March/April 05 Thread #2

[Olivia's Mommy]

Richelle--yes, Olivia is in a flower pot. We were trying to find something to help her sit up, b/c she couldn't quite do it on her own yet, and that was handy and empty. So we padded it with old towels and put her in! I think it made for a really cute picture!

I noticed some of you talking about signs (trying to catch up on the 40-something pages I missed!). We've been trying signs with Liv for "eat, milk, more, all done," etc. But she doesn't seem to really be catching on. I do the sign before I give her whatever it is. I think she's starting to recognize the words. For example, when I say, "Are you ready to eat?" She looks at me like she's expecting me to do the sign. For those of you who this has worked for, do you think it seems she's catching on? It's so hard to tell. How long did you do it before your LO picked up on it? Did you have to do anything other than doing the sign consistently?

Also...I've seen a lot of talk about Xmas cards and addresses. Could someone give me a brief explanation of what that's about? You can PM me if you don't want so everyone doesn't have to hear it again.

I'll keep trying to catch up. You girls make it hard to be away!!  :lol:

[Arwyn's mom]

About the signing... Arwyn now signs "milk" anytimes she wants something. But, it usually is pretty obvious what she wants... for example, she will stare at her bottle of water and sign... she stares at her toy and signs... tonight, I gave DH a bottle to put her down with and she stared at the door and signed like a madwoman for me. Still bit me though :roll: .

It is normal for one sign to become prominent. I know Arwyn knows it means "milk" because that is the only time I will reinforce it... I say, "Do you want some milk?' and sign milk simulaneously on the word 'milk'. She uses it to mean "want"... fine with me... it will work itself out.

I sign alot to her but that is the only obviously recognizable sign I see and that is the one we have used since birth.

HTH...

[hayes]

Crapola missed the chat again.  Got into a very heavy discussion with DH.
Andrea-Tried tofu last week and got lots of gags.  I will try it again soon.  Have heard that babies love it and it makes a great protein.  Our dog has been our baby and he is now getting tons more attention with me being at home.  But he is driving me crazy, I feel like I am tripping over him every other step.
Naomi-not crawling here either.  I started putting Ben on the rug with toys further away and this is making him move a little more.  Just rolling, scooting on the butt and some moving backwards.
Ankie-Have you tried taking your LO off, waiting about 15 minutes then retrying?
Cathy-LOL about the trycicle.  DH bought a wagon but luckily it is up in the rafters for a while.  We have no room in our house for any toys.  It will be interesting after CHristmas considering the toys I requested from the grandparents.
Jo-The only time I limit naps is if I need to go somewhere and it has already been an 1 1/2 or if it get to 4:45.  Ben goes to bed at 7.  We dropped the cat nap about 6 weeks ago and his day time naps lenghthened a bit.  He is still sleeping 11-12 hours at night but he has always been a very sleepy baby.
Hope you all had a great weekend. 
macaire

[hayes]

Trying to post some pictures AGAIN.

[hayes]

One more!

[Jayri]

becca, it didn't work. Damn I got all excited to see you too..lol
Macaire- what a beautiful family you have, it is so nice to see the faces of those we talk to everyday.

[Colesmom]

Macaire-love the pics.  so funny with DH and Ben in the car.  hee hee.

Bec-get with it will you.  At least if it doesn't work try and try again!!  I am so in suspense it's not funny.

Jo-I am so sorry you are at your wits end.  Not sure I have anything to add.  I hope Naomi and others were able to pm you some info.

Nancy-I'm gathering up mailing addresses for christmas cards. If you'd like to participate please send me yours by email or PM.  Welcome back-happy to hear the family is on the mend

Nikki-I wish I could just let Cole flap away at the curtains.  It's not so much the curtains i'm worried about but that's he'll pull the whole kit and kaboodle down on his head.  It's just a simple rod with Ikea curtains...not the most sturdy.  I let him get into DVDs since the cases are softer but I don't want him busting the CD cases.  Like I said last night he's climbing the magazine rack too.  I don't want to get rid of it.  Maybe i'll get rid of the glass candle holder behind it.  I should just give him more "safe" things in the room to play with.  And maybe rotate his toys as he seems pretty bored already.

Ankie-Cole has bitten a bit, but nothing like Arwyn.  And he doesn't have teeth yet.  I've heard of the smothering technique nikki mentioned but haven't tried it.  I can usually sense he's going to do it (near end of feed) so I pop him off and say "please don't bit mommy, it hurts"

Here are pics of us yesterday.  Not the best pic of me and you can't really see my new hair.  DH takes too long to take pics and he got too close up.  Anyhoo, here they are.  Not the one with Santa because it's a poopy pic and it would have to be scanned in anyway.  gotta go and get a shower in the event of 45 min. nap.

