Jan/Feb 05 chat - Thread #3

[Deb_in_oz]

ok - you are all getting too prolific for me again so forgive me if i don't reply to people specifically - i am thinking of you all and it is great to see you back Deborah - i really hope things for you and maya get better 

still ZERO teeth here. and since alex started getting teeth at 7mo and very frequently after the first one appeared, it is strange that at almost 9 mo olivia shows absolutely no signs of teeth - no white dots, red gums, nada!!

food - after a rough start with finger foods olivia now hates the spoon so we have to offer something for her to eat by hand at every meal - usually turkish bread, cruskits or toast, but also doing well with peas, melon and cheerios now.  have got to start offering more things.  still have not got my butt in gear about the meat/protein since the gastro interrupted my flow  :lol:  still refusing breakfast most mornings  :evil:  and i am still stressing about it.  i cannot let it go. 

kate - welcome - you know a lot of my recnt dramas from the other threads  :wink:  how is your dishwasher - that was you right??

the girls are so cute together now - really playing together and fighting over toys, etc and now that olivia can crawl everywhere i will leave her playing in her room sometimes and then find her in alex's room playing in alex's tent or with her toys    I can also say to alex, why don't you go play with Liv, she's in her room and sometimes off she goes (i can hear them on the monitor and it is too cute)

we are all better now thanks - Dh is almost 100% and finally went back to the office today. i am on my own tonight as he has a work function.  the weather is crazy and has been 90s past 2 days - last night was so hot!!

[Daniel's mummy]

Well having started to worry yesterday about Daniel not getting enough fluids, he certainly showed me this morning.  When I went in to get him up he was drenched!!!  Through his vest, through his sleepsuit, through his sleeping bag and onto his cot sheet!  I don't think there's any problems with dehydration :lol:   Maybe I'll stop worrying.

Julieb - Daniel is just like Asher - long body and short legs.  He too needs 12mth trousers to fit at the waist but then we have to roll them over.  Actually he almost always wears dungarees now so that he doesn't have problems with tight waist bands. 

teeth count - 8 teeth (4 top/bottom).  He got the last 3 through all together and then we've had nothing for the last 2 months.  I guess the next one will be coming soon (start bracing myself as I think the next ones to come are the molars and I don't think they're too noce :evil: )

Still no crawling here.  I'm starting to wonder if he'll just miss it out and walk.  Though having said that he never steps with his feet.  His favourite position is being up on his feet but he will NOT step, ever.  He just stands there holding on. If he wants to turn he just throws himself round :shock:   As a result he can never be left standing up against anything as he would hurt himself.  (Personally I think he's just lazy - takes after his dad!  If I can be carried to where I want to be why should I bother to try doing it myself?!)

Tantrums - yes they've been happening for a month or two.  They def get worse if he's tired.  In fact that's the only time he moves his feet when he's standing  :lol: He stamps them around screaming.

Deborah - excuse my ignorance but what exactly is a DOC band?  How does it work?  Does she wear it a certain times through the day?  Does she have to wear it at night?

Have a fun day everyone.

[klt]

Thanks for the welcomes! 

Deb, yes that was me with the dishwasher - rather embarrassingly it turned out to be something stinky in the cupboard rather than the pipes - all fixed now, anyway!  Glad to hear you are all recovering, it is so awful when you get ill with los to look after, let alone all of you having it!

Teeth: Ciara (pronounced 'Keera') has two bottom teeth only; one came one month after the other, we were on tenterhooks waiting for it.... but no sign of any more for a few weeks now (she'll be 9 mo on Saturday)

Protein: we started on lentils but she hated them and still does, then tofu, went down reluctantly, then fish, her absolute favourite! - then chicken which she will eat and this week little bits of beef in mushy rice which she really seems to like.  Not what I was expecting at all.  But she is another finger food fan.  She won't succumb to a spoon unless she has something to feed herself, unless it's a snack (ie out of the highchair).  She is quite a fan of chomping on things with her two teeth, even when she gags, she still stuffs another bit in!   :lol:  Tammy: the first thing she had to 'chew' on was rice crackers which she still loves, and also bits of bread which she grabs at every chance she can get.  Also avocado cut in a slice so she can hold it.  Her proper meals I mash up so the bits of meat are only teeny.

