Jan/Feb 05 chat - Thread #3

[Daniel's mummy]

I have so many jobs to do today that I really can't spend long on here.  I have to iron just about every item of clothing that me, dh and Daniel own.  I just haven't done any in soooo long :oops:

Cute daniel news - I went in last night to check on Daniel before coming to bed myself.  When I went in he was sitting up in the middle of his cot playing with his lovie (this is the first time I've known him to sit up himself in his cot :shock: Up til now once he's laid down that's it he's down for the night!)  When he saw me walk in he pointed at me and said 'look'.  My heart melted.

Tiredness - Daniel is so tired these days.  I don't know if it's a growth spurt or what but he just wants to sleep, sleep, sleep.  He was asleep by 7pm and didn't wake up til 8.10 this morning.  2 hours later and he's asleep again.  I LOVE it.  Maybe he's laying down energy for some huge developmental milestone coming up    I'll let you know.

My SIL is STILL in hospital.  The poor thing.  Long story short, her mastitis turned into an abscess both sides.  Both have had to be drained (by syringe) and on one side she's had to have it operated on to remove all the gunk :?   To top it all off though her lo has mastitis too and she had to have her right breast drained :shock:   I just never knew this was possible but there you go.  So SIL is in one ward and her lo is a couple wards down.  Both are definitely on the mend now though so that is good.  She just can't wait to get home again and start family life.  Poor thing.

Tammy - when was your SIL due her section?  (Actually I just looked back and saw it's Tuesday).  Wishing her all the best.  Hope she likes her pressies.

Julieb - your family pictures are adorable.  Asher looks sooooo happy.  He looks like he's about to explode    Thanks for sharing them.

Straw cups - are these any easier to suck from than the ones with the valves.  Daniel seems to nnot like the valve ones as he can't get anything out.  I'm not sure whether to try a straw one as I don't really want another one to sit in the back of the cupboard with all the other outcast sippy cups :?   But then again, I need to find something.  He doesn't even really want to drink from his bottle anymore now. This morning he took 2 oz and that was the lot.  So he just had VERY soggy weetabix as I put all the rest of the milk with that :wink:

[Deb_in_oz]

Hazel - i am impressed that you iron at all!!! i can count on 1 hand the times i have ironed since liv was born  :lol:  but i have never been a fan of the iron (funny side story - when i met Dh's family when we were dating, his mom said 1 negative thing about me was that i did not iron and i said if he needs a shirt he can iron it and if i need something done i will do it..." In the end she liked me enough to OVERLOOK the ironing thing (after offering to teach me how to do it and my declining  :roll: )

I am so sorry about your SIL and little bub - that sounds so terrible. having suffered with mastitis i cannot imagine absesses or how the lo is dealing with it - i was a wreck for 48 hours until i went to the doctor- and needing surgery  :shock:  I hope she is well soon and all is ok from here on out

Interesting that you say about daniel's tiredness as Liv is also sleeping more these days (most of the time anyway) she has started sleeping until at least 7am (insert anti-jinxing prayer here  ) and these days is back in bed for first nap within 2 hours (used to be 2 1/2+) and no matter what time she sleeps until she goes down for 2nd nap around 1pm now.  today se only did a 30 min 1st nap (1st time in many months) but did a 2 1/2 hr 2nd nap waking at 3:30+ but was overtired by her usual bedtime  :shock:  maybe like you said it is part of the development stage they are in. it is so weird though as it is like she is going backwards in A time suddenly.

on that note it is definite now that all those weeks when Liv kept standing in the cot it was overtiredness. i wish i had realized long ago (and instituted the earlier nap times - could have avoided a lot of stress and tears) . the way i know for sure is that tonight when she was overtired before bedtime we had our first standing up routine since i started the earlier naps. she had been tired since dinnertime and i regret not putting her down early, but in the end after a top up bottle  :oops:  she went to sleep.

