March/April 05 Thread #2

[james030405]

Hi Jod,  in regards to eggs, i separate 2 eggs and mix the yolks with formula.  microwave for about 20sec and it comes out nice and creamy.  The first time James had egg was in a HEINZ egg custard - there were no problems with allergies etc so I went ahead with scrambled.  You could try that way if you are not sure about giving it to them straight.  Another way would be to put egg in with their veges or meat and mix it in. 

traci:  re: James bedtime.  I do put him to bed about 1/2hr early because he won't have catnap, so he is often up from about 2-2:30pm.  Maybe I will try and put back till 7pm like it use to be and see if that makes any difference.

I only wanted one child, but lately (since J has turned 7mths) I have been feeling clucky again.  I always thought 3 years difference would be good, but now I am thinking about my age.  I am 33 in a few weeks and I don't want to be more than 35 by the time if and when I have a 2nd.  When you take into consideration time-to-conceive and 9mths pregnancy (10mths for James - he went 40 weeks, 2 days :? ) then it doesnt really allow much time.  Will have to consider very soon either way because if we decide we definitely don[t want another one, I will do alternate contraception than thepil.  I hate taking it.


Chat soon

Lisa mumto James my textbook/spirited koala bear

[Taylor's Mommy]

okay, where to start...wasn't able to chat as much as I wanted tonight so will have to write a lot now! :lol:

Traci and Richelle-I became a moderator last week in the nap forum.  It is going great so far but is a little hectic now that Matthew's Mommy has taken a break from moderating (that woman was a godsend to me when Taylor was young).

Glad to hear Taylor is not the only one who HATES to be wiped after meals...she freaks out!!!  BUT, like Carter, she doesn't mind in the tub :?

Yay Judy!!!  You are an inspiration to us all.  So funny about the toilet hostage thing!

I think 2 years is a good time between siblings.  I think we are going to TTC when Taylor turns 1.

Traci-so you are going to do the 9 month toilet training thing too huh?  None of us had talked about it yet at this point so was wondering.  I think it will be tough, but so worth it.  My mom had all 4 of us potty trained by the age of 1!  All of my nieces and nephews who are between 18-20 months right now haven't even started yet and can't imagine changing Taylor's diapiers for over 2 years!  Maybe I am being naive and unrealistic.

Jody-we are going to get Taylor the fisher price gym wall...my mom has arleady gotten her the attachment tunnel for it.  It looks cute and fun and encourages crawling/playing and is $54 at Target.  A lot of toy for only $54!  I think that will be the main gift and maybe jsut a couple of other small toys.  Lord knows the girl doesn't need anymore clothes!!!

 :?: Oh Oh Oh!!  I just remembered what I wanted to ask you guys all day today!  Do any of your lo's still have cradle cap?  Taylor got hers at 4months and it has gotten progressively worse.  We use the cradle cap kit from Gerber but only helps for a day or so.  It is now growing and is almost on her entire head!  poor dandruff baby!

okay, that's it for now...let me try an acronym-ttfnmfl!

[kq]

Missed you all so much. A very busy 2 days at work but I had to pop on and check during my meal breaks but did not have time to post.
Cleaning-I wipe between mouthfuls and Sam does not seem to mind. In fact, he grabs the washcloth and wipes himself or otherwise uses his sleeve. Boogers/snot, I am so obsessive! I have quite long nails and I just use my fingers (sorry TMI! :oops: )
JUDY-Yay on the twins sleeping! LOL over toilet hostage situation!
ANKIE-Hope your night goes better.

Now, eczema! Sam is the king of eczema. The poor kid has had dreadful eczema since 8 weeks of age and we have spent a fortune in Dermatologist's fees! He is now much better as it is coming into summer here but I still use a truckload of moisturiser on him or he itches like crazy!! He has industrial strength moisturiser but DP lotion is a good start. I moisturise him 3 times a day but it is becoming a huge struggle as he is constantly trying to roll away.

ANDREA-the type of eczema Sam has is also the same as cradle cap except ALL OVER. He also had quite bad cradle cap. For that, I just used apricot oil masaged into his scalp and then just gently run a baby brush over it. The cradle cap gradually came away.

LISA- I hear you about ttc, age etc etc. I think it would be ideal if I got pregnant again when Sam turns 1 but who knows, with the time required to ttc, giving up BF. I too want to be this side of 35 when having the next one.

Christmas-Sam is getting a Winnie the Pooh book and CD set that I got free as part of a promotional offer. We are also going to get him something Leap Pad, cannot decide which yet. What does the phonics one do? I am also going to wrap a whole lot of different sized empty boxes in different types of wrapping paper as this seems to be the part of gifts that he enjoys the most!

