Jan/Feb 05 Babies chat!

[julieb]

Christine, I'm so glad things went so well!  I'm jealous of your night time sleep!!  I met another mom at the grocery store tonight.  Of course her 4 mth old son was quietly sleeping in the car seat (Asher would NEVER do that), and she said he started sleeping through a month ago.  He was a very big boy and EBF as well!  :cry:   When will my 8 hours come?

Heather, :lol:  Your finger foods story made me laugh out loud!!  I give Asher chunks of banana (it's one of the few foods he's tried) and he gagged and made faces the first few times as well.  I think it was the texture and wholeness of it.  He spit it out with a funny face.  Later, I was eating a banana and let him suck on the end and shave a bit off with his bottom teeth -- he REALLY liked it then.  So then I gave him more chunks in his high chair.  He smashes them and doesn't put them in his mouth, but he'll happily eat them if I feed the chunks to him!   :roll:   I was discussing this in another group and they all came to the conclusion that finger foods just one day "click."  But keep offering them, that's the only way they'll get the practice.  Rice Krispies should be a perfect size and disolve easily in her mouth.  Yay for teeth!  I keep hoping for more teeth so I'll have an excuse for all this crankiness.  It's been a month and nothing!!  I guess I just have a touchy guy.   :roll:

[Deb_in_oz]

HI all LONG POST ALERT  :lol:  -we have had such a weird day i am glad it is over in some ways. Yesterday the weather did a sudden about face and we went form turtlenecks to 25C / 75F weather - i have been wearing tank top and shorts.  at 8am today the breezes outside were warm!! anyway i am not sure if that is why we had an odd day (does anyone know if the weather effects kids?)

Olivia woke around 6:10am and not out of hunger - she was just "up" and happy and cooing, etc - i am exhausted because of course this is after Dh was out for a client dinner til midnight so i did DF and stayed up too late...

then: she fed every 3 hours instead of 4 and took a wide range of amounts 4-6oz, was funny with her sleeps and solids

then: alex skipped her nap for the first time - too hot?  i put her down in a sleeping bag like an idiot and i think she was warm?  i went to get Liv up when she woke early from nap 2 and as i passed alex's room i heard "mom" and scared the CR@P out of me - she is usually down for the count until 2:30-3:30.  i could not get her to tell me if she actually slept at all or not

then: Liv spent an hour this late afternoon CRAWLING BACKWARDS and trying to get forwards with no luck - butt up in the air and pushing backwards - clear across the polaymat and off onto the hardwood floor!  she was trying sooo hard.

Christine: congrats on your first week back at work - i am so happy that Leah did well with her naps at the sitters...     

Branwen and Heather - yay on the teeth - i hope they come through soon. with the amount of drool coiming out of Liv today and her sensitivity (tears) i think we need to get in her mouth tomorrow and have a feel/look around

Michelle - i understand about the finger foods and choking.  the first time i gave alex a small bite of toast she started gagging and i panicked so badly i forced her mouth open and stuck my fingers in to pull it back out - i was freaking out.  i can't remember how long it took before i tried again  :oops:

thanks for the advice about the naps.  i am so confused.  1.  she has no trouble going down for bedtime because of the catnap so i am not sure baout that 2.  with the set times for naps - how does that work if you have a child who usually stays up 2 hrs how are they suddenly able to stay up HAPPILY for 3 hrs in the morning (ie if they wake early like liv did today) in the end today, again afetr pooping it was 9am before she went down anyway (after putting down at 8:20) so part of me thinks you are right, but when i see her rubbing her eyes i feel terrified of keeping her up even 15 min longer.

julieb - where are your videos?? i must have missed the post that had the link - can you repost so i don't wander through 35 pages.  want to check Asher out!!

about the inlaws and junk food - to be honest if they respect you they will respect your choices.  when we visited ILs in UK they were giving nephew (3 mo older than Alex) chocolate buttons and juice, etc that she did not have (she was 11-12mo at the time) and i was so happy to see that they never once offered it to her.  and i know it took all their strength to keep their mouths shut when i did not give her any chocolate birthday cake even though it was her own bday!  i was very impressed for sure!