Liv has done her second "sign" today - rain. it has been raining here on and off since we had the heatwave (so i think we areon day 6 of rain  ) and i have been showing her the rain and doing the sign for it and she started doing it today so now we have rain and bird - very cute! i will have to start being more consistent as some days i sign with her and others very little. this was the age when alex started catching on to signs to and she started doing lots of them between 10-14 mo along with spoken words.

[Daniel's mummy]

Just wanted to share these 2 photos.  He had been sitting 'reading' his books for about 20 mins when I took this photo.  Sometimes his attention span is better than mine :oops:  :lol:

[dkjokisch]

I only have a minute as I have a very cranky baby in my arms, but on the sleeping thing, Maya went through it a few weeks ago.  It was great while it lasted.

[thitz]

Hazel, Daniel has big cheeks just like Emily Cutie pie!  Hope your SIL feels better soon.

Debra, all babies seem to be different.  With Emily I get much better naps when she's slightly overtired.

Us, Emily is starting to like whole peas (canned) and bits of zuchini .  But mostly she still likes the purees.  I tried the sippy straw cup with formula yesterday for her second feeding.  She took about 4 sips by herself and put it aside.  So then I gave her the bottle.  I think I'll wait till one year and put milk in.  I did read somewhere that they should also learn to drink from a regular cup.  I hold a regular cup for her during mealtime so will stick with that for now.

It's snowing and snowing and snowing here.  I think we'll be going for a sled ride instead of a stroll later    Have a good day everyone, Tarri

[HeatherC]

I love the chubby cheeked babies.  Great pics everyone.  Julie, I loved your's in the galary.  So nice that you got family photos done.  I'll have to get on that.

My cousin's lo went through piles of sleeping around 12 months.  One day he sleep from 9:30 am-3:00 pm and went back to bed at 7 pm.  This is her 4th, so she's a little more lax about schedules, and just let him sleep whenever he needed to.  But, no, it didn't last.

On the stanger issue, Kelsey has days when she loves everyone, and days when she's scared of everyone.  She tends to like boys (not so much grown men unless they are childlike as has been mentioned) more than women except the women in the family.  Of course, she likes people from a distance, too, but has tendencies to freak out once they come too close.  This is another of my stranger pet peeves.  Just b/c she is smiling and waving at you is not an open invitation to touch her!  I'll tell Kelsey she is too friendly for her own good sometimes.

Our move will be in the same part of town.  I've lived in about a 20 min radius all my life, but that's fine by me.  However, this move will hopefully put us in a bigger house, closer to the "good" shops, closer to the interstate, and closer to family.  I couldn't imagine what it takes to make cross-country or international moves. 

Kelsey is doing better about taking her formula in the sippy, so I have more hope now.  The past 2 mornings, she's taken 3 oz.  However, she'll take a big gulp right away before I serve her food, then it's hit or miss as to whether she'll take any more after that.  So, I finish it with the bottle still.

With all the 25+ pound babies, Kelsey seems so little.  She's probably only 22 lbs, and maybe 28-29 inches.  I need to schedule her 1 yr appt.

[klt]

Heather - funny about you thinking Kelsey is little - Ciara must be about the same size as her and I get wow she's a big girl! all the time (in my family everyone is kind of small though dh's is full of huge boys!)

Hazel - lovely pics, Daniel sounds such a sweetie!  My niece also is like that, can entertain herself with her books for ages, unlike a certain someone I know (in bed right now).  Wishing for your SIL and niece to make a recovery soon - she has really had it hard. 

That was definitely a GS (11 mo one I guess) as we are back to normal appetite now.  Hope the sleeping stays good though....  She showed me the other day anyway - after I wrote about her not clapping she started and did it all day long!

