February Wobblers

[fancyn]

I thought since the last thread ended on my note, I'd go ahead and start this month's. :) Come on over, Paige is it? :o

Me: 26
DS: Nicholas, 1 year yesterday :)

Yesterday I was a bit emotional - Wow, who'd have thought the first birthday would be so rough for me. :D I can only imagine when he's 30. :rolleyes: ;) . We finally got our stride-rites Tuesday. The sitter told me Monday when they were outside he wouldn't keep his shoes or socks on, so he ran around OUTSIDE barefoot. :eek: Hello, it's 50 degrees out!! I wanted to get a really cute/stylish pair, but the saleswoman insisted the classic white high-tops were what we need since he's still new to walking. He was so funny trying them on! By the way he was walking, you'd think he had on clown shoes. But by the end of yesterday, he was running all around the house laughing at himself. Silly boy!! Next goal: eliminate the night time bottle. I think we will start on Friday, so the sitter doesn't reap any aftermath! :p ;)

[Molli526]

Me: 29
Charles: 19 months


We had a rough night last night. School called that Charles had a fever and gave him Tylenol. They said most likely teething as he has been drooling like a madman. He was his normal self when I picked him up. He didn't want to eat much dinner, I gave him Motrin, and when DH got home he ate some yogurt.

We put him down to bed a little earlier than usual b/c he only napped for 50 minutes :( He woke up at 11:45 screaming/crying. We both ran in there and he was on fire. Such a fever. Gave him Tylenol and some teething tabs. He drank some diluted juice and I stayed up with him for about an hour reading stories etc. until his temp was back to normal and he was ready to go back to bed.

I slept horrible all night. I never really got into that deep sleep b/c I was so worried about him.

This morning he felt fine and I gave him some Motrin just in case. I could see the tops of the teeth starting to poke through so I am hoping that is it. It is 4 at once. My poor little man.

[EmilyK]

Me: 27
DH: 27
DS: almost 11 months

No progress on the walking front... still pulling himself up on everything, walking along while holding on. He did stand without holding a few times, but I think it was only because he was so busy concentrating on holding whatever he had just pulled off the bookshelf. :rolleyes: He's doing a fabulous job eating his solids! We've kind of moved more towards table foods, without worrying as much about individual ingredients (of course, avoiding the big no-no's while we do this). I think sometime after he's 11 months, we'll look at introducing whole milk. For now, I'm still keeping up with him as long as we use the frozen bmilk from our deep freeze.

Oh... my horrifying mommy moment for the day: DS has a nasty stuffy nose, so DH and I pulled out the evil-snot-sucker and the saline spray. I didn't get much snot out of him, but I did manage to make his nose bleed. :( I felt T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E!!! It wasn't bleeding bad, but it definitely hurt him a bit. <sigh> Add that to the fact that he woke up at 4:00 this morning screaming because his nose was completely plugged... and when he tried sucking his thumb, he couldn't breath. My poor little man... and poor tired parents!

Nancy, glad you're doing a little better today... I'll get a reply to your e-mail typed as soon as I'm done pumping. (will be very happy when I don't have to do that anymore!) It's nice of you to not try to quite that bottle and mess with your sitter! :) You'll have to let us know on Monday how that goes!

Molli, poor little guy (and sorry you are also low on sleep!)... hopefully now that the teeth are poking through, he'll be back to normal. Whew! Teething is rough stuff!

[aprilbride]

I'll join you guys over here if you don't mind, allthough I think Elliott will be the youngest "wobbler":-)

Me: Claudia, 31
DH, Paul, 36
Elliott: 9 months

I'll join you guys in the "rough night" department....Elliott woke up twice last night, which is pretty unusual! If he does I tend to let him cry it out for a little while and most of the time he just falls back asleep, but not last night. I think we're teething again as well because he's fine otherwise..so after some Tylenol and Teething Tablets he went back to sleep. Add to that the fact that I had a little to much wine while visiting with a friend that was in from out of town and you have one tired, headachy momma today:-(

We're doing great on the eating front and Elliott has been eating most of the table food we eat for the past week or so...he's also been eating off of the menu at school (I went through it and marked what I didn't want him to have) and loves feeding himself.

[NMG]

Hope you guys don't mind me chiming into this thread (if so, please let me know)

Me - 25
DH - 24
DD - 27 months
DS - 11 months (tomorrow)

Hi all! Mikey started really walking (more than a few steps) over the weekend - I think I'm in trouble now with the 2 of them! He is also becoming very clingy when I am around (don't remember DD being like that) - it gettting to the point that if I put him down he automatically cries - thinking of gettting a backpack for myself to carry him around in. He's a very good eater - almost all table foods except carrots and squash (which are 2 of his favorites). Starting him on an ounce of milk mixed with his formula (I wasn't able to breastfeed Mikey due to lack of milk). DD is getting a slight attitude and is all woman between her dresses, highheels (play shoes), purse, play make up and keys of course so she can "go shopping" as she puts it. Luckily she plays pretty well with Mikey and is doing very well on the whole sharing idea - of course sometimes she needs reminded. Anyways - I hope you all get some more sleep tonight - I know how tough it is to be up with the little ones throughout the night.

[JenZen]

Wow. It's February ... we're one month closer to spring!

Me - Jen, 28
DH - Al, 38
DS - Gabe, 13 months

Gabe woke up earlier than usual this morning because he completely leaked through his diaper. I guess I'm about ready to go up a size, which is killing me because the No. 4 diapers have 20 less diapers in a box than the No. 3. Of course, DH has been saying for some time that Gabe looks like he's wearing a Speedo in the No.3s, so I guess it's about time. :)

Otherwise, we're doing well. Gabe's slowly getting better at talking. We watch "Ready, Set, Learn" on TLC in the morning, and Gabe recognizes Peep when he comes on, except Gabe says "Pep," instead.

His new favorite item seems to be the turtle beanbag I bought him. It was on clearance at Target for $10, and so far, has been worth the money.

We continue to have meltdowns, but that comes with the territory. I am so, so glad I taught him to sign "all done," because we were having such a hard time communicating at the table. He no longer throws food because he just has to sign "all done" to get taken out of his chair.

Jen

[Katie-Did]

Me - 31
DS, Aaron - 13 months

Aaron has been doing really well lately. He is so much fun to play with now, I'm enjoying him more and more as he grows. He's been on total table food for a while, and is a great eater. I'm planning meals that can be more easily gummed now, but for the most part our whole family is eating the same thing, which is nice. I've noticed that Aaron seems to eat better when he's eating the same food that the adults are - it's amazing how much these little ones pick up, isn't it?

Our family is in the middle of a big transition. My husband just started a new job, so we're in a new, smaller town. I was pretty worried about being in a new place as a stay-at-home mom, but so far (it's only been 2 days, so next week might be a different story!) things have been going well. I've heard of one play group at a local community center, so I'll check that out on Friday and I hope to meet more moms that have a child around Aaron's age. I'm looking forward to spring and being able to hang out at the park!

[EmilyK]

Well, DS's nose is much less stuffy today, so I think we're finally getting past this virus that went through our family. Thankfully, DS and DH never got as sick as I did! No night/early morning wakings, so it was uninterupted sleep, but we went to bed too late last night. I'm still dragging today.

I think I've mentioned DS's "stats" before, but he's in the 5th-10th %tile in height/weight and his noggin is in the 90th! DH jokes that this is why he falls down so much, it's hard to balance when you have a huge head! Last night, he was walking along the window sill and falls... landing with his head between the TV stand and the wall!! His head got stuck!! Poor little man, his body was all over the place, but he couldn't get his head out. I pulled him out and plopped him back down in front of his box... no more tears. <sigh> This child is going to give me a heart attack.

I am happy to say that I'm feeling a little more positive about having a second child (in the far future, looking at a 3-4 year age gap). I was having serious doubts about it, but now I don't quite panic at the thought. :) Baby steps.

JenZen, I don't know if you have a Sam's nearby, but we buy their diapers instead of the name-brand. The #3's cost $5/package with 4 packages in a box. They work the same, if not better, than the name brand. Thought I'd throw that out there.

Welcome aprilbride and NMG! I don't think anybody minds you joining the group, the more the merrier!

[Molli526]

Emily,

What would you compare the Sam's diapers too? Huggies or Pampers? I have heard the Costco/Kirkland is Huggies, and those DID NOT work for us. Every single Huggie we tried- Supreme and Regular leaked allover Charles. I would love a cheaper price on Pampers -especially the cruisers :)


I highly recommend the Huggies Overnight. I don't know how other kids sleep through the night w/o one of these bad boys. They have extra absorption and can hold more. You can get a Mega Jumbo at Wal-Mart for $17.99. They cost more than a standard diaper, but you are only using 1 a night.

[Katie-Did]

I think I'll have to check out the Huggies overnights. Aaron's been in size 4's for a while, and we have been using whatever's on sale or the generics. But lately he's been waking up VERY wet in the morning, and I've been thinking about springing for some 5's for the night, but maybe this is a better option.

[EmilyK]

Molli,

I've never tried regular huggies, but I have tried the supreme. I'm not quite sure who I would compare the Sam's to. I don't like regular pampers, because they get REALLY mushy with not a whole lot of wet (also think they leak too easy). I really like that these diapers can hold a LOT of wet and still be comfortable for him to wear. What size is Charles wearing? If you want and he's wearing a 3, I can send you a diaper to see if you like it. Really, we won't miss one especially since they're so cheap.

Emily

[fancyn]

landing with his head between the TV stand and the wall!! His head got stuck!! Poor little man, his body was all over the place, but he couldn't get his head out. Oh Em! I was giggling with sympathy when i read this - poor guy!!! And leave that boy's head alone! ;) ;) Big head = big brain! Atleast that is the excuse we give Nicholas.

Speaking of, his head didn't measured at the appointment yesterday. :confused: Hmmm....Anyways, every thing is well we were told. He weighed 21.5 pounds (30%) and 30 inches long (55%). Very shocking about his weight and the percentile. As my father put it, "but Nicholas is a chunk!" :rolleyes: . Well apparently not. His belly is round and his cheeks are chubby, but he really is thin - he carries his weight like his father :D (and no, my DH is not a BBer :p )

I'm making salmon tonight for dinner so I asked the dr. about him eating it. He's eaten plenty of white fish (talapia, mahi mahi, orange roughy) but wasn't sure about this. He said that he could have salmon or tuna once a month and that was it. He declared the following things off limits for another year: eggs (unless in baked goods) honey (even honey graham crackers), peanut butter, shellfish.

My cute story from last night - We were playing with his peek-a-blocks and I showed him the elephant, the zebra and the girafe. Later on while I was making dinner, I asked him to show me the girafe and he walked over and picked up his girafe block! I was very excited. Even later DH asked him to show him the girafe. The block had migrated into the other room. So DS looks around, walks over to the toy box, rifles through and pulls out his stuffed plush girafe!!!! OMG, did we almost flip. Such a smarty pants!

Thanks for the diaper recs. We use Huggies Supreme, which I really like. Didn't care for the pampers either, but I'm not curious about the Sam's ones. We might have to buy a box and check 'em out!! DS wears size 3 and it seems like he's been in them forever - and by the looks of him, we might be in them quite a while longer!

[fancyn]

Why do I always have bumping issues? :o :rolleyes: :confused:

[JenZen]

Hi ladies,

We're Pampers people over here. I love the Cruisers, and I buy them in bulk, so they're really not that expensive. Last week, Target had the 120-pack on clearance for $22, and I had a coupon, so I paid about $20 per box. Not bad.

Well, seems that I got a light BFP this morning. :D

DH and I both want to see something darker before we call it official, and we're NOT going to tell anyone in real life for a looonnnggg time since I had a miscarriage just four months ago.

Jen

[aprilbride]

Jen, that's fabulous news:-)) Congrats!

We also use the Sam's Diapers for Elliott and they work great....for a while I only used Huggies Supremes..then thought I should give these a try and only used them for daycare..now we use them exclusively. I don't really know what other brand to compare them to either, but would recommend them.

[MinEaston]

DD: Anna, 11+ months

JenZen - :D on the faint line!

We too are Pampers people (but only at daycare 3x week or for travel. I use cloth otherwise). I think my SIL said Pampers had the least amount of chemicals and other stuff in the "stuffing" so I figured I would do those since I only need them for daycare.

Anna is now working on walking a lot. She will drop to her knees and crawl if she wants to get somewhere fast (like from the living room to the front door when I came home late the other night), but really does a lot of walking and even more standing.

Nancy, Anna is little too - has a nice belly and cute chubby cheeks and chunky thighs, but I think she'll be under the 50th percentile too. (Of course, I'm only 5' 1" and DH is 5' 9", so it's not like she comes from big parents). I haven't yet scheduled her 1-year appt, guess I should do that!

I'm really curious about her weight, because we're still using the infant carseat (she hasn't outgrown it in height yet) and I am leaning towards skipping the convertible carseat altogether and buying a forward-facing seat, with the hopes that she's 20lbs and I can just use it after Feb 25.

The one I am looking at is the Graco Platinum Cargo (http://www.elitecarseats.com/Graco-Platinum-CarGo-Booster.pro) . I like it because it's not too wide and it looks like we could get years out of it. And if we just use it forward-facing a lot of the issues I've heard about adjusting straps with the convertibles will be moot.

[KristaMB]

Congratulations, Jen! I totally hear you on not telling anyone IRL after a miscarriage. When I got pg with DD after mine, I waited almost too long. I was definitely showing but wasn't saying anything. I think my friends thought I had lost my mind. :o

Molli, we have tried the Costco/Kirkland brand diapers and thought they were horrible. For daytime they are barely okay, but for night, no way. They just don't absorb moisture like a regular diaper does. We use the regular bulk Huggies from Costco with no problems, but I know each kid fits diapers differently. I really need to get some overnights as DD has been soaked in the morning lately.

I wanted to ask your opinions on feeding DD (16 months). She signs "all done" after not eating very much, then cruises around begging for food. She will either whine at me in the kitchen and sign "eat" or hang onto her brother who is still eating at the table and try to grab his food. I know she is still hungry, but I don't want to encourage the begging. Do you think I should feed her while she is roaming, or try to make her only eat in the high chair? If I don't let her down from her chair when she signs "all done" she throws every last morsel over the side. :rolleyes: It's so frustrating!

