February 09 mamas - they're not babies anymore! - Page 10

[alaskaberry]

Re allergies--Tucker has, I think, an egg allergy. Something is making him break out in pimples and a facial rash around his mouth. I thought he would have outgrown it by now, but guess not. He also gets bloody diaper rashes if he eats too much citrus.

Still nursing like crazy, though. I tandem nurse, so I wonder how Tucker will feel when ds1 quits.

Snowing off and on here in Fairbanks. I'm so, so, so ready for spring!!

[Thursday Girl]

Erin welcome home!

Junes has been saying a lot more things. My favorite is "mama", very new. She is also just saying "Dad!", like just now when he was out cleaning the chicken coop and she wanted him. When she isn't mad though she says "dada", a lot of other words have been coming as well. She is also getting some side teeth in. not fun, even with the amber.

I so want to go to Alaska someday, I could even imagine living there, but my DH would NOT be for that. He has lived in Florida his whole life. He didn't see snow for the first time until he was 29. He saw it along with our daughters. He tried to walk on the fresh new snow up at a mountain pass and sunk in to his hips. Then he threw our almost 4 year old into the snow again and again. She thought it was so funny. So if we ever move it has to be somwhere where it doesn't snow, or only occasionally snows. We have our sites set on the PNW.

[Thursday Girl]

Lynnola, welcome to our ddc!

I can't imagine a 1 year old nursing so little, all of mine have been boob fanatics at that age, even at 2 they are nursing more than taht. In a way I am slightly jealous of how little your are nursing.

[mamamillet]

I have an eating question: Do you guys give food with plates, bowls and utensils yet? I truly can't remember when DS started using these. He was in preschools so I know he was offered them by now. Willa still has issues with throwing fppd if she is done/ not interested so I have held off in offereing her food on plates or in bowls...

[Vegan Princess]

We just put the food on the highchair tray. DD eats almost nothing that requires a spoon so it's all finger food. I did give her a bowl of shredded wheat in milk the past 2 days and she didn't throw the bowl or anything. Also she did eat some oatmeal last week and I let her try using the spoon and she loved it and ended up letting me feed her a few other things off spoons if she could do it. But I have forgotten to keep offering. Thanks for reminding me. LOL. I went out and bought toddler utensils after that but she can get the tiny baby spoon in her mouth much better, despite the longer handle. I think most of the utensils are labeled 18 mos+ (the ones I bought were 12 mos)...but that leads me to believe we have another 6 mos before we need to start thinking about it really.

Cindy

[AKislandgirl]

Fiona uses a spoon sometimes but i usually have to load it for her. But she has the coordination to get it to her mouth just fine. I should let her do it more often too. We generally put her food on her placemat at the table. I think I'll try offering her bowls and plates and see what happens. I just hadn't even thought to do it yet! thanks!

We are still a bit of a mess in our house... I am treating myself (and Fi though she showed no signs) for thrush. I ended up with mastitis but feel better from that now. Fiona and I both have colds and her rash is pretty terrible these days. Tell me we will get better! this sucks!

[mckittre]

AKislandgirl - hope you both feel better soon!

Katmai loves using a spoon (one of those little toddler ones). He's still messy, but he gets the food in there pretty well if it's not too difficult (yogurt, applesauce, oatmeal, soup). Lately he's gotten even more into it and is branching out to the fork as well. He insists on trying his spoon and fork for nearly every meal, even things like rice and veggies (really messy, and he does eventually switch to fingers). He was occasionally using the spoon at 12 months, so I think our kids are definitely old enough to learn now. For a bowl, we have one super heavy ceramic one that's nearly unbreakable and at other folks' houses I use tupperware lids or something similarly sturdy.

Katmai's been saying a few new words lately, and a lot of signs. It's kind of funny, he'll figure out one sound, and then learn all the words he can make with it. Like neigh and knee, eye, hi, and ice, moon and moo, etc... It makes me wonder how much he could say if his articulation was better.

It's been raining and raining the past few days (making only a small dent in our several feet of snow), but today looks bright and sunny! And in a hopeful gesture that the snow will eventually be gone, I'm starting the whole garden in the windowsill. I do like snow, and will go snowshoeing today, but it's time for spring!

[Everrgreen]

I started giving Royce utensils and his food on a plate just before he turned 1. He loves using utensils and can manage on his own most of the time. Sometimes he likes me to load the fork for him, but I think it's more a game then him actually needing me to do it. And he only throws the plate if he's done, usually I can tell he's done before it gets thrown (unless I'm not paying attention), or if he lifts the plate up I will take it and say 'all done'. So I think he has learned that you only lift the plate if you are all done!

AK - I hope everything gets cleared up quickly. That is one issue I haven't had to deal with - thank goodness!

Mal - that's so great that Owyn is sleeping so well! I think I'm just about ready to start night weaning. I'm getting really fed up with all the night wakings. I'm just not sure how to go about it other than with lots of crying

[starling&diesel]

Originally Posted by mamamillet

I have an eating question: Do you guys give food with plates, bowls and utensils yet?

