Jan/Feb 05 Babies chat!

[branwen]

Quick post will write more tomorrow-

Hazel- I LOVE your family photo- it is like a scene from a film. 

:?: How did any of you introduce a sleep bag?  Also which one do you use- grobag, lullabag or halo- why?

Also must post these pictures of her.  Even though she will not nap :wink:  she is still my beautiful snow angelpie and makes my heart melt every day!

[HeatherC]

Debra & Branwen-{{{{{HUGS}}}}} to you both.  May God be with you through these rough times.
Branwen-I love the pics.  She is so beautiful and sweet, even without naps  :wink: .

I suppose we mostly are all in a state of dissarray with naps right now.  However, I was reading on the sleep board about sleep amounts, and btw 6-9 months it says 2 naps of 1.25 hours, and a catnap.  I guess I was just getting spoiled with 2 hour naps.  Although she's doing around 1.25 hours right now, she doesn't get the catnap, and hasn't for awhile, so she still seems overly tired by the end of the day.

Hazel-beautiful photo.  Thanks also for sharing your "stats" with us.  Daniel is a lovely child.

Nikki-love your photos, as well.

Not much new for us.  Dh is returning to work from his week off tomorrow, so it's back to just Kelsey and me for much of the time.  Maybe her naps will straighten out a bit without all the comotion in the house  :?: .

[dkjokisch]

Ok, time to catch up...

Branwen - Sorry to hear things have been rough for you lately.  Has it gotten any better?  I don't think Maya is quite ready for a set naptime either.  Maya needs more sleep than any baby I know, and I feel silly sometimes, but there is a HUGE difference in her personality when she gets her full complement of daytime sleep.

Also, I just saw the new pics you posted for Eirwen - she is so cute!  Her cheeks pooch out just like Maya's when she smiles.

Christine - We wrote down everything for the first three months.  Then it just became too much to keep track of.  Now, we don't write down anything, even some of things we probably should.  The first few months have come in handy though, as I talk to friends with younger babies.  I know exactly how often she was getting up at night at what age.

Vidya and Tarri - It's nice to see so many engineers on here!

Vidya - We have problems with constipation too.  I find that sweet potatoes help, and I sometimes mix the prunes with oatmeal or another fruit so I'm not giving her just prunes all the time.  I can't believe someone asked you if you were pregnant!  I think I would take the opportunity to say something equally rude in return.  I was also looking at your family photo - Diya's got a headful of hair.  The curls are so cute.  MIL wanted us to shave Maya's head so it would grow back thicker.  So far we have vetoed it, but I can't wait for her to start growing some real hair.

Heather - How was dinner out?  We've taken Maya out several time recently (she's finally sitting well enough to sit in restaurant high chairs), and if we time it well, she does pretty well.  We went to a new place the other night.  It didn't look like much from the outside, but the food was good (and cheap!) - if you like homestyle southern cooking.

Welcome Hazel!

Michelle - Thanks for the nap info.  We'll keep at it, but I think it will take some time to stretch her awake time out.  Our problem is that when she doesn't nap well, she doesn't eat well, particularly at her bedtime feed.  She's already at the 10%ile weightwise, so we don't have much room for her to lose.  Sorry to hear about your scare.  You made me think twice about giving her peaches yesterday.  I hope your weekend turned out ok though.

Nikki - Maya bfs 4x day, but it's been awhile since I did a yield so I'm not sure exactly how much she takes.  Best guess, I would say she gets about 6oz +/- (180ml) per feed.  She gets an additional 2oz mixed with cereal, and eats a total of about 3oz of solids (cereal, vegetables, and fruit) at each solid meal. 

And I think your advice regarding chalking up some days as a loss and rolling with the punches is right on target.  Sometimes I think I get too wrapped up in her "routine".  We all have bad days sometimes, so we just need to do whatever it takes to get through the day and start fresh tomorrow.

Tarri - I usually wind up doing one-on-one playtime come late afternoon.  It doesn't help get dinner on the table, but my undivided attention is often the only thing that will settle her down.  I was thinking that would be a good time to do sippy cup practice in her highchair, if she would be content with that.  We try to squeeze in a walk after dinner so there is a break between her solids and her bedtime feed.  Eating dinner together as a family is important to us, so I usually wait until dh is home to feed her dinner.

Schae - Congrats on sleeping through!

Jaime - Where did you go?

Deb - I hope you got a break over the weekend.  Just remember we're here for you.