Time to wake up DS and get him off to school...

[EmilyK]

Anybody know why my e-mail alerts don't work all the time? Drives me nuts...

Anyway, YAY!!!! Congrats Jen!!!

Claudia, your story is almost exactly the echo of ours. We figured the sam's work good enough, why spend twice as much on the huggies?

Nancy, you have such a smart little guy!! I keep telling myself the big noggin is due to a big brain... :rolleyes:

MinEaston, let us know how Anna does at her 1 year appointment. Usually she and DS are right about the same... I might weight him tonight by weighing myself and then me & him to see what results I get. I don't know how accurate it will be, but I think it'll give us some kind of idea about where he is.

Krista, sorry I don't have any advice for the "all done"... we haven't taught DS that sign. He does get really fussy and block his face while we're trying to feed him, but most times this is because he's thirsty. :rolleyes: I ask him if he wants a drink (while doing the sign) and he says "Yeah... yeah..." all excited. I do sometimes give him food when he's begging (probably a bad habit).

[JenZen]

Thanks for the congrats, ladies. I'll keep you posted. :)

Krista - Gabe does the SAME THING! If he's only part way into his meal, I tell him, "No, I know you're not all done," and I have him sit there till I see him play with his food. Othertimes, he signs "all done" when he's done with something he really liked, like cheese. So, if I put more cheese on the plate, he'll keep eating. But, quite often, he ends up crusing for food. I feel like I have a dog under the table. He'll come over to my plate, grab a bite, and take off in the living room to play until he wants another bite. I'm starting to think I need to stop this behavior. Last night I told him, "No, mommy has to eat, you go play with your toys," and he took off for a while. If it get him interested in a toy, he'll stay in the living room while we finish eating.

I'm rambling, but it's a problem I'm dealing with, too. He's really good about signing "all done," but I sometimes think he just wants to get out of his chair.

Jen

[fancyn]

Congrats Jen!!! (but what is BFP :confused: :o ) I'm assuming you were trying? How exciting! Try to stay relaxed and not think about your other experience. This is a whole new one!! :)

Claudia, just wanted to say sorry for calling you Paige! :o It had been a while since I'd "seen" you. :)

On the food front, I don't let Nicholas eat outside of his high chair except before dinner. I'm usually running behind :rolleyes: and he's starving (we don't eat until 6:30) so i let him sit in his rocking chair and eat half of a graham cracker. The rule is he must sit. This started b/c of safety issues, running around with sharp crackers, etc., but I think it also encourages mindful eating. And at dinner, he usually can stay seated until we finish. If not, he'll go play in the kitchen. But, I refuse to give him anything from my plate once he's up. Man, I sound like such a strict mama.... :o

[JenZen]

BFP = Big Fat Positive :) (although mine wasn't that big or fat. I had to squint at it this morning)

[sweetpea]

DD: 15 months last week

jen--emma will sign all done before she is ready to be done and it's just b/c she wants down to see the cat or wants me to hold her, etc. nuh-uh. if she starts throwing her food around or her favorite-the hand swipe!, then i take her food off her tray. she stays in her seat while we all eat and doesn't get down till we are all done. i give her a wooden spoon to bang or sometimes she just wants a drink then she'll want more food. like she forgets the sign for dirnk or milk and just says "all done!". we are kinda strict about the not getting down from the table issue though so this might not work for you :)

well, dd had her 15 month well baby checkup today. 23 lb. 7 oz and 30 inches. her head is still off the charts but is following the same curve. wt is at 50th and lt at 40th. fine by me! :) she was a very patient little person as we were there for almost 2 hours! very busy today! she got the last of her shots till kindergarten and we went to wendy's and shared a cheeseburger, chili and a frosty to celebrate her being such a good, big girl. our doctor loves her but he just went on and on about how well behaved and natured she is :) yay! and the nurse did the same--she asked if i was a SAHM and said she could tell b/c emma seems very content as if she gets just enough attention :) yay again!

well, off to get some more things packed...ugh. if you all want to see our home renovation blog its: http://360.yahoo.com/aarmstro9

[JenZen]

You know, Gabe's head was off the charts at his 12-month WBB. If all of us have kids with big heads, don't you think "they" need to revise those charts. The dr. had to measure Gabe's head three times to make sure it wasn't an error. Otherwise, he's in the 70-some percentile on height and the 80-some percentile on weight.

[Katie-Did]

We are also pretty strict about only eating in the highchair unless we're away from home and need to adjust to another situation. I remember reading in "Child of Mine" that a toddler will try to test these food rules, and want to eat after asking to get down. The book says not to give in so that they'll learn that food comes at meal and snack times and not in between, though I imagine that it will be hard when Aaron starts to do this. Especially because I know dealing with a hungry kid means a cranky kid!

[Molli526]

Yay Jen!!! :D

Emily. Thanks for the offer, but Charles is on his way out of 3's - we are on his last pack, then we are on to the plethora of 4's. I may try the Sam's w/#2.


We don't let Charlie eat out of his chair - usually. On weekends, I occasionally make a quick or yeast bread and we will give Charlie bites. If he wants his own piece, he has to be in his seat. At meals, we don't consider him done until he starts playing with his food. He used to do the hand swipe but has now moved on to handing us his plate or bowl. He then sits until we are all finished.

[NMG]

Has anyone tried the Luvs??? Both my kids have always leaked out of the Huggies and the Pampers have always worked, but are more expensive than the Luvs. The Luvs seem to hold really well for my kids even when they are sagging and hanging off there bums because they get so full by the am (well, at least my DS - DD is waking up dry in the am and wanting to use the potty!!!). Needless to say, both my kids wear size 5 in the Luvs (but size 4 in Pampers) and I've never had any problems with them!

[sweetpea]

i forgot to add my 2 cents on diapers. i keep meaning to try the sam's club brand but we use White Cloud that we get at wal-mart. 90 of them for $14 i think (we're in size 4s)--anyway cheap plus we use cloth diapers at home so we don't spend a ton on diapers.

[fancyn]

WoOhOo!! Another break through on our quest to conquer the bottle - WE DID IT!!! Last night little man went down without a one! Granted he's sicker than a dog (runny, green nose/croup-like cough) and I think he just would have rather gone to bed than fight, but still! Sigh of relief on my end. Not even a week after his birthday did we accomplish this feat. Hopefully tonight is smooth sailing too.

Molli, thanks for the rec. on the Huggies overnite. Nicholas has wet his sleeper through the past 2 nights in a row. I think I'll have to swing by Walmart and pick up a pack - I'm sick of changing sheets! ;)

[sweetpea]

okay, i need other mommies opinions here. dd is 15 months and i am a SAHM. DH works during the day and spends the afternoons/evenings working at the new house. so she doesn't see or spend much time with him one on one. she is very clingy to me when others are around except for her nana. if dh tries to take her to the bathroom to brush her teeth, she screams and cries. i take her and it's fine and fun. long story short, she refuses to do anything for DH or with DH. she only wants me. she cries when he tries to pick her up or help her with her sticker book, etc. it makes me sad and so tired and it makes DH frustrated and upset. anyone have any advice? i can't really leave her with him much b/c he has a major timeline on gettign this house done and he needs to spend time working on that so i can't just leave her with him. just a phase? maybe???

[EmilyK]

Yay for progress, Nancy!! I hope Nicholas starts feeling better soon... it's rough when they feel like crud. I'm going to be running out to the PO soon, now that DS is down for his nap (well, he's at least in his bed...). Your diaper will be on its way! :D

Amanda, I really don't have any advice for you. I think it's probably just a phase, but I think it's probably important that DH spends some time with her as well. It's rough that you guys are in such a crunch for time on the house right now. Can he spend some quality time with her in the am before he goes to work? It might mean that everybody wakes up a little earlier, but it looks like that might be the only "open" window of opportunity. Can you leave her with a sitter a few hours/day to get her used to not having you or nana around all the time? ((((hugs))))

[fancyn]

Amanda, I think I've read somewhere that at different stages/phases children favor one parent over another. But you also have to realize, YOU are who she knows and trusts. Not to say DH is not "known" by her, but you guys have a routine - just because it's always you and Emma. This is probably what you don't want to hear, but IMHO, Dh needs to dedicate a little more time for them to spend one on one, WITHOUT mommy in the picture. Not very conducive for your house project, but I think it'd be better to get her more comfortable now with him and his authority, than later on.

FWIW, DS acts totally different for DH then me. He's the big play guy and HAS to have his undivided attention at all times. For me, he knows certain boundries, like playing by himself at certain times, and abides. HTH!! :o

[fancyn]

Ha! Emily, we posted nearly the same time. Nice to "see" you! I'm just at work, working very hard ;) Just wanted to say thanks for sending that diaper to me! :)

[EmilyK]

Stinks to be at work!! ;) I'm running around the house, trying to get ready for our friends to come over. DS is NOT cooperating by taking his nap at his scheduled time. He's been in there for 45 minutes now, talking/singing/fussing. We'll see if it actually happens! :rolleyes: Now, I need to jump in the shower so I can go run my errands! :) No problemo sending the diaper...

[fancyn]

LOL, I think they instinctively know that Mommy has stuff to do. DH just called and said Nicholas put himself to sleep in the middle of the kitchen floor. Uh, He normally doesn't go down til noon. He must really not feel well :( . I hope you finish all of your "chores" and have fun entertaining tonight! :) As for us, I don't know if we'll be going to my GF's son's birthday now...

[NMG]

okay, i need other mommies opinions here. dd is 15 months and i am a SAHM. DH works during the day and spends the afternoons/evenings working at the new house. so she doesn't see or spend much time with him one on one. she is very clingy to me when others are around except for her nana. if dh tries to take her to the bathroom to brush her teeth, she screams and cries. i take her and it's fine and fun. long story short, she refuses to do anything for DH or with DH. she only wants me. she cries when he tries to pick her up or help her with her sticker book, etc. it makes me sad and so tired and it makes DH frustrated and upset. anyone have any advice? i can't really leave her with him much b/c he has a major timeline on gettign this house done and he needs to spend time working on that so i can't just leave her with him. just a phase? maybe???

Hi! We had/have the same problem with our DD (now 28 months) although it has gotten a lot better. I'm not a SAHM, but my DH is a plumber and is in school 2 nights a week. He works 95% of Saturadys till dinner time and sometimes has to go out on Sundays for his job. Regardless, when the kids are at home, DH isn't there very often. DD used to scream and cry just about everytime DH picked her up and I could barely ever leave her home w/o her crying herself to sleep. DH started taking her places close by like the pet store or hardware store, you know for short periods of time, and she really began to, oh I don't know I guess "trust" him a lot more or just become way more comfy with him being around w/o me (I don't know how else to put it). We still have issues sometimes but going out with daddy by herself seems to make her feel a lot better about being w/o mommy. Now Mikey (11 months) is getting to a point where if I'm in the room he thinks I should constantly hold him and man is he heavy!! Round 2 to begin soon!! hahaha

[Molli526]

(((Amanda)))
I wish I had some advice for you. I think you have gotten some good ideas though.


I am home with Charles today. He isn't feeling well :( He had some loose stools on Saturday and Sunday. He wasn't eating much at all this weekend either. He did drink a couple yogurts and had some chicken soup for lunch. He is napping now :)

We transitioned him to his big boy bed on Saturday. He slept well Saturday and Sunday night :) We had the bed set up for a while, I just put the new stuff on there this week. We would go in almost every night and lay on it for a minute or two. On Saturday, DH and I moved his dresser and books into his new room and before bed, showed him the room. He was excited to sleep there - we also got him a couple new stuffed animals and a book. He has even been napping decent in there :D

[EmilyK]

We had a pretty good weekend... I so look forward to my time I can spend with the little man those 2 days/week. Makes me really sad that I don't get to see him as much on the weekdays, but it does make me treasure the time I get with him. :rolleyes: Whenever DM calls, she likes to talk to DS on the phone. Granted, this is usually her bubbling to him about things while he either breaths in her ear or tries to pull the phone away to push the buttons. This time, he got all smiles and started laughing on the phone when he heard her. No pulling away or anything, just listening and laughing. It was SOOO cute!! My sis called me later on in the day to tell me how much it thrilled my mom that he did that...

On the food front, he's decided to be a little obstinant about eating, if he thinks he's finished or needs a drink. This involves throwing his hands in front of his face and knocking whatever it is we're trying to feed him on his lap/on the floor/on the chair. <sigh> Otherwise, he's trying all kinds of new things without turning his nose up. I think the beans out of my Chipotle burrito were a little spicy, but he ate them anyway! Turns out he just LOVES spaghetti! :)

I think I have decided to toss in the towel on pumping while I'm at work. I'll finish out this week (DS will be 11 months on Thursday) and then that's it! I will continue to nurse during the morning/evening, but I'm so sick and tired of pumping!! I only get a total of 4 ounces, so it kind of seems pointless to keep it up. We have SO much in the freezer, we'll just continue to use that until it's pretty much gone. :D I'm so excited about this! :D

Oh, in case anybody would like to see some more recent pictures of DS... here are the ones I've added to his 2006 Album (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/emilyking630/album?.dir=/47b1&.src=ph&.tok=phRpRVEBCdyjIRIH).

Molli, great to hear that the big boy bed transition is going well! I hope the little guy feels better soon...

[fancyn]

Hi guys, looks like I'm not the only one home with a sick child. We just got back from the doctor's office and.....he has a double ear infection and....RSV!!!! :eek: :mad: :o :confused: Who would have thought that?! He's out of daycare for the entire week and I'm freaking out! Besides having paid for it all ready, I have a work situation this week that makes it IMPOSSIBLE to be home. DH is going to try to take off Thurs. and Friday and my little sis (in nursing school) is skipping classes tomorrow and Wednesday. <Sigh> I just wonder what's next for us? :rolleyes: We did get antibiotics for the ears and some cough syrup w/codine so DH and I can get some sleep. ;) ;)

The kicker to the whole situation is we exposed his entire daycare, an entire birthday party, and my 3 month old neice. I feel rotten right now... :(

[EmilyK]

OMG!! Nancy! That's awful... I hope he starts feeling better soon, especially with being on the antibiotics now. Just cross your fingers that the other kiddos don't get it.