[B&BMommy]

Good Morning Everyone

I've been mia for the last few days and I'm so sorry. I feel like I've missed so very much. Got lots of catching up to do on all of you. btw, love the pics everyone, I want to post one of Brady and I, but sadly, I don't have one, I'm the one always taking the pics of Brady or Brady with everyone, that I don't have any of the two  of us...I'll have to get DH or someone to take one and I'll post it when I get it. :oops:

So the reason I've been mia, is that we have had lots happening. We have had a bit of a family crisis with my sister, all seems to be ok now, long story, but a bit of a scare etc.  And Brady has not been eating or drinking well since about Thursday. Not taking very much fluid or drinks at all. We are going to the doctor today, he also has a cold now. Came down with it on Sunday, stuffy, runny nose, eyes watering, cough etc...poor little guy, I feel so bad for him.

And,,,well as you call all probably guess, we haven't got much sleep as of late either. With the family crisis, Brady being sick, and then his just usual way of not sleeping, I'm on about 8 hours of sleep in total, since Friday...can you say exhausted. :roll:

Anyway, off to have a shower, just put Brady down for a nap, want to get that in before we head to the doctors office.  I'll post after and get all caught up on everyone....

Have a good day!!

Holly - Mom of Brady - Our Touchy/Spirited/Textbook  Little Boy - Born March 20 2005

[kate585]

Hey, ladies.  After a long put down process, Ryan had a pretty good night, thank goodness.  I am so worried that I am becoming a prop, but I also know that Sep. anxiety has kicked in majorly over here.  During the day, neither of us can leave the room a lot of the time.  Of course we do after telling him where we are going and that we'll be right back, but still, it's frustrating! 
Holly, glad to see you back!  I was wondering about you.  Sorry for the rough few days...families are a lot of work sometimes.  Hope all is well!

Christmas ideas:  Here is a picture of Ryan with the Leap Frog Discovery Ball.  It was $20 or so at Wal-Mart.   :evil:   It says the letter, the sound, or plays a song for each letter and sings a song (the alphabet or something classical depending on the setting) when he spins it.  It plays part of the song and will finish it as it is spun more (if that makes sense) It's funny, b/c he doesn't like to stop the ABC's until they are all done...he must be a genius!  I think we'll hold off on the fridge alphabet thing as it seems too complicated for him at this age...although the fridge farm set IS on the list!
Finally, I am also asking one of the grandparents for a wagon.  It'll be perfect for the spring and summer!
Gotta go finish shining my sink.  Are you impressed, Traci?   :wink:   It's been sitting with the bleach water for an hour.  Dh is not too excited about this new progam though.  He said, "Great.  Another program.  Can't wait."  Sounds jerky, but I try new organziation strategies all the time...he can never find anything.  Maybe this one will stick?  Hope so!

[M&M'sMom]

Jo- the girls started to get a little feisty at nep time a few weeks ago.. we hadn't changed any of our wind down routine and dh and I had no clue what was going on. We tried something new that has worked like a DREAM! We lay them in their cribs, cover them up, and READ A STORY!! I thought at first we would be keeping them awake- but they were out cold in a matter of minutes!! We just read in a very low- somewhat monotone voice- and even if they start fussing we just raise our voice a little so they can hear us over their fusses, and it still works!


I am having a heck of a problem with Maisie getting up at 3,4,5am and TALKING... like as if she thinks it's the morning? It goes on for about 10-15 mins then she falls back asleep... except at 5 when she really gets mad if you don't come see her! I know I have read a lot about 5 am wake ups... but it never really applied to us until now. I am getting worried she will think it is morning time. Makaylee hates being woken up by Mais, so if Mais screams enough she can get her sister up to scream too.... I am getting really mad at Maisie in the morning and I hate that.... can anyone suggest something? PLEASE!


Holly- I am sorry to hear you are having some concerns with your sister, I hope everything is okay! {{{HUGS}}} Both girls jus got over colds and it sure isn't pleasant.. They hated taking their bottle being so stuffy and all, I just took it in stride and offered them a bit more solids right after... they would devour the extra food! Now they are back on eating schedule, after the cold lasted 2 weeks... then the teeth started up again! It's a never ending cycle with these two..... Good luck with Brady's cold, sending "cold-cure vibes"...

Jody

[solnme]

Caught up on the 5 pages I missed.  Lots of traffic through our place this weekend.  Sport junkies yelling and screaming but they do make good babysitters.   :wink:

Ankie - have had one biting incident.  Sol thought it was really funny to watch me howl in pain. I almost dropped him! 