Jaime - i love your sites !!!! wow!  i played the match the luke game and got 28% accuracy!

all fondue heads - you got it so in my had that last night with Dh out and me PMSing and a fridge containing dark chocolate and strawberries led to me melting a huge bunch of choc. in the microwave and dipping strawberries!! yummy!  that is why i could not sleep - too much choc.

off to eat dinner and watch "House" - talk later

[Kinlagh's Folks]

Branwen - Yes Kinlagh is sitting alone.  But of course I'm never far behind.  The pool is a whale with little fins and just the size for 6-18 months.  It's even got a shade on the top for those little ones with the super sensitive skin like Kinlagh (she can't wear sunscreen yet - maybe next summer)  And please share your trick with the extra padding.  We too have hardwood floor and don't ever want to leave Kinlagh sitting alone - for fear of the bumped heads.  Yay Eirwen - a tooth!!!

JulieB - I think we all feel that way.  Not to worry, I'm not really embarassed about that stuff, so I'll just write it and you just agree!   :lol:

Christine - Back to work, scary thought.  Glad to hear Leah handled it so well...again!  What a girl.

Starting meat - I think for those that started solids at 6 months, then 9 months is wise.  But for those of us who started at 4 months, then they're approved to start meats at 7 months.  She's already on 3 cereal, 7 veggies I think and 5 fruit.  So we're good to move on.

Heather - LOL re: your finger food experience.  Good luck - don't give up.  Rice Krispies, never thought of that.  I'll give that a shot.

Debra - About the nap info.  #2 - I said nothing of them staying up HAPPILY   :? .  It is sometimes a struggle and I've had to keep her occupied to get her thru.  But that only took a few days and she started getting used to it.  I don't know if that'll work for Olivia or not, but that's how Kinlagh adjusted!  I would just start with 15 min increases at a time.  Don't go from 2-3 hours all at once.  She'll definitely have trouble with that.  Also, for us it's only 2 hours in the morning (up at 7:30 and down for nap #1 at 9:30) so no real adjustment there.  The longer wake times were between the 2 naps and before bedtime.  You know your child best, but I wouldn't worry too much about keeping her up a little longer.  I thnk they adjust better than we think sometimes.
Chocolate covered strawberries - you devil!!!

Us - I have the car today so will be going out ... YAY!!!  Will be meeting dh for lunch with Kinlagh and then off to the mall with my girl.  Have to start them early. 

Have a great day everyone and keep an eye on your lo's.  They're quick little buggers.  (P.S.  Kinlagh seems ok after yesterday's tumble - pfew!)

[julieb]

Debra: Asher's video site is http://www.jusspress.com/juliebatt     Yum on the fondue!!

Michelle: My Dad uses those foam puzzle pieces you can put on kids floors on their hardwood floors.  He also used an old thick comforter as a play blanket before the kiddos got mobile.

[HeatherC]

Jaime-that is such a neat website.  I played "match the Luke's" and got something like 41%  I wish I were that creative.
Christine-so glad your trip was fun.  Hopefully that is something you'll be able to do more often.  Ah, memories!    Hope school and the sitter continue to go well.  Yay, Leah, for taking good naps.
Julieb-it sure does sound like you're going to have a wild man on your hands.  He's already so mobile and active, just waiting to get his hands on the next thing.  Good luck with that!  :lol:   And I totally understand about wanting to "eat them up".  Sometimes I have to restrain myself from hugging Kelsey too hard cause she's just so squishy and I can't stand it! 
Branwen & Michelle-love your new avatars in case I didn't say so already.  Your babies are beautiful.  Michelle, I've meant to get a little pool for a while now.  It's still hot enough here for her to be able to enjoy it.  I like that your's has a shade.  Hope you have a fun lunch date with dh.

Us-I've been giving Kelsey tylenol to help with her teeth, and it seems to be helping, but I don't want to give it all the time.  I guess I need to try the Baby Orajel.  I found a new veggie to try, it's sweet corn casserole.  It has rice flour in it, but isn't this the same as rice cereal?  BTW, what is the next cereal to try?  She's had rice and oatmeal, and did fine with both.  Would I do barley, and then mixed?  I bought prunes since that seems to be a common fruit with most of you, but it has pears in it which seems good.
I posted on the product watch board about humidifiers.  Do any of you have one that you like?