[NMG]

Oh Fancyn - I hope you're little muchkin starts feeling better soon. There was nothing you could do to prevent him from being around all the other kids - just let them all know - it happens to all of us!

[EmilyK]

Ack!! We have progress on signing!! :D Last night, DS started waving at us... very cute! Then this morning, when I asked him if he wanted a drink, I think he made the sign TWICE!! :) Yay! Now, we need to start making more signs for other things that go on in his life, hopefully he picks them up quickly! As a testiment to the time I get to spend with him, I'm noticing that most of my pictures in his album are in his high chair. :rolleyes:

Nancy, how's the little man doing this morning?

[food girl]

I think I'll join in over here, Anna's 9 1/2 mos and I'm not feeling like such a "new mom" anymore.

Nancy, so sorry about the RSV! I hope your little guy is feeling better. Don't feel bad about all the exposures, you had no way of knowing it was that vs. a run of the mill cold.

I love looking at your house renovations sweetpea. We have renovated 2 houses now and I love to look at framing and visualize...
I have just the opposite problem with my DH - Anna love, love, loves him. It kind of hurts my feelings that she looks at him with such adoration and barely makes eye contact with me :( well, not all the time, but when he comes home she goes nuts!

Lisa

[aprilbride]

Nancy, I hope Nicholas is going to start feeling better!! Not fun for anyone, that's for sure:-(

I have a question for you guys.....I've noticed lately (and so has Elliott's teacher at daycare) that sometimes after eating his tummy gets really hard...he has normal BM's but has been a little gassy......I'm wondering why...maybe because of all the (new) solids he's been eating? It doesn't seem to bother him most of the time..sometimes when you push on it he seems a little uncomfortable but mostly he's fine...any ideas?

[fancyn]

Ah, thanks for the well wishes everyone!! Nicholas seems to be doing better, though he still has a temp. and the nasty, nasty cough. We're now dealing with him refusing fluid and food. However, in the middle of the night, he's decided he needs a half of a sippy of water every hour, on. the. hour. :rolleyes: Hopefully it won't keep up after he feels better - I don't need that to become a trend and mommy needs some sleep! ;)

Emily, Yay on the signing! I think consistency is the key. So which one is next? And the album, yeah...atleast you've put it together. I think I need to take in the last 6 months and have it printed - and THEN I can think about putting it together. :rolleyes: :p

Claudia, Elliot's body is probably just adjusting to all the new food. And if the majority of the time he seems "normal" i wouldn't worry about it. Are the foods you're giving him spicy or gassy type foods?

[EmilyK]

Oh, ha! ha! Nancy! You think I'm talking about photos in a physical album!? No... I'm talking about his online album! Jeez. I have a huge scrapbook (empty) and box full of stuff that I'd like to put together, but it'll take me forever. If I had a few extra hours in the day and an imagination, I'd be all set! :p Glad to hear he's doing a little better... I figure water in the middle of the night is better than no fluids at all. As long as it doesn't happen for a really long time, you shouldn't have any trouble "breaking him" of it. I think we're going to work on "eat" and "all done". We'll see how that goes. :rolleyes:

Claudia, are you talking about his stomach or his intestines feeling hard? Sometimes DS eats/drinks SO much his belly is as tight as a drum... But, it's not been gas/constipation/etc. just a really full stomach. As long as he isn't having any discomfort, I wouldn't worry too much about it. You can always call your ped. to ask about it if you're really concerned.

Lisa, are you a SAHM? It's great that she adores her daddy so much! :) I had some issues with the fact that DS seemed to like DH more than he liked me, but I think it had to do with nursing, etc. They tend to treat each parent differently, no matter what you do.

[Molli526]

((Nancy)) It is no fun with a sick little one :( I know all too well what it is like when they refuse food and drink.

Claudia, We haven't experienced it with Charles, but my niece, who is 23 months will get a really hard belly when she has stuffed herself.

Charles is in school today. He ate breakfast and hopefully it was just a stomach virus thing. Again, I *wish* people would keep their kids home when it is obvious something isn't right i.e. diarrhea!

[Katie-Did]

Good morning! It's 9:00, and Aaron's already down for a morning nap. I don't know what to do with my little guy's schedule right now. He's 13 months old, and I thought that he was transitioning to 1 nap. Then he went through a period where he slept 1 hour in the morning, and 1 1/2 hours in the afternoon, and 12 hours at night. Now he's getting up an hour earlier than he used to, so he's exhausted by 8:30 or 9:00 and walking to his crib and asking to go to sleep! How can a mom refuse that request? ;) Sometimes, like today, he'll go ahead and sleep 45 minutes or so and then is in a great mood for the rest of the morning. Other days he just rests for 20-30 minutes and then wants to get up. What do you think, mommies? Should I push him into a 1 nap routine or just see what he does?

We've been doing signs with Aaron and he's really into it right now. We have a board book that has pictures of kids doing signs, and he asks me to "read" it to him at least 4 times a day. This morning we looked at the picture of a child signing "shoes," and I signed it for him. Then he went in the other room and brought me a shoe and did the sign. It's so great to watch him make those connections.

[Katie-Did]

That's odd, I posted but it showed up, but didn't register... so I'll try to bump it.

[JenZen]

Gabe - 13 months

Katy-Did - Gabe is going through the same thing. I have him basically transitioned to one nap while he's at daycare, but on the weekends, he can't make it to 9 in the morning because he gets up at 6. On the weekdays, he usually sleeps during the drive to the daycare, which is enough to get him through the morning. I think that if they need sleep, let them sleep. I'm going to bring the one-nap-a-day thing up at our 15-month WBB, but I'm not too worried about forcing it yet.

Gabe is really into his Mega-Blocks. They were a gift from Christmas, but we just opened them up this past weekend. Boy, he loves those things. He can sort of put some together, and he's really good at taking them apart. Last night, he sat on the living room floor and played with blocks for a good half-hour, talking to himself the whole while. It was cute. His little language is so cute. It really sounds like he's real conversation, except I dont' understand much of it. He'll look at me so seriously and babble off something as if I should understand exactly what he's saying. What is going on in that head?

As for me, I had my frist beta draw, and it came back at 149, which is good. I go in for another blood draw tomorrow morning, so hopefully everything is progressing well.

Jen

[Katie-Did]

Thanks for your thoughts, Jen. I was of that mind, but I'm not sure what I should do with Aaron now. Today he took an hour nap in the morning, then only a 40 minute nap this afternoon! It has made for a tiring, grumpy day for both of us. I just put him down in his crib for another rest (which I don't think he'll go for). The rule of thumb for Aaron has been that sleep begets sleep - if he naps well, he'll sleep well at night, which means he'll nap well the next day, etc. Now he's sleeping an hour less at night, and half as much during the day. I'm wondering if pushing him to 1 nap will help or hurt the situation...

Off to get the little rascal, he's not going to rest, oh well, it was worth a shot!

[Couperine]

I've been lurking a bit while I didn't feel like a new mom or really the mom of a wobbler, but I could use a little advice from moms who've been there.

Ethan is now 9 1/2 months, and he is crawling and cruising like a fiend. He is very much into exploring anything and everything, which I like to encourage.

My issue is with my parents - my dad had his hip replaced at the end of January, and my mom around the same time was told she needed knee surgery but she is waiting and in pain while my dad recovers. Neither one of them are spring chickens, so the recovery is slow going for my dad and taxing on my mom.

They live about 5 hours away from us, and my mom keeps on sending me e-mails telling me how much time my sister (with a 13 and 17 year old) and brother (no kids) keep spending with them. I feel horribly guilty about not going up there and staying with them for a few days, but I'm Ethan's only caregiver and he's still breastfeeding which makes both my parents horribly uncomfortable.

I think I'm making the right decision to keep Ethan out of their hair since it would be a lot of work to get their house babyproofed, and my dad is still barely mobile and in a lot of pain; at the same time, I want to help, but my mom has turned down my offers to have maid service, additional time from a private care nurse, and have meals delivered. I feel so guilty though - has anyone else dealt with this kind of thing? Maybe I need someone to smack me and tell me how selfish I'm being, but my whole messed up relationship with my parents as an adult has always been a guilt fest.

Nancy

[fancyn]

Katie - My sitter and I decided at 11 months to transition him to one nap. It took several days because he was soooo tired and not used to it. It took extra attention to keep him going but then he'd go down for 2 to 2.5 hours in the afternoon. Well worth it IMO. Nicholas sounds a lot like Aaron in the sleep dept. Lack of it makes for a rotten little man. DS goes down at 7:30 and sleeps until around 6:30. But, this isn't right for everyone. I'm just a very big "schedule" type of person. :)

Hey, another Nancy :D , Tough call. I don't know the relationship of you and your parents and I've never been in a situation even similar to you. But having said that, I do know that guilt tears me up, to the point of getting my tummy upset. I would probably make the trip and suck it up instead of feeling guilty for who knows how long. And Ethan I'm sure would just be fine. Children I swear, will surprise you when you least expect it. AND, I think they can adapt way better than us most of the time. Do you pump and bottle feed ever? That might eliminate some akwardness... :confused: :o

[tbb113]

Nancy - I can understand why you don't want to go visit since you would either need to baby-proof or watch Ethan like a hawk....but did you ever think that Ethan might help take their mind off their pain and that they would get joy from seeing you both?

[EmilyK]

Nancy (not fancy ;)) - I kind of have a similar situation with MIL, except she hasn't had any surgeries, etc. She's in poor health (weight related) and lives about 3.5 hours from here, and DH's other 4 sibs all live really close to her. We've been catching a LOT of flack for not visiting frequently enough for her to get to know her 8th grandchild (they insisted we visit 6 times by the time he was 6 months old :rolleyes: ). Now, I could go on and on and on about this really cruddy situation we're in, but I won't bore anybody with that any more than I already have. It sounds like your parents don't want "outsiders" to help, but would really like to see you.

I agree with Tyra that they might really enjoy a visit from you guys, even though Ethan is very active. If your sibs are spending so much time with them, surely they can help with the baby-wrangling, right? As far as nursing making them feel uncomfortable, just go off into a quiet room to do it.

If you do go, you might want to ask your parents if you can babyproof a little bit to prevent anything from being broken They've raised several kids, I think they'll understand.

Good luck with your decision!! Family situations can always be a little sticky!

On our end... remember I said I thought DS was waving at us? I figured out what he really is doing... :p Whenever I take off his socks, I sniff his toes and (in a very exaggerated voice) say "PEEEEYYEEEEWW" and wave my hand in front of my face. When I was nursing him tonight, I had taken off one of his socks and was playing with his toes (yes, I know I'm weird). I did the whole routine and he started waving his hand too. Every. Single. Time I did it!! :D Then he started putting his foot in my face to make me do it. My little guy is a riot! DH was starting to get his feelings hurt because he wouldn't wave Bye-Bye when he drops him at the sitter. :) I told him he should sniff his toes first and say "PEYEW!" ;)

[NMG]

Mikey is really trying to talk now - we're trying to get him to say Tesa (his sister) and fish which you can actually understand ;) Boys play so much differently than girls do and he really seems to be a lot more clingy than his sister was (momma's boy I guess :D ). Oh well. I made his invitations for his first birthday and thought they turned out really cute. They had 12 little pics of him throughout the months on the front and said Celebrating 12 months of... and when you opened up the card it said Michael real big at the bottom with a pic of him holding a basketball (most recent we had). We invited 70 people :eek: I must be nuts, but our families are so large, I just can't get around it and really didn't invite many friends. Of course there are prob about 12 kids under 10 too.

EmilyK - that's so cute about the PEYEW and reminds me of doing that with Tesa - we would take off her socks and sniff them and say - ooooowwww someone has stinky feet - and she started doing that to us too!! It always made us laugh :D

[fancyn]

Too cute Emily and NMG! Our little thing is "Shewwww, it's been a long day!" and i take my hand to wipe sweat off my forehead. He hasn't mimiced me but it sure gets big belly laughs. :)

Em, glad to know I'm not the only one slacking in the photo album/scrap book area. Even the baby book is starting to slack :o

NMG, your invitations sound so fun!! What a great idea! We had about 40 people at DS's birthday, not including the kids. Wow was it a lot of work, but turned fun. I completely understand about obligatory invitations. You'll be fine - When's the party?

Thought I'd share some pictures from ours :)
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p60903e3d072fea735d746d303cc8254f/f0388414.jpg http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p917514d5806f2889422af167d77509dc/f03883b2.jpg http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p76bc8bd65949eed8d08d49b46a9012ad/f038834e.jpghttp://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p118fba8755c0fbd4e0ccf2eca00ad09a/f0388285.jpg

[NMG]

Fancyn - what a cutie pie you're son is!! I love the cakes, especially the smash cake!!! I am such an awful cake decorator - for my daughters first birthday I had made a cake just for Tesa, DH, myself and the grandparents and I think half of everything I wrote was on the side of the cake :D For her big party we bought one!

The party is March 4th at 3:00 - Mikey usually goes down between 12:30 and 1:00 and takes between a 1-1/2 and 2 hr nap so we should be good there (hopefully - of course that will be the day he won't want to nap till later!). I decided to do an ice cream cake (did that for Tesa's 2nd b-day and it all got gobbled up) and I'm also making a pound cake with strawberries and whip cream. I should be used to having all the people over since I've invited the same people for Tesa's 2 b-day parties, but I always think I won't have enough food!

I'll have to post the invitations tonight or tomorrow since I'm not home right now.......how do you do that anyways - just copy and paste :confused:

[Katie-Did]

Emily, I want to thank you for sharing your "peewew" story with us. I remembered this morning as I was getting Aaron dressed and did it to him - and was rewarded with those great belly laughs. He was laughing like that last night with his daddy. Aaron would put a spoon in my DH's mouth and my DH would "spit" it out, which Aaron thought was hysterical.

