January 2005 Mommies - Come on in! :) [Archive] - Page 4

twinnyme

12-15-2005, 12:18 PM

Haven't had much time to post the last couple of days....

Amanda - Cute cart! I bought similar items for my nephew online from Learning Things - cash register, shopping basket, and grocery items. If you have time for shipping, you may want to try online. I found a lot of options. Or for E.'s birthday? I also saw something similar at Kaybee's this weekend if you have any of those near you.

Marisa - thanks! Yes, I think she had fun. My sisters are convinced her raising her arms was her reaching out to us, saying get me off this guy, but I really think she was excited by the whole thing - like you said, WOO HOO! I love it.

Jen - Hope you have/had (by the time you read this...) a great party for Gabe. It's funny, but when you were talking about the 1st birthday hitting you, it didn't hit me until yesterday, when it hit big time - she was 11 months yesterday. Next month that day she will be one! How is that even possible???? Hope Gabe is feeling better.

Lara - Hope Austin is feeling better! I had strep many, many times as a kid. Not fun. Poor little guy! Becca has developed a cough in the last couple of days - first time in a while - and yesterday they said she was "off" after her p.m. nap at daycare so they took her temp and said she had a "fever" of 99.2 - crazy daycare. That is SO not a fever!!

I put together my gifts for Becca's providers yesterday - her 3 main ones. In a small gift bag I put: a Dunkin Donuts gift card, 1 or 2 Christmasy-type candles, a small box of Whitman's chocolate, a candy cane, and a very heartfelt thank-you card (filled up the entire card with my writing - I write a lot; have you all figured that out yet? :D )

Well, I just came back from a holiday work lunch so I'd better get back to work!

lorbo

12-15-2005, 01:14 PM

well, James has done it...he is saying dada-much to my dismay-i told DH that he's brainwashed the child while i'm at work...it's just not fair;)
i am disappointed in my family...i mentioned to both of my uncles that i was having christmas dinner-turns out that one accepted the other's invitation-i'm not mad at the one(i know he thinks he'll hurt their feelings) and it'll only be my uncle, his drunken wife(this one called the hospital right before i had the in utero blood transfusion, questioning me rhogam and how i got sensitized and i freaked out and gave her an attitude-then she called back after the transfusion and my sister talked to her, saying i had just had the transfusion and i was under a lot of stress, so that's why i had the freak out episode-what normal person calls a pregnant lady about to undergo a procedure like that-there was a possibility of an emergency c/s at 30 1/2 weeks as well-and starts badgering her for information while she's waiting for word from the bloodbank, the nurses, the doctors, etc. so, i won't miss her, but my other uncle has gotten more distant since my grandparents died. now i'll have to make a special trip to drop off some cookies for him and screw the wife and uncle. i can guess that they won't be attending James and Brooke's birthday party either!

Lizzie Beth

12-15-2005, 07:42 PM

Lara So sorry about your Grandma. :(

And your DH's grandma, Lokahi.. :(

All the pictures are TOO cute. By far the coolest kids around!! Here is a recent one of Susannah:

http://images.snapfish.com/34578%3C6%3B23232%7Ffp337%3Enu%3D3238%3E942%3E5%3B 9%3EWSNRCG%3D3233384%3B85467nu0mrj

Goin' to get a Christmas Tree!!!

Lara- We're right there with you on the amoxicillin - Susannah's got bronchitis and a mild ear infection. Luckily, she LOVES this stuff - opens up her mouth like a little baby bird. Which is good, because it's 2 syringes of the stuff followed by 2 syringes of Motrin. Thank god for flavored medicine!!

Jen- Ewww. NOT fun.

Lorbo- If it makes you feel any better, Susie is completely brainwashed by her Daddy, too. For some reason, the only time I've heard "Mom" is when she's feeling sick, and it comes out "Mob. Oh, Mob." And don't you just love the politics of the holidays? Apparently my DH's family is undergoing a schism between the two aunts. But on the plus side my Mom & Stepdad were invited to the IL's for the holidays, and my Mom & MIL are actually big fans of each other. Maybe it's time to start some new traditions anyway....

marchfamily

12-16-2005, 11:04 AM

Quick post (I have a monster cold, I'm on vacation today and Monday, and E will be up any minute)....

.....It's a girl! Two girls, 16 months apart!!! Boy are we in for some fun!

twinnyme

12-16-2005, 11:24 AM

CONGRATULATIONS, Amanda, Mike, E. and the dog (I forget his/her name)!!! How exciting!

alisong

12-16-2005, 11:45 AM

Amanda - Wow, congrats on another girl! At least you won't have to buy a bunch of new clothes, right?

We've had a stressful couple of days. We leave for Australia on Monday, right? Well, as of last Monday my stepson still hadn't received his passport! 10 phone calls and a couple of hours on hold and we find out they've lost the application! Fortunately they had us come in yesterday and I picked up the new passport today! Oy, what a hassle.

Does anyone have suggestions of non-perishable finger foods to bring for the plane? I've got some Gerber puffs and wagon wheels, but I'd like a little more variety.

Felix had a photo shoot last Sunday with a CC/LJ friend (justHB), and this is my favorite (I think - there are so many great ones to choose from!):

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v499/nostriliza/1ba7775c.jpg

twinnyme

12-16-2005, 06:38 PM

Great picture of Felix, Ali! For finger foods, what about cheerios or animal crackers? Or pieces of wheat bread ripped up really tiny?

Exciting news in this icy New England household: Becca took her first steps tonight!!! About an hour ago. :D :D DH got it on video but it didn't come out too well, so I won't subject you to it. For the last few days, she's been putting her arms straight out in front of her while standing without leaning on anything, then getting really happy and excited, so I'd clap and say "yay" for her, and she'd get even more excited and do it again. One night she did it about 20 times in a row. And tonight she took 2-3 teeny tiny little steps from the middle of the room to me - I was sitting on the floor leaning against an armchair. Very exciting - and scary!

Well, I'm in the middle of uploading the video to send to my family - even though it's not very good they'll get a kick out of it. Maybe one of her Christmas gifts to Grandma & Grandpa next week in New York will be to walk for them!

AusAshMommy

12-18-2005, 09:21 AM

Amanda ~ Congrats!!!

Hey Ya'll ~ Went and took advantage of a coupon I had from the Picture People...look look...

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc39b3127cce967a455043d200000016108CbNW7lsyaY

*Bought this one in an 8x10 for myself*

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc39b3127cce967a4551c2e300000016108CbNW7lsyaY

*Had this one printed in a 10x13 for my parents for X-Mas, gonna get a frame for it*

Surprisingly we got these, they were distracted and didn't really want to cooperate...but we got these awesome shots!

twinnyme

12-18-2005, 09:50 AM

Cute photos, Lara! We got a version of that (ETA: the train) yesterday in our friend's Christmas card - now I know they must have gotten it at PP! :D Very cute. I really like Ashley's dress, too.

Jenzen01

12-19-2005, 07:55 AM

Hi all,

Quick post ...

Amanda - Congrats! Your house is going to be filled with lots of little-girl giggles in the coming years! So happy for you ...

twinnyme - Yeah for first steps! What a milestone.

And, cute pictures everyone!

We had Gabe's first birthday party on Saturday, and everything went well. He was so excited about his presents, which surprised me because I thought he'd be too young to know what was going on. I had told to get him a train because he has one at daycare that he loves. Well, when Gabe opened the package, he was so excited. He hovered around my dad until we got the train out of the box, and then he carried it around and screamed in excitement. It was priceless. I'll never forget those little happy screams he made. He also loved the ball we got him, but everything was pretty much forgotten after he opened up the train ... that occupied him for the rest of the day.

I'll post pictures when I get them developed.

Oh, and we're getting over the stomach flu here. I got it on Thursday, and now DH has it.

ttfn,
Jen

twinnyme

12-19-2005, 08:58 AM

Well, when Gabe opened the package, he was so excited. He hovered around my dad until we got the train out of the box, and then he carried it around and screamed in excitement. It was priceless.

Jen - It's great to hear from you, and that the party went well. Can't wait to see photos! What you said here is SO cute - I can just picture it.... My nephew had a Thomas the Train theme in September for his 2nd birthday - little boys sure do love their trains, don't they?? Guess he's going to be doubly excited on Christmas, huh?!

Ah, so the throwing up was stomach flu, huh? Yeah, when Becca had that (in the spring, I think it was) she threw up every day for a week. Yuck. DH was sick on Friday - he had taken the day off but ended up sleeping for 10 hours straight on the couch. Poor guy. I kept thinking of you, Marisa. It was bad enough DH was sick for Friday and Saturday - I can't imagine you being pregnant and Phil being sick for a week out of work! You really must have been exhausted.

Well, I'm at work today - switching parts of Wed. and Thurs. so we can hit the road to NY on Thursday afternoon - so I'd better sign off. Happy Monday, everyone!

Lizzie Beth

12-19-2005, 06:26 PM

Twinny How exciting!!!! Yay for walking!! Susie's really cruising around, and stretchhhhhes from one piece of furniture to another, but isn't ready to commit to being unsupported just yet. I guess she's heard that the bigger you are, the harder you fall.. :rolleyes:

Lara I LOVE the train pic & the cute smile on Ashley's face. What great pictures!!!!

Amanda Yay for sisters!!!!!

Jen How fun to hear about Gabe's birthday excitement... Actually makes me look forward a bit more to Christmas and some excitement.. With two days in a row of presents, I wonder what Susie is going to think on the 27th, when there's not any.. :rolleyes: Sorry to hear about the tummy troubles.. And here I thought that these freakin' colds were awful... yuck!

The first snow of the year:

http://images.snapfish.com/3458272723232%7Ffp337%3Enu%3D3238%3E942%3E5%3B9%3E WSNRCG%3D3233384%3B8547%3Anu0mrj

AusAshMommy

12-19-2005, 07:29 PM

Lizzie ~ Look @ That big girl you've got there!! She's soo big and adorable!!!

***********
Well the dust hath settled in our house, I am done w/my classes until Jan '06! Two week break, YAY!!! Jimmy is out X-Mas shopping for me tonight, so I get a few hrs calm, he should be home soon though...

My Aunt flew in from TX earlier last week and we had dinner w/my family on Sat evening. During the evening though I managed to smash my baby toe on my right foot, it's not broken thank goodness, but it is pretty bruised. I went and had it looked at today...X-Rays were negative. It was nice visiting with her and catching up, she's going to be a Grandma herself next Aug! She's not quite excited yet, but she's getting there, it's her first grandbaby and her son is older than me! LOL!!! She's just like my Mom was about it...doesn't want to be called Grandma (it's what Austin calls my Mom)...so we'll see how the next 10 mos play out! We were picking on her...it'll be cool though for the kids to have 2nd cousins on my side now!

We're getting ready for Ashley's B-Day and X-Mas this weekend, part of Jimmy's shopping tonight is for a B-Day present for Ashley...so wish him luck! We have a full weekend ahead of us, X-Mas Eve we'll be going down to Alexandria to have dinner w/my Mom's parents, early X-Mas morning we'll be heading over to Jimmy's Aunt's house for a big Saunders/Girdler/Acker X-Mas breakfast, then it's over to my parents house for gifts and dinner early afternoon! Austin probably won't nap all day, so we'll see...

I've got a bit of a quandry though...there's this guy in my class who's got a MAJOR crush on me...cute huh? He's married, I'm married and he's always sending me little notes and such. The problem however is is that he's on my learning team (which means we'll be working together until next Dec when we graduate) and he and I work well together...thankfully though he's in Seattle, WA so there's no way we'd ever connect in real life...Jimmy doesn't know this though...I'm thinking I should tell him...right???

