April 2008 Moms: Our babies have arrived!

[MrsSpencer]

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/T95601019_032_533_081408.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/T95601019_032_546_081408.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/T95601019_032_548_081408.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/T95601019_032_554_081408.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/T95601019_032_547_081408.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/T95601019_032_552_081408.jpg

[twinnyme]

Here are Bridget's stats from today (4 months 6 days):

Weight: 14 lb. 10 oz. (+ 3 lb. 2 oz.), 90th percentile
Height: 25.5 inches (+2.5 inches), 90th percentile
Head: 16 inches

Bridget got 4 shots and cried for about 2 minutes, fell asleep, and woke up just as we got home. She seems just fine and very happy.

ETA: MrsSpencer - we cross-posted; great pictures!

[MrsSpencer]

Great stats twinnyme!

[jenjunum]

What a cutie MrsSpencer! Lily also smiles with her tongue sticking out and loves to chew on her fist and that index finger.

Lily has decided to put herself on a schedule. All of the sudden she decided that it's time to get up at 7 and 9 & 1 are the times she needs to nap. It's been working out really well. She missed her afternoon nap yesterday because MIL was visiting and had a hard afternoon/evening. Now she's making up for it today with some extra-long naps. 2.5 hours this morning and still going strong at 2.5 hours for her afternoon nap.

I love her to pieces!

Looks like all the babies are growing well. We still have a couple weeks until Lily's 4 month WBV. And then I'll be going back to work. :(

[Parrothead]

Great pics!

So, here's a question -- DD is rolling up a storm now, including in her swaddle in her sleep. It causes her to wake up screaming. I know that DD#1 started doing this, but I can't remember what I did about it. Is it time to wean from the swaddle? Have any of you dealt w/ this?

[jenjunum]

Parrothead I don't know how comfortable you are with this, but I have two blankets rolled up below her armpit on one side. In her crib she only rolls to one side. Otherwise she was getting herself wedged against the side of the crib. She hasn't figured out how to roll back onto her back swaddled yet (and only does it rarely unswaddled). So far she can only scoot up and not down so I don't worry about her getting her face in the blanket rolls.

Here's what I mean:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a397/jenjunum/Lily%20-%203rd%20month/IMG_2710.jpg

I leave her legs unswaddled (fwiw, Dr. Sears says that swaddling can inhibit proper hip development, I just think she's more comfortable in that froggy legs position). And this is after she's broken her arms free of the swaddle.

[twinnyme]

Cute picture, Jenjunum! I know you posted it to illustrate a point but it's cute anyway!

We haven't had to wean from the swaddle yet and I hope to keep her in it as long as possible. She's sleeping so well with it. But she hasn't really rolled yet - she rolled once from belly to back about a month ago and that's it - so I have no need to wean her from it yet, thankfully. We had to move her to the bottom of the pac n play tonight, since she's 14 lb. 10 oz., close to the 15-lb weight limit for the bassinet portion; I hope she continues to sleep as well as she has been.

We took Bridget to her first AAA baseball team tonight. A beautiful night weather-wise, and she was very very good. Loved looking all around at everything and taking in all the people and the noise. It was fun. Strangely enough, we're going again tomorrow night - the only two sets of tickets we got this summer (with friends) were for two nights in a row. But the games are perfect; they start at 5:05, are in the next town over so they're an easy drive, and are very family-oriented. Plus, with her going to bed around 7:40/8:00, it worked out very well. I'm looking forward to it again tomorrow!

[summerbride2005]

Parrothead- DD has started rolling over all the time from her back to her belly, but the only time she doesn't do it is at night in her co-sleeper. I know when we move her to her crib she will roll when swaddled and that makes me nervous. I'd be interested in hearing what you end up doing since I think I'll have the same problem as you very soon.

[MrsSpencer]

Wanted to share Nicholas' new obsession....books! Of course..only curious george will do!

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/Picture044.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/Picture045.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/Picture046.jpg

[Parrothead]

Thanks for the input. I have not tried breaking her of the swaddle yet. Last night was awful. I need to figure something out and FAST....

[Chelsea524]

Parrot I haven't had to deal with that yet with these two but with my other kids I did like what Jen did with the blanket on each side.

MrsSpencer cute pics!

Twinny sounds like a fun night, A&H both love to be outside, doesn't matter how fussy they are, if you take them outside they calm down and get happy

jenjunum Yay on the schedule, I get the twins to bed around 9am too, but they usually sleep til 11-12 so they take their second nap around 2-3

Well, Avery and Harrison are 5 months old now! And to celebrate DH is leaving me alone with them and my 3yo for a week while he and my 8yo go camping with the guys, I am terrified, they just left this morning and won't be home until Saturday and will be where no cell phones work so I am completely on my own. My DH really doesn't help much with the babies because he is just not a baby guy, but he does help keep my 3yo off of them for me and will help out when both babies are mad. It's going to be a long week!

[jenjunum]

Good luck Chelsea. That sounds like a handful. Lily also loves being outside. It's also our last trick when we can't calm her.

MrsSpencer - Lily's getting more interested in books too. It used to seem like I was just reading to myself but now she'll actually look at the books. So cute that he wants to help turn the pages.

Twinny Thanks! I think we're going to try a Dodgers game next month. We're trying to decide if a 1 PM game or a 7 PM game would be better. I think the afternoon game if we can be sure we'll be in the shade.

[kissmary]

Chelsea - Good luck alone with the kids this week!!

Aw, love the pictures everyone!!!

Henry is still swaddled. I've been keeping it wrapped a little loose during naps (we use a Miracle Blanket, since the others are either too short or too loose so he gets his arms out easy) to see how he reacts and he doesn't seem to mind. He catnaps most of the time - only 30 minutes at a time, though he seems to want one longer nap, if only he would stay asleep longer than the 30 minutes without help.

The ILs are visiting this week, coming in later today and leaving Friday morning. I guess I'll have time to get some cleaning and organizing done while they play with Henry. :p

[coquelicot]

*Swaddling* - we're still putting DD in her SwaddleMe blankets, although she's starting to outgrow them. I can't fasten one of them around her anymore, and even if I can, she breaks out of it. Thankfully her other one is stretchier. Even swaddled, she's starting to scoot in her sleep. DH has found her two mornings in a row on one side or another of her crib, her face really close to the bumper. Yesterday morning, after I nursed her and put her back down, she had put herself in the corner of the crib by the time she woke up. We may have to remove the bumper soon. :( I think she's trying to roll and ends up scooting instead.

[twinnyme]

MrsSpencer - love the books photos!!! Books are so important to me (to all of us, I'm sure!) so I love seeing photos like that.

Parrothead - hope you figure out the swaddling/night-time sleep soon.

Coquelicot - I take it you're using the large SwaddleMe blankets? That's the brand we're using, too, and when she outgrows the large, well, I guess we'll wean her from swaddling then. I never got the hang of swaddling with a regular blanket. Bridget scoots every once in a while, too, though not much - just wakes up in a different position every so often, in the middle of the pac n play, though.

Chelsea - yeah, fresh air does wonders! Hope your week without DH is going well.

Kissmary - have a good visit with your ILs.

jenjunum - have fun when you go to the Dodgers. Both games we went to were at 5pm and one set of our seats was in a little sunnier section, but we just kept a hat on her and moved around a lot to get her out of the shade - to the kids play area etc. - easier to do at a minor-league game, though, I know!

ETA: This Sunday is Bridget's baptism, so I'm working all week on preparing for that. Most of it is already done, but there's still quite a lot to get done!

[coquelicot]

*twinnyme* - We're still actually using the small SwaddleMes, which is why she's starting to outgrow them. They go up to 14 pounds, and she's just over that now. I just bought a large used one off eBay.

On another note, DD rolled tummy to back about a week and a half ago. Hasn't done it again since, though.

[MrsSpencer]

started babysitting this week...going well reading along but no time to post...glad to hear things are going well.

twinnyme Actually, in the invitations for my babyshower it said to bring a book instead of a card..so I'm so very happy to say that Nicholas has plenty of books to read when he can..and in the meantime I'll be happy to read to him:)

[kissmary]

At Henry's 4 month WBV today, he was 14 lb. 15.3 oz and 26.75 in, 95%. So, he is still on track to be tall like daddy. :p He did great with his shots, only cried for a minute, then I held him and he was fine. A little cranky this afternoon, but pretty much okay. I've been seeing that we have a lot of tall babies in this group!

Melissa - hope the baptism goes well this weekend!

Books - We are both librarians (well, I WAS!), so when we go to conferences, we pick up children's books for cheap, sometimes free and autographed. I guess Henry will be set for books for a long time. :D

[twinnyme]

Sounds like Henry had a good appointment - he is tall!

Books ~ I had a book-themed baby shower for DD1 and received a huge library of books for her from my friends and family (plus a bookcase to match her nursery furniture!). And for her, I kept a calendar of ALL the books I read to her her first year. It's just that important to me. In fact, since we are done having children, I think I'm going to have a book-themed first birthday party for Bridget next April. I know, I know, I'm crazy to be thinking about it already - but it's fun and I'm excited to kind of come "full circle" with the theme. :D In fact, I already found out that there will be a Children's Book Fair in Boston on September 6th and plan to go to hopefully get some freebies. Kissmary - if you have any other suggestions (e.g. places to get cheap book favors, etc.) as a former librarian, I'm all ears!

[Chelsea524]

I have got $10 in Similac checks taken and $14 in Enfamil(two $5 ones taken are good for any and one $4 says good for Gentlease or A.R.) if anyone wants them let me know. We just started our second can of formula and still have quite a few more that were given as samples so I don't think I will be using these.

[FoxyBlue]

I could use the Similac coupons if no one else needs them. My friend isn't able to nurse, so she is using Similac and I am pumping for her.

[phart]

pm me if you want similac! coupons! i have a bunch that i can send out next weekend-ish.

[Chelsea524]

Send me a pm with your info and I will get them out to you!

[jenjunum]

We had a book-themed shower too. It was really cool and a lot of the people wrote messages in the books so I know that will be really cool down the line. Lily likes to look at them too. She much more interactive than just a few short weeks ago, it's amazing.

I tried to ween Lily of the swaddlefor nap and bedtime but it didn't work very well. After a couple days of not sleeping very well we went back to it and she slept much better and for longer stretches. So we'll swaddle for a while longer. We're just using a regular large square blanket and that works ok. She can break out of it. If it can hold her long enough to be settled for a little while she can usually get to sleep though.

[MrsSpencer]

Yeah, they wrote in his books too...I still get teary-eyed when I read the one my almost blind, ailing grandmother got him. She wrote in it, and it means the world to me...cause she isn't going to last till he can know her. I know how hard it had to have been to write it for her, so it's special.

