NOVEMBER 2010 - May Chat Thread

[Lemoncello]

Hope it's okay for me to start a new thread for us since it is now May! I have been watching for a new one 'cause I love hearing and seeing how everyone's babes are doing! 

Josiah just reached the 6 month mark Saturday, and I still can't quite believe it. :) He is growing up so fast! He is sitting up without support for several minutes at a time now, although he can't sit himself up yet. He does seem to really enjoy being able to reach out for things: toys, his feet, the cats and the dog...anything he can get his hands on! I do have to watch really closely when I have him on my lap at the dinner table now, as he will try to grab anything he can reach, and he'd prefer my plate or silverware over his own toys. :p I gave him his first "official" BLW meal yesterday, and he seemed to enjoy the experience! He managed to gum about half of two pear slices before deciding he was tired and ready to do something different. It was really fun to watch him go at it while it lasted, though! We'll be trying sweet potato next, so we'll see how he likes that.

The other big thing Josiah has been doing lately is putting himself to sleep at naps and occasionally at night! He is still swaddled because he will rub his face or head to scratch his eczema and wake himself up doing so. But I can now put him down for a nap in his vibrating baby rocker while he is awake, but calm and ready to rest, and he will fall asleep without a fuss. I usually nurse him down at night, but several times this week he has still been awake when he finished eating, and didn't want the boob anymore. So I just put him in his crib, and he quietly drifted off to sleep each time. I keep telling myself not to get used to it, as I know he could decide to put up more of a nighttime fight later on! But it is really nice to know that he can do it, nonetheless!

Well, that's all for now, I guess. Except I can't help but add a pic of my little man chowing down!

Can't wait to read everyone else's updates!

[Calliope84]

Avalon is 5 months 1 week now and she is starting to crawl! That is the major development. Last week she started banging her toys together, which is a new thing. She has started rolling a little away from me when we are sleeping and she even stayed asleep next to DH the other morning which was awesome because I got to get up early and have some alone time with my coffee, journal and a nice morning on the back porch. ;)  She also has fallen asleep more than a few times in our arms, without needing to nurse. She can go 3-4 hours sometimes without nursing which is nice, because I feel like I can leave her with daddy for an hour or two to run errands.

She is starting to babble more and we occasionally get things that sound like words. She knows "milk", "dog", and I think "daddy", too, though she isn't saying them. I ask her if she wants milk and if she wants it she does this cute desperate / excited / happy little noise. She will try to crawl over to me and will grab my shirt and pull on it to get inside, too, if she wants to nurse. If I ask her where the dog is, she starts looking around the room for her. 

I used to think she was "high needs", but ever since she figured out how to move herself around she is so much happier! It also is helping that we are getting better at communicating. Taking care of her is getting easier because of this.

Here is the video I took 2 days ago:

[Lemoncello]

Oh my, goodness! Crawling already!? You're going to be busy now! :) I'm sort of glad that Josiah is not in that big of a hurry to move...and so is the dog! She will never get a moment's rest once the little man is mobile. He loves her soooo much. :p

Just poppin' in to wish everyone a very Happy Mother's Day! Everyone else is napping here, so I think I'm going to go get some rest as well. Hope you all have a wonderful day, filled with joyful moments with your little ones!

[Calliope84]

Originally Posted by Lemoncello 

Oh my, goodness! Crawling already!? You're going to be busy now! :) I'm sort of glad that Josiah is not in that big of a hurry to move...and so is the dog! She will never get a moment's rest once the little man is mobile. He loves her soooo much. :p

Just poppin' in to wish everyone a very Happy Mother's Day! Everyone else is napping here, so I think I'm going to go get some rest as well. Hope you all have a wonderful day, filled with joyful moments with your little ones!

Happy Mother's Day to you, too! I can't believe she is crawling, myself. I'm not supposed to have to worry about this sort of mobility for a few months! She is all over the place and I need to superbabyproof now and set up a little toy room with a gate so she has a safe place to be.

[peaceful_mama]

Zayd is 5 months 1 week   (11/28)  No rolling really even....but he wears bigger cloth diapers than average too.  And my DD seemed like she took FOREVER to move...but then once she did, WHOA she went from not mobile to rolling all over, crawling, and pulling up to stand by my coffee table in less than 2 weeks!! 