Anyhew, Austin's up for the 15th time tonight...TTFN!

marchfamily

12-20-2005, 11:06 AM

lara - Yey for being on break. I wouldn't say anything to Jimm. Why stir a hornet's nest....men usually don't take well to other men liking their wives. P.S. love the holiday pictures!

Jen - How did the bday party go? One more day till the first, first bday!

Alisong - That picture is gorgeous! I've seen her work on the photography thread. What a great picture!

LizzieBeth - And, Susannah....my how you've grown! Those are the cutest cheeks I have ever seen!

I am so looking forward to sharing our news at Christmas with the families. Its fun hearing everyone's predictions now that we know. Almost everyone thinks we're having a boy this time...so the news will be even more fun to tell! In other news....we decided to go to Ireland! I booked the tickets this weekend. Six days, sans child. I will be super sad, but I know this is a great opportunity to get some time away before our house is even more full! Anyone ever been to Dublin?

twinnyme

12-20-2005, 11:52 AM

we decided to go to Ireland! I booked the tickets this weekend. Six days, sans child. I will be super sad, but I know this is a great opportunity to get some time away before our house is even more full! Anyone ever been to Dublin?

Good for you, Amanda! Have a wonderful, wonderful, time. We went to Dublin on our honeymoon - it was our first stop, though, and we were exhausted, so we didn't do much. We were only there two nights and then traveled around the country. Next time, I'll END in Dublin to take more advantage of it.

Lizzie Beth - LOVE the photo of Susie! It's such a great shot of her.

Well, we've had a rough day here. IL's watched Becca yesterday while I worked at my office job - so that I could switch things around for us to leave for NY on Thursday afternoon. Well, when I got home yesterday they told me she had a terrible diaper rash - which it did look like she had (came on suddenly). She's never had one before so although she was off and on inconsolable last night, we decided to chance daycare today. I told them the minute I walked in, that she'd also been having diarrhea and that I was 150% ready to turn right around and go home with her. But her main provider, whom I like and trust very much, said it didn't look that bad, and Becca was SO happy to be there - she walked for them, too, her first time since Friday night. But she continued to have some issues this morning and so I picked her up at 11:45 - and just got her down for a nap (1:45) - she is not feeling well, poor thing. We have a doctor's appointment this afternoon and from what I described on the phone, I was told it *might* be a yeast infection. Poor thing. We shall see. Our appointment is at 4:50 - I hope she wakes on her own in time. Anyway, gotta get to editing work now, because my whole schedule is thrown off now. I'll be back later to update.

Btw, hope Austin is feeling better from his strep throat, Lara!

marchfamily

12-20-2005, 12:06 PM

Melissa-Awww, poor Becca. Hopefully she'll feel better! Yey for steps!

We went to Dublin on our honeymoon - it was our first stop, though, and we were exhausted, so we didn't do much. We were only there two nights and then traveled around the country. Next time, I'll END in Dublin to take more advantage of it.

Any advice on what you'd do the next time around? Where to stay? I assume we'll want to stay in city centre? We'll be in Dublin for 2.5 days upfront, travel to Galway for the wedding, and back to Dublin for Sunday afternoon/evening - fly out on Monday. Did you drive while there? Think we are renting a car for the Dublin/Galway leg.

SaphirimalMei

12-20-2005, 12:13 PM

I was told it *might* be a yeast infectionJilly had one! Who knew babies could get that? This happened when she was sick with the virus and had the bad diarrhea. They just told us to pick up some lotrimin (I think that's the name) from the store and apply sparingly during diaper changes. Hope becca starts feeling better soon!!!

Amanda - Hooray for Ireland! Enjoy! I'm sure it'll be great :) Congrats on your baby girlbito!

AusAshMommy

12-20-2005, 12:32 PM

Amanda ~ Thanks! I was thinking of not mentioning anything to Jimmy...he can be the jealous type sometimes...I spoke w/the gentleman lastnight (as usual) and he told me that he's been having issues w/his wife and is all kinds of torn up about it...I dragged it out of him kicking and screaming...and then I told him I'd be there for him as a friend whenever he needed to chat...I feel for him I do...Jimmy and I went through something similar to what they are dealing with right now so I fully understand. I could tell from the tone of his IM's that he was a wreck about it...

Have fun in Ireland *jealous* I know it'll be hard to be away from E, but you'll enjoy yourselves I'm sure!

Melissa ~ Sorry to hear about Becca! Poor baby :( Hope she feels better soon! Austin used to get these open sores on his tush as a baby...fungal infections too...got some cream to put on them whenever his diaper was changed and it usually cleared up in a day or so...

Thanks for asking...he's doing much better now!

Marisa ~ Hey how are ya?!?!?!

twinnyme

12-20-2005, 07:27 PM

Thanks for everyone's good wishes for Becca.

Well, now I feel like a crazy first-time mother - but I'm glad to know - it's only a diaper rash! :rolleyes: But it's peace of mind for our traveling. And who knew that's all it was? She's NEVER had a diaper rash before!! Lucky me, I guess, because it is absolutely miserable. The poor thing is still so upset. I started putting on Aquaphor instead of Desitin before we even went to the doctor's and he said that was a good route to take - to be very liberal with it. So on the way home I bought 4 more bottles! She only slept 45 minutes this afternoon and just now it took an hour of me rocking her to get her to bed. It's kind of sweet, actually - she's laying in my arms in the position I had to rock her to sleep when she was very young - and it reminds me so much of that time. But I need to do some work so I'm hoping she'll take longer naps tomorrow. The ped. thinks it should be cleared up by Saturday or so and just said to be even more liberal with the Aquaphor while we're driving to NY as we won't know when she's having a BM. She does have diarrhea, which he thinks is a viral thing, so she's contagious and so will NOT be going back to daycare this week. Luckily I was already "off" tomorrow - editing at home - but on Thursday DH and I will have to do some juggling.

ETA: Becca is 20 lb. 2 oz. now.

Any advice on what you'd do the next time around? Where to stay? I assume we'll want to stay in city centre? We'll be in Dublin for 2.5 days upfront, travel to Galway for the wedding, and back to Dublin for Sunday afternoon/evening - fly out on Monday. Did you drive while there? Think we are renting a car for the Dublin/Galway leg.

I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, Amanda. Surprisingly, I barely remember what we did in Dublin - I think we took a highlights bus tour because we knew we wouldn't be there for long.... We went to the Guinness factory and walked around the city streets - City Centre, shopping, etc., quite a bit. Mainly I think we just collapsed from the wedding, took long meals, and relaxed!! It's nice you'll have so much time there. (I even searched the "other" site to see what else I'd posted there - I recalled posting in the Ireland honeymoon threads - but I didn't find much else that I said....)

As for driving, YES! I wouldn't have done it any other way. We also stayed at B&B's so having our own transporation worked out best. I dislike bus tours etc. - and I'm not sure but I don't think their rail system is as advanced as other European countries (though I could be wrong about that). We liked having the option of getting up and leaving for the next town whenever we wanted. We slept relatively late each day (9-ish), hit just one or two tourist spots, usually went to a pub at night to listen to music, and were back in bed by 9 or 10. It was GREAT - DH and I are very good traveling companions. My family likes to push the envelope, and I don't; neither does he. It worked out well. The rotaries were a little nutty but we did just fine, with only one or two disastrous (directions-wise) situations. I didn't drive much, mainly because I wanted to see the scenery and was a little nervous about it (though I have driven other places on the left side before). But DH did fine!

twinnyme

12-21-2005, 06:31 AM

I'm so happy our first birthday is here!! Happy birthday, Gabe!

marchfamily

12-21-2005, 06:42 AM

Happy First Birthday Gabe!!!

AusAshMommy

12-21-2005, 07:50 AM

HAPPY 1ST B-DAY GABE!!!

SaphirimalMei

12-21-2005, 08:00 AM

Happy 1st Birthday to Gabe!
Woo Hoo!

Melissa - glad it's just a regular ole rash :) Got Jilly home last night and she's got the beginnings of one too. Meh!

Lara - I've been stressed to the max with all the sickness going around my house and the holidays and everything. Basically I feel like a chicken with its head cut off running around in circles :p Hopefully this will all settle down soon and I can RELAX!!!!

I'm taking Jilly swimming for the first time on friday (if the rec center is open)! I'm so excited to see if she likes it!!! :D

lawyerwifemom

12-21-2005, 10:04 AM

Happy Birthday Gabe!!!

asilversun

12-21-2005, 07:46 PM

Happy First Birthday, Gabe!

twinnyme

12-22-2005, 06:39 AM

So, I have a QOTD: Is anyone's child dragging around a blanket or other type of "lovey" yet? We introduced a "lovey" (little blanket with a bunny's head on it) around 4-5 months to help Becca sleep. She usually takes it from us after her last bottle, we put her in her crib, she puts it over her eyes, rolls around a bit, goes onto her tummy, and goes to sleep. (Then I check about an hour later to make sure it's off her eyes; 99% of the time it is.)

Flash forward: Starting the last week or so, she is carrying it EVERYWHERE with her! She'll clutch it when we take her out of the crib, and bring it downstairs with her, and then she's cruising/crawling all around it with it in her hand the whole time. Yesterday, she wanted it to go in the bath with her (I put it on the sink to "watch" her take a bath), in the highchair with her (I put it on the hutch to "watch" her eat), and accidentally dropped it in the toilet after her bath (I washed it and threw it in the dryer). And on Tuesday she was so miserable that I brought it with us to daycare, and when I picked her up around 11:45 a.m. she was carrying it around with her there, too!

I am not at all worried about this - she never took to a pacifier, so maybe this is her comfort thing. My nephew started using one young, too, and just recently (he turned 2 in September) gave it up. (Actually, he used the same one, and I emailed my sister the other day to ask if he'd freak if he saw Becca dragging it around - he got very upset once when they lost it so they bought more of the same one at that point - and she said no, that they'd actually packed two of them up for us to get this weekend.)

Anyway, just curious!

I'm at work now (DH is home with Becca), and will be here until about 1, then heading home, then we hit the road to NYC. Our plans are being sidelined a bit by the strike; instead of going to one sister's apt. in Manhattan we're going to the other's so that we can watch her son tomorrow - because her nanny lives in Queens and can't get in.

AusAshMommy

12-22-2005, 06:42 AM

Melissa ~ To answer your QOTD...Ashley has a baby doll that HAS to go everywhere with us...she hasn't noticed it not being @ daycare these last two days as I've had it in my backpack. Austin has a quilt that was made for him by a former WCer who's not over here and he drags it all over the house, it's his bedtime blanket and he can't sleep w/out it. However, it does NOT leave the house unless under EXTREME circumstances (e.g. we're going on vaca...)...Ashley like I said however hasn't noticed her doll is missing...

twinnyme

12-22-2005, 06:58 AM

However, it does NOT leave the house unless under EXTREME circumstances (e.g. we're going on vaca)...

Thanks for responding, Lara. Too funny that you wrote the above - my post was long enough; otherwise, I would have mentioned this.... My SIL never allowed her son's pacifier to leave the crib/house, and it worked for them. I have started contemplating doing that with the blanket - though of course we're taking it to NY with us today!! (In fact, I think partly why she didn't sleep that weekend in CT may have been the start of this... I had forgotten this particular lovey - I did have another one with me, but maybe she was already attached to this one.) On Tuesday, I told daycare that it was in her cubicle b/c she was so upset but to please only to take it out if she remained so miserable. They told me when I picked her up that she had been, that's why they gave it to her. It's cute, and I know it's one of those things that she'll outgrow eventually, but I do think I want to limit it a bit....

marchfamily

12-22-2005, 09:08 AM

Melissa - no help here. E has a pink piggie in her crib (and her afgan). But, otherwise, she hasn't taken to anything. I think it's cute. Probably a security thing with the new walking?

