March 2007 Moms & Babes....growing so fast!

[March2007Mommies]

March 2007 Mommies
32 Babies are here, including Two sets of Twins!


Team Blue (It's a boy!): 8
Mochi, Shimmerstar, dollface, kindermom, ladybug0525, marriedagoalie, whitlockan, happy1nuv

Team Pink (It's a girl!): 16
Brink x2, goldengbridge, ieducate, Nanner, Tandis x2, Betsyboop, Danalou, Buffy, mmm0708, peewee9196, Kanga, MommyInPA

Team Green (It's a surprise!): 8
Janey (Girl), lady1297 (Boy), Sherb (Girl), Orion (Boy), MrsKinnison (Boy), sneak (Boy), littlemia (girl), Miaclear (boy), Deelcie (girl)

Still awaiting word from:
GAmommy

~~~~~

If you are new here, congratulations! We hope you will consider joining us. We look forward to sharing this amazing journey together! Please posts all updates in RED.

Please list your stats in RED in your first post.

CC Name:
Me: Name, age
DH: Name, age
Married: Date
DC: Name
Birthdate: Date
Siblings: (Other kids & their birthdates)
Photo Albums: (Links to your online photo albums)


Good places to make photo albums: Flickr (http://www.flickr.com), Photobucket (http://photobucket.com/), Picasa Web Albums (https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?hl=en_US&continue=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2F&passive=true&service=lh2), Phanfare (http://www.phanfare.com/), Smugmug (http://www.smugmug.com/).


The threadmistresses are Lady1297, Janey, and Miaclear. Feel free to PM them if you have any questions/comments regarding the thread.


Our previous threads are here...
* March 2007 Mommies: First Trimester Fun!! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21814)
* March 2007 Mamas - Trimester Two! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=24356)
* March 2007 Mamas: Third Trimester! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=27247)
* March 2007 Mamas: Babies Incoming! (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=29957)

[March2007Mommies]

Mama Roster


Betsyboop
Me: Betsy, 28
DH: Dave, 31
Married: 10/18/03
DC: Amelia Claire
Birthdate: 3/4/07
Siblings:
Photo Albums:


Brink - TWINS!
Me: Tina - 36
DH: Dan - 37
Married: 6/26/04
DC: Katherine (Katie) Louise & Kristi Anne
Birthdate: 1/31/07
Siblings: Aimee Jean 9/25/05
Photo Albums:


Buffy
Me: Erin, 31
DH: Mitch, 32
Married: 10/06/01
DC: Morgan Alexis
Birthdate: 3/8/07
Siblings: Addison Elizabeth 1/23/03, Riley Grace 4/25/05
Photo Albums:


danalou
Me: Dana, 29
DH: Matt, 32
Married: 8/21/04
DC: Mackenzie Danielle
Birthdate: 3/12/07
Siblings:
Photo Albums:


deelcie
Me: Diana, 36
DH: Roberto, 45
Married: 10/12/02
DC: Reikke Meiling
Birthdate: 3/17/07
Siblings: Deacon Archer, 6/16/04


dollface
Me: Stacy, 35
DH: Damon, 38
Married: 6/15/02
DC: Davin Oliver
Birthdate: 3/7/07
Siblings: n/a
Photo Albums:


GAmommy
Me: Robin, 24
DH: Brian, 26
Married: 7/23/06
DC: Laci Rebecca
Birthdate:
Siblings: Christopher 5/18/04
Photo Albums:


goldengbridge
Me: Jen
DH: Miguel
Married: 9/6/03
DC: Ashlyn Michelle
Birthdate: 2/23/07
Siblings: Andrew 8/28/04, ^Jacob^ born sleeping on 4/3/06 at 18w 4d.
Photo Albums:


happy1nuv
Me: Rosa, 31
DH: Jeff, 32
Married: 9/21/02
DC: Joseph Charles
Birthdate: 3/23/07
Siblings: Dominic (nic) 5/18/05
Photo Albums:


ieducate
Me: Karen, 34
DH: Andrew, 35
Married: 8/1/04
DC: Julia Rose
Birthdate: 1/13/07
Siblings:
Photo Albums:


Janey
Me: Janey, 33
DH: B, 41
Married: 9/24/05
DC: K
Birthdate: 2/27/07
Siblings:
Photo Albums:


Kanga
Me: Liz
DH: Chad
Married: 12/11/04
DC: Camdyn Natalie
Birthdate: 03/11/07
Siblings: Daytona Bailey, 10/25/05 and 3 kitties
Photo Albums:


kindermom
Me: Noel, 32
DH: Sean, 35
Married: 5/04
DC: Henry
Birthdate: 3/9/07
Any other children: Madelyn, 8/05.
Photo Albums:


lady1297
Me: Rita, 28
DH: Joe, 29
Married: 12/27/02
DC: John Albert
Birthdate: 2/12/07
Siblings: Edward, a labrador retriever, Sophie, and two cats, Gizmo and Callie
Photo Albums:


ladybug0525
Me: Judie, 30
DH: Jason, 32
Married: 5/25/02
DC: Cooper Joseph
Birthdate: 3/14/07
Siblings: Jack
Photo Albums:


littlemia
Me: 30
DH: 30
Married: 4/26/03
DC: Claire Nicole
Birthdate: 3/21/07
Siblings: No, just Mia, our fiesty mini dachshund
Photo Albums:


MarriedaGoalie
Me: Tosha, 22
DH: Rob, 26
Married: 5/20/05
DC: Carter Thomas
Birthdate: 3/24/07
Siblings: Quentin, 9 (Stepson)
Photo Albums:


Miaclear
Me: Amy, 30
DH: Dirk, 31
Married: 9/18/04
DC: Aaron Fredric
Birthdate: 3/20/07
Siblings: Just fur babies. Luca our cat and Jackson our dog.


mmm0708
Me: Melissa, 27
DH: Neil, 30
Married: 3/3/04
DC: Caitlin Abigail
Birthdate: 3/23/07
Siblings: Dillon Hunter
Photo Albums:


Mochi
Me: Michelle, 34
DH: H, 35
Married: 7/01
DC: Niko
Birthdate: 2/25/07
Siblings: DS, "K" 2 years old
Photo Albums:


MrsKinnison
Me: Hillary, 32
DH: Chris, 35
Married: 11/27/04
DC: Ollie Christopher
Birthdate: 3/13/07
Siblings: 2 dogs, Maggie & Simon and 2 cats, Benjamin & Moses
Photo Albums:


MommyinPA
Me: Kristina, 31
DH: Chris, 34
Married: 6/24/01
DC: Kaia Michaela
Birthdate: 1/29/07
Siblings: SD DeAnna 1/94, Christopher 11/01, Cade 8/05
Photo Albums: Register at carepages.com (http://www.carepages.com/); then enter kaiabear at Visit A Carepage (http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage?).


Nanner
Me: Dana, 36
DH: Scott, 34
Married: 3/27/04
DC: Hannah Jeanne
Birthdate: 3/2/07
Siblings: Sam, 6/23/05
Photo Albums:


Orion
Me: Jess, 28
DH: Justin, 28
DC: Dalton Alistair
Birthdate: 3/13/07
Siblings: Sophie Madeline, 12/11/05
Photo Albums:


Pewee9196
Me: Elizabeth, 33
DH: David 31
Married: 3/9/01
DC: Isabella Carmyn
ADD: 3/24/07
Siblings: furbaby Seamus
Photo Albums:


Sherb
Me: Aimee, 27
DH: R, 32
Married: 9/18/04
DC: Madeline Ruby
Birthdate: 3/5/07
Siblings: Sherbert, a very cute dog & Blossom, a very crazy cat
Photo Albums:


Shimmerstar
Me: Rachel, 27
DH: Neil, 28
Married: 6/15/02
DC: Noah Harrison
ADD: 2/14/07
Siblings:
Photo Albums:


Sneak
me: 26
DH: 33
married: 4/4/04
DC: Tarrren Anders
Birthdate: 3/15/2007
Siblings: Jenalyn, 03/12/05
Photo Albums:


Tandis - TWINS!
Me: 30
DH: 32
Married: 4/26/03
DC: Veronica Judith & Audrey Diann
Birthdate: 3/5/07
Siblings:
Photo Albums:


whitlockan
Me: Amber, 24
Father: Jerry, 26
Married: 5/8/04
DC: Zachary Aiden
Birthdate: 3/24/07
Siblings: Shadow 9 years; Jester 1 year 5 months
Photo Albums:


Always in our hearts: Cherry, StacieLady, Tipsy

[March2007Mommies]

Babies By Birthdate


January
13 - ieducate - Julia Rose
29 - MommyInPA - Kaia Nicole
31 - Brink - Katherine (Katie) Louise & Kristi Anne


February
12 - Lady1297 - John Albert
14 - Shimmerstar - Noah Harrison
23 - Goldengbridge - Ashlynn Michelle
25 - Mochi - Niko
27 - Janey - K


March
2 - Nanner - Hannah Jeanne
4 - Sherb - Madeline Ruby
4 - Betsyboop - Amelia Claire
5 - Tandis - Veronica Judith & Audrey Diann
7 - Dollface - Davin Oliver
8 - buffy - Morgan Alexis
9 - Kindermom - Henry
11 - danalou - Mackenzie Danielle
11 - kanga - Camdyn Natalie
13 - orion - Dalton Alistair
13 - MrsKinnison - Ollie Christopher
14 - ladybug0525 - Cooper Joseph
15 - sneak - Tarren Anders
17 - deelcie - Reikke Meiling Fuentes
20 - miaclear - Aaron Fredric
21 - littlemia - Claire Nicole
23 - mmm0708 - Caitlin Abigail
23 - happy1nuv - Joseph Charles
24 - whitlockan - Zachary Aiden
24 - PeeWee - Isabella Carmyn
24 - MarriedAGollie - Carter Thomas

[March2007Mommies]

Open For Posting!!!

[Orion]

Yay...new thread! Don't have much time...ok...that is a lie but both kids are down for a nap, I have a hot cup of tea steeping, and I am almost at the end of the fifth Harry Potter book and would love to finish it before the kids wake up.

And just because I feel the need to share some Dalton news when posting here....WE HAVE OUR FIRST TOOTH! How is it my baby is growing up so fast?

[Brink]

Yeah for a new thread! Our newest news - the girls are both now sitting up. Kristi is a little steadier than Katie, but they are both finally sitting at 7 1/2 months. This getting used to the preemie "adjusted age" stuff is hard. Still not rolling over (ok, Kristi has done it twice, but that's it). I'm sure they will catch up to all your babies sooner or later. I'm not too worried but we have a developmental appointment on October 1st that I'm sure they are going to give me a bad time at. We'll see.

[Tandis]

Brink - Don't feel too bad. A has only rolled from her tummy to her back a handful of times, and has never done the other way. She could probably do it if she wanted to - she just chooses not to ;) Both are just now starting to sit, but it's not real steady and it's not for any length of time. So your girls aren't that far off. :)

[MrsKinnison]

Yay for the new thread!! I can not believe how time is just flying by...

Okay, need some solids advice... We HATED avacado! It was really quite funny just how much. He made the funniest faces and noises and I think even gagged. He actually did not close his mouth the entire time we tried I think for fear he might actually swallow some. I mashed it and mixed it with bm, and then even tried adding some rice cereal, but he wasn't having it. So my question is, do I have to try for a few days or is it okay just to try something else tomorrow? I think that "technically" he didn't actually eat any, but I'm just not sure how to apply the 5 day rule here??

[Orion]

MrsK: I am by no means an expert on solid food but in my opinion I don't think that you would have to wait to try a new food since avacado is known for not usually causing allergic reactions and because you said that he probably didn't swallow any. That being said though, I wouldn't give up on avacado because it is such a healthy food for babies to eat. I would wait a bit and than offer it again sometime in the future and see if he will eat it than.

By the way...I never did get to finish the Harry Potter book. The minute I pressed 'submit reply' both kids woke up at the same time...didn't even get to finish my tea! Guess it will be another late night! Good thing there are only seven books in the series...I need sleep! :o

[Orion]

DH isn't home from work yet and both kids are in bed and supper is in the oven so I am bored and thought that I would change my avatar...it is Dalton from a couple of weeks ago. I don't think that I have ever posted a picture of him so now you know what my little cutie looks like!

[kindermom]

Brink - DS was sitting steadily before he starting rolling consistently. He has been sitting for about a month or so. He just started rolling all over in the past 2 weeks.

Wow Orion - Dalton is getting so big.

While I love hanging out with them the older they get, it does make me miss my newborn. FWIW, my 2 year old is a hoot to play with. Last night we played hide and seek for a good 20 minutes. The entire time I was under a piece of fabric in the middle of the playroom. But she thought it was hysterical.

[betsyboop]

MrsK- Funny, Millie tried and hated avocado yesterday too:p It's the first thing that she has really disliked at all, which stinks since I'm trying to fatten her up. I don't know if you have tried other foods, but I tried mixing it in with some squash and she ate it that way. I just didn't want to waste the avocado, you know?

Orion- Dalton is a cutie!

[miaclear]

Tandis and Brink....my DS also can roll if he wants but most often refuses to. He's pretty good about back to tummy but has only done tummy to back a few times. I know he can do it and actually witnessed him rolling circles one day. His problem is that he doesn't know he can't have his arm out to the side so it's always in the way. The day he just rolled circles he had some link-a-doos in his hands out in front and away he went.

Foods....we just tried our first non rice cereal food last night. Carrots. DS was a little put off by them and only managed about eight bites before he called it quits. We're going to do carrots for three more days. I've heard 3-4 days on the allergy rule, never up to 5 though. What is everyone else doing?

[happy1nuv]

allergies - it's the second attempt at something that will cause a reaction if its going to, so i'd try something at least twice and then give it up (although i heard that it can take something like 10 tries before you like/get used to a new food) ... BUT, i'd still wait the 4 days before introducing a new food. Take it from someone who said - eh, its fine. no reaction in 2 days ...and introduced a bunch of non-allergenic foods, only to go back to square one and start all over... if there is a reaction - for any reason - you want to know what caused it the first time! :rolleyes:

Also...if you've tried bananas already..avacado and bananas are a YUMMY combination. If you're in a hurry to try "ice cream" freeze banana slices then puree in a blender with 1/2 an avacado... (ok, once they are a bit better at solids than runny ones...) But, nic LOVED (still does) this and its still a treat :)

tandis/brink - nic was NOT a preemie, but he rarely rolled. dr always said not to worry about it..since we saw him do it once - it wasn't that he couldn't, it was that he didnt want to!

[Orion]

[QUOTE=miaclear;
Foods....we just tried our first non rice cereal food last night. Carrots. DS was a little put off by them and only managed about eight bites before he called it quits. We're going to do carrots for three more days. I've heard 3-4 days on the allergy rule, never up to 5 though. What is everyone else doing?[/QUOTE]

Miaclear: I usually wait only about three, maybe four days, but that is because there is not a history of food allergies in either of our families. Plus, my DD has never had a reaction to food so I'm not too concerned about Dalton.

[MrsKinnison]

Unfortunately, avacodo was the first non-cereal food we've tried with the exception of the tiniest taste of banana. I was thinking of making sweet potatoes tonight and freezing some mixed with the avacado to try later so nothing goes to waste. That should work, right?

Orion, Dalton is gorgeous!!! I can't believe you've been hiding him from us :D

[Tandis]

Miaclear - Even though I don't have to, I usually go a full week before trying something new. However, that just because otherwise I would never remember how long we've been on something! Thursday is our day to change, so tonight we're starting carrots. :) Usually though, 3-5 days should be enough to know if there is going to be a problem.

[betsyboop]

Waiting on foods- We've been trying new foods every 3 days. I guess I'm not that cautious, but we don't have any food allergies in either of our families. So far the only reaction she's had is a little constipation which was to be expected with the rice.

Rolling, etc- I think I'm noticing that the bigger babies are the ones that don't like to roll that much and the smaller ones do. I wonder- Is it that the rolling burns lots of calories or that being bigger makes it harder to roll? Or a little of both??

We had our first Gymboree class just now. Millie was pretty tentative about the whole thing, so we'll see how the next few classes go. She was the youngest baby there since the age range is 6-12 months, so maybe she'll grow into some of the activities.

[danalou]

Food - We tried bananas and avocados as well with mixed success. The bananas were just too thick for her as I tried to give her a it hand mashed. The avocados seemed to go over better, but I thinned them with water. I have some store bought food for a reference to the consistance and that helped when I made my freezer cubes!!

6 Month Update - DD is now rolling back to front and finally front to back!! She is now 18 pounds and 27" long which is 95% tile for weight and over 100% for length. It appears that we are truly growing a weed as DH always jokes about how big she is these days. We get some many comments on how she looks like a Gerber baby. With that I leave you with a picture of our little one on her 6 month mark!!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1041/1373924728_feefe556af.jpg?v=0

[miaclear]

Dana....what a doll!

Betsy.... DS took a few classes to get used to Gymboree. I started him at three months though. But once he did he LOVED it. We just graduated to Level II as well and I think he'll like this class a whole lot more since it's more faced pace and interactive.

Allergies....thanks ladies. I think we'll be able to stick with the three day rule at least with Stage One foods. Aren't they supposed to be the least allergenic? There are no food allergies in either of our families.

[whitlockan]

allergies so we tried our first non cereal food on Tuesday I think. Squash the next day he had streaks of blood in his squishy solid poo.....I'm sort of scared to go for day 2 and well tonight would have been day 3, I guess I will try again.

Orion Dalton is so cute

Dana those are GREAT blue eyes, so cute!!

So I couldnt resist this, at "school" they do finger painting, they always send home his projects and rave about how much he loves it. They were so impressed he knows what to do with it, that its meant for the paper only and not the mouth etc.....so I was like what the heck we will have fun at home I went got the non-toxic kid paint they use and this was the end result after literally a few seconds...

*removed*

Our next stop was the bath tub after he decided mommy needed to be "colored" too..........never again in my house!

[danalou]

Whit - I love the paint idea, but I think I will take your advice and not do it at home!! Great picture by the way as it captures the moment!!

Tandis - Your giants are just too cute!! What size clothes are they into these days as DD is almost too long for the 6-9 month clothes.

[shimmerstar]

Here are a couple of my guy. He has been sticking his tongue out when he smiles.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1002/1350103157_583b65003e_m.jpg

Dh calls this one "nobody knows the trouble I've seen".
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1071/1305248739_6fcbd29813_m.jpg

Daycare has done almost a complete 180 and they are so nice to me now. They must have just freaked out when he was sick that day. Since he started, he can now crawl just a little bit, sit for a long time, and has been "talking" up a storm!

[miaclear]

I had a meltdown this morning. Aaron's been waking three times a night for the last few weeks. I can handle two pretty easily but three times is just a little much. And to top it off I'm having my own issues getting to sleep. He'll go down at 9pm, I'll try to go to sleep at 10pm and usually toss and turn till midnight and get maybe a half hour or an hour before he wakes. Usually after he eats I have a bit more tossing and turning before I get myself back to sleep. Allowing me about six hours of int interrupted sleep a night if I'm lucky.

Well this morning was pretty typical of the above except he woke for the day at 7am (instead of 8:30). I had just fed him last at 6am so I knew he wasn't hungry...heck...he shouldn't be hungry those other three times either. Anyhow my DH got up with him, walked the dog, etc. I managed to fall back asleep untill 8:30. I get up and hear them playing and having fun in the nursery so I walk in excited to see my happy baby. But nope....the SECOND he sees me he starts screaming that he's hungry and wants to nurse. I started crying.

I think DH kinda understood where I was coming from. To top it off even more our cat has been crying at our door in the middle of the night too. It's enough to drive me up the wall.

Tooth number 3 came in so maybe this was all related to that. I hope for a better nights sleep tonight. Please God!

[betsyboop]

Oh man, Mia, that sounds rough:( I had a night like that a month or 2 ago where I just broke down crying after a particularly bad bunch of wakings. It's so tough when you're nursing because DH can only help out so much for those night wakings, you know? I feel like I've talked everyone's ears off about sleep training, but it really was a life saver for me (and for Millie- haha!). I know some people won't go there, but if you are interested, I can post some of the details of what worked for us.

Everyone's babies are SO cute! This age is just adorable!

Tandis- Just curious, but who's Veronica and who's Audrey?

Shimmer- Millie is into sticking her tongue out now too!

My mom, Millie, and I went shopping today while my dad and Dave went to a guitar show. I have finally decided to get some 3-6 month clothes for fall because she's just nowhere near growing into the next size up. I bought cheap-y stuff from Target and TJ Maxx but we also went to the new Nieman Marcus that just opened nearby this weekend. My mom actually bought Millie an outfit in the kids dept. How unfair is that- she gets a designer outfit before I do:o She also got her Halloween costume:
http://s7ondemand1.scene7.com/is/image/Gymboree/140024415?$240x305$
a couple of other outfits from Gymboree, and almost the entire brown velvet/leopard print line from BabyGap. It's fun shopping with Nana:p

[Kanga]

miaclear - I totally know what you mean about going from few wakings to too many. Cami was down to one at 4:30 or 5 and was up 3 or 4 times last night. (I lost count) and has been waking up 3 times for a week or so. I finally stayed awake enough last night to pay attention to her eating habits. She was definitely comfort nursing and not actually hungry. I think on dh's next day off, I'm passing night duty on to him. I'm hoping once she she's that's it's dh she'll realize she's not getting any milk. I tried the pacifier last night instead of nursing at 10:30 and she got M.A.D.

betsyboop -
How unfair is that- she gets a designer outfit before I do

*sigh* my wardrobe is so sad. 2 girls has been hard on the checkbook, and lets face it, itty bitty clothes are so much more fun to shop for.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Yay for a new thread!! :)

Carter had a rough night last night... he's definitely teething!! I hope it breaks through soon!!!

[Orion]

Sounds like a bunch of us are going through rough nights right now. Dalton has one tooth and has another one popping through and I think he is going through a growth spurt so I'm a bit sleep deprived as well (doesn't help that I have recently discovered the Harry Potter series and have been up until 1 or 2 am reading!).

So Dalton started to crawl the other day. I can't believe it. He still isn't very coordinated at it but he is getting better at it everyday.

Love the Halloween costumes everyone has been posting. We won't be doing Halloween this year because DH will be out to sea, we usually get over 1000 kids banging on our door and the kids go to bed at 6 pm so not a whole lot of time to take them out. I probably will get a couple of costumes for the kids though to dress them out during the day and take them around to all my SAH Mama friends but they are still to young to go trick or treating anyways.

