Jan/Feb 05 Babies chat!

[Tammy: Ethan & Kaden's Mom]

Hi all!  Love all the pics of everyone!  If family gives me pics that were taken of Ethan's dedication on Sunday, I'll have to share!   

Julie - I'm so impressed with how far along Asher is.  He seems leaps and bounds ahead of Ethan!  We haven't jumped in yet on any finger foods, we're still on the baby food puree.  And that's great that he can wave!  Ethan just looks at you when you wave at him.  He's yet to say his first word, but that's okay too.  Everything will come eventually!

Branwen - I love the pics of Eirwen, she's so cute! 

To all with PPD & med issues - good luck and hang in there!  I had PPD very badly after Ethan was born, but luckily got back on the med I was on while pregnant (I tapered off before he was born to avoid any discontinuation effects in Ethan) after a few weeks of bawling my head off, and wondering who was going to come and get this baby! 

It seems a lot of people have nap issues.  Ethan was a consistent 45 minute napper, it was sooo frustrating.  I tried everything to extend those naps, and nothing doing.  Finally, I think I just gave up.  And then he started to sleep longer.  I think it was just an age thing for him, once he reached a certain point, he just started sleeping longer.  We still have issues with our morning nap, he usually sleeps for about 30 minutes, then wakes up and babbles, babbles, babbles, sometimes for 45 minutes!  But he usually falls asleep again.  The afternoon nap is the same at the beginning, 30 minutes, then wakes up, then babbles, but usually goes back to sleep after 10 or 15 minutes.  I have no idea why he always wakes up after 30 minutes.  Used to be 45 on the dot, now it's 30.  So weird.  I can't complain though, cause he doesn't wake up crying, he just "talks" to himself.  So, I just let him be.  And I sure can't complain about his nights, cause he's down at 7:30, and sleeps until 7 (with a df at 10).  Good luck to all those working on naps!!!!

Schae - I just wanted to say that I love the picture of your family.  It is so lovely!

Us - we had a good weekend.  We had Ethan's dedication at our church on Sunday morning.  Therefore the rest of Sunday was a nightmare for Ethan.  He was cranky, tired, and just all out of sorts.  I was glad when it was time for him to go to bed, and thank goodness he slept all through the night.  Of course, he came down with a cold starting Thursday, so he's been congested and such since then, but it doesn't seem too bad.  Poor little man.    Of course, now dh and I both have it too.  I was hoping to avoid it, but nope.  Oh well.  Neighbors on the street and I are headed out to dinner tomorrow night.  Pretty excited about that, I'm so pathetic.  But I've only been out to eat twice with dh since Ethan was born (without Ethan).  And this will be with girlfriends, so it will be fun!

[Daniel's mummy]

So here we are again.  We had a fairly rough night last night with Daniel teething.  He has his front 2 teeth coming through together.  They must have been causing him lots of pain last night as he woke up a few times just screaming and bashing his cheeks and ears.  Poor thing.  Seems happier this morning though so that's good.  I can just feel the points of the teeth coming through.  Shouldn't be long now.

Christine - I trained as a primary teacher.  I have always taught either reception (which is 4 -5 year olds), year 1 (5-6) or year 2 (6-7).  What do you mean by 'elementary reading'?  Sorry, but we have no such thing over here!

Julie - Was Matthew heavy at birth?  Daniel has always been heavy.  Most of my friends all seem to have little babies, so Daniel always seems HUGE compared.  He seems to be slimming down a bit now though as he gets more active.  But personally I love the chubby cheeks and podgy thighs.

We did a 2.5 hour drive last weekend and Daniel was fine.  We actually set off just after his afternoon nap and he just played for most of the journey and then fell asleep just before we arrived.  We had planned to stop to give him his tea but just as we were about to stop he fell asleep so we actually made it all the way without stopping.  He's always been quite happy to travel which is great.  I agree with the other comments that it's probably best to leave when it's nap time and then hopefully Matthew will sleep for the majority of the journey.  Also, take some new interesting toys which will keep his attention for a while.  daniel loves books and we always take a selection of books and read these with him in his car seat.  Anyway, I hope it all goes smoothly.