Nancy, your cakes look fantastic! I too like the #1 cake. I did cupcakes for Aaron's birthday, and he ate a whole one all by himself.

My husband's family tells the story about his first birthday cake (over 30 years ago). It was an ice cream cake and they gave some to my DH, who loved it but cried because it was cold. Apparently he was eating it and crying at the same time. I'll have to ask my MIL for some of those pictures, I bet they're funny.

Happy Friday, everyone!

[fancyn]

Thanks for the cake compliments! I was originally doing a 3D airplane cake and wussed out at the last minute. Between all the other food and getting the house ready, this was all I could pull out.

NMG, Emily gave me these instructions a long time ago, HTH!!

1.) Log onto Imagestation.com and follow their instructions on uploading a piture. (I found that this website works better than others for posting pictures)

2.) View the picture and right click on the picture. Select Properties off of the menu that pops up, then highlight the entire Address portion (http: through .jpg) and <ctrl> "C" to copy it.

3.) In your post to the thread, click on the IMG button and paste the address into the field and select OK.

[Molli526]

Nancy, your cake looks great and it is a nice picture of the 3 of you :)

[Katie-Did]

Since Nancy helpfully gave the instructions for posting a picture, I thought I would show off my little boy. We'll see if it works...

This is Aaron. His most commented-on feature is his wild, stick-up hair! Some days it's in full force, and others it's a crazy half up, half down combo. I can't tell you how many people come up to me and say something like, "My son's hair was just like that when he was little!" I always ask them how old he/she was when it laid down, and the typical response is 2-3 years.

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/All%20Users/Documents/My%20Pictures/New/2-06/Aaron%202-9-06.JPG

file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/All%20Users/Documents/My%20Pictures/New/2-06/Aaron's%20balloon%202-8-06%20(2).JPG

[EmilyK]

The pictures are going to have to be uploaded into a site such as imagestation in order to post them. Can't wait to see this wild hair! :)

[NMG]

Hhhhhhhhhhmmmmmm - let's see if this works
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/pdf1b77fc6a5fcc8e7cc85ade0b47f776/f02ff77e.jpg
[IMG]http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/pe4c72a73d1e2109a61af77156b8d2b8b/f02f4b12.jpg

Yaaaaaahhhhhh - it worked!!! Ok - so here's the invites I sent out - I think they turned out pretty cute ;) The one pic in the top right corner is Mikey and his sister Tesa :D

[Katie-Did]

I thought I did upload them onto imagestation, but I guess I didn't get them all the way uploaded. Let's try again. Hopefully, you'll be "introduced" to Aaron. The close-up picture is him coming for the camera. I can only get in one or two shots before he's coming towards me to see if I'll give it to him so he can push the buttons!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p9eff9a915f1b897a06c80d4bbe84267d/f02fdcdf.jpg.thumb.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p86d35b472db2afef6dc0a493ab2e0c8a/f02fd977.jpg.thumb.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p506e97763c97f2c315797a361c9786a9/f02fd5f6.jpg.thumb.jpg

I loved Mikey's birthday invitation! What a great idea, and such a wonderful keepsake.

[Katie-Did]

They turned out so small, let me try one more thing. Thanks for your patience as I figure this out!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p9eff9a915f1b897a06c80d4bbe84267d/f02fdcdf.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p86d35b472db2afef6dc0a493ab2e0c8a/f02fd977.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p506e97763c97f2c315797a361c9786a9/f02fd5f6.jpg

[NMG]

Katie-Did - Aaron is such a cutie!!! How'd he like the snow??? Are you in the Pittsburgh area??? Thanks about the invitations. A friend had sent me one similar for her daughters b-day and I loved them!

[aprilbride]

Love those invites (did you make them or buy them?) and Aaron is adorable:-))

Thanks for all the feedback on the "hard tummy" business last week....it still happens once in a while, but doesn't seem to be a problem.

For those of you working on signs...what's the sign for "more"? I've noticed this weekend that whenever Elliott sits down to eat and either a)he runs out of food or b)I don't feed him quickly enough, he does the cutest little hand motion that appears to mean he wants more..I need to ask at daycare tonight if that's where he got it from...

The little man is doing great...feeding himself solids like a champ these days..he's also very talkative which cracks DH and I up! Can't believe he's going to be 10 months old next week!

[NMG]

Aprilbride - thanks! I made them on Print Shop (I believe that was the program I used) - I got the idea from a friend who sent me one similar for her daughters first b-day :D
I'm glad your little mans "hard belly" doesn't seem to be bothering him - did you ever find out what the cause was?

[aprilbride]

Very cute! Elliott's 1st B-Day is coming up in April and I'll probably start looking for some options soon..

I think the hard tummy was due to eating to much..we've also laid off the bananas a bit....

[MinEaston]

Happy Monday (yeah, right)
DD: Anna, almost 1!

Anna's working on two more teeth (she has 6 already) so she was a bit clingy over the weekend. DH had a stomach thing and was pretty much out of commission all day Saturday. Anna spent the day asking for "papa" but then yesterday when I wanted to get things done while she played with him, she would have nothing of it if she could hear I was still in the house! Ack!

We've been signing to her as well, and now she has really caught on to signing for "nursing." She understands "all done" and we are working on "more" and "eat." She also waves bye-bye (not a real sign, but very cute) and sort of smacks her lips together when you blow kisses. So much fun!

We are having a casual gathering of friends/grandparents at our house on her birthday (the 25th), and I'm hoping to make a carrot cake of some kind. That's about the only plans I have!

I thought I'd join in the picture sharing, too.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p4b67e3013bc8a447e84ef84233d4ddcd/f02f1273.jpg
Here's the link to the album if that doesn't work.
Anna's album (http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=2114979275)

[Katie-Did]

The sign for more is to touch all five fingers of both closed hands together, meeting hands at midline. Aaron does his more like clapping, but we know when he's asking for more and when he's clapping (usually for something that he's proud of himself for - it's really cute).

[Katie-Did]

NMG - Yes, we do live in the Pittsburgh area, northwest of the city in a little town called Ellwood City. We just moved here about 6 weeks ago, so we're getting used to the area. It's been snowing a lot here, but not accumulating really. The big storm went east of us, so we haven't been able to play with Aaron in a lot of snow yet. We bundle him up to take him for walks in the 25-30 degree weather! I can't wait for spring when we can just put shoes on to go outside, and not take at least 15 minutes to bundle everyone up. It's worth it to get outside, though.

[EmilyK]

All the little wobblers are so cute!! I know they're not "babies" anymore, but I still them of them that way...

Here's a link to Gavin's album: Photo Album (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/emilyking630/album?.dir=/47b1&.src=ph&.tok=phRpRVEBCdyjIRIH)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p548532a4ed4e99d3a8f60adb3758c6b2/f02ef266.jpg (http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/emilyking630/album?.dir=/47b1&.src=ph&.tok=phRpRVEBCdyjIRIH)

He's a little ham with about a million expressions!! We used just regular generic invites for his b-day party, but we're only inviting family. Our house is WAY too small to handle much more than that.

My "gift" to DH from Gavin for Valentine's Day is going to be a home-run. We're not buying big presents... so I went out and found some of those crayola markers and paper that don't mark on anything but the paper. While DH was busy working downstairs this weekend, I had Gavin "draw" him a picture (using the term "draw" loosely, as it was me trying to make him draw while he tried to eat the markers). I also traced his hands. It's his very first drawing and DH can hang it on the wall of his cubicle. :) I probably should have picked up some of the finger paints instead, but this worked out pretty well.

MinEaston, are you going to try the 1st birthday cake from wholesomebabyfood.com? I did a trial run of that with the sugar free cream cheese frosting. It has a little more "tang" than a regular cake/frosting, but there isn't a single bit of extra sugar (cane variety) in it or trans fats! Which is what I was going for. You use raisins, carrots, and concentrated apple juice to sweeten everything. Pretty tasty if you ask me!! Gavin also really liked it.

[JenZen]

OK, so seeing as how we're sharing pictures, I thought I'd join in. These are from about a month ago. I haven't taken anything in a while.

http://images.snapfish.com/345%3C%3A9963%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3C4%3E2%3B 9%3E%3A%3B49%3B4a38335532%3E232439899%3B%3B%3A2ot1 lsi

This is from Gabe's birthday in December:

http://images.snapfish.com/345%3C%3A9974%7Ffp338%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3C4%3E2%3B 9%3E%3A945%3B3a38333532%3E232435%3A88%3A554ot1lsi

And, here's his cake! (So, I'm not quite Martha Stewart. :) )

http://images.snapfish.com/345%3C%3A9974%7Ffp337%3Enu%3D3237%3E%3A%3C4%3E2%3B 9%3E%3A945%3B3a38333532%3E232435%3A88%3A54%3Bot1ls i

[fancyn]

I was MIA for a few days, but I'm back! :) Nicholas is doing a little better. I dropped him off at the sitter's yesterday (ok'd by her) keeping my fingers crossed. The day was so-so, but not awful. Last night was a whole different story. He was up off and on for almost 3 hours hysterical, throwing tantrums, NOTHING would calm him. I'm attributing it to the 4 teeth you see budding, aftermath of the RSV, aftermath of the MMR (they said 10-14 days) and being out of any sort of routine. <sigh> I'm one tired mama.

On the other hand, all the little ones are absolutely adorable!!! Watching them grow up is so precious - keep em' coming!!!

JenZen, Your cake is darling. Martha might have competition! i love the top pic of Gabe. What camera do you have?

Emily, Gavin is a cutie as always. Did your sister make him the hat?

MinEaston, Ana has such long pretty hair! She doesn't look a bit tiny like I imagined. It's nice to have a sweetheart amongst all the boys here. ;)

Katie, Aaron is a doll. And my Nicholas has hair that won't lay too! Are you kidding me...2-3 years?!?! :D

NMG, LOVE the invitations! You are very creative! Why did you black out your number? I was planning on RSVPing. ;) :p

[JenZen]

Ugh. We're teething over in this corner, too. Gabe was up at 10:30, at which point I gave him medicine, and then he woke up crying at 4:30, at which point DH brought him in bed with me. I can never sleep when Gabe is in bed with me, because I'm always afraid of rolling on him. So, I'm tired this morning. Maybe it's because I'm pregnant, or maybe I'm just tired. Don't know.

Otherwise, Gabe's been pretty happy. I just know teeth are coming through because he is so not himself.

fancyn - I have the Canon Rebel film camera. I might get the digital version with our tax refund. :)

[EmilyK]

Nancy, are you telling me the 12 month shots are going to make him all sick/fussy/crying again!? Ack! I'm so not looking forward to that and am going to schedule them the weekend AFTER his birthday party. <sigh> Yes, all the hats (more in the album) are made by my sister... I really need to add them to the website. I already had a complaint from DM that she was trying to do some advertising and the newest creations were nowhere to be found! :p

JenZen, you won't regret it... I just LOVE my digital rebel!! :) You take such wonderful pictures of your little man... so neat to see him "all grown up"!

[NMG]

Everyones munchkins are so cute!!! They grow up so fast :(

JenZen - Mikey was up twice last night too - I believe he has an ear infection because he's been really clingy the past few days (more so than his seperation clingyness) and I noticed him wacking his ear a lot last night. We have a doc's appointment at 2:15 - gotta leave work at 1:00.

Fancyn - thanks! You're more than welcome to join us - there's already 70 on the guest list (we have humongus families (wow - I can't spell that one to save my life)) - so whats a few more people!!

EmilyK and MinEaston - does using apple juice to sweeten baked goods work for any baked good recipe??? Is there a ratio for that??

Katie-Did - Ok - I know roughly where that's at, we live in the south hills and we rarely go outside of the south!

[EmilyK]

NMG, not sure how I would go about using apple juice concentrate to sweeten other baked goods, since I'm just looking at a recipe! :) I'm sure if you modified the liquid and subbed for some/all of the sugar it might work. Here's where I found the cake recipe I'm using for DS's 1st birthday: http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/tipFirstBDay.htm. I did find an interesting article about food subs: http://www.betterendings.org/nutrition/basics.htm. Regardless of what you use, it IS still sugar. I'm just trying to avoid refined sugars and trans fats right now. :)

[fancyn]

Emily, Unfortuately these were the worst shots! The MMR one had him climbing over DH in pain. It's the same one they get before kindergarten and the nurse said the 5 yo thinks it burns bad. I'd never seen him react like that before. :( :mad: :( . But on the up-side, DH held him and not me! :eek: ;) Let me know how your cakes go. I just made the magnolia bakery white cake (and not a favorite of mine I now know). No trans-fat but laden with sugar and saturated fats. I thought it'd be fine just once. :)

[JenZen]

Wow. With all this talk of apple juice and non-saturated fats, I'm feeling like the leniant mom. :) Gabe's birthday cake was full-fat traditional chocolate cake with buttercream frosting. I figured, "What the heck! It's his first birthday, and you only get one of those!" That's what birthdays are about, right?

:D :D :D

[Molli526]

I am a lenient mom too - I give Charles stuff made with white sugar. Not all the times, but on occasion. I *made* marshmallows for his Valentine's Party at school today, those are all sugar! Small pieces, but all sugar :eek:

Re: 1yr shots. I would recommend getting them after the b-day party. Charles was one of the kids who had a reaction to his Chicken Pox vaccine - to the day. The Dr's office said about 10 days post vacc. is when a reaction shows, and sure enough!

[LaraW]

Delurking on the immunizations...

I don't know if you do this or not, Emily, but I always gave DD a dose of Tylenol at the doctor's office before the shot was given. That gave it a chance to get into her system for a few minutes.

I also found that having a morning appointment helped, because it seemed like it took about 24 hours from the time she got the shot until she felt better. She would sleep a lot of it off the day of the shot and that night, and hopefully be feeling better by the time she got up in the morning. One time we had an appointment at 4:00 pm, and the whole next day was horrible.