He *does* get himself onto his side and is really starting to do that more, also reaching for his dangly toys and rolling to his side to get the one he wants.

We got out the Jumperoo again--he likes to sit there and watch us.  When he gets bored with it, he 'pages' me---this little fussy almost-cry followed by "Mama, Mama!"  :D

He LOVES his brothers and sister--they get him laughing out loud like nobody else  :D  He's very  happy to sit and watch everyone.  And he *loves* music.  His favorite this week is when I sing that old song "Honey, sugar sugar" followed by a bunch of stuff I've made up LOL  We had a party just me and him the other day when it was really windy and daddy took the other kids to the park listening to music on youtube lol

actually I make up stuff to sing to him so much that the other kids sing my songs to him lol....and when my 2 yr old was smaller, the first song he learned to sing was 'his' baby song I made up--he joined right in with the next line one day  TOO CUTE.

Lemon and Calliope your babies are too cute  :)

[St. Margaret]

Yay! Happy I found this thread. I cant believe they are turning six mo! Nathan has been sitting for a while and is sturdy now. He is so social, he loves getting people to smile at him and visiting with others. He really loves to get into everything, lunging this way and that, mostly towards plants and electric device lol. He puts his arms up for up, so cute. He likes loud zippy songs and is fascinated still by hands.

His poop is still almost always green and loose trying to remember to go longer blocks on one side. But he's so overwhelmingly happy! He's big too. His hair is coming in all over but he still rocks his Mohawk. I wonder if he's going golden like his sister.

Ah better go sleep.

[Ellen Griswold]

So glad to see everyone again too!  Rachel will be 6 months tomorrow.  The time has gone SO SO fast!  Yesterday dh was eating a plum and let her gum on it a couple times.  She acted like it was the most repulsive thing ever but kept reaching for it.  No teeth yet but I keep thinking I'll see them any day by the way she acts.  Crawling - wow - I'm personally not ready for that and luckily she doesn't seem to be either.  We are so out of practice with the baby-proofing.  Just recently we have started to experience the joy of seperation anxiety.  Looking at people while being held by mommy or daddy is okay (sometimes) but someone else holding her usually results in heartbreaking cries.  It's nice to know I'm loved, but sure made it inconvenient to go to the bathroom yesterday at church.  She's a pretty sturdy sitter but I do keep a boppy around her usually.  Every now and again she'll still do a big face plant.  Our house is on the market now, so that's been an interesting change going on in our lives.  Two lookers so far and we try to stay hopeful.  It is also dd1's 4th birthday today.  Time can sure fly.

[Stitches]

I can't believe it's been 6 months already!  I tried so hard to savor the moments but it's still gone by in a blur, we had a pretty stressful winter with DH out of work but he's finally got a job and we took an impromptu trip to Mexico to celebrate, which was much, much needed.  6 hr flight with a 3 year old and a 5 month old was not too bad really, quite the adventure!  Clara continues to be a sweet baby, easy going and happy.  Not too much else to report, really.  It's so hard to get on here and take the time to write these days.  Glad to hear that everyone else is doing well with their little ones

[HeatherB]

Thanks for starting a new thread!

I can't believe it's been six months!! I took Eliana for her six month check up today (her birthday was the 13th, so she's now 6 months and 5 days). She is 14lbs even, which puts her at only the 10th percentile now (she'd been at 15th since about 2 months). I actually was looking at the previous thread to figure out what her last weight was and see how well she's gaining (3.2oz/wk on average). I'm not sure what I think of it. We saw a new NP today and I may call and have our pedi look at the chart and tell me what she thinks. I don't want to just start solids to beef her up. If she's not gaining well on the all-you-can-eat breastmilk plan, I want to know WHY, not just cover it up with extra calories, ya know?

She's still got the mucocele (blister-looking bubble thing on her lip). I lanced it and it went down a lot, but it's come back just as big. And it looks more purplish today - more vascularization? We did see the pedi in the hall today (before the weigh in) and she definitely thought we oughta get it taken care of. I need to find a day I can get in with the ENT that I've heard good things about and just get it done. I hate to, though, because it will hurt her.