Bec - you remind me of my cheeky UK cousins and yes, they and I suspect you, are nutters!    never a dull moment!

Jo - we're starting to have some nighttime issues as well.  Can't complain about the naps though.  He's taken 4 - 2.5 hour naps over the weekend.  WE've been putting him down about a 1/2 hr later for bedtime but he's still waking once or twice during the night.  Usually just needs a cuddle and a chance to stare before he goes back down. 
Last week it took 30 - 45 mins to put him to bed 5 out of 7 nights.  Looking back I realized the nights he wouldn't go down we had been inconsistant with his winddown routine.  Either people were here, we skipped the bath or something was different.  Even though people were over this weekend I made sure DH and I were the only ones putting him to bed and didn't skip over anything.  I seemed to work.

Looking for a convertible car seat now.  DH is trying to convince me to buy a Recardo carseat on e-bay.  They make seats for racing cars.  :roll:   What a couck!

[Carter'sMama]

Hello everyone!

Well, I guess putting Carter to bed an hour earlier than normal and cutting out a feed was too much ... he woke at 4:30am!!  So, I fed him and he did go back to sleep until 7:00 but I couldn't get back to sleep!!

Roz:  Were your sports junkies watching the Nascar race?  That's what was blaring on the tv here yesterday.

I have a question for everyone regarding AF!  Hope it's not TMI but I am just curious.  When did everyone get AF after having their lo's (esp bf moms)??  Was it normal or longer or more painful???  Everything here seems to be out of whack  :?

Anyway, Carcheezy is grumpy, must be nap time so ttyl!!

[Little Bear's Mum]

Hi, just wrote a 'letter' to you all and I accidently pressed the wrong button and lost it.   

So, the short version is (you'd probably prefer that anyway), we had a great night again. Sorry to brag but it's such a relief after 7 months of waking at night. Daniel slept 6.30pm - 5.42am. I've decided this is his wake up time and there's nothing I can do about it, so I'm not trying to get him back to bed. His first nap has taken a while for him to go down for, a poopy nappy contributed to the problem. But after about 45 mins of mucking around noises he's now asleep. Yay. Hopfully for a big long nap.

The swimming photo will have to wait as it's just of me holding him in the water. I'm sure we'll be down there again soon though and I'll get an action shot (maybe with DH).

I think I've solved Daniel's eating problem. I'm pretty sure I need to feed him within 30mins of having a bottle. It worked again thismorning. Lots to eat and no crying. Don't know why and I'm off to the osteopath tomorrow to have him checked anyway, but it seems to be working. Also, it works out his feeds are a lot earlier than before, so I guess he's not so hungry.

I was looking on the 6-12month EASY board for routines when changing the solids to before milk. It doesn't appear that many people seem to do that. I will re-read Tracy's book, but is it not something Tracy advocates this young? My health nurse said by 9 months he should be eating solids first. So how would the routine look for that? Anyone doing that or starting to do that soon?

Better go and cook Daniel's pears, they've been sitting there a week already and I haven't done anything with them. I've got some prunes to try too!

[Colesmom]

Cathy-no AF here yet. 

Q for Hayley and anyone else who had to work to get their lo to take a bottle.  If I were to leave him with DH for a day I read in tracy's book that you offer the bottle every hour and eventually they will take it when they are hungry enough.  Do you still offer solids at the regular times?  Or only continue to offer the bottle?  I really really want to get Cole on the bottle.  Not only am I feeling really tied down but DH is upset that he won't take it from him :oops:
Also, if he took Avent in the past should I just keep trying those, or should I try another nipple?  I'm going to try this week for each feed and see if he'll take it from me, otherwise Saturday might be the big day.

that's all from me for now.  crankipants is down for catnap.  it's usually his best nap of the day *sigh* :roll:  gotta get some stuff done.

[kq]

Cathy, AF here since 4 months of age even though BF although now only doing 2 feeds/day.
Traci, I did not do the whole day starvation thing for 2 reasons:
 :arrow: felt that the bottle was a skill that he had not learnt and not a battle of wills so while I wanted him hungry enough to try, I did not feel that I could deprive him of food ALL day.
 :arrow: exploding boobs!!! :wink:
We did it over a weekend and the first day, we tried for 6 hours with naps as usual in between trying..Sam was not on solids yet but I would give solids if he was.
I would stick with the Avent if he has had it before. HTH.
Will write more later. Sam has just woken after a 1 and 3/4 hour nap!!! :shock:
Karen