Tylenol helped a lot, and just staying on it every 4-6 hours if they seem uncomfortable. And, of course, lots of cuddles and love from Mom and Dad. :)

[EmilyK]

Well, I'm not trying to make myself out to be a tight-@$$ mommy... we just have a bunch of overweight folks in our families and heart disease (DH's father had his first heart attack at 40 and passed away after his 6th at 60), so as a family we avoid refined "white stuff" and trans fats. I think the trans fats are probably about the worst thing you can put into your system... but, it's all personal opinion. :) DH and I are both fighting high cholesterol (each level approx. 250 when we had it tested at 24 YO) and our 12 year old niece has a level 300+. It's important to us. And, before anybody says otherwise, I'm aware we can't always avoid these thing, but this is how we eat. I don't have any white sugar or AP flour in my house and haven't for probably the last 3 years or so. You'd be surprised how many "special" foods you can make healthy, including pancakes, waffles, cookies, cakes, etc. :p

Good to know about the shots. 4 months was TERRIBLE for us... and we always give a dose of tylenol or motrin before the shots, especially after the bad round. We usually go on a Friday, so most will work out of his system by the time Monday rolls around.

[fancyn]

Hey Em, I'm not bashing you on how you eat - I TRULY understand!! :) I tried to smile the other day when my MIL told me she gave DS ramen noodles with "low cholesterol" margarine. WHAT?! I try to find comfort in the fact I know what is going in his mouth 99% of the time. I bet your cake will be wonderful!

[EmilyK]

Oh Nancy, I know nobody is bashing how we eat... I was just trying to explain why we're what some might call "weird" (and I'm sure our sitter thinks we're absolute nuts when it comes to food). The trial run of the cake this weekend turned out VERY tasty, so I think it'll be pretty good on his birthday. :)

[Molli526]

Emily,

If we had that family history, you can believe we would be as diligent as you and DH are. That is scary cholesterol your niece has. :eek:

Oh! I am also a big proponent of giving Tylenol before shots - usually right before we leave the house.

[NMG]

Oh yes, Tylenol before shots is a must with my kids. They always seem to get some reaction and the tylenol or motrin helps tremendously :D
Well, Mikey has an ear infection and 5 teeth coming in right now. 1 eye tooth, 1 molar and 3 other misc teeth :( Him and Tesa are at my MIL today since I really couldn't miss work today and they aren't feeling super hot - poor babies :( hhhhhmmmmmm - I should just leave work anyways and go and pick them up..........maybe I can out of here early, I hope so.
I'm actually just trying to find other ways to sweeten baked goods - don't get me wrong, I'll bake it whether its healthy or not (most likey it's not - hahaha) - but goodies are "treats".
EmilyK - I think that's great that you are trying to get your cholesterol down and obviously trying to prevent your little one from getting high cholesterol - that's scarey when it runs in your family :( Thanks for the sites too - I'll be checking htose out soon!!!

[fancyn]

Hang in there NMG!! We're still dealing with the ear infections and teething on our end too!

So our tantrums seem to be tapering. Only 30 mins last night :rolleyes: . He plays just fine w/me or by himself. But they seem to start as soon as DH gets home. I truly can't understand it - it's the flopping, back arching, shrill/shreik screaming and crying. DH normally gives the bath, but last night we decided to mix it up so I tried it. Hysterical the whole time. Once i got him out and wrapped in a towel I started singing and rocking him and he almost fell asleep on the spot. Once I layed him down to get dressed, the shriek-crying began again. Is he over tired? He gets 11 to 12 hours a night with a 2 hour nap. Is it DH (who's always been the fun, attention giving, play guy)? Is this some sort of phase? Is he secretly mad at me? Do his teeth hurt? Is it his ears? Separation anxiety?

Is this sounding familiar to anyone??? :o

[EmilyK]

Nancy, you have him on a one nap/day schedule, right? You may want to try shifting back to the 2/day schedule and see if that helps. I know when Gavin doesn't take his afternoon nap (too distracted, etc.) he's an absolute bear the entire evening, acting almost exactly like you're describing. Definitely sounds over-tired to me... Of course, they might also be going through a phase... we have scream-fests when we lay him down to change diapers or clothes, but that's also when he's tired in the evening. I know this is the age when routine is really being solidified, so the "mixing it up" may have thrown him for a loop.

Our daytime schedule is a little wacky, since we get up so early, but on the weekends, DS will sleep 11-13 hours at night and then will take 2 naps during the day (30-60 minutes each). We refer to these naps as his "recharge time". I know the time totals up to 2 hours of naps, but they are spread out throughout the day.

[fancyn]

Em, since he's been sick he's been back to the 2 naps a day, each one being 1 hour or more. Down by 7 every night. This just started Monday evening, when he had to go back to daycare and get back into the "routine". She says for the most part he's fine and back to normal at her house (minus the nap thing). I'm ruling out the ears b/c he's been on antibiotics for 2 weeks.

Monday night he woke up at 8:30 and screamed until 10. We attempted to negotiate with him and finally gave up after an hour. NOTHING has been calming him down. He seems to want Jason, but then still screams when he gets held by him. We finally let him scream himself asleep which took about 10 minutes or so. Then he woke up at 3 and the same thing happened again til 4:30.

Tuesday night it started about 6 and lasted until 7:30 when he finally went down for bed.

Last night it started during dinner, continuing through bath time, until bed time. And last night was the first time I've given him a bath in ages. The other nights have been DH. I'm just stumped and my blood pressure can't take much more. DH is working late tonight so he won't be there when bed time rolls around. I'm super curious to see if he pulls this stunt with only me.... :(

[Katie-Did]

Nancy,
It sounds like Nicholas (and you and your DH) have had a rough go for a while. Aaron went through about 6 weeks of having difficult nights. He's finally been back on track the past few weeks, but it was wearing on all of us. I just checked out "The Happiest Toddler on the Block" from the library and there's a section in there on night waking. I wish I had read it before those rough nights, but it seemed to have some helpful suggestions. Even if you don't have time to read the whole book, you could skip to that section in the book.

Has anyone else read this book? I'm curious what others think, especially about the whole speaking "Toddlerese" thing. I've started trying it with Aaron with mixed success, but I feel like an idiot when I try!

[fancyn]

Thanks for the suggestion on the book!!! Unfortunately there are none available right now. :( While I'm waiting for a branch to get one, are there any helpful tips you can share - how to handle them or atleast why they are happening?

[fancyn]

Just reporting in to say we had no tantrums/melt downs. WoOhOo!! Nicholas was my perfect angel last night. Played well, ate well, bathed well, and went down well. And we had no night wakings. Now I'm convinced it has something to do with DH. But what? He loves that big play guy....:D

It's finally Friday! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

[MinEaston]

Nancy, so glad to hear your evening went better!

TGIF here, too. It's been a crazy week. DH has a concert this weekend and was not home M, T, W nights, (nor will he be home tonight or tomorrow night), so it's been just Anna & me. She's been somewhat cranky and clingy all week. Turns out, she has an ear infection. I feel so bad that I didn't take her to the Dr before yesterday (and yesterday only because daycare sent her home with a fever and I didn't like the sound of the cough!). So she's on antibiotics for 10 days. I guess I should feel lucky, this is her first round of any meds other than motrin or tylenol. And last night she was great, toddling all around choir practice at church, smiling at everyone. She's at my parents today and my mother emailed to say she's doing very well.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

[NMG]

Sounds like ear infection are contagious this week!!! hahaha - well, I guess its really not funny :p Mikey seems to be doing a little better now that he's on meds - babysitter took Mikey, Tesa and another little girl Ciara to the zoo today! She just called and they are having a ball!
On the family front, DH's dad left his mom on Valentines Day for another woman and we are all very angry and confused as to why (since he still says he loves DH's mom, that he had it so good there with her, blah, blah, blah). Needless to say, the more she told me what he was saying to her (and at this point, who the heck knows if its the truth or not) it almost sounds like he feels he has the right to go and "play the field" and then come back if there nothing good out there. I really don't think she wants him back after some extremely nasty and cruel comments :mad: that he made towards her but I guess I'm wondering if there's anything I can do for her or my DH other than being there for them and listening w/o comment when they need me to??? Also, DH's mom said it would be fine if DH's dad came to Mikey's b-day party, but I don't know if Joe will be ready to see him by then. Any suggestions :confused: Someone on the preschool thread thought maybe DH's dad could come over one night and hang out with Mikey adn Tesa (maybe I could have him come over on a night that Joe has school??).
MinEaston - I hope Anna starts to feel better and hopefully she won't get any more ear infections since this is only her first.
Nancy - Mikey gets like that with Joe if I'm around and usually for a while when I leave. I believe I had mentioned before with Tesa (now I don't know how often your DH is home, but mines a plumber and is on call a lot) and even though when she was really little she loved playing with him, for a while she had a tantrums when Joe would come home and would want to play with her, hold her, etc (and she would even ask me as we were pulling into the driveway if Daddy was home). He started taking her to the pet store, hardware store, to pick up milk, etc and it all seems to have subsided greatly with her. Now we have to work on Mikey, I don't know, maybe feeling more comfy with DH???? And maybe like you said, it could all be seperation anxiety :confused: It stinks when they can't tell you what going on :(

[EmilyK]

Well, I'm bummed. Gavin has decided that he doesn't want to nurse anymore so we're officially weaning this weekend. :( I know I can't force him to nurse if he doesn't want to, but it's still depressing. <sigh> He only nursed for a couple minutes on each side this morning and that was it. We'll see how it goes; I'm not pumping to keep up my supply. So, how bad is this going to hurt? :confused:

Now here's our issue: we think he might not be able to process the whole cow's milk. It's the only new thing we've added into his diet this weekend. I gave him half bmilk and half whole milk in a sippy, which he took fine yesterday (maybe a total of 1.5 oz of cow milk). Today, I was giving it to him straight out of his sippy and he took maybe 2 ounces and then this evening was vomiting. Not spitting up, but throwing up. He didn't seem upset or lacking an appetite... just threw up big-time twice. We gave him mild foods for dinner (attempted to give him pedialyte, but he wanted nothing to do with it) and some bmilk out of his sippy cup. We have quite a bit of frozen bmilk left in the freezer, so we are okay for a little while. If he IS in fact not able to drink regular milk, what on earth do we give him? Can we give soy milk? (it's all I can drink) He does okay with cheese, yogurt, and cottage cheese. Maybe we should wait a week and try the whole milk with him again?

Thanks for any advice you guys can give us... :)

NMG, wow that's a rough family situation you have going on!! I agree with the mom from the preschool thread about maybe having him come on a different day to spend time with Mikey - it would be easier on everybody. Good luck!

MinEaston, poor Anna! I hope she's feeling much better now and had a wonderful weekend... and you are very lucky this is the first time she's been sick.

[NMG]

How about the lady DH's dad's been (well, you all know) k icked him out on Fri sometime and now DH's dad's back home!! I feel like I'm in a soap opera! Not sure what they (DH's parents) are planning on doing, but I hope DH's mom doesn't get hurt anymore than she already has been. Ok - that's enough of that!
On to better things........I think Mikey's ear infection if finally disappearing and he seems to be feeling like hisself again. Eating up a storm as usual and really seems to be understanding so much. He's trying to talk more (which is totally funny!!) and decided to pee on the floor within the 5 mins he was cruising around naked :D All and all we had a really good weekend with the kids.
Emily - that stinks Gavin feels ready to wean - I wasn't able to nurse Mikey as long as Tesa since he was nursing and eating almost a full bottle afterwards........I did find that cutting back 1-2 nursings (is that a word) a day made it so that my breasts didn't hurt while my milk was drying up. As for the milk, not really sure. Maybe give him a few days and mix a little cow's milk in with the breast milk again and see how it goes. I can't see him being lactose intolerant if he's able to eat cheese, yogurt, etc. It might just be too strong for him to have the straight cows milk out of the sippy cup. Hope it works out for you and Gavin :D

[Molli526]

Emily,

That does sound like somewhat of a milk reaction, but maybe he has gotten the stomach virus that has been going around? Was the rxn immediate? The only reason I wonder about the bug is b/c he tolerated the milk the day before. As well as yogurt, cheese and cottage cheese. I have a friend, whose son is just 1yr and he can't tolerate ANY dairy. She gave him a spoon of yogurt and he had an immediate rxn - eyelids swelled, hives and immediate vomitting. Then again, maybe b/c it was mixed with the BM, he could handle it better? My other friend's daughter had a thing with straight cow's milk until she was ~18 mos, could eat yogurt and cheese just fine. They gave her soy and rice milk.

Re the weaning: I would try again tonight (I think you said you were still bf-ing am and pm) and maybe he will go for it. He could be just gun shy after the vomitting. If he does decide no go, cabbage leaves in a very tight sports bra helps immensely. You will need to change the leaves periodically, but they really do help. Also, if need by, express just a little to make yourself comfortable but not completely empty.

[EmilyK]

Molli, the reaction wasn't immediate but an hour or two after the plain milk. It was also just the 2 instances of throwing up - he's perfectly fine today. He was always a spit-uppy kid and didn't slow down with it until 10 months or so and still sometimes does it when he's over-tired. I half wonder if he was reacting to the milk as well as refusing to take his afternoon nap? We'll try the milk again next weekend to see if he still has issues with it. When we first tried yogurt with him, he had the same vomit-type episodes. :rolleyes: This is so much fun...

I didn't even try to nurse him this morning and he didn't seem to care one bit. I'm not uncomfortable. Yet. I may have DH pick up some cabage on his way home from work... :)

[KristaMB]

Emily, You might want to check with your pediatrician about the milk. Megan was having major constipation issues when we switched to milk, even though I gradually went from BF, to formula at 10 months then to whole milk at 1 year. She was just miserable and it was so hard to watch. My doctor had me go all the way back to full bottles of formula, then after 1 week go to 3/4 formula 1/4 milk, wait two weeks; then half formula, half milk, wait two weeks; 3/4 milk, 1/4 formula, wait two weeks; then all cow's milk. It was a frustrating process, but it worked. My nephew had the opposite problem with milk, and even though he did fine with regular baby formula for a year, his pediatrician had my SIL switch him to soy formula and now soy milk. (She has milk allergies in her family, and my brother was lactose intolerant as a kid.)

