May '09 Mama's Giving Thanks

[~Katie~]

New thread for this month!

[~Katie~]

Hope everyone is well.

We're doing okay here. Had a bit of drama with a local mom's group I'm a part of but otherwise just trucking along as usual.

Laine is starting to chunk up finally and is starting to fit into some 12 month clothing. The last few days all she's wanted to do is nurse and sleep. DS is sick right now so I think her body is at work fighting off whatever virus it is with antibodies.

My IL's are coming to visit for Thanksgiving so that will be nice. I'm still trying to decide if I'd rather drive or fly to NY for Christmas. It'll be the longest road trip I've ever done by myself let alone with two kids, but I REALLY don't want to risk exposing either of them to some nastier sickies.

[lil_miss_understood]

subbing for now
Marius is teething up a storm. In 9 mo clothes.
Issues with DH.
Climbing 2 year old.

[BirthKathy]

Hi Moms!

Freddie just got his two bottom teeth. He had a fever a few days before, and then lots more night waking and he's been wanting to nurse a lot. The night waking has not stopped, so I hope it does as these teeth get farther out of the gums.

He's very interested in food, so we just started solids a week ago. We tried oats first (steel cut, cooked forever and then strained), and those have been great. He loves to eat, and we haven't noticed any bowel changes with those. We tried pureed carrots second, and those went through exactly as they went in. He was also very hyped up afterward, so I'm not going to reintroduce those for at least a month. Oh, and I happened across these bibs at Ikea - they work great:

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10121520

We're also working on getting rid of a bad case of face and body rash/eczema. We changed from detergent to soap, and I just went off dairy 2 1/2 days ago, and that seems to be helping. He's very itchy, so we ordered him these.

http://www.scratchsleeves.co.uk/index.html

They don't sell to the USA, so I had them sent to a friend in the UK who posted them to me. For anyone who has trouble with a scratching kid, these are great. Much softer than putting socks on his hands.

Still not rolling, but sitting up well with his boppy. Doesn't hate being on his tummy any more, and is making a few steps toward crawling. Loves standing up with assistance.

His sounds recently changed from yelling to not much sound at all to now squealing. Very cute. He loves any kind of bouncing, hand patting games, and funny faces or sounds.

When it's definitely time to eat, he was saying "mik", and now he says either that or "mom". He doesn't make any of the da-da or ba-ba type sounds that the books say to expect.

I think he's about 17 1/2 pounds now, and 28 inches. We had gone up to size 3 diapers about a month ago, but went back down to size 2 to get back into the sensitive swaddlers in case the new diapers were causing his eczema. We do EC, and we use about 3-4 diapers a day. His poop is all in the potty, and almost all pees. Although with the teething, we had a couple of unexpected poopy diapers!

He is wearing 6 month onesies, 9 month pants, and 9 month pajamas. 12 month socks! Hope all your little ones are doing great! I love to hear about them.

[larzanna]

I didn't post much in the May groups, but Emmitt was 6 months on the 6th!! YIKES!
He has one tooth, and is sitting up and crawling! Oh my i thought that i had more time, i am not ready for this. We have not started solids yet....i sorta am scared to for some reason. He seems only a little interested. We will be doing BLW, so i guess i am content to EBF for a while longer.
He still prefers to wake a ton at night, which is not going over well in my book.

I am so thankful that i have a happy healthy beautiful smart baby boy!!

have good holidays everyone!

-Larissa

[Ldavis24]

Hello everyone!
I was peeking around looking for when the new thread would pop up.
Della will be 5 months tomorrow. She is growing by leaps and bounds but remains a skinny minny and is about 16lbs although she looks a little bit smaller. I am having to try harder and harder to keep her entertained through the day. she can now roll over both ways with ease and has started "crawling" forward on her tummy, kinda like the army crawl. she also can now sit on her own for as long as she chooses and absolutely loves this and standing up. No solids right now, I don't think she is ready yet and I am certainly not going to push her at all. I would be happy to wait another full month although the prospect of it is thrilling to me. I am already thinking over and over about all the stuff I want her to try

My sweet little mellow girl has been replaced (temporarily I hope) by a teething monster who is extremely difficult to get to sleep at night and even naptimes. She wants to be a part of everything and fights sleep very hard. I am sure I am not the only one who is experiencing this!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Halloween for whatever you did. These days I have been doing a lot of baking and cooking. Tonight I made apple sauce brownies with homemade cream cheese frosting! It keeps me busy
Hmm tonight my mom called and told me our dog Max passed away quite suddenly which is somewhat ironic because i had just dropped Della off at grandma's and came home to her call on what is usually our date night. Instead we are hanging out at home waiting for Della to get dropped off

Sorry for the rambling, I have a lot on my mind and am feeling scatterbrained, sigh.

I do want to hear lots about everyone's LOs and how they are growing and starting get mischevious(sp?)! Della is starting to become quite a little ham.
I Will second the happy upcoming holidays!!