Kate

[julieb]

:?:  Do you still use your monitor?  I'm wondering if I'm the only one at this age!  :oops:

Hazel, I don't think Asher's stayed in one place longer than 20 minutes except when sleeping!  :lol:   I just love when they look down and their little chubby cheeks hang like that.  They're just so cute I can hardly stand it!!  :wink:

Deb, do you know of any good online references for signing?  I found an online video dictionary, but it's missing some words I'd like to teach Asher, like brocolli and cauliflower!  :?   Asher does two signs, but understands more.  Not sure how to inspire him to use more signs.  But when he wanted some of my burrito last night, he was very quick to do the "more" sign! :lol:

[thitz]

JulieB, I use my monitor all the time.  I'm a bit high strung though when it comes to Emily :oops: .  I think I'll keep using it till she's in a normal bed and can come and get me if she needs help

JulieB/Debra, I think the signing thing is really impressive  .  I don't think Emily is anywhere near that amount of hand coordination but she got some signing flashcards at Christmas and I picked a few out to work on but I really don't think she'll catch on.  What signs do you think were easiest for Asher/Olivia to learn?

Tarri

[julieb]

Usually baby signs look a lot different from adults because they lack the coordination.  So it's hard to determine if your baby is actually signing because it sometimes resembles something completely different.  For instance, I sometimes can't tell between Asher signing more and clapping!  :lol:   It's all context, I guess.  He also signs "all done."  It's evolved from waving his arms to twisting his wrists.  Don't know why he picked those two signs to start with!  Some of the others seem easier or would be more to his liking -- like banana and pear!  :lol:

Deb, I also want the sign for tofu!  :lol:

[Jaime]

i still use a monitor.  in fact, we have 2 monitors - one for each kid!  though i only ever use jaina's at night.  but the way our house is laid out, if either kid cried at night, we would never hear it otherwise.

[Tammy: Ethan & Kaden's Mom]

stranger anxiety - Ethan has zero stranger anxiety.  If people talk to him and make goofy baby noises, he just smiles and smiles.  He doesn't seem to care that he doesn't know who they are!  He has big grins for my parents though when he sees them.  He's spent a lot of time with them though, which I just love.  Heather - I'm with you on the stranger touching him thing.  It drives me crazy.

Deb - thanks for saying that I sound positive!  I try to keep an upbeat outlook on things.  My PPD and anxiety are well under control with my meds, so I'm a happy camper.  I was such a wreck after Ethan was born, I wish I could get those weeks back when he was a little baby.  I just didn't enjoy it cause I was so nervous and anxious and depressed and sleep-deprived.  Oh well.

babbling - Ethan has said dada dada dada, but that's about it.  He came close to mama mama, but moved onto other consonent sounds.  Oh well, my time will come I suppose!   :roll:  :wink:   His newest sound to practice is ga ga ga and th th th.  He definitely goes thru phases of what he likes to babble!

Hazel - pics of Daniel are so cute!  I'm with Deb, Ethan won't sit still long enough to truly look at his books.  Only time is before naps and bedtime when we read stories together.  But that's part of our routine, so he's used to it.  He won't sit still otherwise!

sippys - I still haven't put formula in a sippy for Ethan.  I don't think I'm going to either.  He drinks water out of his Nuby sippy at meals, and the past couple of weeks he's started actually drinking more from it, instead of just taking a tiny sip at one time.  So that gives me hope for when the bottles are no more! 

growth spurt - I think Ethan is in a growth spurt.  He's been eating a lot lately, downing all of his bottles, etc.  Oh, and we have had 3 or 4 days now with no pureed food.  Yeah!  At first I attributed his hunger to maybe getting accustomed to no purees, but he's certainly continued with the hunger.  Unfortunately, no additional sleeping though!   :wink:   

Which reminds me, what time are your naps right now?  I've had to move our bedtime back about 30 minutes or so due to his afternoon nap.  If he's not awake about 3.75 or 4 hours between nap 1 and nap 2, he'll only sleep for 30 minutes. 

