Chatting in Spring! - Page 8

[heinz28]

Nothing much to report here. I love everyone's pics -- the babes are precious

DD is growing and increasingly alert each day. Since she's my first, I'm constantly amazed at how fast she changes. She recognizes us now, smiles, and demands entertainment!

I'd also like her to find her thumb soon. Watching her chew on her fist is frustrating for both of us.

Good news is that I've been exclusively breastfeeding now for a month. We had a rough start but things have changed for the good and I'm so grateful.

I've attached 2 pics. The first is from Easter and the second pic is an outfit I dressed her in after a particularly tough day.

Pic 1
Pic 2

[Queen of my Castle]

Very cute, heinz, especially since she looks so happy!

Starling- good to hear from you- of course I looked through your flickr and esme is beautiful and so are your photos! I love the one with her sleeping with her arms up...so sweet.

It's really interesting to see what a range the babies' weight is! Now I think Ramsey's pretty normal- it's incredible what some of your babies weigh! Way to go mamas! My dd was like that...it was awesome!

Tomorrow we go to the chiropractor.

Ramsey and I are so funny at night. This is completely bizarre; first of all, after I nurse him and change him, he's usually awake, but sleepy. He won't nurse to sleep, and if he does, he always wakes. Guess how I get him to sleep? I swaddle him and lay him in his bassinet. With the light on, with him awake. He just goes to sleep! And in the night, (he's right beside me) as soon as I hear him start to move (flail his limbs) around, he's in bed to nurse. We sleep a bit, and nurse a bit, and then I start to feel him kicking and flailing, and if I'm still half sleeping I'll nurse him, but if I wake up enough, guess what I do? PUt him back in his bassinet. And he goes to sleep! Then we sleep again until the cycle repeats itself. It seems we both just sleep fine in our seperate spaces. I love him in the bed, and I'm more than willing to cosleep, but sometimes I realize I've been constantly kicked for an hour and am not really sleeping... I find it almost comical and unbelievable that he is so easy at night. Well, I suppose I would prefer him to just stay in bed with me and not flail his limbs around, and we could both just sleep nicely, but if he must exercise in the dark hours I'm glad he's willing to do it alone! We don't even use the pacifier at night, and he never cries. (unless he's flailing and I'm trying to stuff my boob in his mouth again when he doesn't want it...) I must admit, it is nice to get those few hours of deeper sleep and stretching out...I'm a tummy sleeper and I can't sleep that way cosleeping. It makes up for his fussyness during the day!
I don't mean to sound SO incredulous, actually my other kids were great sleepers too- but Ramsey's temperment is soooo different than theirs were, I would expect him to be also really high-needs at night. Thank God for the break!

[Everrgreen]

I'm so happy to hear all the updates - and see all the pics!

I weighed Royce last night and he is 15lb 12oz (he is now 14 weeks). He was 7lb 4oz at birth.

Thought I had more time to respond, but a certain someone is now awake!

[kssinca]

Sam is doing well. I don't know how much he weighs now but at his 2month visit, he was almost 12lbs.

His sleep has not been regular for the last couple of days. He normally goes down around 11:30pm-12am and the last couple of nights he's been up crying till 2 or 3am. But he has been having trouble napping during the day so I'm thinking that may be the problem? Thankfully, he is asleep right now.

He's found his fists and is sucking on them. I've tried giving him a pacifier but he doesn't care for them much.

I'm a little frustrated with myself that I'm not able to get things done around the house. I wear Sam but I don't feel comfortable cleaning or preparing food while I wear him and there's not much I can do around the house just standing. I'm trying to find a mom group to join but the few I have found so far charge a fee! Do casual, let's just hang out type of mom's group not exist?

[Vegan Princess]

Kssinca: I'm not sure where you are in the bay area but I have found a couple resources. For SF there is golden gate mother's group...I joined a working mom's playgroup through that. I'm no longer working and am moving to berkeley tomorrow so that is not going to work. I found an east bay mommas play group through berkeley parents network...which seems to span a lot of the east bay. I'd either try that or see if there is something similar where you live. Or even look on craigslist or meetup.com. I also joined a meetup group for expecting and new moms in the bay area and an attachment parenting one in the east bay (but haven't heard of any meetings from that group yet). All of these have been free!

So I talked to my boss today..told him I can't come back to my normal hours. I didn't end up resigning. He asked me to tell him what my ideal situation would be and he said he'd see what he could work out. So I told him I'd be happy doing project work for the real estate team from home 10-15 hours/week. I'm pretty sure this is fine with him! Yay! I'm not sure what they'll be paying me hourly but I figure I can manage 10-15 hours of work when Makenna is napping or playing and probably hire a mother's helper for a few hours 2x/week. We can get by with me not working but extra money certainly won't hurt and I get to keep my mind active and not have a hole on my resume. I'm just so glad to have this not hanging over my head! I've been soooo nervous. My boss was awesome though. He said he thinks moms should be able to be home with their babies (his wife is) and he totally understood...not mad at all for me getting paid by the company and then not coming back full time.

