot for feeling that. So, I'm still not convinced she needs a 6 pm bedtime, but I'll see what happens tomorrow morning (and she took pretty good naps today and wasn't fussy, so I don't think her being overtired was the reason it took so long to go to sleep).