So I have decided for this Christmas that we are having a 'Non Made In China' Christmas. So whatever we buy for our kids will not be made in China and I'm hoping to take it one step further and buy either locally or at least Made in Canada. I'm going to tell my Mom and my MIL/FIL about this as well and see if they would want to do it. I respect it if they don't but I am going to tell them to at least be careful of what they buy for the kids because of all the recent recalls.

DH, the kids and I were visiting our friends from down the street on Saturday and the subject of Christmas came up. They told us that although they do celebrate Christmas they don't celebrate Christmas with Santa Claus. They feel that they shouldn't lie to their kids about Santa being real, nor do they think it is fair to tell kids that Santa is the one that brings toys around each year when there are kids out there that don't get stuff from Santa because they come from a poor family. I totally can see where they are coming from but Christmas/Santa time are some of my most tresured memories as a child and I don't think me believing in Santa as a child scarred me for life (perhaps it is because I came from a family that was able to afford presents, turkey dinners and everything else that goes along with Christmas so maybe I am biased). What do you guys think about this and how are you going to handle Christmas?

[miaclear]

Sleeping...thanks ladies. I'm glad I'm not going through it alone. The following night DS woke at 1:30 (after a 11:30 waking). I had DH go in the room and calm him down which worked for a bit. He cried for 45 minutes straight after that! Till about 2:30 in the morning! It was a whining cry and not a full fledge scream so we ignored him. Last night he woke at 11:00 and I fed him...bad I know. But then he only woke once more at 4;30 so I was happy. He did get up for the day a half hour earlier. Betsy...I would love to hear what worked for you guys. For the most part DS has been a really good sleeper till now.

Halloween....I bought DS a monkey outfit from the Gap that I think was last years style? It was at the outlet store for $11. I also have a pumpkin outfit that I got at BRU last winter on clearance for $1.50. Doubtful we'll actually go out and about. I'll probably dress him up for Gymboree class that week.

Christmas....I am ALL about Santa! I think most people just see him as a guy who brings presents, or at least present him to their families that way. But I think that if you do it properly you can teach your kids about Christmas and Santa and all the magic of the season that they represent. I was never traumatized when I found out Santa wasn't real. I don't think too many kids are. Christmas was always more about family and giving than about Santa...but we still had him. My goal will be to not let Santa spoil our kids...but he'll for sure be coming to our house.

[kindermom]

Sleeping: DS went a few days waking several times at night. I attributed it to his 6-month growth spurt. What was awful was him waking as his sister screamed because of a nightmare. He was up for over an hour after that fiasco. She, OTOH, never woke thorugh the ordeal.

Halloween: I will take him out only because his sister is going out. He is a turle and his sister will be a brown bunny. I bought his costume at Childrens Place and I will make his sisters as I can not find one I like. In past years, I dressed DD up and had her on the porch to help hand out candy and get oohs and ahhs. In our community we get about 300-400 TOTers. Everyone sits on their porch talking to each other as we hand out the goodies.

Santa: We both grew up in Santa heavy houses. I agree that we were not scarred by the lie of Santa. But that said, we decided that Santa brings 1 present. The rest come from family.

[happy1nuv]

Santa - i dont see anything wrong with santa, but then... i still believe he's real. Ok, he doesn't visit my house and bring me stuff, but when i wrap presents for the boys and put them under the tree - well, then i AM santa. Not the santa you see on tv, not the santa at the mall - but i embody the spirit and magic of santa. And, if you can't believe in magic when you're litttle... well, i think thats kind of sad. (I'm phrasing this badly and will need to work on it when the kids are old enough to question, but - i've got lots of time...) ... :)

sleep - oh man, where did my happy sleepin baby go? He's sooo getting up at night now, and half the time i'm not sure if he's lonely, teething, hungry or what...

Bottles - so i met the girls for brunch yesterday... not my first time leaving joe, BUT it was the first time he REFUSED a bottle. Mom tried everything - two different nipples, nic's sippy cup.. he just would NOT take it. Poor thing! he cried himself to sleep in her arms cause he was hungry and then was happy til I made it home (my friends are all over the state, so we met in the m iddle...about an hour away) :(

[Kanga]

Santa - I'm glad this was brought up. I'm the only one in the family who doesn't want to do it. The IL's especially have made a big deal about how FIL can dress up as santa and bring in all the gifts to everybody, etc, etc. I don't really like the lieing aspect of it etiher, plus I want to be the one given credit for the gifts. Selfish I know, but I don't want them thanking some make-believe jolly fat guy when dh and I are the ones going to all the trouble of shopping, wrapping, etc. I DO want to do it in the sense that the girls can pretend to be Santa for kids who wouldn't get anything otherwise (give a toy to toys for tots or something) and teach them the giving aspect of it all. I dont want to have to deal with the dissapointment when they find out, even if short lived. So basically that's my long way of saying I want to teach the girls that Santa is a fun game some parents play, but he isn't real. I'll have to see how dh feels about it. I'm hoping dd2 will still be young enough to bypass the whole issue one more year.

[betsyboop]

Miaclear- For sleep training, we used the Ferber method. I forget the title of the book, but it's by Dr Ferber and is easy to find if you're so inclined. Basically, you put your baby to bed drowsy, but awake. The first night, you go in after 3 minutes for the first visit, then 5 and then every 7 minutes until the baby is asleep. During the visits, you can talk to or touch your baby, but you can't pick him/her up and the visit should only be for a minute or 2. You then repeat those same intervals for each night waking (it can get long- I read the entire first Harry Potter book while waiting for my visits the first night). Each night, the intervals get longer and longer until the 7th night which is something like 25min for the first visit, 27min for the second, and 30 for the remaining ones (if necessary). But normally the baby doesn't even need 7 nights to become trained- Millie was on the young side when we did it and took 1.5 hours to fall asleep the first night and then each night waking was like a half hour. But then it immediately shortened to 15-30min to fall asleep for about 2 weeks- and she only woke up one time per night starting on night 2. Now she just rolls over and falls asleep when we put her down and falls asleep until we go to bed at 11pm (the noise of us getting ready for bed wakes her). I nurse her at that point and then she sleeps until 8 or 8:30am. It's such a huge improvement from before- it used to take me 1-2 hours to nurse her to sleep and then she would wake up after about an hour of sleeping, then I'd have to nurse her for another hour and she'd sleep for an hour, etc all night long.

Christmas- First of all, I LOVE the way you described it, Happy1- I feel the same way. I've heard that theory about not telling your kids that Santa is real because it's like lying to them, but I just don't buy it. I've never heard anyone say they wished they didn't beleive in Santa as a kid or that they don't trust their parents because they lied about Santa. I grew up in a very Christmasy/pro-Santa family and Dave grew up just the opposite. His mom HATES Christmas (no one's sure why) and told Dave and his sisters from day 1 that there is no such thing as Santa. I have always felt badly for them because some of my fondest childhood memories revolve around Santa/Christmas (our Santa presents weren't wrapped- my parents just put them on a certain chair for each of us and we ran down the stairs towards a big pile of toys each Christmas morning screaming with excitement). Now that Dave is part of a family that loves Christmas, he has realized just how much he missed out on as a kid. So, to make a long story short, Millie will definitely believe in Santa for as long as possible. But we won't make ALL the presents a kid gets be from Santa, just some.

[betsyboop]

Orion- I forgot to say in my previous post that I am also banning chinese toys this Christmas. I already got rid of all of the quesitonable stuff she had and replaced it with european toys. I'm sure my ILs are going to hate me, but whatever. I feel a lot better knowing her toys are made of natural materials especially at this age when everything goes into her mouth.

[shimmerstar]

Santa-
Dh is against santa, and I'm not. I don't know anyone that was traumatized by finding out about santa. Our compromise is that we can play santa but if Noah asks, we have to say that Santa isn't real.

[kindermom]

Not to put a wrench in toy plans, but someone brought up a great point about toys made not in China to me. How do we know that the paint itself was not made in China? So while the tpy may be made in Germany, it was assmebled there. It does not mean all of the components are German as well.

What is a parent to do? I decided to check out toys. If there is wear, then it gets tossed. Otherwise, he is fine to chew away.

6 month WBV:
Height: 26 1/2"
Weight:18-11

He dropped from the 85th and 90th %iles down to the 50th! But the ped is not concerned so we will see.

[miaclear]

Betsy....I actually haver the Ferber and Weisbluth books. DS goes down for the night no problem. I nurse him to sleep but this is usually a 10-20 min process depending how hungry he is. Night time nurse sessions are usually 5-10 min. And I can put him down awake/drowsy without any issue (for the most part, sometimes he'll protest but we usually let him). I guess it's just the # of times he's getting up right now that's the issue. I also know that he doesn't need me to nurse him to fall back asleep because we've heard him wake up and fall asleep on his own. Maybe this is just a growth spurt? Last night he only woke twice...hallelujah!

Oh...and our Santa toys were always unwrapped too! I loved Christmas morning and seeing all the presents under the tree. Oooooo now I'm excited.

[betsyboop]

Miaclear- Oops, I wasn't clear in my post. I was suggesting using the Ferber method for the nighttime wakings, not for the initial falling to sleep. If he knows he won't be fed or picked up when he wakes, he'll stop yelling out. Although if you're nursing to sleep, he may be waking/yelling because he suddenly realizes he's not being held anymore and is upset/angry. He may need to go to bed awake. But anyway, you have the Ferber book, so I'm sure you know this all already:D

Chinese toys- I see you're point Kindermom, but I come from a manufacturing background and I guess I trust the incoming inspection to catch product discrepancies much more reliably in Europe/US/Canada than I do in China. Plus, European toys have much stricter standards than US toys (not sure where Canada falls in there). Obviously, you have to use your judgement as far as all this goes anyway. So far, I've found a couple of brands that I feel I can trust (Kathe Krause for plush toys and Haba for wooden toys) and I'm sticking with them for now.

[danalou]

I can always count on you gals to bring up great topics!! DH and I will need to decide on the Santa topic which we both grew up with. I really like the idea of one thing being fro Santa. The Chinese toy topic is another hot item that would be great to try and avoid!!

Want to drop off a few of DD's 6 month photos -

http://blog.charmingsnapshots.com/images/45489-41430/IMG_8415.jpg

http://blog.charmingsnapshots.com/images/45489-41430/IMG_8394.jpg

[miaclear]

Betsy...thanks again. As much as I hate that others have or are going through it it's nice to know we're not alone in it. As a bonus though last night DS was back to one waking! 15 min to eat and then he was fast asleep! I think in my Weisbluth book it said that after 9 months they should stop all night time feedings if BFing. I think. Either way....I can totally handle one feeding a night.

Over Seas Toys....is there a good website out there for European Toys? Considering most everything you buy at BRU, Target, Etc is likely to be Made i China. Aren't most European Toys more expensive? One thing I know for sure is that we are not allowing DS to play with any toys his grandma brings back from her many trips to Asia. I used to put them in the donation bin but now I think I'll just toss them.

[Kanga]

Toys - I think there was a wooden toy thread or something in parenting awhile back? Anyways, I know PBK has some wooden toys and puzzles. Certainly not cheap, and I'm not sure where they are made but might be worth checking out.

[happy1nuv]

Toys - I'm now against most made in china toys, but i'm ok with the melissa and doug stuff... I'm sure we'll be returning a LOT of stuff from christmas, because my family already thinks im weird and i dont really want the headache about this one. I am making a kaboodle wish list and will direct anyone that asks to it... but im not forewarning anyone that we're anti mic stuff..

spinoff santa question - i know i was really old when i "found out" that santa wasn't actually a jolly old fat man that lived at the north pole (can't remember the age) but i totally wasn't traumatized by it. Was anyone traumatized when they found out? Do you remember your ah-ha moment?

[buffy]

Santa ~ well we already started the Santa thing with DD1 so I guess we'll continue it. :D Usually Santa only brings one or two bigger gifts, the rest come from us and the rest of the family.

danalou ~ cute pics! Poor 3rd baby Morgan has only had one set of professional pictures taken so far. I'm hoping to do another set close to Christmas.

toys ~ www.oompa.com has a huge selection of wood toys and you can even sort by made in Europe. Best of all free shipping with purchase of $65 or more. :) I hate paying for shipping.

[buffy]

spinoff santa question ~ I was 8 when I found out - I think some friends in my 3rd grade class spilled the beans. I remember going home and asking my mom who told me there was no Santa and said "I suppose the Easter bunny isn't real either?!?!" and running to my room and crying for a while. I guess I got over it quickly though because I don't remember anything else. I do remember keeping up with the act that there was a Santa Claus for my brother though who was 4 at the time.

So upset, yes. Traumetized, no.

[shimmerstar]

I was 7 or 8 when I found out about santa. I woke up early on xmas and went into my parents bedroom. My dad was gone and I kept hearing stuff in the living room. I pretended to be asleep until he came back and they told us we could go out and get our stuff. We got a mini trampoline that year, and the box was on the porch. I figured santa wouldn't leave a box. I didn't tell for awhile, because I was scared I wouldn't get anymore presents!

Ugh, daycare keeps giving him motrin. I'm pretty sure he doesn't need it every day. But I don't want to tell them no more, because what if he is really hurting and needs it? I HATE daycare!

[kindermom]

....is there a good website out there for European Toys?

I like moolka.com (http://www.moolka.com/). They have a little bit of everything. Some of the prices are higher. I was looking at fake food prices. The nonchinese ones are a little higher than the better quality fake stuff I was looking at but not insanely more.

[betsyboop]

Like Buffy, I buy toys at oompa.com (http://www.oompa.com) because of the free shipping. The toys are a little expensive, but at this age they have so few toys anyway that I wasn't too worried about it. I think the little wooden thingys that she can grab/chew/wave around were all about $8-10 each and the one stuffed toy was $30.

Happy1- I can't remember how old I was when I finally acknowledged that Santa wasn't real, but I was pretty old. I think I knew deep down for a while, but didn't really come out and say it for years because I wanted to still believe. Plus, I was worried that I'd get fewer presents:p Anyway, I was definitely not traumatized.

[miaclear]

Ok...I checked out both of those websites and noticed there were items "Made in China", even though they were designed in Germany or Australia or wherever. Do you just make a conscious effort to look for the items that were NOT made in China? Buying toys should NOT be this hard.

[betsyboop]

Yeah, that's why I don't buy the plush toys from Haba- they're all made in China. I think all the wooden toys from Haba are made in Germany and so are the plush toys from Kathe Kruse. There are a couple of other brands as well, but I think those are the major ones.

[happy1nuv]

Why does toy shopping have to be so difficult...really... :)

[Janey]

Thanks Miaclear for starting the new thread. :) I'm having a hard time keeping up with the 'net lately, so if anybody wants to take my place as Threadmistress, please speak up... not a lot to do these days except create a new thread when there are 1,000 posts, but I hate to leave Miaclear all by herself. :/


Christmas - Both our extended families are freaked out about toys Made In China too. I doubt we'll get any. I started this thread a couple of weeks ago: Toys Not Made In China (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35860&) ... if you have additional links, add 'em in there! :)

Our big Christmas bombshell this year is that we've decided to go to MIL's for the second year in a row. We are going to stop going to MIL's eventually (it is important to us to have Christmas in our own home and establish our own traditions as a family), so I feel like we should give her a few good years before we make the change. And "K's First Christmas" will be special to her, so we're going to go with it. My parents have been surprisingly cool with this.


I'm loving all the pictures of everyone's babies. They sure are growing fast! Here's a recent picture of K:

[goldengbridge]

Janey- I have to know where you got that bow for K's hair! She's beautiful!

[Janey]

goldengbridge - I ordered 4 'Mini Grosgrain Clippies' from www.bloomingbows.com (green, yellow, pink, lavender) because her hair is long enough that it's in her eyes now, and I don't want to cut it. I think they're so much fun that now I'm looking into how to make my own. :D I have halloween ribbon and red ribbon, and have ordered some alligator clips, but the clips haven't come in the mail so I haven't been able to try making them yet. I'm glad you like it too!!

[betsyboop]

QOTD- What foods and how much of them does your baby eat per day? How many "meals"? I'm just wondering if I'm feeding her the right amount (I've gotten nervous about the food thing ever since her last weigh-in. And seriously, now looking at all the recent pictures of your babies, Millie is SO skinny:( ).

We feed her 2 stage 1 containers (2.5oz. each) with some cereal mixed in after her first nap each day. Then I usually also give her the mesh feeder stuffed with sweet potato at some point during the afternoon.

[Janey]

QOTD: How Much Solids?

I've been really lax about the solids. Yesterday we didn't have any, and the day before that she ate very little. When I do feed her solids, we do it once/day, and I feed her about half a size 1 jar mixed with about 2 TBS of cereal. Sometime she just isn't interested and says, "No thank you!" so I put it in the fridge and try an hour later and she'll take it. She does not like the cereal (I get a look like "WTF is this you just put in my mouth??"), but loves the purees. If I were just to feed her puree she'd eat a whole jar, but the ped says that the cereals are important because of Iron, so I try to get her to eat some.

As someone who has battled obesity her entire life, I wonder about shoving food down her throat when she obviously doesn't want it... but on the other hand, if she needs the iron, she needs the iron and maybe I should suck it up and try to get her to eat the dang cereal.

Anyway, solids confuse the crap out of me. I'll be interested to hear what you all are doing.

[Kanga]

betsyboop - We actually haven't even started solids yet. I wouldn't worry so much about sneaking more solids in, but try to sneak more bm/formula in as it has more calories per volume than any solids anyways. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but I know there is a thread somewhere in parenting on ideas for foods that are full of good fat. I will try to find it and bump it for you. (Avocado and olive oil is the only one I can think of right now, but i know there's tons more). Camdyn is on the small side too, about 20% for weight and a little over 50th % for height. Not even 15 pounds yet and we haven't even moved up the straps in her bucket seat yet. Do people in your and your dh's family tend to be on the smaller side? I'm assuming this is why Camdyn is pretty small. The tallest person on my dad's side isn't even 6', and the tallest female I would guess to be around 5'7". Poor kid doesn't stand a chance:p

Here's a pic for reference, and because who can resist a chance to show off their babies?;) Not nearly as chubby as some other babies, but they all can't be 100 percentile anyways

http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m135/Liz_Adams/IMG_1194.jpg

danalou - somehow i missed your pics. Anyways, they're fabulous!

[happy1nuv]

betsy - we're starting solids on mon, but my super chunk went from really chunky to lean and long seemingly overnight. no clue what the ped will have to say about it, but just wanted to throw that out there...

janey - are you bf'ing? the iron she gets from you is much more absorbable than the fortified iron in cereals ... i'd increase your iron intake if you are really worried about it. (i ebf nic, and he never tested low for iron - he never had any cereal...and whenever ive been tested, i am always just this side of anemic) ...if you're ff -- isnt formula already fortified??? just my $0.02, but i wouldnt force feed... not the message i wanna send (theres obesity in my fam too)

[kindermom]

besty - DS eats the following:
4.5 ounces bm around 9:00
4.5 ounces bm around 12:00 with about 1/2 jar equiv of solids
4.5 ounces bm around 3:30
nurse at 5:30
about 1/2 jar equiv of solids
nurse at about 8:30
nurse at about 10:30

DD was in the 5th percentile for weight and was up to 5 ounce bottles at this stage. It is just genetics for the two of them.

I would also recommend high fat foods if you are that concerned. I tried it with DD and she never moved above the 5th percentile. She is just a thin little girl.

Our ped nurse suggested using diced bananas to teach DS how to eat finger foods. It mushes easily but sticks to the hands so it is easy to get in the mouth. DS has taken to eating bananas with help. His are slightly frozen to make it more comfortable on his gums.

Janey - where did you order the alligator clips? I have been looking for toddler friendly ones.

[buffy]

solids ~

No solids for us yet either. She tried them a couple weeks ago (my mom was here and wanted to try so I said what the heck) but did not like them AT ALL. :) Anyway, Morgan is pretty average weight - about 50-60%. My first DD was very chunky still at this age and didn't eat solids until 8 or 9 months. In fact my middle DD was the only one who took to solids and she was my skinniest baby. Not that I think solids had anything to do with it, but each baby is different.

I don't know what the deal with iron is but I've always had really good iron levels and none of my kids have ever had a problem either. All were BFed for over a year. No cereals or formula.

[miaclear]

Solids...we started solids a couple weeks ago. My Ped said that by his 9 month visit he wants him to be up to three meals a day and introduced to a sippy cup and eating large crackers (like the gerber graduate kind). So we started with one feeding a day at 7pm. DS has been taking about 1/2-3/4 of the container. He always gives me a face of "what are you doing to me" but until he stops opening his mouth up for more I keep giving it to him. I'm doing one feeding a day for a month, then two the next month, then three. So by the time his 9 month is here he'll be up to 3 a day. I gave him the sippy cup the other day and he loves it. Loves flailing it around and hitting himself on the head with it that is. He'll get the hang of it eventually. I'm not worried about the quantity of food he's getting at this point because I know 99.9% of his nutrition comes from BM, food at this point is just a learning process.

1st Word....I'm calling it. DS keeps saying hmmmaaumauuuumauuumauuu. Which is mama if you ask me ;)

Work....I don't think I posted here but after quiting work to be a SAHM I decided to see if I could earn some kind of income. After approaching my old boss I'm going back to work 10 hours a week. The best part is I make my own schedule so long as I do 10 hours each week. I can work days, nights, weekends, if I was wide awake at 3am I could go in if I wanted to. The building is only 2 miles from my house too so commuting isn't an issue. At the end of the year if all is working out he's going to work on getting me remote access so that I can work from home which would be even better! I'm pretty excited about it. But if it doesn't work out I have no issues with quiting. I'm only working for the vacation fund :D

Standing up/Pulling up....I think most of our kids are to this milestone. DS has been there for a few weeks but recently that's all he wants to do. He won't do it on furniture though, only if you hold your hands out to him. It's gotten to the point where we jokingly hide our hands from DS while we're playing so that he doesn't become so preoccupied with trying to grab them.

[betsyboop]

mia- Millie says mamamama and dadada all the time too. For mamamama, she repeatedly practices the motion of making an "m" sound for a couple of seconds before actually saying anything and sometimes she never even gets around to saying anything out loud. It's hilarious.

Solids- Whoa, maybe I'm giving her too much. She doesn't seem to have a limit to what she'll take and I once even gave her 3 containers in a sitting:o But she gobbles it up and seems to really love it, so I don't know. This is the tough part of breastfeeding- I have no idea how much she's getting each day or if the amount has gone down by much/a lot since she started solids.