On naps - I feel bad now complaining that Maya only slept 1.25hr.  I think I am going to pick a strategy and try and stick it out for a full week and then make adjustments from there.  However, we are going to see the ILs next week, so it's going to have to wait until we get back.

Us - There's not much new here.  We're slowly mobilizing for our trip next week.  There's so much you have to take with a little one!  Other than that, things quieted down for us over the weekend.  We took the opportunity to relax a bit knowing that we won't get that chance suring our actual "vacation".

[julieb]

Boy you're all busy little bees this weekend!   :wink:

Tried peas yesterday.  He likes them, but the shells are a problem.  They store up in his mouth and he doesn't seem to swallow them.  I had to clear them out with my finger this morning.  I might buy some dried split peas, but he enjoys picking them up so much!  That's why I chose them to introduce.  Anyone working with peas as a finger food?

Had a busy day at the in-laws today.  They are a very outgoing and loud family so Asher always seems so much more overwhelmed around them.  Bedtime has been rough and I have a feeling we're in for an unpleasant, restless night as well.  I should have left earlier.   :oops:  Hind sight is a terrible thing.  :?

Happy Asher thing(s): waves hi/bye now, "dances" to music (which just involves bouncing up and down)

Happy Julie thing: After 7.5 months, I am FINALLY mailing Asher's birth annouments!   :shock:  :lol:  :roll:   Next, taxes!  :?

Schae:  YAY for Luka!!  Sleep is a wonderful thing, eh?   :?

Deb: When Asher is waking early in the morning and throwing off our schedule, I try REALLY hard to keep him in bed till 7:00 am.  At least he's "resting" more than he would be if I got him up.  Then I try really hard to keep his nap times within 30 minutes of my "ideal" schedule.  Like Michelle said, I do think their bodies get used to a particular cycle, and to vere too far off could sabotage the rest of the day.  So there seems to be some truth to set nap times.  I also read about it in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child.  He also mentions in the book that babies biorythyms and internal clocks start to set around 8 months.  Prior to that, we set them for them.  So I figure as we get closer, the more I should try to stick to certain key times.  Hope that makes sense?  :roll:
And I TOTALLY can relate to your comment to your mother.   :lol:   I think I told serveral people more than a few times something to that effect when I was in nap training hell with Asher the first 4.5 months.  I couldn't give up, because every day it felt like it was getting a bit worse.   
I sure hope Liv gets out of this rut she's in!

Christine:  What fun!  I've never had a taste for drinking, but I've been saying for the past year, I want a BIG margarita as soon as I wean Asher!   :lol:   Pregnancy/childbirth/motherhood deserves a good drink, darn it!   :wink:

Hazel: 8 teeth!  Holy cow!!  :shock:  :shock:   Although, I apparently had 16 (?) teeth by time I was 1 year old.  Asher, on the other hand, still just has two.   :lol:   And the sheep/face thing sounds absolutely precious!  So how did that 9 lb 2 oz boy come out?  :wink:   Asher was 9 lbs 10 oz, but I had a c-section because he was breeched.  I had planned a NCB and everything -- my mom delivered three 10+ pounders herself!  Lovely photo, BTW!  I may have to use that idea for one of our family pics!

Branwen:  We switched to a halo sleep sack after suggestions from ladies here.  LOVE IT!  I think it was a bit weird to him for one or two naps, but it was fine quickly.  It's light enough in hot AZ.  And I got a big one with room to grow (the cotton one shrinks a lot) and to more closely match the loose blanket I was wrapping him with before.  He can still crawl and stand up in it, though we've had a few bumps.  :oops:

[Daniel's mummy]

julieb - Daniel actually came out via c -section also.  I was induced and after 3 tries I finally went into labour (14 days overdue!).  Laboured for about 23 hours and was finally told I needed a section as he was just not budging :roll:   (Must just have a very comfy womb!)  Was born at 18.32 on Saturday 29th January.  Me and hubby  both cried with joy and relief.  We had both had a feeling that 'he' was a girl but it was a lovely surprise when 'she' was actually a 'he' :lol: He started teething at about 10 weeks and had his first tooth at 4 months.  Now they just keep on coming!  He always seems to get a couple through together which is a pain (literally).  He's currently working on the 2 top fromt ones.  So funny as he has the 4 bottom and top side ones but not the front ones yet.  Looks soooo cute.