Tammy - We had Daniel dedicated 2 weekends back.  He also was absolutely wiped out by the afternoon.  All our family had come over for it.  The service was lovely and then we all went out for a meal.  By about 3 Daniel was tiring so put him to bed and he slept like a log!  Was a lovely occasion though.  Glad you had a good time.

Branwen - Eirwen is sooooo cute.  That 2nd photo is just adorable.  She looks so cheeky

Us - Daniel is certainly getting a lot more active now and we're noticing this start to affect his sleeping.  Last night he wasmaking noise and I eventually went in to him and found him stuck in the corner of his cot on his hands and knees! :lol: In the day he would be able to just roll back again but it must be something to do with it being dark and disorientating I guess.  I'm sure we have plenty more of this to come though once he actually starts crawling.

Tomorrow we have Daniels 8 month photos.  I'm going into town today to buy him a new outfit.  He's actually just coming into 9-12 month clothing now  :oops:  so we need to stock up his wardrobe again!  I think I'm gonna buy him a cute dungaree outfit.  (Do the rest of you ever feel guilty about how much you spend on your lo?)  Bought him the cutest little hat last week. 

PS Can't remember who was asking - we also changed to a sleepsack when Daniel was about 5 months old.  We just did it gradually.  I think I put him in it for naps first and then once he had got used to that we used it at night too.  It only took about 2/3 days to get used to it properly.

We have some friends coming round for tea (Dinner?) tonight so I had better go and get on with all the jobs that need doing.  Not to mention get showered and dressed :oops:  (It's 10am and I'm still in my pjs.  Guess I'm not the only mum doing this though)

Have a good day / night everyone.

Hazel[/b]

[Leah's Mom]

Hazel - Elementary is ages 5-10, and I teach reading to the kids that are low. I forget how much the terminology is different between countries!  I too, spend WAY too much money on clothes for DD.  :oops: They just have so many cute clothes for little girls!

Jaime - Sorry to hear about your ruined girls night in. I too scrapbook, and love when I can get together with the girls. Hang in there!

Us: I tired purred chicken with Leah yesterday and she gagged. Horrible look on her face, it smelled aweful! I think we'll give that a rest for a month or so! For finger foods we've tried the vege and fruit puffs by Gerber, the wagon wheels by Gerber, ripe banana chunks, and I tried Cherrios the other day. Those scared me because they don’t dissolve as quickly, but she did great! I was scared at first too, actually my sitter has introduced most of the finger foods – I’m too chicken!! But Leah does wonderful, I guess we have to let them go sometime…..

[branwen]

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to give everyone an update and ask a bunch of questions since my EASY routine has not been so EASY of late. :wink:  :cry:

First-  I would encourage those of you who are scared of finger foods to go for it.  I did with Eirwen and like Christine said, she does great.  We have done also, puffs, wagon wheels, banana, avo and cherrios.  The cherrios are too dry though and she gagged a little but not because she was choking but because of how dry it was.  She loves it when I feed her the pieces but she's getting better at feeding herself.  I know everyone's experience is different but my friend introduced late and she had a lot of weaning problems (from bottle) and food refusal.  She said she missed some solid food window?  I also heard that from a woman on this forum when I posted recently about finger foods.  She encouraged me to start early. 

Second- today we went to the ER- we are both fine before I tell you the story.  I was sitting with Eirwen in my lap on the couch and she suddenly lundged forward and did a face plant into the coffee table.  I caught her by the waist so she didn't fall to the floor but she hit her face really bad and it instantly swelled so of course I was crying with her and then she spit up everywhere so that really freaked me out. I tried to put some ice on it but then I thought- this so isn't going to cut it- I just had to take her in.  And she IS OKAY!  It just kind of looks like she has a black eye :cry: So of course I feel like the worst mom ever esp. because of the state I am in lately, and our non-routine in general so my dh came home to support me which was really great.  He even did a nap for 1.5 hrs even though Eirwen wouldn't nap for him anymore than for me. :roll:

Third- our routine is not a real routine anymore.    It would be really great if you guys could post your EASY.  I just need to get a plan back together.

