March/April 05 Thread #2

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

OMgosh so much to read and quite a few things I wanted to comment on since Nathan's at preschool and I get to concentrate on something of my own for more than 2mins! Naomi, sorry you had a trying day, I sooo know what you mean and yesterday was a bit touch and go particularly in the morning.

Highchairs and small kitchens: I decided to get a strap on chair that attaches to a dining chair and then later can be just pushed into the table as a booster.  Nathan's just moved out of it for Danielle.  It's a Safety First one - one of the best baby items I brought.  It's really sturdy and has a good size tray - also the tray goes right into the baby's tummy and food doesn't end up on their lap.

Karen, love the pics!

Hayley, I have Danielle's chair in the straight upright position even though it does recline - I think me starting to do that actually helped her sitting strength.  She lets me know when she's had enough.

Loveys:D has a muslin cloth that I gave to her about 6wks ago and it made a HUGE difference with her being able to self-settle.  Now she sees it coming, pushes it into her face, closes her eyes and sucks her bottom lip.  I don't worry about it smothering her as it's so thin and I've actually got it tucked down beside her body with just the top poking up for her to play with.

Solnme, how long is activity before the first nap?  I'm wondering if it needs extending out and that's why you're getting a 30min nap, otherwise have you just extended out the activity time and he's getting overtired?

DF: We don't do the DF, but Danielle still feeds once in teh night, I don't think she needs it nutritionally, but I just haven't worked on getting rid of it yet, I'm waiting for solids to be established.  As far as cutting it out, I dropped Nathan's by dropping the minutes I was breastfeeding for  (with a bottle you start to offer less oz's) and then just dropped it one night and we never looked back.

Right, I'll a quick look around the site and then do some housework and I'm sure my ME time will be over and D will be awake LOL!

Ciao

[herbst99]

Hi there - WOW - I saw on Friday a new "topic" was started - and already 11 pages!!
Well - I am NikkiH - I am 31 married for 6yrs on 30th - DD lise is our first of hopefully 2 - I am trained as an Occupational Therapist but is currently working on my families wine farm - marketing, distribution etc. Babies are my "passion" so I hope to get back into swing of things with OT and babies in next year.
DD - Lise is now 7.5mts old - SPIRITED in capital letters!! She stated "crawling" at 5 mths because - I HAD TO HAVE the toy that is out of reach ... and is now frustrated again - just wants to stand so she is pulling up and trying to cruise ... ooh man. We love her energy to bits - but it does get me down at times!
I look forward to getting in touch with you all again - I posted in the E.A.S.Y. Forum on some problems with our "schedule" - if you can look there and maybe share some thoughts?
Thanks

[Jayri]

okay I will make this quick. I am simply feeling bummed out. I was saying to dh that i have more people I can count on here than I do who live near me. I have stopped calling them all as they don't call me, I wanted to see if they noticed that they noticed or not.
No wonder I want to move out of the country......
Jay is getting a major handful, not listening, won't get dressed to go out, I try to take him to mum and tot groups, but he won't get dressed, so I said stuff it all, I am not up for the fight anymore.
He is getting up earlier and earlier, like in bed at 9pm and up at 7:30, and with Riley still waking it is starting to be hard to fuction on little sleep.
DH was awesome and asked if I would like his mum to take him for a couple of days, but I told him she can't keep up for one day, so I don't think she could do a couple, as much as she would love to.
I am simply bummed and majorly pi$$ed off, and drained after they are all sick, I am not and have played nurse all week.
Judy, after a day like I have had I have no idea how you do it each and everyday!!!
But on the upside dh has said I should go to a club once a week with my friend who is staying with us to get out and dance, he figures it would do me good, he is awesome, I would honestly be lost without him.
TO top it off dh's boss talked about a support system, we don't have one, I have no blood relatives in this country, dad in US, mum and sis in UK and another sis in Saudi Arabia. His family is a couple of hours away, but they are senoirs and can only just about manage the trip once every couple of months. It has always been the two of us, we manage, but it gets very frustrating when people say they will help and never do, and then they all wonder why we want to move
 :shock:  :shock:  :roll:  :roll: . Well I just wanted to get it out, thank you sooooooo much for being that shoulder I have so desperately needed .
Talk to you all later girls.

[Taylor's Mommy]

Karen-great picture of ds in sunglasses!
As far as solids go, I haven't started making my own yet so don't know the amount by ice cubes.  but of the jar stuff she was only taking about 1 tbs. each feed.  todya though she did great and took about 1.5 ozs of sweet potato and pears.  I was so proud of her!

Welcome Nicki!