[Leah's Mom]

Hello Everyone! Doing good. Still very tired though. It will take me awhile to get used to this whole working thing.....  :roll:

Heather - Keep me posted on the finger foods. I would like to start trying those soon too. Have you given her any second food meats yet? When do we start those? Yay teeth for Kelsey soon! Baby orajel never really worked well for us. Baby Motrin worked better than Tylenol for us, it lasts longer.

Branwen - Yay for a tooth! Now they will just keep coming and coming and coming......

Julieb- Don't feel bad about the sleep thing. Last night she was up at 1:30 crying for food..... I totally jinxed myself by typing that she is sleeping well!!!!  :?

Michelle- I hope you had fun at the mall today! Do lots of shopping for me as I am back to work now! (used to go almost every day!  :oops: )

Well I better go. I'm actually at school.  :shock: We have "Meet the teacher" night. But no one seems to want to come to meet me!!!!! 

[Leah's Mom]

Jaime- I just checked out your site! Very cool!!!!! Jaina is soooo adorable! I love the hair and her expressions are to die for! Luke is cute too!!!!! 

How is Jaina pronounced? Is it like Jane-ah?

[HeatherC]

Christine-cute new pic of Leah.  It might have been there already and I missed it, but it's really precious.

Today I gave kelsey another veggie puff (it's Gerber btw), and I broke tiny pieces.  She actually seemed to be munching them between her gums and didn't gag.  Of course, she was so preoccupied with the camera as I was trying to film her.  So I guess I'll have to break it out to get her to try more.  But she didn't finish a whole one and she was already clamping her mouth and pouting that she didn't want more.  That's fine, at least she tried again.  Our ped told us to start the meats anytime I felt comfortable between 7-9 months.  I think I'll shoot for right in the middle at 8 months.  Unless I get too excited and start sooner.  My cousin dropped a bottle with her lo at 8 months, and had 3 solid meals and a snack.  I didn't realize it would be that soon.  But she's had 4 babies and I totally trust her.  He's eating the stage 3 jars for his meals, so he's getting plenty of food.  He also eats what the family eats for dinner, all mushed up of course.  I've given Kelsey tastes of mashed potatoes, gravy, and a few other soft foods.  I guess that's okay, isn't it?

[thitz]

JulieB, I love your videos of Asher, especially the crawling ones. Also, I remember you were making your own brown rice for Asher and he didn't like it, How about trying homemade oats?  Maybe that would taste better.  I haven't done it myself but read it somewhere.  Oh, and Asher is my father's name.

Christine, I just wanted to give you support about going back to work.  I don't think I could do it myself.  And I loved your camping photos.

Debra, your strawberry and chocolate story made me laugh and made me hungry :wink:

Branwen, congrats to Eirwen on the tooth.  How's your routine going?

Heather, I've tried the baby orajel and its a very short term relief, but it might have helped settling her for naps.  The baby motrin did wonders for us where tylenol did nothing.

Kinlagh, thanks for writing all the detail on how you transitioned to 2 naps.  I think Emily needs to do that too.  If I could just get her to sleep more than 45mins for nap 2...

Us, I love Emily's laughs .  I got some surprise giggles when I wiped her tummy with a diaper wipe at bedtime .  We still can't get a consistent 2nd nap and sometimes get good night sleeps.  This morning I could have murdered the dog when she started barking at 5am and woke Emily up for the morning :twisted: I'm stopping giving sweet potatoes, I noticed today a bit of a rash starting at the corners of her mouth and a little on her belly (different looking than the eczema). 

Everyone, has anyone been affected by the flooding in New Orleans or from the hurricane?  I hope not.

Have a good night everyone, Tarri

[Kiwi]

Hi everyone

I don't mean to be rude but wondered if I could join your chat sessions? My girl was born in January and i've just found your chat. I haven't read everything (it's 36 pages long now) but your children seem to be around the same age as Crystal and it's great to read how you are all doing with solids, teeth etc.

I wont be offended if you are not happy for me to join in, I can see you all seem to know each other pretty well already.

Anyway, fingers crossed that I might speak to you all again soon.