Cute E story - We've been brushing her teeth (now 8) for a couple of weeks. She really only lets us at the bottom teeth. Last night she was fighting it a bit - so, I gave her the tooth brush. She put it in her mouth and started moving it around (like we would). She totally got it. I guess I don't give her enough credit that she knows what's going on.

Jenzen01

12-27-2005, 07:49 AM

Wow. It's been awhile since I've been in here ...

OK, first, SOs ...

Melissa - Gabe carries his sheep blanket around everywhere. At daycare, he only gets it in his crib, but at home, I'm pretty liberal with it. I take it away sometimes, but otherwise, it's in the living room, and he'll grab it and lay on it when he's tired. He does drag it around quite a bit, but I figure that he's still young and he deserves to have it.

Amanda - Was everyone surprised about the gender news? And, yeah, for Ireland!

And, thanks everyone for the birthday wishes for Gabe. I think we have some more, so I'll try to remember them.

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Happy Birthday Susannah!
So, here's the scoop from here:

Gabe's birthday has come and gone. We didn't do much for his actual birthday, as it was also DH's birthday. I still can't believe he's 1! And, my goodness, he is acting like such a little boy. He loves, loves, loves toys. He is climbing up on things like the rocking chair and the ottoman. He has started using silverware and plates and bowls. I feel like I have a toddler! And, he's speaking his own little language. It's sort of funny to hear him because it does sound like a foreign language. I'm picking up on some of it. He says, "Whatdat?" all the time as he points to stuff. That has to be the most heard word in our house right now. At the Christmas Eve service, he very loudly started saying "Whatdat?" as he pointed to the ceiling fans. Needless to say, I had to take him out of the auditorium because he was so loud. Cute, but loud.

As for Christmas, we did a whirlwind tour of our relatives' homes and came back with way too many presents and toys. I have put most of them in the closet to be pulled out months down the road. This boy does not need that many toys. His favorite, as of this weekend, were the foam letters I bought for the bathtub. He's puts them in a bucket and then dumps them out, and then lays on the floor and fingers all of the letters. It's very cute.

So, that's about it from here. Gabe just seems to have grown up so much over the past week. I can't get over it.

Oh, and he had his third EKG at the cardiologist last week. The hole is still there, but it's small. We don't have to go back for two years, so that's good.

I'll chat with you all later,

ttfn,
Jen

AusAshMommy

12-27-2005, 08:03 AM

Melissa ~ Please don't interpret what I said as it being wrong to have a lovey, if Rebecca is clingy to this one particular blanket then by all means let her have it whenever, she's only 1, whereas Austin's almost 3. So there's a difference. Ashley has her baby dolls that have to go everywhere we do...and she's young enough I think nothing of it.

Jen ~ Thanks for the B-Day Wishes! Her Birthday was spent at home, running around getting some last minute gifts, and then dinner/cake @ her Great Grandparents house! Where she opened her B-Day gifts from the family. My Grandparents had a "1" candle for the cake and we sang Happy Birthday. We also did a B-Day party @ daycare on Friday and her big B-Day party is next weekend.

Our weekend was hectic...Sat like I said we were @ my Grandparents house as always, Sunday morning was breakfast @ Jimmy's family's place, Sunday afternoon/evening we were @ my parents place for dinner. It was actually a small gathering this year, just my sibs, parents, Jimmy and the kids. We sometimes have others, but w/Grandma's passing and Jimmy's Mom going to his Aunt's parents place we just had us. Which was nice...weren't too many people for them to become overstimulated.

Ashley has her 1 yr well baby this morning, so I'll post updates afterwards.

TTFN!

marchfamily

12-27-2005, 08:13 AM

Happy Birthday Ashley & Susannah!

How many toys/clothes can one kid get? Sheesh. I already started a return pile for duplicates and clothes that don't fit. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful...but E still has a birthday in a couple of weeks.

SaphirimalMei

12-27-2005, 12:16 PM

Happy 1st Birthday to Ashley and Susannah!

Our Christmas was nice, but busy. Having divorced parents makes for a runaround holiday. :rolleyes: Jilly made out like a bandit and got lots of cool stuff. She was more enthusiastic about trying to eat the wrapping paper than anything else though. It was a little overwhelming for her, I think, all the pictures and the flurry of activity, but otherwise it was great :)

lawyerwifemom

12-27-2005, 07:15 PM

Happy Birthday Ashley and Susannah!

I am happy to hear the reports of fun first Christmases and Gabe's birthday!

We had a wonderful holiday. Rachel was so excited on Christmas Eve that she didn't want to go to sleep. Both kids got too many toys, books and clothes. We also got a couple videos in Spanish and Spanish books too. Wyatt's favorite toy is the .93 cent ball I bought at WalMart! Well, and anything Rachel is playing with.

We are planning Wyatt's birthday party for the weekend after his birthday. It will be neighbors and friends with kids. My dad and sister will be here too from Virginia. My sister and her 4 month old son are moving in with us so that she can go to college here in town (she's 19 and the baby's father is not participatory at this time). The party should be a blast.

Wyatt is almost weaned. I am only nursing him once or twice a day. He gets formula several times a day and one sippy of whole milk also (in addition to the huge amounts of solids he eats!)

twinnyme

12-27-2005, 08:10 PM

Happy birthday Ashley and Susie!

Great to hear from everyone - and that everyone's holiday went well and was fun! I guess the theme is "got too many toys and gifts" - us, too! The car was packed to the gills, both the trunk and back seat, AND my parents have a few more things they're bringing up in a few weeks when they come for Becca's birthday! :rolleyes:

We had an okay Christmas. Becca loved seeing everyone and being at Grandma and Grandpa's but we (Becca, DH, and I) spent Christmas Day in the ER because she had a 104 degree fever. It started Christmas Eve afternoon and we gave her Motrin but when she woke up again Christmas morning with it just as high we went in. We were there from 9:30 to 4:30. They took her blood (ggrrrr, it took FOUR tries - I was such a mama bear), chest xrays, the whole nine yards. Every time she fell asleep, within minutes, they were back for some other procedure. The poor thing! Luckily, my mom is a pediatric ICU nurse - or maybe unluckily because as I said to her this morning it was like she was at work all weekend - though different of course b/c it's her own grandchild! :) Becca is doing much better (she's on amoxicillin now) but we think she's also teething so that's compounding things. Sleeping was quite difficult this weekend - and I don't think it had anything to do with being in a strange place - just more with her sickness. We go to see her pediatrician tomorrow morning -so this week's work schedule is getting even more screwed up than originally planned. She's barely drinking anything - we have to force her bottle into her mouth to get anything into her. She's probably still traumatized by all the medicine and other things that were shoved into her at the hospital!

On top of this, DH's father also spent all day Christmas at the hospital to remove a polyp/cyst from his colon. He was admitted and stayed overnight, so our trip back today from NJ was extended by our going to DH's parents' house to see him (he was released yesterday) and spend some time with them. We got home at around 8; luckily, Becca slept the entire four hours from NJ to MA - poor thing was exhausted!

Too funny you said that Gabe is climing up on the ottoman, Jen - Becca did that, too, this weekend - a very short ottoman at my parents' but nonetheless.... and yesterday she took two sets of 5-6 steps. We are definitely getting her a walker now for her birthday (she loved the one at my parents' that they keep for all the grandchildren; she was going a mile a minute on it, and on anything she could find to push around) and a CD player, and I think that's probably it. I am also going to put her gifts in various closets, and take them out at various times of the year! She got so many cute things, including PLENTY of dolls and gorgeous little-girl clothes.

DH's and my best gift for Christmas? My parents offering to babysit Becca yesterday while he and I went to lunch and a movie. Ah, bliss. It was SO nice to get out together. And Becca AND my mother both napped the entire time we were gone! :D

Well, back to work for me tomorrow afternoon, so I'm going to relax tonight now!

ETA: Update - we're back from the doctor's and Becca has a clean bill of health - yay! Also, since she's been on the antibiotic since Sunday now and has been without a fever for more than 24 hours, she can go back to daycare tomorrow. Doesn't help today for me to get editing done (I'm with her now; DH will come home at 12:30 so I can go to my office job) but I'm glad to stay home with her one more day. Plus, it gives me time to do laundry/unpacking. But unfortunately I'll now be working (editing) all weekend. Oh, well.

Jenzen01

12-28-2005, 09:37 AM

Happy Birthday Isaac!

Grrrr ... Gabe figured out the buttons on the TV last night. Now he won't stay away from it.

marchfamily

12-28-2005, 09:50 AM

Happy birthday, Isaac!

QOTD - What gift does your little one like best (so far)?

E loves this!
http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00008ZCEE.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