Now hopefully the move tomorrow will go as smooth as my meeting today!

Cindy

[monkaha]

Wow Cindy, that's great!!

kssinca, when we moved here, i googled "[city] parents" or "[city] ap" or something like that and found a local ap group. try the areas part of mdc too-maybe there's some mdc mamas around you. good luck.

[Mal85]

Could AF seriously be coming back already?? DD is 9 weeks old and she has started going longer between feedings. And I've been pumping 3 days a week while at school. I knew with the pumping it was possible AF would come back early, but seriously?? I so do not want to deal with this. Hasn't happened yet, but I was feeling seriously PMS-y yesterday, picking fights with my mom and nagging at my husband. I only do that when I'm PMS-ing. Today I'm feeling a little crampy. Damn. I don't want to deal with this.

Am I cool to use tampons now?? Had my 6 week check up and everything was fine, so I figure I can... guess I should go pick some up. Damn.

Oh well, guess this means I can get pregnant again anytime now.

[mamamillet]

Willa rolled over this am!!! She absolutely hates being on her tummy though so she woke me up right away to help her roll back over.

[Vegan Princess]

Makenna rolled over for the first time yesterday too...but it was sort of cheating bc she was propped up on her back on a pillow. I turned my back for 1 second and looked back and she was on her tummy. She's been trying when flat but has never made it.

Well I survived my move! It went pretty smoothly and we've gotten a good deal unpacked. I just finished unpacking the nursery. I washed and am using my new cloth diapers...so nice. :-) I'm feeling more domestic in this new house already. LOL.

Cindy

[AKislandgirl]

It's been a bit since I checked in. It sounds like everyone is doing well. Fiona is asleep in her baby wrap right now for her afternoon nap. She typically sleeps for 3-4 hours in the afternoon. When I wear her she sleeps right through. If I put her down in bed then I usually lie down with her for much of the time or she wakes up. I often pop back in to nurse her back to sleep. Either way I'm grateful for the long naps.

We had an appointment with the nurse this AM for her Pc vaccine. We are only doing that and the DTap for now and spacing them one month apart from each other. I hate hearing her cry in pain! She recovered quickly though... and so did I! She weighs 11 pounds 1 ounce now. Still a petite little thing but growing steadily. (9 pounds 10 ounces last month) She has been so much fun lately. She grabs at toys and her Papa's beard a lot these days. She coos and talks to us all the time. I'm loving every moment with her.

I'll try to remember to post a picture soon.

[justKate]

I can't believe how far we've come! Aubrey is 11 weeks old now, and yesterday was her first day of daycare. She enjoyed it, I think, but it was really hard on me. Last night she slept 8 HOURS--probably recovering from the trauma of me abandoning her at daycare.

Cindy, congrats on your move. I'm so envious that you get to stay home!

[Everrgreen]

justKate - You didn't abandon her, don't look at it that way! I'm sure it was harder on you. She probably was just tired from a busy day. I took Royce to a baby group during his usual naptime and he stayed wide awake the whole time just watching the older babies play. I think some babies just don't nap well when there's too much fun stuff going around


What milestones have your baby reached?

Royce is doing well - he will sit while I hold him, he stands while I hold him, he will swat at dangly toys, and he seems to have good social/communication skills (has reached those milestones). However, I'm a little worried about his grasping and arm strength. He will not hold a toy. If I physically wrap his hand around something he will briefly hold it, but doesn't seem to realize he's holding anything, and it just drops when his hand opens. He also doesn't use his arms during tummy time (which isn't often as he hates being on his tummy). He will hold up his head, but he doesn't push up at all. But he does swat at dangly toys, as I mentioned, and he can grasp my finger pretty good. I'm just worried about the toy thing. He sucks on his fist all the time, but he doesn't bring anything else up to his mouth. He is 16 weeks old tomorrow. Do you think this is something I should be worrying about?

[starling&diesel]

My wee girl is 14 weeks, and she doesn't hold things either, but does all the other things you listed for Royce. I think he's right on track! They'll grasp eventually ... right now, my little one is trying hard to get my tattoos off. She stares at them and grabs at them, especially the one on my chest that she looks at when she's in the Ergo. She wants to get at those colours!

[BathrobeGoddess]

Originally Posted by Gillian28

justKate - You didn't abandon her, don't look at it that way! I'm sure it was harder on you. She probably was just tired from a busy day. I took Royce to a baby group during his usual naptime and he stayed wide awake the whole time just watching the older babies play. I think some babies just don't nap well when there's too much fun stuff going around


What milestones have your baby reached?