Ellie is sitting solidly, scooching forward, around, and backward, and making me wish it was easier to keep the house clean. She is so very quickly getting everywhere! And, now that it would be REALLY helpful to occasionally have a safe place to keep her contained, my 6yo pushed my 3yo and knocked him into the bouncy seat, shearing off a leg. I still need to get with the company and see if there's any chance of repairing it with new parts. Otherwise we may have to pull out the exersaucer. She's plenty big for it, but I kinda hate the big, bulky thing that it is.

We haven't started food yet but I did almost hand her a carrot stick the other day. It was her first time in a high chair at a restaurant (and it only lasted so long!) and there were big carrot and celery sticks. I think my family and friends that were with us would've flipped! And, since I think she's dealing with intolerances, I want to be careful about stuff. And I do NOT want solid food poos, either. That's what really stopped me. "Do I want to see this in a diaper? No? Then no food today!"

Eliana and I are going to visit my sister in Chicago in a few weeks. It'll be her first travels! We're going by train so I hope it'll be nice and relaxing for us both. My sister is expecting twins in August so I am hoping to help her get ready. She's been eager to get things settled sooner than later, though, so I'm not really sure how much there will be for me to do. I hope we can enjoy some time together, though. I'm really bummed that there's no way I can be there for the birth. Not really sure she'd want me there, anyway, but if I could be there, I would. With four littles to take care of, and the uncertainty of when babies come, plus my DH recently starting an out-of-the-home job, there's just no way I can figure out to make it work. My mom is hoping to rig something where she's a few hours away, by car, instead of across the country, for several weeks, so she can go whenever it seems like a good thing. I'm hoping, at least, that that will mean I get full play-by-play information. I will be going NUTS if I don't get details.

Blahblahblah... Yeah, it's been too long. But I haven't forgotten how to babble on and on!

Big hugs to all mamas and babies!

[Stitches]

Heather I'm with you on wanting to avoid the solid food poos for as long as possible, lol.  I don't really have to worry about that too much yet as Clara is not ready for solids yet.  I tried a few times and she looked at me like 'what are you smoking, woman?  If it isn't coming from your breast, I don't want anything to do with it.'  So opposite from my oldest who was a total chow from the moment she tried solid food.

[Calliope84]

Avalon cross-crawled today ("proper" crawling, alternating sides on hands and knees)!!! She will be 6 months in 9 days and I really don't want to introduce solids either. I will see what the pediatrician has to say. DD is picking up teeny tiny little things now and trying to put them in her mouth... she definitely is interested in my food... sits up on her own.. but - I still don't want to! Can I hold out for a tooth? haha

My mom was over today and Avalon crawled over to me where I was sitting on the floor, tried to kneel / grab onto / pull down my tank top and started blowing raspberries on my boobs. My mom was like "Wow... Help myself!", like my boobs were a DD buffet. She said I was never that aggressive about it when she breastfed me, but I hear I was very laid back and DD is not ;D.

[ocelotmom]

Eira has been eating solids for a while now (she's 7 months). I really like baby-led weaning for this stage, when they want to share in meals but may not be quite ready for it yet. They can have a good old time gnawing away at things, and swallow little or none of it until they're ready for swallowing.

[TheDivineMrsM]

Can I join? I'm Rachel, and my daughter Lila Brooke was born 11/30/10.

[YayJennie]

We have officially reached my favorite "baby stage" with Emma!  She's sitting unassisted, but not crawling, so I can sit her down with some toys and she just stays put and plays.  She's gripping really well and will grab books or rattles and swing them around and laughing at her brother.  This is such a fun age!  She still needs lots of help to sleep (most naps I have to hold her in my lap or she wakes within 45 minutes, but she'll nap for 2-3 hours if I hold her), but she's getting on a better schedule of 3 naps a day that align with her brother's afternoon nap.  She's also very interested in foods and I have a great time letting her try different fruits while she sits in her highchair.  Just thought I'd share my love of the 6-9 month stage!  Yay November babies :)

[HeatherB]

I don't think we ended up with a June thread, did we?

