Last 2011 Chat Thread « Back to Group Discussions

[cat13]

It's been quiet around here lately, I assume because everyone is spending time with family. Thought I'd start a new chat thread for the last of 2011. 

I'm just waiting for DS to wake from his nap, then we are off to do errands. Gotta go to Target and get some disposable diapers. Two nights ago DS had a REALLY bad diaper rash, so we used sposies and slathered diaper cream all over him. Turns out we hadn't bought any diapers in such a long time that he grew out of the ones we had. OMG... too small diapers = poop everywhere! And of course no stores are open on Christmas to buy more diapers. So, he took 3 baths yesterday and had quite a bit of naked time. So, even though he's back in the cloth now (rash is almost all gone!), I figure I might as well have some on hand in case this happens again. 

Anything exciting happening out there?

[SouthernStormy]

Not too much exciting here, other than DH being home. I haven't been on much because of that- I think I'm having facebook/computer withdrawals. Its been interesting having him "home" (at my mothers house), sometimes I don't know whether he's more of a help or just gets in the way. He wants to help, but usually I'm the one that knows what to do with her and by nighttime lately its been so crazy that all she wants is mama which really bums him out.

[earth-mama]

Stormy--that use to bum DP out too.  But now that we have 2 and DP gets to put DD down almost every night I think he wishes for a return to me doing it :-).  I do hear you on the getting in the way though because that still happens for us since I am home with the kids during the day.  

[cat13]

Earth-mama, did you quit your job? I remember you posting in the Work/School thread about being frustrated with your job... how did it go?

[Peony]

Not that much exciting baby wise going on here. Dominic is extra grabby now. He snatches food, keys, phone, basically anything out of my hands. Of course it goes straight to the mouth and he wails if I won't let him eat something that he wants. It is so much easier holding him now that he can go on my hip. We've been doing that for a few weeks. I have a friend that had her first boy 3 months after he was born so I've been passing on the clothes he grows out of. She already gets my girls clothes since her DD is almost 2 years younger then my youngest girl so I'm enjoying passing everything along to one place for now! At my work I am already getting referrals for moms due in August of 2012, now that feels weird. 

[Beckily]

We're doing well here, too. Charlie is loving books lately. And he's reached the charming phase where he cries if you take something from him.

And we're going to be moving. Arg. Applying for the house we just saw, hopefully we get it! :D (to rent)

[Baby_Cakes]

Becky - good luck with the house! 

Peony - the whole august '12 thing really freaks me out.  I can't believe that was us a year ago.

Cat - yes!!  too small dipes are no good.  Hell, even right size sposies make a mess.  I wish I could justify more cloth diapers but unless I sell all my smalls, I can't buy any more OSes or larges.  And putting up an ad for selling dipes seems intimidating.

AFus - Not much new.  Not sleeping well, DD is back in my bed.  She's having issues I think with separation from starting school, so I'm giong to just follow her lead and let her sleep where she wants.  It's tough b/c she's acting like a barnacle.  Attached to me 24/7.  If I even leave the room to go in the kitchen she might throw a fit and say she "misses me".  She's started saying she loves me and does NOT love daddy, which is hard for both of us to hear.  DH gets upset even though I tell him not to take it personally.  It has to be a phase or something.  I'm not sure.

I did download No Cry Sleep for toddlers and preschoolers to my kindle just to get some perspective but I'm not sure what's going on other than just huge changes (baby, school) in her life.

I also got some books to read to/with her that deal with going to school/anxiety.  I'm hoping they help.  

Otherwise our holidays were nice!  Had a fun time with family!

Went to the Target Nurse In today and met a few really nice crunchy mamas.  I hope we stay in touch.  We friended on FB so I'm hoping since we are local, we really will grow to be IRL friends.  I need those badly!!

Making an effort to cut down my computer time, so if I seem missing it's just b/c of that.  Trying to clean the house more and stay on top of Nora more, taking more advantage of time together when Finn naps instead of farting around online.  It's hard!  I'm so addicted to my internet!!