[JanetB]

EmilyK -

I would get Gavin evaluated by an allergist!! He may be allergic to milk. My DS couldn't tolerate whole milk until after 14 months - he could take the odd cheese or yogurt - but not milk or any formula we tried as a back up to BF. The reaction was never immediate - it first started in the hospital - my milk hadn't come in - and we let him have formula - he was gassy and spitting up. We thought we just had a colicy boy. We didn't give him formula for three or four months - but had it on hand as a back-up - my folks were watching him one day - and I was delayed- so they had to give him formula - he was fine - gulped it down - I got back two hours after this and was greeted with a huge vomiting episode.

I kept him on breastmilk until 14 months - and then no problems - although - man was he a reluctant child to wean. The allergist suspected that he had an intolerance type allergy to milk protein that is broken down in breast milk. And, he grew out of it @ 19 months he can drink milk and eat cheese, etc. with no problems. If you can take soy milk - they have soy milk formulas that are suggested as alternatives - ask your pediatrician about them. Due to my soy allergies they weren't recommended for my little man.

All the best,

Janet

[EmilyK]

Do you guys think I should take him to our pediatrician first? I wouldn't even know where to try to find an allergist. We'll be taking him for his 1-year appointment sometime in mid-March. For the first 4-5 months I breastfed him, I wasn't able to eat anything containing dairy, because it would cause him to spit up WAY more than he normally did and made the colic so much worse. I was able to gradually add it back into my diet and have no restrictions by around 5 months. Also, with him being a year old on 3/9, do I need to give him formula? I would like to avoid it if at all possible... we may have enough frozen bmilk to make it past a year and I always have soy milk in the fridge. I ran out of thawed bmilk this morning and did half bmilk and half soy milk in his oatmeal - he didn't mind at all. I should note that I know he doesn't have any problems with soy, as he eats tofu, veggie dogs, and edamame with no issues.

<sigh> I hate not knowing what the right answer is...

ETA: we hadn't discussed adding cow's milk to his diet prior to doing it, they never discussed things to avoid, etc. at our 9 month appointment. Maybe we just "jumped the gun" by trying to add it to his diet before he's a year old?

[MinEaston]

Em;

Our Dr. mentioned we could add cow's milk to Anna's diet at her 9-month appt. I only just started doing so regularly about 3 weeks ago, when I ran out of frozen bmilk (I didn't have nearly the stash you do!). It didn't seem to bother her at all, but then again, she wasn't nearly as sensitive to it as Gavin was early on. I don't think there's any need to give him formula at this point, if you have enough bmilk use that, and mix some cow's milk back in over the weekend and see if he tolerates it.

It also very well could have been a small GI virus. Anna brought one home (DH and I got it, two separate weekends), but was never affected by it.

All that being said, it is probably worth discussing allergy testing or whatever with your pediatrician but I would think you could wait until the 12-month well baby visit.

On our end, Anna's ear infection must be clearing because she's back to eating more and is quite cheerful. She has no problem taking the medicine, thankfully. She's given me the same crud, though. I just hope I feel better by the weekend myself. We're not doing anything fancy or big for her birthday, just having some friends & family over for cake & ice cream. Two big boxes have already arrived at the house. My brother came to visit this past Saturday b/c he has to work next weekend, and she got her first set of Lego's - a big bucket of large duplo's. She loves 'em!

[JanetB]

Emily -

I would just give your ped a quick call - and get his/her opinion. I don't know how severe Gavin's reaction was - but Sean's vomiting sessions were very severe - and broke my heart - as I felt it was my fault for giving him something that hurt him like that - so I was very wary of giving him anything that could bring on a reaction.

I too was very determined with BF to make it past the point of formula! Hopefully, you can give him straight soy milk - I think one of my cousins did this for her son. It would be such a pain to have to break out formula at this stage of the game - wouldn't it!

Good luck,

Janet

[Chelle D]

Okay, I was going to wait until March to join but I need help now! :eek:

Me: Michelle, 30
DH: Jesper, 31
DS: Maxwell 9.5 Months

Maxwell just started pulling himself up last week and now he is all over the place. He has been rolling and scooting for awhile, but now that he can pull himself up, it seems he is one big ball of energy and is so interested in everything. I am dealing with that fairly well. I watch him well, have childproofed the house (for the most part, still need to add a couple things but nothing immediate until he is walking) and put up the pack n play so I can put him in it when I shower or need to go get laundry.

My HUGE challenge the past few days is sleeping. He has been waking up in the night for a couple weeks, which I read is just his age. Well now, he wakes up, rolls over, sits up and stands. It takes forever for him to go back to sleep and he usually doesn't unless I go in there and nurse him back to sleep. Simply rocking will not do. He cannot crawl, so many times he backs himself into a corner of the crib and then cannot sit up or move at all and starts to cry and scream. Even worse than night wakings are naps. I have been mildly successful at putting him down awake after a story and nursing. Now, I put him down, he flips over and stands up. It took me 2 hours to get him a nap yesterday. Now, I just put him in there and he is playing and I am sure it will escalate to crying in about 20 minutes. HELP!

[EmilyK]

(((Chelle))) Sorry I can't offer much advice... I have a terrible time with naps and Gavin is nearly a year old!! Sometimes he'll go down great and be asleep after 15 minutes or so. Other times, he'll be in there talking/singing/playing/crying for 1+ hour and then I'll take him out. <shrug> This happened during his pm nap yesterday. I took him out and tried again in an hour and he went down after 30 minutes of talking in there. How long do you let him talk at night before going in to get him? Gavin stands in his crib a LOT and just had to figure out how to get down and lay down to sleep on his own. I hope this is just a phase and you'll be having an easier time in a couple of weeks!!

I'm going to call our ped.'s office over my lunchbreak to see if they can offer any advice. Tonight, I'm going to go through our frozen bmilk stash to see how much we actually have in there and try to estimate how far we can get. He's going through about 4 bags of 6+ oz/each per day...

On a happier note, here's a picture of my little man from yesterday. We had a fun time, just the two of us...

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p1ca34b5d4811ca49732082489abf90f4/f0176a40.jpg

[KristaMB]

Emily, I think calling your ped. is definitely the best thing. I don't think you've done anything wrong by introducing milk earlier than a year. You're only a few weeks shy of that, and IMHO those few weeks wouldn't have made much of a difference. Maybe you could go back to all BM for a week or a few days then try a more gradual approach to milk, whether it be cow's milk or soy milk? Hopefully you enough of a stash to do that! I'm sure your pediatrician will have a good suggestion.

March 1st is a federally mandated reporting deadline in my industry so my PT work has been more like FT and it's just been crazy these last few weeks. Unfortunately Megan decided to change her schedule, too. She has been waking up anywhere between 4:45-5:30! :eek: We moved her bedtime back to 6:45 the last two nights and she's done better, but I'm not sure if it's because she has a cold, or if the sleep adjustment is really working. I really hope this works for the long haul.

Chelle, when Megan started pulling up at naps and at night, we would either let her CIO or go in and lay her back down, say "goodnight" and walk out. She would often cry, and it was hard not to give in, but she had to learn to get herself back down. Not napping was not an option. Hopefully others will have different options in case CIO isn't right for you and Maxwell.

[Chelle D]

THank you for the advice so far. I have tried CIO a few times in the last few days. The problem is, Maxwell has never been a cryer. Even when he came out, he didn't cry. The hospital kept poking his feet and checking his oxygen levels :) He's pretty laid back, but as hard as it is now for me to try letting him CIO, I do it. Then, he gets so worked up he has trouble breathing. It's almost like he has the hiccups and can't breathe right all at the same time. I think I will let him cry more and more until he realizes how to lie back down. I did go in there a few times and lay him back down, give him his blanket and a book he sleeps with. I will keep doing that and I know it will pass.

Things change so fast. I remember watching him in his bouncy seat and wishing he would DO SOMETHING. Now he does and I wish he would just sleep. :o :)


Emily - Those glasses are so cute!


I love to share pics :) This is Maxwell and Lincoln the dog.

http://family.dinesen.us/gallery/albums/9-Months/9_months_016.sized.jpg

[EmilyK]

I tried calling the nurse yesterday, but I got her voicemail and it said that I need to be available for a call-back for 2 hours and that's not possible at my office (cell phones don't work where I am). So... I'm going to try calling them today, since I'm home with Gavin who has a 100.3 temp. :rolleyes: I don't think he's sick, just a slight temp. DH checked our frozen stash of BMilk and we only have 16 packages left out there! :eek: I thought there was so much more, but we've been going through it a lot lately. Maybe I shouldn't have tossed in the towel this weekend or should have kept up my pumping session at work... too late for that now.

Does anybody know if I should be giving him a vitamin (drops)? I asked at an early appointment (maybe around 6 months) and they told me no, but I don't know now that he's on solids. Our well-baby 1-year appointment isn't until almost the end of March.

Chelle... OMG! Maxwell is SO cute!! Looks like he's good pals with Lincoln the dog, too! You're very lucky to have had such a mild-tempered baby - I can only dream of what that would be like! Gavin will cry so hard he starts coughing and choking, which I think is pretty normal.

Krista - did Megan wake up at a more reasonable time this morning? Hopefully the earlier bedtime works.

[sweetpea]

well, you all are a busy group! i finally have a few free minutes as DD is sleeping in today! well, emma will be 16 months in a few days and all is well. she has cut several back teeth and is con't to be a good sleeper and one napper! hilarious story from yesterday: getting ready for bed and i took off her diaper and let her run around with just her onesy on so she could air out a bit--all of a sudden i hear a "spfffftt" and look over at her. she is squatting reading a book and 6 grapes come flying out her behind. not cut, WHOLE grapes! (hmmm...grams or nana?) no other poo, just the grapes. it was like a machine gun! i was DYING...too bad DH wasn't here to witness it but we laughed for quite a while when i told him about it :)

chelle--maxwell has gotten so big and grown up! so cute! emma did the same thing--not really the stand up stuff, but she did do everything else. it was a rough few months--she'd get stuck and i'd get her out of the corner then just pat her back, say 'it's night night time' and put walk out. she'd scream. at night we had to do alot of CIO...sorry, wish i had a better answer, but now she is a fabulous sleeper! from 8 p.m. till 7 a.m. (wakes occasionally if she is teething and only needs a minute of comforting to go back down) then usually takes a 2 to 3 hour nap. so look forwards to good stuff soon!!

emily--our doc told us to give emma vit. drops since birth since she was exc. bfd. i couldn't get her to take them so i still have tons of them==i give them to her now and she loves them (yuck). our doc said that was fine--no reason they can't have a multivitamin like we do i guess...so sorry about the milk issues--don't have any help there either as emma did fine with it all. i never mixed bmilk with the whole milk, just started giving her a cup of it at about 10 months and she'd take a bit everyday. but it sounds like he's had issues from the beginning with the dairy you ate, etc. let me know what your doc says to do...here's hoping milk is in his future :)

[MinEaston]

Chelle - great picture! And (((hugs))) about the sleeping. Anna has been waking up once per night for a few months, standing up and howling. I go in there, nurse her briefly, and she's back down. But after we're done with this round of antibiotics I think I'm going to do more CIO, which I had done when she wasn't all snuffly.

Em - let us know what the ped. says. And sorry Gavin's running a temp today (how did you know? you don't take his temp every morning, do you?). It could be anything, and will likely pass.


Amanda - I am so very glad I wasn't drinking coffee or eating anything while reading your post about the grape artillery round. ROTFLMAO!

[EmilyK]

MinEaston, nope I don't take his temp every morning (that would be a funny worry-wart mom thing I might do though, eh?). The sitter mentioned yesterday that he seemed sluggish all day and felt warm, but she didn't know if he had a temp because her thermometer was broken (wahoo!!). This morning, his hands were really hot and he felt really warm to me. I checked and it was 99 under his arm. Then, a few minutes later I checked again (because your temp is always lower when you first wake up) and it was 99.3 underarm. It's up to 99.5 now and he's acting kind of cranky, but that might be due to him wanting to nurse now. :rolleyes: I just put him down for his 2nd nap of the morning, so I don't think he's feeling very well (we'll see if he actually falls asleep).

For entertainment purposes: these cabbages leaves in my bra are making me smell like a German restaurant - just call me Brunhilda. ;) :p

Off to call the ped's office...

[MinEaston]

Between the grape artillery and the Brunhilda reference, I'm not sure I can get any work done now!

[Molli526]

Brunhilda and grape artillery! :D Thank you for the laughs!

[NMG]

Thanks for the laughs - I almost spit my coffee all over my computer while I was reading those!!!

Hi Chelle :) Hate to say it, but I can't offer much advice on the sleeping issue you're having with Maxwell - I've been fortunate in that department except when Tesa was cutting her molars. Maybe once he can sit back down by himself he'll be able to get down in his crib and fall back to sleep on his own???? BTW - he's a cutie pie! I myself am thinking of putting up one of those tents over Mikeys crib because I've caught him numerous times trying to climb out of it!! Soon I'm going to be hearing little feet running around above me while he's supposed to be napping :p

Emily - I hope Gavins not getting sick - mine are finally all better and I am hoping they stay that way (well, forever would be nice :D ) at least thru next weekend for the his party. I hope you get the milk issue resolved too - I haven't had any problems with milk on this end so I really don't have any suggestions for you except that it just might be too strong by itself right now for his little belly. I love Gavins glasses!!!! Too cute :D

I decided I'm going to try and concoct (sp??) some sort of 3D dumptruck for Mikey when we have the grandparents over on his actual birthday. This should be interesting considering I have pretty crappy cake decorating skills!!! Oh well - as long as it tastes good.