Jobs-I am an Emergency Physician. I am really embarassed about telling people what I do as they then expect me to know more about babies than I do but of course, I only know what to do when they are really sick. I had/have no idea about BF, solids, sleep etc etc etc.

Enough from me, I am pooped as I only managed 4 hours sleep last night. Got home at 2 am and Sam started babbling at 4.30 am which woke me up and from then, it was interrupted shut eye. Must get me some sleep.
Take care,
Karen

[Colesmom]

Lisa-really quick.  I thought maybe James was going to bed LATER causing the early waking.  If he's skipping catnap I think you're right in putting him to bed earlier.  You could try to go back to 7pm but I'm not sure that will work.  Of course, Cole had two short naps yesterday and seemed overtired and woke at 6am today (instead of 5:30-YAY) so maybe I'm wrong. :?   have I just confused you more. LOL

Had a good night.  Fed at 8:50 (earlier than I would have liked).  He woke at 1:40am.  By the time I put my hair back and went pee he was starting to settle!  yay...i didn't have to go in. woke at 4:10, fed one boob, woke at 6 for the day.  yippee!!

okay, i'll type out my fairytale story of meeting DH later today while Cole is napping it will take a while.

Andrea-Cole had very minor cradle cap.  I massaged olive oil into his scalp and used a fine tooth comb to comb it off.  Is that similar to the gerber kit?  I've heard lice combs work well also...but i could only find the metal ones and they seemed very sharp. I just used what I call an "old man" comb hee hee...one of the simple black plastic ones.

Karen-The Phonics bus has the alphabet all around it and it says each letter when they press it, sings the alphabet song etc. It has a few little people in it and when you place them in the bus a different song plays or something like that.
The fridge magnet is cool.  When you place a letter in the frame it reads what letter it is and says things like "C, C says Cat" or some such thing!

okay, he's had enough of the saucer and it's time to wind down.

"see" you all later girls

[Richelle]

How was the chat?  Sorry to have missed it.

I did the same as Traci for cradle cap, olive oil and an 'old man' comb.  I let the oil soak in for awhile then scratch/comb.

Traci - Good for you and good for Cole!

Sophie was not interested in her cereal this AM but would gladly have her gerber fruit puffs and some bits of banana.  Ankie is Arwyn still into cheerios more than her food?  I think it is her teeth as she is sprouting 4 all at once here. Erin I know Katie got all thise teeth and she was refusing solids for awhile, was this all at the same time?

Anywho must run.....good day/night everyone

[Colesmom]

Okay, I will start this post with a *warning-VERY long*.  I said on the chat that I'd share my story about meeting DH and here it is.  Feel free to skip if you don't find the topic enticing

The thing is, I was engaged when I met DH (Tony).  I will refer to EX as, well, EX throughout to make things easier.

Some background:

I met EX in my first year of University.  We were on and off for 7 years from 1990-1997.  Looking back I really regret being with the same guy all through school.  I feel there was a lot of fun that I missed out on.  Not just with guys...but with girls too as I spent so much time with him.  He was two years older than me so should have been done school before me but was a total slacker.  He came back for a 5th year.  And it turns out it was to get me back after breaking up.
The summer before that school year we were broken up and I was seeing someone else.  EX was living in city where our school was and so was my *best* friend from first year.  We had lived together for 2 years since (me and BF).  Anyway, I heard through the grapevine that BF and EX had sex.  Isn't that great.  He said if he couldn't have me he'd have the next best thing. :twisted:   Anyway, I had already signed a lease with this girl for my last year of school so I ended up living with her.  Thankfully there were three other girls and I played varsity soccer so i was too busy to notice she was even there. phew, my thoughts are everywhere girls so please try to follow me.
Ex used drugs, including steroids.  Don't ask me what attracted me to him.  Looking back he was a LOSER.   I think as the years went on I thought I could *fix* him.  Lessened learned-you cannot!
In that last year of school he tried to commit suicide and that's when I got back together with him.  I thought it was because of me and was my fault.  I know better now of course.
Anyhoo, the next few years are much of the same, drugs, steroids, working out, roid rages...etc.
He starts his own business and to make a long story short 5 months before our wedding buys a $50 000 car with money we don't have.  I'm working two jobs saving for the wedding and he's out flaunting who knows what!! 
SO-I get a new job-just happens to be the place I'm still at.  I have to go to Boston for a six week training period.  There were 5 of us that went.  One of which was a good friend of DHs (Tony's).