SaphirimalMei

12-28-2005, 11:51 AM

HAPPY B-DAY ISAAC!!!

~~~~~~~~~

QOTD: She likes the bows best :rolleyes: Other than that, though, she enjoys the colored word blocks her g-ma got her. Mostly she likes to bite them and knock down the towers I build for her :p

Jen - Jilly loves our remotes. She's blasted us out a couple of times by clicking the volume up all the way. LOL!

Melissa - poor lil Becca! I'm so glad she's better :)

my favie gift from DH: more pottery classes! hooray!

lokahi

12-28-2005, 12:13 PM

Happy birthday Ashley and Susie!

Happy birthday Isaac!

- - - - -
I send out the boys' birthday invites yesterday. We are having a joint party on Sunday, January 15. I can't believe Andrew is turning 1 yr and Elton is turning 3 yrs!

Andrew's new fave toy
http://akamai-lq.bizrate.com/resize?sq=400&uid=293249336&mid=31490

my fave gift from DH
My very first Dooney & Bourke hand bag and wallet :P

marchfamily

12-28-2005, 12:16 PM

Marisa - Oh, E loved the bows too! And what's with knocking over the blocks? She's on a mission if I stack them up!

twinnyme

12-28-2005, 12:34 PM

Happy birthday, Isaac!

QOTD: We haven't really had time to find out which is her favorite yet. My favorite for her is the Parents pound-a-ball - similar to but not this one:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00005JHWX.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

We played with it this morning. And she loves knocking over blocks like crazy; she got a bunch more Peek-A-Blocks from various people, including the Peek-a-Block shape sorter:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0002YDPRO.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I'll let you all know in a few days which is HER favorite! :rolleyes: We'll be trying out a bunch of her new bath toys tonight.

Lokahi - Looks like we'll be having Becca's, Andrew's, and Elton's birthday party on the same day. I've got to get rolling on that now that Christmas is over!

Jenzen01

12-28-2005, 12:54 PM

Gabe's favorite (as far as I can tell) are the foam bath letters from One Step Ahead. They haven't made it up to the bathroom yet. He just likes putting them in a bucket and dumping them on the floor. You wouldn't believe where I've been finding these things ... they seem to multiplying.

http://www.onestepahead.com/images//product/family/10305-v.jpg

My favorite: The Muppets DVD (Season 1). :) DH and I just stuffed each other's stockings. I got a LOT of candles from him. Silly boy. And then, he thought the stocking was bigger than it actually is, so nothing fit in there, and he had to have Gabe bring things out of the closet one-by-one as we opened gifts. It was cute.

By the way, I found my cell phone in the baking utensil drawer. Now how do you suppose it got there? :D

marchfamily

12-28-2005, 01:09 PM

You wouldn't believe where I've been finding these things ... they seem to multiplying.

By the way, I found my cell phone in the baking utensil drawer. Now how do you suppose it got there?

Too funny! We are in desperate need of bath toys. They were on her list, but no one bought any. Maybe for her bday.

Our party is on Saturday, January 14th. Busy weekend for the January moms!

AusAshMommy

12-28-2005, 05:16 PM

Happy B-Day Susie & Isaac! My GOD time is flying by!

Let's see, X-Mas weekend was busy like I said and the kids made out like BANDITS!!! My fav for Austin is the Color Wonders paints and markers...Crayola makes them...no matter what the paint won't show on the walls, carpet, whatever else he tries to put it on, it only works on the special paper that it comes with!!! YAHOO!!!

This is by far Ashley's Fav toy:

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B00004T2WR.01._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

I like that she can stand up next to it and she just LOVES to play with it!

My Fav gift from DH, a Peridot/Diamond heart pendant w/earrings! It's beautiful!!!

*********
Update from her 1Yr Well Baby:

Weight: 19.04 lbs/25%
Height: 30"/65%

In great health, we're DONE with Formula!! YAHOO!! She's on whole milk bottles all the way!

That's all from our world!!!

lorbo

12-28-2005, 11:13 PM

happy birthday to all the birthday kids!!! kind of scary that our birthday celebrations start in oh, a week-and that's my bday:eek: last week was just plain crazy. i finished gift shopping on christmas eve and we went to church at 5pm-didn't stay for the whole mass because James and Brooke were not that in to the service-Brooke loved the holy water and blessed her self silly, from what DH tells me. then, the gift wrapping and cleaning of the house followed. my christmas eve routine is to wrap and watch the christmas story over and over until i'm done-DH isn't in to it and always makes a comment that we've already watched it 4 times.:p :p to him. i didn't get to bed until 5:30am and was wide awake by 11am-Brooke had a rough night and kept waking every hour until i told her she was getting some motrin, i was going to bed and santa would finally come...if she was to awake again and scream, i would be asleep-that did the trick. she was in awe of the presents that morning and the wrapping paper was flying. James was a bystander pretty much. relatives didn't start coming until 5pm, then more wrapping paper and chaos and dinner. James didn't do much with his toys, Brooke loves his toys and hers as well. tonight he was playing with the same shape sorter cube Becca has. he also got the peek a block alligator-kind of like leggos, the rollaround tree house, the rollaround gumball machine, baby touchbook and lots of clothes. i'm slowly starting to move the clothes and other things in to the appropriate rooms and need to start working on James' room. he's still on the dada kick, mama is nowhere in sight. off to try to go to bed early tonight-and it's 1:15am here!

twinnyme

12-29-2005, 04:51 AM

he's still on the dada kick, mama is nowhere in sight.

Becca, too! Everyone's been trying to get her to say mama again... :rolleyes: I don't care, she'll say it when she's ready. Btw, she also started this week to shake her head "no" - wonderful, huh? I'm not quite ready for that :eek: but as people keep pointing out, wait until she can SAY "no"!

twinnyme

12-30-2005, 09:08 AM

Nostalgic photo drop-off:

July 2005
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc11b3127cce963a1621d68500000016109AZOHLhy1bo

December 2005
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc11b3127cce963a1438d69d00000016109AZOHLhy1bo

This toy is at my parents' house. I can't believe how big and mobile Becca is now!

And a couple of other cute Christmas ones - we have so few because she wasn't around most of the day! :( Anyone else want to share cute holiday photos?

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc11b3127cce963a1623d68700000016109AZOHLhy1bo

Her new Cabbage Patch baby doll
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc11b3127cce963a1426d68300000016109AZOHLhy1bo

AusAshMommy

12-30-2005, 09:13 AM

Melissa ~ Cute Pics As Always!

Borrowing Melissa's Idea:

Ashley...

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b4cc11b3127cce9d8e2ff3218800000016108CbNW7lsyaY

12/27/05 2nd Day @ Home

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d809b3127cce92d8f519af1700000055118CbNW7lsyaY

March 2005 Ready for Palm Sunday Dinner

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d904b3127cce9376776ecd1b00000016108CbNW7lsyaY

Jul 2005

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d609b3127cce9388b15a757800000016108CbNW7lsyaY

August 2005

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cf07b3127cce95f97bcd083c00000015108CbNW7lsyaY

November 2005...

She's so big...like Melissa said it's amazing how mobile they are now...cuddle w/Ashley? Huh? What? No way...she's WAY too busy!

twinnyme

12-30-2005, 09:20 AM

Great photos of Ashley, Lara!

She's so big...like Melissa said it's amazing how mobile they are now...cuddle w/Ashley? Huh? What? No way...she's WAY too busy!

I know - sad, huh? Actually, DH said the other day in a way it's been "nice" that Becca's been sick, because she's so cuddly! :D She hardly ever wants to "hug" anymore - wants to be on the move.

And I really got the idea of the photos from Marisa's recent post in the "Show off Your Beautiful Baby" thread - she did an adorable retrospective of Jilly there - check it out if you haven't seen it yet! :)

Jenzen01

12-30-2005, 09:42 AM

Awww ... cute idea and cute pics.

Here's Gabe in May 2005:

http://images.snapfish.com/3458%3B9658%7Ffp45%3Dot%3E2328%3D%3B%3B5%3D3%3A%3A %3D859%3A38b28283923%3D32329593%3A6994nu0mrj

And in Nov. 2005:

http://images.snapfish.com/3458%3B9667%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3C4%3E2%3B9% 3E4%3B9959a37443732%3E2324284434489ot1lsi

I don't have anything recent online. I'm waiting for our Christmas pics to be developed at Snapfish, so I'll post then.

Also, wanted to wish an early HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ELI!

romansluv

12-30-2005, 05:05 PM

HELLO EVERYONE!!!!

Thank you so much for Isaac's b-day wishes! We had a small dinner with our immediate family only. I said no gifts because this little boy got SO MANY toys for x-mas, it's crazy.

We are planning his party for 1/7 so I'm totally excited!!!

Happy Birthday Eli, Gabe (belated), Susie!!!

AusAshMommy

12-30-2005, 05:42 PM

Happy Early B-Day Eli!!!

All of our babies are turning 1...My GOD has the year gone by that fast???

lawyerwifemom

12-30-2005, 07:30 PM

Happy Birthday Isaac and Eli!

This look back at the year is fun. I cannot believe how fast it has gone! Here's Wyatt

7 weeks
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5dd36b3127cce909cc2bde5f700000026108AbuWbdq4atK

April (4 mo)
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da38b3127cce91197d75262c00000026108AbuWbdq4atK

August (8mo) Our basement (where the playroom is) is still being finished, so don't mind the missing trim and plastic on the door panes!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d701b3127cce940080a68c2f00000035118AbuWbdq4atK

His birthday party invitation cover
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5cc07b3127cce9607edeced4500000045138AbuWbdq4atK The inside says "Come on over, we'll have a ball" (I tried to post a pic of the actual invitation but it wouldn't show up :( )

lorbo

12-31-2005, 01:43 AM

here's mine...

twinnyme

12-31-2005, 05:22 AM

Happy birthday, Eli! Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!

Heather - what a great photo for Wyatt's birthday invitation!

Since the photos I posted before were mainly Christmas-y, if you'll indulge me, I'm adding a mini-retrospective.

In the hospital
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5db36b3127cce91961d52dc8f00000015109AZOHLhy1bo

Around Easter/March
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5da32b3127cce91614b56d2c300000015109AZOHLhy1bo

May
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d823b3127cce925fbb532b6000000016109AZOHLhy1bo

June-getting more mobile
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5d801b3127cce9230c1f56a7a00000016109AZOHLhy1bo

October
http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b5ce39b3127cce948d75791bf200000015109AZOHLhy1bo

Lizzie Beth

12-31-2005, 05:44 AM

Hey, y'all!!! Sorry I've been MIA - I've been lurking at work but I try to only post from home, and there's very little time when Susannah's asleep AND DH is off the computer....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABE, ASHLEY, ISAAC and ELI!!!!!!

Wow, what a year this has been, right??

Susannah's retrospective:

http://images.snapfish.com/345926797%7Ffp47%3Dot%3E2329%3D%3A33%3D6%3A%3A%3DX ROQDF%3E2323842858393ot1lsi
Just after Christmas last year

http://images.snapfish.com/345926797%7Ffp7%3Enu%3D3238%3E942%3E5%3B9%3EWSNRCG %3D323287%3B492948nu0mrj
3 months

http://images.snapfish.com/3459267%3B%3A%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D3238%3E942%3E5%3B9%3E WSNRCG%3D3233377%3A74%3B%3B6nu0mrj
7 months

http://images.snapfish.com/3459267%3C7%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3238%3E942%3E5%3B9%3EWS NRCG%3D3233377%3A5%3A%3C58nu0mrj
Halloween (9 mos)

http://images.snapfish.com/345926832%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3238%3E942%3E5%3B9%3EWSNR CG%3D3233427863633nu0mrj
Christmas

http://images.snapfish.com/345926832%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3238%3E942%3E5%3B9%3EWSNR CG%3D32334278635%3B9nu0mrj
Birthday (not too sure about the sparkler on that cake!)

Susie was born on FIL's birthday, and I think she is his favorite present EVER!! So this year they had a joint party for her 1st and his 60th. Just family - we had a fabulous time!!!

Of course, all the toys are completely out of hand. Two days in a row?? She still hasn't opened everything.

So sorry to hear Becca's Christmas tale of woe. Bummer. We're still trying to get rid of a cold that became bronchitis and an ear infection, yada, yada, which originated on Nov 12!! She still rattles. We did 10 days on amoxicillin and now we're almost through with the 2nd antibiotic, Zithromax. We were at the pediatrician's on her birthday AND the next day.

Incidentally, I took the opportunity to have Susie weighed on her birthday. She went from 6 lbs even on Dec 26, 2004 to 25 lbs on Dec 26, 2005!! At least my biceps will be the BEST EVER for swimsuit season this year!!

Lizzie Beth

12-31-2005, 05:45 AM

continuation because I had too many images:

Her favorite toy from the Christmas/Birthday extravaganza:
http://www.fisher-price.com/us/img/product_shots/G8684_b_1.jpg
I bought it as a birthday present, not realizing that there's one at daycare. At first I felt bad, because I wanted her to have different toys than the ones at daycare, but she IMMEDIATELY started playing with it - kind of like "Thanks, Mom, finally a toy I know what to do with!!"

twinnyme

12-31-2005, 06:01 AM

So cute, Lizzie Beth! Love the toy, too - I actually find that Becca does well with toys that are at daycare, too. They have her exersaucer, and a few others that are the same.

Regarding the amoxicillin, how did you give it to Susie? We still have a few days left and it's getting harder and harder. It's in liquid form, so I use a syringe (Motrin one) and this little girl is smart. She is now making raspberry motions with her mouth to force out the liquid - before, she just pursed her lips but she's getting more advanced! :D Any suggestions? Anyone? Since she's still not using a sippy cup proficiently I can't do it that way, and since she wasn't eating full bottles, I couldn't mix it with her formula. We're running out of ideas - and I feel like we're torturing her constantly - though I know she needs it....

Lizzie Beth

12-31-2005, 10:50 AM

Don't know, Twinny - Susie loves medicine these days... I use a syringe, too, usually one we get from the pediatrician, not that it matters...

I aim for the inside of her cheek, towards the back - less chance for her to actually spit it out... And I make a big fuss about YUMMMMYY!!! and after she takes it, there's lots of clapping and cheering. At first she did NOT like to take medicine, and now she opens her mouth like a baby bird when she sees it coming. I had the same reaction to the eyedrops for pink eye - screamed and cried the first several times, then a smile and just lots of squinting when she anticipated the praise for after. But Susannah is easily motivated by praise; I'm sure there are A LOT of kids who don't fall for that. ;)

twinnyme

12-31-2005, 11:33 AM

now she opens her mouth like a baby bird when she sees it coming.

Wow, I'd love to get to this point.... Well, thanks anyway, we'll keep trying! I just posted in the "Mommy Tricks" thread for more ideas, too.

Btw, others have mentioned their favorite holiday gifts - mine is from DH and is a brand-new desk that he and his father put together yesterday for me, and which I have been using all morning. I LOVE it. I finally feel like I've got a real desk, rather than a precarious table/computer situation. AND he bought me tons of desk/office supplies - post-its, highlighters, etc. - for my stocking. It's this one:

http://www.staples.com/sbd/img/cat/std/s0064856_std.jpg

Now, I'm going to leave my desk for the first time in four hours - editing all morning - so I can go get ready for New Year's. We're going to a friend's house - same friends (with 2 kids) we spent last New Year's with. Can't wait!

asilversun

12-31-2005, 04:15 PM

Hi everyone! Thank you so much for the birthday wishes for Eli. Where did the time go? I have so little computer time these days - my little man is still napping only 30 minutes, twice a day - so I'm still reading but very rarely have time to actually post. We have out of town guests right now and I needed some alone time, so I politely excused myself to write in Eli's journal (I figured that was a must on his birthday). Somehow I'm not quite ready to go back downstairs so I've had a great time looking at the "old" photos of our little ones. So cute! And do you think I can resist adding some of my own, especially today? Here are some of my favorites (sorry for the small size, but it was either that or really big - this seemed kinder to you all):

One week:
http://jarsky.com/photos/images/eli/pictures_tn/IMG_0129.jpg

Three months:
http://jarsky.com/photos/images/eli/pictures_tn/IMG_0459.jpg

Six months:
http://jarsky.com/photos/images/eli/pictures_tn/IMG_0810.jpg

Eleven months:
http://jarsky.com/photos/images/eli/pictures_tn/IMG_1822.jpg

http://jarsky.com/photos/images/eli/pictures_tn/IMG_1961.jpg

I wish I had time to post more often because I do miss being part of this wonderful conversation. Know that I'm here in spirit (and in quiet lurkdom), and if I can ever get my baby (I refuse to call him a toddler yet) to nap for longer stretches, I'll be back!

Happy New Year everyone!http://jarsky.com/smilies/party.gif

twinnyme

01-02-2006, 07:35 PM

Well, I think I've figured out Becca's favorite gift - and it's one of the most simple ones she received: her name puzzle, from Grandma! She had a ball with it today!

photo deleted

Also, DH and I spent yesterday shopping for her party next weekend - paper goods, favors, etc. We also bought her a couple of gifts, including a portable CD player so we can play music in her room and also downstairs when we're moving around the house; a couple of puzzles; and the Gobble n Go Hippo from Peek-A-Blocks (it's a walker):

photo deleted

Hope everyone had a good New Year's! Happy 2006.

AusAshMommy

01-03-2006, 10:51 AM

Hey Everyone ~ We're doing the shopping for Ashley's B-Day party tonight...there's been a flurry of activity in our house this weekend, cleaning mostly...in preparation for this weekend! LOL!!

Just wanted to pop in and say HEY!!!

Lizzie Beth

01-03-2006, 07:03 PM

Hey, Lara, hope Ashley's birthday party was a blast!!

Cute pics of Becca, Twinny - I see she has the same jammies as Miss Susannah. May I inquire as to the size? (In my Christmas pic, Susannah is wearing size 24 mos. :eek: )

Bathtub pic!!!

http://images.snapfish.com/345957598%7Ffp335%3Enu%3D3238%3E942%3E5%3B9%3EWSNR CG%3D3233435354733nu0mrj

This child has a ridiculous amount of fun in the tub. She got the Sesame Street bathtub toys for Christmas, and she corrals them down to the end of the tub and splashes them like crazy. Since she was born literally around the same time as the tsunami, I guess it's somewhat cosmically appropriate.

Edited to Add: This was a pic taken by the grandparents. Why she's in her onesie in the tub, I'm not entirely sure, but I think MIL has some idea that Susie will get cold in the tub without it. (???) Like she wouldn't be colder wearing a wet onesie.... Dunno. Anyway, just wanted to clarify that I do not put her in the tub with a onesie on....

twinnyme

01-03-2006, 08:05 PM

Cute photo of Susie!

May I inquire as to the size? (In my Christmas pic, Susannah is wearing size 24 mos.)

Wow! Nope, just 12 mos. - and she's JUST gotten into 12 mos., actually still wearing half 9 mos. and half 12 mos. I just brought down the 12 mos. stuff today. We have our one-year WBV on Friday, but as of two weeks ago when we went to the ped. she was 20 lb. 2 oz.

Becca climbed stairs today - 2.5 times. (She got tired halfway through the 3rd time.)

We had a snow day today. Did everything as usual this morning, showed up at daycare, and the lights were off, not a soul in the parking lot. Hmmm, so first I called DH to give him a heads' up, then I checked the daycare messages - closed because our town schools are closed because of snow. Snow? There's NOTHING out there! Luckily, when I checked, my university was closed, too. I was looking forward to using every minute of my afternoon at home tomorrow editing (for a project due Thursday), but I did get most of what I wanted done today, by working later into the evening....

Becca would like to say happy birthday to all the January (and December) babies:

[deleted video]

It's a bit cheesy but enjoy! We got the silly monkey as a hand-me-down from my nephew, who got it from my aunt who is known for giving weird gifts.

Lizzie Beth

01-03-2006, 11:46 PM

Twinny- The video is too cute! Love the monkey. Love the dancin'!! I'm going to check out that clip program, too, I wonder if I can link it to Susie's website... I got a camcorder for Christmas, so now I've got to figure out how to use it, and it would be nice to share, too...

Happy (non-) snow day!

Susie has been quite the stair climber, too - she's a real pro at it now. When she started crawling, she was doing the steps two days later and she LOVES it.

twinnyme

01-04-2006, 04:46 AM

Thanks, Lizzie - have fun with ClipShack! I love it (and so does my family). I'm pretty sure they have an option to create a direct link to a blog, so you should be able to do that.

SaphirimalMei

01-04-2006, 08:57 AM

hey chickies,
Jilly has been giving me a run for the money in the SA (separation anxiety) front...still. It's gotten better when I just go out of sight for a second, like around the corner to the kitchen: no screetching, just following. But, bedtime is a totally different ball of wax. I am at my wits end so, I think we'll have to pull out my copy of No Cry Sleep Solution again :rolleyes:

She now says 2 words (but only one consistently):
Dad & Sock

The other day she kept going after the dog food and even managed to suck on one little nugget for awhile til I finally got it fished out of her mouth. After about 10 times of moving her away from the dog bowl I asked her: "Jilly, why are you so crazy?" She looked right up at me and said, "Dad." I busted out laughing...it was priceless!

Still no walking and still no fangs. We'll get there, I'm sure. I'm a little concerned about her weight cuz she doesnt feel any heavier to me than she did at her 9 month visit. Prolly no real reason to be concerned, but that's the natural state of mommyhood, isnt it :p

AusAshMommy

01-04-2006, 09:03 AM

Marisa ~ Sorry Jilly's being so clingy...Ashley's the same way, she'll be perfectly content w/her Daddy or Uncle Mike and I'll walk into her line of site and she'll burst into tears until I come grab her, then she's happy as a clam! Go figure!

Here's something to make all of you giggle, the precious moments of our toddler's lives:

Austin was watching 'Thomas the Tank Engine' lastnight on PBS Sprout, and he picked up his Toy Thomas the Tank Engine, held it up to the TV and said to it:

"Look It's You! It's You!"

And, held the toy there in front of the TV repeating it through the entire show!! Too funny!

I about fell out of my chair laughing!

twinnyme

01-04-2006, 09:49 AM

Thanks for the laughs this morning, Marisa and Lara! Cute Jilly and Austin stories!

Becca is still showing major signs of SA, too. Last Thursday was her first day back to daycare in over a week, and I was there for 25 minutes (I'm usually there for 10-15 minutes in the morning) because every time I tried to put her down or leave, she'd cry and reach her arms up. I chalked it up to her not having been there in quite a while. Well, this morning, although it was clear she was thrilled to be back and to see everyone, when I tried to leave she crawled to the door and cried. So awful. I went back in, picked her up, transitioned her to the arms of the major provider in the room, and then left again. She seemed fine. She also has been more clingy than usual (and more so with me than with DH, which is also unusual). I guess as someone earlier in here said, maybe her carrying around her bunny blanket is a reaction to becoming more independent – I guess SA is the same thing, but it’s SO hard to hear.

And I think it’s happening with sleeping, too. I don’t know what to do. We have been up again with her for HOURS with her sleeping on us, in our arms, etc. She can’t get comfortable in our arms – flings herself all around to try to get comfortable – but then when we put her in the crib, she starts crying. We’re also still comforting her with bottles in the middle of the night, which is really beginning to concern me as we approach the one-year mark. While I love holding her in my arms, I am beginning to get exhausted. And since her appetite is back and the diaper rash is mostly gone, I think her illness is pretty much over and we don’t have that excuse anymore to tell ourselves that’s why she’s waking up. Though there’s always teething, I guess….

I am going to discuss all of this at our WBV with the pediatrician on Friday.

Jenzen01

01-04-2006, 09:54 AM

Hello, mommies!

I've been out for a while, so I'm behind on this thread ... forgive the absense of comprehensive SOs ...

Gabe has pink eye. Well, at least that's what he's being treated for, but it could just be a cold in his eyes. He's had swollen, goopy eyes for about three days now. Let me tell you, putting those drops in is about the worst thing I've had to do to him. He screams. I have to sit on his arms with his head between my legs and then get the eye drops in. He scruntches up his eyes, which makes it worse, and he cries the whole time. When we're done, he wants lots of hugs, and then he points at the dropper container and says, "What's that? What's that?" in this pathetic crying voice. It's so sad.

Marisa - Gabe says "sock," too. He's went through a "ck" period where he experimented with that sound. Duck. Sock. Etc. I'm just lucky he doesn't know the "f" sound. :) :)

Oh, he saw his Uncle Bob over the holidays, and now he says "Bop" every time we start talking about Bob.

That's about it from here. I just hope he doesn't get sent home from daycare today.

ttfn,
me

marchfamily

01-04-2006, 10:40 AM

Quick pop in to say Hi!

Happy Belated Bday to Eli!

Today was my due date...one year ago. My how a year changes things!

SA - Oh my. She only wants me. Cries uncontrollably when I leave the room, or even out of her reach, or the house. She doesn't even want Daddy. Breaks my heart. But, feeling like I'm being held hostage at the same time.

Still no crawling, walking or talking over here. All in due time.

QOTD - for those using bottles and/or pacifiers, are you dropping them at the one year mark? E started refusing the bottle a week ago. So we started doing bottles in the morning and at night only. The problem - she doesn't drink much throughout the day and she's having less wet diapers. RE - paci - she only uses one when she naps/sleeps. I fear taking it away will be grounds for a couple long days/nights.

Jenzen01

01-04-2006, 12:30 PM

QOTD - We've already dropped all bottles except for one before bed, and I just got a lecture about that at Gabe's 1-year well-baby visit. He said we should really get rid of all bottles at this point. Sigh ... I think I'm going to wait till the end of the month to get rid of it. Gabe relaxes nicely before bed when he has his bottle.

Oh, I forgot Gabe's stats:

Height: 31 inches
Weight: 24 pounds, 6 ounces

He got four shots including a flu shot. Not a happy camper about that.

QOTD2 - Brushing teeth. My dr. told me that I should be brushing Gabe's teeth, and I hadn't been, so I went out and bought him a toothbrush and some toddler toothpaste. Boy, did I feel like a ninny for not thinking about brushing his teeth. There's a whole wall in Target full of kid toothbrushes and stuff, and I never even noticed them before. So, my question is: How many of you are using a toothbrush, and are you having a hard time getting your baby to open up?

marchfamily

01-04-2006, 12:33 PM

QOTD2 - Brushing teeth - E loves it! She lets us at the bottom ones, but the top ones are tough to get to. If I give her the toothbrush, she'll sort of brush them herself. We're only using water though.

twinnyme

01-04-2006, 12:40 PM

QOTD2 - No teeth here yet, so we haven't been doing this, though I got a couple of cute toothbrush/paste sets for her Christmas stocking, and they're in the closet ready to go.... I have heard some people say they even wipe their DC's gums with a washcloth (before the kid has teeth) but we've never done that - I kind of wish I had; it's going to be tough to get into Becca's mouth - she hardly lets me in know to check on her teeth.

Oh, boy, I am SURE I will get a lecture on Friday about our use of bottles. We're still on ALL bottles. Becca just has not taken to sippy cups AT ALL and I don't know how to get her to do so. Plus, my prediction that we'd become overreliant on bottles to get her to sleep has become true. I think I may cave and start giving her some apple or other type of juice in sippy cups to encourage her to use them. So far she's never had juice - just formula and occasionally water. Though I hate to do it, I think our plan is going to be about a week after her birthday only provide sippy cups until she drinks again. We have two sets of friends who did this with their DS and DD, and it worked - the kids may have gone on a drinking strike for a day or so but eventually they use the sippy. Sounds cruel, though, so I'm not sure I can handle it. But we're SO dependent on bottles that I'm not sure how else we'll get rid of them. AND I believe that in the next room at daycare, where she'll transition at 13 months, she will not be allowed to use bottles. (I hate that to be the driving factor, though....) Becca never took to pacifiers, so that's one less thing for me to worry about.

Jen - sorry poor Gabe has conjunctivitis; our littlest nephew (6 months) has it too, poor guy!

lorbo

01-04-2006, 01:27 PM

i have been trying for a few months to get DH to give James his milk in a sippy-every time i come home from work, there's a bottle with breastmilk. i feel like i should hit my head on the wall and maybe he'll actually listen to me. this week he's been good though...we use the advent soft spout and i have 2 nuby transition cups that James does well with...i should be brushing his teeth, but i'm a bit lazy-we have the toothpaste and we had the fingerbrush-until DH dropped it behind the toilet, so i've been lazy in replacing it. I'm getting ready to send out invites for the joint party. this year is looking too crazy-january is out for much of anything, february-we're going overnight to the great wolf lodge in the poconos. march-i have to do continuing education for my certification as vet. tech-my only first cousin gets married at the end of march(whole other stressful story-we're probably not going because the wedding is in NC-my uncle/aunt live there, while the rest of our family is in PA, and the fiance's family is in PA), april starts another birthday train-then we slow down in july-i'll have to do more continuing ed probably in oct-so there's more $. bites the big one! i should add i have both kids doing their well baby checkups on the same day and then James has his one year eye checkup in january as well.
separation anxiety-James has it as well-when he's visiting with people and distracted, he's fine, once he sees me, forget it-i'm the only one to soothe him! sometimes it's nice, but other times, let me pull my hair out to do one thing by myself!

James also got the gobbling hippo walker for christmas-he's not all that interested in walking around with it though-yet, he'll cruise all around the learning table and the sofa. he also started this odd dance when the music from the table starts.

SaphirimalMei

01-04-2006, 01:30 PM

QOTD1: We're running about 3/4 bottle and 1/4 sippy, but it's increasing every day. I'm now sending the sippy to daycare to encourage her to drink out of one more often. Jilly's still working on the whole "gravity" thing, and forgets to tip her head back and tilt the cup up to get the fluid out :p I'll also let her drink from a regular cup, but she gets a little overwhelmed by it. My hope is to have her 100% transitioned within the next 2 months. After all, I've got a little boy growing right now who's got a claim on em, so we need to get that transition over with asap.

QOTD2: no fangs, no brushing. i was thinking of giving jilly a little toothbrush for her to play with to get used to the idea tho.

Melissa - Jilly is furtunately enthused about the idea of the sippy and loves it, but is just not efficient at using it. However, for a little treat, every once in awhile I'll put just a few drops of apple juice in with her water and she goes NUTS over it. I'm just kinda against full-strength juice cuz it's so dang sugary, so those few drops are a good compromise in my mind. Since Jilly'd never had juice before, she didnt have any concept of what juice was so any juice was bound to be a treat, KWIM? :p

marchfamily

01-04-2006, 01:34 PM

Sippy cups - for some magical reason, E just got this recently. She didn't understand tipping it back until probably a week or two ago. We've had the best luck with these.

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/B000068WN1.01._SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpg

We've also tried the Nubby brand, but I couldn't find them with handles. Handles are a must with E.

marchfamily

01-04-2006, 01:35 PM

Oh and about the teeth - she won't let us look at them for any other reason than brushing. That, she loves.

twinnyme

01-04-2006, 01:38 PM

QOTD1:I'm now sending the sippy to daycare to encourage her to drink out of one more often. Jilly's still working on the whole "gravity" thing, and forgets to tip her head back and tilt the cup up to get the fluid out :p I'll also let her drink from a regular cup, but she gets a little overwhelmed by it.

We've done the daycare thing for a while now - sending her sippy cup there - but maybe they've fallen down on it like I have as she's shown so little interest. Becca doesn't really get the gravity thing, either. Even when she drinks a bottle on her own, she still does it laying down. She LOVES drinking from an open cup but I want to stop THAT - holding it up to her mouth to drink out - VERY quickly. With the juice I did plan on diluting it quite a bit, but I think I am going to try that.

i was thinking of giving jilly a little toothbrush for her to play with to get used to the idea tho.

Great idea! Maybe that will make the transition to the toothbrush go more smoothly than the transition to the sippy cup! Thanks.

sometimes it's nice, but other times, let me pull my hair out to do one thing by myself!

But, feeling like I'm being held hostage at the same time.

Yeah, this is about how I'm feeling about the SA thing!

ETA: Cross-posted with Amanda - we've tried those cups you posted. I think I have about 5 varieties of sippy cup in my cupboards, including the Nuby ones. I want to try with a straw sippy next but DH wants us to work more with the ones we already have first, to try if she'll use those....

Btw, Lori re: the hippo walker:

he's not all that interested in walking around with it though

Becca, either! She LOVED the walker at my parents' house but doesn't seem to want to walk with this one.... maybe it's because we have less room than my parents!

lawyerwifemom

01-04-2006, 02:10 PM

Cute video Melissa!

Sippy Wyatt is really good at the sippy. Since we are weaning right now, I have been giving him one or two bottles of formula each day because he doesn't really like whole milk so much yet ! Also, formula doesn't flow well from most sippys. I plan to finish the transition within the next couple weeks. I will likely stop nursing him this week--he is just nursing first thing in the morning now. (Today is his birthday)

I give him most everything else in a sippy. He gets about 16 oz of whole milk and I will give him water with about 1/2 ounce of juice in a sippy once or twice a day.

Rachel went straight to sippys because I didn't wean her until 18 months.

brushing Yes, we've been doing it for a couple months. He seems to like it and is now trying to do it himself (poorly).

We're excited about the party this Sunday. Rachel is more excited than Wyatt. She told me we should get Wyatt a Swiper cake. (Swiper is a fox in the Dora videos that steals things. Wyatt steals all her toys so she is always telling him "Wyatt NO Swiping!".

Wyatt's WBV is next Wednesday. I think he is about 22 lbs now.

marchfamily

01-04-2006, 02:16 PM

Happy Birthday Wyatt!

twinnyme

01-04-2006, 02:43 PM

Happy 1st birthday, Wyatt! Have a great party this weekend!

Lizzie Beth

01-04-2006, 07:40 PM

Happy Birthday, Wyatt!!

lorbo

01-04-2006, 08:24 PM

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my fellow January 4ther!!!

lawyerwifemom

01-04-2006, 10:07 PM

Thanks for all the birthday wishes! Wyatt got a few presents today from us and Grammy. Otherwise, all celebration will be this weekend!

Happy Birthday to you too Lori! I had forgotten you share the date!

twinnyme

01-05-2006, 06:44 AM

Happy belated birthday, Lori!

Marisa - just curious, do you think Jilly's teething and that that may be part of the bedtime issues? I ask because we're so inconsistent on our end. Becca slept 12 hours last night and I had to wake her up this morning, but the last few days before that were horrible. I'm beginning to think it's a combination of teething, illness, and separation anxiety at this point. But I know you said that Jilly, like Becca, has no teeth yet - so I'm wondering if that has something to do with it...? Not that I have any ideas, of course, I'm just grateful when we get a full night's sleep from her! (Also, I think her bedtime was creeping later and later and that was a problem, too - last night we started putting her to bed at 7 and by 7:30 she went to sleep with NO crying. A dream. We're going to try to get back on that schedule now that the holidays are over, she's better from her illness, and we're back in a daycare routine.)

Lizzie Beth

01-06-2006, 12:35 AM

Happy Birthday, LORI!!!!

On the bottle/sippy issue, I don't see what all the fuss is about getting off bottles by a certain age.. Susie's using a sippy with more and more success each day, I think it's inevitable that eventually she will come to prefer it, but if she still has a nighttime bottle for the next year or two, I don't have a problem with it...

As for getting her to use the sippy, it really took a while, but I give her a sippy full of water every night w/ her dinner - she drinks more and more of it every day. It's good for her to get the practice, and it's only water, so if she leaves 3/4 of it, it's not like it's 6 oz. of expensive formula, ya know? She's also showing signs of wanting to drink out of a cup - she picked up an empty cup of mine the other day and mimicked drinking out of it.

What size shoe are your babies wearing?? I got Susie some boots in a size 4, just to keep her feet warm when we're outside going from place to place, and she keeps kicking them off, so they must be ridiculously large... I want to buy some really cute boots that I saw on the Hanna Andersson website:

http://www.hannaandersson.com/images/s7Style/29188_G51.jpg

but they're like $40 and I want to get them in a size that reasonably fits her, but will last at least all this winter... So Lara and lawyerwifemom- how fast do shoe sizes change at this age??? BTW, I think you should take Rebecca's advice and get Wyatt a Swiper cake. Too cute, and I'm sure she would get a huge kick out of little brother's cake being her idea!