We've been using plates and bowls since Esmé was about 6 months old. Breakable ones, actually, but like Gillian, I can tell when she's done and just take it away before any throwing action happens. Knock on wood, she hasn't ever thrown a plate or bowl.
And she uses her spoon and fork at every meal. She's getting better with the spoon and can get about 3/4 of whatever she wants into her maw with it, but her fork skills are a bit frustrating to her. She likes us to load it for her, and then she'll take it from there.

Originally Posted by Gillian28

Mal - that's so great that Owyn is sleeping so well! I think I'm just about ready to start night weaning. I'm getting really fed up with all the night wakings. I'm just not sure how to go about it other than with lots of crying

Me too. I've been trying to wait to give in, but that just makes for a hard night for everyone, although I did manage to console her with "Shhh, baby, night-night" a few times before finally letting her nurse at about 0330. Night weaning. So hard. I am SO READY for E to be night weaned. Can someone just pass a magic wand over her and make it so?

[AKislandgirl]

I'll take some of that magic dust this way too! I don't even know how to do it. Sheesh, this parenting stuff is hard! I think I'll reread the no cry sleep solution and give some of those ideas a try. Sleeping though the night would be amazing!!

[Thursday Girl]

regarding utensils and such, i have been super lazy and just put stuff on the tray or on the table. she likes to "use" a spoon but has a lot of trouble with it. the getting stuff on it, not the to the mouth bit.

she got two teeth on the sides that i didn't know where coming in. just saw them when i was flipping her upside down and eating her neck. super cool. my baby is getting so big! I also went through her old diapers to show my friend what was what and it was a little sad. That and packing her clothes up to give to another friend. The other girls clothes it's fine b/c i know I will see that stuff again, but after junes outgrows it away it goes, and there are so many memories tied to different pieces.

Nightweaning- i don't plan on night weaning until she is almost 2. she nly wakes up 1-3 times and i do't really wake up, we just kind of roll over to switch sides and keep sleeping.

[Mal85]

As far as utensils, I usually just put things on the table and let her finger feed. If it's something like yogurt or applesauce, she won't even try to feed it to herself, she prefers me to feed it to her. She doesn't really like getting dirty. I'm not worried about it, it's just another thing that will come in time.

I think I can officially say Owyn is sleeping through the night.
Now, I knock on wood since I just said (wrote?) that out loud. It's been about a week now that she has slept in her crib all night. Most nights, I hear her fuss at about 4-4:30, but by the time I make it out of bed to go get her, she goes back to sleep. So, now I just lay in bed and wait to see if she is going back to sleep (which she does). Last night, I never once heard her fuss. I heard her coughing at around 5 in the morning, and she talked to herself for a few minutes, then back to sleep.

I'm really amazed that this happened all on its own. We had tried different things in the past to get her to sleep in her crib longer, quickly realizing each time that it wasn't going to work. When she first started sleeping in there at all, it was only for 1.5-2 hours. It fluctuated between that and 4-5 hours for several months. She was pretty consistently sleeping about 4 hours before she started sleeping through the night. I guess it's just something we've encouraged, but haven't had to force her to do anything she wasn't ready for. I was starting to struggle though. She would get into bed with us, nurse, and then fuss and cry for quite a while. She didn't want me to cuddle her or touch her, she didn't want me to be anywhere near her. I would eventually roll over and she'd push herself up to the very top of the bed, nestled against the headboard and go to sleep. So, in hindsight, I guess she was trying to say she didn't want to sleep with us anymore.

I have to say, I do miss snuggling with my baby now. She won't even fall asleep on my chest anymore unless she is suuuuuuper sleepy or hasn't had a good nap that day. Her daddy has been putting her to bed after I nurse her. I'm glad to have a little independence, but I do miss snuggling.

[Vegan Princess]

Mal: That's so awesome! Sorry about missing the snuggles. I understand. Makenna has been in her own crib since 6 months and we gave up to co-sleeping for naps a couple months ago. But lately she only naps in her crib for half hour then falls back asleep on my lap for an hour+. I miss having more time to myself during naps but I am treasuring this snuggly time while it lasts. Plus I get to sit and watch tv and veg while she naps. LOL.

Cindy

[mckittre]

Mal, that's awesome.

I've still got a nurse all the time, snuggle all the time boy over here, so I'll try to enjoy it while it lasts. Mostly I do, though sometimes I do wish his daddy could put him to sleep, or that he didn't need to nurse quite so often (especially now that he's refusing the left side entirely - so it's all on my right nipple).

What are your kids latest interests/obsessions?
Katmai is still obsessed with everything that spins (for over half his life now!) - everything from tops to loose drawer knobs, to wind farms. Lately he's added a couple new secondary obsessions with moons and horses, which he points out excitedly in every picture book and in reality (moon sounds like "mun", and horse is "neigh" plus the sign). As for toys, he likes spinning things best, followed by books and balls.