Royce is doing well - he will sit while I hold him, he stands while I hold him, he will swat at dangly toys, and he seems to have good social/communication skills (has reached those milestones). However, I'm a little worried about his grasping and arm strength. He will not hold a toy. If I physically wrap his hand around something he will briefly hold it, but doesn't seem to realize he's holding anything, and it just drops when his hand opens. He also doesn't use his arms during tummy time (which isn't often as he hates being on his tummy). He will hold up his head, but he doesn't push up at all. But he does swat at dangly toys, as I mentioned, and he can grasp my finger pretty good. I'm just worried about the toy thing. He sucks on his fist all the time, but he doesn't bring anything else up to his mouth. He is 16 weeks old tomorrow. Do you think this is something I should be worrying about?

No worries! Grasping an object with two hands is during the fifth month...one hand w/ bringing object to mouth is during the sixth...but of course that isn't written in stone...some kiddos will be slightly before and some after...just want to make sure you don't worry!

[AVeryGoodYear]

Oh! I am so happy to have found this topic. I didn't even think of looking in the Due Date Club area for other moms with LOs around my daughter's age!

Maia will be three months on the 13th, and I'm just stunned at how she changes every day. Someone said to me recently (it might have been here even!) that our kids will go through so many phases, so the things that annoy you will pass, but so will the things that delight you. I guess that's why we take so many pictures of all the great things our babies do, so we can try not to forget them!

In week 9 or so she learned to roll onto her sides, and after doing it CONSTANTLY for about a week, she totally stopped. She hasn't rolled onto her side in awhile now -- it's like she learned her new trick, showed it off, and is bored with it now? Too funny.

The new "amazing" thing she's doing is watching cars drive by our apartment! She LOVES when we take her outside and stand on the patio together. She doesn't quite seem to recognize the sound of an approaching vehicle, but when one comes into her field of vision she focuses on it intently and follows it, swinging her head all the way from one side to the other, until it goes away. Then she looks around for another one!

Here's Maia showing me what she thinks of this hat: http://www.averygoodyear.net/images/...entchapeau.jpg
And here she is the first time she wore jeans: http://www.averygoodyear.net/images/prettypants.jpg

[AVeryGoodYear]

Originally Posted by Gillian28

He also doesn't use his arms during tummy time (which isn't often as he hates being on his tummy).

Hah :] My daughter intentionally puts her arms and legs in the air when she has tummy time, just balancing on her stomach. I laugh and tell her she's doing the TOTAL OPPOSITE of what she should be doing if she wants to learn how to scoot around the house and make me chase her, but honestly it's just too dang charming.

[Vegan Princess]

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy mother's day! :-) DH bought me a rose bush and an herb garden. Yay! My mom is here visiting...so happy to show of DD again...she hasn't seen her since she was brand new.

Makenna grabs things but I don't know if it is on purpose or by accident. She'll grab onto the toys dangling over her head or her burp cloth or bib but if I put a toy in her hand she drops it too. She is rolling towards her sides so maybe rolling over isn't too far off. I'm awful about tummy time...need to do more.

Cindy

[Mal85]

I'm convinced I have a genius baby. Really, I'm not biased or anything.

A close friend works with my local Parents as Teachers and she came over a couple of weeks ago for Owyn's first visit. She said she went home and was documenting the milestones Owyn has reached and had marked 6 or 7 things before she realized she was marking the 3.5-5.5 month sheet instead of the 1.5-3.5 month sheet. Owyn is just so advanced.

She isn't batting at toys, just stares at them intently. However, she was laying on the floor yesterday and my cousin's daughter was sitting on my lap. Owyn was staring at my cousin's hand and just reached out and grabbed on to it! I was so surprised!! She learned a long time ago how to blow spit bubbles, so that makes her drool like crazy, but now she is actually trying to pucker her lips and make the motor sound. She can do it, just barely! She has also recently found her coo and talks to me all the time! She is now smiling in return when I smile at her and making eye contact for prolonged periods.

Anyway, enough bragging on Owyn, on to bragging on me. I graduated yesterday!! I'm officially a college graduate and SO glad to be done!!! I start childcare tomorrow morning! Luckily, my earliest kid comes at 7 in the morning. Right now I just have two, a baby girl 4 weeks older than Owyn and my nephew who is almost 9 months old. Should be fun!!

[Everrgreen]

Thank you everyone for your reassurances! I'm trying not to worry about every little thing. I've read enough threads on LWAB to know that babies develop differently, I'll try and relax

Mal - Congratulations on your graduation! : You must be so excited! And I hope your day is going well today with those extra LOs!

[monkaha]

Yay Mal! Congrats on being a grad!