Right now, our routine looks like:

6:30 / 7  -  wake
9:30 / 10  -  nap 1
10:30 / 11 / 11:30  -  awake (can you tell this nap varies from 1 hr to 1.5??)
2:30 / 3  -  nap 2
3:30 / 4  -  awake
7:30 / 7:45 - bedtime

monitors - we have to use a monitor for Ethan.  we just couldn't hear him without it, since our bedroom is downstairs, and his is upstairs.

[HeatherC]

I still use the monitor at night, and during the day to see if she's playing in her crib  :roll:  or napping.
This is mostly what our routine is like now:
8:00 up/change diaper/dress
8:15 start bfast
10:15 wind down few minutes then put down (but this is where she will sometimes play forever, after she falls asleep she'll sleep about 1 hr 20-30 mins unless I need to get her up earlier)
12:30 lunch
3:15 (or later if 1st nap went late) wind down then nap (she's gone down as late as 4; our days are just really varied and she's been an angel about it) she usually needs about 3.5 hrs of A time before 2nd nap, but again, she'll play in crib for a little while then fall aslepp
5:30 dinner
7:30 last bottle
8:00 bed

Kelsey is so much more flexible than she used to be.  Sometimes, I have to go in and tell her to go to sleep at naptime.  Before, this would have resulted in a major meltdown and ruin our day.  Now, she'll cry for about 20 seconds then go to sleep.  If she has days that she doesn't nap well, she's still in good spirits, and then she'll spend a few days playing catch up and take great naps.  She's been so much easier to get out with, and if we're home late for pm nap, she's not fussy or grumpy and she goes right down.  I'm sad, though, b/c I see signs of her not wanting me to rock her during winddown anymore.  I have been cutting it down anyway (I was at 6 mins from 10), but this morning she went in with no cuddles at all, and this pm was only 3 minutes.  I kind of miss the time I get to snuggle with her, but it's also reassuring that she can sleep so independently now.  Our babies are growing up  :cry: .

[Tammy: Ethan & Kaden's Mom]

Oh, I forgot to ask earlier...

those with the ball popper (I think Julieb and maybe Christine?) - I was thinking of asking for this for Ethan's birthday, but I've read so many things online about them getting their arms stuck in the part where the ball pops out.  And how it's taken a really long time to disassemble the entire toy to get them free.  Have you had any issue with this?  Maybe it just depends on if your lo is the kind of child to try this?

[julieb]

Don't know if I ever told you all how I bought Asher a pair of real shoes and then lost them for a month?   :oops:  Well I found them a week ago.  He's been wearing them all week but they're tight.  :roll:  I just bought a new pair of size 6 shoes!  :shock:   Size SIX!!  He measured 5-5.5.  At least I got a good deal at payless, $17.99 on sale for $7.  :roll:

Tammy, Asher's schedule varies on his wake up time ever since we got back from Disneyland.  He's seemed okay with it though.  Here's a rough schedule:
7:30~8:00 wake/BF
9ish breakfast
10:15~10:45 nap (always 2.75 hr from wake up, sleeps 1.25-1.5 hr, I won't let him sleep past noon or the afternoon nap is way to late for me)
12:30ish lunch
2:30ish BF
3:00~3:30 nap (always 3.5 hr from end of AM nap, sleeps 1.5-2 hr, I won't let him sleep past 5:30)
5:30ish dinner
7:15 BF
8:00 bed

I had to laugh about the ball popper!!  :lol:  :lol:   I don't think Asher's clever enough to stick his arm down there yet.  But I could see it being a problem with older kids.  But Asher's arms seem too fat anyway.  I actually think it comes apart too easily.  When he picks it up from the rim to carry it around, it sometimes pops off.  But he understands to tip it over to get the balls out.  He's put other things down there and tried to get them out but he doesn't know how to put his hand very far down yet.  You could always get it as a supervised toy?  It takes D batteries, so I could see it getting expensive to leave it out and on all the time if they get obsessed with it!

Heather, Asher's also been trying to cut our wind down rocking.  :cry:   He's down to about 1-2 minutes.  I'm hanging on as long as I can though!  :lol: