Any March & April 05 mums/moms want to chat?

[Little Bear's Mum]

Mrayohler - I haven't experienced it yet as Daniel hasn't got any teeth thru, but I've heard they often don't like sucking because the gums are swollen and sore and sucking action can aggrivate it. Sooooo, could be those teeth! Try giving Payton something cold in muslin to suck on, like grated apple or carrot.

[Colesmom]

mrayohler-not sure about appetite...but apparently it can bother/hurt them to suck.  If she seems fussy while drinking maybe give her something cold/hard to chew on for a bit between sips.  Might help relieve some of the pressure.  I thought Cole had an ear infection too until I look up ear infection and it mentioned that ear pulling isn't a symptom of that, but of teething.  You know how the ears and mouth are kind of related?  I know Cole opens his mouth when I dig in his ears with my finger to clean them!  LOL

Hayley...Cole didn't like tummy time for the longest time and then it got better around 4 months.  It still baffles me that Daniel can sit up...but not roll/crawl.  I always thought babies rolled first!  Cole sat up unassisted today for a bit!  Yay.  I can't wait until he can do it for an extended period of time.  I think it will make him more independant.

Oh ya, I've got to tell you ladies this.  I was sitting Cole up on the change table to put his diaper shirt on.  Not sure why but my arm was kind of in front of him and before i knew it he was standing up hanging on to my arm  WTH! :shock:  :shock:  :shock:  This spells iminent trouble and need to run out and get a gate for our stairs.

okay, i gotta go get some sleep.  Cole is getting faster at feeding    his night feed only took 15 minutes.

For those that posted not too longer ago (maybe 20 pages LOL) about weaning...I am already thinking of how much i'll miss it and I won't be weaning yet for a couple of months.  I just love how his little hands wander around while he feeds, caressing my arm, grabbing my bra, the funny positions he put his hand on his head like he's thinking of something really important. *sigh* and he looks so peaceful. 

now i'm going.  good night and good day everyone

Traci

[sophieandhannah]

So I can't wait to chat on Wed....I just finally figured out that it is 5 oclock here.  So I guess I am not only geographically challenged but also time zone challenged...and this from a 4th grade teacher.
Can someone help me with an avatar?  I don't have adobe photoshop so I wasn't able to follow the tutorial.  I love all of your tickers too...they are so helpful to be able to check ages etc.  Can someone help me with that too?
Thank you thank you.
I will write later to tell the story of dh's bday party at MIL. Sophie's cousin and great aunt were seriously over the top, overstimulating her.  And it cracks me up that people always say "Oh, she's gonna sleep well tonight!"  Right!  She was up at 2:30, 5,6 and finally 7 for the day.  How do you explain this to people?
Hugs to all.  I enjoyed reading all of your posts!

[Jayri]

wow you ladies have been busy!
You know what erin I think you may be right, she seems more content but she is different, getting a little cheeky in her own way! Lots of goo's and tongue play.
Traci seems you brought it up I think Riley maybe weaning herself, I know it sounds wierd as she is only 6 1/2mths, but we got the next floe up on the nipples for her bottles and she takes my breast, but she pulss on and off, and seems a little impatient at getting the milk. No biggie really for me, i was trying to get the "balls" up to do it, but we must have wierd connection or something and she beat me to it. That and now she has a tooth the thought of bf with teeth scares me, as she has already clamped down once without her teeth.
We are in the midst of finding that ideal awake time, but I guess it will just take time and lots of patience to figure it out. THank you so much for the suggestions though, very much needed. I guess the saying is true that great minds think alike!!!  
If you ladies want to chat outside of the usual times, let me know, it is always good to have a break!!
Anyhoo, I have to go to bed, dh is sick and I think the two lo's are aswell :shock: , gee isn't life just full of such joys!!!
sleep tight or enjoy your day, wherever you fine ladies are!