Kanga- Unfortunately, avocado is the only food so far that she's refused to eat:rolleyes: I guess I'd say that I'm a smallish person and Dave is average, but we were not small babies. My mom looked up in each baby book for my parents, my sister and me to see what each of us weighed at 6 months and Millie is 2 lb lighter than the smallest of us. She's just 13lb 2oz. and in the 5th percentile. And Dave was also not small- he was so fat that he was put on skim milk at a year old. Camdyn is really cute, by the way:)

[littlemia]

Big babies- Um, some of your babies at 6 months are bigger than I think Claire will be at a year. Seriously, I will be shocked it she weighs 18lbs then. I'm hoping she gets to 17.

Betsy- I weighed Claire this morning and she only weighs 13lb4oz. She didn't double her birthweight by 6 months. I don't know that she'll do it by 7 months. We don't do solids yet and she probably only gets 25oz of breast milk a day. She just won't or can't eat more. I won't say I don't worry because I stress about the amount she eats most days but I've learned that I just have to lower my expectations for her eating. Forcing her to eat is only going to make it worse.

Danalou, Janey, Orion, and Kanga- Love the pictures!

Sleep- Claire hasn't been sleeping too well either. We've been cosleeping in order to get some rest. She's going through a big developemental spurt right now so hopefully things will get a little better when things settle down.

6 months old today! It seemed so far off those first few weeks, but not I know our babies will be a year old before we know it.

I definitely have a crazy baby. I swear this child is going to make me go gray. It's almost non-stop crawling, pulling up, and trying to climb when she's awake. Unfortunately her reflexes aren't fully developed so she doesn't catch herself when she falls and she hasn't figured out how to just sit down from standing. I'm constantly trying to prevent her from hurting herself too bad. In the last two days she's managed to get a bruise on her forehead and cheek.

Here's a few recent pictures:

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1019/1415929152_3310d280a5.jpg?v=0

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1080/1415161197_8db980b0e4.jpg?v=0

She likes to hang out in and crawl through the end table
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1068/1415160757_19d1bc49e7.jpg?v=0

[goldengbridge]

Everyone's pics are SO cute! Here are Ash's 6 month pics.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i125/prugh12/ashlyn6months.jpg

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i125/prugh12/closeupashlyn.jpg

Solids:Ashlyn eats one stage 1 container of fruit mixed with some oatmeal in the morning. She usually eats a stage 1 veggie for lunch and for dinner she eats another stage 1 fruit mixed with cereal and sometimes 1/2-1container of a veggie.
She's still nursing 8 times a day also. I have no idea how much shes getting when she nurses but I nurse her on demand whenever she wants.

SleepMY baby who used to sleep through the night has been getting up at night as well. I think shes teething too.

[Janey]

happy1nuv - Thanks for your response; you make me feel better. We're mostly breastfeeding. When she's super hungry and I don't have any milk (I still struggle with supply issues sometimes) she gets 4 oz. formula, but that only happens about 2x/week. In any case, she's 50th percentile for height/weight, so I figure we're doing alright with what we're doing. Maybe I'll add an iron supplement into my day. I take 9 fenugreek, 2 reglan, and a pre-natal every day... adding one more pill shouldn't be a big deal!

kindermom - I bought the alligator clips off of Ebay - they were just plain ones that I could attach the ribbon to myself. However, I have seen a TON of cute toddler-friendly hair clips on Etsy. I am loving Maya Papaya (http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5119253), but if you do a general search for "toddler hair clips" you should get a ton of hits. I went with larger bows because I was concerned about K pulling them out of her hair and eating them... and of course yesterday I found her on her play mat eating one of her bows. :p

[MrsKinnison]

Once again I am so far behind! We have been packing and moving and actually had half our stuff at the old house and half at the new for a few days which was no fun. We are officially in the new house and spent our first night here last night :D I still have some unpacking to do, but we are getting there. Actually, I am quite impressed with how unpacked we are in just one day!

Santa ~ We will definately do Santa. I think it was Happy that talked about the magic of Santa, and that is exactly how we feel about it. I clearly remember when I found out Santa wasn't real... Can you believe I was in 5th grade??? The teacher actually blew it with the Norman Rockwell picture and I think about half the class still believed though we all pretended we didn't. It did not traumatize me in the least, and I very much enjoyed keeping the magic going for my brothers who were 5 and 7 years younger than me.

Sleeping ~ Add us to the list of good sleepers gone bad. Ollie used to sleep from 8:30 to 5 then back down until 8:30. Then he was waking at least 3 times to eat. I figured growth spurt, and after 3 weeks he finally returned to his old schedule. Unfortunatley, that only lasted a week. When he wakes up he is really crying and wants nothing to do with the paci, in fact it just makes him cry more, and he definately consumes a full meal. I didn't even think of it, but Little made a good point... Maybe this all has to do with new developments going on? Ollie has really started babble the last couple of days, with definate dadada, bababab, so maybe the two are related?? He's also discovered yelling is great fun ~ lol!

Solids ~ We do breakfast and dinner. I started with just dinner, but added breakfast within days because he just seemed to really want it. We just started over Memorial Day so he has only had rice, oatmeal, avacado (if you can even count it since he hated it so much) sweet potatoe, and bannanas. He prefers rice to oatmeal, but rice makes him gassy so I mix the 2 when he has cereal, eats bannanas but isn't too impressed, and LOVES sweet potatoe. He usually eats 2 cubes of sweet potatoe, and bannana is fresh so just a piece. I'm making carrots and peaches to try this week, and we will be going apple picking later in the week so I'll make apples next weekend. He loves to drink out of our glass, and we have been giving him a sippy a couple time a week. He grabs and and puts it right in his mouth, but has no clue he can actually drink from it. He also enjoys banging it off his head :D At least he has fun with it.

Question for those who make food: Any thoughts on the book 100 Babyfood Purees (I think thats what its called)? I had heard good things about Blender Babyfood, but they didn't have it in so I got this instead. Not sure if its worth ordering it and returning this one, or if this is just as good?

I love all the pics!!! I can not believe how big our babies are getting. I will try to post some of Ollie soon.

[MrsKinnison]

Oh, and I forgot about toys.... Some of you mentioned plush toys. Is there a concern about them too? I know the lead paint, but no paint on my plush toys so I'm just not sure. Between the store, real estate, selling our own house, and the move, I feel sort of like I've been living in a cave lately and have no idea what's happen in the outside world.

[danalou]

Sleeping: I hate to post about DD STTN as I don't want to curse it!! I have been trying different things, but I have increased her solid feedings to 2 a day as well as increasing the BM before bed. The combo seems to be doing the trick, but again lets not curse the 10-1/2 hours of straight sleep!! I will keep my fingers crossed that all the kids get back onto a regular sleep schedule.

Solids: As I mentioned I have just increased to 2 solids feedings a day. This is the first day that DC will be giving her one meal!! She has had rice, oatmeal (which she prefers), peas, sweet potatoes, avocado (which she hates right now), prunes, pears and peaches. I plan to try and introduce applesauce this weekend!! I have a bunch of apples from the orchard that I want to make into homemade applesauce.

MrsK: Both books are on my to order list for Amazon. I saw the Top 100 at BRU and it seemed like a decent book. Sorry I can help between the two, but I think either is a great choice!!

[whitlockan]

well I finally have some time to wander in here........

Z is 6 months today and his stats as of this morning:

16 lbs 11 oz - 45th %
26 long - 45th %
42.5 cm - 25th %

sleepWe too are not getting much sleep....and this is no fun....I also know its since he is going through so much development right now. Anyways we are on all 4 (arms and knees) rocking so the crawling is just any minute now, saying our words: mamama, dadadada, lalala and babba all randomly of course. Can somewhat get himself into the sitting position from laying down and of course were learning to pull himself up into the standing position, no wonder were not sleeping!! The Ped watched him get into position and rock and she was like go home and childproof NOW...hahaha got the outlet covers in, but I know there is no turning back hes gonna go.

Solids Ped said start him on 2 meals a day. So he gets all BM in the morning, around lunch he gets some solid (currently cereal) then his bottle of BM and then at night before bed give him cereal and some stuff mixed in then his bottle. I was suprised but she said give him food first he is always going to want to nurse so were good. So far we have got him on: oatmeal, carrots - he LOVES them, sweet peas - LOVES them, green beans - partial towards them and squash - partial as well. We started a few weeks before his 6 week visit but she was happy to know we just follow his lead and she told us to continue to do that, dont count the containers etc let him decide because you cant overfeed him. She also said see what he thinks of a sippy cup, only because he can hold a regular cup with two hands properly and is VERY interested in it.

Alright hes getting fussy.....oh shots they are no fun!

[happy1nuv]

foods - i've never heard of either of those books, so i can't help ya... the book i used with nic was Boost Your CHilds Immune System (http://www.amazon.com/Boost-Your-Childs-Immune-System/dp/1557046425) but then i switched to Disease Proof Your Child by Dr Fuhrman (the first is more specific baby-wise... the second is more about all kids, so the baby advice is more start with this, move to this (like, no ice cube tray tricks, etc.)
Was very happy with both.

Joe was 6 months yesterday. We'll start him on avacado today (unless i flake on it again... was just too much going on yesterday to start)

[betsyboop]

happy1- What is an ice cube try trick?

[MarriedaGoalie]

littlemia: Claire is absolutely beautiful!!!! Those eyes are gorgeous.....

We had Carter's 6 month pictures taken tonight. I should have them to post in about a week. I can't wait! They came out sooooo good!!!! I can't believe he's 6 months old already!! :(

[kindermom]

Baby Food Book Recs - We made all of DDs food and will do the same for DS. I did not use a book but rather made it all up as I went along. I have heard "Super Baby Food" (I think that is the title) recommended a lot however. I almost bought one with DD but got lazy and winged it instead.

Making food is not rocket science, to be honest, and I am not sure a book is necessary unless you want to get really creative. I just made sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and applesauce. The sweet potatoes and squash were roasted, peeled, and blended with a little filtered water. I just added enough water to get the immersion blender to mix it. The apples were peeled, boiled in filtered water, and pureed with some of the cooking water. I will add spices when H is a little bigger and will add it when I am cooking them that day. DD loved diced, steamed eggplant with garam masala.

As a hint, I have learned that the silicone mini-muffin pans make great food freezing tools. The flexible silicone means that the food pops right out.

DS has ended a week long awful sleeping stint. Last night was the first night in at least a week where he did not wake every hour from about midnight on and toss and turn when he was sleeping. I think he little tummy is having a hard time with solids. He has become excessively gasy and went days without pooing. When he finally went yesterday it was a poo explosion (i.e., 7 times in 24 hours). I think that is why he finally slept. I am hoping he did not inherit my DHs sensitve stomach!

[Orion]

[QUOTE=kindermom;1514793As a hint, I have learned that the silicone mini-muffin pans make great food freezing tools. The flexible silicone means that the food pops right out.[/QUOTE]

Ohhhh...great tip. I never thought of this. I use ice cube trays and I get so frustrated with them sometimes.

I don't have much time to post but just wanted to say that Dalton is now saying Mama! I love it. Sophie's first word was Dada so it was nice that Dalton's was Mama.

I think I've mentioned this before but I do a lot of updating about the kids (with pictures) on my live journal account. If any of you are over there and want to get updates on my kids my user name is Orionbelt.

[dollface]

Wow - everyone is getting so big around here! Remembering to last year at this time we were all starting to find out the sexes of our little ones and starting to plan nurseries :)

Davin had his 6 month appt. on Sept. 14th, here are his stats:

17 lbs. 13 oz - 50%tile
28" long - 90%tile

He is eating a ton of solids. I only feed him at breakfast and dinner though because I am just not ready to start carting around food while we are out & about during the day. He eats oatmeal, yogurt, peaches, pears, papayas, apples, cantaloupe, pasta - and every stage 2 mixed veggie/brown rice/meat combo that Earth's Best offers! He doesn't really care for bananas. I make all his fruit but just buy the stage 2 stuff. In addition he takes about 24 oz. of formula. I give him a sippy cup whenever he is in his highchair and knows what it's for, but mostly just chomps on the spout. No teeth yet but they have been *right there* for more then a month...pop through already!!

He is scooting all over the place, sitting up - but no real crawling. He babbles like crazy - nana, mama, dada, papa...but it's not directed towards anyone or anything, just babbling. We have also been working on signing and he will sometimes sign 'eat'. We go to a mommy group one day a week and *pre* pre-school one day a week.

Sleep - goes down by 7 p.m. and will wake up between 6-7 a.m. but I won't get him out of his crib til at least 7 a.m. so he usually just plays by himself til I come get him. He naps 2-3x a day anywhere from 1 hour - 1.5 hours.

I guess that's about it, besides a picture!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1153/1429328834_7788bb44c9.jpg

[happy1nuv]

betsey - ice cube trick was just making a bunch and freezing in ice cube trays/transferring to freezer bags...that kind of stuff (no new epiphanies, sorry)

[miaclear]

We are cart riding now! So far so good. It used to be that I'd push his stroller and carry him because he hated riding in it. So far he thinks riding in the cart is fun. not sure how long that will last.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1350/1439768222_1fadb3da7c.jpg?v=0

[shimmerstar]

All your babies are so cute! We are having sleep troubles here too and it sucks!
Last weekend, Noah started crawling, babbling, and playing peek-a-boo. He said "daddy" and grabbed dh's cheeks, but then said it like 100 more times. He also said "dada chicken" so I tease dh about it.

We love the swings!

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1045/1428507809_31fdee9d23_m.jpg

And his very first tailgate. He tried to grab my SIL's beer. :p
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1081/1399818876_f535c551e5.jpg?v=0

Dollface- Those eyes! Wow!

[danalou]

I am loving all the photos as I still can't believe our little ones are 6+ months old!! I will have to try the shopping cart cover as DD will not tolerate the carseat carrier much these days. We have been using the baby bjorn these days, but after an hour she gets heavy!!

[betsyboop]

Shimmer- I love the push-up picture! and Wow on the talking- Noah said "chicken" and "Daddy"??!! Millie says mama and dada and a few other things (nana, baba, etc), but not real words and she doesn't understand their meanings or anything.

Mia- I started putting Millie in the cart seat a couple weeks ago too. She loves it so far. Although, we don't have one of those cushions that you have- it's very cute:)

Dollface- Davin is such a beautiful baby- those eyes!

Some recent pictures:

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_1131.jpg?t=1190815517

http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_1036.jpg?t=1190815572

I just think this is the craziest face!
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_1004.jpg?t=1190815605

[MrsKinnison]

Kindermom ~ ROFLMAO at "making baby food is not rocket science." You are talking to a girl who set taco's on fire twice in the same night! A domestic diva I am not and it has only been in the last year that I haven't needed to use 3 phone-a-friends every time I went grocery shopping. I'm definately getting better and as long as I have a guide I can vary from there, but I just winging it is WAY out of my league :D

Keep the pictures coming!!! I love seeing how everyone is growing and changing. You can really see their little personalities in pictures now.

[ieducate]

Hello Ladies, I know it has been a long time since I posted. I wanted to stop in and say hello. I LOVE all the pictures you have all posted. I can't believe how big your little ones are. Julia is still on the small side, considering she was born in January. She is almost 15lbs and she is 24 inches long. She is very low on the growth chart for height, but her mom and dad are short too. :( Anyway, I am posting a few pictures of her taken a few days ago.

Food: Julia eats everything we give her. She LOVES vegetables and her favorite food is squash. She is only on fruits and vegetables, 3 times a day. Her breakfast and lunch are usually just one container of Level 2 foods, and her dinner is usually a Level 2 vegetable and a Level 1 fruit. She also continues to nurse about 5-6 times a day...sometimes more if she wakes up a lot during the night. (WHICH HAPPENS A LOT!!!).

Movement: Not much. She rolls over a lot, but she isn't really crawling yet. She can move around in her crib (and often gets from one end to the other within about an hour), but she isn't crawling per say. She is also not sitting up by herself yet. She can do it, but only for a few seconds. She just doesn't seem to have the balance yet. She loves to stand when someone holds her...that is what she prefers to do all day.

Talking: She babbles a lot, but nothing in the way of actual words yet...although her dad is convinced she has said dadda many times. :)

Teeth: She has two on the bottom...they are VERY sharp. She doesn't seem to be bothered by them anymore...although every once in a while she can't seem to find enough to bite on...including ME when I am nursing her. :(

Anyway, I hope you are all well. I really do love all the pictures. We are going to a pumpkin patch in two weeks and I hope to get some good pictures of that. I will post those when we get them.

http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n311/ieducate/Julia%20Rose/forCC3.jpg http://i115.photobucket.com/albums/n311/ieducate/Julia%20Rose/forCC2.jpg
As you can see...we are still working on getting some more hair. :)

[Brink]

Ieducate - good to hear from you. Sounds like Julia is doing great. My girls are also not moving around much or talking. They have learned to sit up unsupported, but that's about it. Kristi has rolled over a couple of times, but Katie never has. They don't scootch and they certainly don't say mama/dada. Just thought I would post so you don't feel she is that far behind when compared to another preemie. I think our preemies just take longer than even their "adjusted age". Do you have to go for a preemie developmental appointment? We have ours next Monday. I'm sure they will tell us where are girls are for development and we will get all kinds of lectures about excercises we should be doing. I guess I'm just not too worried about it and figure they will do it when they are ready. Anyway, good to hear from you.

[shimmerstar]

betsyboop- Don't worry, he doesn't know what he's saying either. Except maybe with the daddy part. I love Millie's hat picture.

ieducate- look how big she's getting! Sounds like she's doing great!

[Kanga]

I just had to come here and say that I finally got a "mama" out of Cami! Well, really it sounded like "muuummuuummmmuuummmah" but I'm calling it! I'm not sure if she was unsing it in context or just babbling though.

[whitlockan]

everyone is so adorable!!!

ieducate she looks great and sounds like all is well.

we are finally using our first word in the right context...yes its mama!!!! If you set him down and he doesnt want that he flaps his arms and says mama mama. So cute!!

So we werent able to go to our family photographer right at 6 months will be going in late nov.so we took a shot at Picture People and they suprised me and did a pretty good job. A few of them:

*removed*

the only edits have been cropping so ignore the really bad job of that and the fact that I had to scan our orginals because there still not loaded yet

[betsyboop]

So the weirdest thing happened the other day. Mangoes were on sale at the grocery store, so I bought 1 to give to Millie to try. On Thursday, I blended it up and she really loved it. But, a couple hours later, she developed a mild rash on her neck, face and torso. I didn't think anything of it at first, but then I wondered if it was the mango. Dave took a picture of it when he got home that night and we figured it would go away by morning. When morning came, she still had the rash, so I decided to call the Dr. He said that the type of rash it is could either be from a virus or an allergic reaction to mango. We are to hold off on any more mango until she's 1 year old and then we have to give it to her again to see if she has the same reaction. I kind of think it'll be an allergy in the end and not a virus because she now has the rash on her little bum now that the mango is on it's way out. I'm usually the first one to roll my eyes when someone has a weird reaction/allregy, so it figures that my kid would have it happen to her:p Seriously, a mango allergy?? How weird is that?

(I looked online and apparently, it's not an unheard of allergy though- it's just not that common in the US because mango isn't that popular of a fruit here)

[kindermom]

Betsy - I have a coworker who is horribly allergic to mango. She swells up at even the smallest bit in food.

[MarriedaGoalie]

ieducate: Julia is just adorable!!! :D

Whit: Your little guy is adorable! What a beautiful family!

We had Carter's 6 month photos taken on Wednesday. I am just going to share a couple of my favorites on here, but if you want to check out all of them, they are in my journal. :)

http://images28.fotki.com/v1027/photos/1/1116680/5441999/P10-vi.jpg

http://images27.fotki.com/v1024/photos/1/1116680/5441999/P8-vi.jpg

http://images30.fotki.com/v472/photos/1/1116680/5441999/P1-vi.jpg

http://images29.fotki.com/v1034/photos/1/1116680/5441999/P20-vi.jpg

[Kanga]

Whit - I love that second one. The expression on their faces is priceless.

[happy1nuv]

whit - i love the black and white one!

[miaclear]

QOTD: I know it's only October but Christmas Cards have been on my mind. What is everyone planning on doing? I'm debating between doing my own picture or having pictures done. However we're signed up for a first year package with a photographer and the next one is at 8 months which is too late to get holiday cards ordered. I don't want to spend another $200 so I'm leaning on taking my own photos and using vistaprint.

Tooth #4 came in this weekend! And I've decided Aaron is a veggie lover. He ate a container of squash in about three min flat.

Whit...the B/W one is my favorite.

Mag... that chicken outfit is too cute.

[Orion]

QOTD: I've never really been into Christmas cards before so I probably won't start this year. I know, I'm a scrooge but I have a mini boycott with the greeting card industry because of all the holidays that they have created (in my opinion) that we need to buy cards for. If I want to send someone a card, it is homemade. Hey, everyone needs to have a little bit of protesting hippy in them! :)

I made Dalton some squash the other day and he just gobbled it up. I baked it in the oven with a wee bit of butter and than mashed it up and it was so good. So far he has had sweet potatoes, avacado, bananas, pears, and yogurt and he loves them all. I'm going grocery shopping tomorrow and I'm going to pick up some fresh veggies to make up for him. I think I'm going to get a few green beans (they are only good frozen for up to two months), carrots, and maybe peas. I use the book 'Super Baby Food' book and follow along with their suggestions on when to introduce what food. When Dalton turns 7 months I will introduce egg yolk, green beans, carrots and peas. We don't have a history of food allergies in our family and Sophie never had any allergies so I'm not worried about Dalton and egg yolks.

MAG: I checked out your journal for the pictures and they are great.
Ieducate: Julia is so cute!
Whit: Love the pictures!
betsyboop: I hope Millie is over the allergic reaction and is feeling better.
Kanga: Yay for getting a Mama!

[betsyboop]

kindermom- Do you happen to know if your coworker is allergic to anything besides mango? Just curious if it's linked to any other allergies.

Cute photos MAG and Whit!

Mia- An 8 month shot is too late for Christmas cards? Good grief, I need to get my act together, I guess! We don't do professional photos, so I have no advice as far as that goes.

I know I posted a while ago because someone had a shag rug like mine from Pottery Barn. I just wanted to let whoever it was know that we had to wrap ours up and get a new, non-shedding rug in it's place this past weekend. Millie had started grabbing tufts of it from various places around the house (it was impossible for me to keep up with the shedding:o ) and apparently stuck them in her mouth. We saw her gag and throw up on Sat and noticed something white on her tongue- it was a big clump of shag rug:( It scared the living crap out of us, so now we have a berber rug bound around the edges from Building 19 (http://www.building19.com/INDEX.htm). It was only $30, so not much to spend. If whoever it was is better at keeping up with the shedding than I was, then disregard this warning:p

[Kanga]

Gah, I still can't edit. ANyways, soprry MAG, I meant to direct my SO to you rather than Whit. Whit - Love your pictures too, I think the last one is my favorite.