We give Taylor a ligthweight soft blanket and it really helps her settle herself.  We leave it with her all night...after 6 months the risk of SIDS in dramatically decreased, so I am not too worried about it.  maybe I should be?

so funny story today.  I went into T's room to put something away during her afternoon nap and peeked at her to find her AWAKE!!!  (it was of course the 45 minute mark!)  She turned to look at me and I quickly ducked and then crawled out of there on my hands and knees!!! :lol:  :lol:   I felt like it was a military operation!  She stayed in her crib for abotu 15 minutes babbling then started crying.  when I went to her she was just so happy, what else could I do but get her up?  Def. time to extend the A time on a consistent basis, no matter how sleepy she looks!

[mickymuscles]

hey naomi!!!  I hope you are feeling better!!!  I know what it is like to feel invisible somedays....you think you can count on your friends but end up not quite panning out     My sisters are also far away (california) so I also am lonely at times too, esp. with DH working away from home....but you can always count on your "virtual" friends to be around!!    Feel free to come move to the praries   

[Colesmom]

Naomi...you MUST, I repeat MUST take DH up on his offer.  That is so wonderful. And don't worry if the kids don't sleep because you won't be there to worry about it!  Go blow off some steam.  It will do you good

And here's another hug just in case the other one wasn't big enough. :wink:
{{{{{HUGS}}}}}

Karen-love the pics...totally cute.

okay, i gotta go try and do something productive with my evening.

[Arwyn's mom]

Welcome Nikki H!

Naomi... {{{{{HUGS}}}}} Come out to the Westcoast!!

Karen... great picture!! Love the sunglasses - are they Baby Banz?

Richelle & others who asked about a lovey... I give Arwyn a lightweight jersey receiving blanket. She has been attached to this blanket for a long time and we have 5 of the exact same one because she chews/sucks on it until she falls asleep... even while we pat/shush so... we need to change it everyday. I am a little worried that she will strangle herself with it as it is stretchy and she is quite mobile in her crib but knock on wood... She also plays with this blanket when she wakes up and manages to keep herself quite occupied.

Richelle, no problem on mixing up the names. They both begin with A and are two syllables.  :lol:

Arwyn won't go down for her catnap today and is in her walker screeching away for me. Have a great evening all!

[becca24]

G'day all

Just a quick note on the early morning wakings - H would wake up every morning at 5am without fail.  Three days ago I covered the entire window with two thick blankets so no light gets in at all.  Day 1 - 6.10am, Day 2 6.45am, Day 3 - 6.30am - LIKE MAGIC    (still waking overnight, but at least not again at 5.am)

Have a good one
Bec

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Bec  :shock:  :lol:  a rabbits head?  Does she have a website, would love to see a pic of one (or can you post one?)

I'm thinking I need block out curtains of some sort too - we've got bright street lights coming in and last nights full moon (or close to it) made the rooms so light.

[Colesmom]

about a month ago I put a blanket behind the curtains in Cole's room and it really helped.  I've since bought a blind but who has time to install it!  I was worried that he'd only be able to sleep in "cave" like conditions but he proved me wrong last weekend when he slept for the first time in his pack n play at my friends parents place. 

Next test will be this weekend at the ILs.  Question for you ladies.  Have any of you taken your little one somewhere, put them down for bed...then woken them and put them in the car to go home?  Our ILs are 45 min. highway drive away.  My MIL is kind enough to have dinner (make up Thanksgiving) at 2pm so that we can leave by 4:30 if we want to keep Cole on schedule.  We've only been there once in 6 months and she has been so helpful coming here to help me that I feel kind of bad arriving at around 11 and leaving at 4:30.  Should I feel bad?  She seems to understand I don't want to disturb his sleep. DH suggested today we stay later but I'm not sure I want to.

Another thing...they have two big dogs and the place...well...it's filthy!  I'm going to have to bring a blanket for Cole to crawl around on.  The dogs get agitated when we all converge on the house (There will be 14 of us in a tiny bungalow).  Every big dinner at the house the dogs fight and twice have drawn blood!  I am so nervous about Cole crawling around with the dogs around. :oops:  I just hope he's sleeping most of the time or maybe I'll take him out for a nice long walk.  I am not looking forward to Christmas and dealing with all of this again.

hmmm, i haven't given Cole a lovey.  He doesn't seem attached to anything.  There is a small blankie i give him hoping it becomes his lovey but he manages to settle okay without it.

I think I might have to go to sleep soon.  I'm not anticipating a good nights rest.  DH is writing the first part of his exam tomorrow from 9-1 and he usually doesn't sleep the night before :oops:

[Richelle]

Hang in there Naomi I sorta know how you feel being on this island away from all family.  Go dancing - blow off some steam it will do you good.

LOL Bec about the rabbits head blanket b/c Sophie's lovey is a monkey head with a blanket attached, it is a Kushies brand they also have an elephant and 2 others - sorta creepy but nice idea and Sophie loves 'Max'.  Maybe I will let her sleep with him....