[Jayri]

I promise this is my last post before bed, but I had to get back to you hannah about the tickers and the avatar things.
Tickers- click on one that you like and it will take you to the site where they are, when you make one that you like simply cut and paste the code, I think the one I used was HTTP, paste it to the box called signature in your profile.
Avatars-Post a question in the lounge, I am sure there is someone from admin who will help you if you can email them a pic, I keep meaning to do the same as i would love to have one like traci(cole'smum)
Okay, my eyelids are heavy, off to the hills I go.
HTH you out a little hannah!

[Little Bear's Mum]

Okay, so here's my thought for the day.... I'm sitting on my couch with Daniel 'climbing'/cuddling me with Tracy's BWSAYP book infront of me, and I thought to myself....

Isn't it amazing how one woman has brought so many mums throughout the world together. I wonder if Tracy ever really knew the extent of how she had helped so many people.

I just wanted to share that thought with you all. And thank you for all the ideas and suggestions you've shared with me.

[Richelle]

Hi all,

Mrayolher and Erin - Sophie started getting really impatient at the breast around 3.5 months.  I got really bad at 4 months and i was out of my head trying to pump and up my supply, not eat strong foods and trying to get back to work.  I finally relaxed enough to realize that she jst seemed to prefer a bottle (less work I guess) with EBM or formula.  Besides having really hurt feelings that Sophie was already pushing me away and not being ready to wean her onto a bottle - getting that breastfeeding going was alot of work!!!!  After getting over myself, I decided to do what was best for Sophie and make the move to bottles.  We gradually cut back the breastfeeds - another thing she did, she would not take the breast if she was really hungry and the last time she nursed was at 4am 18 days ago (she now goes straight throught the night!!).  My ped told me it was probably a combination of a growth spurt and teething causing her to reject the breast.  I really wanted her to go for at least 6 months but I had to let go - it won;t be the first time I guess!

Traci - I figured the ear thing had something to do with her teeth - considering she has 2 through at basically the same time but knock on wood, she hasn't been cranky ect...and yes Canada was cool comparitavely to Cayman and Sophie is definately a caribbean baby-she gets cold really easily!!

I am in the same boat as Naomi I think with the settling thing.  Sophie sleeps really well and has lately been fighting her evening catnap but I am really afraid to move her sleep times around and i don't think she is ready to go to 2 naps.  has anyone gone to 2 naps officially yet and did you move the bedtime up?  Sophie does not do the dreamfeed, never has and I LOVE that she goes from 730 to 630 at night and sorta don;t want to mess with this by switching her bedtime, I think it would be pushing it to expect her to go longer than 11hours without eating!!  Any thoughts or advice?

Richelle

[Jayri]

Richelle it was so nice to know that I am not the only one with the bf/bottle issue. It seems that Riley seems to like the bottle over me. I am kinda sad, but having her leading the way has made it easier emotionally. I have the fact that I did get her through 6mths of bf. I didn't even think that I could bf with her as ds would not latch whatsoever, so it was a complete mind blowing experience when she latched right away for 1/2 hour after she was born, all the nurses had to do was check her latch was good!
We have also won the battle of the fingers, she loves to have the middles fingers of her left hand in her mouth, making solid feeds nice and messy fun, but she has now firgured out that if she takes them out, I put food in her mouth.
Well I will chat later today ladies, enjoy your morning/evening.

[Colesmom]

Hayley...I'm sure Tracy did know how much she has helped all of us.  This website was thriving long before she left us.  Thank you for the reminder though of how wonderful it is to be here.  I sometimes forget that without you ladies and everyone on this site, Cole would probably still be going to bed at 9pm, waking several times a night and finishing his sleep in my bed!

Cole had a rough night as expected.  Here I was celebrating how fast he took his 10pm feed.  Well...he woke at 10:45 and puked a significant amount of it up.  thankfully DH was around and he held him while i changed the sheets.  Hats off to single parent families...they'd have to put lo on the floor or something to change the sheets :cry:   He then didn't settle until about 11:15 after a few pupds.
 