Betsy - Aww, so sorry to hear about Millie's mango allergy. Poor thing! Hopefully she grows out of it, but at least it's a pretty mild allergic reaction and not something super common. I hope she's doing better by now.

miaclear - Wow, FOUR teeth? We don't even have one yet.

QOTD - I love sending out xmas cards, mostly because my social circle usually only sends them out to people from who they receive one from and I love getting them. Last year I made my own. I bought a black bed sheet from Target, put a cute outfit on Daytona, and let her go to town with candy canes, xmas lights (BAD idea! Long story short i was supposed to get LED lights but I didn't), ornaments, etc. Then i edited it in photoshop and had them printed as a regular 4x6 from shutterfly. They turned out really cute. I will probably do something similar this year, though I may have to photoshop the girls together since getting them in the same pic is nearly impossible.

I gave Cami some solids for the first time a couple weeks ago. So far she's had sweet potato puffs, avocado, carrot wagon wheels, graham crackers, zweiback toast, and whatever else Daytona has dropped on the floor and she's gotten. I spoon feed her some sweet potato but she was less than thrilled with that and would much rather feed herself. I think it's more fun for her that way, though i don't think she actually ends up eating much of it. Up next is peas or maybe squash. I'm excited to try out the mesh feeder with her so maybe we'll do squash next. Out of everything we've tried, graham crackers were her favorite, followed by sweet potato puffs. Avocado was teh only definite no. Too bad it's one of the healthiest:rolleyes:

[miaclear]

Betsy...I know! DS will be 8 months Nov 20th, but she usually requires two weeks to go through and touch up all the images. Which does put it really close for printing and everything. I'm sure if I tried to order some I could but I probably won't want to wait that long either.

I'm also the one with the rug! I've been picking up clumps here and there. Our rug is from Pier One and although it sheds most of it seems to stay in the TV room and not get all over the house, although I do find they like to gather by the door for some reason. I checked out the link you posted but unfortunately we don't have a Building 19 (too bad...looks fun). I might have to find something different though :( Or really get my floor cleaning game on.

Kanga...I sometimes wish we didn't have any! Although DS is not prone to biting while nursing it has happened and it's not fun. I think I'll be using DS as my inspiration for my pumpkin carving this year.

[buffy]

cute pictures everyone!! I need to take some current ones of Morgan, her scrapbook is going to be slacking compared to her sisters!

Christmas Cards ~ I used to make my own up until 2 years ago, then I just went the shutterfly route. I always take my own pictures because I send out about 100 cards and figure most people just look at the picture and end up throwing it away so I don't want to pay a ton for them. I've always had professional pictures taken in Christmas outfits and then just give those pictures to family.

teeth ~ we are still toothless over here!

betsy ~ yikes! DD1 choked on a clump of dog hair once which was scary enough. The nice thing about an inside dog is she'll clean up any food that gets dropped so I generally don't have to worry about that. The bad thing is the occasional hair clump shows up out of nowhere so I've got to keep my eye out.

Kanga ~ I can relate to photoshopping the pictures together! Last year I did a card with 3 separate photos (Addy, Riley and the dog) so I could get a decent picture of all of them. I'll probably have to do something similar this year.

[Orion]

Just changed my avatar with a picture that I captured today. Sophie snuggles with Dalton all the time but do you think I could ever capture it on camera! I finally did today so I had to use it as my avatar.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Christmas Cards: Ahhhh.... it's not that time already, is it?! That's so scary!!! I will definitely be doing a picture card with the whole family. Maybe just the boys? I'm not sure yet.

[shimmerstar]

Noah pretty much stopped spitting up a few months ago. This week he has been doing it a lot. He also has a dry cough and is a little congested. I thought he was teething but then the spitting up started. He seems to gag and then spit up, but it's not really throwing up. He seems like he's feeling okay.

Has this happened to anyone else? I don't think the doc is needed yet, but I'm starting to get concerned. Thanks!

[miaclear]

Shimmer...Aaron was/is a reflux baby. We put him on Axid about 3 months old and the Dr told us we could quit it about months. I was all set to but right about 6 months he started spitting up again, lots (because he eats a lot more). He got a little cough with it when it started up again but we decided to stick out the Axid another month. It's gotten a lot better in the last few weeks.

ETA: I've read that the sphincter muscle that stops the spit up can mature anywhere from six months to twelve months.

[betsyboop]

Interesting that it seems like most of the babies here (Millie included) have rejected avocado. For some reason I was under the impression that babies liked avocado normally:confused:

New tricks- Just curious what all the funny/cute things the babies are up to. Millie has really gotten into reaching up and touching/flicking the top of her head while nursing. It's so funny to watch because her arm is stretched all the way up and she can just barely reach the center of the back/top of her head:p She also has really gotten into giggling. Mostly at the most random times, but she loves when Daddy does "slow moving car, fast moving car, bumpy bumpy ride, dumptruck" while bouncing her on his lap. She even giggled when I was changing her diaper in her room and Dave was in our room getting dressed while saying the words.

Mia- You're lucky that your rug doesn't get to the rest of the house. We find it all over the place- even upstairs! I forgot to say Wow before about Aaron having 4 teeth already. We're still waiting for #1 over here.

Orion- Cute!

Shimmer- Millie still spits up a TON, so I don't really have any advice. I'm just eagerly awaiting the day her sphincter muscle develops!

[Orion]

I guess my baby is the exception...Dalton loves avacado...even more so than banana which I thought was weird. He prefers veggies over fruit...weird kid, I know!

[happy1nuv]

shimmer - a while ago, i stopped eating dairy (maybe a month or two?) and it seemed to help joe's spitting up big time. then, just this week it started up again. we started solids, so not sure if thats why... but i was seriously combing thru my diet to see where dairy had snuck in...

and....Joe is crawling!

[MarriedaGoalie]

My chunky baby loves everything! Ha go figure! We have not tried acavado, though.

[Tandis]

Fly-by post:

So we survived vacation! It was rough, considering that three hours into the 12-hour trip, A stuck my finger in her mouth and I felt the beginnings of her bottom two teeth (after her ped claimed that she was nowhere near teething!). Felt in V's mouth, and found the same two teeth. :rolleyes: So Sunday was A's day to be crabby due to her teeth popping through, and Monday was V's day (it got so bad I had to leave a restaurant three times due to screaming - my first experience with strangers giving me "the look"). Tuesday they were both upset but I think that might have been because of how windy it was there. Wednesday through Friday was nice, however their 10-month old cousin chose those days to be crabby, so pretty much every day we had a screaming/crying baby.

Fun times. Thank god we only go once a year.

[whitlockan]

not much time but i am not sure i am convinced i love this costume...

opinions please........
*removed*

[Orion]

OK Whit...you seriously just had me snort my tea all over the computer screen. That costume is too frickin cute! I love it!

[miaclear]

Tandis....your girls are adorable! I always wanted to be a twin (probably thanks to Sweet Valley High books). I bet they are going to be so much fun growing up...and maybe a little bit of trouble too ;) I love that first picture.

Whit....that costume is hilarious. The head looks like a punked out rocker mohawk. It's really cute though :D

Betsy.... I would probably look for another rug but my parents bought that one for us for xmas last year after I searched high and low for one. I'd probably get an evil eye if I replaced it so soon. Since it doesn't seem to shed as much as the Pottery Barn one (which is odd since I'm guessing that one was a lot more $$$) I'm going to stick it out and make sure I vaccum and sweep a lot! It'll be my motivation :rolleyes:

Teeth....ladies, we have four teeth already and DS is so fussy already and chewing on everything in sight again. I feel like he just doesn't get a break. They've all come in in such a short period of time. Is this normal? I had read that the bottom two will come in and about a month later the top two. We got four bottom in less than six weeks. :(

[shimmerstar]

THanks for all the help with spitting up. I think it's because he has a cold.

Teeth- I swear he has been working on teeth forever. We have two, but he's had them for almost two months!

New tricks- He's been crawling a little bit for a few weeks, but today I saw him take off across the room. Uh-oh. He wants to pull up on everything and has been jabbering all day long. He can feed himself finger foods and can drink fairly well from a sippy. He can also throw his sippy on the floor 15 times in a row. :rolleyes:

We stole someone's idea and let him fingerpaint this weekend.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1417/1465526622_a80edcb070_m.jpg

Whit, Tandis, and Mag, I love the pictures! So cute!

[MrsKinnison]

We had Ollies 6 month WBV on Friday (he was 6.5mos):

Weight: 16lbs 14ozs (35%tile)
Height: 27inches (74%tile)
Head: Still 25%tile

Teeth ~ none yet. I asked the ped if he saw any signs and he told me that I would long before he does. I think Ollie is going for it... Mommy will buy him a pony if he waits until he's one before teeth. I think I even told him if he got just bottom teeth he could still get a pony :D

Laughing ~ Ollie loves to laugh and has been laughing for months. Sometimes he gets downright silly and laughs at everything. I've even caught him giggling in his sleep. He's also quite the chatterbox.

Betsy ~ Ollie loves to rub his head and pull his hair while he's nursing.

New Tricks ~ Does not sleeping through the night count? LOL! Ollie chats away, sits for long periods of time, and will even sit and play with his toys for a good 30mins. He has made no signs of crawling and only scooches a little. I'm okay with that since I know that once he starts there is no stopping!

Food ~ Also not a fan of bannanas here which I thought was weird. Doesn't hate them like avacodos, but really not very interested in them. Sweet Potatoes are definately a fav with Apples coming in second. I made peaches for him to try tomorrow.

Whit ~ that costume is adorable!!

Tandis ~ I love that pic of the girls sunbathing!!

Mia ~ I just found all my SVH books when we moved! I loved those books and every friday night I would buy a new one with my allowance and I wouldn't get out of bed saturday morning until I had finished it.

Who was it that had the Airplane Mobile? Actually, was it Mia? I am looking for one for Ollies room. Our new house is less than 1/2 down the street for the airport (small airport) and the landing path takes them right over our house. I remember one of you having one that I really liked and think it would be perfect for Ollies room (the poor kid really has nothing besides curtains, furniture and books in his room).

Here is Ollie on Friday anxiously waiting for his yoga class to start
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1322/1479939163_283916524d.jpg?v=0

And enjoying his labors of his apple picking ~ lol!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1078/1480798076_2962ec02dc.jpg?v=0

[miaclear]

MrsK....yep, we had the mobile. It's a Flensted Airplane Mobile. I bought it on Ebay but if you google it you'll come up with a ton of places to buy.

http://i15.ebayimg.com/04/i/07/9e/6f/bd_2.JPG

Solo Playing....MrsK, Aaron does that too...will gladly play with his toys by himself for 20-30 min at a time. And since he can only scooch on his bum or roll I feel pretty confident about leaving him alone. Granted I'll peek my head in the room to watch him every once in awhile.

Bananas....we had our first stab at this tonight and it was a hit. Finished the whole container. So far I haven't really found a food he doesn't like.

[Kanga]

whit - I LOVE that costume. Too fricken cute...I can't stop laughing.

mia - I totally forgot all about SVH until you mentioned it. My name is Elizabeth and my bff in school was named Jessica so we were obsessed with those books.

[MarriedaGoalie]

Whit- that outfit is so cute! I give it two thumbs up!

We got our first tooth today! It is on the bottom right! I've officially lost my baby! Ha

[danalou]

Tandis - Glad to hear you survived the vacation!! The picture of the girls on the beach are too cute.

Whit - Love the Halloween costume!!

Food - DD still hates avocado, but she really loves pears, peas and sweet potatoes!!

Teeth - Still no teeth in sight and I am beginning to wonder when that will happen!!

New Tricks - DD has started doing a "Bitter Beer Face" which just makes you laugh and then she starts to laugh. She has also begun to do a backwards scoot on the floor. I can't believe how animated she is become as it seems like just yesterday that she was my newborn and now she is becoming a little girl!!

[betsyboop]

Well, I gave birth exactly 7 months ago today and I got my first post baby period this morning. It was a good run, I guess- I went 15 months without it! Scary to think I could get pregnant again now though:eek:

Whit- That is a funny costume:D Why would a zebra have a mohawk??

Mia- Oh weird, our rug was a Christmas gift from my parents too.

Sweet Valley High- Oh how I loved those books- especially since my name is Elizabeth and my sister is Jessica.

MrsK- Ollie looks so grown up sitting there in his khakis and polo shirt! We went apple picking over the weekend too:D

Solo playing- Millie is doing this too- yay! She'll either sit with some toys or roll/shimmy around on the floor for pretty long stretches of time.

A picture of Millie and Dave at the orchard:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_1140.jpg?t=1191508840

[happy1nuv]

our lo's are sooo looking big these days...LOVIN the pics!

[MrsKinnison]

Sorry, this is a seriously dumb question but I honestly don't know...

How much solids do you feed? Ollie has been eating 3 cubes the past couple nights and I seriously think he would eat more if I gave it. Is 3 enough, or do I feed him until he doesn't want anymore??

Also, I thought I read that you should bf right after as then they can't tell if they are full. Is this true? How long should you wait? At night I like to make sure I top him off real good before bed :D

[miaclear]

MrsK....I've been offering one cube of food and sometimes DS doesn't eat all of it. Lately he's been eating all of it so I think we'll start offering a variety. I'm clueless about the whole solids thing too....but I do know that at this point what they are eating in solids is only extra as this is kind of a test period. So at least that means I'm not starving him. As for BFing...I've read that you should do it before. Cause if you do it after they may be full from the solids and since they're still getting 95% of their nutrition from BM/Formula you don't want them to skimp on that.

Ok....FOUR of our friends have announced their pregnancies. Due next May and June! It kinda gave me a little baby bug :o Fortunately I can quickly come to my senses because I do know that I want to wait till DS is at least a year old. At this point I couldn't imagine having to share my time. Plus I know at least one couple who plans on TTC about the same time we are next year so that'd be cool if we got to be pg together.

Developmental Milestones....DS is finally figuring out how to get his legs underneath him when he's on his tummy. Crawling could be just around the corner. If he doesn't walk first. His balance and leg strength is amazing!

[miaclear]

I want to get DS a walker, possibly for Christmas. I just saw this one at one step ahead and LOVE it. I like that it'll grow with him more than some of the others I've seen that incorporate toys on them. Plus it's a great storage place for toys. Just curious if anyone else has seen something similar. The $80 price tag is a bit much.

http://content.onestepahead.com/assets/images/ensemble/detail/13698_1.jpg

[Kanga]

miaclear - that is a super cute walk/wagon! Whatever you decide to go with, I'd definitely make sure it does 'double duty'. This is only based on one kid, so take it for what it's worth, but dd1 only used her walker for like maybe a month. Then she learned to walk and never really used the walker much after that. I think I've seen a few ride on toys that can also be walkers if you're looking for other ideas, though they're usually made of plastic if that's a concern.

MrsK - Cami eats maybe one ice cube's worth of food. BUT, we aren't consistent with it and have just begun. She may be eating more if we would have started earlier and done it on a consistent basis. If you're worried about over feeding, you might want to try a mesh feeder so Ollie can feed himself. Babies are less likely to overeat if they're able to feed themselves.

[kindermom]

Great pics ladies.
Whit - the zebra is the funniest costume I think I have seen in a long time. I love love love the mohawk mane.
Food - We feed H a cube or so. But then again, he is not super interested in purees. He is currently into Trader Joe's O's and roasted and mashed butternut squash. I personally would not feed my DC more than 2 cubes at a time. But ask your ped. That is what they are there for. They know your child better than us.
Milestones - We are cruising already. H was crawling at 207 days, 8 days ahead of his early-moving big sis. He is cruising 16 days ahead of her. I am such a data geek that I have everything in an Excel spreadsheet to calculate their ages! Our cousin's little girl is 16 days younger and is still not sitting on her own. She can roll but no sitting.

[miaclear]

Kanga...thanks for your thoughts. I posted in the parenting thread and got some good reviews and a link to a cheaper version over on baby center. Lots of the reviews are from moms of older babies 1-2 years who say their kids still love it to tote their toys around in. Or for mom/dad to push them in :) I think I'm going to go with it!

[happy1nuv]

mia - we have a plastic walker that doubles as a ride on. Nic (29 mos) STILL will occasionally use it as a walker. We also have a bunch of plastic wagons that he LOVES to roll around the house... BUT, he's big into anything like that... he has a lawn mower he loves to roll around... long way of saying i think thats a great idea and would be totally worth it!

mrsk - i haven't broken out the cubes yet, but joe will maybe eat a 1" piece of banana... of course today he ate like a tablespoon of broccoli and a 2" piece of banana and was totally into it. But, for the most part, he's not interested...

[miaclear]

Happy...thanks. I think it will be a great Christmas gift :)

Our first rejected food! It was peaches of all things! At first I thought he just wasn't hungry but then he continued to eat a whole container of peas. Boy loves his veggies! The way he ate it was new though. Take a bite, plug mouth with thumb, take a bite, plug mouth with thumb.

[shimmerstar]

Mia- Noah hates peaches too! It's the only thing. He will make this grossed-out, betrayed face and start gagging. If I offer him more, he won't open his mouth. You would think kids would love peaches, but they smelled gross to me, so maybe that's why.

[danalou]

Mia - DD isn't too into peaches either, but she loves pears. I think the peaches are a bit sore from what I can tell and she prefers the sweeter fruits like pears and prunes!!

[betsyboop]

Mia- How funny- Millie hates peas (that and avocado are the only things she won't eat) and loves peaches! Actually, sometimes I mix peas with peaches to get her to eat them. Millie does the same thing- take bite, plug in thumb, repeat. That wagon thing looks so cute- what a good idea for Christmas. The kid in the picture is standing with his feet in the weirdest position though- I don't get how he's supporting himself:confused:

MrsKI feed Millie 2 containers of food at a sitting (one sitting per day), so that's about a 1/2 cup or so. I asked the same question not long ago and it seemed like I was feeding way more than everyone else, but she really loves it so I'm just going with it for now. I nurse her right afterwards per my pediatrician's advice.

Kindermom- I love that you count your kids' ages in days:p Wow on the cruising!

Shimmer- Doesn't that grossed out/betrayed face accompanied by gagging just make you laugh? It really cracks me up when she does that:p

[danalou]

I had to show you gals the Halloween treat bag that I picked up for DD -

http://www.potterybarnkids.com/pkimgs/ab/images/products/200738/0017/img14l.jpg

Pottery Barn Kids has them half price with free shipping, so I couldn't pass it up at $7.99!! I got DD the pumpkin one and her little cousin the spider!!

[happy1nuv]

dana - score! we're gonna skip the trick or treat thing again, but if we werent id be so tempted...

[whitlockan]

food amount were eating a TON - I hope its not too much (someone tell me if it seems like a ton) He takes 2 stage 1 containers a day, and 6 tbsp total of cereal a day. We mix half a container of food with 2 tbsp of cereal 3 times a day. He will eat like a mad man. Although he will then follow up with 5 -6 oz of EBM after that instead of his normal 8 oz per bottle.

food intolerance/allergy so we did bananas and he was super fussy each time, then we moved to peaches and literally 20 min after he had them a red raised rash that went from his upper back up his neck and then around to his belly, so no more peaches but my question it seems to be fruit he cannot handle should we avoid it all together and wait until later? I'm nervous to introduce anymore for fear it made him feel yucky - we had a hard time getting him to get later that day. **but he HATED them as well**

kinder wow you have way to much time on your hands ;) haha j/k!!!

mia we are right there with you he LOVES his veggies - carrotts and peas to be exact! so rare

dana great buy!! I got the easter bunny treat bag similar to that with his name embroidered....they still have it up on their website you might want to suck it up ;). I also got the train stocking from last christmas but its down now......you can find some great buys if you stalk there website...HEHE.

Okay one last picture and I will stop....this is what we did this weekend, had to get my free 8x10....I absolutly love this costume now that he shows so much joy and love over/in it....
*removed*
**BTW Picture People do a fanastic job in our area....so cheap vs. what you get, great buy!

[miaclear]

Whit...if I didn't know better I would have thought your babe was modeling that costume for a magazine. What a cutie!

Question: When you mix cereal with a fruit do you make the cereal first (with BM, formula or H2O) and then mix it. Or do you mix it dry with the fruit?

[shimmerstar]

Food- I probably don't do it "right", but here's what we do. I make probably 1/3 cup of oatmeal and feed him a few bites. Then I mix in some veggie with it. When that's gone, we eat some fruit. I feed him 1/2 a container of Stage 2 fruit and 1/2 of a veggie one. I'm pretty sure he would eat more though. At daycare once they fed him 2 jars. I feed him twice a day on the weekends and he gets three meals on weekdays.

He still eats tons of formula for me, but not at school. Which I'm pretty okay with- he will eat if he's hungry enough and he's gaining weight fine. Last week he was 20 lbs, 2 oz.

[danalou]

Whit - Love the pictures in the costume!! I wish Picture People were in our area as they seem like a great resource!!

Mia - I make the cereal first with BM and then add either fruit or veggie.

I was hoping to get your opinion on a baptism outfit I am considering. This isn't the typical type outfit for such an occasion, but I really think it is cute!!

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/oneofakindkids_1967_128179

This is the traditional option

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/shepherdscradle_1970_4269520

[Orion]

I just had to share because I am so proud of myself. On Sunday DH and I competed in the Royal Victoria Marathon. He did the full Marathon (42 kms) and I did the 8 km Road Race while slinging both kids! I had Dalton in the Bjorn on my front and Sophie in the Ergo on my back. It was the most amazing experience and one that I will never forget. I have a picture of me slinging both kids just before the race but I can't inserts pictures here because I use ofoto for my pictures. Ohhh, I know..I will change my avatar and see if that works. If not, check out my lj account (Orionbelt) for the picture.

ETA: Yay, it worked! Check out my avatar...me slinging both kids!

[danalou]

I totally forgot to tell you guys that DD said "da dah" last night!! It wasn't exactly the words I was hoping for, but it was still too cute!!

[danalou]

Orion - Congrats!! I went to check your LJ account do I need to be on your friends list (danalou)??

[Orion]

Orion - Congrats!! I went to check your LJ account do I need to be on your friends list (danalou)??

I guess I did put the picture as friends only...I added you as a friend!

[happy1nuv]

orion - wow. it never occured to me that you COULD sling 2 kids...thats awesome! congrats!

whit - i've always heard pp was expensive and so not worth it... you're the first one to say yiu liked them... those photos are awesome (yea, thought it was the costume model one at first too)

dana - its not traditional, but i do think its adorable. if u like it, i say go for it!