[aprilbride]

Hi Moms.....Maxwell and Gavin are so handsome:-)))

Chelle, we went through the same thing and just like everyone else, I don't really have any great advice...When we find Elliott standing up in his crib at night it usually means I actually have to take him out and rock him for a little while because he's wide awake. This doesn't happen very often...what does happen once a week or so is that he's crying in his sleep, still laying down and not appearing awake at all...depending on how long that goes on I usually go in and pat him on the back for a few minutes, which always does the trick. Since we're sharing pics, here are some I took of Elliott yesterday (he turned 10 months old yesterday:-)) and this morning)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/pb0f58bdb408957315550ba49733bbd40/f01439c2.jpg

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/p83c390cd9314875eb5641f9a67675532/f01439bf.jpg

[EmilyK]

Well, I talked to the nurse this morning and she didn't know the answers to my questions so she said his ped. would call me back. She just called back and assured me that as long as he's eating solids really well (which he is), then it's fine for him to try soy milk if cow milk doesn't work with him. I feel so much better about this!! She also said that if he's eating a balanced diet, there's no need for him to be taking a vitamin.

Claudia, Elliot is such a cute little guy! I love seeing baby pictures!

Glad I can help keep you guys entertained... it's the least I can do to counteract all the whining I do! :rolleyes:

[JenZen]

Hi all,

I'm so behind on this thread ....

Just wanted to pipe in with my dr.'s opinion on vitamins. He said that as long as Gabe is getting a balanced diet, he doesn't need them. However, he said they make good rewards, especially the flavored, themed ones. (I remember my mom giving us Flinstone vitamins. :) )

[EmilyK]

Well, looks like we're making a visit to the ped this afternoon... the little man's temp is up over 102 and he's miserable. I'm going to guess that he has an ear infection, judging by how he's not able to get comfortable. He's acting just like he did the last time he had one (back in December). I've given him another dose of tylenol and he's asleep in bed right now - here's hoping he stays down for a little while.

DH is going to be staying home with him tomorrow. I think he'll be better off without the distraction of all the other kids at the sitter while he's getting well. I'm not sure if she'll let him come back, even if all he has is an ear infection. <shrug>

I'd like to give a HUGE thank you to Molli for the cabbage leaves suggestion! :D Things seem to be greatly improved and I'm much more comfortable. I think it might be downhill from here...

[fancyn]

Grrr....I'm so behind too! (blaming it on a cr@ppy work week)

Chelle - In the sleep dept. we went through exactly what you're describing. After we taught him to sit back down, it only took 2-3 days to get back on schedule. I will admit however, that CIO was the only thing that worked for us (though I believe I'm more tolerable than most ;)). If you can, get away to where you can't hear him. I know it's hard seeing your angel so upset, but he'll learn that crying won't get him everything. With us now (DS is 12.5 mos.) Nicholas will come up and tell me night-night. I ask him to show me - he'll walk to his room and tell me "up". I put him in his crib. He smiles and tells me night-night. Done. Like Amanda said, Good stuff will come soon, we promise. :)
Between the grape artillery and the Brunhilda reference, I'm not sure I can get any work done now! HA! Ditto to that!! :D

Emily, glad your milk issues seem to be working themselves out. :) Was he okay with not nursing today? What did the ped. say?

NMG - Ha, good luck with the 3-D dump truck. That was another one of my ideas but you saw how my cake turned out. Do share pics!! And hopefully the family Springer incedents get under control ;). Do hang in there!

Mineaston - Is Anna's real b-day this weekend. Happy 1st if I miss it! DS loves those legos too - though his throwing arm has made them a smidge dangerous and a barefoot hazard.

On our end, the tantrums suddenly stopped. :confused: Even though I know they had something to do with DH, I think I can mainly contribute them to his sickness. Him and DH spend tons of time together without me, so I don't think it was that sort of issue....maybe separation anxiety? In any event, they are gone and I'm happy! We're back on schedule! On a side note, my little niece who's almost 3 month contracted RSV and has been in the hospital. Please send good thoughts/prayers her way! TIA

Oh, I almost forgot! I'm loving all the pics - I'll have to join that club as soon as I get some new ones. :D

ETA - Emily, just saw your post! I hope GAvin feels better!! ANd glad your boobs are good too! ;)

[EmilyK]

Ugh... to add to the drama, Gavin has strep. :eek: Nice to know, since we've been sharing spoons and glasses all day long. <sigh> At least it's something we can give him drugs for and help it go away. I'm thinking he won't be at the sitter's for the rest of the week, though. Swell.

[sweetpea]

emily-so sorry about the strep but thank goodness you caught it early--strep can be very dangerous (deadly) for wee ones! hugs all around!

well, emma felt warm last night when i put her down--took her an hour to fall asleep (unusual) but she was just happy babbling so i left her. then at 1 a.m. she woke up crying--when i went to her she was VERY warm on her face so i got DH up to get the thermometer and when i unzipped her pj's she was on fire! her underarm temp was 102. she seemed fine otherwise though--she stopped crying when i got her, was very calm while we took her temp, happy, etc. so i just gave her some tylenol (out of ibuprofen) and cuddled her a bit then back to her bed. she went back to sleep and was fine this a.m. when i checked her at 5 a.m. SHEW--we are headed to ikea today (4 hour drive) and DD is staying with DM so i was worried she'd need me to stay home! plus i am just glad she is feeling better :) i think it might be her teeth as she's been very happy, etc. otherwise! this is the FIRST fever she has ever had that i know of and she's 16 months!

[EmilyK]

Amanda, you are very lucky that this has been her first fever! Good to hear that she's feeling better this morning. Have fun at Ikea! (where is it?)

I was so sure we would find out he had another ear infection. Humph. So much for mother's intuition, eh? :rolleyes: I talked to DH this morning and our little man has no fever this morning and is feeling pretty chipper now. Isn't it funny how fast those antibiotics can help them feel better? Our sitter is going to take him back tomorrow, so only one day for each of us to miss at work. That is, unless we come down with it! :eek:

[MinEaston]

Em, glad to hear Gavin is feeling better. The antibiotics will help, but they really don't kick in for a couple of days. More likely, the illness came to a head yesterday with the fever and crankiness, and the fever has "broken" and he's "turned the corner" on the illness. Anna's fever that sent her home last week also was short-lived and she was acting much better within 24 hours. Now, after 1 week of the antibiotics her nose is clear and her cough pretty much gone. Mama's, on the other hand... :rolleyes:

[Chelle D]

Emily - awww, yor poor little guy. I hope you can avoid it. I work 2 days a week and Maxwell's Thursday sitter called last night and her son has strep so we are home today. You never know when it will hit, but it seems to go around this time of year. I am happy he is diagnosed though and on his way to recovery.

Amanda - I am a little late but OH MY GOSH about the grapes. I laughed so hard.

Claudia - Elliot is too cute. I have loved seeing pictured of him in the last 10 months. Our little guys are so close in age. I remember seeing pics of you guys in the hospital with a Happy Birthday message on the hospital white board for your birthday. It seems so recent in many ways since they got here, but so much has changed too. They grow so fast!!

NMG - Good luck on the cake. I too am not a big baker or cake decorator, but I am feeling inspired for Maxwell's birthday in May. I think I am going to go research the thread from Molli's train cake she made for Charlie. That was too cute (so Molli, I may be asking for pointers in the next few months!).

Thanks for all the advice on night waking. He is doing better now that I am letting him cry a little, then going in and just laying him back down. I really think he is not all the way awake and is just moving all over. I will go in his room and he is in such weird positions! I pick him up, put him on his back, cover him up, give him his paci (yep, still uses it but only to get to sleep) and he is usually okay after a few little cries. No more rocking in the middle of the night. We will keep at it and see how it goes.

Other news here si that I have a big time wobbler so I guess I am in the right place! :) He is pulling himslef up on everything and wants to stand all the time. I don't know if he will ever crawl - he may walk first at this rate.

[KristaMB]

I need to go pack lunches, but I just wanted to report that Megan has slept from 6:45 until 6:30-7:00 the last few nights. It's such a relief. I was starting to get really cranky due to lack of sleep.

Emily, I hope Gavin continues his speedy recovery.

Amanda, hopefully Emma won't come down with some full blown nasty illness. Aren't those burning fevers scary?

Megan's here pulling at my hands...gotta' go!

[fancyn]

Hello All!! Looks like many of you are with sick little ones - Hope they all feel better soon!! Seems like the mamas always catch what the little ones have. Try to stay healthy Amanda, Emily, and Mineaston! Quick question, what are signs of an ear infection? DS has been putting his finger in his ears quite a bit and just messing with them in general. He had a double one 2 wks ago, but he was on antibiotics for 10+ days. Once they get one, are they pretty much reoccuring? Oh brother... :rolleyes:

On our front Nicholas is just a joy as ever. Though, my BGF that bought him the Thomas the Train riding thingy might never hear the last of it ;), he LOVES it. All evening long I hear "choo-choo" and he pulls it out for us to push him around. Man, that thing is a back-breaker and it's noisy. It's so interesting to see how much his vocab is growing. He also has this leap frog barnyard magnet set that plays animal noises and plays music. After "choo-choo" he runs over to the fridge and says "banjo" and then plays the music. Over. and Over. Who would have thought having a little one would be so entertaining and enjoyable! :)

[aprilbride]

Good morning...hope all the little ones and mommies are on the mend! Elliott has had a bit of a runny nose and cough for a week...he seems happy as ever but we took him in and he's just got a bit of a cold and one of his ears is a little red. We got a prescription for antibiotics but I haven't filled it yet and probably won't, hoping it'll resolve itself. I'll take him back next week to make sure...If it turns into another ear infection it'll be # 3 for us which means we'll have to go to the ENT specialist. :(

Chelle, that pic in the hospital is one of my very favorites and every time I look at it I get emotional! I think I'm going to be a wreck on his first birthday! And, the very thing I wanted to avoid is going to happen this year, we'll celebrate Elliott's birthday (which falls on a Friday) on my birthday (the next day, Saturday) because it works better timewise....I saw a very cute cake in the magazine "Cookie"...three tiered square cake with white frosting, decorated with big Elephant cookies on the sides...I might have to give that one a try...I'm glad Maxwell's night sleeping is improving!

Well, I better get to work! Have a great day everyone and feel better (for those of you under the weather!)

[MinEaston]

OK, had to share this, I hope no one is offended. It made me smile.

The Mommy Test

I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.

"Why?" my daughter asked.

Because it's been on the ground, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty and probably has germs" I replied.

At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, "Mommy, how do you know all this stuff?"

"Uh," I was thinking quickly. "All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mommy."

We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information.

"OH...I get it!" she beamed, "So if you don't pass the test you have to be the daddy."

"Exactly" I replied back with a big smile on my face.

[fancyn]

OK, had to share this, I hope no one is offended. It made me smile.

The Mommy Test

I was out walking with my 4 year old daughter. She picked up something off the ground and started to put it in her mouth. I took the item away from her and I asked her not to do that.

"Why?" my daughter asked.

Because it's been on the ground, you don't know where it's been, it's dirty and probably has germs" I replied.

At this point, my daughter looked at me with total admiration and asked, "Mommy, how do you know all this stuff?"

"Uh," I was thinking quickly. "All moms know this stuff. It's on the Mommy Test. You have to know it, or they don't let you be a Mommy."

We walked along in silence for 2 or 3 minutes, but she was evidently pondering this new information.

"OH...I get it!" she beamed, "So if you don't pass the test you have to be the daddy."

"Exactly" I replied back with a big smile on my face. Printing this off to show the hubby! ;)

[Chelle D]

:)


Question - Is coconut okay for babies? DH has requested a coconut cake for his birthday this weekend and of course I will give some to babyness if I can....although, like his mama, he likes ice cream better than cake :rolleyes: :D

[EmilyK]

Chelle, here's a list of allergenic foods (according to Wholesome Baby Foods): Allergenic Foods (http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/allergy.htm). And, here's a chart of the Highest Allergenic Foods (http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/solids.htm) and when you can think about introducing them.

I would say you could go ahead and give him a little bit to see how he does with it. (as long as neither of you have a coconut allergy, which I'm assuming is a big no ;))

MinEaston... hilarious!! :D

[Chelle D]

Thanks Emily. I had seen the high allergen foods list, but not the other one. I noticed peas is on the allergen list and it seems babies always eat those early on. It was one of Maxwell's first veggies. I think I will try it. He has had no problems and has been eating whole milk yogurt and various pastas and breads for a few months now as well and cinnamon in things and many other things on that list. He eats what we eat now for the most part unless it's nuts, acidic fruits or spicy foods. I make all his food as well and still have a freezer full of cubes :) I don't think he will eat much cake, but the ice cream is another story. He's only had it twice and I had to really work to get his attention on something else for him to stop opening his mouth for more. I guess there is more proof that the lab put in the right baby :p (I did ivf for those that don't know :) )

Okay, more questions. DH and I are 90% sure we are leaving for Denmark on May 3, the day after Maxwell turns 1. We will be gone three weeks. I have asked advice already about flying with a 1 year-old, but with him being RIGHT at 12 months, I have other issues. First, I always planned to wean him around 12 months. Now, I really think I need to have him weaned when we leave to make life easier for us all. I may just get him down to the night feeding only and still do that while we are gone and completely wean once we get home, I am not sure how it will all go yet. My questions are, do I go straight to whole milk? In a bottle or should he have a sippy cup by then? He does not quite "get" the sippy yet, but is at least starting to suck out of it, he just does not know to tip it up. And then for me, if I drop a feeding each week is that not enough or too many? Do I give him whole milk before the one year mark to see his reaction and get him used to it? How soon? Is milk at 11 months okay or is it better to give him formula until 12 months? He is not a big fan of the bottle, so a lot of my worry comes with that.

Okay, the other thing is the 12-month shots. I know many babies have reactions...right? He has been fine for all the ones he has had so far. Should I just do them when we get back? I know it's up to me, but I was wondering what the reaction is of babies because I do believe in the importance of the immunizations and like to have them on time if possible....not that 3 weeks would be too bad.

Yep, maybe I am still a "new" mom

[EmilyK]

Wow, I wonder if we got Gavin on a sippy way earlier than normal? He hasn't had a bottle since around 7 months. (of course, he has never liked the bottle much) He still hasn't figured out to tip it up, but at least he tries to get it to his mouth. Our sitter thinks he's "behind" because he won't hold it himself, but I don't know of many bigger kids who need an adult to hold a cup for him, so I figure he'll eventually catch on.