I'm battling the 45 min. naps again.  Q ladies.  If you lo plays for 30 min. in the morning before you go to them, when do you start A time?  Cole was awake at 5:30, I put him down for sleep at 8am and he still only had a 45 min. nap.  I wonder if his body is starting his day at 6 :?  :?:

gotta run, he's not enjoying his practice in his high chair.  been pretty mellow since he got up though so that's good.

[Richelle]

Naomi - It sounds like Sophie and Riley are 2 peas in a pod!  Sophie sucks her 1st 2 fingers on her right hand and yes it does make solids very messy but I think it helped understand eating /swallowing ect...and she sucks them to put herself to sleep as well or when she is upset, we oficially threw out her paci's last week yeah !!!!

You should be so proud that Riley has gotten 6 months of BM and we should sort of count our lucky stars as we won't have the weaning and bottle rejection to deal with.

On the plus side I can't deny that although it took some time, I am now really enjoying my freedom from the pump and rushing home for feeds :oops: !

Traci, sorry to hear about Cole's (and your :shock: ) night, you are right about single fmilies and I couldn;'t imagine how they do it!!

[Olivia's Mommy]

WOw...you ladies have been busy! It's been several days (and pages) since my last post!

Richelle, my LO (Olivia) is in the process of phasing out the 3rd nap, I think. If she gets 2 good naps, she doesn't need the 3rd. Bedtime remains the same, although we might move it up 15-20 minutes if she's cranky, or start the routine early and just draw it out a bit. Also, iI noticed your Sophie is 1 day younger than my Olivia!

Traci, I'm glad you asked about early waking and 1st A time. Olivia woke at 6:45 this morning and played until 7:30 (normal wake time) when I got her up. She went strong until about 9:05. I wondered when to put her down, so I just watched for her cues. It's now 9:15 here and she's sound asleep...we'll see how long it goes. Her normal wake time is between 2 and 2.25 hrs, so I wasn't sure to keep her up. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Arwyn's mom]

Wow... one Thanksgiving holiday and 6 pages ago, here we are... I had to take notes this time and I apologize if I missed anybody but 6 pages?  :shock:

Jo... {{{HUGS}}} to you. I hope that Fraser has better nights and sleeps soon so he can hope for siblings!

Judy... A friend of mine is having twins soon (this week, I believe) James and I were just commenting about how a mom with twins would have a difficult time going out in a vehicle because it would be hard to get both down to the car at the same time. Congratulations on getting out with all your girls! Even though it was probably an eye-rolling 10 minutes.

Traci - When Arwyn gets up early, I count A time from waking. So... this morning she got up at 6:30 am... she went down for a nap at 8:30 am. I hope your father takes it easy... sometimes family members don't think about how it affects the people closest to them. Glad to hear about the lovely Thanksgiving. And it is no surprise Cole stole the show, he is so very loveable!

Andrea... very cute picture of you and Oli.

Hayley & Erin... Sometimes being careful still results in bonks on the head and bruises.  :roll:  I poked Arwyn in the eye this morning while feeding her and have scratched her leg when buckling her down in her highchair. :roll: At least I am trying to be careful... couldn't imagine what shape she would be in if I didn't.  :shock:

Lisa... I am doing 4 milk feeds during the day. I also do a DF for a total of 5 BFs daily. I will be dropping the DF soon... I hope with the time change that I can eliminate it completely by the end of the month.

Richelle... Arwyn switches from 2 naps to 3 naps occasionally. I don't know what causes it... it has nothing to do with the length of naps but sometimes she has 4  :shock: short ones and sometimes a combo of them so??? Who knows?

Well... like the rest of you who posted about good nights, I jinxed myself and am recovering from 4 nights of multiple night wakings!!! Holy smokes we were tired this weekend! I can't believe it, she has been getting up 2-3 times a nights... I think it is because she has discovered how to get up onto her hands and knees and "rev". She rocks forwards and backwards like she is getting ready to go somewhere  and then drops down onto her belly.

