Blimey, Nov 05 Mamas - It's March! - Page 7

[barcelona]

Thank you so much for your reply, Mel. It helps a lot to hear of another attached mama who's been through something similar. I just hope those first few times aren't traumatic with the crying, and that he is okay. He LOVES his daddy, so I know he will ultimately be okay...I just know that he needs me a lot at night, too. Like you said, though, they can just stay up til I get home if all else fails. Thanks again!

And DiD, I also meant to say, hang in there, mama. That is So hard, that sleep deprivation. If I really concentrate and take myself back, I can get a glimpse of remembering it, and Ouch. As Mel said, this too will pass...hang in there!!!!

Finley doesn't really do dips...he sounds similar to Rowan, though, spughy, where he'll eat it if we feed it/present it to him that way and he licks the dip off and wants more.

And Q of C, what adorable pictures, and how SWEET that Ellie said Brother and Killie said Thank you. Wow...makes me look forward to the day when we do give Finley a little brother or sister (though we are planning to wait a while).

Hope you all have restful nights!!!

[SoulJourney]

Yeeeeehaw! Mr. Noah is FINALLY well again! A week straight of vomiting and diarrhea is noooooo fun. I hope that we never have to go through that again. Wishful thinking on my part, I'm sure. He has pretty much exclusively breastfed again for the past week, with today being the first day that he's touched food. As a matter of fact, yesterday and today he has had that seedy/yellow mustard newborn breastmilk poop again! I forgot how smooshy that stuff is. At least it had some consistency as opposed to what we've dealt with in the past week. It was just so sad and miserable all week. He would bring his pathetic little self over to me and sign potty, indicating that he had, once again, shat himself. I really think he lost a good deal of weight this week. He's no longer my chunky monkey! But, it's over now, thankfully! Thanks everyone for thinking of us!

Fern: OMG...AMAZING ink! Love, love, love it girl! And yes, it does suit you well!

Helen: I am glad to hear your bunch is doing better! You made me laugh out loud as I visualized Skye dipping! Noah is definitely a dipper. And like most of our kiddos, he sucks the dip off and redips. Silly boy.

DiD: mama...hopefully you get a good night of sleep tonight.

For those of you with picky eaters and whomever is "sneaking" veggies...I am joining you! Noah pretty much refuses most veggies these days. I, too, have resorted to smoothies. It's actually pretty nice because I don't eat nearly the amount of veggies that I should. We toss it all in the blender...broccoli, spinach, carrots, yogurt, avacado, flax meal, berries, banana, you name it, it goes in! Blueberries are GREAT at disguising so many things!

MelW: Noah is also sensitive to pretty much any dairy except yogurt. How on earth do you get Neela to drink soy milk? Noah will barely even drink water...he's strictly a mama's milk boy. And he will NOT take any way other than straight from the tap.

Barcelona: mama! It's so hard to have such different parenting styles than that of our parents and then listen to them openly judge us. Anytime the issue of parenting comes up between my mother and myself, anytime I make the slightest suggestion that I'm having a hard day, hard week, or I'm just plain tired, she goes into some tirade about how she did it and she had FOUR kids and I don't know hard and blah-di-blah blah blah. I often think "geez...would it be TOO hard to let me borrow your shoulder for once? Does it always have to be about YOU? I'm really not trying to one up you, I promise!" She acts as if I'm always trying to minimize the works she did as a mother and that is just not the case at all! Sorry...off my soapbox now! I just wanted to commiserate for a moment!

Spughy: Noah is officially a fan of wasabi, too! He kept taking my sushi rolls from me today, dipping them in the wasabi & soy sauce and sucking the rice off.

Ok...babe is back in my arms after, oh, 45 minutes sleeping solo. For some reason he would much rather be sleeping uncomfortably in my lap at the computer than have an entire bed to himself for a couple of hours.

[MelW]

Originally Posted by SoulJourney

MelW: Noah is also sensitive to pretty much any dairy except yogurt. How on earth do you get Neela to drink soy milk? Noah will barely even drink water...he's strictly a mama's milk boy. And he will NOT take any way other than straight from the tap.

I can rarely get her to drink soymilk- but DH can She'll drink other things when the "tap" is at work, I guess. The only time I've had luck was getting a steamed soymilk at the cafe so that she could have her own "latte".

And I'm so glad that Noah is well again!

And wasabi may be the official favourite food of the November 05 babies! Neela adores sushi. We have a friend that makes and brings over nori rolls just for the delight of watching her messily devour them

[SoulJourney]

ooooohhh...never thought of getting him his own "latte!" That would end the war of him forever wanting my REAL latte for sure!

[Phoenix_Rising]

Originally Posted by DreamsInDigital

I just got Suriya to sleep so I think I'm going to go try to get in bed and see if we can skip fussy time tonight.