Edited by Baby_Cakes - 12/28/11 at 5:37pm

[earth-mama]

Originally Posted by cat13 

Earth-mama, did you quit your job? I remember you posting in the Work/School thread about being frustrated with your job... how did it go?

I did, I told work that I could cover my shifts until the end of January, but my coworkers took all of them except for one at the beginning of Jan.  So, I will be done by the middle of January!  Yea!!  I think I am going to start a blog and work on maybe making some waldorf dolls to sell on Etsy.

I am super excited, but a little bummed because we won't be able to keep DD in preschool and she loooves it.  But, overall things will be a lot better for all of us 

[Lynann]

Carrie I totally get the internet thing, especially with few IRL mama friends. Now that we've moved I have nobody close by at all, and it looks like I'm going to be out of Church for a few months too.

There have been a few things going on here. The first has to do with our relocation. Its really working for DH as we are now only a 10 min drive from his office, so even with a 10 hour day he is still getting a reasonable amount of time with the boys before bedtime. Its great having the extra space too, and having a guest room again etc. BUT I feel so isolated. I haven't had any opportunities to meet anyone locally. We're still going to Church where we used to live. DH has been going there for 14 years and has friends there. I've really struggled to make friends there and certainly none that would drive this far to meet up (it was difficult enough to get anyone to meet for lunch when I was local) but I did at least have other women with young children I could actually talk face to face with. DS2 is not dealing with the long commute to Church. Christmas Eve was the final straw for us. DH had already decided to stop teaching Sunday School so we wouldn't be there for two and a half hours on a Sunday morning. The plan was just to go to one of the Church services as a family and then come back home for naps. Then on Christmas Eve we went to the 5pm service. DS2 wouldn't go to sleep the whole time we were out of the house, so by the time we got back (and we left before the end) he had been awake for over 3 hours and was very not happy. It took me another 2 hours to get him calmed down enough to go to sleep. That whole time he was screaming or crying and totally miserable simply from being over-tired. I felt so bad for him. He will usually sleep on me when he is tired and we are out, but just this last couple of weeks he has become so distracted now that he has started noticing the world that he won't sleep when we are out. So the only way to stop him getting so over-tired is to not take him out for longer than he can happily be awake, and that is about 90 min right now. Since its a 35-40 min drive each way to Church we won't be taking him back until he can stay awake for 2 1/2 hours without a meltdown, which I don't expect to happen for at least a few more months. I will do whatever it takes to make sure my boys are happy and healthy and get enough rest. But I'm really not looking forward to having DH be the only adult I see IRL for the next few months.

The other thing is the changes in DS2's feeding. I know it is mostly due to this new awareness of the world around him. I also know he IS getting enough to eat. It is however not as much fun for me. He has gone from 10-15 min feeds to 4-6 min at a time. He has gone back to night feeding so has added in some extra feeds to make up for whatever he hasn't got during the day. I think I could adjust to the change in sleep, but this change in feeding has come at the same time as my nipples have decided to get really sensitive again. They hurt as bad as those first couple of weeks postpartum, so much so that I have to make myself relax enough for letdown, and the non-feeding side hurts during letdown too. I never got to nurse DS1 for this long so I have no idea if this change in sensitivity is normal, and how long it will last. I hope it doesn't last long as I was really enjoying nursing, but now I'm back to holding my breath for the first few seconds when he latches on, and then when he is nearly finished and starts looking around (and latching on and off repeatedly) I get really tempted to just finish and cover back up, but I know I need to let him decide when he has had enough.

Hopefully it will go back t getting easier again soon.

[Beckily]

Lyn, that sounds really hard! I hope that you can find a new local church. It might be easier to make friends when you're both new.

Charlie's neck had FINALLY healed up and stayed good for a few days and he's been cranky about his mouth, so I put his amber necklace back on. I still kept his neck greased with the coconut oil (that's what keeps it clear), but he woke up in the morning all raw again.

I took it off and kept him greased yesterday and now it's all clear.

Are any of you having trouble with your amber? The beads are smooth, everyone seems to have these necklaces, I don't understand why his neck is so irritated. I bought it from a local store, bought the same one the owner got for her kid. Charlie's fat, but so are lots of babies, that's what the greasing is for.