[twinnyme]

Yeah, they wrote in his books too...I still get teary-eyed when I read the one my almost blind, ailing grandmother got him. She wrote in it, and it means the world to me...cause she isn't going to last till he can know her. I know how hard it had to have been to write it for her, so it's special.

What a great memory of her he will have (and you).

Well, we're two and a half hours out from Bridget's baptism. It's beautiful here. We had a wonderful day yesterday with my family. My two sisters and their families, my two cousins and their families, and my parents all came around noon-2 yesterday and we hung out all afternoon/evening. We were at our house first, then their hotel, then we all met at a combo playground/ sprinkler park and had a really nice time - got pizzas for dinner, and were there until 7:45. It's so nice to have them all here (they ALL live in NY and NJ). My older sister should be here any minute - she's Bridget's godmother - to help bathe and dress her. :) I'm sure I'll be back later or tomorrow with pics.

We're not going to wean Bridget from her swaddle until she breaks out of it herself consistently. But this week my older DD is going with my mother, sister, and nephew to Storyland and Santa's Village in NH so we *may* try to get Bridget back into the crib. She's been back in the pac n play ever since the three weeks she was in the crib and woke up every night between 1 and 3. In the pac n play swaddled she STTN so I'm fine with using both those things as long as we need to. But we haven't tried the crib in a month or so again so with DD1 away, it's a good time to at least try again without disturbing her sleep (since they share a room or at least the crib is in there).

[Gabe's Mom]

I've been out of the loop - Lucas had a truly awful cold the last 2 weeks. Far worse than Gabe ever had. It was NOT fun at all. There were some days he hardly nursed as he could not breathe despite saline drops/suctioning. Definately lost a decent amount of weight - can now feel his ribs and he's lost his double and triple chins. And now he just sees that bulb suction and starts to cry. Thankfully, he is doing much better.

Swaddling - We are still swaddling and not even close to let go of it. He definately needs it Swaddled Gabe until 7 months or so so will prob keep going with Lucas.


Had our 4 month WBV:
Weight 19 pounds
Height 26.75 inches
Obviously, doing well and thankfully, had extra "padding" so he could afford to lose some weight from his cold.



Question: Anyone else out there who has not yet gotten many laughs from their DC? Gabe laughed at 3 months and still waiting for Lucas. He smiles a lot but no real laugh.

[MrsSpencer]

Nicholas started laughing about 3 months...

We have his 4 month appointment today..I hate those shots..will update when we get home.

[Chelsea524]

Avery hadn't laughed by her 4 month appt, but does it all the time now.

Avery has finally started rolling over! She does it in such a funny way, it looks like it would take a lot more work. She gets her hand tucked under her belly then sticks her butt in the air to lift herself over her arm, so funny. Harrison has only rolled over a couple times, I figure those were just to show me he can but doesn't like to.

[MrsSpencer]

weight- 14 lbs. 9 oz.

length- 25.5 inches

Says he is "way advanced" on his motor skills..some he's aquired shouldn't be till 8 to 9 months! (walking when on feet)..he did great with his shots..so happy he's doing so well.

[twinnyme]

Laughing - I don't remember exactly when Bridget started but she's been laughing for quite a while - maybe a month at the least?

MrsSpencer - yay for a good visit.

Chelsea - go Avery!

Gabe's Mom - sorry about Lucas's cold. Bridget seems to have one now, too. In fact, she's sleeping in the swing right now and I'll probably have her sleep there all night because she had a bad sleep night last night, poor thing - couldn't breathe well. She's also been miserable all day and not eating much.

BUT she did do very well at her baptism yesterday. Maybe she felt the cold coming on because despite having 6 oz. at noon and promptly falling asleep and sleeping through most of the ceremony she woke up at about 1:45 to eat again and DID. Maybe she was trying to get in food while she still could! So she cried a little bit, and has not been happy today - VERY unusual for her - but we had a very nice baptism.

Here's a photo:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3121/2795041076_0d699ace4d_m.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3105/2796184667_b64755953b_m.jpg http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3103/2796185477_c3a3a870bd_m.jpg http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e160/melissakelleher/happygirl2-2.jpg?t=1219709441

[Gabe's Mom]

What darling pictures of Bridget!!! Congrats!

[coquelicot]

Cute pictures of Bridget!

*Laughs* - DD doesn't do it all the time, but she's done it before when I blow on her belly, make her pop my cheeks when I fill them with air, and dance around the living room with her while singing to her.

[twinnyme]

Thanks, Gabe's Mom and Coquelicot!

[MrsSpencer]

She's so cute!

[tgr68]

Gosh, it's been a while! :o

Parrothead~Glad DD is doing better with eating while you are away!

MrsSpencer~Adorable pics!!

Books~DS is getting to where he really enjoys books. He used to scream through them, but now smiles and coos when I get them out!

Kissmary~DH and I are also former librarians! MIL and her sister are currently librarians, so we have an issue of too many books for our space (if there is such a "problem"). ;)

Twinnyme~Not crazy at all to already be thinking of the 1st birthday party. I've practically got DS's planned down to the paper goods. :eek: Cute baptismal pics! Glad it went well!

Laughing~Laughs here occur, but they are few and far between.

MrsSpencer~Yay for a good appt!

Things here are going well. We took DS swimming for the first time at a lake this past weekend. He seemed to enjoy himself until DH scolded him for eating sand! :p He gave us a fat lip and wailed, but it was so cute we couldn't help but laugh! LOL!

I also got his and DD's Halloween costumes order, and they should be in by Friday! I'm so excited to see them - Yoda and Princess Leia!

[MrsSpencer]

Love the custome idea tgr68!

Nicholas is going to be curious george, and dh the man in the yellow hat!

[Chelsea524]

I also got his and DD's Halloween costumes order, and they should be in by Friday! I'm so excited to see them - Yoda and Princess Leia!

We are planning a star wars theme too! Avery will be Princess Leia but I was trying to decide between Luke or Yoda for Harrison, DS#@ wants to be Yoda or a storm trooper, DS#1 wants to be Darth Vador. Where did you order from?

Cute pics Twinny

Yay for a good appt MrsSpencer!

Is anyone elses DC screaming/screetching? Avery has picked up this high pitched scream/screetch that she does when she's happy but now she does it anytime, happy, sad, mad, bored, hungry, each of them have their own tone to them so you can tell which one it is but my ears are starting to constanty ring from them now lol.

I honestly don't know how much longer I can take this lack of sleep! Just to give you an idea this is how last night went: both to bed at 8:30/8:45, me and DH to bed at 10, Harrison wakes at 11, back to bed about 11:15, Avery wakes at 12:30 back to bed at 12:50, Harrison wakes at 1:20 back to bed at 1:35, Harrison wakes again at 2:30 back to bed at 2:40 Avery wakes at 3 back to bed at 3:20, Harrison wakes and wants to play at 4, can't get him back to bed until 5:15, Harrison wakes for good at 6:30. This is a very normal night the last month, I am up close to every single hour, sometimes only 30 mins between. I can't just let them cry for a min to see if they will go back to sleep or they wake the other one up so I am in there as quick as I can get so the other one will stay asleep.

[twinnyme]

Thanks, MrsSpencer, Tgr68, and Chelsea!

Halloween - We're doing a "princess and the pea" theme. My older DD will be the princess and Bridget is wearing a peapod bunting. I got the costumes at BRU last week. They're very cute in them!

Screeching - not yet. DD1 did this a lot so I'm hoping Bridget may not do it, if I'm lucky. :p

Chelsea - I'm so sorry you're dealing with sleep issues. I can only imagine how doubly hard it must be with twins. My poor mother had twins and an older girl all under 2 yo and I shudder to think about how it must have been for her to get a decent night's sleep. And you have two other kids - hopefully they're at least sleeping well!

[jess&dan]

It's been a while since I've been in here! Seems like everyone is doing well!

Laughing: Aaron laughs pretty easily, but never at the same thing. :p He has the cutest little giggle and I love it!

Screeching: He does this from time to time and boy is it ear piercing!

Halloween: Aaron is going to be a monkey. Nathan wants to be Batman and I don't think I can change his mind on that one! So no sibling theme for me!

Chelsea: Ugh to the sleeping. I really hope it gets better!

We just got back from a week at the beach! We had a great time! I start work on the 3rd and am not looking forward to it! At least it's only 3 days a week!

Aaron is 5 months old today! He finally learned to roll back to belly, so now he's a rolling machine!

Here's a 5 month pic and then a family pic from the beach. :)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/jpillera/August27200804.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/jpillera/August17200811.jpg

[coquelicot]

*Screeching* - DD has picked this up in the past week or so. It was cute at first, but it's already getting a little annoying. She'll do it happy (more like a squeal) or sad (more like a screech). I have to go by her facial expressions to determine what her mood is. :)

DD rolled 4 more times yesterday from tummy to back--3 of those in a row! And wouldn't you know, when I tried to pick up the camera to get video of it, she quit doing it.

[kissmary]

Screeching - We like to think Henry sounds like a baby velociraptor. Definitely not human. ;) He also whines as he's going down for a nap, sometimes for bedtime, too.

Henry has been into his feet for about 2 weeks now, for those who were asking awhile ago.

Melissa, to answer your books inquiry--I don't know which children's book places give good freebies. But if you're going to a book expo/fair, they'll be something good!

Chelsea - Hope you figure something out for sleeping. Henry was going through a rough patch, but it seems to be getting better. He is napping better, even! I couldn't imagine having two to deal with.

tgr- Yay for (former) librarians! (I think Marisa's one, too) Definitely no such thing as too many books!!

Halloween - Got a Spiderman costume, but it is a weird size/shape (doesn't SEEM to be 3-12 months :rolleyes: ). Our cat is named Petey Parker, Spidercat, after Spiderman (he was named this when we got him), so this is appropriate.

[MrsSpencer]

Been reading along..but if you've seen my post in infants, you'll know why I haven't been able to post.

[MrsSpencer]

Nicholas was eating and started shaking...wasn't cold...I took the bottle out (he was falling asleep), and he was still shaking...put him on my shoulder and he stopped...I called the emer. number for his ped...please keep us in your prayers that nothing is wrong..:(

[MrsSpencer]

I talked to his dr. and she said by the way I described it, and how he was okay now, if he does it again persistantly, or lasts more than a few seconds and I can't get him "out" of it, to take him to the er. She said that some babies develop sleep miacondria (sp?)..they shake while falling asleep, or waking up..she said he'll outgrow it by a year. I probably won't sleep well at night for a while...

[twinnyme]

Oh my, MrsSpencer, I'm sorry to hear that about Nicholas. It sounds like he'll definitely grow out of it, which is good, but not what you needed to hear after the day you've had. :( I hope tomorrow's better!

Jess - love the pics of Aaron!