The day I arrived it was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders.  Not having to deal with EX, our money issues, his rage and anger at the world.  He came down the second weekend I was there and it was awful. 
We spent the whole weekend working out, trying to eat by the "zone" and yes, I even got to stick him with a needle-FUN!

The following weekend Tony and some friends came down to see his friend I worked with.  We met on a Friday evening.  I KNEW that night that I would marry him.  Knew it with all of my body and soul   :wink: It was so wonderful to be around a smiling, laughing funny guy for a change.  We hit it off right away.  I spent the whole weekend with him.  I was out until 2 or 3 every night and up at 9 the next day.  EX couldn't reach me, so worried he almost flew down!

For the next few weeks of my training I spoke with Tony every night on the phone.  spoke with EX maybe twice.

when I got home on a tuesday EX picked me up at airport.  It took me until thursday to somehow pick a fight and end it.  That saturday tony's friend had a BBQ.  Tony and I were the first to arrive and I was there sans (without in french) ring.

The rest is history ladies.  That summer was a whirlwind of fun and romance like I've never experienced. As I mentioned last night, I was only the second woman DH had been with (he was 27 year old!) His high school sweetheart and broken his heart in February by cheating on him.  He took it very hard, lost about 25 lbs, couldn't eat etc.  Anyway-it took him a LONG time to trust again and that's why we didn't get married until 2003.

I am such a lucky woman to have found him.  I am so fortunate to have gotten out of such a rotten relationship and thankful I had the courage to do so!

OH-and as I mentioned last night.  I used to go out to bars with Tony fearful of running into EX (EX had beaten the crap out of one of my EXs in the past for no reason).  never did.  UNTIL the big night.  The only time I bumped into him was the night of my BACHORLETTE party.  And I looked great I must add :wink:

I had seen him once about a year previous because i stayed in touch with his sister.  They ambushed me.  She invited me over for dinner and he showed up.  I didn't like it one bit.  Anyway, he ended up marrying a girl we went to school with (not my BF) named Stacy and his family kept calling her Traci LOL  They had a son.  That night at the bar I just kept telling him to go home to his boy.  *sigh* thank god I got out.

okay...i think that's enough.  So Tony is my prince charming

[Erin M]

Traci - LOVE the story and so glad that you found your prince charming and got away from the loser EX.  I'll type mine when I have time, but it's SO not as romantic as that, since it involves fraternity parties and throwing up, I kid you not. 

Richelle - Katie didn't eat solids for something like 4 days when she got all those teeth.  She went right back to it when she was done.

Have to run!

[kate585]

Hey, ladies. 
Traci, that was a fun read, but I'm sure wasn't fun to live through.  Glad you got out and got happy!!!   

Regarding the eczema (correct spelling, btw. Some of you got it!):  Apparently it is a "chronic condition that can be treated, but not cured!"   :shock:   Great! 
Here are the directions from my ped. 
"In the bath, use a mild soap, such as Dove, Neutrogena, or Cetaphil lotion.  Moisturize the skin every day...within 3 minutes of getting out of the bath, after patting dry.  Creams are much better than lotions, and generally the greasier the better.  Some good moisturizing creams are:  Eucerin Cream, Moisturel Cream, Aquaphor Ointment, and Vaseline Petroleum Jelly.  About half of children outgrow eczema, although usually after many years of dealing with it."   :?   Not such a rosy picture. 

Ryan is acting like a little ens the last few days.  Cranky, sucking his thumb  , and not so interested in bf-ing.  It might be, it could be...we'll keep you posted.  I have to go to an eye doctor's appt. this afternoon.  Keep your fingers crossed that Ryan will be okay.  Otherwise I might have to call dh's grandparents to babysit.  They don't really like to do things last minute, so I'm hoping he'll cooperate and be fine to go with me.  Major clinginess going on and all he wants to do is stand up and dance/bounce around.  Fun, but hard to do anything else.  Speaking of which, I'd better go clean just in case they do come over!

Hope you are all doing well!!!  Thanks for all the great present ideas.  We are going small scale, since he'll be spoiled by everyone else.  I've already been told to start a list and have added a lot of your ideas.  WE have the Leap Frog spinning ball and it's great for tummy time...pretty much the same as the bus, I think.  Okay, really going now!
Love, Kate   

[Arwyn's mom]

Andrea... cradle cap... in the bath, we would wash her hair first, scrub it with a baby brush, leave it in while she had a bath and then rinse and scrub again with the baby brush. Arwyn developed it at about 6 weeks?? and it lasted until a couple of months ago if I recall correctly.