We don't have a health check here between 6 mo to 11 mo so I have lost track of her height/weight in the past 3 months!  But I agree about the waistbands being tight for the length of the trousers.  I should try and attach a picture next time....

[Leah's Mom]

Teeth Count - Three bottom ones. I thought they got the top two after the bottom two?  :? I guess my DD just wants to be different. 

Food - So nice to hear that others have issues offering table foods. We have been trying stage three foods with lumps. But she puts her hands up and won't have any. She'll eat cherrios and graham crackers forever though. Truthfully, I think that's all she ate yesterday.  :shock:

[julieb]

Christine, Asher got all four on the bottom before anything on the top.  Though I SAW the top two coming long before any of the others.  I guess they just took much longer because they're so much bigger?  I swear I was waiting for a month straight on those top!  :shock:

[Schae]

A tooth came through today!
It's the first one, the right bottom one.

Can you tell that I'm chuffed? :lol:

[Jaime]

wow you all have been busy!!!

teeth - luke has 4; 2 on top & 2 on the bottom.  i think he's working on 2 more on top

schae - yay!  a tooth! 

deborah - good to see you again!

kate - welcome!!

julieb - i've only read parts of the hurried child - and i agreed with most of it.  the preschool & kindergarden standards (& 1st grade!) keep changing, to the point where they're ridiculous.  i don't think we're doing any great service to our kids that way.  but there was something i remember reading that i completely disagreed with - and now i can't remember what it was...  :oops: read the books before babies when i didn't have post-baby brain...

us - well, yesterday i got an email from the finance dept; the finance head & superintendant reviewed my salary and decided that i needed an extra $300 - ANNUALLY so i would fall within the right bracket.  this translated to mean i would receive an extra $15/paycheck.  what are they thinking?  yeah, i'm only several thousand short but a couple hundred will be just fine!   :evil:  :roll:

so, i had my meeting today with the principal.  i went in all prepared - even typed a little chart where i showed what i've earned the last few years, and another one that showed what i'm making at our school compared to 5 others.  also told him that i'm working 2/3 time, not half time..... and HE AGREED!  now, he can't do anything about it himself, but he's going to try & work things out with the higher ups.  he also didn't understand why i can't see a salary schedule, and will try to get one for me. 

fingers crossed!!!!  as stupid as that email was, they've now admitted that there is a salary chart - and that if my salary is wrong they will fix it this year - retroactive too.

[HeatherC]

Schae-I can't believe he lets you see his tooth!  I can't even look at Kelsey's, let alone get a pic.  Great news.
Jaime-Don't mean to be the pessimist (spelling?), but are you sure your principal wasn't just saying that to apease you?  I hope you don't take that wrong, but I had a boss that swore for 2 years he was "working" on getting us raises.  I can't believe they thought $300 was an improvement.
And more about the standards of early education changes:  My mom teaches kindergarten and says that very soon she'll be forced to learn and teach Spanish!

[Jaime]

Don't mean to be the pessimist (spelling?), but are you sure your principal wasn't just saying that to apease you?  I hope you don't take that wrong, but I had a boss that swore for 2 years he was "working" on getting us raises.  I can't believe they thought $300 was an improvement.

too true, Heather!

but, this principal is new to our school (he's been a principal for 15 years i think) this year, so i think a lot of things are surprising him.  so far, he has been very good at cleaing up a few other "messes."  quite frankly, i need him on my side if i'm going to get through to the superintendent (who doesn't think much of women  :roll: )

letters of intent for next year will be coming out before long - we have to say whether we will, won't, or might return next year - and why (if we want to include that).  usually they are due in mid-january.  i may end up forcing the issue if it hasn't been resolved by then.  i am trying to avoid ultimatiums, but will use them if i have to.  am still holding onto the fact that good science teachers are hard to hold onto anywhere - especially in christian schools - and they do not want to lose me. 

at that point, though, if it comes to that my dh will be having an appointment with the superintendent.  and john is very good at seeing through BS and shooting it down.  :wink:

boy this got long winded!   :oops:  :lol:

[E&J's mommy]