Coquelicot - sorry about the screeching - DD1 did that a lot, too - but it means they're learning to verbalize - right?!

Kissmary - glad Henry's sleep is getting better. And Spiderman sounds cute.

Bridget actually deliberately played with some of the toys on her exersaucer today. It was cute. She's battling a bit of a cold right now, which isn't fun. Poor little girl.

[MrsSpencer]

me too...me too...:(

it's called...sleep myoclonus

[tgr68]

Chelsea~I got it from Buy Star Wars Costumes (http://www.buystarwarscostumes.com). They shipped really fast. I think it was 3 days later that they arrived!

Screaming/Screetching~He'll occasionally do this, but the poor kid can barely get anything out with his chatterbox sister around! :p

MrsSpencer~Sorry about the shakes. It does sound like he'll grow out of it though.

Twinnyme~Hope Bridget starts feeling better soon.

[MrsSpencer]

11:00 pm
We just had a plant explode like 3 miles from our house..it looks and sounded like the end of the world..it shook houses! I think they may evacuate us..just keep our town in your prayers..that no one was killed (one was hurt I believe)....it was right next to our college ...it's so scary..the fireball was 2 miles wide in the air! The sky is orange..and the stuff they made is pesticides..please just pray for us...

This morning
They've lifted our shelter in place, and they finally put out the fire around 3 am. One worker did die, and one was burned so bad they flew him to Pittsburgh burn unit. One was injured but stayed locally, he wasn't injured so bad. It could have been a lot worse...we're safe and sound here, DH went to work and my brother (a cop) said all the roads have been re opened (the interstate was closed from our exit to about 10-15 miles in the other direction both ways).

We were going to bed when it sounded like a bomb went off or a tree (we live on an acre and a half secluded wooden lot) fell on the house! We ran outside, Nicholas too, to see what fell, and couldn't see anything since it was almost 11. DH is from Point Pleasant, WV (the mothman movie), and the bridge they built to replace the one that fell, they replaced while he was in high school and he said it sounded like when they blew up the old bridge, so that's when I turned on the news. The sky is still slightly orangy, but thank God no one else got hurt. They said 6-7 people work in the part that exploded, but all but three were in safe places. They found the deceased one after they put out the fire not till around 5 or so when it was safe to look. I figure that's why the today show didn't know about it.

[SiValleySteph]

How scary MrsSpencer! So sad about the one worker, but fortunate no one else was killed.

***

So we've been MIA. We went to Mexico and had a fabulous time. :D Damon acquired the skill of rolling over from tummy to back on vacation. I even got it on video! I'm back to work on Tuesday. Boohoo.

We're off now for his 4 month appointment, will report back!

Love reading along!

[MrsSpencer]

Glad you had fun sivalleysteph! I would love to have a vacation after the two weeks I've had....

eta..the link of the video of the explosion...and how lucky we were since we're only three miles or so from it.

http://www.wchstv.com/newsroom/eyewitness/0808/080829_3e5528ed.shtml

[MrsSpencer]

wanted to share Nicholas eating solids :)..as you see he'd rather feed himself lol!

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/Picture067.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/Picture068.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/Picture070.jpg[/QUOTE]

[twinnyme]

Welcome back, Steph! Sounds like a great time. And yay for Damon rolling! Have a good day back on Tuesday.

MrsSpencer - great pictures of Nicholas. I have been off and on with solids and with Bridget's cold, just been getting as much liquid into her as possible, but I did try it again this morning, and she loved the green beans again! :)

DD1 came back yesterday from a week away with my mother, sister, and nephew, and she was SOOO happy to see Bridget - could have cared less about me (well, a little!) but was SO excited to see Bridget, and has been so sweet to her since she's been back, especially since she has a cold - going over to her when she coughs and saying, "it's okay, sweetie, you'll be okay."

[MrsSpencer]

how sweet twinnyme!

[MrsSpencer]

No one is near the gulf are they?

[FoxyBlue]

No, but- LOVE your avatar! Where did you go for the picture?

[kissmary]

I am so happy for this three day weekend for DH to play with the babe. We took Henry to a wedding an hour away yesterday and he had a great time. Everyone loved him and thought he was so cute! :) He was so happy and even napped in the car. I think he loves the extra attention and seeing the other babies and kids.

Henry is all "this rolling thing is, like, so yesterday. I want to move on to things like sitting and standing and walking already!" Although he can't sit or stand by himself yet, silly baby. I don't think I'm quite ready for walking yet. Maybe he can work on crawling already... :eek: Time to baby proof the house!

No solids here yet. Though he stares at our food a lot more than he stares at other things.

Steph, glad you had a good vacation.

MrsSpencer - Glad that Nicholas is okay...read your other thread and hope you can get that situation resolved soon!

[MrsSpencer]

Thanks kissmary..hasn't had another episode, so keeping fingers crossed it was a one time thing.

Foxy-his pics were done at target!

eta..forgot to say I was in a karaoke contest last night..here's the re-cap!

Tonight went great! At the contest (a big 12 week contest ending in Nov.) I got to the semi-finals! I also was invited by a man there to come and sing at a fundraiser next saturday. But I can't because my mom entered Nicholas in another pretty baby contest, she paid for it, so whatever. Doesn't bother me I can't go..just thought it was cool, he thought I was good enough..haha.

[coquelicot]

Back from visiting DH's relatives. He's in the living room playing with DD now. We had a pretty good weekend, although DD is really getting fussy in the evenings. This brings up my QOD, a two-parter:

What is your baby's approximate bedtime now? And how long does he/she (they for the twin mamas) sleep at night?

I'm asking because I'm wondering if maybe DD should start going to bed earlier. She's taking 3-4 naps a day, and I wonder if I should cut out that 4th nap and just put her to bed. Right now, she goes to bed at 9-9:30 (whenever she's done nursing) and sleeps until about 8-9 with one early-morning feeding usually between 6-7. Reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child," the author says that I should be aiming for more like a 6-8 pm bedtime now. I just want DH to have some time with her, plus I'm not a morning person, so I don't know if I want to be up that much earlier. :)

I know I could post this on one of the baby-sleep threads, but I wanted to get an idea of the times for babies the same age as DD.

[FoxyBlue]

9:30-10:30 (weekends tend to be later) for DS. If he goes to sleep any earlier it doesn't last.

He sleeps till 7 am-ish, give or take. Lately a growth spurt had him up 1-2x a night...

I like it b/c then I have time to get ready in the AM. I grab him asleep and put him in his carseat. He eats and gets changed once we get to my mom's house.

[summerbride2005]

What is your baby's approximate bedtime now? And how long does he/she (they for the twin mamas) sleep at night? DD's last feeding is between 8:30 & 9p. She falls asleep when I burp her between 9:30 & 10. I wake her up at 7:10a, but I bet she could sleep longer if I let her. We hope to move her last feeding back a little more each week, but I just don't want to ruin her sleeping through the night. She hasn't woken up once since she was 6 weeks old.

[tgr68]

Hey, ladies! Just a quick fly by post to say that I'm readding along but have been super busy. Plus, today my back has been killing me. I'm not sure what I've done, but it feels similar to a bone being "out" and my muscles are all tense - not a comfortable place to be in. :(

Will answer this one question though...
DS's Bedtime~We try to get both kids down around 9pm. DS eats around 8:30. Then it's a diaper change and a couple of books before lights out and music on. (Both kids falls asleep to classical CD's. DS has Celtic harp, and DD has saxophone.) They both typically sleep until around 8pm.

[Gabe's Mom]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What is your baby's approximate bedtime now? And how long does he/she (they for the twin mamas) sleep at night?

Approx 9 PM. I've tried earlier many times with no luck. We are up at 1 am and 4:56 am to nurse and he is then up again between 5:40 am - 7 am. Not exactly a restful night for mom. (Refusing bottle from dad still.)

Lucas starts daycare tomorrow. LOVE my daycare but still nervous. He's still struggling with the bottle a lot. And he is doing TERRIBLE with naps during the day. Only 15-20 minutes.

[phart]

Malcolm goes to sleep somewhere between 8 and 9 but usually close to 8:30. I'm trying to get him on that "schedule". He wakes anywhere from 2-4 times a night which isn't fabulous and I'm tired:) Last night he was up at 1:30, 4 and 6. Then up for the day at 7:30ish. I know it could be worse but I'm still not thrilled. I'm currently working on getting him to nap in the crib (he usually naps in the COS or our bed) hoping that the older kids will have less of a chance to wake him up.

[kissmary]

Some nights Henry is asleep by 7, if he hasn't taken a last nap. Other nights, not until 8 if we had to squeeze in that 4th nap or if he is being particularly ornery. Lately it has been closer to 7. Also, he will still wake up sometimes after only sleeping for half an hour and need to be put back to sleep (like last night). Then up for the day between 6:30 and 7:30. And he's up anywhere from one to three (last night!) times to eat.

[SiValleySteph]

Hmmm...

Damon's approx bedtime is 8-9pm. He wakes up around 6, depending on when his older brother distrubs us. (Not happy about the recent early wake up time!) He was up approximately 8 million times overnight. I am super tired. He's now sleeping with us because that's less tiring. Last night was better, maybe 3-4 wakeups. He was sleeping much longer stretches until the last week or two. The same thing happened with his older brother. Oh well! What can you do?

I'm back at work today. Boohoo. Going okay so far. Sort of bored.

[twinnyme]

Steph - glad you're having a good (if boring) day back at work! I think we have a few other people back to work today - hope it's going well for everyone.

Gabe's Mom - hope Lucas has a good day tomorrow at daycare.

Tgr68 - sorry about your back!

QOTD - Sleep: Bridget tends to go to bed around 7:30/7:40, right when DD1 does as well. Tricky if DH isn't home, but that hasn't happened in a while, thankfully. Her last feeding is usually around 6:30 or 7:00 and then she starts letting us know that IT IS TIME to go to bed by her noises/facial expressions and we swaddle her, hold her a bit, try to get a few more ounces into her if possible (usually not) and when she falls asleep put her in the pac n play. However, sometimes I can also put her in to bed semi-awake (mostly when DH isn't around and I'm dealing with both kids), and she'll put herself to sleep. She tends to sleep from about 7:30/8:00 to 5:30, up for a quick bottle (usually stops at 3 oz.) and then back to bed until 6:30 or 7:00 - later than DD1, who has always been an early riser and is usually up by 6 or 6:15.