Richelle... Arwyn didn't eat any solids for about a week before and after her teeth. Now, if she doesn't "want" solids, she will flatly refuse them. Erin or Kate? suggested I give her finger foods instead of puree. This works occasionally... takes f-o-r-e-v-e-r mind you, to watch her eat peas. Also, she choked on a piece of apple that she managed to chomp off so... I don't do it anymore. So far, this week, she has only refused solids this morning but ate tonnes of Cheerios  :roll: . (DH starting giving them to her while eating his breakfast... no surprise she didn't want her apples and cereal.)

Traci... very romantic. So happy for you that you have a wonderful marriage and family now.

Had a very crappy night... next verse, same as the first, a little bit louder and a little bit worse  :roll: . It was great up until 2 am... then, major separation anxiety. Would wake up and cry every time DH or I leaves the room after settling her. (and we stayed for about 15 minutes each time, too.) This went on for about 2 hours ... of us going in and out... at which time, I plunked her on the futon with me and she was fine, fell asleep instantly and then woke at 6 am... too tired to think, so popped a boob in, slept until 6:45 am. Bless DH for taking her and rolling her around in her walker with him while he gets ready for work. I slept until 7:40 at which time, Arwyn was signing "milk" at about 100 km/hr!

Gotta go... restless baby in an exersaucer!

[mickymuscles]

hi girls!

Jack is waking earlier and earlier....I don't get what is going on!!!  He was waking at 730am then it became 630....this am it was 545!!!!! :shock:   I tried cutting out his catnap yesterday thinking maybe he was getting too much daytime sleep.  He did well without it.  He had maybe 2- 2 1/2 hours of nap time.  He went to bed no problem at 730 pm then woke at 5:45 and we could not get him back to sleep! :shock:

traci: loved the story....don't we all have one of those retarded EX's that you would just shake you head at now??!!  I dated this guy (Jared) for about a month before he decided to move in with me.  He had major issues!!  Chronic pot smoker, control freak, socially inept, etc, etc.  He was a veterinarian and had a nice dog.  That was about the only positives to him.  He was so controlling he hated when I had friends over, hated when my family was in town, hated when I was on the phone with anyone (including my sisters-he was afaid I was talking about him! :roll: ).  Anyways, I finally told him to get out of my house by x-day.  Well, he started crying saying that "he couldn't afford to move out esp. with a dog and that he was going to go to work and put him down".  So I told him "Fine, leave the dog and get out!"  So moving day (x-day) comes and he hasn't packed anything and instead leaves first thing in am to go skiing.  By the time he came home that afternoon I had packed everything of his including his computer , desk , etc and had it all at the front door waiting for him.  He came home and said "what's all this about?"  I shot back " What don't you get about 'get the F*@# OUT??!!'"  So needless to say he moved out the next day, I got the locks changed the same day.....he tried to get back into the house that night....thank God I changed the locks!!! :shock:   About a month later a girlfriend of mine set me up on a blind date (after much prodding and harrassing me ).  The blind date ended up being my DH after dating for 11 months we were married!

[Erin M]

Eczema-wise - Katie doesn't have it (yet - I'm keeping my fingers crossed), but I actually did as a baby and still have some patches of it to this day.  LOTS and LOTS of moisturizer, especially after bathing, especially in the winter months.  If you have really hard water, that's supposed to make it worse - I find that when I remember to fill up our water softener, mine gets better.  My mom works for a dermatologist, I'll have to ask her what they recommend over-the-counter wise, if it gets really bad I know there's a few different prescriptions out there.  For me, it only bothers me when it gets cold out, and I get it behind my ears, on my elbows, and on my eyelids. 
HTH and I'll get back to you after I talk to my mom.

[M&M'sMom]

I so love hearing those stories.. I will quickly write mine- I love it!

I had dated a "tool" for about 2 year.. cheated on me 3 times ( it was long distance for a year as I was going to school). Well the day after he forgot my b-day I called him said I never wanted to talk to him again ( really I said it!) and he did the old "can we be friends" and I let him know that for it to really be over we couldn't talk. Went out with my 2 best friends got my tongue peirced, and started partying . For 2 months stright I was out 4 nights a week. ( I was 19 so it was okay,  I had the energy!) I ran out of $$ really quick and had to find a second job.

My Dh was working as a supervisor for an Ambulance station in a small town 2 hours from here, and his buddy was from Calgary... they decided to meet in the middle in Edmonton - where I was. They forgot their cell phone at a pub on the monday night...