do i have the only baby who is really not into food? he'll tolerate bananas, avacado and broccoli suck (but are really good with a bit of banana added)... but even really good for joe is not that good. AND every time he has a solid poo. its a process (and, i only feed him solids once a day cause hes just not into them... is it normal to go back and forth from bf poo to solids poo?)

[Kanga]

happy1nuv - dd2 LOVES food and only turns it down if it's avocado (doesn't like it). A complete 180 from dd1. I was shocked when she at an entire jar of stage 1 prunes at a year old because that's the most I'd ever seen her eat in one day, let alone at one sitting. For whatever reason, she just wasn't into it and then somewhere around 14-15mo nearly overnight formula wasn't enough for her and her bottles increased to a little over 55oz/day and she decided food wasn't so bad afterall.

[MrsKinnison]

Am I the only one who cried when they found the first tooth? I always feel in his mouth, but really had no indication he was teething, so I was very surprised to feel a tooth. I'm actually getting teary again typing this. I just feel like my baby is growing up way too fast! At least I now know why we were having some sleeping troubles...

Orion ~ Congratulations!!! That is a huge accomplishment without slinging 2 kids, I can't believev you actually did it slinging them!!!

Whit ~ Those pics are great!!! We have a friend who works for PP so we are going to go see her sometime in the next week. I hope ours come out even half as cute.

Mia ~ Who knows if I'm doing it right, but I usually just mix the cereal with the fruit. I probably only mix cereal in a couple times a week when I think he might need a little extra fiber (if you know what I mean).

[Tandis]

Mia - I usually just mix dry cereal in with their fruit in the mornings. My parents, however, mix dry cereal and formula with their fruit. The girls eat it either way and don't seem to have a preference.

Happy1nuv - A isn't really in to solids, but I offer it to her at every feeding they get solids anyway. She's getting better, but is no where near the eater her sister is (which is funny since she's the bigger one).

MrsK - I got a little choked up when I saw their two little teeth, but now I just think they're the cutest things. Of course they only have two, so they still look like little babies. That might change once they start getting more ;)

Orion - Good job! Add me to the list of people who didn't know you could sling two! Wow - that in itself is impressive, not to mention doing it during a marathon!

Danalou - If you like it, I say go for it. :)

Food amount - My little giants eat a ton! Which is probably why they're little giants ;) They get one Stage 2 container at breakfast, lunch and dinner, plus an average of 34 oz of formula over the course of the day (sometimes it's a little less).

Whit - *Love* the zebra costume! He is just too adorable :D

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

So has anyone found a good diaper that has added absorption in the front? Miss A has started sleeping on her stomach at night (because of her head flattening out in the back), and every morning the front of her is soaked! Any ideas of what I can do? Needless to say I'm getting tired of changing her sheets every morning.

[danalou]

Tandis - I have been really pleased with the Pampers Baby Dry diapers. DD has really wet diapers at night and I have yet to have a leak from wetness only. My leaks tend to come from massive explosions from the other end!!

Question for those still breastfeeding -> DD seems to have dropped off on the amount of BM feedings since the introduction of solids. I am not too worried as she was 18lbs at 6 months, but it is something that makes me wonder what happened. She use to take 3 to 4 (4oz) bottles at daycare and these days we are lucky if she take 2 full (4oz) bottles. Again I am not too worried, but I am curious if this is normal as sitting to take a bottle or even breastfeed during the day seems to be the last thing on her mind!!

[Kanga]

crying over first tooth - We are still a toothless wonder, but I'm sure if these teeth ever get here, I'll be sad. I lover her gummy little smile! Another baby the same age as ours has 8! teeth (4 on top, 4 on bottom). I couldn't hardly believe it.

Orion - Wow, I'm not sure I'd be up to that without slinging any kids, let alone 2! Were you running the race, or walking? Either way I'm super impressed.

Tandis - For a long time with Daytona, we put her regular size diaper on her, then a size up in Huggies Overnight over top of that. Also, I've found that I have to move up a size sooner in store brand than name brand.

QOTD - What is everyone getting their little ones for the holidays? Other than clothes, I'm pretty much drawing a blank on ideas for family to get her. We'll be getting her a shopping cart cover and quick zip crib sheets (http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=379763) (and that's probably about it since she doesn't understand yet and big sister has a bunch of hand me downs to give:o)


So we officially are done with EBF baby poop onto the solids poop. I'm such a dweeb, it's just poop, but it feels like everyday now she's getting more advanced and less baby. She's also working on cruising, but is getting frustrated. Sitting, crawling, and pulling up came really easy for her but cruising isn't so it's really pissing her off. Kinda funny to watch sometimes:p

[betsyboop]

MrsK- No teeth here yet, but I'm sure I will cry when it finally happens. I've cried at a few of the milestones already. Like a few have mentioned, I can't believe how grown up she is already at 7 months. I really thought I had way more "tiny baby" time:(

Tandis- We use Huggies Supreme size 3 and have never had a leak at night.

Danalou- I don't give bottles, so I'm not sure how much she's getting per day, but I'm sure it's decreased since she started solids. I'm guessing that's why I got my period a week ago.

Mia- I mix cereal directly into whatever veggie/fruit I'm giving her. I also don't measure it- I just pour some on top and stir it in. I'd say it's 2T or so.

I should have known it would happen since for months she's been squirming around and flipping herself backwards in her Bumbo like this:
http://i53.photobucket.com/albums/g56/bugs1234_2006/DSC_1109.jpg?t=1192025503
but she escaped from it yesterday:eek: I was switching over my winter and summer closets and she was on the bedroom floor in ther Bumbo and all of a sudden, I heard a thump and then a scream. I looked over and she was face down on the floor next to it. At least the fall was only a couple of inches!

[danalou]

Betsy: I recognize the sweatshirt and we got DD one very similar at Carters!! I hope all is well with the Bumbo incident as I haven't been able to get DD into hers safely for months now.

[Orion]

orion - wow. it never occured to me that you COULD sling 2 kids...thats awesome! congrats!

Thank You!

Orion ~ Congratulations!!! That is a huge accomplishment without slinging 2 kids, I can't believev you actually did it slinging them!!!

I can believe that I did it while slinging them...every muscle in my legs remind me everyday!

Orion - Good job! Add me to the list of people who didn't know you could sling two! Wow - that in itself is impressive, not to mention doing it during a marathon!

Thanks!

Orion - Wow, I'm not sure I'd be up to that without slinging any kids, let alone 2! Were you running the race, or walking? Either way I'm super impressed.

I did walk the race because it wouldn't have been safe for the kids (or their necks) if I ran the race. I'm actually thinking of doing another one in the spring if we are posted to Halifax. I might do the 10 k or if I can train enough I would sling them for the half Marathon (20 k).

Diapers: We use Pampers Cruisers and we've only had one night time leak and that was because I put the diaper on too loose. Other than that, we've never had a problem. I use Pampers Cruiser size 4 for both kids (that's right my 7 month old and my 22 month old are in the same size diapers!) and we love them.

Amount of BM: I can't help you with the amount at each feeding that Dalton takes because I still breastfeed and he's never had a bottle but I can tell you that he has started to drop a couple of his normal feedings during the day.

[goldengbridge]

Breastfeeding- Ashlyn still nurses about 8 times a day so she hasn't decreased her amount of milk yet.

Solids- I mix the cereal into the veggie or fruit and then add a little ebm to it. I don't measure the cereal either.

Diapers- Pampers cruiser for us. She's in a size 4 and we haven't had any problems.

Teeth- She has the two bottom and now shes getting all FOUR tops all at once. She's been misrable!

Ashlyn isn't crawling yet but rocking back and forth a lot on her knees and yesterday she pushed herself up into a sitting position from her belly. She's getting so big:rolleyes:

[happy1nuv]

diapers - BRU sells diaper doublers...they kinda look like maxi pads without the sticky stuff...we used those for nic for a while. word of caution though - make sure the WHOLE thing stays INSIDE the diaper. cause ow, they just wick the wetness to the pjs they touch...

feeding: I've noticed Joe doesn't eat as much during the day as he used to - he's wayyy too busy being nosy/on the go. Of course, he is now getting up 3-5 times a night, ravenous.

toys - I've got stuff on Joe's list that both boys might get some use out of... one of those tunnels you crawl through http://trus.imageg.net/graphics/product_images/pTRU1-2865664reg.jpg ...I'm trying to get a bunch of different stuff we can use to make indoor obstacle courses... picturing a LONG cold winter stuck inside... (bonus if its not)
, the elefun game (its an elephant that spews butterflies and you catch them in a net... so nic gets to use a net and joe can use his hands...)
Stuff like that...
Joe absolutely goes ga-ga over any balls, and loves when you stack up soft blocks for him to knock over... so those are two good things too (and they sooo grow with them). only prob with foam blocks is when they get chewed, they dont really stack anymore...but we're still using ours...just not for really tall stuff!

[MarriedaGoalie]

Carter had his 6 month wbv yesterday and he was 20 pounds, 12 ounces! (90%). He was 28 inches long.(75%). I've got a big boy! Ha
Diapers- we love huggies in the red package, not the white one! We have never had a problem with them!

Christmas- oh my... Are we talking about this already? Eek! I honestly haven't even thought about it!

Solids- right now Carter is eating 2 jars of his stage 1 baby food. One vegetable and then one fruit. We are getting ready to start on stage 2 foods soon. Would it be wrong of me to just feed him one jar of vegetables at one feeding and then one jar of fruits at another feeding? I didn't know if it was bad to feed him fruits only at one sitting?

This might be the wrong place to ask this, but has anyone been through post-partum depression? I think I might be suffering from it and I didn't know how to figure it out if that is why I have felt depressed lately?

[danalou]

Thanks ladies for your insight on feedings - must just be an age thing as is seem pretty uniform with those still BF!!

Married - You sure do have a big boy, not that I can say much as DD weighed 18 lbs at her 6 month wbv!! I really don't know much about post-partum depression, but I think asking about it is a huge step in the right direction. I would bet their is a board that deals directly with the topic. Best of luck finding some useful info as I do know that depression is a serious topic. As for the solids I typically give DD to solid feedings a day lunch and then dinner and I split them up fruit for one and then veggies for the other with no problem.

[Kanga]

MAG - I'm not going through PPD this time around, but sometimes I wonder if I had it after dd1. I think the rule of thumb is if you have to ask if you have it, you should at least check with your OB or regular dr. Nothing to be ashamed of and you'll feel tons better if you do have it and get help for it. ((HUGS))

[MrsKinnison]

Diapers ~ we use Pampers Baby Dry. Ollie goes to bed around 7:30, wakes to eat about 8hrs later and I always change him then. He does sometime leak, but it has never ever been during that long stretch. If he leaks its always during the 3am-6am stretch. It totally baffles me why, but I really do think he pees a lot more during that time and it probably has a little to do with me putting the new diaper on half asleep and in the dark.

Bfing ~ Ollie nurses 6 sometimes 7 times a day down from 8. I'm sure adding solids had some affect, but I think it has more to do with him going longer between feedings. He used to eat every 2hrs all day long, but now he goes atleast 2 1/2 if not longer. Especially if we are out and about doing stuff, I've noticed he'll go 3-4.

Has anyone started meats yet? The ped told us to start at our last apt, but I have yet to try any yet. I wanted to make sure I had done enough fruits and veggies first. So far we have done Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Peas, Bannanas, Apples, Peaches, and Pears. I don't count Avacodo since he wouldn't close his mouth, let alone swallow any ~ lol. The ped also said that yogurts and cheeses would be fine, as is fish if we are a fish family, just stay away from the big fish that are higher in mercury. Haddock and Cod would be great though.

Question for those with animals... Am I the only one who is always referring to the ped as the vet?? I do it constantly and half the time I don't even realize it.

[MrsKinnison]

Mag ~ I think that if you think it's a possibility, then you should definately talke to your OB. I've had a few friends recently go through this and it is definately nothing to be ashamed of. They are all so glad they talked to their OB and feel much better now. I can tell you that with atleast one of my friends it was less of what she thought of as depressed feeling, but more of a not enjoying anything feeling (if that makes any sense) so she didn't realized that it was ppd at first.

[Orion]

MAG: As everyone else said, no harm in talking to your OB.

MrsK: We haven't started meats yet but I make Dalton's food and meat is too hard to puree so I will wait until he can eat chunks of meat by himself. OMG...too funny about the vet comments!

[Janey]

MAG - There is a thread here in the preg section about PPD ... you might want to check it out. I bet you'll get a lot of support there.

Food - I'm not sure how many times she nurses. Probably around 6-8. Lately I've been doing 2 TBS cereal mixed with fruit for lunch and 2 TBS cereal mixed with a veggie for dinner. She is mooching my food a lot more now. I gave her a tiny flake of salmon the other night and she liked it and wanted more. :) She got her first taste of fudgecicle and then had a little tantrum after the fudgecicle was gone.

Speaking of tantrums... She had a tantrum after her dad took the remote control away from her the other day. I was in the shower and heard this SCREAMING coming from upstairs. I thought maybe she'd fallen off the bed or something, but nope, she just got the remote taken from her. I don't know what happened to my sweet little baby... aren't tantrums supposed to be toddler behavior... :confused: :p

[happy1nuv]

Ok, joe has me totally confused. He does NOT like eating... not at all. But if i eat something, he grabs/sways/etc. to do his best to get it in HIS mouth. (and, its not that im eating better stuff. i eat half a banana, mash the other half for him. But its MY banana he wants not his. Can i let him chew on a whole banana???? (his he spits out, wont open his mouth for, etc.) I can't tell if its an i-want-what-mom-has thing, or if its just i-want-what-i-cant-have type thing... argh!

[betsyboop]

Happy- Maybe he'd like to feed himself rather than eat off a spoon you're holding?? Millie loves feeding herself with the mesh feeder.

MrsK- No meats here yet, but we did start yogurt about a week ago. She LOVES it.

Janey- Millie gets angry when the food is gone too:p There are few things cuter than an angry baby- hehe!

Dana- Funny that we have the same sweatshirt:) I'm usually not a fan of Carter's, but it was only like $7 at TJ Maxx and I thought it was similar in style to the ones at Lucky Brand Jeans which I love (and obviously, it was a fraction of the price).

[Tandis]

MAG - Like others have said, it won't hurt to check with your OB. I suspect that I've been dealing it with for a few months now, but I've been trying to deal with it on my own (just started Weight Watchers again, looking into taking distance learning classes -- any positive change I make in my life puts me into a better frame of mind). Good luck.

Diapers - Thanks for the info on diapers! A is currently wearing a Size 3 in Pampers Cruisers, so maybe the problem is that she needs a bigger diaper at night. Either way, I now have some ideas so I can stop washing sheets every day! :)

MrsK - We started meats, ah, last week I think? It's all mixed with something else though (Chicken and Apples, Sweet potatoes and Turkey, etc.), so you really can't taste the meat (I tried it because I was curious - and it's also how I test the temperature). They don't mind the meat, but they also aren't real excited about it. Just kind of "ho-hum" :) LOL about the vet comment. I haven't done that, but I do find myself calling them like I do the dogs :D

Besty - Aw, poor thing. We've had to stop using the Bumbo because of Miss A pushing herself out of it.

[miaclear]

Food- DS ate two and a half containers tonight! We're about 2/3rds through the Stage One food I bought and I know the Stage Two is a bit bigger container. I told myself though that we're not going to go to Stage Two till all Stage One is gone. Hard to do....the Stage Two seems so much more interesting and I love giving DS new foods.

QOTD- PJs: DS is currently sleeping in a gerber onsie and a sleep sack. Pretty soon the nights are going to get colder and his short sleeved onsie probably isn't going to do the trick. I looked for long sleeve Gerber Onsies and they do have them (although they're twice the price!) but I couldn't find a size 12 months! What is everyone's babe wearing to bed?

Poo ? - Ok DS used to go poo every FIVE days! It was a blissful time in our lives. When we started solids it seemed to be at least every other day. With the introduction of two solid meals a day last week he's going 2-3 times a day! Is this normal? Usually the first two are solid and the 3rd if it happens is typical of what it was before.

[shimmerstar]

Mia- Noah wears a longsleeved footie pj to bed. We keep it pretty cool in the house. I've started putting him in thermal and thicker ones.

As far as poop, Noah goes 2-3 times a day. He went once a day before solids. He usually goes once on the toilet for me in the morning and twice at daycare. I don't think solid poo is as bad as everyone says!

[Kanga]

miaclear - Thankfully I didn't make or buy a whole lot of purees, but I think we'll still end up with quite a bit leftover since dd2 isn't much of a spoon kid. When we introduce yogurt though, I'm going to try buying the plain yogurt and mixing in the purees so it is less sugary than most other yogurt you buy at the store. My hope is that since she's never had the sugary stuff and doesn't know that there's no such thing as green bean yogurt, she won't care.

PJ's - Cami sleeps with us so we dress her in lightweight cotton sleepers or ls shirt and pants but for Daytona who never really co slept we used blanket sleepers or long sleeved shirts under her sleep sacks.

Poop - we're still at a mix of solid and bf poo, and she goes about 2-3x per day.

[Janey]

Re: PJ's - I bought some Carter's fleece sleepers and we've been using those. It gets down to the high 40's here lately and her room is kinda drafty, so I wanted something to keep her warm. The fleece sleepers seem to work well - her hands aren't little ice cubes in the morning any more, at least!

[betsyboop]

PJs- We put Millie in a cotton footed sleeper with a fleece sleepsack over it. It's been pretty cold here at night lately.

Food- We've been slowly finishing off the stage 1 food and we're finally down to 2 containers (both of banana)! For a week or 2, I've been giving her a stage 1 fruit or veggie and a stage 2 mixed item. We actually started meat (turkey) today and she was pretty indifferent towards it.

Poo- She used to go a lot more often before we started solids. It used to be every other day or so, now she goes every few days. But on the days that she goes, she normally goes several times.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For those who bottle feed- How many oz does your baby eat in a day and how many oz per serving? Is each serving the same or does he/she eat more at certain feedings? Millie will be spending the upcomming weekend with my parents so Dave and I can celebrate our wedding anniversary and I'm just looking for some general guidelines for bottle feeding. Plus I need to know how much milk to bring to my parents.

Hair regrowth- Does anyone else have tons of inch long hairs along thier hairline? It's like I have really short bangs all of a sudden:p

Has anyone baby proofed yet? We started the process this weekend and I'm curious what other people were doing. We:
1. Put a gate at the top of the stairs.
2. Covered the open outlets with those little plastic thingys.
3. Replaced the door stoppers with the kind that doesn't have the little rubber thing at the end.
4. Wound up the cords to the roman blinds so she can't reach them.
5. Covered the outlets with stuff plugged into them so she can't pull out the plugs.
We're planning on also putting the cleaning supplies in a locked case (Smart Guard (http://www.smartguard.biz/)), and doing something with the wires that are behind the tv, attached to the speakers, and all around Dave's amp and guitar pedals. She goes for wires/electrical outlets more than anything else:rolleyes:

[shimmerstar]

Betsy- Noah loves the laptop cord! We have been babyproofed for 2 months now, but we are now locking the gate instead of just leaving it.

He crawls everywhere, especially after dog toys. He follows me around the house too. He is pulling up on some things, but can't do it real well yet. His favorite toy is a story chair that he sits in and pushes different things. I am getting ready to start feeding him more table food, it's just hard to get started. Dh and I don't eat very healthy, so I don't want to give him the stuff we eat.

[Kanga]

Hair regrowth- Does anyone else have tons of inch long hairs along thier hairline? It's like I have really short bangs all of a sudden


OMG, i just noticed this the other day! I never put 2 and 2 together until just now.

Baby proofing - Well we've been babyproofed for over a year now since this is my second, but if this were my first, I wouldn't bother just yet. Even though she crawls, she doesn't go anywhere. Seriously, I don't think i've seen her go more than 3 ft at a time and even then only a handful of times. I guess it helps to have a big sister who brings you everything you want. For baby proofing we have cupboard locks, outlet plugs, those things you screw into the wall to keep bookcases, dressers, etc from falling over, gates at the top and bottom of both staircases (though they're usually left open), and breakables packed up or moved up high. We also keep the bathroom door shut. No reason to be in there without me and the times dd1 has been in there unsupervised she's done such constructive things like mistake my mascara for lipgloss and unwind a whole roll of toilet paper. Still kicking myself for not getting a picture, but we were already running late and I was pretty ticked.

[littlemia]

Hi, all. I was intending to do this really long post and reply to everyone but then Claire got her first cold and gave it to me and DH so I haven't been really up for it. Thankfully she seems to be weathering it well, although she's not been eating much which sucks. And the timing of our colds was really poor as we missed two parties and we almost never have any fun plans. Not much new is going on here except she's cruising now and we finally started solids although we've only done avocado so far.

Babyproofing- we bought some stuff, but need to actually put it to use. I've just been watching her so far but she's fast so I need to get some stuff done soon.

Pajamas- we just use footed sleepers and we'll probably use those all winter but it's not like it gets that cold here. I think she stays warmer sleeping in our bed, too.

[danalou]

Betsy - That is too funny that you mentioned that as I have those silly bangs as well these days!!

PJ's - We are using the Carters fleece and terry cloth footed sleepers these days and she seems to be fine. We do let DD cuddle at night with a blanket not for warmth, but as it is her sleep aid these days.

Solids - How much are you feeding at one sitting? I was doing only half of the Stage 1 containers or one cube, but I am thinking I such up the amount.

[miaclear]

Hair....OMG...I just noticed this the other day! Right at my bang line as well! I was very excited to see it :D as I thought I was getting a little too thin!

Solids....we're up to 2.5 to 3 stage one containers for dinner, and a bowl of oatmeal and a stage one container for breakfast. He'd eat more if I let him which makes me wonder if I should?

Babyproofing...the thoughts are going through my head but we haven't done anything really. I do think I'm going to do the Tot-Lok system on our cabinets though. And I want to buy the outlet covers for our outlets that we use to vaccum and such. We'll just plug the rest probably. We have our gates purchased (actually a gift) but since we still only have a roller no need to put them up.

[happy1nuv]

pj's - we do cotton footed pajamas. we keep the house at 70, so i think he's fine in just those (but, he generally comes in to sleep with me around 4 am... mostly cause i am too tired to fight it at that point).

[whitlockan]

I am behind for a very simple reason......I had spilt milk all over my keyboard at work so I couldnt do much of anything until I get a nice new one!! HAHA go figure and try to explain that one to the tech guy.

Anyways.....

PJs he is sleeping in either 1) long sleeve onsie w/slept sack 2) Fleece footed sleepers or 3) terry cloth footed sleepers.