Us - Had a fantastic weekend away.  Went away with all my family (4 siblings and partners (one with a 21 month old) and my mum and dad) to anglesey in Wales.  Stayed in a huge cottage right by the sea.  Daniel was a dream.  Napped great and slept through both nights.  Charmed everyone with smiles, belly laughs, rolling, shouting and his many other tricks!  We feel so blessed.  I have posted some pictures of our weekend.  Check out the babies napping on the beach 

Today we have a plumber here all day working in our bathroom, which is next to Daniel's room.  He has been so considerate though and is doing quiet jobs while Daniel sleeps!  How nice is that?!

Will post again soon.

Hazel

[Deb_in_oz]

will try to write tomorrow about anyone else  :oops:  - am going to bed early (10pm) as am exhausted. Thank you all for your support and well wishes.  for those new who have not read previous thread i am on meds for PPD.

olivia was up at 5:30 today (i think it was because i had her heater set to go on at 5:30 so have changed that  tonight)  which led to an insane day (20 min nap at 8am, 45 min nap at 10:30, 45 min nap at 2:10) but ironically a really good day as well Three big things happened today
1: the reason she woke from 8am nap was rolled fully from back posotion onto her tummy yippee!. (i did not know this until 8:40 when i heard she was not resettling and i had to get alex to daycare anyway. she was pushed right up on her hands staring at the toy at the end of her cot) the reason for the 2nd wake up was poop  :evil:  and the 3rd i think she was just trying to drive me batty... :roll:
2:She ate really well again and was such a cutie the whole day in spite of being chronically tired... Then at dinner she drank from her sippy cup properly!! i heard the sucking and almost cried!! i was starting to fear she would never even try really since she was so against me even putting it in her mouth.  but today she seemed to be watching alex with HER cup so intently during the day - beaming every time she watched her drink (same cup diffrerent colour).  she reached out for cup throughout dinner and took sips really easily!! TRIUMPH!
3: whenever i reassured her i was getting her food i used the "sign" and she immediately got excited and seemed to understand what i was talking about. (so far i have mostly focused on signs for food/eat, drink / bottle, more and finished)

am knackered and Dh keeps saying "i thought you were off to bed" - she has woken at 10 for feed instead of waiting for DF  :?  will never understand her

[Kinlagh's Folks]

Have so much to read but just wanted to say...
- Happy 8 months Kinlagh!!! 
- She crawled today (real crawling)!!!
- And our weekend was a mess and we ended up having to stay a day longer.  Will fill you in when I'm rested up. 
Talk soon.  Hope all is well with you girls!!!

[dkjokisch]

JulieB - Good for you!  I think we have given up on getting baby announcements out.  We'll put a photo in our Christmas cards instead.  My ILs are very outgoing as well, and they don't seem to get that Maya DOES NOT like to be passed around, and she needs time to look at you from the safety of mom/dad's lap before she's ready to cuddle up with anyone.  MIL freaked her out last time she came, and then for the first three days of her visit, Maya cried everytime she tried to hold her.  Any advice other than leave earlier?  We're going for a whole week.  Also, since Asher sleeps through now, feel free to have that big margarita after you tuck him in for the night.  Your body will have metabolized the alcohol long before morning.

Hazel - I love the photos - how cute!

Deb - Get some sleep, but I'm glad your day was better yesterday.

Happy 8 months, Kinlagh!

[thitz]

Branwen,  I ended up making a sleepsack with regular flannel and a zipper up the front.  I didn't want a fleece one because Emily's always seems to be too hot.

Michelle, happy 8 months to Kinlagh!

Debra, congratulations to Olivia!  Emily's still only rolled either way a couple times.  Also she doesn't like the sippy too much I think cause she's holding her breath while she sips and her face goes red.

Heather, that's too bad that you dh is back to work again.  I don't know how it's going to be when dh starts work again.  It's been so nice for him to be able to play with Emily and me!

Hazel, that sounds like a horrible labour.  I was in labour for 14 hours before they decided to do a c-section on me.  And the last 4 hours were with no meds!  I ended up being gassed for the operation cause none of the spinals worked on me(though they tried 6! times and as a result had a crippling migraine for 10 days after).  I couldn't even hold my head up.  Thank god that's over!

Nikki, very cute photos!

Us, we had a 5:30 wake too!  But I managed not to turn her lights on till 6:30 and put her down for nap 1 slightly before 9 and our day's back on track.  Yesterday I did 40 mins of trying to extend nap 2 with NO luck.  I'm going to quit trying because it makes me and her super grumpy for the rest of the day.

Happy Emily News, she loved her plum and rice this morning!