[~Katie~]

Solids - Laine will be 6 months on the 17th. Developmentally, while normal, she's no where near where DS was at this age so I don't think she'll be ready for solids at that point. Things could change between now and then but she still has a strong tongue thrust and can't sit up for very long unassisted, she also isn't developing a pincer grasp yet.

Night time has been a nightmare with her. She takes 3 or 4 fairly good naps during the day with one long nap thrown in there. At night she's usually ready for bed by 6:30-7:30 and sleeps for 3 hour stretches until I go to bed. Then the fun begins. I get to sleep in 30-60 minute intervals all night, and then she wakes for good around 4am and screams and screams. At that point I'll sit in the rocker in the living room with her until she falls asleep. The sun is normally coming up at that point, and DS gets up soon after. We've been doing this since 4 1/2 months or so. Teething is a big factor and she has two prominent bumps that have been there for a month but won't push through. Now I understand why sleep deprivation is used as a torture method.

[Ldavis24]

katie that sounds pretty miserable. I know I get really cranky when i don't get enough sleep, I can't imagine that kind of pattern! It's funny Della takes at least 3 naps a day too and my biggest goal is to make the last one toward the evening so she will wake up and be ready to sleep for the night by 9 or so...that happens maybe 50% of the time!

Goodluck on your trip, my mom made lots of trips with my brother and I alone and all I remember are good times from them even when it was a 2 day car ride!

[Punchy Kaby]

It's so good to hear how your lo's are doing! I changed my user name, anyone have a guess as to what my name was?

Katie-that is a rough sleep schedule, do you ever get naps in during the day to get you through?

Violet is 6 months on the 11th. Ds came up with her Nick nameunchy kaby. She has 2 bottom teeth and one of her eye teeth has just popped through the gum. She is very active and social. Loves people and is always on the go. She is super aware of everything and it is hard to get her to sleep because she doesn't want to calm down. Her new thing is standing up in the crib so she is really tired but will stand up and we have to keep putting her down. Her mattress went from the top slit to the bottom this week, I know in a few short months she will be attempting to climb out. She has figured out how to crawl but is really slow, if I gave her some sticky soled socks I bet she could go faster but I'm in no hurry. I still need to get some baby gates. Dd wants food soooo badly, she would scream when we ate so I started giving her food to play with. She is happy feeling the squash and didn't really get any down as her tongue still thrusts foreward. She also likes to bite her teeth into my apple. So far she shows no signs of having rashes like ds did, I am so thankful!

Work has been horribly busy. I hAve to go out of town this week to NYC (yeah!) for 3 days. I have been pumping extra for a couple of months and have 120 oz stored up. I will miss her dearly but am looking forward to 2 nights of unnutwrrupted sleep and some much needed adult time!

I have no idea how much dd weighs or how many inches but 6-9 m clothing fits her perfectly and 12 m sleepers. She was pretty thin but has porked up in the last couple of weeks so I am expecting a spurt of growth in her length soon. Thank goidness girls dresses offer a flexible fit, much better than the rompers ds grew out of each month!

[lil_miss_understood]

Originally Posted by Punchy Kaby

It's so good to hear how your lo's are doing! I changed my user name, anyone have a guess as to what my name was?

Nolansmum!!

[lil_miss_understood]

Katie. Sounds very much like our last couple of months here too. Luckily (?) I got used to sleeping on the couch sitting up when Marius was training for breastfeeding.
Hoping you some restful nights very soon!

[~Katie~]

It's so strange because if I fall asleep on the couch she doesn't wake up. It's like she can sense my presence as soon as I enter the room. She doesn't sleep well when sleeping in the same bed with me, she pretty much just tosses and turns and wiggles around, so she ends up spending the majority of the night in the co-sleeper. Maybe these are signs of being a light sleeper like myself.

I took a melatonin so hopefully I will sleep well tonight. I've had a lot going on the last few days and it's been stressing me out to the max. I won't go into details but I cannot begin to express the amount of gratitude I have for being able to come to a place like MDC and have you fine ladies to chat with

[kdtmom2be]

Hello all!
DS will be 6 months on Tuesday. It seems like just yesterday that he was born, but at the same time like it was SO long ago. Time is a funny thing. He is the cutest little guy and he just lights up when he sees me come in the room. I love him to bits.

Not a lot of mobility here yet. So far he's just happy to lay and spin in circles on the blanket on the floors and roll tummy to back and get stranded there. DD loves to help him back over though, so no incentive to learn it on his own! And DD didn't crawl until 8 1/2 months and then walked 6 weeks later and never looked back, so it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't crawl much, or at all. He's pretty good at sitting up on his own, but can't get there himself yet.

On that note, we've started the tiniest bit of solids, but not much. He's had a few baby spoons of yogurt and applesauce and I think DD fed him a few Corn Pops one day. He's also had some avocado and potatoes and has sucked on some apple chunks in the mesh feeder thing that DD hated but he seems to enjoy at least a bit.

Sleep is going well, thank goodness. I can relate to the 45-60 min sleep increments, DD was like that (still is frankly), but DS has some really good nights where he sleeps 6-8 hours and then nurses briefly and sleeps another 2-4. Other nights, that are more typical, he's up every 2-4 hours to nurse but at least he generally goes back to sleep easily.