Here is our number 1 people - he can be laying in your arms, not moving much but just using a ton of energy to fight sleep so hard that he will sweat in the sleepers, so hes been waking up a little chilly at night in the sleep sack....anyone have any suggestions

solids we are doing 3 servings of (3-4tbsp each) of cereal a day (lunch, mid afternoon feeding and then dinner), and 2 full stage 1 containers at the same sitting as the oatmeal, he could easly suck up 3 full ones a day....but I just read that some are getting 3 at a sitting? Hmmm maybe this is why he wakes up sometimes screaming his head off........should I just keep giving him more. I thought this was going to be easy to figure out! Once the stage 1 is gone I think we will move to stage 2, but we still have a little bit left. No meat until he is closer to a year for us same goes with any juice. Also he will not eat food or milk, for the life of him between the hours of 4:30 am to 8:00 am!! He just wont do it!

BTW he LOVES avacados!!! I didnt mix with anything and would you believe I had rejection from peaches and dislikes from pears and bananas but LOVES this nasty mushy green stuff...HAHA!


babyproofing I am TERRIBLE all the outlet covers are in and thats it.....everything is sitting on the table I am waiting for my hubby to put them on the cabinets etc, I tried and for the life of me cant get them to screw in to the doors. But whats terribly scary is he is crawling, not super fast now but he is still crawling. What happend to being a newborn?!? I felt like that was 2 hours ago!!!

poo can I say at least 2-3 times a day :eek:but I am loving the solid stuff, a lot less smelly and easier to clean - for us at least!

bottle feeding Z gets EBM through a bottle while were apart, since starting solids he will sometimes take a full 8 and sometimes take 3, it has yet to be constant and so hard to figure out.


Its official were CRAWLING.....no I am not ready to run all over the house yet!

Z hates clothes, you can open up his sleeper change his diaper as soon as you pull his hands through the sleeves he SCREAMS his head off and doesnt stop until its over!!

moms of boys discovering the "item" z has been doing this for a few weeks, he wont leave it alone during diaper changes and you give him something to preoccupy him it only works for a few seconds then he is back down there. When he is playing and just in his diaper he will look down at his diaper and try to figure it out down there. Its funny but a pain!

and then it brings us to his tooth..........its barely there, a tiny white part sticking up and if you run your had across it you catch the hard edge/bump....I am sort of sad! and could certainly cry...hahaha I cry when I see newborn babies anywhere......I am blaming breastfeeding hormones....haha!

[Orion]

Discovering the Item: Hello...it's only his most favorite toy in the world! Somedays, at bath time, I am really worried that he is going to rip it off! Some of the things he does with it really makes me cringe and I'm not even a guy!

Whit: Regarding solids...I usually offer Dalton food until he no longer is interested/opening his mouth. Somedays he will eat a few bites and be done and other days I refill his bowl a couple of times. And don't bother even trying to figure babies out. It just seems like you figure them out and they change!

Amount of Solids: I make my own baby food so I can't talk amount of jars but I freeze my purees in ice cube trays. Most meals, Dalton will eat 3 - 4 cubes of food. Some days more some days less but that is the average. I'm thinking that maybe that is equivalent to one jar?

[MrsKinnison]

Solids ~ for breakfast Ollie usually has 2 cubes of fruit and I may or may not mix some cereal into it. For Dinner I have been giving him 4 cubes of veggies, though sometimes I think he might eat even more. We started yogurt today and he ate the entire container of a Yo Baby and I think he was a little mad when it was gone. I usually give him a few Puffs while I am getting his meal ready. Every so often he also gets an Organic Vanilla Biscuit for Teethers (forget who makes them) and he absolutely LOVES those! They definately require a bath afterwards though :D

Discovering himself ~ Not so much during diaper changes yet, but definately in the tub. It's amazing how rough they can be with it, huh?

Poo ~ Typically he will go a few times a day, but I agree that solid poo is much easier. Not nearly as messy! I was a little concerned at first because it does seem so much more solid, but he goes regularly and easily so I guess he is fine.

Babyproofing ~ I feel like a bad mother as I haven't done a single thing yet. He's not crawling yet though, so I guess I have a little time still.

PJ's ~ Always in cotton pj's and most of the time with feet. Even during the summer he mostly always wore pj's to bed. I just found that he slept much better that way unless it was really hot out.

Hair ~ I haven't noticed any regrowth, but I am still shedding like crazy!

[whitlockan]

Opinions please....

Z has had a nasty cough its now a really congested breathing. He has had no fever and is a happy baby so I figured just a regular ole cold. Well a case of RSV was reported at school today and apparently that stuff spreads like wildfire. Am I being an overzelous parent if I take him in during the sick walk in visits hours at his ped in the morning to be sure this is nothing more than a cold? I just feel like I am reacting so quickly and just freaking myself out.

[goldengbridge]

Whit- I would if I were you. My nephew was exposed to RSV at daycare and ended up catching it and needed to be admitted to the hospital becauase it got too advanced. I hope its just a cold but if it is something else they can treat it if its early. Good luck!

[kindermom]

Whit - By all means take him in if you can!

Solids - H hates purees so for now we only eat cheerios (or joe's o's), steamed apples that are diced, diced bananas, and diced squash. He gets one cube or a quarter banana and about 1/4 cup of cheerios 2x day. I have also noticed that he is a lot fussier when I give him cereals and purees. I think he may have his father's sensitive stomach.

Discovering himself - Nope, not yet!

Poo - We have gone from every 4-5 days to once a day or so. because we are still on limited solids we have messy poos. H is not a fan of the more solid ones as he gets freaked out and sobs.

Babyproofing - We are slowly getting things baby proofed. I am learning that our home is toddler proofed but not baby proofed which is challenging. We are running out of time though because H is a active crawler and is starting to cruise.

PJ's - we were onesies, and cotton jammies right now. Our house is set at 72 degrees but he also sleeps most of the time with us. I also make PJ pants and will put H in those with long sleeve tees.

Hair - I am still shedding quite a bit too and have not noticed any baby bangs yet.

[betsyboop]

Well, we had a pretty rough day here:( We had our follow up appt at the Dr to see how Millie's gaining weight. She now weighs 12lb 14oz which means she has lost nearly 1lb since we saw the Dr for her mango reaction about 3 weeks ago. She has dropped off the charts and is actually only 3oz. more than she was on July 9 (at that time, she was in the 25th percentile). She is way off from doubling her birth weight (that would be 13lb 15oz). She has been formally diagnosed with failure to thrive. I'm so upset and worried, I can't even put it into words.

After the appt, we had to go to the lab so they could draw blood to test for thyroid problems, ciliac disease, and a bunch of other things that I'm blanking out on right now. The tech couldn't get a vein in either arm, so they sent us to a special lab for children where they stuck her again. They said the first lab blew through her veins and we'll have to wait a few days for them to heal before getting anything. Millie's crying during this ordeal was horrible- she was choking and gasping because she was crying so hard and I just felt so sad that I had to do this to her. And she'll have to go through it one more time when we go and try again. The Dr was talking about sending her to a gastrointerologist (sp?) depending on the test results.

So for now, we have to double her solid food quantity- we'll go from one meal of about 5oz to 2 meals of the same size. He also wants us to try giving her a 4oz bottle of formula (I'm out of pumped milk) after each time I nurse her.

The one good thing is that she has been meeting all of her milestones and she's happy and energetic. The Dr said that if we were living in a time before baby scales, he wouldn't think there was a thing wrong with her. So, I'm really just hoping that the test come out fine and that she's just destined to be small. But there's part of me that keeps wondering why? I mean, she's SOOO small, not just kind of small, you know? She's the size of a small 4 month old and she's 7.5 months. I don't know- I was just hoping for some words of encouragement or something. I've been teary all afternoon/evening. You never want to hear that there may be something wrong with your baby:(

[littlemia]

Betsy- I'm so sorry. I hope the tests come back fine but I know you want answers.

[shimmerstar]

I'm sorry Betsy. That must have been horrible, not to mention all the worry you're going through. If she is meeting her milestones that is a great sign. I hope they figure it out without too many more tests.

[kindermom]

Betsy - I am so sorry to hear about M. I can begin to imagine the concern you must have for her. I hope you are at least having some peace of mind in that she is meeting her milestones to date.Keep us posted.

[danalou]

Betsy - I am sorry to hear about the diagnosis. I can only imagine how you must feel having to deal with all the added stress. Hang in there girlfriend and know we are here for you!!

[miaclear]

Betsy - Hugs. I'm sorry you're going through that and I hope they find an answer real soon. Meeting the milestones though is great! Just keep loving on her and she'll forget about the pricks real quick.

Boy Parts - He's found them at bath time but is actually pretty gentle with them.

New QOTD Sleeping Habits - I know we go through this one every once in awhile but I like to find out what everyone's babies are up to. Bedtime, Waketime and getting up in the middle of the night, and then naps. DS goes to bed about 8:30 pm, and sleeps till about 8:00 am (sometimes a bit earlier, sometimes a bit later). He wakes once or twice for a quick feeding which usually takes about 10-15 min. He's napping 2-3 times a day. Depending on if his first two naps are long (2 hours each) he'll either take the 3rd nap or not. This is new, until a week ago he's been a consistent 3 a day napper.

[MrsKinnison]

Betsy ~ I am so sorry you are going through this. I agree, meeting her milestones and being a happy, energetic baby are very good signs. Hopefully it is nothing more than her just being small. Perhaps she is destined to be an Olympic gymnast! We are all sending postive vibes your way!!

Sleeping ~ Ollie is usually in bed by 7:30 and wakes up around 7am. He wakes 2 times a night, but lately I have been trying not to feed him the first time as I've figured out he isn't really hungry then, but comfort nursing. I've been using an 8hr rule ~ if its been 8 hours since he last ate he is probably hungry, if not he just needs to be soothed (or maybe have something for his teeth). So far it is working okay. He typically takes 3 naps a day, the first about 1 1/2 to 2 hours after waking in the morning and unfortunately this is usually his longest nap of the day, about 1 - 1 1/2 hours. After that its maybe 30min naps tops. He still naps about every 2 hours during the day, but goes a little longer after his last nap until bed time.

We got his pictures done over the weekend at Picture People. We have a friend who works there and she did an amazing job. Here is a link to some of the pics. Unfortunately it doesn't include the one's they made adjustments to because we got some beautiful black and whites. She also made us on of him and the duckie where he is in black and white and the duck is in color. I spent a small fortune, but how could I not? I blame it all on DH since I figure it is his fault Ollie is so darn cute since he looks absolutely nothing like his mother :D Ollie Pictures (http://smilestore.picturepeople.com/my/images?tk=bc11016c-c00c-4cb8-a3a0-51330cba7478)

[peachtree123]

Betsy-I am a March Mom lurker but I wanted to tell you that my 15 month old niece now weighs less than my almost 7 month old (a few weeks ago they were the same weight. As of her last appt she was still on the charts so we will see what her doc says at her next appt, but she is happy, healthy and adorable. Some kids are just small.

[Orion]

Betsy: I know how upset you must be right now and as hard as it is to put your daughter through all these tests it is the best thing to do for her because when all those tests come back normal, you will feel relieved and know that she is fine...just petite. My 22 month old daughter is very petite (we just made is back onto the charts at the last weight check in August) and my 7 month old weighs more than her! She gets mistaken for 9 - 12 months old all the time. I went through all of the same tests you are going through back in March and they all came back normal. Like Millie, Sophie has hit all of her milestones and is a very happy, heathy toddler...just very petite. But she does come by it honestly...both DH and I (and siblings) were all petite as babies. I'm not going to tell you not to worry because having been through that situation I know that there are a million things going through your mind right now. And I'm sure that like me, you are feeling like this is all your fault and that everyone thinks that you are a horrible Mama (in my opinion "failure to thrive" is a horrible way to put it because if the babies are happy, healthy and hitting all milestones, how are they not thriving??? They are just petite!) but don't worry about what anyone else thinks. You know that you are doing the very best for Millie and that is obvious from the fact that she is happy and meeting all the milestones. In this day and age, doctors are so used to seeing large babies and when a petite one comes by they just want to make sure everything is fine and puts them (and the parents) through a lot of different tests. Just take each day in stride and try not to worry too much. If you ever need to talk or vent or ask questions (we've been to a pediatric weight specialist, a nutrionist, to the hospital for a ton of tests and I have a ton of web sites on baby/toddler eating habits when they are petite) your can e-mail me at jess_curry@hotmail.com. Sorry to write a book here but obviously this hits a sore nerve with me as well.

[betsyboop]

Thanks so much for the well-wishes everyone. It really means a lot. We've already had some success, which is a relief. We had tried to give her formula a week or 2 ago to see if she'd take it for a babysitter, but she hated it, so we thought the whole formula thing was going to be a huge struggle. We spoon fed some to her last evening mixed with barley and she gobbled it up. But then, she rejected a bottle of it without barley after her bedtime nurse. Then this morning, we mixed 2oz of formula with 2oz of breastmilk (one of my last bags from the freezer) and she gulped it down. And right before her nap, I nursed her and then gave her a bottle of straight formula and she took it. Yay!

Sleep- I'm so happy with our sleep situation. She goes to bed sometime around 8 or 8:30. I wake her to feed her at 11 when Dave and I go to bed. Then she sleeps until 7:30ish. She recently went from 3 naps to 2. Her morning nap starts at 10ish and is usually about 1.5hr. Her afternoon nap starts at around 2 and is about 2hr.

[betsyboop]

Orion- I must have been writing my reply when you posted. Thank you for all the info. You're right, I am totally blaming myself for not producing enough milk or not letting her nurse for long enough or something. I don't even know what has gone wrong, but I do feel like I'm somehow at fault. My Dr didn't really want to even tell my about the failure to thrive diagnosis because of how awful it sounds, but specifically I asked. Thanks for the email address- I'm sure I'll have questions along the way!

[shimmerstar]

MrsK- Those backwards hat pics are too much!

Sleeping- We have had a hard time with daycare and adjusting. He usually goes down at 715 and sleeps until I wake him at 630. Except this morning when he woke at 5am for no reason. :rolleyes: Since he has to get up early, his naps are all early too, so he takes three on a good day. We have to keep him up until at least 7 or he wakes up too early. His naps at school are anywhere from 25 minutes -2.5 hours. I think the other babies wake him up.

On the weekends, he sleeps from 8-730 and takes two 1.5-2.5 hour naps. It makes me sad that he doesn't do that at school too. He also barely eats any formula at school but does fine on the weekends.

[danalou]

Sleeping - What am I doing wrong with this as my DD has only slept 8+ hours less times than I can count on one hand!! I am really starting to get annoyed with it as it has gotten worse than better these days. She goes down at 8 pm and then usually won't get up until 2 or 3 am for a quick feeding and then right back down till I had to feed before work around 6am & 8am on weekends. Lately she has been waking up every 2 hours at night crying bloody murder. Sometimes is it a super wet diaper, gas or even the extra messy dirty diaper. It seems the past week I have to feed her at 12am and then again around 5am, but I know she shouldn't be hungry that fast. She was 18lbs @ 6 months, but oddly enough she is only taking 2 bottles at daycare these days. Typically feeding is as follows -

12am - BF
5am - BF
Daycare (7:30am - 4pm) - 2 x 4oz bottles + 1 x stage 1 container
5pm - 4 oz bottle
6pm - cereal + 1 x stage 1 container
8pm - BF

My best guess at ounces per day is 24-30 ounces of breastmilk. I send 5 x 4oz bottles to daycare these days, but she hasn't taken 3 in over a month. I wish I could increase her volume during the day to sleep longer at night, but she really dislikes the bottle these days. I would just like to start getting some quality sleep for myself and my daughter!! I keep thinking she is teething, but we still have yet to even have the first one appear!!

Shoes - I am curious what kind of shoes you plan to have your kids use once they move from crawling to walking?? I have been looking into Robeez and Jack and Lily shoes. I would love to find a buy one get one free sale on them!!

[miaclear]

dana....DS was exactly like your post with the one feeding. Then suddenly it was two and for awhile three feedings a night! Even though I knew he wasn't hungry that's how I got him to go back to bed. Then the teeth came! Four in a five week period. My best guess is that's what caused the disruption. He fairly quckly went back to two feedings, then one, and just last night didn't wake at all! So hang on. I believe they call it a phase ;) (I'm really hating that word)

[Kanga]

Betsy - So sorry to hear about Millie. Hope everything is ok and she is just on the small side. Cami hasn't doubled her birthweight yet either and is only in the 5th percentile for weight.

Routine - She goes down around 8, wakes at 10/10:30, then one or two other time during the night (i don't look at the clock) and again around 5 or 6. She may or may not go back to sleep at the 5/6 feeding. We plan on night weaning around a year. More accurately, dh will do the night weaning.;) He's none too thrilled about it, but hey, I'm the one feeding her three or four times a night, every night for a year. He can spend a week or two getting up with her. She gets up around 6 or 7a for the day and takes 3 naps usually, though occasionally she takes 2 which makes me think she's starting to transition to two longer ones. We're not consistent on solids. She hardly ever takes the spoon, but will eat 3-4 cubes worth of food in her mesh feeder. I usually use it to entertain her so I can eat one meal without somebody climbing all over me. So danalou, I really don't think it's anything you're doing. Some babies are good sleepers, and some aren't. Some are big eaters, and others not so much, etc.

[Orion]

Sleep/Nursing: Dalton goes to bed at 6 pm and his night waking varies. Some nights he gets up once and other nights it is three times. But he usually wakes up between 6:30 and 7 am for the day. He also takes two naps during the day (one at 9 am and the other at around 1 pm).

Shoes: We have Roobeez for both DD and DS as we follow the rule that soft soled shoes are best. Even DD who is walking wears Roobeez. The only time she doesn't is if we are going outside to play and even than her hard soled shoes are Stride Rite stage two's so they are still pretty soft.

[Janey]

Betsy - I'm so sorry for your troubles with Millie's size, and I'm glad to hear that formula is not the struggle you thought it would be!

Sleeping - She normally goes to sleep somewhere between 9:30 - 10:30, and wakes up at 7-7:30. No night-wakings. She wants her first nap around 9 am, and then wants a few cat-naps in the afternoons. I can never seem to get her to take a good nap in the afternoon!

Shoes - I bought a pair of Robeez purple butterfly shoes because she seems to have a lot of purple clothes these days. I wanted the ones with the teddy bears on them too because they are neutral and would match anything, so mom ordered those when she ordered her baptism shoes (Robeez Party Bow). Mom ordered the baptism shoes in White even though K's dress is off-white cause we were having trouble finding off-white shoes... and then I found the same Party Bow shoes in cream, so she ordered those too. So now the kid has as many pairs of shoes as I do. :p

[betsyboop]

Shoes- I didn't realize that Robeez were for walkers. For some reason, I was thinking they were for smaller babies. Guess I was wrong! Anyway, we have 2 pairs of Robeez -one in 0-6 months that she wears now and one in 6-12 months that I thought she'd be wearing now, but she hasn't grown into yet. No other shoes yet. We mostly just put socks on her when we go out now that it's cold (she was barefoot before).

Update- It looks like the 2 partial bottles she took yesterday morning were just a fluke. She hasn't taken a bottle since:rolleyes: We've resorted to spoon feeding formula mixed with barley (to thicken it). Not a great long-term solution...

[goldengbridge]

Betsy- So sorry to hear about Millie. I hope its nothing and that everything comes back ok.

Sleeping- Ashlyn goes to bed around 7 pm and usually wakes up 1-2 times to nurse. Shes usually up for the day between 7 and 8 am. She only takes ONE nap a day if you can believe that! Its really early for her to only sleep for one nap but thats what she's been doing for awhile.

Shoes- She has Robeez and stride rite soft soled shoes. I always buy Stride rite for my son since he was little and I will buy them for Ash too. They're a little more expensive but I've always believed that taking care of their feet is very important. Plus, I love the lady that measures Andrew and I feel assured since they measure and then check the shoes to make sure they're perfect.

[happy1nuv]

For the first time ever joe ate 2 cubes worth of food at one sitting...he seemed pretty into it too (well, im not sure how into it he was, but i was letting him chew on a big chunk of raw carrot between bites so i think that helped)

Sleep: Hmmm... not so good here. Joe goes to bed between 6:30/7 and is generally up around 10ish, 1ish, 3ish and then sometime around 4:45-6. I bring him into bed with me at this point and let him sleep on the boob (bad, i know...but its the ONLY way i've found to get a bit more sleep). He usually takes a morning nap around 8 (30-45 min long), then a 30 min nap around 12, and if i'm LUCKY he'll take another 30 min nap around 3:30 or so... he's usually way overtired by 6 and sooo ready to go down for the night. I think his sleep might be a bit better if i had a little more time to devote to it, but nic precludes that... I'm soooo hoping this is a phase that will change on its own, cause its killing me...

[buffy]

betsy ~ I hope all the tests come out ok. I know it's hard having them done but it'll be nice to rule things out so you're not always wondering.

sleep ~ not so hot. Bedtime is usually somewhere around 9:30-10:30 - if I put her down earlier she treats it as a nap and then is awake until 11:30/12:00. Ugh. She usually gets up at least 3 times each night. I start her in her crib and then bring her into bed with me after she wakes up the first time so I can get some sleep. She generally takes 2 naps for about 2 hours each time but the times vary depending on when she gets up. Generally mid-morning and then mid afternoon. But if we're out and about which we are a lot she usually catnaps for one and then takes a decent nap later on. She just got her first 2 teeth last week but I can't blame her bad sleep habits on them since she has pretty much always been like that. I think she slept all through the night only once.

shoes ~ we are a Robeez family. I just put my 2 year old in hard soled shoes a month or so ago actually. I only put shoes on Morgan if it's cold out which hasn't been too often but I'm sure she'll be wearing them more later this fall.

[kindermom]

Sleep - We went from a really great sleep for the first three months to being a crappy sleeper. H goes down around 8:00. He is up around 10:30 for about 15 minutes. This is when is usually gets the bulk of his nighttime feeding. He is up again around 3:30. What stinks is that 75% of the time he is really us at 10:30, 1:30, & 3:30. I get up for ork at 5:00 so it is killing me.

Shoes - We are a no shoes family. If we do have to wear shoes he will wera Robeez knock offs. DD finally started wearing nonleather-soled shoes consistently when she was about 20 months. I suspect because DS will be learning to walk in the winter that he will not be wearing any shoes at all until he is at least 1.

H's crazy gas pain stopped once we discontinued baby oatmeal. I would think it was the grain but really he eats cheerios like there is no tomorrow. I also realized he HATES purees. I am so glad I did not go to town making them yet. Instead he prefers chunkier food already. So I need to figure out a use for 48 sweet potato cubes and I will replace them with diced baked sweet potato.