She is doing that in her sleep and waking herself up! She is still sleeping (I think) and then she pulls up into this "table" position (for al you yoga fans out there) and then wakes up crying when she falls over. Sometimes I walk in there and she is crying with her eyes closed and seems to be still sleeping! Is there such thing as "sleep-crawling" or whatever she is doing that happens to infants?

Wouldn't you know it? On Friday, I wanted to get out early to the picket lines to show support to my colleagues and Arwyn decides to have a 2hr 15min nap. Today, I wanted to get out there too (teacher strike happening in B.C. -- Day 2)  and she is fast approaching the 2hr mark.  :roll:  Don't get me wrong, not complaining about long naps, just her timing of them  .

Have a great day everybody!

[Colesmom]

Judy,  good question about my dad.  He didn't mention surgery for the pancreatitis...just the triple bypass :shock:   No update on that either.  And he thinks he's going to travel to Paris soon.  France, not Ontario :wink:   I think he's arranging all this travel and renovating the house  a) to keep him busy, b) to give him hope.

I am really upset about it all but angry at the same time because he is basically drinking himself to death.  What can I say to a 65 year old man to make him change his ways?  He's lived this life for 30 years now and nothing I say or do seems to matter.

My mother doesn't say boo because my dad is a stubborn old fart and he won't listen to her either.  It's terrible because my mom will be so lost without my dad.  She doesn't have a clue financially.  Of course, he doesn't have a clue about running a house.  Very traditional family situation.  She is the stronger of the two though so if dad has to go first it's probably best..............................gosh, did I really just say that :oops:

okay, i think that's enough depressing stuff for now.  going to go give my babe a big hug to make myself feel better.

bye

[kate585]

Hey, girls! 
((Hugs)), Traci!  Dads are dumb, sometimes.  (I was considering this as my new family motto for a while, but didn't think it'd be fair to dh.  That's a whole other LOOOONG story!).  Hope you are doing okay about it all.
Ryan is getting a cold, I think.      He's slept A LOT the last 2 days.  Got him up yesterday after 1 1/2 hrs. played for 1/2 hour and he was sooo cranky, put him down for 45 more minutes!  I had to wake him up.  Then, he had over a 2 hr. nap in the afternoon, getting up at 4.  So, no catnap, right?  In bed at 7 and up and ready to play by 7:45!   :shock:   Apparently he missed the memo about not catnapping.  Finally down for the night at 9:45!  Ugggh! 
So far today, it's been a bit over 2 hrs. at mil's this morning and we're in the middle of nap #2 now.  His catnap would fall right in the middle of our swim lesson, so we'll have to see how it goes.
Ankie, good luck to your teacher friends.  In Missouri (or maybe just St. Louis) teachers are allowed to strike.  Not sure how they got that law passed...I know they've done "strikes" where they only work their contracted hours and everyone is shocked at how much CAN'T get done during that measly time.  (Sorry...teacher rant!) 
Off to start packing.  Family wedding this weekend!  I can't wait!!!!!!

[Richelle]

Well, it seems as though Sophie is back on with the catnap!  She has been fine going down for her catnap the past few days.  It is hard to sya as when i come home from work i think I may be getting her too excited as I am excited to see her?  Hard to say....

It is also hard to say if the nanny does everything like i do.  I mean it is in her contract that she is never to leave the baby to cry but I think that maybe she takes that too seriously.  This AM I put her down at 9 and at 945 she was gab gab gabbing to herself and I was in the middle of a conference call overseas (working from home today JOY) so I left her and 10 minutes later she was sound asleep until I woke her at her usual time (1030)!  I also stray for BW advice and follow a schedule instead of routine, Sophie has Maximum 3.75 hours of naps that always begin at the same time, my DH calls it the 'regime' but he can't argue success.  I also think the nanny finds me too strict with her schedule and now i am starting to question things. 

Sorry for the long post but I obviously have too much time on my hands when working from home!!

Richelle