Still catnapping during the day, though - and in the last week or so being held for a lot of naps since she hasn't felt well. Also lately, with the cold she's had, she's woken up once a night, around 2 a.m. to eat (or sometimes just to put the pacifier back in), which has been tough because I got used to her STTN. I'm hoping when her cold's done, she'll go back to it! (She did sleep 8 to 5:30 last night so I am hopeful.)

coquelicot - I think your DD's sleep sounds fine. She's sleeping great hours at night, so it would not work well to mess with that, no? Just because the book says to aim for a 6-8 bedtime, I don't think you need to - believe me, I read all those books last time and for us, the ONLY thing that worked was a 6:00 p.m. bedtime for DD1 - the later she went to bed the EARLIER she'd wake up (5:00 a.m. for a LONG TOUGH time). I hated it because DH barely got to see her, but what can you do? She needed her rest. (She slept 6 to 6 at the time, for about a year.) But in your situation, it sounds like your DD is doing fine on the sleep she's getting so I wouldn't fix what isn't broken (tired cliche I know...).

[Chelsea524]

What is your baby's approximate bedtime now? And how long does he/she (they for the twin mamas) sleep at night?
They go to bed around 8-8:30, at about 7:30 they let me know they are done and ready for bed. They usually wake up about 11:30pm and then one or the other will wake up every hour or more until morning, Harrison is up and ready to go by 6:30, Avery will sleep in until 8:30

[Crystal_Orchid]

DD sleeps anywhere between 7:30-9pm, depending how tired she feels and how cranky she is to be put down to bed. She wakes up about 2x a night to eat, if she is good. If not, then 4-5 times! Her wake-up time is between 6:30am-7am. I'm pretty sleep deprived.

[phart]

Anyone started in on STing? Though one might want to admit it for fear of being flamed around here:)

I could handle all this time to be putting/keeping to sleep when it was just one kid, even two, but with 3 it's hurting me badly. It's not fair to the older two kids either. My lack of time with them and also my attitude due to lack of sleep. One shouldn't cry over spilled milk (I just nearly did!).

[summerbride2005]

STing- I should do it for her naps especially since I'm going back to work in 2 weeks, but I haven't yet. She is kind of a poor napper after her 1st morning nap. She'll be happy playing with toys, and then she'll just put her head down on her blanket (which is on the floor) and fall asleep. DD sleeps through the night so we're good there for now. We did kind of ST her though. She was waking up 2 times at night where I would only feed her on one side and then she would just fall back to sleep on me. Then she was down to 1 time a night. When she started waking at 5am I would go in and hold the pacifier in her mouth until 7am which is what I wanted her wake time to be. She just wanted something to suck on to go back to sleep. I thought it was going to be way worse then it was.

[twinnyme]

STing - I have not started on it yet but I have thought about it. I know that Bridget can STTN as she did for weeks/ months but she has had a cold for the last two weeks. Once the last vestiges of the cold are gone, if she is not back to STTN, then we will be starting STing, partly to also prepare her (i.e. get her back to STTN) in order to transition her to the crib in her and her sister's room from the pac n play in our room. I think part of the mistakes I/we made last time was to not be consistent about STing and DD1 did not STTN until 13 months except sporadically and it was very very very hard. I am not going through that again. (Btw, that's why I'm so happy to have gotten a "good" sleeper this time - I hope you all don't think I talk about it too much. I try not to because I know how hard it is to deal with a challenging sleeper.) So if we need to ST this time around, we will. And we will do so after every "event" (illnesses, teething, trips) if need be. Her naps are also not great, and I do want to try to work on those a bit and making them more consistent so once we're back to a better night schedule, I'll probably work on those as well, so she's getting better naps than on the run with older DD and I.

[tgr68]

STing~Well, if anyone will get flamed here on this subject, it'll be me. ;) With DD, I was diagnosed with PPD. My dr said that my lack of sleep was majorly contributing, so she recommended STing as soon as we felt baby was ready with any future children. With DS, he was moved to his crib at about 1 week old. We kept a consistant bedtime routine and answered every cry immediately at first. Starting around 4-5 weeks old, we held off for about 5 minutes before going in to feed, change, or rock him. By six weeks, he was STTN (and that lead to a much happier momma). :) Rarely do we have trouble out of him going to/staying asleep. When he does wake up at night, we tend to use Ferber's method after initially checking on him to make sure he's not hurt - go in after 5 min, then 10 min later, then 15, etc.

Are you ready for some football? Tonight is going to be DS's first football game!! Mine and DH's high school alma mater will be playing their biggest rivals, so it should prove to be an interesting game! The only bad thing is that all of his cute football shirts are in blue, which is the opposing teams colors. :( I really need to look at making in some onsies in crimson and gold to wear.

[FoxyBlue]

I don't like certain boards (not here!) propensity for flaming people for making parenting choices that work for them.

While I understand wanting to go the ideal route- above all I believe in Sanity-Based Parenting. Whatever keeps you sane is what is most likely best for your child.

Some kids sleep well and easily, and some don't. How could I judge someone for doing what works best for them? :)

Lucky me- we are pretty able to be flexible with DS since my mom watches him. He naps well on his own for the most part. We're (informally) working on getting him to 'self soothe' to sleep.

When he was very young he would fall asleep nursing, so I never had to put him down awake. Now we will put him down and as long as he is not wailing, we let him fuss a little.

Currently I will stay there and rub his back until he is at the murmurring stage. At that point he falls asleep quickly. We also turn on his Womb Sounds bear and the baby monitor. If the fussing crescendos we go back and pick him up and check diaper, offer boob, etc.

Is that ST? :) I actually haven't read about it.

But... I am reading about Baby-Led Weaning. Anyone else?

[jess&dan]

Sleep: Aaron is ready for bed around 7:00/7:30...at which time he eats and then is out by 8:00, if not earlier! He'll sleep until at least 7:00 AM, but sometimes 8:00! He did wake up last night at 4:00 talking to himself, but went back to sleep (we got lucky in that he always puts himself to sleep...even for naps!).

tgr68: I hope your DS had a good time! I cannot wait for my DS to start playing sports! He's just one year away from being old enough for the leagues around here!


So I'm back at work now. :( I started on Wednesday and Aaron started daycare. His first day went pretty well, which was good. He didn't get that much sleep during the day, but I expected that since it was a new place. Thankfully I'm only working three days a week. I work MWF, and I can say it's nice not having to work two days in a row! Especially since I spend most of the night before work getting things ready for the next day!

[MrsSpencer]

I've been having trouble getting Nicholas to eat, he's only eaten 3 ounces since 1 am! I called his ped (he also has a temp of 100), and she wants him to see her later today. I hope it's nothing but a little virus, but not eating that long is weird for a baby.

[Chelsea524]

MrsSpencer it could be teething or an ear infection, both would cause a slight fever and may make him not want to eat, especially an ear infection

Harrison is going to the dr later today too, I think he has pink eye, I am not excited about that at all. With an older child you can tell them not to touch their face and wash their hands, Harrison always has his hands up to his face, I could wash them and they'd be right back there again. Plus he rubs every toy and blanket on his face. I know Avery will end up with it, the whole house probably.

[MrsSpencer]

Well do I ever feel totally stupid (although they said not to). He refused to take his bottle like I said..because he was tired of the nipple! She gave him a different bottle at the peds and he sucked it down! Leave it to Nicholas to be picky! She said he has teeth getting ready to come in which is why he has a low temp! I'm glad he's not ill, but I can't help but feel stupid, or really guilty all he wanted was a different bottle this whole time!

[MrsSpencer]

On a good note, since his 4 month wbv (25th of aug) he was 14 lbs. 9 oz.
He's now 14lbs. 14 oz!

[FoxyBlue]

Don't feel bad! I would never have guessed.

[twinnyme]

Me either. I've actually never heard of that. I thought you were going to say he wanted an "older" nipple (like #2 vs. #1) but to all of a sudden want a different bottle all together - never would have guessed that, either! Glad he's eating again.

[MrsSpencer]

The ped said her middle son was like that..she tried three different bottles before he was happy with one till he was weaned!

[MrsSpencer]

He went to reg. evenflo..like the hospital bottles..from playtex drop ins

[jenjunum]

Just checking in. We had Lily's 4 month WBV yesterday. Her stats are:

15 lbs 15 oz
27 inches long
42 cms (head)

She's totally off the charts for her height and her weight is still in the 90th percentile. I think that extra 2 weeks of baking is still keeping her on the top of the charts. She had more shots, which were less hard on me this time when I focused on her face and didn't watch her get poked. She screamed but actually calmed pretty quickly. She woke up with a fever at 5:30 AM this morning so I striped her down to her diaper and gave her some tylenol. The next time I checked her she was fine and then slept until 10:30!

Sleep Lily goes to bed for the night between 7:15 & 8. She usually gets up for the day at 7:30 AM and still wakes about 3 times during the night to eat. I wish that didn't happen but she goes right back to sleep (actually never really wakes up) so it could be much worse. She takes two naps during the day (for a total of 4 hours asleep) usually around 9:30 AM & 1 PM. Everything happened purely on her own. I didn't "train" her or put her on a schedule.

A few weeks ago I transitioned naps into her crib and it actually worked pretty well. So she naps and sleeps in her crib (right next to our bed). Although if I fall asleep while nursing her she sometimes spends a couple hours in our bed at night. We recently stopped swaddling her since she just broke out of it after 30 seconds anyway. And she now has a lovey instead. It's one of those Hawaiian print sarong/shawl things. I had been using it to cover up while nursing in public since it's such thin material and now she's attached to it. I'm going to try and buy some more fabric so we can have more than one and a smaller one that I feel more comfortable leaving with her in the crib.

Going back to work on Monday. So I may be here more often (while at work) or less often (if I'm busy at work). I'm not looking forward to going back.

[FoxyBlue]

Jen- When I was little the doctor told my mom to give me the Tylenol before she brought me in. It helped take the edge off the shot.

I don't know if it truly made a difference, but as a child I felt better!

It also soothes my conscious now, as a mother :) Now that I do that with DS his immediate crying reaction doesn't usually last too long, and we've only had one minor 'reaction' of crankiness later. If that happens I give him one more dose that day.

I am also doing a delayed schedule, so he gets less shots.

[MrsSpencer]

Don't know if I told you we entered Nicholas in a pretty baby contest actually a pagent!

HE WON! He got a sash and a crown (king crown?) and he gets to be in a parade next sat.! Needless to say I was one proud mommy! Will post pics when I get them!

He got the following ind. awards too!

Prettiest Eyes
Prettiest Smile
Prettiest Hair (was the only one not bald!)
Best Attire (was country/hillbilly themed)
Most photogenic (sent in a pic)

[jenjunum]

Foxy - The nurse asked us if we had already given her tylenol before she gave the shots. They never told us to last time. So we'll do that before we get any of the 6 month shots. They gave her tylenol before shots but like 1 minute before.

Congrats MrsSpencer. Lily could totally win any hair competition, she's got more hair than any other baby her age I've seen. It's good to know everyone agrees you have a cute baby.

[MrsSpencer]

Here's some pics of Mister Pumpkin Pie (hilarious name isn't it?) (sorry if some of them are blurry, and ignore me and my ugly self!)