Fourth- I have not been using PU/PD from advice on the nap board because of teething- I guess some association with pain, but our non-routine for sleep has been going on for a few weeks now.  Even though she is still teething she all out refuses her naps even if she is so tired.  I have tried everything- 1.25 to 3 or 4 hrs between naps...nothing seems to make a difference.  I am now getting 2 naps, sometimes 45 min other times 1.5.  If you look at my routine below you can see that when she goes off by such a large amount we are so off and it puts her awake sometimes 4 or more hrs if she then refuses the next nap.  I'm kind of at a loss   Should I go back to PU/PD?

Okay, here is what we've been doing/trying:

6:00 wake up bf
7:00 breakfast
7:30 1st nap  (45 to 1.5)
9:30 tummy time
10:00 bf
11:00 lunch
11:30 2nd nap (45- 2)
1:30 bf
4:00 cat nap- sometimes 45 min
4:30 dinner
5:00 bath
5:30 bf and bed

Happy Eirwen News: Throwing breast pads on her belly while saying a "pow" sound produces enormous belly laughs  :lol:  She also has started saying "mmmmmm" again which is great because it had gone away and now it is back so soon I hope to have "mama".  She also ate 4 veggie puffs all by herself today

[julieb]

Well, I was right, we had a rough night  AND rough day following!  Last night was better and it appears today is going better as well.  I felt so bad for him.  He cried out several times throughout the night.  Sometimes I'd have to go in to settle him down (which wasn't quite as easy  :roll: ), other times he'd just do it in his sleep.  He took poor naps as well, crying out a few times then too.  Very restless sleep.  He was so tired.

On top of it, his bottom teeth have worn a couple sores on his thumb.  He'd cry when he put it in his mouth.  :oops:   I'm not sure what I can do for him about that. 

When I asked about stork bites before, I was calling them the wrong thing (that's what my mom called them).  Apparently they're really called "flea bites", though not really bites, and the proper name is Erythema Toxicum.  It looks like a little pimple with a red patch around it.  He gets them all over his body and they come and go -- since he was born.  Everything thing I've found on them say they go away after 4-6 weeks.  I can't find any info on OLDER babies still getting them.  His back was covered on Sunday with them.  Gone now, but I wondered about the peas.  So no one else still gets these?  It's so weird.   :?

Happy Asher thing: He started clapping yesterday!  He's plowing through the development this month.  It's so crazy!

Hazel:  14 days?  Goodness, you take the prize!   :lol:   Asher was only 9 days overdue and my labor went very fast (though they took him via c-section after 4-5 hours).  Hence our big babies!  More to love, right?  :wink:  You have to show us a photo of all those teeth, the missing top ones sound hilarious!  I just LOVE the sleeping photo with the lamb, what an angel!

Debra: Grrrr and Yay!  All at the same time!!   :lol:

Michelle:  Woot Woot Kinlagh!

Deborah: Not sure I have any good tips for the visit with the ILs.  Thankfully we've never been stuck with them longer than 5-6 hours.  :roll:   Stay close and within sight (until you're more confident Maya feels secure).  Though I'm sure she'll still have her moments.  One minute I think Asher's having a ball being the life of the party, then I turn my back, and he's in tears!  Just gotta be willing to drop what I'm doing to rescue him from the crazies!  :wink:   Pay close attention to the tired cues and your schedule.  Sleep becomes EVEN more important because all this socializing tires them out faster.  But with Asher, it's tricky, as he won't show his tired cues when he's in new situations.  He'll be going, going, going, all is well, then suddenly we have a complete melt down.  I have to often put him to bed/naps earlier and/or start the wind down even when I don't see the cues (of course he starts yawning the moment I walk away from the action and start the wind down).

Heather:  I started the clapping and waving thing about a month ago, knowing he'd prolly be able to do it back around 8 months.  It also helps with signing.  The dancing thing he did on his own with little effort from us.  I think it's just because we have lots of singing, dancing, and music throughout our day.  I thought it was a fluke at first, but then we consistently noticed him gettin' jiggy with it to ANY music (commercials too!  :lol: ).