[Kanga]

So I need to figure out a use for 48 sweet potato cubes and I will replace them with diced baked sweet potato.


I'll be using it to sneak in veggies. Mix into yogurt and pancake batter. I need to get going on making the cubes, but I feel like I just got done with making all the purees so I've been slacking.

[whitlockan]

betsy good luck!! <<HUGS>>

shoes he has a pair of pedipeds - the tan liam style, so CUTE and I plan to order a pair of robeez, the ones that are white and navy blue, look more like sneakers - I just am not a fan of all the images on them. I LOVE all the styles of the pedipeds so I see myself over indulging in those. HA! Anyways the only time shoes go on his feet are if its cold out, I plan for the winter and certainly once he starts walking to use the roobeez for school. Other than that he is a barefoot or sock baby.....although we all know socks dont stay on long! **Nordstroms is fanastic for fitting and to my suprise they were not marked up on the kids shoes.

sleep He goes down at 7:15-7:30pm ish, a time he completley chose on his own and for the past 3 1/2 months he has kept waking up in the middle of the night, he would get up around 1:30 am to nurse and then thankfully I get up at 4:00 because thats what his other wake up time was. Lately he would wake up screaming his head off, I am convinced its teething. I dont want to completly jinx myself but last night was fanastic......he went down at 7:30 pm and didnt wake up ONCE until 5:45 am this morning. Oh it was heaven again....of course I woke up at 3:30 am so full and with soaking wet sheets on my sides. Either way 6 hours of uninturrupted sleep is incredible!

teeth I hate this whole process but I think we are oh so close. He has had the hard little white bump on his bottom gum and he would just keep running his tounge over it etc.....this morning he wouldnt stop I looked in there, his gum was so swallon and white....someone please tell me that sucker is going to pop through in the next few days. It hasnt been too bad, he doesn't fuss about it but just the amount of drool alone, he could fill an 8 oz glass in no time....its a wonder the dogs havent used him as there water bowl.

eating/feeding I need some advice or let me know if this is completely normal or if just seems teething related. we can NOT get him to drink ANY milk. The past 2 days he refuses to nurse, the past 2 weeks he has refused a bottle, I changed the nipple stage and he still plays with it, a sippy cup he drinks a few oz and stops because I think its mostly lazieness! But get this.....I couldnt wait for him to nurse, he kept playing and I had a let down so I was like screw this I am pumping, it was time anyways....I gave him that bottle he spit it out, I sat it on the play mat (we use our rock climbing crash pad for the living room) he crawls over to it grabs and it eats a few oz puts it down, plays and repeats.....what a little stinker! If he gets bottles of milk at home and he plays with it we normally just take it away but since hes not eating I dont know what to do I certainly dont want this to be a habit. He will eat solids though so I have been putting tons of extra milk in both his cereal and veggies everytime. Ped said around 9 months is normal for bottle/nursing rejection but this is a little early yet.....could it be the teething?

I have a QOTD does your DC understand no? If so what reaction do they give you? Z understands it, if he does something and I say no Z (in a nice soft tone) he looks up and laughes at you! He does it a few more times and then stops but its like he is pushing his limits already. School has mentioned this as well, they thought we were lauhging when he did something we didnt like or want but we dont, he thinks its the funniest thing EVER to be told no! Its like thats his cue to laugh every single time so its clear he understands it.

I cant believe in 5 days he will be 7 months!! Ekk....he can already get into way to much now, I had him sitting on the floor while I was running his bath (last time he crawled and pulled himself up to the tub and watched the water running (of course I was right there but still....scray....this time he opened the toilet seat part way)!! Ugh this weekend EVERY inch of our condo will have to be babyproofed. Not one place is safe, his crib he thinks its entertaining to get his legs stuck in the slats and does it over and over.....btw by the sounds of it I think its safe to say I have a huge trouble maker! Oh and he knows how to pick up the girls, Madison is 1 1/2 months younger than him but thats his GF at school they said she was sucking one foot and they caught him sucking on her foot/sock.....my child really knows how to pick up the ladies!

Okay time to get some work done.......sorry for the long post and long absences

[miaclear]

QOTD - NO: What you mean there's things DS shouldn't be getting into:o JK. Actually since DS is still fairly stationary he doesn't get into anything. About the only time we've said no is when the cat walks by him and he tries to grab a chunk of fur. I don't think he understands.

Ladies....my engagement ring FINALLY fits again! I joined WW and even though I'm ten pounds less than I was when I got pg it just finally fits! I still can't get my engagement ring and wedding ring on at the same time but one's better than nothing. At least I don't feel like an unwed mother.

[Tandis]

Miaclear - Congrats on the ring fitting and for losing the weight! :D Last week, I rejoined WW (after being gone since 2005) and have already lost 5 pounds. It's just the best diet ever.

No - I'm not certain my girls have ever heard the word "No" so I'd have to say they definitely don't understand it yet.

Shoes - My parents just bought my girls the cutest pink and purple glitter shoes from JC Penney's. They have rubber soles, but the only time they wear them is when we go outside (since it's gotten cold recently), and if their feet get cold while they're in their walkers. Otherwise, they just wear socks.

Sleep - My girls haven't changed their schedule since they started STTN in June. Down at 8 pm, up at 6 am. They might occasionally wake up closer to 6:30, but they seem to know *exactly* when they're supposed to get up, so there is never any extra sleep on the weekends. :rolleyes: That said, the last few days V has been up around 1 am because she's gotten cold. Leaving their door open at night, and dressing them in slightly heavier PJs seems to have helped, so hopefully that's at an end.

Whit - My girls have been doing that recently as well. It's like everything is just too interesting to stop and eat. We offer them their bottle, and they drink until something catches their attention. Usually they'll get hungry again 15-20 minutes later, which is when they'll finish their bottle.

We also changed their nipple size which caused a *major* bottle strike - they would refuse the bottle outright, or just play with the nipple by chewing on it and spitting it out. We ended up having to switch back to the size 1 Dr. Brown's nipples because that's all they'll accept.

So try switching the nipple back to the one he's used to, and see if that helps. As for paying attention while eating, I'm sure that will come back when he's about 20 or so ;) Did you take him in to get checked for RSV?

Betsy - I hope all the tests come back okay, and it's just that she's destined to be small. :)

Goldengbridge - How is your son doing? Has he had anymore problems?

Words - Miss A has started babbling like crazy lately, and I swear I've already heard her say - boy, Dad, Mum, Ma, Sissy and (Lastname). It's funny because she was "talking" to DH when she said "boy" and "Dad" and she was "talking" to me when she said everything else. :D She's also quite proficient with the word "Hey!" (which is how she gets our attention in the crib), and she said "Hi" to me yesterday when I came to pick them up from my parents.

Miss V cries for "Ma!" when she's in her crib and wants out, and says "mimi" or "lulu" when she's hungry :D

[whitlockan]

MrsK I meant to post those are great pictures!! I LOVE that sweater and that costume is soooooo stinking cute, he wears it well. I think its so funny to see baby's that have a costume to make there personality. I dont know it just looks like it was meant just for him!! LOVE IT!!

Tandis I was using the orginal stage 2 nipples for about 3 months now and he has been fine until 2 weeks ago then I just put in stage 3 he would take more now refuses. So I should go back to 2?

[Tandis]

It wouldn't hurt to try goin back to stage 2 and see if that makes a difference. Stage 3 was what my girls hated, but in all fairness I did jump them from Stage 1 straight to 3, which probably wasn't the best thing to do. :rolleyes: But try the stage 2 and see if he goes back to eating. :)

[whitlockan]

had to post since someone mentioned refering to the ped as the vet. Well 2 things.....

1) Zachary listend without laughing when I said no and I had just got done petting one of our dogs, would you believe I patted his head and said good boy.....

2) I was in the kitchen, walking around the corner so he was out of my sight for a few seconds, I come around and I couldnt not beleive my eyes......what I thought was clearly out of reach was not.....he was knawing our dogs KONG :eek: It was so funny but one of those OMG that is so gross!!! Thankfully our dogs are not toy protective.

the house is 100% babyproofed as of this weekend....okay well everything I can possibly think of but I'm sure he will show us something we didnt do.

[shimmerstar]

Whit- Noah LOVES dog toys. My brother's hyper dog leaves her toys all over the house and he will laugh and crawl to them to try to chew them. Even rawhides!

Has anyone else noticed your kid rotating through phases? Noah will have a week where he sticks his tongue out all the time. Then he will go to blowing raspberries. Then he'll babble (dada, etc). He also has a screaming one, which he's in right now. Then the pattern repeats. He won't stick his tongue out or babble for anything right now, but he would a few weeks ago. I just think that's weird. We also rotate through bad sleep times. He did great until 4 months and then we had a hard couple weeks with sleeping. Now we're having another another one because he's been sick and just wants to sleep in my arms. :( I wonder if we'll have one at 12 months too.

During the day he's super sweet and pulling up on everything. I have been trying some table food with him but he mostly gags on it.

[Kanga]

phases - not really. We did have a stint of good sleep from 3-5 months, but that's long gone. A good night is waking 2-3x. A month and half and she'll be 9 months (where I'll feel comfortable sleep training)...counting down.

dog toys - oh yes. Anytime we visit somebody with dogs, they're always worried about the dog taking the baby toys, but it's always the other way around for us.

whit - too funny! I've been known to say "good kitty" when dd1 was this age, and I believe I've even attempted to scratch her ears. And I know i'm way late, but it sounds like z is going through a bottle and nursing strike all at the same time. I have no experience with it but I hear it mentioned in the bf thread quite a bit, so i'm sure they'd have some good ideas or at least know where to steer you.

the word 'no' - I don't beleive she's ever heard it in reference to her. Occasionally i say it to dd1, but I fstill find it works better with her to redirect her and explain exactly what she should do. The first time dealing with dd1, was when was reaching for an outlet and I said "Daytona no, please don't touch that." in a really upbeat voice. I had her in tears and came running back to me for a hug:o I guess it was the first time she realized that she could do something I didn't approve of and it broke her little heart, but what was I supposed to do...let her touch the outlet?:o

shoes - we're a robeez (knockoff) family too. I think they look kinda funny, but they stay on and are pretty popular around here, so whatever works right? Which reminds me, I need to get my butt out of the house and buy her a pair before it gets too cold.

We've had a rough past couple of days/nights. Everyone but dh is sick. Cami was running somewhat of a high fever (102), Daytona's voice was crackly (though she felt fine) and I have a killer cold. But, I'm drugged up now, and Cami is feeling much better (though still no teeth to show for that fever, grr). I felt awful for her. She didn't want to play, was whining all day, and spent most of her time in my lap just looking around and whining. The worst part of it was, I couldn't find my phone yesterday to call dh and tell him he needed to come home so I could get some rest. Still mad about that, actually, lol.

[betsyboop]

Kanga- I hope you all feel beter soon.

Phases- Millie does this too. Right now, we're in a phase where she's constantly getting "annoyed" and she shows it by scrunching up her face and panting through her nose. It's hilarious. Before that, she was into raspberries, and before that was saying mamama and dadada. Oh actually, right now she's also into swishing her saliva around in her mouth. You can hear it when she does it:p

No- I don't think we've really used it yet. If she's getting into something she shouldn't, I just say "not for babies" and move her away from the area to play with something else.

mia- Congrats on the weight loss!

We had an eventful weekend- it was Millie's first night away from Mom and Dad:eek: She spent Sat night at my parents' house while Dave and I celebrated our anniversary by hanging out for the day in Boston and having a nice dinner. Apparently, she had a great time being shown off to all my parent's friends and neighbors:D

She's gotten really good at taking the bottle, which is a relief. However, I feel terrible that she's been hungry all these months and we didn't even realize:( She nurses for like 10-15 min and then takes a 4oz bottle after pretty much every feeing- and I have to say that I really think she's put on weight already. Her face looks chubbier and we had to loosen the waist belt on her booster chair this morning. I just hope she's still a 3-6 month size at Thanksgiving because I already bought a dress for her to wear!

[miaclear]

Phases....What I've noticed is DS will do a new trick for us and then it'll drop off the face of the earth for a few weeks. Then he'll bring it back and perfect it. The other day he finally got on his knees and was rocking but it hasn't happened since.

worrysome bump.... I have noticed on occasion a bump on my breast that seems to start off like a scratch. I haven't really kept the best eye on it but I wish I would have. I'm fairly certain it's from DS scratching me there, but last night it was less like a scratch and more like a pimple. It's very much on the surface and about the size of a moderate zit. It's red and I can see the itty bitty red veins around it. I really think it's just a scratch that got a bit infected but I hate that it's on my breast. I'm going to see what it looks like tomorrow and then call my Dr if I think I need too. Anyone else experience anything similar?

[shimmerstar]

Mia- I haven't, but I would call your doc. Not to freak you out, but that really nasty staph infection is supposed to start like a pimple. Hope it's nothing!

[betsyboop]

mia- Not to scare you further, but doesn't skin cancer sometimes start out like a pimple? Not that your boob would be a likely spot for skin cancer though:p

[danalou]

DD finally started crawling and it couldn't have happened at a better time. My in-laws came in for a visit this past weekend and DD started crawling in the beginning of their trip and then had improved leaps and bounds by the time they left yesterday!! We had to babyproof the area which included picking up the cat toys. I got a laugh out of all the babies and dog toys as it is fun how kids like all the toys, but the ones you pay money for!!

I hope everyone is doing well and congrats to Miaclear on the rings fitting!! Tandis what form of WW are you doing (points or flex)? Once I am done breastfeeding I will do the online points again. I am down below my pre-preg weight, but I would like to lose an additional 10 lbs before we try for a second kid!!

[miaclear]

Betsy & Shimmer - Hmmmmm ya got me thinking now too. I decided to wait 24 hours to see if it looked better but it pretty much looks the same. The redness is about an inch and a half in diameter, doesn't itch or anything. I called my Dr's nurse this morning and she's usually pretty good about calling back quickly. I hope she lets me come see her. Sometimes she tells me to go see my regular Dr, which I don't have, just go to urgent care.....probably should find one.

ETA: They're getting me in this morning.

[whitlockan]

kanga awe thats so cute, I only ever tell him know when hes pulling my hair out because it HURTS!!! Hope the fam is feeling better....sending wellness vibes your way

mia everything okay?

tandis yeah I forgot to mention no RSV but tis a good thing we got checked out, I just didnt want to be the one who got all the babies that are barely 10 weeks old in his class super sick, I would feel awful!!

betsy glad the bottle is working out.....hugs you did a GREAT job and still are!! BTW I hope the outfit fits ;)

Phases YES....I was starting to wonder what happend but now it makes complete sense.

Dana thats awesome everyone was around for it......in terms of the toys we pay money for, are you telling me but I guess it will always go that way, always fascinated by what they can't have right. I was reading in babycenter give them a pot and a wooden spoon and let them bang....I'm not quite ready for that munch noise in my house.

Since shimmer mentioned it but is anyone else completely freaked out about MRSA? My hair dresser's daughter just recovered from it her experience was awful nearly died because the doctor kept putting it off and she kept telling them thats what it was. Anyways a TON of the high school football players right up the road has a huge case of it right now. I am completely freaked out by it since its happening so close to home. I tell ya what is this world coming to!?!

QOTD I cant believe were to this point now but.....DS moves to "old moos" next week. I would like to get his teachers something small, what do you ladies suggest - other than a GC to a resturant? Or do I not give htem anything

*This was a shock to DH he and I had mentioned how I always got my teachers stuff for hte holidays as well he laughed and told me to wipe the brown off my nose, he got them good grades so they could keep there jobs....yeah he is terrible? He said as much as were paying them a month we dont need to get them anything....

Also......we have a babysitter for our holiday parties at work, she knows Z very well....here is another QOTD she will spend 2 hours with Z while he is awake, she has to change his diaper, feed him and then put him to bed and then she will spend another 3 hours doing whatever.....how much should we pay her? Is 50.00 fair for 4 1/2 hours since a majority of it he is asleep or shoudl I pay her more. She will be watching him Friday night and then again the that Saturday night as well. I feel like 10.00 an hour is cheap since thats what my mom paid babysitters for me when I was little in the 80's. So whats the going rate?


**sorry for my disorganization I am trying to fly by and still able to keep up**

[miaclear]

Update: She looked concerned because she didn't see a break in the skin, meaning it was likely just an infection and not something coming from within. But after squeezing it really hard OUCH:eek:she thought she saw a break. I am fairly certain it started with a scratch on Sunday, but I had to agree....the break in the skin is pretty invisible. Anyhow she told me to put a warm compress on it three times a day, gave me a weeks worth of antibiotics. I am to call her if in 2 days it looks like it's getting worse, or if in 7 days it's not gone. At which case she'll schedule a mamogram. I am 99.5% positive it's just an infection from a scratch but man I hate that other .5%.

[Tandis]

Whit - $10 an hour! :eek: Wow, when I babysat (late 80's/early 90's), I was lucky to get $2.50 an hour! Heck, I was once watching this lady's two kids all day long, three days a week and made $15 a day. And I thought that was pretty darn good :D Obviously, I didn't charge enough and needed to babysit for your mom ;) Anyway, I know you live in a more expensive part of the States than I do, so I would have to assume that $50 for hardly doing anything is a pretty good rate. :)

Miaclear - Good luck and I hope it's just an infection.

Danalou - I'm doing the Flex. Yay for being below your Pre-Preg weight! I just finally made it back down to my lowest *since* the girls have been born. Now everything else is baby weight.

Kanga - Hope everyone is feeling better at your house!

[kindermom]

No time for SOs but whit that sounds fair. A high school student in our area makes about $6-8 for one child and I would expect to pay more for someone a little older.

[goldengbridge]

Tandis- Thank you so much for asking about Andrew. He is doing well. Yesterday marked the one year anniv. since he came from the hospital. What a year it was. He is doing well heart wise. He doesn't go back for a check up till January. He just started preschool and he loves it! No one besides his teachers know that he has a heart defect which is a good thing since he looks and acts like a normal 3 year old. The only way anyone would know is if they saw his scar. The oldest person living with his heart defect is 23 but we're hopeful with science and technology that is problems do arise, they'll be able to help him live a long and healthy life! Thank you again for thinking of him!

[littlemia]

Shoes- we don't have any yet, but I think I'm going to get some Pedipeds. They're soft soled and have a lot of really cute styles.

Sleep- a good night for us is waking 2-3 times, too. I actually don't mind this too much as I nurse when she wakes up, so it's a way for her to get some much needed extra calories. It's the nights where she wakes up every 20-30 minutes for a few hours that are killer.

Dog toys- she loves 'em. I just keep telling myself that she's building her immune system.

Phases- yep, though I haven't noticed a pattern. I like the babbling days much better than the screaming days.

goldengbridge- Glad to hear that Andrew is doing well. I like the new avatar.

Tandis- A has quite the vocabulary!

Danalou- great timing! Claire never does anything for the ILs; it seems like she's always in a crabby mood when they see her.

Kanga- hope y'all are feeling better.

Betsy- glad to hear that Millie is starting to take her bottles. I'm sure she'll start gaining now.

Miaclear- Hopefully it will clear up soon.

Whit- one day I caught myself scratching Claire under the chin.

[kindermom]

Sleep- Any of you having early wakers. Twice this week already, H has been wide awake at 3:30 am. Thankfully we have a completely babyproofed playroom and I can lay on th efloor while he is happy as a clam playing independently. No sleeping though as he loves to pull hair.

Dog toys- Yep. M loved them at her sitters house.

Phases- No patterns that I have picked up on yet.

Goldengbridge- Wow. I know Andrew has a heart problem. But I did not know it was so serious. I am especially glad to hear that he is doing so well.

Tandis- What a talker!

Danalou- That is so cool that your ILs got to see the progression. I know that when my mom catches things like that she is really excited.

Kanga- Sending healthy thoughts your way!

Betsy- We went through something very similar with M when she was 4 months old. I think it took a few weeks of her screaming all the time to finally figure it out. Sure enough, she wanted more that I could give her. I still feel badly 2 years later. I will tell you what I tell myself. There is nothing you can do now but take care of her to the best of your ability. Now that you know what is going on, fix it. The upside is that Millie was happy and meeting milestones and not screaming and delayed.

Miaclear- Hopefully it will clear up soon.

No - We do not really use it with him. Now that I think about it nor do we use it with DD.

Us - Henry is teething again. Ugh. He is inconsolable when he has pain. Poor little guy does not sleep and likes to scream his head off. Normally he is a happy shiney little boy.

Sending healthy weight wishes to those of you starting weight loss orograms!

[Kanga]

early risers - They're early risers, but not that early. Anymore at least, thank god. Daytona had a stint from about 9-11 months old that she would be wide awake at 2 or 3 am and not go back down for 2-3 hours, every.single.day. It was awful. Then one day she just stopped. We thought we were in the clear, but then a couple of weeks later she started it again so we sleep trained by putting her in her crib and staying with her until she fell back asleep.

whit - I think $50 sounds fair. I know here there is no way I could accept $50 for basically 2 hrs worth of work and 3 hrs of lounging but you live in a much more expensive area than I do.

MRSA - I'm not freaked out yet, but there are no cases near us (that i know of anyways). I'd probably be a little more freaked if there were.

golden - Glad to hear Andrew is doing well. Hopefully the 23yr old will pave the way him and there won't be so much wondering.

Thanks for all the well wishes everyone! Everyone except me is 100% better. I wake up sounding like Kermit the Frog with a really dry sore throat but after an hour or two I'm much better. I never get sick with the more serious stuff...dh had strep earlier this year and i never caught that but I tell ya, colds always find me and they always kick my ass. Ok, enough whining about that.

Well, off to babysit a friend's kid. Her babysitter quit with 2 days notice because my friend told her they wouldn't be using her anymore for logistic reasons, nothing the babysitter did. . She doesn't make a whole lot of money and can't afford to not work. Needless to say my friend was panicking.So glad I don't have to worry about that!

[happy1nuv]

early ams - raising hand! - i cant tell you how often im downstairs between 3-5am! joe is happy, but by the time he passes back out, nic is up soon after and wakes us both up. i think joes in a constantly sleep deprived state (although for the most part he is happy enough) ... i just dont know how to fix it!

whit - i paid a mothers helper 6.00/hr to play w/ my 2 year old while i was home... would think 10.00/hr would be fine

mrsa - just heard there was a case in our hs ... not too concerned yet...