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/iwon004.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/littlemisterpumpkinpie005.jpg

http://i299.photobucket.com/albums/mm318/NicholasHaroldsmommy/littlemisterpumpkinpie007.jpg

[twinnyme]

MrsSpencer - cute pictures.

Jenjunum - hope you're having a good day back at work. Sounds like Lily's doing great. I'm started to getting nervous about eventually unswaddling Bridget. She sleeps so well with it, and I'm concerned she'll never learn to sleep without it - but she will, like everything else I think will "never" happen. :p

I, too, give Tylenol to my DDs about an hour before they get their vaccinations - it definitely helps. The times I've forgotten I've definitely regretted it....

[MrsSpencer]

Hope your first day goes well jenjunum!

[kissmary]

Jen - Good luck back at work! Lily is tall!

Mandi - Aw, so cute. Congrats to Nicholas.

I'm scared of unswaddling Henry, too. I've tried having an arm out for naps, but then he only sleeps for 15-20 minutes. He breaks out of the swaddle if we don't wrap it tight enough (most of the time!), but he still needs it to go to sleep and stay asleep. I guess he'll let us know when he can't take it anymore. Or when we can't!

So, on Saturday he started making all these "ba wa da la ma" sounds out of the blue. So cute! Now he can't stop. :)

[coquelicot]

*jenjunum* - The ped's office never specifically told me ahead of time to give DD Tylenol before her shots. I had to call the office and ask them if I should, how much, and how long before her appointment. I'm sure your DD was a real trooper. :)

*MrsSpencer* - congrats on Nicholas winning the cute-baby contest!

*twinnyme* - I so know what you mean about the swaddling. I'm starting to do one arm out for her naps. Sometimes she's fine with that, other times, it means a shorter nap. Sometimes even at night, she's getting that one arm out. I don't know how long she's sleeping with it out because she's waking up at her normal time. I'm going to have to start ST soon so that I don't have to try to put a sleeping baby in her crib with all her arms and legs unswaddled. At least with swaddling, she's just one package that's not hard to hold.

Not much happening here. DD still furiously trying to roll back to belly. She can turn her head to an insane angle and fling her leg over, but she can't get over that arm yet. DH is on a business trip until Friday. :(

[twinnyme]

Coquelicot - sorry you're without DH at the moment. Hope it goes fast.

Yeah, I think Bridget will tell us when she's done with swaddling. I guess I'm just scared of that moment. She's broken out quite a lot now and resists it a bit when we first swaddle her at night, but it still settles her so quickly....

I forgot to mention that she rolled over from her belly to her back yesterday, for only the second time (since July 12th). She hasn't rolled from her back to her belly at all yet.

[SiValleySteph]

Jenjunum, How was work?

Not much to report here. I'm on week 2 of work. Damon has been waking lots. I'm tired. And whiney. :D

He has been rolling over more recently. Mostly back to front right now. Still usually when no one is looking. :D

[twinnyme]

And she now has a lovey instead. It's one of those Hawaiian print sarong/shawl things. I had been using it to cover up while nursing in public since it's such thin material and now she's attached to it. I'm going to try and buy some more fabric so we can have more than one and a smaller one that I feel more comfortable leaving with her in the crib.

Btw, this is a great idea that I'd forgotten about. DD1 had a lovey that we deliberately introduced as such when she was about this age. She was a terrible sleeper so we were desperate for any help. So with Bridget I've used a taggie blanket all along, literally almost from the beginning, to help her go to sleep for naps - too concerned for her to have it at bedtime yet. Usually she only has it when she's napping in the carseat, stroller, swing, or bouncy. Perhaps I'll start giving that to her when she sleeps at night, to start the transition to unswaddling.

Another great idea, as jenjunum said, is to have multiples of the same lovey (and perhaps even alternate them so they both/all get well-loved). We had a hand-me-down rabbit blanket from my sister's son for DD1 and I think we had about 5 or 6 of them. :p We eventually lost them all - another way to prevent that is to only allow them for sleep at home - but luckily transitioned her to another lovey after that.

Going to promote Bridget's lovey to her some more, I think!

Steph - isn't it funny how they always do something when no one's looking? I swear, I looked away for ONE second yesterday and she had rolled over. I did a doubletake when I looked back and she was on her back! Sorry Damon is waking a lot and you're tired.... :(

[MrsSpencer]

Lovey- Nicholas has "blankies" (DH banned me from calling them lovies). It's any recieving blanket..he loves those things and hangs on to them for dear life!

[Chelsea524]

Harrison has a lovey, its just a scrap piece of fleece my mom sewed together for him one day when I forgot a blanket for him, he has to have it to go to bed, when you pull it out he squeels and grabs hold of it rubbing it on his face. Averys lovey is her thumb, she is a big time thumb sucker, she used to do it just to fall to sleep but is trying to do it all the time, I pull it out if there is no reason for her to do it, if she's upset or going to sleep I'm ok with it but I don't want it to be an all the time thing.

Avery fell off the couch yesterday:( I felt so bad, I put her on it in the crease of the cushons with her head up at the top and her feet near the edge (its a wide couch and her feet don't touch the edge) I put her there so I could grab a diaper on the table and she some how archer her back and flung herself off. I felt like such a bad mommie, luckily she is fine but I still feel terrible.

[MrsSpencer]

Harrison has a lovey, its just a scrap piece of fleece my mom sewed together for him one day when I forgot a blanket for him, he has to have it to go to bed, when you pull it out he squeels and grabs hold of it rubbing it on his face. Averys lovey is her thumb, she is a big time thumb sucker, she used to do it just to fall to sleep but is trying to do it all the time, I pull it out if there is no reason for her to do it, if she's upset or going to sleep I'm ok with it but I don't want it to be an all the time thing.

Avery fell off the couch yesterday:( I felt so bad, I put her on it in the crease of the cushons with her head up at the top and her feet near the edge (its a wide couch and her feet don't touch the edge) I put her there so I could grab a diaper on the table and she some how archer her back and flung herself off. I felt like such a bad mommie, luckily she is fine but I still feel terrible.

I can't believe she "managed" to fall off the couch! Don't feel bad I'm sure it's common once they start movin..I assume;)

Nicholas does that with his lovey, rubs it on his face.

[twinnyme]

Bridget is 5 months today!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3039/2841641204_e750a0f732_m.jpg

And last month:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3274/2746792435_4db7cd3079_m.jpg

[phart]

to start the transition to unswaddling.


Who has done this? My other two slept on their bellies and never took to swaddling. I started using it as a sleep cue with Malcolm and it has worked well. He's starting to break out of the miracle blanket...usually just one arm but last night it was both. Erg. So how do I do this? Easily or not so easily? lol

[summerbride2005]

We still swaddle DD every night, but she sleeps on her tummy without it for her naps (only lasts 1/2 hr to 1 hr on tummy). Last night she broke both arms and 1 leg out of it and managed to still sleep all night without crying. I am not looking forward to the transition from swaddling since she is such a restless sleeper.

[Parrothead]

Ugh. Sleep. DD is not doing well. Her naps are only 30-50 minutes still and she's up 2-4 times at night. Two I can handle, 3, 4, and more just are killing me. She's been swaddle-free for about a month (had no impact either way on sleep), as she began rolling onto her tummy in her swaddle.

I have done CIO when I initially put her to bed. She is just fine at self-soothing. She loves her thumb. I just can't get her to drop any night feedings consistently. The other night, she slept from like 7:30pm to 3:30am, which was great, but since then she's been back to waking at 12 or 12:30 for that first feed and then every 2-3 hours after tha :(

Any advice?

[twinnyme]

Parrothead - no advice just lots of sympathy. My first DD was like that, unfortunately. Eventually, she got into a better routine, but it took a while. I tried everything and nothing worked (for us) except time. I think some kids are just born naturally not great sleepers - and you (and I) were unlucky enough to get such kids. They have their many great other merits, though! :D Hopefully, others have some advice for you.

[FoxyBlue]

Mrs Spencer: Love the pics!

Sleeping: I wish I had suggestions... I do know that in Motheringdotcommune I've seen 'the 4 month sleep regression' mentioned. Maybe you can find more info?

I've given up and am trying to get DS going with solids. I'm going as "Baby Led" as possible, but am at least offering them to him. Mixed luck so far.

[tgr68]

Fly-by post...

DS has suddenly taken to screaming at bedtime. :( When we put him down, I make sure that he's fed, has a clean diaper, and has been burped. I know the last couple of days he's been dealing with gas, so I've been giving him Mylicon drops.

Last night DH went up and rocked DS. He fell asleep almost instantly, and DH only tried to transfer DS once he was sure DS was asleep. It didn't work. DS woke up screaming when DH laid him back down. :( DH thought maybe DS was lonely, so he put a small stuffed lamb in the crib with him. It worked like a charm.

Well, tonight DS started in, so I gave him his lamb during my usual lights out routine with him. He screamed rather than calming. I don't know what else I can do. :confused: Rocking and cuddling only work as long as he's laying on one of us. I know he'd happily sleep in bed with us, but with only a full-size bed, it's just not feasible.

Any ideas on how to get our bedtime routine back on track?

[Gabe's Mom]

Phart - Both my kids are swaddle babies. I am not ready to unswaddle Lucas but when we did it with Gabe a few years ago, I transitioned him to a sleep sack first. I think we did it around 7 months or so but would have to look in his journal. For us, it worked really well and we were surprised at how easy it went. But, think somehow we got lucky on the timing. Good Luck!

[twinnyme]

Phart - Both my kids are swaddle babies. I am not ready to unswaddle Lucas but when we did it with Gabe a few years ago, I transitioned him to a sleep sack first. I think we did it around 7 months or so but would have to look in his journal. For us, it worked really well and we were surprised at how easy it went. But, think somehow we got lucky on the timing. Good Luck!

Great idea, Gabe's Mom. Thanks for the suggestion, as I also need to face unswaddling at some point. We have tons of wintery sleep sacks, so I'll definitely try that first. Thanks for the reminder! The things we forget.... Good thing we have threads/sites like this to remind us.

FoxyBlue - good luck on the solids.

Tgr68 - sorry about the sleep issues. Hope DS gets back on track soon. Could it be teething - although it seems isolated to bedtime, so maybe it is a loneliness issue/him realizing there are fun things to do and he's not getting to stay awake for them. I think being consistent with the lamb is a good idea, but other than that, I have no suggestions - sorry!