Jaime: ROFLMBO about Luke's not-so-commonly-mentioned-milestone!  Sorry your trip wasn't better. 

JulieG: I know some other babies that started waving around 8 months, so I decided to go ahead and start waving bye to DH in the mornings (about a month ago?).  Then when he started copying recently, we praised him like crazy.  I don't think it's too unusual since I've read about some babies starting to sign as early as 8 months.  On the finger foods, have you started giving Matty more chucky baby food?  Does he chew it?  I'd start there.  If he does okay, try giving a couple very ripe small pieces of banana.

Branwen:  Glad Eirwen's bump seems to be okay, but sorry you feel so far off coarse!  Since this has been going on for a few weeks, do you think the nap refusal could be turning into chronic over-tiredness and/or manipulation?  I think they're nearing the age which they know.  Personally, I'd get her a comfortable as possible, then go the PU/PD route to get those naps going again.  Hope you get that Mama!  It's so cute and makes the crying more tolerable when they're saying Mama somewhere in there!  :lol:
Our EASY is this:
7:00 wake & BF
8:00 solids
9:30 nap
11:00 wake & BF
12:00 solids
2:00 nap
3:30~4:00 wake & BF
5:00~5:30 solids
6:30 BF
7:00 bed (move up to 6:30 if we have short naps)

[thitz]

Heather, I'm going to wait till 8 months before giving Emily finger foods.  I figure she's only been eating well from a spoon for a few weeks.

Jamie, your account of your car trip got me laughing!  Even though my dh is really involved with Emily during the day, he still doesn't quite realize that even waiting 1/2 an hour for him is a long time for Emily.

Julie, don't be silly...you shouldn't call your-self the senior mommy.  As for car trips, ours are hit and miss.  We try to travel about 0.5hr before nap/bed.  Bring something extra special to play with and sit in the back seat.  This probably sounds bad but bring some tylenol/advil too just in case they go into crying hysteria it might just be enough to calm them and get them to sleep.  I also found the talk radio stations calming.  Good Luck.  We're travelling to Montreal next week, it's a solid two hour drive.  Oh...one more thing.  Try to make sure the sun stays off them as the car changes directions, this always wakes Emily up.

Tammy, could you post your routine?  Our lo's are only two days apart and I'm curious to see how you lo's naps settled out.

Hazel, I usually get dressed after Emily wakes from her 1st nap around 10:30.  I'm afraid to do anything upstairs cause I don't want to wake her up. :oops:

Branwen, Oh my god!  I'm so glad Eirwen is okay.  I would also feel really bad too.  But remember it can happen to any of us, it's not your fault.  And thank goodness our dh's come running in emergencys!

Branwen, I'm also having a tough time with naps and playing around with times but...here's my suggestions. Also I don't know how to get Emily sleeping again from a short nap.  Pat/sh used to work almost all the time but not anymore.  Now she just stares at me and doesn't cry or try to sleep.

6:00 wake up bf
7:00 breakfast
8:00 1st nap (45 to 1.5)
9:30 tummy time
10:00 bf
11:30 lunch
12:30 2nd nap (45- 2)
2:30 bf
4:00 NO CATNAP
5:00 dinner
5:30 bath
6:00 bf and bed

JulieB, we don't get the pimple marks.  Just eczema.  Could it be a reaction to any cream you put on him?  I hope Asher starts feeling better soon.  And that's really great stuff with the waving and dancing .

Us, we had a bad night and then a 5:30am wake-up.  I can't seem to get her back to sleep when she wakes early. She starts moaning and groaning and the volume increases to a real cry so I go in and pu to check for a burp, then I lay her down and she lays there STARING at me so I give 4 pats on the bum(always what I do before I leave room at nap or bedtime) and leave.  And the moaning starts up again and into a cry.  I repeated this several times till 6:30 in the morning and then got dh up to delay her till 7 am because I felt like strangling her.  Anyways, dh came on board and said we're going to try and get a better nap 2 because she's in a never ending cycle of bad napping/early bedtime/early wakeup.  So here's what we did today with some success.  Only she was still grumpy from 4:00 on I think cause of teething.

5:30 pu/pd till 6:30
6:30 lights on and crib play
7:00 bottle
8:00 breakfast
9:00 nap 1 (only 1hr 10 mins, usually a good 1.5 hrs)
11:00 bottle
1:00 lunch (was lunch at 12:30 and nap at 1:30)
2:00 nap 2 (1 hr 20 mins, not perfect but WAY better than 45 mins.)
3:45 bottle
5:15 dinner
6:00 bottle (I forced her to wait an extra half hour from our usual)
6:30 bed

Happy Emily news, happy baby all morning even though slept bad all night!

[HeatherC]

Branwen-so sorry for your scare with Eirwen.  Don't blame yourself at all.  It could happen to anyone.  Kelsey almost did that from dh while he was standing.  Luckily, someone was in front of him and caught her.  As for your routine, your layout sounds great.  Is it that she won't nap at all that throws it off?  I didn't quite understand.  I'm sure she is overly tired if that is the case?  I know you don't want to create a bad habbit, but would she sleep in your arms even for just a bit to get some rest?
Julieb-Asher sure is trucking along, isn't he.  He sounds like a hoot! 
Tarri-don't sweat those 1hr 20 min naps.  Does she wake up happy or crying?  Kelsey's have been averaging 1.25 hours x2.  We don't have a catnap either.  However, she sleeps from 8-8, but sometimes she's actually awake around 7:30 but talks to herself in the crib or goes back for a little snooze.  Rarely I'll find her still soundly asleep.

Here's our usuall day:
8:00 wake and get breakfast ready
8:15 solids then bottle
10:30 nap (1-1.5 hrs)
12:00 solids then bottle
2:30 nap (usually a good 1.5-1.75 hours)
4:00 (or when she wakes) bottle
5:30 solids
6:30 bath
7:15 bottle
7:45 wind down then bed by 8

Our naps used to be at 10 and 2, but she's increased her A time, and I'm still even working on it to find a better consistency that will promote good naps.  She really almost doesn't seem all that tired by 10:30, but she'll usually sleep an hour at least.  I'm just afraid to wait any longer and have an overtired baby.  We usually do our "running around" after the 4:00 bottle so that I can be home during the day for her to nap.  Right now she seems frustrated by her limited mobility.  She never wants to sit anymore, always wants to be standing, but that means I have to be with her to help her stand.  However, after her bottle, she'll play independently for about 20 minutes until she is ready for a change, then she usally wants me with her for the duration of playtime.  Anyone else experiencing similiar things?

[julieb]

The bumps are back.  :?   Peas??

Tarri: Your morning sounds like mine EVERY morning!   :lol:  :?   I'm thinking of playing with his bed time, but I'm not sure if I should start by upping it or backing it?  Maybe he only needs 11-11.5 hours of sleep at night?  But days I put him to bed later than 7, he's still up at the same time.  But I've never tried it consistently in a row.

Heather: Gosh, I WISH I could get Asher to go back to an 8-8 schedule.  You're a lucky duck!   :wink:

[Tammy: Ethan & Kaden's Mom]

thitz - I can't really tell you what clicked for Ethan regarding his naps, but here's our schedule:

7:00 wakeup & bottle
8:00 breakfast
9:00 nap 1 (sleeps for 30 minutes, ALWAYS wakes up and talks to himself - I don't go in unless he starts wailing, which almost never happens, and he eventually resettles, sometimes after 45 minutes or so!)
11:00 lunch & bottle
1:00 nap 2 (again sleeps for 30 minutes, wakes up and babbles, and then usually resettles after 10 or 15 minutes - I don't go in)
3:00 bottle
5:00 catnap (some days this doesn't occur, some days it does.  Right now, I put him down, and if he sleeps fine, and if not, then I'll come get him after 45 min.  But it's 'quiet' time in his crib at least)
5:45 wakeup from nap / or get up from crib
6:30 dinner & bottle
7:15 bath
7:30 bedtime

I really had to stop myself from going into Ethan's room after he would wake up from a nap.  I don't think I was giving him a chance to resettle himself, I would go in too early.  So, I literally only go in now if he is crying.  And not just his little "mantra cry", but his real cry.  That's the only thing that I ever changed, I tried everything!  My sympathies!

Branwen - don't feel bad about Eirwen's mishap, it happens to the best of us.  Ethan fell off the changing table about a month ago.   :shock:  :cry: Talk about a heart attack.  I was standing right there at the time too, he just tried to pull himself to an upright position (which he still can't do), and he leaned over, and just lost his balance.  I had one hand on him, and another grabbing a diaper underneath.  I still don't know what happened, but needless to say that I watch him like a hawk now.  Scared me half to death, but he was fine.

[Daniel's mummy]

Branwen - I have nearly done that so many times with Daniel.  He does just the same thing and throws himself forwards or backwards with no clue as to the damage he could do to himself.  Well done on catching her before she did anything worse.  Let's hope the bruising goes quickly.

Finger foods - Daniel is doing really well with finger foods.  He surprises me with his ability to chew stuff.  Our latest thing is peas (like Asher I do believe).  I just pour a few on his tray and he spends a good 10 minutes picking them up one by one and slowly feeding himself.  So cute when they pop back out again! :lol:   

Photo shoot - As i said yesterday, Daniel had his photos done today.  Boy did he make it hard!  He is usually the most smiliest and photogenic baby ever. But this morning he decided he didn't want to smile :x   The guy tried every trick in the book to get a smile with very little success.  I think he may have got the odd one or two here and there where Dj (nickname there as he's Daniel John!) was smiling.  But he certainly made the photographer work for his money.  Will just wait and see how they come out.

Dancing - Daniel has just started 'dancing' when music comes on (especially Noddy) or when I sing to him.  It is sooooo cute.  He sits there and kind of rocks whilst shaking his head from side to side.  The first time he did it (this morning at breakfast) I wondered what he was doing.  When he did it again the next time I sang I began to realize.  He's kept doing it all day.  maybe it was this new skill that put him off smilng for the photographer! :?
EASY - so here's how our day usually goes:
6.45 - wake and nappy change
7.00 - 6 oz bottle
8.00 - breakfast
9.30 - nap
11.00 - 4 oz bottle
1.00 - lunch
2.30 - nap
3.45 - wake and play
5.00 - tea (dinner)
6.00 - bath
7.00 - bottle
7.30/8.00 - bed

That's all for now

[dkjokisch]

Jaime - Maya's been doing the same thing.  I think she has finally realized she wants to be mobile, and it frustrates her to no end that she isn't.  She lunge forward from a sitting position and paw at the ground with her hands.

I can also relate on the travel thing.  Last time we took a trip (a 10-hour drive to my parents), I not only had to pack all of Maya's stuff and mine, but dh's as well.  We leave Sat to go see his folks, and I told him last night that I am not packing a bag for him this time.

Sorry you didn't get your me time.  Maybe you can do something for yourself when dh is feeling better.

Julie - We drove from FL to NC (10 hours) in July.  We packed some new toys, her favorite music (Beach Boys of all things), and stopped every two hours for a break.  At her normal naptimes, we draped a receiving blanket over the carseat.  We also bought some car shades to keep the glare out of her eyes.  For shorter trips, we try to time it with her naptime, but she rarely cooperates.  She has never slept longer than 45min in the car.  When she gets fussy, one of us rides in back with her.

Branwen - I am so sorry to hear you guys had to go to the ER, but I am glad Eirwen is ok.  You mentioned not doing PU/PD due to teething, but if her teething pain is ongoing, perhaps it's best to try and keep things as normal as possible.  We've done that several times now - changing our routine for something we think is temporary (like our bout of 5am wake-ups) - but in reality we were encouraging the behavior.  If you were using PU/PD before (we've never had much success with it), I would go back to that.  It sounds as though you have been charting her schedule for a few days.  Use that as a base and work from there.  And start on the weekend if dh will help with the naps.

I'll post our schedule below.  The past few days have been good (still working on the catnap issue), but only because she has slept later in the morning.  It allows me to keep her awake intervals shorter (which leads to longer naps hor her), but still not have a five hour awake stretch at the end of the day.

JulieG - Maya had a bout with Erythema Toxicum, but she was only 1.5wks at the time.  We've seen a stray spot every now and them since then, but nothing quite as bad.  If you put a thumb and forfinger on either side and stretch the skin, do they blanch? (disappear momentarily?)  If you think it might have been the peas, offer them again under controlled circumstances and watch for a reaction.

On early morning wake-ups - If they're becoming a regular thing, have any of you tried wake-to-sleep?  We did it with Maya, and it seemed to help.

On finger food - We have been giving Maya Cheerios, and she has done just fine.  They do take some time to dissolve, but she hasn't had any trouble.

Schedule (for yesterday anyway) -

7:45am - wake and bf
9:15am - solids
10:00am - nap
12noon - wake and bf
2:15pm - nap
4:00pm - wake and bf
5:30pm - solids
7:00pm - bf (but fell asleep several times)
7:30pm - bed

[julieb]

Real quick before Asher is up...

Hazel: How does Daniel do with the pea shells?

Deborah: I'll try the blanching thing next time I see them.  They're gone this morning, of course.  No peas today.  We tried wake-to-sleep and it only seemed to make it worse.  I wonder if we should try it again now that he's sleeping through the night.  Think that'd make a difference?

[Daniel's mummy]

Julie - Daniel seems to just eat the pea shells the same as the pea itself.  When I first gave them to him (couple of weeks back) I actually popped them out of the shell before I put it in his mouth.  Now he just eats them himself.  He's always so flippin hungry that I don't think he could ever be bothered to take the pea out of it's shell and store the shells in his mouth!  Take too long :lol:    He does have all 4 top and bottom teeth now so I guess that gives him a helping hand.

I have been wondering about using wake to sleep to encourage Daniel to sleep til 7.  Haven't had the guts yet.  This morning though he slept til 7.30!!!  Oh I wish his body clock would get used to that wake up time.  Somehow I think tomorrow it will be 6.30 again.

[HeatherC]

Hi, all.  I've been reading, but have not had time to post until now.
Julieb-I just discovered little bumps at the small of Kelsey's back, just above her bum.  I think this may be a small rash as she had a poo that made it up a little far.     However, they are not white in the middle, and are consentrated to a one inch area. 
Deborah-Adorable pic of Maya!  Glad she's doing well with Cheerios.
Hazel-I, too, love your name.  And I love that "hat" picture of Daniel.  What a cutie!  Figures he wasn't smily at the photo session.  They don't usually do want we want, when we want do they?
Tammy-I think I created Kelsey's 30 minute nap problem earlier because I would rush in, not knowing better.  I could have saved us both a lot of heartache, but I'll know better next time, huh?

I'm taking the cue from some of you:
Happy Kelsey news: She took a 2 hour morning nap, and she pulled from sitting onto her knees today.  She really wanted at her walker that I was adjusting.  It was so cute, even if it was a fluke for now.  She's still lunging forward and trying to figure out how to move forward, but in the walker she goes backwards. 

[StrawberryAnnie2]

Hello Fellow Babywhisperers:)

Just wanted to jump in here and introduce myself. I have made a few posts here on the boards, but didn't know there was a thread going for moms of Jan/Feb babies - how cool. 

I have one lo, Hannah Elise (born in our kitchen!! on Jan 3rd 5:45am). She truly is the joy of our lives, as I know you lo's are to your families.

I recognize some of your screen names from a few of my posts. Thanks for your input. It's so nice to have a place to go where you can chat with other Mom's implementing the Babywhisperer method. Tracy's book is by far THE BEST baby gift I was given prior to Hannah's birth. I tell all my friends who are expecting to RUN to the book store and buy all of the BW books:)

One question though - what do your parents, or older relatives/friends think about Tracy's method? I know my mom did cry-it-out with me and my sibs when she raised us. Sometimes I think that my parents and inlaws think that we parents these days are into the whole psycho babble whatever, and spoil our kids. Not that care what anyone thinks - one look at Hannah and anyone can see that she is a well adjusted, well rested and overall happy little person. Sure we've had our bumps along the way, but I just refer back to Tracy's "manual" (and you mom's here)and we're back on track.

Well enough rambling from me Look forward to chatting with you all.

Joanne