I am off to bed - we have Tropical Storm Wilma headed in our direction -  hopefully moving away overnight but I will get some sleep while i can just in case.  FYI we lost everything last year when hit by Hurricane Ivan.....very stressful.

Good night

Richelle

[kate585]

Well...well...well.  Nice try, ladies.  I leave town for one weekend and you start a new thread to confuse me and then write 12 pages  :shock:  to keep me busy all day.   But, it didn't work, because here I am finally posting. 

(Okay, for the newer moms, that was supposed to be a joke...but it's been a long, hard day, so not sure how it came off).

I am Kate, proud mother of Ryan Christopher, the cutest little redhead around!  I am 29 and have been married to Matt for 4 years.  We just celebrated the 11th anniversary of our first date this weekend!   :shock:  :shock:  :shock:   It sort of freaked us both out, I must say.  Ryan is an angel/textbook baby, thank God (and I do daily!).  He generally sleeps through the night with 2 or 3 naps a day.  Everywhere we go, people say, "Does he smile like that/act this wonderful all the time?"  (Can you tell I'm a woman in love?  But only as a friend.    ) 

Our trip to Chicago was fun...saw my cousin get married to the coolest chick.  It was the first time our entire family (and we're an Irish Catholic one, so it's pretty big!) has been together since our wedding.  It's always fun to see my granny (Ryan's G.G.) with my son.  Poor lady...whenever she holds him, there are like 27 cameras flashing.  He's the first great-grandchild and she's getting old, so not to be depressing, but we're all worried she might not make it to see another one.   :cry:   She's feisty though, so she'll probably be around another 20 years or so!   

Okay, with 12 pages, I can't comment on you all.  Just big hugs to everyone having a bad day and high fives to those of you doing well.  Welcome to all the newbies...isn't it scary to post the first time?  Typing dh, lo, or ds was super weird...now I think about my dh as "Dh".  Weird!  I lurked for a LONG time before ever posting and now I can't be stopped!

Glad to be back, girls!  Happy Tuesday!!!

[kate585]

Richelle, you posted while I was typing my novella.  Not trying to ignore the danger!  Good luck with the storm!!!!!!!!!!!

[Nikki~Nathan&Danielle]

Richelle, all the best with the storm.

Traci, we used to go out for dinner to my parents frequently when Nathan was a baby and what I'd do was keep to the routine as much as poss - ie dinner, bath, BF, bed (we took the portacot) with his normal bedding etc.  I'd often need to pat him completely to sleep.  Then we'd stay until 9.30pm, he'd be awake in the car and then I'd DF him when we got home and it always worked out well - don't think he never resettled.  With Danielle we've only been out once in the evening and since she's such an angel I didn't stress prior to it and we did the same and she was fine (even though I don't normally do a DF, I did on that night).  Oh, and when ever I go to other people's houses with dogs I just ask them if it's ok for the dogs to be outside with the kids there (my parents have a small puppy and he's fine with the kids) - although most people automatically do that anyway I find.  We've had so much publicity in NZ in the last few years with dogs attacking children (even family dogs that have been around kids all their lives) most people understand.

Kate, I've got a couple of great-grandmothers too and for one of them Nathan was her first GGChild, now she's got 3 and she's going to be 90 next year!

[hayes]

Hugs to all of those who are having a tough time. At times I find myself making so many plans so that I can avoid the fact that I am lonely. A good cry and some long phone calls sometimes helps me of course I am sure you know this.

Roz thanks for the info on the face spotting!

Karen-I am feeding Ben 2x a day, lunch and dinner. He gets 2-3 icecubes of fruit or vegies and 2 tbs of cereal. Tonight he got 4 icecubes full from the DDDDH and he didn't drink very much BM. I have read that is they start cutting down too much on liquid intake then you need to cut back on the amount of solids.

Traci-When we have stayed out late we have had Ben follow all of his normal routines then have a very quick DF when we get home and have also had success just sticking him in bed with some pt/sh. Bring a nice big blanket so you don't get grossed out by the filth and make sure it isn't light in color same with the LO's clothing, that way you won't see all of the hair and dirt.  I think that if you are going to be thinking about your LO schedule the entire afternoon and it is going to wreck your time then have a plan in your head to leave early and if you are enjoying yourself then stay later. I have some interesting IL's and we always tell them the worst case scenario on leaving times (super early) then if I am having a low anxiety day I add time. Hope that makes sense. I also have my DH do a lot of the talking for me so I don't have to feel bad about asking for things or leaving early. He doesn't care because it is his family.
Kate glad to know that a veteran was a lurker! So far I have made a few posts.   Not sure if I will follow through but at least I have improved! 
Have a happy day filled with good naps and good eating.
macaire