Hello all. I really have tried to post again before now but by the time I catch up on the reading I get pulled away from the computer. But this is me time now. Kids are asleep, DH is out and IL's are visiting but out also. Ahh, silence! Anyway, naps have been touch and go here for the last few days. We've had appointments so I've had to wake him a couple of times to get ready and we found mould (ugh) in his bedroom closet so we had our landlord and some repairmen in and out over the last 3 days. And wouldn't you know, as soon as Jordan settled, one of them would show up and have to get in his room. But, all is cleaned and repaired and hopefully will stay away. Jordan has been fighting a nasty cough and runny nose, which the dr said was probably aggravated by the mould, but it finally seems to be improving. All in all he is pretty happy and gets a little cranky when he is tired. Oh, but if he gets his hands on something he shouldn't have and I take it from him, look out!

teeth 2 on top, 2 on bottom and 2 more showing through on top. I check several times a day for those 2 

Us: Jordan has tried to crawl a couple of times and then gave up but he can cruise like a trooper. He did let go of my hand one day this week to hold a toy but it only lasted a split second. Then he realized he was standing on his own and grabbed my hand again.

I know that Branwen has had issues with her doctor but has anyone else? I had both kids in for checkups on Wednesday and I always come away from them feeling irritated. Don't get me wrong, I love my doctor. He has been great to us when either of the kids were sick, while I was pregnant , and just absolutely loves kids and is very caring with his patients. But I feel like he rushes us. I know that he is busy, works Mon-Fri in his clinic and then some evenings and weekends in the ER, and maybe he has trained himself to move quickly so he doesn't get too far behind. But several times I have had to say 'one more question' when he is already headed toward the door. Maybe I have too many issues when I go there? I don't know. I do feel comfortable with him so I won't be looking for a new doc any time soon but I was just wondering if anyone else feels this way.

Hope everyone is keeping healthy and happy. I want to write more but it is amazing how long it takes to write something so short. 

Joanne

[Leah's Mom]

Joanne - I try to make my appointments either for the very end of the day or the very begninning and on Tue, Wed, or Thur. I find Mondays and Fridays are always the busiest. Anyone else?

[HeatherC]

I often feel rushed at the doctor, but I keep probing until I get my answers.  Fortunately, after 2 doctors in the group that I didn't "bond" with, the third seems to be "the one."  Like you said, I like the group, but found it important to find a matching personality.
Kelsey got her stiches out today and all is well.  Now all we have is the echo in Dec., but thanks to your reassurances I feel much better about that.
I'm working a few hours on Saturday at my old workplace and my mom will be keeping Kelsey.  She'll be napping half of the time (hopefully), but my mom is so good with her I'm sometimes jealous  :oops:  of their bond.  But it will be good to do something productive outside of the house, and have a bit of extra spending money  :wink: .
I have a friend with a 9 month old, and she just cracked me up with a thought I had to share.  She says she has visions of her daughter at 18 years old still lying on the floor, being spoonfed, and having everything still brought to her.  We were griping over our picky babies.   

[Leah's Mom]

my mom is so good with her I'm sometimes jealous  :oops:  of their bond. 

Me too!!!! My mom is great with Leah. Leah just loves going to her house.

 :lol:  :lol:  :lol: Your friends quote make me laugh!!! Now I can go to bed smiling!!! Speaking of which, I should go to bed..... 

[julieb]

Joanne, I have experienced this with various doctors.  My ped is fairly good, but I'm the one who actually feels bad if I'm taking too long.  For this reason, I always try to get in the morning or their first few appts of the day.  I figure they can't be behind yet!
I used to see my midwife at her last appt of the day and it was terrible!  I almost switched midwives until I got her first thing one time.  Like a totally different person!   :lol:  I requested that appt time ever since!   :wink:

[Deb_in_oz]

well we had 2 days here of 90sF / 33C weather and had olivia waking on and off through the night - hot then cold as it cooled down suddenly last night  :roll:  so i am so tired from not sleeping more than 2 hrs at a time without an interruption for 2 nights.  She ate really well today though so we have decided to bite the bullet and go cold turkey on the dream feed (we halted the weaning plan when we saw that she was not incraesing day feeds at all and actually cutting back on solids... so were afraid of night wakings) we figure it is the weekend, she was already sleeping badly past 2 nights and she ate well today so let's just see what happens.  she cried out for a sec at 10pm but literally a second so must have been asleep.  FINGERS CROSSED EVERYONE - i feel so stupid with an almost 9 mo old who gets a dream feed (by 3 mo alex was down from 7p - 6/6:30am so who knows what olivia can do on her own since we have been artificially supplementing her this long  :oops: )

anyway it is 10:30 and i shoudl be going to bed!

night all!