[HeatherC]

Deb-yay on all of Olivia's achievements, and on eating so well.  We're having one of those bad eating days, but I'm reassured by everyone else's experiences that this is normal and okay.
Michelle-Happy 8 Monthday to Kinlagh!  It sure goes too fast.  And yay on the crawling!!!
Julieb-I have read that the shells on peas can be troubling.  Do you mush them first, or serve them round?  We're still working on the Veggie Puffs, and I plan to wait until 8-9 months to try "people food" as finger foods.  I'm just holding back for now.  Congrats on Asher waving.
Jaime-yay for Luke clapping.  I have to remember to show her things like clapping and waving or she won't know to do them  :oops: .
Branwen-I forgot to mention that I thought "ack" was extremely cute.
Tarri-Sounds like you and Emily have a blast together.  On the naps, I, too, would get too frustrated trying to extend them and ultimately gave up and waited until her body shorted them out for itself.

[Jaime]

hazel - love that photo of the babies napping on the beach!  too funny!

schae - luka's night sleeping sounds very encouraging!!!  now you just have to train yourself to not wake up at every noise - always seems to be the hardest part for me!   :roll:  :lol:

branwen - those pics are adorable!  love the 2nd smiley one.  those cheeks!!!     can't give you any advice on sleep sacks cause we really don't use them... one of the benefits of florida!  :wink:

deborah - can you believe the stuff you have to take on a trip?!  i can pack one back holding my stuff & dh's stuff, and then about 80 more with stuff for luke!   guess that's why we have a bigger car now...

julieb - yay on getting the announcements out!  i think i'm past the point of caring on mine... they still haven't gone out on my 2 year old!  :oops:   the dancing sounds adorable. 

debra - that is so exciting about the signing, rolling, and sippy cup!  see, you've just got a brilliant baby - she wants to know everything & that's why she won't sleep!  i hope you got a good night's sleep though.

michelle - can't wait to hear your story.

us - well, i think we've hit a new, not-so-commonly-mentioned milestone:  "baby realizes everyone else can move around and he can't".  OMG, this child has just realized that we're all walking around and it's driving him crazy that he can't follow!  to his credit, every once in awhile he lunges forward and ends up on his tummy, but he hasn't figured out the rest yet!   and then he starts crying cause he can't get back up!   :roll:

had a slightly stressful saturday.  we went to go to visit some of dh's relatives in gainesville (2 hrs away).  we were supposed to leave during luke's morning nap and didn't - totally dh's fault but we still fought about it!  so we ended up leaving shortly before 11am - and had to stop twice; once to feed luke, and again to feed jaina.  wouldn't have stopped the second time, but luke was going crazy being trapped in the carseat.  took 3 hours to make a 2-hr trip.  not to mention trying to keep them entertained with a badly packed bag of toys (will i ever learn to check what dh does???)  then we got to spend the day inside doing.....nothing!!!  a non-babyproofed house with lots of animals (including 3 big dogs and a cat that bites) and breakables and 2 small kids.... yeah, right!!!  thankfully, we left at bedtime and both kids crashed and slept the whole way home.

but it was just annoying cause i had so much work to do this weekend.  i always feel like i'm playing catch-up!  i love the fact that i only have to teach in the morning, but all the extra work is really getting to me.  i have no help, and if luke's pm nap is short i don't get anything done until dh gets home.  then he gets mad at me for bringing work home.  it's just a never-ending cycle. 

wow.... i didn't realize how much i was storing up!  i think i'm done venting for now....  :oops: 

[Leah's Mom]

Busy catching up! Wow ladies!!!! Keep posting the pics, I love seeing everyone!

Hazel - Welcome!!!!! I LOVE your name. Beatutiful. Your pictures are adorable, Daniel is such a cutie! Your weekend away looked like so much fun! I am a teacher too, what did you teach? Right now I am doing Elementary Reading.

Julieb - I think we are starting to see seperation anxiety too. Leah screams everytime the sitter puts her in the pack-n-play.  :roll: It has been a difficult week (last week). Then this weekend she woke from a nap happy. I wanted to get a few more things done so I went in and talked to her then turned on her aquarium, that she loves. Normally she has no problem playing with that for awhile. But this time as soon as I left, she screamed. Really loud and started sobbing till I picked her up. Hope this passes soon.....  Hah, my in-laws are outgoing and loud too!!!!

Nikki - Do you know if I can get Baby Sense in the States? You have such good advice!!! I am so glad you joined out chat room!  Lise's pics are SO cute!!!! How do you pronounce her name?

