Jan/Feb 05 chat - Thread #3

[Daniel's mummy]

Tammy - Congratulations on your new nephew - I saw the other post.  That's great news.

My SIL is STILL in hospital.  This saga is just going on and on.  She has now had to have both breasts operated on to remove the abscesses.  I feel so sorry for her.  And her dd is still in being treated for it too.  When will this all end for them?  I can't wait til I can tell you all that they are both home and well again.

[MelissaS]

Kate, Christine and Deb - I will definately give it a go. I think because he has been waking up almost 9 or 10pm on the dot - I have been going in pretty much straight away and previously I was feeding him back to sleep which I wanted to stop.

So then I started going in there and giving him a cuddle and if I thought his teeth/gums were sore - some bonjella then put him back. He would cry for about 2 minutes then sleep.

We have just had DH family arrive tonight - for about 1 week - I am a little funny with them around and him crying (even for short bursts) so I think I will grin and bear it for the next week - THEN with CONFIDENCE! I will try your suggestions.

I will keep in touch and let you know how it goes - it really is getting silly as sometimes on a bad night he also wakes at 1am or 2am (as well as guaranteed 5am).

HAZEL - Oh my gosh !!!!!! beaut photo 

Everyone else - HELLO 

[MelissaS]

HAZEL - so sorry about your SIL - it must be so difficult knowing what she is going through - I have been in situation but find it hard to know what to say.

[thitz]

Hazel, very cute photo of Daniel sleeping.  It made me smile:)  Your sister in law must be getting quite tired with the long hospital stay, I hope she and her dd get out soon.

Branwen, I was thinking this morning, 'I wonder if Eirwen is sleeping better now that you don't have old creaky stairs anymore?'

Schae, I'm dying to see new videos of Luka...

[julieb]

Loving the new avatars! 

Asher is sick!  :cry:   He's been having diarrhea/soft stools the past two days.  The snot started this morning.  Otherwise he's in good spirits and acting normal.  I've been doing the BRAT diet and giving pulsatilla.  Doesn't seem like a flu.  Not sure what else to do.  :?   He's napping right now, but I can hear him restless and crying out periodically in his sleep. 

[HeatherC]

Hazel, I'm so sorry for your sil and her baby.  What awful circumstances.
Julie, so sorry for Asher's illness.  Seems it's going through our thread quite often.  Sounds like you're doing all you can.
Deb, are you all still sick?  What about Luke, was he sick, too?

[HeatherC]

Ok, Kelsey's enthusiam for table foods is exploding.  She's almost to the point of turning up her nose at purees.  I never dreamed I'd be saying that.  So, what are you all feeding your lo's these days for meals?  Today, she had cheese, sliced up lunch meat, and toast.  I figured it was a sandwiched served separately  .  Then I followed up with a jar of peaches and oatmeal, but she only took half.  Am I to assume she was full just from that?  I've now bought chicken (cooked pieces and breaded nuggets), noodle rings, some Gerber graduates meals (I'm hoping she'll like these to cut out my decision making and cooking), pasta and chicken meals, mac and cheese.  Are these types of things suitable for meals?  I'm guessing it doesn't really take much.  Oh, and baked beans.  They come in individual cup servings.  Can she have these?

[Leah's Mom]

Heather - Leah LOVES the baked beans. She shoves them in her mouth! She didn't take to well to the Gerber Graduate meals, but she will not let me feed her. I found that soup is great! I drain off the broth and then she has the carrots, chicken and noodles. My favorite is Campbell’s select egg noodle with chicken. Things we have are (I admit I don’t cook much….lot’s of pre-packed stuff  :roll:  :oops: No time, no time)

Banana chunks, peach and pear chunks (my favorite is the Delmonte (sp?) mixed fruit cups - they seem to be softer than Dole) Canned Peas, Canned Carrots, Canned Sweet Potatoes, Canned Green Beans, Chicken Helper, Hamburger Helper, Soup, Ravioli, Cheese, Meatballs (she LOVES these!), lunch meat, baked beans, salmon, scrambled eggs (we do the whites now), Waffles, Pancakes, Ham,  hmmmm… that’s all I can think of off the top of my head. Welcome to the world of uncertainty!

[Jaime]

thanks for thinking of us - Luke is doing great health-wise.  think it's almost out of me too finally, and jaina's cough seems to be non-existant.  deb, is your cough gone yet?

luke can't quite decide if he's done with purees yet.  keeps going back and forth on a day-to-day basis. 

hazel - totally burst out laughing at that photo of daniel!  and i hope your sil recovers soon

melissa - hope your family visit goes smoothly.  do you normally get along with them?

vidya - glad to see you again!  sounds like things are going very well. 

LOVE all these new avatars.  i need to change mine! 

oh, oh oh!  almost forgot!  was peeking around in luke's mouth, and there's a MOLAR in there!   :shock:  when did he get old enough to have molars!!!   :lol:

[julieb]

Jaime, MOLAR?!  How many other teeth does he have?  I never thought to look THAT far back!   :oops:   Maybe I should check with all the teething he's been doing...

[Jaime]

i never would've looked either, except he was screaming at me that day...  :oops:  and lo & behold, i saw a big ol' tooth back there!  looked like it had JUST broken through that day too.  i'm wondering if another is on its way cause he's been chewing on his thumb again...

he has 7 teeth in front; 4 on top & 3 on the bottom.

[branwen]

I am so behind I know I will try to catch up on what I can! It's been a rough few days for me.

Eirwen's routine:

7:15-7:30 wake up (I wake her or is awake waiting- no crying! YAY!) & BF
8:15 breakfast
8:30 1st Nap
10:30 wake and play
11:00 bf
12:30 lunch
1:00 2nd Nap
3:00-3:00 wake and play
4:00-4:30 bf
5:30 dinner
6:00 bath
6:15 story
6:30 bf and bed

Weaning- not going so hot lately.  Plan was to get rid of the 11am feed, so I would pump before she woke and then offer it to her in a sippy, but she absolutely refused to drink it, even from my dh over the weekend.  So new plan was to go back to bf'ing if she asked (which she does!) I have never waited long enough but then she starts trying to crawl up to me, reaching and then sucking her thumb.  I have been giving her whole milk with her meals instead of juice, but she does not like the taste and makes an "ick" face, and sometimes it dribbles out :roll: But I am determined.  As some of you may have read on another thread I am now 20lbs below my pre-pregnancy weight and it is just not good.  Not healthy at all.  I just cannot keep producing milk like this, I think it is literally sucking my own body dry. :?  Emotionally I do not believe I am ready to wean but I feel that my emotions are also tied to my body as well and if I can feel like I have more energy (from not having to produce the milk) I would feel more stable in my thoughts. We hope :wink:   Oh, and Deborah I seriously just spent $200 at Victoria Secret's semi-annual sale- I am SO READY!

Hazel- That picture breaks my heart.  You should frame it.  As I say often, "You didn't have a bady you had a doll- a real live one!"  Seriously, I got weepy.  Eirwen won't cuddle with anything I got her a babydoll for Christmas- it is so sweet and cute, looks like her and she wants nothing to do with it, she literally tosses it to the side. :roll:

Melissa- re: night wakings.  It is so unusual for Eirwen to have a waking or make any sounds that when she does call out I must always go in.  She really needs that holding sometimes, esp when teething or sick, or even if she came out of a sleep cycle oddly (nightmare-ish like).  I just usually take her in the rocker and I just watch until her arms fall and then I know I can put her back.  She gest very mad if I won't pick her up. That being said I stopped nursing at night, and I think that really helped us.  I just decided one day, no more nursing at night, and she got the idea.  There have been a few desperate exceptions to this- but I think getting the flu and a 103 degree fever qualifies for extra boob-time :wink:

Tarri- you're so funny.    And YES!  It is amazing! I can go up and down as much as I like- they are carpet! HA!  She still has her noise machine, but it is so much better.  We get 13 hr nights lately

Molars- Congrats to Luke!  Eirwen is getting hers I believe as well. 2 big bumps on the bottom.  She is also a drooling machine lately, and every teether I give her she jams as far back as she can.  I'm waiting in suspense.

 :?: Please help me with activity time.  I feel like all I do is set Eirwen on the floor in a pile of toys and go to the computer (I'm applying to graduate school so have an excuse- sort of  :oops: )  How can I be more interactive with her?  What are games and activities you are doing with your babies!? Thanks in advance!!!

[julieb]

Today is my 9th wedding anniversary!  We both nearly forgot!  :shock:  :lol:

Branwen, for the activity time, I don't have a whole lot of structured stuff because I feel like I'm always either preparing his meal, feeding his meal, or cleaning up from his meal!  :shock:   So Asher dabbles around his toys and explores.  I also let him in the kitchen now and he explores around in there.  For a while he wouldn't play with me, but since his new found interest in fine motor skills, he finally is!  When Asher was crawling like Eirwen, I used to lay on the floor and put him on my legs (and let him figure out how to get off), lay him across my belly or just put his torso on my belly (knees on the floor).  I'd also lay on my tummy so I was face to face with him.  Oh, and I'm crawl around next to him or over him.  He always thinks it's SO funny when I'm down on the floor at his level.  He loves to explore my face and such.  I also lay him on my shins while on my back with my knees bent up and flip him up and down.  We play peek a boo games with blankets and I hide behind things and peek out.  We dance to music, I'd help him stand and I'd twist his body around or flap his arms to the music.  We have a bean bag chair that we roll him around on.  I also sit down with some of the more challenging toys he needs help to learn (for as long as he'll sit with me).  We don't do all of this everyday, of course!  Mama would be very tired!   :wink:

[Daniel's mummy]

Julieb - happy 9th wedding anniversary.  Glad you didn't forget!

Branwen - Eirwen's routine looks great.  She is one lucky girl to have opportunity to sleep so much.  Honestly, a friend of mine has a baby 2 months younger than Daniel and most days she says that her dd doesn't want to sleep at all :shock: She visits and her lo's eyes are nearly falling out of her head she's sooo tired   It makes me sad.  I also think she thinks I'm mad as Daniel's naps do kind of rule my day!  Can be quite annoying when I can't get out when I want to coz he's sleeping or due a sleep but it certainly makes for a happier child. 
Activity time - Seriously Daniel spends a LOT of time amusing himself.  I know what you mean about feeling sad when Eirwen doesn't want to play.  Daniel is like that sometimes.  He gets so engrossed in what he's doing that if I try to join in it just annoys him!  But he does seem to play better if I'm sitting close by.  I just talk to him and help him with the odd thing every now and then but he is happy to play by himself for big chunks of time.  'Games' we play together include throwing a ball to each other (well I throw it to him and he flings it somewhere across the room for me to fetch!), reading books together, crawling together, walking (he now holds on to my fingers and walks around - still needs a lot of support with this), tickling.  He loves rough and tumble too so we do a lot of this. 
I think because babies are so different their A time is going to be spent very differently.  Another friend's baby does NOT like rough and tumble so a lot of the stuff Daniel enjoys he just would not like.  Some kids are real cuddly things and others (like mine :? ) are NOT cuddly and prefer to be independent.  Daniel has always preferred to be lying on his back on the floor than in someone's arms.
And now that Eirwen is mobile she will amuse herself better anyway as she can get to something she wants rather than needing you to bring it to her.  But lots of the time just to know that you're there if she does need you is more than enough for her. 
I also understand the whole wanting Eirwen to like her baby doll thing.  We have bought Daniel countless cuddly animals but he is VERY selective in which ones he will snuggle.  Up til this week that sheep has been the only one.  We seem to have found another one though this week.  He has just decided that he likes this spotty dog we call 'Sprinkles'.  We're glad because he's been so attached to the sheep that if it ever got lost we were scared he'd never sleep again :lol:

Jaime - a molar    Is he the first on this thread?!  Daniel seems to have been teething on and off for nearly 5 months now and not a single tooth has come through since 7 months.  He has the 8 front ones so we're waiting on a molar but nothing yet. 

Thanks for all the well-wishes for my SIL.  I may be visiting her later on today.  My brother came round for dinner last night.  Poor thing is so tired and fed up with the whole thing.  He just wants them home.  But she still has a drain in one breast and the wound on the other side is packed and needs changing every day so she won't be home in a hurry.  And their dd is still not right yet.  She too had an abscess that needed drainging.  The drs told them that mastitis can't be passed through the mothers milk so apparently it was just a fluke that mum and daughter both got it at the same time and they both turned into abscesses at the same time :shock:   She's not done so well really!  As they say, 'It never rains, it poors'.

[Leah's Mom]

In case I am not around tomorrow (January 13th), I think Maya turns one? Oh my gosh! Our first baby to turn one!!!!!  :cry:

Happy 1st Birthday tomorrow Maya!!!!!!!!