Twinny and Marisa- It wouldn't surprise me at all if teething was a problem for your girls right now... I think it's worse just before and right as the teeth are cutting through. We had some horrible nights with Susie. I used Motrin because it has an anti-inflammatory, to help her sleep at night, (gave it about 1/2 hr. before bedtime) and I've heard that elevating the top of the mattress helps (although my girl wiggles around so much that she often completely reverses direction, so I didn't try it for us). It can be much worse at night because they're lying down and there's more blood flow to the head than when they're up and around during the day.

Ditto to everyone on the separation anxiety. It's funny, I have a full-time job and only see Susie for about an hour or two every night during the workweek, but when I'm home, she is ADAMANT about being with me. Which makes sense, I guess, if I'm not around all the time.. We went through an especially trying time during Thanksgiving, when she wouldn't let me out of her sight if I was around.. This drove my in-laws nuts when we came over for T-giving dinner and they wanted to show her off to family.. Yet she never cries when I leave for work or leave her at daycare.. Well, not yet, at least.

twinnyme

01-06-2006, 05:10 AM

Cute boots, Lizzie! Becca received her first Hanna Andersson outfit for Christmas from my sister - what an adorable outfit. (I tried to find it on the web site to post it a few days ago but couldn't. It's striped tights with a matching onesie, then a denim dress overall with an adorable matching red fleecey (with birds on it) jacket with a hood. Too cute. Oh, here's a picture - she wore it for New Year's Eve (you can see the jacket behind her):

deleted photo

I think the last birthday gift we will give Becca is a couple of pairs of really good shoes. Now that I think full-time walking will be within the next month or so, it seems like a good time to get her measured, etc. Any recommended stores? Is StrideRite a good place?

Yes, I think Becca is definitely finally getting teeth! She let me in her mouth briefly last night, and I THINK she has maybe 6 teeth coming all at once. I can definitely see the top two and I thought I caught sight of a few on the bottom. I can't wait to see her go from no teeth to a mouthful. If she really is getting that many teeth at once, I cannot even imagine how she has endured the pain. It's a wonder she's been sleeping at all!! (She slept through the night again last night, went to sleep at 6:45 and slept to 6:30; I'm definitely keeping her on this earlier schedule now. It just works better for her and I think the late nights had crept up on us again.)

Re: the sippy vs. the bottle. I probably should have clarified. I want to get her on the sippy cup during the day and for 90% of the time. At night, if she still needs a bottle to comfort and it's the only thing to make her sleep well, well, then, we'll continue to use it, too. I'm just kind of thinking I want her off them for naps - right now, we often use the bottle to get her down for EVERY sleep, not just nighttime. We'll see how it all goes, though.

WBV today! I can't wait to see how much she weighs and how tall she is. ETA: And it will also be a sick visit; she threw up at daycare yesterday, about 5 minutes before I got there. Awful, they said it was very scary she threw up her whole lunch, spinach, tortellini (big pieces) and all, that she was gagging, etc., then they were talking about her feeling hot. I don't know if we can take her being sick again - we celebrated so much when we finished the medicine the other night and don't have to torture her with it anymore. So, we'll be checking that out again today, too.

Jenzen01

01-06-2006, 07:40 AM

Note on shoes: I just asked my ped. about this, and he said there's no need to have Gabe in hard-soled shoes unless it's for protection outside (like gravel, hardtop, etc.). He said that the Robeez are just fine for now. Gabe has been walking for three months, and I still haven't bought him hard-soles. However, I was tempted, and I did try some on at Kohl's ... he was a size 4 at the beginning of winter, but now he'd be better off with a size 6, although it would be a little big. I read somewhere that they grow a size every 2 months right now, so don't spend a lot on shoes because they won't last too long.

Also, Gabe has an overlapping toe problem that the dr. hopes corrects itself in a few years. The dr. said it has something to do with the arch being undeveloped at this point. Gabe's second toe doesn't press the ground when he walks. We're a little concerned about this because my DH has horrible feet. When he was 15, he had pins in all of them, and now he can't bend any of his toes ... hammer toe problem. His little pinky toe just sticks straight up, which makes shoes uncomfortable because his toe rubs.

Whew. That was probably more than you all wanted to know.

Jen

lorbo

01-06-2006, 09:51 AM

Jen, right there with you on foot problems. i pray that my kids don't have my feet. DH has high arches which bother him infrequently. i, on the other hand, have NO arches and i also have a condition called accessory navicular-i suffered well over a year with chronic tendonitis-the accessory navicular bone was pressing down on my tendon-cortisone injections, orthodics, stegmanns, finally surgery with a one year recovery-my feet constantly hurt before all the intervention-i'm not supposed to wear dress shoes all that often(my feet scream if i'm in them more than a few hours), i have to wear the stegmanns(not the most attractive shoe out there) or my sneakers with orthodics-my foot dr commented to my then boss-who had her own foot problems, that he felt sorry for me, i was so young to have these problems-makes me feel good:rolleyes: so, between me and DH, i'm hoping that my kids get a nice normal foot with a normal arch!

as far as shoes, James really doesn't wear shoes. it bugs some family members, but i'm not in to buying tons of shoes, especially when he's just cruising.

James is miserable on and off and i can't wait for his eye teeth to finally break thru. he woke up unconsolable last night and only nursing got him ready to go back to sleep-i haven't had to nurse him in the middle of the night for weeks and weeks!

twinnyme

01-06-2006, 01:50 PM

Stats from Becca's WBV:

Height: 29 inches
Weight: 17 lb. 14 oz. :(

Her weight concerns me a great deal because she was 20 lb. 2 oz. on Dec. 20th when we went in for a sick visit. Ped. thinks the decline is because of all the diarrhea - and I guess now the vomiting - and says it's a normal range to lose because she has been sick for about 2 weeks now. But it still worries me.

We had a *wonderful* trip to the pediatrician's. On the way there, the poor kid vomited all over herself in the car seat. Luckily, we were almost there. I stopped, cleaned her up as best I could, then they gave me a room as soon as we got there so I could change her to a new outfit (thank god I had one; I don't always nowadays) . Ped. thinks it's just a bug. She has no fever. We'll see how she's doing by next Tuesday for daycare. I SO much want to get back on a routine; I feel like the last few weeks have been so haphazard. But we may be waiting longer to get back on routine, sigh.

She also got a Hepatitis B shot and a pneumonia booster.

Sorry about all the foot problem histories! Hope Gabe and James do well on that front. I took [b]Jen[b]'s advice to go cheap and we stopped at Payless on the way to the pediatrician's and I got Becca some cute black maryjanes for her party next weekend. Size 2.

SaphirimalMei

01-06-2006, 03:13 PM

Melissa - back to you on the whole SA/Sleep/Teeth issue...I'd like to think that they are related and that the possible fang entry is compounding the sep. anxiety, but I have no idea. I'm almost giving up on the idea of Jilly ever having teeth. Rathar like fickle friends, I keep expecting them and they always fail to show. I'm sorry Becca's having such a rough time. I'm sure her weight loss is just due to being sick, but it's worrying to watch your baby go through that :( I scheduled Jilly's 1 year appt early (on 1/16) and I worry about her weight too.

shoes - Jilly wears soft shoes from Target (6-12mo size). She has a pair of hard soled shoes (size 3), but HATES them with a passion. That's just as well cuz even tho they are perfect (with room to grow) lengthwise, her little feet are so fat that, if she has socks on, her feet will not fit in the shoes!

In light of the feet concerns and Lori's wish that her kids dont inherit her feet, I think I'll pose a QOTD...

#1 What feature or genetic legacy do you hope you DONT pass on to your kids?
In my case...its 2 things. #1 My teeth are terrible. I get it from both sides of the family. I floss after every meal and brush morning noon and night, and still have holes in my teeth :( #2 My thyroid! It sucks. I've had to take meds for it since I was 14.

#2: What feature or genetic legacy DO you hope is passed on to your kids?
One feature of mine that I know Jilly's got I dont really mind so much but she might later on...my legs. Let's put it this way: She'll never be a ballerina, but she could play soccer like a champ. Good, strong legs :D Another feature of mine she got that makes me glad...long eyelashes ;)

Lizzie Beth

01-06-2006, 06:46 PM

Thanks for all the good shoe advice... Unfortunately, I couldn't hold back to wait for it....I went ahead and bought them... They're really only for protection when we're outside..

Also bought...

http://www.hannaandersson.com/images/s7Style/10003_N18.jpg

which go with:

http://www.hannaandersson.com/images/s7Style/13735_N19.jpg

and

http://www.hannaandersson.com/images/s7Style/30003_D42.jpg

and this hat and mittens:

http://www.hannaandersson.com/images/LiveStyle03/5W30540L.jpg

I'm hoping it will prove to be the one hat she can't pull off...

Twinny- Poor Becca!! I hope she feels better soon..

Jen- Your DH had pins in his toes? I have never heard of this. Please explain. Whatever it is, it sounds awful. Hope Gabe's only problem is odd-looking toes. DH has a pair of webbed toes. I think they give him an unfair advantage when we're racing in the swimming pool.

QOTD #1 Math. Without a doubt. Hope she gets some math from her Daddy, cause her Mom had to take trig 3 times in college before she passed it..

QOTD #2 Toes. Not to depress those with toe/feet problems, but I've got GREAT toes. They're all perfectly proportional and look awesome with a nice pedicure with RED nailpolish. Unfortunately, I still manage to trip all over my size 6 1/2 feet...:rolleyes:

lorbo

01-06-2006, 09:43 PM

QOTD #1-my foot problems and my poor eyesight-though the pediatric doc James has to see at the end of the month-recheck from his immature retinas due to preemie status-mentioned the technical terms for nearsightedness and astigmatism-poor kid, after all he's been thru, he'll have to wear glasses. i also hope he doesn't get my inathletic gene:rolleyes:

QOTD #2-i've already passed my blue eyes on to both of my kids-it seems like everytime we go out, people comment on his eyes. i also gave him my deep set dimples-Brooke has dimples that are subtle-James' just scream how cute he is.

twinnyme

01-07-2006, 06:49 AM

QOTD1: Poor eyesight, definitely. Both DH and I have terrible eyesight, so it's probably inevitatble, but I hope Becca (and any future kids) luck out in this area. Oh, and also allergies. I have terrible allergies, and I hope that's not passed on - they're miserable.

QOTD2: DH's ability to be laidback and relaxed most of the time!

ADORABLE clothes, Lizzie! I just love dressing a girl, don't you?

lorbo

01-07-2006, 11:56 AM

some newer pics of James as he's approaching one
new years

lawyerwifemom

01-07-2006, 03:30 PM

1 Bad eyesight. But it is virtually guaranteed for any of our kids since DH and I BOTH have really really bad vision (But I got LASIK in 1996:D ). I have already taken Rachel to the pediatric opthalmologist and learned she has the very beginnings of nearsightedness now. We don't have to take her back for two years though and she doesn't have to wear glasses yet.

2 I hope our kids get our love of learning and the outdoors.

shoes Rachel has little feet. She will be three next month and she wears a 5.5 or 6 toddler. I bought her some 7s last year thinking she'd grow into them by now, but they literally fall off her!

Wyatt is currently wearing a 3 when he wears shoes at all (like to church). However, he curls his feet up into little balls that make putting shoes on a huge hassle. Mostly he just wears socks. He has a pair of Merrills that slip on that I put on him if I am going to let him walk around outside.

Lori and Lizzie Adorable pictures!

AusAshMommy

01-08-2006, 08:52 PM

I somehow missed soo much! How did that happen?? Anyhew, the party yesterday was a slamming success! Had about 30 people here all day...so not too bad . Ashley did good, no meltdowns, got right in there w/the big kids and played all day!

Some pics:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6df26b3127cce96f886a31ee600000016108CbNW7lsyaY