I started working at this pub on the tues. morning. Sean and his friend came into the pub got the phone and drove away... they decided to turn around and eat because they were so hungover and hungry. I saw them come in and asked my "trainer" if I could serve their table ( I had the hots for Sean as soon as I saw him)..

So he was my first table! 1/2 way through the meal he asked me what I was doing that night .. I said going out... where?...blah blah... "I'll meet you there"... and he did- was right at the door...

The funny thing is that the last song of the night was "amazed" by Lonestar. I had never heard the song, but Sean had. He grabbed my hand and whispered to me (no lie!) "the girl Im  gonna marry, this will be our wedding song" AND IT WAS!

Thanks for reading, I love this story!

jod

[solnme]

I'm loving the "how we met" stories!  Keep them coming.  Funny how many drug using exs you find in Canada?  Hmmm...

I married my retarded Ex   Just kidding!!

I was a party girl with a gang of girlfriends.  We didn't date men, we just used them when we saw fit.  I met my DH when I was 13.  Our older brothers were the same age and used to play street hockey together.  They were missing a goalie one day so my brother brought me in.  Little did they know I was the 'secret weapon' and we won.  Needless to say all  the boys thought I was hot  and me and DH maintained a flirty friendship all through high school.

We never dated, kissed or anything and went our seperate ways during uni.  We'd talk every few months for hours about what and who we were doing.  He had bought and apartment right out of school and I ended up moving about 10 blocks away from him.  We started hanging out more and more and friends started asking more and more questions.  One day I asked him "what's up" and he said that I was like his sister.  I said no problem and started dating this cute, older guy.  Well DH (then) flipped and decided he could get over the whole sister thing. 

That was 8 years ago! I'm so glad he had a change of heart.

[kate585]

My "favorite show" keeps getting better and better!     Jody, think of all the things that had to fall into place for you to meet your dh and have those darling girls!  Gives me goosebumps, I tell ya!   

Before I forget, the CD is called Hap Palmer Early Childhood Classics.  Here is an example of the twists:  Sings "I'm a Little Teapot" that we all know, then the music changes and the teapot is at the party having a great time, then it changes again and she's so tired from the party and they sing about cleaning her up ("don't forget my spout").  Sounds dorky, but it's really cute and I know Ryan will love it and I don't think I'll get tired of hearing them over and over and over and...

Here's my love story..not nearly as exciting as the rest of you.  Matt (dh) and I met the first week of our freshman year at school (aka uni).  We started dating in October and "going out exclusively" (aka sleeping together  :lol: )  in December.  We've been together ever since...11 years later!  BORING story, but not a boring man, so I'll take it! 

Sorry about the poopy night, Ankie!  My mom's group and I were discussing this last night, too.  Sep./stranger anxiety is really annoying, isn't it?  Good luck!!!

[Colesmom]

I am loving the stories ladies.  Keep them coming.

Ankie, might I suggest something?  Doesn't Tracy say to bring a mattress or whatnot into their room in a case of illness/separation anxiety etc?  I think I remember you saying the futon is in her room?  Would she sleep if you slept on the futon and her in the crib?  That might be a short term solution for a couple of night to reassure her that you're there??

Ladies, my father phoned today.  He spent yesterday in the hospital.  The lining of his stomach is bleeding.  He's to go in for triple by-pass the 28th of this month but can't go ahead unless they stop this.  He was calling from a pub :twisted:  commenting on how he was having lunch without alcohol.  And saying it wasn't any fun.  I simply said it was about time someone told you not to drink, that it's a slow poison.  His response "want to talk to your mom?"  Anyway, he goes to see a specialist tomorrow to see what can be done.  I am fearing the worst.  As I mentioned before he had major surgery in Oct 2003 and has never really recovered.  (Whipple procedure-removal of part of the pancreas for cancer)
They are acting like all of this is no big deal.  They've been renovating their house so they've been staying up north at a resort (timeshare they just bought).  Anyway, I asked if they'd be in town Saturday as I'm going there for a baby shower anyway and they said no.  After his appt with the specialist tomorrow they're heading back up.  How stupid is that?  They aren't letting anyone spend time with them and I honestly don't think my dad is going to last much longer.  As a result of them being so nonchalant about stuff like this I feel a very strange detachment about the whole thing.  It doesn't keep me up at night.  It makes me sad, but as I've said before he's an adult and has chosen to live this life (alcoholic) regardless of what any of us say (they're are 4 of us, I have 3 older brothers).
I feel like I'm just a coldhearted b*tch for not really feeling anything.  It's just so hard to watch him kill himself and not have any power to help or do anything :oops:

okay, i just needed to get that out.  thanks for listening.