Heather - I hope naps have been better for you. She still screams everytime she is put down at the sitter's house (see my response to Julieb above.)

Branwen - I hope Leah has curly hair (her dad does when it gets long). Curly hair is so cute! Leah has none.... Eirwen's pics are adorable! I think Leah has the same blocks. Are they Fisher Price shapes where you drop them into the top in their correct shape (did that make sense?) We use the Halo sleep sack, cotton right now. I just started putting it one her one day, no intro!

Tarri - Yay to Emily for rolling!

Julie - Matthew's pics are adorable! I love his PJ's!!!

Schae - Yay for Luka on sleeping thru!!!!

Deb - I hope you're feeling better. Fear not, I'm having rough naps too! My mom always says the same thing - if she doesn't want to nap then don't make her.  :evil: I love hearing about the signing. Out sitter is big into this, so Leah is signed too everyday. I'll have to get a book so I know what I'm doing.

Michelle - Happy 8 months to Kinlagh! WOW 8 months!!!! Are they really getting that old!? :shock:  :shock:  :shock:

Jaime - I totally know how you feel. The weekend is my time to get stuff done. I told DH I wanted a cleaning lady for Christmas! One good thing about working is I get some "me" time and I get to socialize with other adults, it's good for the spirits. I feel for you, I'm in the same boat, except I only have one kid, but I do have to work all day.

US: What's up with the nap thing? Leah has done 45, 45, 45 for like the last week. Really hard to settle and she was hard to settle for bed last night too, that doesn't usually happen. When one of you becomes a rocket scientist and figures it out, let me know!  :wink:

ME: Am slowly recovering from my night out.  :roll: Very tired today. I had a soda with caffine at work today.  :shock: I'm not a caffine drinker, but I guess I may become one if DD doesn't start sleeping better soon! 

[sedona314]

Loved all the pics!!!

Hazel, Daniel is adorable, what cheeks!  Matthew is pretty big too.  He was 20lbs 10 oz at 6  months and I havent had him back to ped for his next weight yet.  Im sure he is much heavier by now.

Branwen, Eirwin is like a little blonde angel.  How are you feeling and how is the teething going for her?

Nikki, the pics of you and Lise are really beautiful, you look great too. 

Jaime:  Where in florida are you?  we are under another hurricane watch but its going below Key West so Im not freaking out.  I will be so relieved when hurricane season is over. Its too freakin' scary.

Christine:  HOpe you are feeling better from the girls night out. It sounded like you had a great time even though you had to pay for it!

Debra: Wow, is Olivia making strides!

Julie:  How the heck is Asher waving this early?  Im impressed.  He is very cute too, by the way.


How do I start Matthew on finger foods ladies?  Any recommendations?  I wanted to try the Gerber puffs, but they dont dissolve quickly enough and Im afraid he will choke. 

We're going on a car trip in October, only about 2.5 to 3 hours and I'm not looking forward to the drive, but I am looking forward to the vacation. Any advice from you travelers about how to make it more bearable?  He gets antsy in his car seat from just a 20 minute drive.

Julie - the senior mommy  :lol:

[HeatherC]

Julie (Senior  :wink: )-re the veggie puffs.  I, too, was/am soooo scared about finger foods.  Right now I've decided to pretty much hold off until 8-9 months, but I do give her a few veggie puffs with lunch.  At first, and it sounds silly  :oops: , I only broke each edge off and gave her that to get used to having something of that texture in her mouth.  Now, she only gets a half at a time, but I can hear her chewing it with her gums and she eats them quickly.  I'm still too scared to give the whole thing to her.  I think it's probably fine to just "jump right in" and let them figure it out, but I can't stand the worry with each bite  :roll: .

[Jaime]

<sigh>  i'm so bummed right now.  i'm supposed to be out for a girls' night in.  i scrapbook once a month with a few friends, and we really just use it as an excuse to get away from the kids.   :wink:  but we haven't done it in awhile cause most of us have had babies in the past few months, so i was looking forward to getting back into it. 

wouldn't you know, dh came home sick?  not just a cold, but full-blown stomach flu.  so he's out for the count and i'm stuck here.  don't get me wrong, i love you guys, but i was really looking forward to getting out & visiting - i haven't really seen any of them since school started.

okay, mope over.  i'm sure i can find something more productive.

ps - julieg - we're in orlando.  so far out of range of this hurricane!  and regarding the car trip - go during naptme or bedtime if there's any chance matty will sleep in the car.