[phart]

Thanks for the thoughts on swaddle weaning. But we don't swaddle his legs...just his arms! We were swaddling his legs for a few weeks early on but he seemed irritated with it so we started just doing his arms. Sometimes he'll break his left arm out and I can roll him to his belly (he doesn't like his belly at all, darn it) but other times he is ticked off that his arm is out. I think it's going to be no fun at all:o

[Gabe's Mom]

Phart The nurse who led my new mom group also gave the suggestion of sewing the arms closed of a sleep sack. That might be a way to transition your baby. Might allow some "extra room" so that his arms are not held down tightly, but not so much free space that he is able to move his arms all over the place. I think you'll also find that at some point, your baby is just "ready" since as they grow older, they don't have such jerky arm movements that wake them up. As a matter of fact, I swaddled Lucas tonight and put him in his swing. Came back to find BOTH arms out and my husband just transferred him to his bassinet without prob. Still sleeping away. ;)

Not much else going on here. Lucas is doing much better with tummy time. Still not rolling but know that will come. He's also doing well in daycare and took to Playtex bottles. We did have to enlarge the nipples since he kept falling asleep drinking the bottle and it was taking forever. Thankfully that solved our problem and he's doing much better with the bottle. I didn't know you could enlarge playtex latex nipples until I called their info line. The lady was really helpful. I actually complained a bit about the fact that they are phasing out their 8 oz liners becasue I have tons of the older bottles and they send me two $8 coupons to use towards any playtex products! Not bad. ;) Must say the lady was super nice - a nice change for once from a customer service area.

[phart]

Gabe's Mom~~That's an idea I can get behind! Last night he broke his swaddle at least twice (I'm foggy) and was not happy at all about it.

How do you enlarge the nipples? I've given Malcolm the fast flow and he did the same thing my other two did...immediately spit it all back up (or what seemed like all of it!). Which liners are they getting rid of? The drop-ins or the other ones? I use both but don't give too many bottles but it'll still be annoying to get rid of either! I freeze BM in the soft liners but DH likes the drop-ins better for actually pouring, etc.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Malcolm is *thisclose* to sitting up. He can hold it for about 10 seconds at times but then other times he topples right over. I'm fairly certain my other two were 5-6 months when they started full time sitting up. I moved Aiden and Maura to the big Britax seats (one RA, one MA) around months so I need to get another seat for Aiden. He's nearly 5 but is fine (and safest) in a 5-point harness but I want something narrower than the MA. That's me rambling:)

He continues to wake up several times a night but the crib is better over all. I get more sleep since I'm not waking to every sound but I'd like to see him getting up twice to eat and be done with the other little wake-ups. I know he's still young and all but I'm tired:o

[kissmary]

tgr - no advice, but to wait it out. Henry screamed at bedtime for two weeks or so, and a couple of times only I could get him to stop (DH usually does bedtime to sleep). Then he stopped doing it. Don't know what caused it or made it stop. It was limited to bedtime, too, and did not occur at naps.

[Gabe's Mom]

[B]phart[B] - Lucas also can not tolerate the fast flow. My mom and babysitter tried it several times and it just leaked out of his mouth, way too fast. You can enlarge the LATEX only, not silocone nipple. Use a pin and push it through the nipple, from the inside out. (They say it must be fromt he inside out, not the other way for some reason.) Then light the pin and remove it when the flame redness has gone away. We only goofed on one nipple - hole got too big, but otherwise, the rest are much easier for Lucas to get his milk and our daycare providers noticed an immediate difference.
Playtex has new liners that are expandable 10 oz liners for drop-ins. They are phasing out their standard size 8 oz drop-ins although I did find them at a local drug store recently.

On the sleep front, Lucas actually slept ALL night last night! No wake ups for his feeding until 5:30 am and this was with arms UNSWADDLED! Shocked. My poor BB's were so full they were up my neck! So, we may try and not swaddle his arms again tonight as I had been getting up twice per night. Maybe he's ready to unswaddle?? We'll see. One night certainly doesn't mean much. ;)

Gabe also sat up between 5-6 months. Lucas also seems to be doing much better sitting in his boppy although my gut feeling says he'll be a bit later for sitting.

[FoxyBlue]

Mary: I honestly think they are at the stage where they are bored and irritated that they are immobile.

Dawson fusses at bedtime too, despite being tired. I really think he just wants to see a little more before he goes to bed, and get a little more attention.

We really need to start taking an evening walk with him.

Last time he was screaming I distracted him by trying to feed him banana. He wasn't too keen on it, but it definitely gave him some stimulus. After that we nursed in the dark and he went to sleep for the night.

Maybe try some extra stimulation?

[kissmary]

I'll say he's irritated at being immobile! He loves to try to sit and stand and so I'm on baby duty constantly. No more content baby laying on a blanket. He wants to move and be held more than ever. He does love his evening walks in the bjorn with daddy and me, though. And he loves to grab at the cat, though the cat is too fast for him and slinks away most times--he hates baby drool. LOL

Just ordered a Britax Marathon, since my tall boy will be moving out of his Graco any day now it seems (not that close, but still!).

[MrsSpencer]

I'm gonna get a convertible around christmas I think (Nicholas is a little shorter than other babies I think?). For his weight, since he's gaining right, but still isn't "tall" haha! Granted he was only 18.5 inches at birth..so he has a lot to catch up on!

[SiValleySteph]

Gabe's Mom, Just curious, what is it you don't like about the expandable-to-10oz liners. We're using those. Really the only thing that annoys me is that it's hard to tell exactly how many oz are in the drop-ins. I never used the old ones, so I don't know what I'm missing! :)

phart - I got the Graco Nautilus for my older son. I'm very pleased with our choice. Not that much more than a high backed booster and keeps him in 5pt.

Carseat - My DS is rapidly closing in on 20lbs, which is the limit on our infant seat. We have a Marathon & a Roundabout for him, one for my car, one for DH's car. However, right now my mom is staying with us, so we have a 3rd car, so I have a dilemma as to what to do. I'd like to get a Safeseat or something so we have extra carseats (Right now we would have 2 for DS1 and 2 for DS2 once the infant seat is outgrown), but DH thinks it's a waste of money.

[FoxyBlue]

For the SafeSeat, you could just buy an extra base for your mom's car.

I have the base in my car, and my mom uses the carseat without the base in her car.

[Gabe's Mom]

SiValley I have a bunch of old playtex bottles that don't have the 10 oz scale on them so I can't tell how much he has had to eat with the new liners. I wouldn't necessarily care if I was bottle feeding at home because I save my breast milk but daycare will always throw it out. So, I like to know how much he takes so I'm not giving him too much or too little in his daycare bottles.

Car Seat We, too, just ordered our Britex Roundabout from Tiny Ride -seems like they are the cheapest I can find on the internet. Lucas, too, is 20 pounds. Crazy.

Finally heard Lucas have is first real laughs tonight! And of all people making him laugh over and over, it was his older brother making funny noises to Lucas! It was really cute and Lucas LOVED it.

[tgr68]

Our sleep issues have vastly improved since last night! *Knock on wood.* :) I really don't wonder if he was very lonely because once the lamb made an appearance, he really started doing better, and the last day or two he's been such a happy baby!

He killed me tonight though. DH and I were saying goodnight to him. DH stepped out first, and DS looked at me with the biggest eyes and a huge frown as if to say "you're not going to leave me too are you?" Oh it completely broke my heart!!

Anyway, I hope this is the end of our sleep issues, but thank you for all of your thoughts.

[Chelsea524]

carseats I am trying to decide on buying new seats now or waiting, Britax starts their big sale on Monday and won't be on sale again until Feb, we have the safeseats right now that go up to 30 lbs and the babies are only 14-15 lbs right now so I think I can probably wait but still worried for some reason about waiting that long. I am planning on getting the Britax Marathons I think.

My babies are going to be 6 months on Monday! I cannot believe it has been that long, it's just crazy to me. I will post some pics later, DH took my camera today and I haven't loaded them onto my computer yet.

[kissmary]

Well, the swaddle problem seems to resolving itself here. Last night DH witnessed DS wiggle an arm out of the miracle blanket and then roll over to his stomach, twice! So, today we left an arm out for naps and they weren't any better or worse than usual. Tonight the arm will be left out on purpose.

[MrsSpencer]

Nicholas rolled from his back to his tummy today..and now does it everytime you lay him in the floor. He prefers to be on his back..cause he usually rolls right back to his back once he's on his tummy :)

[jenjunum]

Chelsea524 - Lily fell off the couch once too. I felt like the worst mom on the planet. This was a while ago and I still haven't figure out how she was able to get off, she couldn't roll over or really move at all at that point.

My first week of work went pretty well. Lily actually did really well at day care. She napped and ate and likes her day care provider. I'm not sure how it could have gone better. I worked about 30 hours so I'll pretty much be full-time from here on out unless something comes up.

We're going on a 7-8 hour drive this coming weekend (each way). I'm kind of worried how it will go. I think we're going to try and leave at around 4ish so Lily will only be awake for the first 3-4 hours and then will hopefully eat and then sleep the rest of the way. I'm trying to decide if we should leave her in the snugride for the trip or move her up to her britax boulevard. We only have about an inch more space on the snugride and we never carry her in it any more. We'll probably just leave the snugride since we definitely won't have time to get the boulevard inspected before we go.

[Gabe's Mom]

RollingMrsSpenser - Lucas also rolled from back to front twice yesterday! Of course, I did not see either one. I left the living room for just a mmment to get something, came back and he was on his tummy. The second time was awful - I feel so bad. I threw a big party for my mom yesterday. I thought Lucas was asleep and he was swaddled. Since we had no crib, I put him in the middle of the bedroom floor and left. The music was really loud and I didn't hear him. So, went up about 15 minuts later to find him crying uncontrollably and he had turned over from his back to tummy in his swaddle!! I felt like the WORST mom, ever. He'll prob never roll again!

[MrsSpencer]

RollingMrsSpenser - Lucas also rolled from back to front twice yesterday! Of course, I did not see either one. I left the living room for just a mmment to get something, came back and he was on his tummy. The second time was awful - I feel so bad. I threw a big party for my mom yesterday. I thought Lucas was asleep and he was swaddled. Since we had no crib, I put him in the middle of the bedroom floor and left. The music was really loud and I didn't hear him. So, went up about 15 minuts later to find him crying uncontrollably and he had turned over from his back to tummy in his swaddle!! I felt like the WORST mom, ever. He'll prob never roll again!

Poor baby! He'll be okay, he'll just know when he's swaddled he'll never roll again! I never swaddled Nicholas..he never liked it, he rolls everytime you put him in the floor on his back..but doesn't like to stay on his tummy so he rolls back over. He won't sleep that way, and doesn't roll in bed...don't know why go figure?

[Chelsea524]

Had our 6 month appts today, Haarison is 15.3lbs ans 25 in, Avery is 14.3lb and 24 in, both below 5th% in height and 5-10% for weight so about the same as 4 months. Nothing else really to report from the dr, Avery has her MRI is just about 2 weeks, can't wait for that to be over, thats everyones question every time I see anyone, including family, "when does Avery go in?" I know they mean well but honestly, I anser that question every day and the same people ask every time I see them.

[MrsSpencer]

It's good they're maintaining chelsea!

[tgr68]

MrsSpencer~Yay for rolling!!

Gabe'sMom~Poor baby. :( You are not a bad mom, though. On an up note, yay for rolling!

Chelsea~Glad they are maintaining!

Well, DS got his first taste of solids tonight. Lately, he's been refusing to nurse if he gets a bottle of EBM. Tonight I had a meeting that lasted longer than I planned, and DS was screaming. DH decided to feed him some fresh pears (we made them into "apple"sauce) to tie him over instead of a bottle. He ate fine afterwards! I'm going to puree some pears (without the additional spices and brown sugar) for him to eat.

[Gabe's Mom]

You guys are right - he's rolling again. Twice for me this morning and then at daycare. ;)

TGR Yeah on the solids! I'm looking forward to starting Lucas on solids but I don't think he's ready yet. Why leave out the spices??? I just went to a "First Foods" meeting and the nurse really encouraged spices, flavors etc... we tend to make our foods too bland. Babies are used to the many flavors of breast milk. Just some food for thought ...no pun intended. ;)

For Pumping Moms How many times do you pump at work? I know you are supposed to do it every 3 hours but it's really hard when work is busy and feels like I'm always pumping. However, I'm worried that if I cut to 2 times, my milk supply will drop. Any thoughts?

[tgr68]

I think it's more that I want him to know what the actual fruit tastes like. Our pears have a really good flavor, and I don't want him to dislike the fresh fruit because it doesn't have the cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (which is what we used in the pearsauce) in it. Once he at least tastes the plain fresh fruit, I'll add back in the spices for him, just not the extra sugar.

[SiValleySteph]

pumping, I started doing 2x/day this week. 3x/day was too much for me. I will add another if my son starts drinking more or if my supply drops. Yesterday I pumped 18oz in 2 pumps and DS ate maybe 8oz? so I'm still ahead for now. He's just not a bottle fan.

Solids, We haven't started yet. DS isn't 5 months yet. I'm thinking of it, though, as he does seem interested and he can almost sit up. I don't really feel like doing rice cereal, though, but we may. Ped recommended waiting until after our next visit (at 6mo), but if he wasn't drinking much during the day, said we could go ahead and try.

[Gabe's Mom]

TGR - That makes sense about the fresh fruit. I sooooo hope Lucas will eat fruits and veggies as Gabe won't touch anything but babyfood bananas, prunes and mango.

SiValley - Wow! 18 oz in 2 sessons! That is amazing! I'm happy with 15 oz in 3 sessions! I guess I could try going to twice a day and if i notice the drop, kick it back up to 3. Lucas also does not like the bottle but we do occasionally get up to 14 oz in him during hs day at daycare. Usually more like 9-12.

Well, learning to roll over wasn't enough apparently for the week. Tonight, Lucas sat up by himself for probably 30 seconds or so and even was reaching for toys as he sat! I was just practicing with him and all of a sudden, he was sitting unsupported. He's certainly not a pro yet and I'm sure he's going to topple over a lot and still need support, but we're on our way! He still needs to learn how to roll from belly to back though.

[SiValleySteph]

Gabe's Mom, Congrats on the sitting! :D

This is only my 3rd week of work, so I don't know how my supply will keep up. I found I haven't gotten much less this week after dropping from 3 sessions to 2. Yesterday I got 17 oz. DS drank, and I am not kidding, 3oz over the entire day. What? That day of 8oz was by far his "high."

I'm thinking of introducing solids sooner now since he doesn't eat while I'm at work. I would mix liberally with breastmilk! :)

[phart]

Steph--I thought it said "32oz" and I was like "what's her problem with that?!". Then I read again. Does he take a bottle from you at all (obviously not while you're at work...)?

[twinnyme]

I caught this on film today and couldn't pass up posting it - babies are so incredibly limber! :D

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/2871144200_d443218f06.jpg?v=0

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

[SiValleySteph]

Steph--I thought it said "32oz" and I was like "what's her problem with that?!". Then I read again. Does he take a bottle from you at all (obviously not while you're at work...)?

I was trying to give him a bottle every day while on maternity leave and it was really hit or miss. Occassionally, he would drink it right up, otherwise, he would just refuse. My mom is watching him right now and is trying everything - different nipples, different milk, different bottles (okay, we only have 2 kinds).

He seems to be doing fine, though. He's happy & playing. I just want to be sure he is eating enough and hopefully someday I will be able to sleep more at night! He seems to be a "reverse cycler" right now.

[Gabe's Mom]

The only way my mom or sitter could get Lucas to drink was to swaddle him and then turn him to the breast and sneak in the bottle. Even daycare had to do tis at first. Maybe worth a try?

twinneyme Ah! Very cute!

[coquelicot]

twinnyme - Too cute!

Ugh, I'm exhausted this morning. I'm trying to leave one arm out of DD's swaddler at night. She fell asleep around 9:15. Here's how she slept:

10 pm - short cry (2 minutes?); luckily we weren't asleep yet. Put herself back to sleep
11 pm and 12 am - short cry; put herself back to sleep
2 am - decided to try rolling, wouldn't go back to sleep until she was nursed. I tried sticking a paci in her mouth and putting both arms back in swaddler, then rocking her. Finally gave up and nursed her; she fell asleep around 3.
6 am - she got arm out of swaddler, trying to roll again, nursed her back to sleep by 6:30.
Up for the day around 7:45

She was sleeping SO WELL, too. Ugh. She's just bound and determined now to get at least one arm out of that swaddler. Ideally, both. But she doesn't sleep well with her arms out. Sigh.

[twinnyme]

coquelicot- How's the sleeping/non-swaddling going? Over here, we're still addicted. MIL/FIL watched the girls Saturday and couldn't figure out the swaddle :rolleyes: and couldn't calm Bridget down - they said if she'd cried for much longer they were going to call us. (I didn't know this until after the fact, but she cried for a long time. :( ) They've never seen the miracle that happens when Bridget is fussing and we swaddle her - how she calms down immediately. My parents have seen it and are always surprised by it, but they haven't. But it sure tells me my answer as to when to stop swaddling - NOT YET!

Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks about the picture - and push up our thread a bit! How's everyone doing? Not much going on here but Bridget is sitting more - at daycare yesterday, they told me she sat unassisted for 1/2 hour. I've seen her go almost as long as that - it's only started consistently in the last week or so - and she can also pick up toys while sitting and then transfer them to her other hand. Scary, though, as DD1 didn't sit up consistently until about 8 months. This is much earlier! :eek: Of course, because of all these milestones, she's also been waking up more at night - still usually just once to eat but the other night I couldn't get her back to sleep and resorted to the swing, where she slept peacefully until morning. We also have to pop the pacifier back in a couple of times a night usually but that's not a big deal.

[MrsSpencer]

Nicholas can stand holding on to something on his own..and almost sit! Who gave our babies permission to grow up?

[tgr68]

Just peeking in.

Gabe's Mom~I ended up making the pear sauce with cinnamon and nutmeg. :)

[MrsSpencer]

Nicholas is still sick with diareha (sp?) since Saturday night. Took him to the ped Tuesday and they said there was nothing they can do..but he's still sick. He's been eating bananas and apples, and rice cereal, and drinking pedialyte and he's still sick? I don't think it's teeth, cause he just doesn't seem like it's bothering him, how long does this usually last?

[coquelicot]

coquelicot- How's the sleeping/non-swaddling going?
Well, we're still swaddling, just with one arm out. Sleep is touch and go. The other night, she slept 10.5 hours uninterrupted like that. Wow! Last night, though--up at 3:45 am wanting to roll. :( She was up for almost 2 hours, even after I gave up trying to rock her back to sleep and nursed her. Naps are usually under an hour each, but we try to get her 4 of them. That's not much different from when she had both arms in. When I've tried both arms out, I can't even get her to nap for a half-hour. I'm starting to think that she'd prefer sleeping on her side, but I don't think she's ready for both arms out yet. I'm not going to try again for a few days. Trying to get over a case of double mastitis. :(

Sitting up - DD did it by herself for just a couple of seconds this morning. Have a long way to go on that, though.

[Marisa]

Nicholas is still sick with diareha (sp?) since Saturday night. Took him to the ped Tuesday and they said there was nothing they can do..but he's still sick. He's been eating bananas and apples, and rice cereal, and drinking pedialyte and he's still sick? I don't think it's teeth, cause he just doesn't seem like it's bothering him, how long does this usually last?

The ped said to continue all those foods, even with the diarrhea? In my experience you're usually supposed to back off any solids, make sure baby stays well hydrated (as much milk as they can keep down, or pedialyte if they're really not keeping anything down). Then add the other foods back in when the diapers go back to normal.

If things are really going through him quickly, then you want to be offering foods that are high in nutrition, so that what little stays with him is at least good for him. (Not that bananas and apples are bad for him -- just not the complete nutrition that formula would be.)

[SiValleySteph]

Hey guys!

We had a fun weekend. Damon went on the swings for the first time - loved it!

He also tried some banana smushed up with breastmilk. He loved it! At least, I think he loved it or maybe he just loved chewing on the spoon. :p

We tried the solids because he hasn't been drinking much while I'm at work (like 2-4oz over a full 10 hour day!). Of course, then he started drinking his bottle this week (10oz a day, which is great!), so we are holding off again for now until he is closer to 6 months. No hurry!

I was trying to post a video, but my link wasn't working exactly. Oh well!

[kissmary]

Sitting up - DS is not really that interested. He's always reaching for whatever toy/blankie/book that I've set nearby or falling sideways in an attempt to stand.

He's much more interested in standing. He's sort of pulling himself up to stand with our help! :eek: He's getting steadier when he stands, too.

coquelicot and Melissa - I've been trying to stick to having one arm out for naps, but sometimes it's hard to set him down. He wakes immediately and rubs his eyes and whines occasionally. The other day he actually took a longer nap with an arm out and turned to his side/stomach so I guess we're making some progress. DH doesn't leave an arm out for night sleep, but DS always gets it out right away--it's just easier to get him asleep that way at night I guess! Hope you both have better luck!!

We still haven't started solids here yet. Maybe I'll make some applesauce with all the apples we've got and see if he wants some unsugared/seasoned.

MrsSpencer - Hope Nicholas is feeling better soon!

[MrsSpencer]

His ped said to include bananas and applesauce as it is supposed to help to "harden" the stools. He only gets that in the morning, formula the rest of the day and pedialyte. The cereal is in his formula of course.

[twinnyme]

coquelicot and Melissa - Hope you both have better luck!!

Thanks but given how well she does with swaddling I'm not even going to ATTEMPT any arms or legs out until absolutely necessary. I'm not ready to deal with sleep issues - I had too many with DD1 and so far with Bridget we've been very lucky with sleep, even with some of the minor issues we have had. So thanks for the luck - but not immediately - I'm sure I'll need it waaaaayyy in the future! :p

MrsSpencer - Hope Nicholas feels better soon!

SiValleySteph - glad you had a good weekend, and that Damon enjoyed his first swing ride! Thanks for replying in my other thread, too, about bedtime routines. Any RO's here want to share tips on how you handle bedtime with two kids (when you do it alone without DH)?

Standing - kids are SO different. DD1 was all about standing and wanting to stand early on but didn't sit until 8.5 months; Bridget could care less about standing, but she does like to sit, and pretty much hates to be laying down these days!

Solids - We've been giving Bridget solids consistently (somewhat) for a couple of weeks now (we'd started a bit earlier but then she got a cold and wasn't interested) and the other day she ate a whole carton of something - I think, carrots. Usually she eats just 1/2 carton, if that. So we've started it but aren't consistent at all about it; she still prefers her bottle!

[Chelsea524]

sitting not so much here, Avery can sit for a few seconds but not long at all, Harrison can't really at all. I need to start working with them on this I guess, I just brought their boppies downstairs so they can use those to help

standing they probably *could* stand if they would keep holding on to something but they get distracted and try to grab everything they can

Solids they get solids once a day usually, sometimes I am running all over the place and we never get to them that day but we really only started them because they were having a hard time with just getting one bottle while I was at work 6 hrs, I would have been fine waiting til closer to 7-8 months to start.

Harrison and Avery have both started to love drinking out of cups, they aren't very good at it and usually make a mess of them selves but anythime you take a drink they grab it from you and will actually put the cup up to their mouth and try to take a drink all on their own, they just get carried away and go faster than they can drink.

[MrsSpencer]

Standing- Not sure if I've already answered..but he can stand when he holds on to something by himself!

You know the solids answer!

Cups- I was going to start Nicholas on sippy cups around the middle of November (6.5 months) is that too early or too late? He can hold his bottle pretty well (not consistantly) but the sippy cups I want to get him have handles..so I wonder if that will be easier for him to hold on to. Eli the little boy I watch..he's 8 months and doesn't hold his bottle, I asked his mom if she's tried a sippy cup (he's the youngest of three, so I figured him feeding himself at times would help her). She said that he's so attached to his bottle...he's not mine so I'm not going to worry about it.

[Maggie8202]

Oh my gosh! I haven't posted here is forever!! I have been reading along though but at the end of the day I am too tired to make a post. I have been back at work for about a month and I am now super tired but Ella is doing well with the transition. She is staying with my mom and my MIL and having a great time. I think they are both enjoying the special time with her as well.:)

Sitting: Ella started to sit by herself this week. I still put a soft blanket behind her because she sometimes falls back, but is doing really well with it and likes to sit by herself all the time now!

Standing: My mom showed me yesterday that Ella can now hold on to the couch and stand!! She has been doing really well standing, but didn't realize she was able to do it herself.

Solids: We have made it through all of the veggies and are now on to fruits. Peas didn't work too well for her, so we may try back in a couple of weeks. She also plays with the gerber puffs. They seem to entertain her while I get the oatmeal ready.

Did I mention that she is FINALLY STTN??? My second week back to work she started and I was soooo relieved. The combo of moving dinner time to around 4:30-5pm from around 730 and letting her sleep with her lovie seemed to do the trick for her. She has been sleeping from 8pm to about 4:30-6:30am, but then will go back down until around 8am. Last night she got up around 3, but I think we maybe going through another growth spurt because she ate a ton yesterday.

We also haven't swaddled her for almost 2 months. When she wasn't sleeping well I just stopped swaddling because it had lost its magic. I did transition her slowly, but I think she is more happy being able to move about and sleep on her side. She also sucks on her fingers so she is able to self soothe herself.

Cups: I was thinking of starting this soon, but didn't know when to also Mandi. She can hold it great with nothing in it.


We just came back from her 6 month WBV and she now weighs 17 pounds 1 ounce and is in the 80th percentile, starting off the charts low in her weight at birth I am floored at how big she is!

Ack... she is waking up and is ready for some dinner.... I will be back soon to post some updated photos!

[jess&dan]

It's been a long time since I've posted also! All our babies are getting so big!

Aaron was 6 months on Saturday! It's crazy that it's been that long already!
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a265/jpillera/September27200801.jpg

Sitting: He's been sitting up for a couple of weeks now. His big brother didn't do that until 6.5 months. Aaron is just determined to see what is going on and sitting up is the best way to do it!

Standing: He stand when you're holding him...but I've never tried to see if he can do it on his own holding onto a couch or something. He sometimes shows interest in wanting to pull up...but not like DS1 who was determined to stand.

Crawling: He's been on his elbows and knees rocking a lot. He really wants to go and just can't quite figure it out.

Solids: We're through the veggies and have done 2 fruits. He is hating the bottle, which is a problem since he needs that. He has a bottle three times a day and solids three times a day. He scarfs down the baby food...can't get enough. And he tries to feed himself with the spoon!

Cups: We have one with every solid meal and he likes to play around with it and drink a little.

Teeth: He has bumps on his bottom gum, but they haven't poked through just yet. Hopefully soon!

His 6 month appt. is Thursday, so we'll see how he's grown! He's in 6/9 month clothes...but the pants are just right. I think by the end of the month he'll need 12 month pants...he's so darn long!

[twinnyme]

Jess - Happy 6 months to Aaron! Wow, time is flying! Great pic.

Maggie - sounds like Ella is doing great!

Solids - I had Bridget eat a "biter biscuit" the other day. She seemed to like it. She's always trying to grab some of big sister's food, but we're sticking with the purees for now.

Cups - I bought a sippy cup for her the other day and big sister appropriated it. I'm not at all worried about it - she didn't transition to cups until 13 months, so no rush for that, I feel. But it would be nice for her to start holding her own bottle more. DD1 didn't hold it at all until 9 months, and I'd like it to happen a little earlier this time!

We've started transitioning Bridget to the crib in the shared room with her sister from the pac n play in our room. Night #1 (Tuesday night) went fantastically, night #2 not so much - bedtime was a breeze but she was up a lot of the night, which is VERY unusual for her. I tried unswaddling her, giving her a lovey, everything - nothing worked. She got so worked up that I finally had to bypass moving her back to the pac n play and put her right in the swing instead - which she hasn't even sat in for WEEKS!

Okay, I wanted to bump us up before we fell to page 2 :p but also now that we're in October, I wanted to post a QOTD - what Halloween outfits are your kids wearing? I'm doing a matching costume with both girls - the princess and the pea. I have Halloween photo cards all addressed and stamped and ready to go, I am just waiting a couple of days to pop them in the mail. (With DD1, I did a photo card for EVERY holiday her first year, since she was born in January. So far with Bridget, I've done ones for Mother's Day and Halloween - both with her sister.) This picture was taken in late August, she's grown quite a bit since then - we have her 6 month WBV next Friday!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3075/2784848075_ebd96225c8_m.jpg

[MrsSpencer]

I don't know what Nicholas will be..we're going out tonight to buy him a costume!

Everyone's little ones are so cute! Everyone's babies are going on 6 months and poor Nicholas just turned five months Monday!

[Chelsea524]

sorry this is so quick but I am beyond ready for bed.

QOTD Avery and Harrison are going to be a dog and cat, just got the costumes yesterday.

Avery had her MRI today and we scheduled her surgery for Oct 13th. Dr felt that we needed to do it pretty quick because with how much she has already grown her spinal cord is much lower than it should be. According to the dr it should be a pretty quick surgery, just over an hour, she will have to stay at least 2 nights, we were originally told 5 so thats better. I am beyond nervous about this and the next two weeks are going to be so hard, but I can't wait for it to be done and over with.

[tgr68]

Fly by post, and then I'll go back and catch up...

DS is 6 months old today!!!!

Where has the time gone? I mean, really, this has has been so much faster than with DD!

Solids~We started solids with him today - pears. I've decided - primarily for the sake of our budget but also as a step towards greener living - to make baby food this time around. For about the first half an ounce, he was going to town. The second half, not so much, but he was making the funniest faces. I was cracking up.

Cup~I also introduced him briefly to a cup today. He took one sip of water and let it all dribble down his chin. LOL! He kept reaching for it, so I decided to hand it over (barely enough water to cover the bottom of the cup). He chewed on it a while and then went to pour it out!! :eek: Oh boy! I have a feeling that dinner time with this one is going to be a doozy!

[tgr68]

MrsSpencer~I hope Nicholas is feeling much better.

Coquelicot~Yikes!! Hope the mastis has cleared up and that you are feeling better! :(

Standing~I'm surprised at the number of babies standing with assistance! I don't remember things happening quite this soon with my first. Of course it seems like all the babies (both here and IRL) this time around are more mobile!

Jess~Adorable picture! He is such a smiley, photogenic baby!

Halloween~It's Princess Leia and Yoda here. For the rest of October, DD has 2 princess shirts and a pumpkin shirt, and DS has 2 first Halloween onsies and a first Halloween bib.

Chelsea~Good luck with Avery's surgery. I'll be thinking of you on the 13th!

Well, it's off to bed for me! Goodnight everyone!

[MrsSpencer]

Good luck with Avery's surgery Chelsea...I'll be thinking of her.

[coquelicot]

Chelsea - good luck with Avery's surgery. Hopefully everything will go smoothly.

Solids - we've only done rice cereal. Sometimes DD gobbles it down happily. Last night--3 bites and she was done. Considering that I mixed it with breast milk, I was not happy to see that 1.5 oz go to waste. Especially given my trouble pumping lately, I think partially due to my mastitis. Luckily I'm feeling better now.

Halloween - DH got DD a tiger outfit at Goodwill. It's a 3-month outfit, so I'm not sure if she'll still be able to wear it next month. In most things, she's 3-6 months now.

Standing - only if I'm holding her with both hands under her arms, and just for a couple of seconds.

Cup - tried a sippy cup of EBM a couple of times. DD refused to take it. We tried a different one, and she downed it. I'm afraid that one flowed too fast, though.

[SiValleySteph]

QOTD - Big brother is going to be a pirate and Damon is going to be his pirate parrot. :D I'm making the costumes, so I'm going to try and finish them this weekend. So far I've made DS1's pants and vest. I'm going to make him a shirt and then for DS2's outfit, I am starting with a hoodie and adding wings/tail/beak/eyes. :)

standing - Damon has always liked to stand with you holding his hands, but I don't think he could stand on his own. He tends to curl his toes under. I don't think I'll try it for now unless he seems really interested.

sitting - He's really good at sitting, but he can't sit up from lying do