[betsyboop]

My ILs are so strange. Yesterday, Millie got a Halloween card from them in the mail. 1. Who sends Halloween cards? 2. Halloween isn't for another week. 3. She enclosed a $5 bill and 2 coupons for a brand of diapers that we don't even use (and she knows this). I really had to laugh at the $5 though- you'd think she was some 90 year old woman living in a nursing home and totally out of touch with what things cost nowadays- but she's actually 55 and a normal working woman (albeit, at a nursing home:p )

golden- Count me as another that had no idea your son's heart defect was so serious:( I'm glad he's doing well now though!

early risers- Nope, Millie sleeps until Dave starts getting ready in the morning for work, usually around 8am.

whit- I guess $10/hr sounds ok. Having never used a babysitter, I don't really know for sure though. What is old moos?

Well, we're off to Millie's appt with the gastrointerologist now- I hope he has good news for us!

[betsyboop]

We're back from the dr and we have GOOD news!! Millie has gained 1.5lb since her last weigh in a week ago:eek: She's now 14lb 1.5oz and back on the weight chart. I was so relieved as soon as the nurse announced her weight. Then the Dr came in and went over all kinds of family history, her eating habits, any symptoms, yadda yadda yadda. He was a little taken aback that I said she was taking about 24oz of formula in a day. And then he looked at her chart and saw her current weight and was like "Whoa!" He said the answer is pretty clear- she wasn't getting enough food through nursing alone. I'm hardly making any milk at all because apparently 24oz is about what she should be taking in in a day total. There's nothing wrong with her at all.

There was also a nutritionist who talked to us and I've been prescribed a hospital grade pump so I can get my supply back up. It's being deilvered to my house tomorrow. She said that it was probably the introduciton of solids that started the dip in supply and then it's easy for it to keep going down once it starts. So that's that. We have a follow up appt in 2 weeks, but everything is looking great right now.

[Kanga]

Betsy - so glad to hear Millie is doing ok! I'm sure you're relieved!

ETA - You might want to check into a SNS (supplemental nursing system). Basically it holds formula or EBM and is connected to a tube, then you tape the tube to your breast and when Millie eats she gets both breastmilk and formula and of course it helps your supply.

[miaclear]

Betsy....my MIL sent a Halloween card in the mail to DS also! It came two days ago. Although she didn't send any cash. I will say that I sent out Halloween cards one year to some of my relatives who are into things like that ;) Yea for the good news on Millie!

[MrsKinnison]

Betsy ~ YAY!!! That is such good news to hear!!!

Shoes ~ Robeez here too. Ollie started wearing them probably a month or so ago when it started getting chilly here. We were calling them jumphighers for a while because they seemed to instantly give him extra bounce in his jumper.

Whit ~ In the 80's I was getting $2.00 an hour and I think maybe $4.00 from the rich family I sat for. Where was your mom then ~ lol! I think $10 is good.

Golden ~ Add me to the list who had no idea that Andrew's condition was so serious. I am glad to hear that he is doing so well. I think that by the time he is 23 medicine will have advanced more than we can even imagine.

Mia ~ Hopefully it clears up and really is nothing serious. It's scarry all the things there are to worry about these days!

Dog toys ~ He hasn't gotten into them yet, but I think that's because I am just realizing what a bad furmom I am. The dogs toys are still in the garage from the move ~ oops! He is a huge fan of cords and shoes though, preferrably shoes with laces but any shoe will do.

No ~ I'm just starting to use it a little like when he's trying to eat cords, or when he was reaching for my razor when I was holding him in the shower. I usually just say no and redirect him, so I don't think he has any clue what I am saying.

Early Riser ~ Thankfully no!

Phases ~ I've noticed some things. He has always been a talker, but he was really quite for about two weeks and then started rolling. Once he mastered that, he started babbling again. He learned rasberries, they went away for a little while, and now are back. Wonder if that was when he was starting to scoot....

Scooting ~ Ollie started inch-worming the other day, basically pushing with his legs so his toosh was up in the air and reaching with one arm basically sliding his face across the floor. Just days later he is closer to a military crawl, and today even was scooting with his belly off the ground a bit. I fear crawling is right around the corner.

We started chicken this week and so far it has been a huge hit. I spent the last 3 nights in the kitchen making a bunch of recipes from the Top 100 Purees book. Not typically comfortable in the kitchen, I think I did pretty good aside from the fact that I put good slices in both my thumbs trying to peel pumpkin :eek: Hopefully Ollie enjoys everything.

[MrsKinnison]

To get a better idea of what I mean by "not comfortable in the kitchen," I just screwed up instant mashed potatoes.....

[whitlockan]

Okay great I will just give her around 10-11ish an hour, I just feel so bad...dont ask me why

HAHA my mom tips well too, guess the guilt got the best of her too or she bought the sitters so they would always "squeeze" us in when she needed them :p

golden I am guilty I didnt realize its so serious either, now I feel guilty and selfish for not even asking....

early riser thats us I get up at 4:00 am and we wake him up at 6:00ish but of course on the weekends he wakes us up at that time. HA at least he knows his schedule.

betsy old moos is the next class up, no longer the baby baby class but the older infant class :(. Count me in as well, we got a halloween card from my SIL (my DH's side) and then one from my grandma this past week with 10.00 enclosed for diapers....HA! They are all out of touch, I dont think 10.00 will even buy a toy. yahoo for the gain and its funny you said something about the solid thing, I was just at the lactation center to buy new hoses and they asked how everything was I of course commented on the solids and his reduction in milk and she asked about him nursing first of course the ped told us the other way and she immediatly said no you start nursing him first, do it the other way only if you want to kill your milk supply. So he will be nursing then doing solids, I was also getting concerned since I knew he was still getting all his nutrition from the BM. Thankfully we caught it in time....Good luck and I bet you have one extra happy baby on your hands now if she were indeed hungry.

Mrsk yeah I am not domsetic either in the kitchen, I imagine the same will happen to me. I cant even blend anything with out shredding the wooden spoons in, needless to say DH doesnt let me do that anymore. HA!! Sounds like its time to babyproof as much as you possibly can think of, it goes fast!!

daycare gift for his teachers okay so I cracked and went the easy way out. I got them each a thank you card, both different of course since he and we have more of a connection with one of the teachers. I then got a picture frame (was looking for a teacher insperation frame but no luck and I dont have time to search high and low) and I plan to put his picture in there since they expressed how they like to keep pictures of the kids that have come through and to top it off I got them each a 50.00 gift card to Target. All going in a super cute black/white polka dot bag with black and white tissue paper, for the card I plan to have Zachary finger paint his foot and finger prints. I hope they like it.

Oh and the teacher we have the most connection with I had said Z tomorrow is your last Thursday in yoru class and she almost started crying, she really is attached to him, its her little buddy probably because hes the only good and easy baby they had in a super long time. The other room is connected but its just not the same she can see him but not all day of course.

US

New trick ~ we have a new trick that he has perfected, he now stands unassisted for about 4-6 seconds before falling. I was watching him today in his class and he grabs what I call his "ballarenia bar" holds on to it lets one hand go, then the other, while resting his forarm against it then slowly pulls that way, he stands for the 4-6 seconds and then falls, we all clapped he slimed and laughed and did it again, he seems to be pushign himself up as well off of things......I hope I dont have a walker for a quite a few more months. But he can pivot to different items, squaring corners and all, he is getting curageous and I am getting scared :eek:!!

Tooth ~ I dotn know much about teeth and teething but he has been teething for a while now, he finally has no more swallon gums but now a HUGE clear looking "blister" on his indentation. Does that mean were getting close?! His teacher and myself both tried touching his chin/bottom gum and he screams. Not to mention he just wont eat so tonight I sat and spoon fed him 8 oz.....school is going to dread tomorrow when I come in and say here is the spoon you have to feed him this way, he is slowing up on wet diapers with way to much time in between a good solid 2-3 hours so I had to and I will cut down on his solid intake until I can get him back on the milk better. I also took one of my frozen bags of EBM, pulled down the plastic sides and let him suck on that in desperation to get more milk down him. Workd out pretty good until his cheeks were numb and he stopped :)!!!

[MarriedaGoalie]

Hey girls! I have been sort of MIA and I apologize for that! I have been so busy between work, school and the family! Dh has been busy at work, also so life has been hectic! I am excited about getting a break next week, though! Dh and I see heading to Las Vegas for SEMA, which is the huge aftermarket car show. We are going to be gone for 5 days and are leaving the boys with Nana and Papa. While I am excited about the trip, I am nervous to leave my little guy for 5 days! Eek!

Carter was sick for about a week last week. I think he had some sort of stomach bug. It was really nasty for him, but he was quite the trooper! One night he threw up and it was for like 10 seconds straight! I felt so bad for him!

Btw, $10 a hour? Crap! I'm in the wrong business! I would think $5 a hour would be a fair rate! Maybe it's just the different areas of the country?

[goldengbridge]

Thanks Girls. I really appreciate your kind words re: Andrew. He has the most serious heart defect that you can have. Literally, he has half a heart. The left side of his heart is undeveloped and doesn't work so the three heart surgeries that he underwent reroute the blood flow and such so that the right side of his heart does all the work. They've only been doing the surgeries for about 25 years and anybody who born before then was just sent home to die. They just don't know how long a half of heart will last. Some kids go on to need transplants but alot of the oldest kids living with this do have their own hearts still which is so promising. I don't allow myself to think too far into the future. I have faith that they will be able to help him along if any problems ever arise. He has proven to be such a fighter already and hes got such a strong will and a zest for life!

[Brink]

Golden - So glad to hear how well Andrew is doing. I remember his sugery last year and how hard that was on you and your family. Definitely amazing what a difference a year can make. Sending our thoughts your way for continued success!

[miaclear]

Who's still BFing? How long you plan on going? When I decided to be a SAHM I told myself that getting to six months would be my goal. Well we made that and then some. At this point I highly expect I'll be doing it the full first year. We'll re-evaluate after that. My biggest issue is that I'm only productive on my left side (a combination of that being DS's favorite side, and the easier side for me led to the downfall of my right). I'm sure I could probably get my right side back if I wanted to try REALLY REALLY hard but well....the left seems to be doing fine on it's own so I'm ok with that. Other than the extreme lopsidedness of my breasts. I'm thinking I might actually invest in one of those fake boob things to balance things out....anyone know where I can get one? Anyhow....with my realization that I'll be doing this for another six months and the weather getting cooler I bought some new BFing tops. I haven't got them yet but I'm excited for them to come.

http://www.motherwear.com/images/timages/02369_1.jpghttp://www.motherwear.com/images/timages/26050_3.jpghttp://www.motherwear.com/images/timages/26078_1.jpg

And we'll have to see how this bra works....never bought a bra on the internet. But I'm pretty excited to have one that's actually kinda cute.
http://www.motherwear.com/images/pimages/06194_2.jpg

[goldengbridge]

Bfing- Yup, we're still going strong. My original goal was 6 months but I couldn't imagine just stopping so now I know we'll be nursing at least till 12months. I really enjoy my one on one time with her and I'm so used to getting up at night thats its almost mechanical now. Some of our families think shes too old to still be nursing but I try not to listen to other people. It doesn't effect anyone but my intermediate family so I tend not to listen to other people.

[danalou]

Golden - I must be out of it as well as I didn't know about your son. I am really glad to hear that he is doing well. I will make sure to keep him in my thoughts and prayers.

Miaclear - I am still BF exclusively, but with work I pump and haven't had loopsided issues. I told myself 6 months as well and have changed that to one year!! I know my coworker was dealing with a form of that, but she still tried to use both sides to keep up production. I have to admit I was laughing when you mentioned getting a fake boob and I would go for it to even yourself out!! I have a few nursing tops and really like them as your bare skin (belly) isn't showing with most of them. I did finally find a nursing bra that I really like and it is actually affordable (under $20) if you want a recommendation.

Whit - I am still shocked by the babysitting rates!! I guess we will be staying in with DD as that is just crazy. My mom is coming to watch DD for my husbands holiday party this year.

[Janey]

Betsy - I'm SO GLAD that Millie is gaining like mad! That must make you feel really good. :)

I'm still BFing. She gets formula occasionally, mostly for convenience purposes (she got 6 oz. while I was at my cake decorating class last night). I don't really have a plan on when we'll quit. She sure doesn't seem interested in stopping, and we're 8 months on Saturday (omg).

I have a couple of nursing shirts and I really like them. I have two summer ones from gap.com that I wore all summer long and I bought a couple of tops on clearance from expressiva.com and those are nice too, but really heavy.


I gave her some Cheerios a couple of days ago and she LOVES them. It's so cute to see her chew them up with her little toothless gums. She looks like a baby cow chewing her baby cud. :p It must feel good on her gums.

[MrsKinnison]

Bfing ~ Still going strong here too. My plan is to start weaning at 1 year, so I'm sure I'll still be bfing until 15mos or so?

Whit & anyone else? ~ I noticed Ollie having not as wet diapers the last 2 days too. He still has plenty of wet ones, just may go longer in between or they are not as overly full. He's been going longer at night too. His solid intake hasn't changed, so I didn't think it was that but maybe it is? I've been giving solids between bfing sessions 2x's a day and he nurses 6. I had thought that was good, but maybe not? Man, I wish this was easier. There should be explicit instructions or something. Our schedule looks like this with times sometimes varying and maybe a swapping of nurse and solids time in the morning depending on when we have to be where that day.

4am ~ nurse
7:30 ~nurse
9:30 ~ solids
12 ~ nurse
2:30 ~ nurse
4:30~ nurse
6:00 ~ solids
7:00 ~ nurse
7:30 ~ bed

He rarely gets a bottle, but when he does he takes up to 6ozs and atleast 3ozs, so I would assume he is getting what he needs?

Mia ~ I found some really cute nursing bras a Target too. It was nice to finally wear something I felt pretty in!

[MrsKinnison]

Janey ~ Ollie loves Cheerios and Puffs too. Its so cute to watch him snatch them up in his little hands, he get so excited!

[miaclear]

Nursing Bras....I have a few from Target as well, the Gilligan O'Malley ones. They are cute and comfortable but boring. I have one black, one tan and one white. Oh and a plethora of nursing tanks. I also have a black one I bought before I had DS that cost an arm and a leg...ok $40 but that's still alot. The Target ones were about $10-$12, this one I'm buing is a LLL Brand and was $24.

Question on Cheerios and Puffs and stuff- Our Ped said to introduce DS to some of the finger foods before his nine month. I gave him a Gerber Bitter Biscuit which he absolutely LOVED, but it made such a huge mess over him and me. Plus when it got to be pretty small I was freaking about it being a choking hazard cause it stays pretty crunchy. I thought about trying the Graduate Puffs, I think those melt pretty quickly in the mouth. It seems a few are trying these things....just curious what everyones experiences are. I'm like a big worry wart when he's got things that aren't liquefied near his mouth.

[Kanga]

She looks like a baby cow chewing her baby cud.

LMAO. Best.description.EVER. It also reminded me that my old hs history teacher used to say that about kids chewing gum in his class.

Weaning - My first goal is no formula ever, so around a year, but I'd really like to make it to the WHO recommendation of 2years. After that, we'll see. I also have a more dominant side, but I figure by a year or so it will be mostly for routine and comfort rather than nutrition, so less milk produced overall.

wet diapers - I've noticed she's started waiting until she wakes up to pee most of the time. It's so nice not to have to change diapers every 2 hours anymore.

So Daytona's birthday party is this Saturday. Just grandparents, my grandma, and the kids' two aunts so nothing huge. My sister is coming down tomorrow so she can spend some more time with the girls. As much as I love her, it drives me crazy that she doesn't get I have 0 free time to do as I wish now. Here was part of our phone conversation the other day.

her: I'll probably come down Friday and stay the night at your place if that's ok.
me: Yeah, that's fine
her: You know what we should do on Friday?
me: What?
her: Carve PUMPKINS! Wouldn't that be fun? I can't remember the last time I did that.
me: Well, it would, but I have to get everything ready for Daytona's party the next day and it would make a huge mess.
her: Oh, well what do you have to do?
me: Clean and decorate the house, prepare the food that can be prepared, decorate and bake the cakes.
her: Oh, that doesnt' sound like much fun, ha ha ha ha!! So what do you want to do instead of pumpkins, then?
me: didn't you just hear me?
her: What?
:rolleyes: *sigh*

So then today she calls and wants to wish Daytona a happy birthday and mentions she probably won't be down until around dinner time instead of lunch time.:rolleyes:

[whitlockan]

MAG certianly has to be the location I am sure!

Nursing yep we are as well still 100% booby milk. 6 months was my first goal, were 7 months as of yesterday and believe this or not and as much as I hate pumping, I cannot imagine even stopping at 1 year. I have a feeling we will probably be having a nursing relationship until he is nearly 2 years old. I get so sick of it some days but then when I sit and think about it I cant imagine doing it, I just feel like its part of my "new" life forever....including my part of my work job description. I think its a love hate relationship with the pump for me right now. Although I have NO nursing clothes only 2 nursing bras....yes thats right most the time I wear tanks with shelfs in them under all my clothes but my boobs arent big either and I dont NIP because I am a chicken.

golden he will always be in my thoughts.

Dana yah your telling me

cheerios/puffs nope have not gotten that far yet, he has only been on solids for a month so I feel its a little early and I am scared hes going to choke so I will do it when my DH is home only which isnt much.

Mrsk just got off the phone with the nurse at the Ped office, she said keep the solids in for us at least but water them down with lots of milk just because he wont nurse or anything. I think it woudl be safe to say if hes taking 6 oz he is great.....not to worry until it gets to 8-12 hours without many wet ones......so I think your okay and probably just the new way of life...ahah save money on diapers!

ok time to get ready to go home....gotta run ladies

[Tandis]

Just a quick question RE: cheerios/puffs -- My girls have two teeth - the bottom two - is it okay to introduce them to cheerios & puffs, or do they need more teeth? I figured I would wait until they at least had the top two, but if it's okay to give them now, heck, I'm going out and purchasing some! :D

[Janey]

Kanga - I'm glad I could make you giggle. :)

miaclear - We've only done the cheerios, but they were a huge hit, and completely non-messy.

Tandis - K has no teeth, and she gums the cheerios just fine. They dissolve in her mouth, after she gum-chews them a little. She really likes it. I think the cereal must feel like it's scratching a little gum-itch.

MrsK - K hasn't figured out that she can pick them up off the tray herself and put them in her own mouth. She wants mama to put them in there for her. Owell - it'll come!

[betsyboop]

Whit- Oh how I wish someone would have said something to me about nursing after feeding. I had no idea it would be such an issue especially since that's what the ped recommended.

Breastfeeding- Well, technically I'm nursing still, but she's getting most of her calories from formula right now (ever since last Tuesday). I just got my hospital grade pump delivered today and hopefully, I'll be able to get my supply back up and be able to go back to nursing full time until she's a year. If it doesn't work out, I'll be bummed, but I'm not going to beat myself up over it. I had one nursing shirt way back in the spring, but I hated it and so I've just been wearing normal clothes ever since. I never nurse out in front of people (other than family), so it's not much of an issue for me.

Cherios/puffs- Not yet and of course now I'm afraid to add in any more solid foods because of her weight gain issues. Maybe once we establish a pattern of gaining weight, I'll start with finger foods.

[betsyboop]

Diapers- Oh this reminds me, I can't believe how many wet diapers Millie is having per day now! Having never had a baby before, I had no idea you all must have been changing twice as many diapers as I was. So now I'm always forgetting to change her before we go out or I forget to take a diaper with me and then, oops, she's leaked through to her pants:eek:

[miaclear]

Just wanted to share a picture of my little man. Maybe get a picture trend going....I love seeing all the little ones.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2040/1749403893_b7fefe53ed.jpg?v=0

[Brink]

I don't think I have posted a picture of the girls in a while - here they are!


http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2337/1750493435_824f675bdc.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2293/1751342470_7e0fb8e95f.jpg

Miaclear - love the red hair!

[Janey]

Brink & Miaclear - those are some great pics. Brink, the one in the tub is Anne Geddes level cute. :D

We took K to the pumpkin patch last weekend...

I had hoped to have time to make her a red bow before the outing, but never got around to it. :/ The overalls are almost too small now, dangit.

[shimmerstar]

Janey, K looks like a toddler!

Brink, your girls are so cute. Are they identical?

Mia- is he a redhead?

Did someone say pictures?

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2298/1752990244_9d81246a3c_m.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2348/1752142371_67d766916e_m.jpg

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2104/1752993260_6342465d4b_m.jpg
His favorite toy.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2090/1752146705_4f79a148f7_m.jpg

We are having bad sleep issues you guys. We have always put him to bed awake and never had any problems. Daycare doesn't have any problems. But he wakes up several times a night, and screams. If I pick him up he goes to sleep immediately. When I put him down he wakes up and screams. He was up for two hours last night. We even tried just letting him cry because he didn't want anything, but he sobbed and sobbed and I couldn't take it. It seems that he has learned that he wants to sleep only on me. It SUCKS and I don't know what to do. I dread going to sleep because I know we will be dealing with it soon. :(

[buffy]

Mia ~ he's adorable!
Brink ~ look at their hair! They are so cute together!
Janey ~ speaking of hair, I'm so jealous! Morgan just has one patch of long hair right on the top of her head, otherwise it's all short.
shimmer ~ I am always amazed at how big he looks!! sorry about your sleep issues, wish I could help but I apparently have no clue as we are having sleep issues too.

Man when I go to find pictures I realize how few I take of Morgan alone. I need to get better about that!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2160/1753024194_debeb0e1c2.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2067/1753024200_d959b9f786.jpg?v=0
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2272/1753024204_758e32c3a8.jpg?v=0

Am I the only one whose baby won't eat anything AT ALL? Today she licked a nilla wafer and that's the closest she's come to accepting food in her mouth. Otherwise she spits it out and/or gags. My goal is to get her eating something else by February so I can possibly go to Vegas with DH when he has to go for work. So I guess I have time...

[danalou]

cheerios/puffs We have tried the puffs and DD knows how to grab them, but hasn't mastered putting them in her mouth. When she does get them in her mouth she normally gags on them. I am not sure if this is due to her being toothless, but I keep trying every week or so!!

wet diapers It is hit or miss with us sometimes she waits until she is up and other times she has a really wet one during her night feeding.

BF I was curious about night feedings and BF. It seems pretty normal that the babies still being BF exclusively wake up in the night for a feeding. DD either wakes up at midnight or 4am for her one night feeding.

Christmas gift for DD We are leaning towards getting DD a Radio Flyer wagon for Christmas and was hoping you could give me your opinion on the two models we are considering!!

Option A (Off-road version w/ all wood body)

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/radioflyer_1970_8923

Option B (Off-road version w/ metal body and wood sides)

http://us.st11.yimg.com/us.st.yimg.com/I/radioflyer_1969_31336417

The is a pretty decent price difference between the two, but I am trying to make the decision based on features.