I guess I have to save it for when he's a bit older? Or just give up?

[Lynann]

Beckily, have you tried putting the amber around his wrist or ankle instead of his neck. I've heard that works just as good, as the important part is skin contact.

[Beckily]

He's stared rolling over! Two days in a row. He'd done it twice before but not on the flat floor, in bed.

http://charlie.dustywilson.com/

I know a lot of others are way way ahead on this one, but eh ;) Big babies are slower on these things.

http://charlie.dustywilson.com/

And I'll try his ankle, Lyn, thank you! :D

[HawaiianBlesing]

yeah Charlie

[Baby_Cakes]

Woohoo Charlie!!

Finn still hasn't rolled over but this week he was working on it really hard!  He gets his lower half prone but his top half is still sideways.  LOL!

Lyn - 

Is it possible you have thrush?  Pain/sensitivity like that sounds like more than just tenderness from a few more feedings.  Just throwing it out there for you.  

Happy NYE everyone!!

[cat13]

Lyn, I agree with Carrie that it could be thrush. Maybe you could start taking some probiotics just in case?

The rolling over thing is funny. River rolled from tummy to back twice about 2 months ago, but then didn't do it again for about a month. Then he'll just do it again one day, like "it's no big deal mom, I always do this". Now he only rolls from back to tummy, but mostly only when he's having naked time. I told a friend that I think it's that his cloth diapers make it hard fro him to roll over, and she said that I should stuff them with more liners because I should discourage movement for as long as I can and enjoy the baby-that-doesn't-move while I still have one! 

[Baby_Cakes]

Originally Posted by cat13 

 I told a friend that I think it's that his cloth diapers make it hard fro him to roll over, and she said that I should stuff them with more liners because I should discourage movement for as long as I can and enjoy the baby-that-doesn't-move while I still have one! 

  Soooo true!!!!  OMG, yes!  I'm in NO RUSH!  This kid can stay a baby puddle forver!

This morning, he tried to get my banana.  No!  No, Finnley!  No solid food, not yet! Not for at least 2 more months!!  Stay a BABY!

[MayM]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes 

  Soooo true!!!!  OMG, yes!  I'm in NO RUSH!  This kid can stay a baby puddle forver!

This morning, he tried to get my banana.  No!  No, Finnley!  No solid food, not yet! Not for at least 2 more months!!  Stay a BABY!

Maisie grabbed the handle of my coffee mug this morning. Thank goodness it was cold coffee from yesterday so no one got burned. I'm not ready for baby grabbing!
 

[cat13]

Originally Posted by MayM 

Maisie grabbed the handle of my coffee mug this morning. Thank goodness it was cold coffee from yesterday so no one got burned. I'm not ready for baby grabbing!
 

Yeah, so..... mommy confession: River grabbed a steak knife off of our knife magnet hanging in our kitchen while I was making a snack a few weeks ago. Thank goodness he grabbed the handle end! We put them in a drawer now, but I am NOT ready to think about baby proofing!
 

[Beckily]

Originally Posted by Baby_Cakes 

Woohoo Charlie!!

Finn still hasn't rolled over but this week he was working on it really hard!  He gets his lower half prone but his top half is still sideways.  LOL!

Lyn - 

Is it possible you have thrush?  Pain/sensitivity like that sounds like more than just tenderness from a few more feedings.  Just throwing it out there for you.  

Happy NYE everyone!!

Soon then! Those stinkin' bottom arms are always in the way :)

But they have to work out tummy to back before they can really travel! That one seems harder for Charlie.

[Beckily]

Originally Posted by cat13 

Yeah, so..... mommy confession: River grabbed a steak knife off of our knife magnet hanging in our kitchen while I was making a snack a few weeks ago. Thank goodness he grabbed the handle end! We put them in a drawer now, but I am NOT ready to think about baby proofing!
 

That's a heart-stopper! Baby proofing sounds hard. Luckily we'll be moving so we can just set up a whole new house correctly instead of fixing.