LOVING the cake! LOL!!!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6df26b3127cce96f886e49f9100000016108CbNW7lsyaY

With Miss Ante! She looked soo confused when Antoinette picked her up...like 'What you doin' in my house?!?!' it was soo cute!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6df26b3127cce96f886989fed00000015108CbNW7lsyaY

Sorry Dallas Fans...but we's in Skins territory here!

http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b6df26b3127cce96f887535e8e00000016108CbNW7lsyaY

I did this myself from a cake pan, a feather boa, and a wedding cake stand! All for less than $20! It's going in my portfolio for my career as an Event Planner!

That's all!

twinnyme

01-09-2006, 05:11 AM

Happy birthday, E.!

Great photos, Lara! I'm glad Ashley's party was a success - she sure looks like she's having fun.

We ordered Becca's cake yesterday - it has a panda on it holding balloons, to go along with the theme of our invitations and monthly panda photos (which I put in a one-year frame and am going to display at the party). We also ordered the food for the party. And we celebrated Christmas with DH's family. So I finally have a photo of Becca opening gifts - AND she got to wear one of her Christmas dresses!

deleted photo

ETA: Quick question - when you introduced milk, did you start with alternating between breastmilk or formula and the whole milk? I ask because we just started whole milk today (ped. advised it on Friday but we didn't get to the store until last night), and she doesn't seem to be tolerating it well. She's barely drinking today and I think she definitely notices a difference - she keeps pulling the bottle out of her mouth, looking at it, then hesitantly putting it back in. It may be just that she's not feeling well overall, but she hasn't thrown up or had diarrhea since Friday, so I don't think that's it. Or I guess it could still be teething.... TIA.

Jenzen01

01-09-2006, 09:54 AM

Quick post ... lots to do this morning ...

My new fav Gabe photo:

http://images.snapfish.com/3459%3A5%3A%3B9%7Ffp336%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3C4%3E2% 3B9%3E%3A945%3B3a38333532%3E232435%3A88%3A286ot1ls i

Birthday cake boy:

http://images.snapfish.com/3459%3A5%3A%3B9%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3C4%3E2% 3B9%3E%3A945%3B3a38333532%3E232435%3A88%3A554ot1ls i

Happy Birthday E! (today is my original due date) :)

Lizzie Beth - Al had hammer toes, which I guess means they're sort of bent all the time ... the knuckle sticks up. So, the dr. goes in and straightens the toe, which involves pins. Al had pins in each toe until they healed, and then they were removed. He can't bend any of his toes now ... the joints are fused. I don't know all the details of the surgery, but I do know he has a fine long scar on each toe, and he complains about how they look all the time. He doesn't like going barefoot (especially at the pool where people can see his feet). His pinkie toe is just messed up. It sticks up sort of sideways like, and it isn't even with the rest of his toes.

lokahi

01-09-2006, 11:44 AM

Great b-day pictures!!!

Happy belated Birthday, Wyatt!

Happy birthday, Ashley!

- - - - -

*sigh* Elton is turning 3 tomorrow!

The boys BIG party is Sunday, January 15. We ordered the food and got the party hats/goodie bags. My mom ordered the cake. We still need to get the chairs.

- - - - -
QOTD1: Hearing/speech delays [E had some delays and doing better]; Allergies... but Andrew's got asthma.

QOTD2: DH's height. Hee-hee! Most Filipino/Asians are short, so hopefully he's like Daddy...5'11.

- - - - -
Moms with boys...Is your son having a 1st haircut?

AusAshMommy

01-09-2006, 12:08 PM

Melissa ~ Can I make a suggestion? Mix the whole milk w/the formula...this way she begins to learn the taste of the whole milk, here's what we did:

Week 1 - 2ozs of whole milk & 6 ozs formula
Week 2 - 4ozs of whole milk & 4 ozs of formula
Week 3 - 6 ozs of whole milk & 2 ozs of formula
Wee4 - Whole milk 8 ozs

Also, try warming the milk...baby's who are used to having warm formula generally don't like to switch over to cold milk right away. I generally just pop Ashley's bottles into the microwave for 45 secs or so to warm them up before giving them to her (shaking them completely obviously before giving them to her to distribute the heat)...

Try that...then if she still doesn't like it...try chatting w/your ped. If all else fails there's the stage 2 formula for older babies, she might like that...

Good Luck!

twinnyme

01-09-2006, 12:34 PM

Lara, thanks so much. I appreciate it. I'll try that - except for the warming up. Though I did use the microwave to heat her bottles when we were still heating them, we haven't heated them for a while.... But I'll definitely try the mixing; who knows what it really is, though, because I just gave her a bottle of formula and she only ate 4 oz. Maybe it's teething.

Wow, it's all leaps and bounds at this stage, isn't it????? Just now, right before I gave her her bottle, she said "ba ba" to me, over and over, until I finally figured out she wanted a bottle!! :D And she did; she drank it. SO exciting! And earlier today she understood "push the head" when I said it to her - she tried pushing the head of the "push n go" car toy! And also this morning she walked to something other than me for the first time, of her own volition. We were in our usual practice position of her walking to me but when I said "walk to mama" instead of walking to me, she walked to her blocks! I'm so proud. :D Maybe all of this is why she hasn't been napping today, though (her mind must be in a whirl) - two 30-minute naps this morning, and now she just went in for another one - so I'd better get to editing work now!

ETA: I hope this didn't come across as bragging.... It's just been a bit of a frustrating day so I'm just so happy about all these new things Becca's doing!

Love the photos of Gabe, Jen!

marchfamily

01-09-2006, 01:19 PM

Thanks for the bday wishes! Hoping to stop back later tonight with some past/present pictures.

Guess who got two top molars??? Yep, there seems to be 2-3 teeth missing in between. Poor girl - we had no idea they were coming in. Only got a look when she was screaming over something yesterday.

Jenzen01

01-09-2006, 02:26 PM

first haircuts - I cut the back of Gabe's hair because it was falling past his collar. I took a good two-inch lock off and put it in his baby book. I'm planning on getting his hair cut in March or so. I can keep it combed right now, but the top is starting to get really long.

marchfamily - molars! That must have been painful. How odd.

By the way, all you pregger mommies, how are you doing? Is it hard keeping up with your little ones? I'm so fearful that I won't be able to play/keep up with Gabe, etc. if I get pregnant again. Plus, he wants to be carried all the time!

Oh, and twinnyme, I hear you on all the "new understanding." Sort of scares me how much Gabe understands these days. I pulled out my toddler cookbook yesterday, and he looked at the cover and said, "Ba-bee!" He emphasizes the second syllable, and it's so cute. As for the warm milk thing, we give Gabe warm milk before bed, but that's the only warm milk he gets. It's such a comfort thing. I warm the milk up in a cup and then dump it in his bottle.

Lara - forgot to tell you that Ashley's birthday photos are adorable. She sure got into that frosting!

lawyerwifemom

01-09-2006, 02:30 PM

Happy birthday Ellie!

Thanks for the birthday wishes Lokahi. Wyatt's party was yesterday and was a screaming success. We had about 30ish people, 12 of which were kids. The playroom was a disaster, the pinata was beaten to bits and the cake was devoured. It was a very good day:D . I will upload pics soon and share.

Lara looks like Ashley had a wonderful party too!

Melissa I have been alternating milk and formula for the past two weeks (and still nursing once a day). By the end of the week I plan to have stopped the formula and nursing and just have Wyatt on milk. He likes the milk best warm though (lara, I only do it for 20 secs tho, mean mom) at this point:rolleyes: .

marchfamily

01-09-2006, 06:36 PM

Hi all! Hope everyone is doing well. I'm so sad that E's first bday is over (well, officially....but there's a party this weekend).

<waving hi to everyone> - I'm a bit behind on shout outs....

Jen - Great pictures of Gabe! He's E's current boyfriend. It's getting harder to keep up and E doesn't walk or crawl. But, she does want to be held or carried all the time. Yep, molars...we had no idea they were coming. She's been super clingy, but we still didn't get it.

Milk - Doing half formula, half whole milk. Bottle in the morning (usually around 6 ounces), sippy during the day, and a bottle before bed (usually only takes 2-4 ounces). Only warm up the bottles.

Lara - Love the bday pictures!

Here's a picture from tonight. I'm sure they'll be more from the weekend hoopla....
Removed

AusAshMommy

01-09-2006, 06:37 PM

Everyone ~ Thanks for the compliments! She had a BLAST!!

all the kiddo's look soo cute! It's amazing it's been a year!!!

twinnyme

01-09-2006, 07:09 PM

Awww, how cute is E?? And look at that huge smile - so adorable!! Can't even tell the molars are coming in.... :D

Jenzen01

01-10-2006, 07:24 AM

Amanda - You made me laugh. :) I think I approve of E as Gabe's girlfriend ... she's a cutiepie. :) I can see those molars in the pic, too.

twinnyme

01-10-2006, 05:08 PM

Happy birthday, Elton!

lokahi

01-10-2006, 05:41 PM

Happy Birthday, Ellie! She's adorable :)

twinnyme
Thanks so much for the birthday wishes for Elton!

- - - - - -

If you guys don't mind...I'll post pictures.

Elton ~ January 10, 2003

HAPPY 3rd BIRTHDAY!!!
January 10, 2006

[Removed pics]

twinnyme

01-10-2006, 05:58 PM

Adorable, Lokahi! And I consider Elton an honorary member of our group, so of course we don't mind if you post pictures of him! :D

Lizzie Beth

01-10-2006, 08:02 PM

Happy Birthday, Elton and Ellie!!!!

marchfamily

01-11-2006, 06:34 AM

Happy Birthday Elton!

Jenzen01

01-11-2006, 08:18 AM

Happy Birthday, Elton!

OK, quick vent.

I got a call from the daycare yesterday that Gabe had a 101.4 fever, so I had to pick him up. I get him home, and he's fine. Played well, ate well. He was sort of cranky in the evening, so I put him to bed lately. Granted, he does have a cold ... runny nose and a cough. This morning, he was fine, so I took him back to daycare.

I told the women what had happened and sort of said that he's been getting sent home a lot lately and then been fine when I get there. It's really distruptive for me at work, and I'm the only one who can take sick days right now because Al is on deadline.

Anyway, I was told, "How would you like it if other moms brought there sick kids in." Well, guess how Gabe got sick in the first place! Geez. He has a cold, and it's going to last a while. I don't know what else to do with him. I mean, if he's really irritable and cranky and running a fever, that's fine. I'll gladly take him home. It's these calls midafternoon that are driving me nuts. And, it drives me nuts when they say he's sick, and then he's fine at home. I'm not intentially bringing a sick child in ... he was acting fine this morning and I saw no reason to have him at home, but I bet you anything that I'll get a call this afternoon to pick him up.

Oh, and last week, they called at 4. I pick him up at 5, anyway, but because they took his temp and it was elevated, I had to immediatly pick him up at 4. Does that not seem silly to anyone else. He had been there all day, anyway, and I was due to pick him up within the hour. And on top of it all, Al and I had driven in together, so we both had to leave early. One of us could have caught a ride with someone else, but because it was already 4, we both just left.

Grrrr ... OK, sorry that got long-winded. I'm just fed up with the daycare, which I'm paying for, being so irrational about all of this.

For what it's worth, the guy I sit next to has the same problem with his daycare. He said more often than not, when he has to pick the kids up, they're really not that sick or not sick at all. We're having a contest to see who uses up the most sick days this winter.

ttfn,
Jen

twinnyme

01-11-2006, 08:32 AM

I'm just fed up with the daycare, which I'm paying for, being so irrational about all of this.

For what it's worth, the guy I sit next to has the same problem with his daycare. He said more often than not, when he has to pick the kids up, they're really not that sick or not sick at all. We're having a contest to see who uses up the most sick days this winter.

Jen - I'm sorry you're dealing with this. I almost wrote the same exact vent a couple of days ago (but I write so much already, I decided to spare you all!). But I can completely empathize. A lot of time, I say to DH, "well, we'd better have a back-up plan in place because I know they're just going to call today- for no ***** reason!" Of course, we don't really have a back-up plan in place, I'm just being facetious because they decide to call on the drop of a dime. I think you and I had this problem the most with our daycares last winter (well, end of winter by the time the kids were in daycare I guess), and we're having it again. That's why I feel the need to get back to routine so much.

Last Thursday when she th