[major_mama11]

Hi everyone! It's amazing how fast our babies are all changing at this stage!

Katie, I am sorry you are having such a rough time with sleep deprivation! I can't imagine handling two kids all night by myself night after night like that- it must be so hard. My DH takes care of the kids some nights when I work overnights, and the last time, he only got 1.5 hours of sleep, due to their wacky sleep schedules. But then, he had the whole weekend to catch up, with me there to share the child care duties. Do you have a possibility of hiring a mother's helper or something so you can nap for a few hours sometimes? When does your DH get home again?

Punchy Kaby, a few days away in NYC sounds like fun!

DS's favorite thing right now is sitting on the floor surrounded by a selection of toys. He keeps busy for a surprisingly long time that way, especially if DD is feeling helpful and changes out the toys for me when he gets bored. He can also scootch, in slow motion, on his tummy. He is able to go in a circle, and backwards, but no forward motion yet. I know I really need to ramp up my babyproofing efforts, because he seems to be right on the verge of really starting to be all over the place. Luckily, DD had a bday party today, so that was the motivator I needed to get my house cleaned up. Now, of course, I have to clean up all the aftermath. If I can maintain it like this, it will stay pretty baby-safe.

He had his 6-mos checkup last week, and weighed in at 20# even- holy cow! Anything less than 12-18 mos is too short and pulls on his toes. DD wasn't this big until around a year old, despite her weighing more at birth! Apparently he inherited the big sturdy genes from DH's side, whereas DD inherited the more petite genes from my side.

DS was really quite the screamer for the first 3-4 months, but lately, he has been so easygoing. Don't know how long this phase will last, but I'm enjoying it. As long as he has people to look at nearby, he stays happy for a long time. DD was so different- I had to be RIGHT THERE, waking or sleeping, all the time, or she would scream. I think he's just a more mellow fellow.

We have been doing solids now and then, when I have the energy. Some days I'm just too lazy to bother, unless he insists on grabbing my food. He loves peas and bananas and oat cereal, but not so crazy about apples.

He is starting to babble a bit, "dadada", "mamama", but not often. Mostly he screeches or is a quiet observer. And SO, SO SWEET!

[LiLStar]

River is turning into such a sweet little charming guy! I weighed him at my mom's house (weigh me holding him, then without him) and he's about 19.8lbs (eight tengths, not 8oz) Which, to me, makes him seem sooo petite and tiny!!! lol. dd was more than that at 4 months! And at this age had to have been at least 25lbs. He'll be 6 months in 6 days. I decided that he can have his first taste of solids on Thanksgiving! How cool will that be? We'll set aside some sweet potatoes that don't have anything added to them. I'll probably squirt some breastmilk in to make it a little more thin consistency. Plop it down in a high chair tray and let him have at it while we have thanksgiving dinner! FUN! He seems so eager to eat, lunges at my plate if I hold him while eating. I've had to pry lots of things out of his hands!

He's sooo active. Can get into a sitting up position by himself, and sorta "crawls" army crawl style. When he's up on his hands and knees he seems to not really know how to lift up his hands to move forward. But he can definitely get around thats for sure. Trying to pull himself up but not quite there yet. If he gets to standing for a split second he'll fall down onto his knees right away. And he is soooo smily. Any time anyone (even strangers) makes eye contact with him he rewards them with an enormous smile. Oh and I think he might be starting to sign "more"!! Here's a video: http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb1l8j_rivermroe

[major_mama11]

LilStar, it's funny how our perspectives on our same-sized babies is so different, based on our experiences with our previous children!

[Ldavis24]

Lilstar your DS sounds like a big healthy boy! Or at least to me!
Today is Della's birthday! of sorts, she is 5 months today!!
She celebrated by grabbing the cord to the lamp and pulling the lamp onto herself while I was getting dressed! Yay now she has 2 nice bruises on her head

Thanksgiving will be fun for us too, I am sure I will let Della try a little something, she grabbed DH's spoon and tried his applesauce today and went cuckoo over it. absolutely loved it!

[CookAMH]

I haven't checked in the May group for ages...we are getting settled in Seattle! Our move west went great and Ezra did awesome in the car. What a delight. He's still so easy going and got 2 teeth just shy of 5 months, during our trip. He's starting to sit up some and lunging for cups. He is all about trying to drink from a cup so we practice. Rolls both ways, still loves to stand. No solids yet but there is interest and he's almost there. Maybe another month. Sleep regression stuck...goes 5 hours, then 3-4. He used to do 6-7 pretty regularly.

Here are a couple pics from this past month:
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo...eat=directlink

[Kelly1101]

Just popping in to say hi, I haven't been around much...

Emma is doing great, few pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1459304093

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1459304093

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1459304093

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1459304093

[CookAMH]

Originally Posted by Kelly1101

Just popping in to say hi, I haven't been around much...

Emma is doing great, few pictures:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1459304093

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1459304093

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1459304093

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pi...&id=1459304093

Pics aren't working