We went out for Father's Day dinner tonight, and Eliana was grabbing at everything. It was a fondue place and she managed to grab a piece of raw meat at one point! Eek! They also had raw veggies, so I ended up giving her a fist-sized piece of cauliflower to gnaw on. Her first food! (Well, other than paper and whatever bits she's picked up off the floor from her brothers... ) She enjoyed gnawing that, and then later, some broccoli. She got little bits off (two bottom teeth) but not too much. I doubt it'll do much to her diapers just yet! Whew!

We were out the other day having a picnic, and as I sat slicing off chunks of fruits, I had the urge to give her a piece to chew on. She was happy enough at the time, and I didn't, but I definitely have the feeling that she's big enough to try things now. Sigh. Where did my little tiny baby go?!

She and I leave in ONE WEEK to go visit my sister. We're traveling by train, 24 hours each way. Oh, 4 of those are by bus. Blech. I only live in the fourth largest city in the nation. You would THINK there was a direct train service to the third largest city! But, no. The quickest way is bus, then train. I'm getting more nervous about it as it gets closer, she gets wigglier, and I worry about how demanding she'll be on the train and for two weeks when I'm the only caregiver available. I am sure it will all be fine (or I wouldn't have booked it!) but I really, really hope she's easy going and all that during the trip. I'll need that!

Eliana is *almost* cross-crawling. She was working really hard at it last night. No time to practice today, but I wonder if she'll have it mastered by the time we leave town. She is so quick already that it's kinda scary!

How is everyone else doing? Anyone thinking about birthdays yet? I keep telling myself I need to wait until closer to the time so I have an idea of what she likes, then. I really don't know what we're going to do, though I want to do something special, as I have with the others. I have two boy birthdays in September so I've gotta figure those out, too! I just can't believe we're on the quick downhill slide to 1 year!

[Calliope84]

Wow! This month has been crazy and full of changes! Avalon will be 7 months in 9 days.

She cross crawls, pulls up, cruises a tiny bit and walks when we hold her hands and can stand alone for about a second before sitting back down. I also taught her to push her walker/wagon to walk forward. She gets from crawling to sitting and has so far crawled up a few stairs, but I don't usually let her on them much.

First, she started clicking her tongue and copying a face I always make, and then she started babbling (bababa ada mabada etc.) I was getting worried about the lack of babbling. She has also started laughing a lot! She was always so serious before. She is still serious around other people but at home she seems a lot happier since she figured out how to move more. She likes her books, but still can't turn the pages unless I lift them up a little. She probably won't be able to until she starts using her pointer finger and thumb more.

The other day she woke up from a nap on our bed and crawled to the edge and was crying for me to come get her. Scared the crap out of me... I hope she really does "get" edges...

So, that's it for now.

[Lemoncello]

 It's been a crazy couple of months around here. DH had kidney stones that plagued him all through May and finally had to be surgically removed. Hello, major hospital bills!  I've been struggling to get myself out of this PPD funk, and I feel like I'm finally making some headway, although I still have some major moments of irritability and anxiety. But I do think they are getting to be fewer and farther between as I learn how to cope and avoid my triggers. This past week has been a bit rough because one of our sweet kitty cats passed away of a sudden unknown illness. We took her to the vet, but we simply couldn't afford the blood work they wanted to do to determine what was wrong with her. She died 24 hours later anyway, so I doubt it would have done much good by that point. It took me a couple of days before I could think about her without crying. She was only 3 years old, and it just doesn't seem right that we should lose our most beautiful, laid back and loving cat at such a young age. We still have her 2 siblings, and they are healthy and happy as far as we can tell...so I'm trying to just spend extra time loving on them whenever I get to missing our Molly-girl.

Josiah is learning new little things all the time, and it is wonderful to watch him discover new things as he plays with his toys each day. He is now rolling from back to front (finally!), although he doesn't spend much time on his tummy yet. He really doesn't seem interested in pulling up on hands and knees at all yet, but that's okay with me for now! I'm not ready for a crawler!

Oh, dear...must go...he's awake! I'll try to get back to update more later! :)