Chelle, you can probably scroll back a little bit for some info about milk/weaning, since that was my big "drama" this last week. If I were in your situation (and he's not trying to wean himself), I would probably just worry about weaning once you get back home. Definitely call your ped about the timing of shots. Our 9 month shots were severeal weeks late, so we had to delay the 12 month shots... they may prefer you come in before you go. Not sure on the reactions - I can let you know at the end of next month! :D Dropping one feeding/week is good timing. We were down to 2 feedings/day all last week (no pumping) and then only one very short feeding/day for a couple of days and then totally cold turkey. The "girls" are still slightly sore, but nothing like being engorged when my milk first came in. Your ped might be able to give you good advice as far as timing of weaning and what to give him instead of bmilk (cow's, formula, etc.).

[tbb113]

Michelle - I flew to England when Michael was just over 12 months old. I was down to 1 BF a day and then realized that I might not want to wean him before the trip. I was worried that I wouldn't have access to a bottle in the middle of the night or early morning (we were staying at a hotel while I was there for business). Same fear for the airplane ride. What if they ran out of milk or the flight attendant was busy and couldn't get if for me or if there was turbulence and they weren't serving? So...I nursed him while I was on the trip. When I got home, he went to my mother's house in LA and I went to Hawaii on vacation. He was weaned instantly and I wasn't uncomfortable since I was only nursing once or twice a day anyways (he was getting bottles while I was at work). So...you might want to taper down on your feedings and give him milk in the bottle before/during your trip.

[fancyn]

Wow, I wonder if we got Gavin on a sippy way earlier than normal? He hasn't had a bottle since around 7 months. (of course, he has never liked the bottle much) He still hasn't figured out to tip it up, but at least he tries to get it to his mouth. Our sitter thinks he's "behind" because he won't hold it himself, but I don't know of many bigger kids who need an adult to hold a cup for him, so I figure he'll eventually catch on..
IMHO, that's awfully rude for her to say that! :mad: But I thought I'd just chime in to tell you what helped Nicholas "get it". Whenever he'd take a drink, I'd snap my fingers above his head and make him look up, in turn tipping the sippy back. After a couple days of doing it every time he'd drink, it just sort of sunk in. HTH! :)

[JenZen]

Hey Chelle,

Just wanted to chime in on the weaning discussion.

Gabe really self-weaned. As he lost interest in feedings, I got rid of them. Our last feeding was about two weeks shy of his first birthday. However, because he gave up the daytime feedings first, I introduced milk a little early so that he could have something other than water to drink at the daycare (I didn't want to do formula at all.) I think he was about 11 months old when I gave him some milk, and we did that with a sippy cup. However, I've retained his nighttime bottle, which is whole milk. He still gets that, but it's more comfort for me and him and I know I should get rid of it soon.

I got rid of one feeding at a time, but it happened faster than one a week. I originally wanted to do one a week, but once that weaning train got started, there was no slowing it down. At the very end, I was down to just the nighttime feeding, and I was only nursing on one side (long story there), so I was pretty comfortable when I stopped. I had a day of fullness, but nothing painful. Oh, and a few plugged ducts, but I got those out in the shower.

Hope that helps a little. I think weaning sounds more intimidating than it really is. Once you start doing it, your little guy will send you cues that he's ready. It's a bit of teamwork.

Jen

[Molli526]

Michelle -

Since you asked my opinion :)

I wouldn't wean until you get back. There is going to be so much "new" in Denmark, BF-ing will be very comforting to Maxwell. Also will help during take-off and landing.

I would also hold out onto your immunizations until you get back. Charles was one of the 1 in whatever that had a reaction to the varicella, and I would not want to be away from home and have that happen.


Sippy cups - I don't think there is a wrong time to introduce it. Charles couldn't really hold onto it well until about 12 months, and then all the sudden, it was like he was always using one.

I have read and heard this a few just recently - Boys master one thing at a time - sippy cup, walking, a new word, etc. etc. where girls can multi-task - walk, hold a sippy cup etc.

Emily, I can't believe your sitter said that :mad:

Charles has a low fever right now :( I hope it is just his teeth. He has been drooling like a machine!!

[NMG]

Hi guys! Just a tip on the 1st year immunizations - make sure you're child is already 1 before his appointment - HEALTHCARE WON'T PAY for the shots until they turn 1 (even though they will at 6 months, 9 months, etc). Luckily my pediatrition told me when I had taken Tesa for her 1 yr check up and I had to go back a few days later for her shots and luckily didn't have to pay for them. it seems stupid to me since Tesa was going ot be 1 two days later or something, but just be aware of that.
I personnally wouldn't wean until you get back - with the change of scenery, he may want something comforting.
Mikey is completely off formula now (yaaaaa, saving $40/week) - and loves the whole milk. We started by introducing 1 oz to 5 oz formula for a week and then upped it an oz per week. Yesterday was his first day with only milk and he did really good - he hasn't had a bedtime bottle in months. We started introducing the sippy cup to him around 8 months - water only - to get him used to it and prob only really started gettting the hang of it at 10 months. You know, now that I think about it, Mikey's never had any juice - I guess because Tesa doesn't like juice (although she loves fruit) I never think to give it to Mikey. Oh well :p
Aprilbride - Elliot's so cute!!!
Fancyn - thanks for the luck - I'll need it :p I will take pics of it and post my "creation"!

[Chelle D]

NMG - Thanks for the heads up on immunizations before 12 months. I think we will wait n those ustil we get back. Maxwell didn't get any shots at his 9-month appointment, but it looks like all of yours did?

These naps are going to be the death of me, I swear. I am letting him cry and trying to occupy myself while he does it. Today, I started baking DH's birthday cake and had the diswasher going just so I did not hear him as much. It's so tough. I go in there and his little face is so red, he is so warm, and his long eyelashes are all stuck together from being wet :( I just went in and laid him down and we will see how it goes. This morning I gave him and nursed him to sleep after nearly an hour of trying to get him down. I just know that he is old enough to know to get to sleep himself, but i need to teach him and that's what I am having trouble with.

Thank you all for the advice regarding weaning. I have thought I may just keep bf until we get back, it's just that DH's family is already in shock I am still nursing as they all weaned around 4 months. We will see how it goes. My supply isnt all that great anymore, but Maxwell is still nursing about 5 times a day.

Molli - I hope Charlie's fever goes down. The teething seems to never end...

Emily - I've been giving Maxwell the sippy for about 3 months, but he just bangs it against his tray. At the suggesstion of the ped, I took out the rubber thingy so he would not have to "suck" and would learn where the water comes out and all I get with that is a wet baby and a wet dog (circling under the high chair) :D I am going to start giving it more than once per day.

Well, he is still screaming....I gotta go check him out....poor babyness....

[EmilyK]

Chelle, don't beat yourself up about the naps! I just had my first full day of successful naps and DS is nearly 1 year old!! It's tough to try to figure out all the "signs" that they need to go down, because every baby is different. Mine doesn't appear to be tired in any way, but if you time it (mostly guesswork) right he'll go down without a struggle. DH called me at work yesterday because he spent nearly 3 hours trying to get him to take an afternoon nap. Maxwell will eventually figure it all out...

I took Gavin for a walk around the neighborhood this afternoon, thinking the fresh air would do us both some good. Why one earth do people with nasty mean dogs have a fenced yard that butts up to the sidewalk? I was walking past the yard (no grass between the fence and where we were) and these 2 huge labs came running at us barking like maniacs. Gavin FREAKED out and was screaming at the top of his lungs, because he was so scared. I quickly walked us out into the street to try to get away from them, but it took another block to calm him down. :mad: Stupid morons. I know we had problems with that yard when we'd walk past with Frodo, but I thought they just were reacting to him. Guess not. We're having a pretty good day here. Keeping the boy dosed up on ibuprofen... I think his throat still hurts a bit.

[Chelle D]

I gave in, nursed him and he was out within 10 minutes and has been sleeping for over a half hour :rolleyes:

[JenZen]

Chelle - A note on sippy cups ... Try the cheap First Steps sippies. You can either toss or reuse them. I received numerous recommendations for these when we were first teaching Gabe about the sippy, and for good reason. They don't have a valve, and they leak water just slightly when tilted back, so your little guy will get the idea. Now I like them because they have so few parts ... just the cup and the top. I'm tired of fooling around with valves and whatnot (Avent is a big pet peeve of mine. Those cups have six parts if you use the handles!)

Gabe does get water everywhere when he tips it upside down and shakes it, but he really has to shake it to make a mess.

[food girl]

I was only nursing on one side (long story there), so I was pretty comfortable when I stopped. I had a day of fullness, but nothing painful. Oh, and a few plugged ducts, but I got those out in the shower.

Jen

Jen, I'm only nursing on one side these days and the other side feels all plugged - today - even though I haven't nursed or pumped on that side for over a week.

I worry about how little BM Anna gets, I can't pump much and she's not really excited about drinking formula from a cup. She's growing fine and seems content so I'm trying not to stress out about it. I have 0 frozen milk. I envy you dedicated pumpers with a freezer full.

Chelle, Anna has the same backing-in to a corner problem. It is a very cute thing when she backs into the toy bin, not so much at night in the crib.


Lisa

[food girl]

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/pbeed74ea63826a14f20a7e5a94e93a71/f007c088.jpg


Did that work??

Lisa

[Katie-Did]

Our internet connection was down all last week, so I've been MIA. I could have used a good vent on this thread too! Aaron had a combination of a bad cold and a bout of teething. It made for a long week, but he seems to be feeling better at least on the cold front. We've only used infant tylenol for him, but I'm wondering if infant motrin would be better with his teething pain. The tylenol doesn't seem to help him much, if at all. Have any of you noticed one helping more than the other?

[NMG]

Katie-Did - I prefer the infants motrin. I definately think it works better and in my experience, does last longer :)
Lisa - Anna is so cute!!!
ok - is anyone elses munchkin getting a bit of an attitude/temper??? This past week I've noticed Mikey getting very frustrated and angry so easily. Exp if I take something off him he shouldn't have (like Tesa's crayons he was eating) he's got one heck of a grip then freaks out and gives me dirty looks!!! He hit Tesa in the tub because she took the fish he was playing with and then grunted at her (yes it was caveman like :p ) then took it back from her (we're working on the whole sharing thing). He's also trying to talk more which I've noticed a lot of in the past week or 2 and gets frustrated when he can't communicate what he wants. I'm sure it's just a stage and when he can talk more he may not get so frustrated. I guess we'll find out eventually.
Chelle - ya, both kids have gotten all there immunizations so far. Mikey goes in next Monday for his 1 year - not looking forward to those, but I'll give him some infants motrin right before we go in - usually helps a lot.

[Molli526]

Re: Teething

We had the weekend from H3LL!!! Charles was a teething mad-man since Thursday night. He pretty much had a fever/was in obvious pain from waking up at 11pm on fire until last night before bed. He finally slept through the night last night.

I took him into the pediatrician Friday morning, who said, nothing wrong, probably teething. She said since Motrin and Tylenol have different mechanisms of action, and work at different areas of the brain, to use both, at the same time if needed. We gave the Tylenol every 4 hours, and the Motrin every 6. That is what worked. It seemed like a lot, but we could easily tell when the pain reliever wore off. He was irritable, cranky and just miserable. We tried going longer between doses - which was not good. In that case, I gave him some Hylands Teething Tabs, to take the edge off while the Tylenol kicked in.

It just better be the 2 yr molars, or else we are in for a real treat then. He also is getting in the eye teeth, but we couldn't see anything cutting through there.

[Chelle D]

RE: Teething. Mine is a youngin on this thread, but I have used Tylenol so far and he does not have too much trouble. I have a friend who uses Motrin and it seems that is a liitle stronger. The couple times I have looked for infants Motrin though, I have not found it.

JenZen - Thanks for the info. I will try those sippy cups. I do have an Avent one and a couple Evenflo ones. The Avent one is a pain to clean, but I like the rubbery spout, even though he just chews on it :rolleyes: The ones you describe sound perfect.

More questions on naps - Should I put him down at the same time each day no matter when he gets up? Like today, he qas up from 5:00- 5:45 crying, then slept until about 8:00 (the latest he has ever slept!) Usually he has a 10:30 naps, but today I waited until now and he is of course in there standing and crying. Maybe I need to wait longer? Also, last night he took a 2 hour nap and did not get up until 6:30! Usually he has a bath at 7, but I waited until 7:30 and he went to bed after that with no problem.

My other question is, when do most babies go to only one nap? Maxwell is napping about 45 minutes for the first and 1-2 hours in the afternoon (most of the time).

Oh, Anna is too cute in her toybox!

[MinEaston]

I'm swamped at work so can't respond to everyone (sorry!)... but I wanted to share a picture of Anna's birthday...

The cake:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/pe466868a94905d12050d1e193f452ff0/f004a0f7.jpg

She liked the cream cheese frosting:
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid201/pbb42d9374d08d45029c81a606acd2e2b/f004a0e1.jpg

She had a great birthday and mercifully did not get inundated with toys!

[aprilbride]

MinEaston, what a cute cake! Happy (belated) B-day to Anna:-)

Chelle, Elliott is down to one nap at school, most of the time it's about 1 1/2 or so..he also frequently falls asleep in the car on the way home in the afternoon and I typically don't let him sleep past 5 pm...He usually is out by 6.30 and we've decided we need to try to keep him up until 7 hoping that he'll sleep until 6 in the am. He consistently wakes up at 5 or 5.30ish...I think we'll do it gradually and try to keep him up 5 or 10 extra minutes every night until he makes it to 7.

In other (not so thrilling to me) news, MIL is coming to visit. I knew this was inevitable but just the thought puts me in a bad mood. Coincidentally, I'd already planned a business trip for at least 2 1/2 days of the 5 days she'll be here, but it still leaves an entire weekend.....

[NMG]

MinEaston - Love the cake!!!! What a cute idea with the duck :D Did Anna "dig" in????

[MinEaston]

Yep, she dug in alright, but didn't really smash it all over. She loves ducks - calls them "ca, ca" (hard 'C') - and can identify them in her books by pointing at them with her finger. She even says "ca, ca" to DH's collection of antique decoys! So it seemed fitting to put a "ca" on her cake.