Sandie 

[julieb]

Heather: Have you tried the Hyland's Teething Tablets?  They work really well and you don't have to worry on overdosing (homeopathic).  You have to be really careful with the oragel and it seems to only work for 5 minutes!
You broke up a veggie puff??  :lol:   Don't those just disintegrate in your mouth?  You should get totally wild and give her one WHOLE!   :wink:
I'm shocked and amazed at the 8 mth old!    :shock:   Is he getting enough milk through his sippy cup??  Formula & BM have more nutrients than table food, so I'd just be paranoid about their growing little brains.   :shock:

Tarri: Yeah, Asher's one busy body!  I got him a new (old) activity center thing.  I'll have to take some video of it tomorrow.  He thinks he's pretty hot stuff standing up on it.    
I quit the rice for two days.  I'm gonna try it again tomorrow morning.  I'm also gonna try avocado on Saturday.  I don't want to try oats until he's at least 8 months.  I'm being very conservative on potentially allergenic foods until his intestines are considered more mature.  I can always mix the pears or bananas with the rice -- can't get enough of those!!  :lol:

[julieb]

Welcome Sandie, jump right in!! 

Tell us about yourself and your LO!

[Kinlagh's Folks]

Hey all.  The mall wasn't great as lunch took forever.  We had one of "those" waitresses that just seemed to forget about our table.  Kind of tough to do I would think with a little baby.  But anyway, since it took so long, Kinlagh was exhausted by the end of it, so no shopping time for mommy.  We just drove dh back to work and headed home for a nap.  Oh well.  But I did have a nice night out with a girlfriend!  So nice to get out!

Sandie - Welcome to you and Crystal.  I too was a late comer and these girls welcomed me right in.  A few pages back, most of us completed this "survey" of how our lo is doing.  Feel free to add your comments so we get to know you and Crystal.

Cuteness -
Rolling -
Crawling -
Breast or Formula -
Solids -
Sleeping thru the night -
Naps -
Sitting unassisted -
Teeth -
Dreamfeed - 
Morning wake up time -
Bedtime -
Favorite toy - 
Favorite Activity -
Lovie -
Excema - 
Reflux - 
Back or Belly sleeper - 
Swaddle -
Paci -
Sucks thumb - 
Weight/Height -
Eye/Hair color -
Work or SAHM -
Name & origin - 
I'm a - Girl/Boy
My Birthday -
BW Type -
First, second, third child of how many? - 
Ticklish -

[Leah's Mom]

Welcome Sandie and Crystal!!!! We all look forward to helping you with any issues and having you provide us with your insight!!!!!!! 

[dkjokisch]

Welcome Sandie!

Well, I should know better, and I ought to assume from here on out that even if I don't get an email, if I haven't checked the thread in 24 hours, there is ALWAYS something new.

I love the new photos, and it sent me searching for a new photo of Maya, only to realize there are no really good ones of late (except one where she's got the sippy cup in front of her with her looking kind of drunk).  It's time to get the camera out.

I'm also going to have to add cheerios and rice krispies to the grocery list after reading all of your posts.

JulieB - Those big foam squares are a great idea for hard floors.  We have tile and linoleum throughout the house.  We just bought an area rug for the living room, and sooner or later we'll get carpeting for the bedrooms, but it would be nice to have a floor play area in my office which is tile.

Heather - We've also tried rice and oatmeal, and barley is next on the list for us.  After that, I may try grinding my own so I can mix it however I like.  I think giving them tastes of stuff is ok within reason, but I would treat it like you would any other new food, and watch for a reaction.

Michelle - Sorry to hear your mall outing didn't go so well.  I don't know how you do it without having a car at your disposal.  Dh took my car Friday and Monday as his was acting up, and I thought I would go nuts.  It's not that I go out every day (certainly not with gas pushing $3/gallon), but just knowing that I couldn't even if I wanted to.

We've had a busy week.  We dropped a bf (now down to four a day), and Maya is now on a proper four-hour schedule.  It's still a little touch and go with the third nap.  Somedays she does ok without it, other days she'd never make it to bedtime without at least a little catnap.  As she gets a little more used to the four-hour schedule, I think we'll just adjust her bedtime on the short-nap days, but for now we're trying to hold it constant so we know whether the wake-to-sleep thing is working. 

Speaking of which, the wake-to-sleep thing seems to be working.  I have gotten to sleep until at least 6am every day this week.  I think we'll keep at it through the weekend.