[Everrgreen]

Yeah, I'm not willing to give up cosleeping. So any sort of nightweaning I attempt will have to involve cosleeping, which I know makes it a bit trickier. But some nights I have good nights, and I think this is no big deal, I can keep doing this. But then I have a bad night and I get so frustrated! I fantasize about being able to nurse Royce in our bed, and then when he's done just say goodnight and walk away, and have him close his eyes and fall asleep until the morning. As it is I have to stay with him until he's totally asleep (which I know is pretty normal at this age), and then almost all of his night wakings require a nurse to go back to sleep, and sometimes I just don't want to anymore!!! This morning I tried to ignore him because I was DONE and he screamed and cried and carried on forever (he wouldn't let me hold him or touch him, ALL he wanted was the boob). I was completely fuming. I actually had to leave the room with him still freaking out because I was so angry. I actually went and had a shower . I know... Bad Mama And he was still freaking out, but by then I had calmed enough to at least hold him and get him to stop crying. He never actually went back to sleep, and we had a playgroup this morning that I really look forward to, but he was so tired and cranky. He's napping now though, thankfully!

Okay, that sort of turned into a vent about my crappy morning

ANYWAY, as for obsessions - he still really likes throwing things into his diaper pail. Which is funny, but also annoying when he throws clean clothes in. The other day he spent probably 30 minutes going back and forth from the bathroom closet to his diaper pail, taking 1 toiletry item at a time and tossing it in the bin. And whenever I would ask him what he was doing he would just start laughing. He thought he was pretty sneaky

Oh, and BALLS. He LOVES balls! If he sees a ball, anywhere, even if it's not a real playing ball but just something spherical, he points and wants to get it and gets so excited. He's really good at playing catch too, he has great aim and can toss it pretty far. His daddy is very athletic and I'm reasonably coordinated, so I think he'll do well in sports

Oh (one more!), he also has recently learned how to say 'cat' and 'dog' (he actually first said dog a long time ago, but is saying it consistently now). Neither word is clear, but he is consistenly making similar sounds. Anyway, so whenever he sees a cat or a dog he will point and say the appropriate word. It's pretty cute

[mamamillet]

Willa loves balls. Her bother plays soccer and we watch him practice and play A LOT so thats no wonder Her other fav right now is her baby stroller. She loves puching it all over the house and even more gun is chasing a dog with it. SHe actually cracks her self up chasing after one of our dogs..I need to get it on tape! Cooking and reading are still daily activities as well.
I am holding off on the night weaning until 18 months or so. She usually only nurses 2 x during the night...now that all 16 teeth are in. I was able to nightwean her brother around that age as well.

[AKislandgirl]

Sorry you had a crappy morning Gillian!

Fiona loves to play with her shoes and socks the most! She is forever putting on big shoes, brining me shoes to put on, pulling off socks and bringing me another pair. She often wears mismatched shoes and socks around the house! She loves to say shoes and socks too. I just pulled out some pink high top converse that my brother passed on from his DD. They fit and are so cute!!! She loves them!

She is also REALLY into saying no. She yells no when I try to wipe her nose, change her diaper, redirect her from something else... now i know i have a toddler!

[Mal85]

Owyn's favorite thing to do right now is climb. Luckily we have the swing set all set up now, so she spends countless hours climbing up the ladder and going down the slide. She's also really into helping DH in the garden right now. He just got it planted and has been working a lot on the apple trees. She loves going out there with him and watching everything he does.

Inside, her favorite toy is her doll stroller. She does push it around from time to time, but really it works well as a ladder to get to where she really wants to go. She pushes it up to the couch, chairs, etc and uses it to climb up on things. She's also really into reading books right now. She still won't sit still to let me read to her, but she'll turn the pages and "read" out loud to herself.

She says shoes now! She really hasn't had many consistent words, so this is very exciting! She just got two new pairs of shoes and LOVES them. She'll go find her shoes and bring them to me to put on. She knows if she gets shoes on she's going to go outside!

[Vegan Princess]

Makenna is seriously obsessed with bubbles! She woke up from her nap today and immediately said "bubble". She says the word over and over and over all day and carries around the bubble container. She's not so into the actual bubbles as she is with dipping the wand and blowing (and eating the wand). She is also into balls and dogs and cats but nothing like this. This is crazy obsessed!

Cindy

[Everrgreen]

I think Royce is about to have a growth spurt. He has been eating like crazy! Up until the last few days he had become quite picky and didn't eat much, but now he will take third or fourth helpings, wants snacks constantly, and has even started to sign 'eat' which he never did before. So I'm assuming some growth is coming!


I also had a funny realization today. I find that I have become so familiar with Royce's babbling and the way he communicates that it sounds normal to me - like it makes sense the same as if he were saying real words. And then every once in a while, if I'm not paying attention and all of a sudden I hear babbling, and it's this weird reminder that 'oh yeah, it's just incoherent babble'. But most of the time I don't think of it like that. Does that make sense? Anyway, I just thought it was kind of funny.


Oh, and I want to give myself a pat on the back for having a very productive day. I tidied up, vacuumed, dusted, cleaned the cat litter, took out the garbage, washed a bunch of dishes, paid some bills and organized some paperwork, and am currently making homemade veggie stew with dumplings - all while taking care of a toddler. I rock