Originally Posted by DreamsInDigital

Hahaha about skipping fussy time. Fat chance of that. I went to go lay down and she woke up so I got up and tried again.
She cried until 4:30am and then the boys got up at 7.
Shoot me.

I'd much rather send a your way.

Originally Posted by flapjack

Which raises another question: can anyone else's child "dip" their food?

Originally Posted by barcelona

so, where to begin? i'm overwhelmed, and luckily, DH is home today and is out at the moment with finley so i'm able to collect my thoughts a bit and take a few deep breaths.

family stuff is HARD!

[Queen of Cups]

Originally Posted by MelW

And wasabi may be the official favourite food of the November 05 babies! Neela adores sushi. We have a friend that makes and brings over nori rolls just for the delight of watching her messily devour them

Ellie adores sushi! When we go out for it, she tears the rolls up to get to the fish and eats that first, then the veggies, then the rice, and finally the nori. The Japanese ladies at the restaurant we usually go to can hardly believe it! Killy is so enthralled with the sushi train circling the bar, though, that he's always too excited to eat anything.

[Kavita]

Does anyone else find that the hardest/most annoying thing about parenting (at least at this stage) is the inability to even think even one single thought without interruption? I am having a really hard time with this. I have so much to do and think about and work through right now, and I have so little time to do it, Ella is so demanding of my time and attention, and when she isn't it seems like DH is there being demanding (or I feel like he is, really we are just not having time to communicate well either.) It is a constant battle to keep the house from being a total pigsty between Ella and the dogs messing everything up, and by the time I have her in bed and everything taken care of and done in the house, I am just too tired to really think clearly. There are some things troubling me or on my mind a lot--some serious yet undiagnosed physical health problems and depression that my sister is having, issues about our upcoming move and decisions that need to be made (like about housing) that are pragmatic, but also related to our values and priorities and future goals. Some marital issues that I am trying to figure out how to deal with, body image stuff, and also a million mundane decisions to make about our house to do stuff to fix it up for a hopefully quick and profitable sale. I just feel like I need more uninterrupted time to think, and I am getting a little nutty without it!

[MelW]

Originally Posted by Kavita

Does anyone else find that the hardest/most annoying thing about parenting (at least at this stage) is the inability to even think even one single thought without interruption?
I just feel like I need more uninterrupted time to think, and I am getting a little nutty without it!

Bad AP mama confession coming up...
I was off sick from work this week and sent Neela to daycare for a couple of hours in the afternoon anyways. And sat on the couch and stared in to space thinking. And reminiscing about how I used to have enough free time to space out on a more regular basis. For a really, really long time.

[spiritmomma]

Fern: LOVE the ink! It's gorgeous!

Kavita: I would love to take some "chopping" lessons. I have a really nice JA Henckels Knife, but I'm still pretty slow. I respect the blade and am afraid I might get my finger tip along with whatever veggie I'm working on!
Sounds cool!.... And yes, I think the constant interruption is difficult to deal with. Usually I deal with it by not doing whatever I was trying to do and focus all my attention on Isa. When she's had her fill of me and wants to be left to play freely, I go back to whatever I was doing. And I also do a lot of forgiving myself for not getting stuff done!

Well, Sorry I've been MIA, but things have been quite busy around here. I've had very little computer time lately due to being outside, at the park, at the Children's Museum, Art Museum or someone's house. Whew! I've barely done a load of laundry or cleaned my house lately! But Isa and I are having a ball. She has been sleeping for much longer in the afternoon since I stopped putting her down for a nap in the morning and instead taken her somewhere that she can play. And play HARD. Then around 2pm, I take her back home...she's usually asleep in her car seat/ stroller/ Ergo before we even leave the parking lot. It's awesome. She sleeps for about 2 hours everytime, give or take a half hour. Aahhhh.... sweet alone time for me. Although I usually am still in the car with her, she let me move her to the house after she fell asleep today. So I'm finally checking in here!
Weaning is going pretty well. Most days we only nurse 2-3 times. Once in the morning, sometimes once in the afternoon, and then about an hour before bed. I'm not nursing between 10pm and 6am. She usually only wakes up once at night during those hours and Joshua rocks her back to sleep. I feel like a million bucks most of the time now. I'm happier and definitely healthier. (Thanks for asking barcleona!)

Hope everyone is doing well. And that spring is tangible for all of you this weekend. It's been gorgeous here. Sunny, in the 70's, beautiful storms at night... I love spring!

[spughy]

Worst. Night. Ever.

I am starting to suspect that either Rowan is so sensitive to sugar that the Motrin we give her for her teeth makes the problem worse, not better, or she is sensitive to dairy and the milk she's been getting is causing the problem. But she's eaten cheese and yogurt since she started solids with no problem at all.

She slept with me last night. Tossed and turned all night. Woke up frequently. Didn't need nursing, just cuddled back to sleep within a minute or two. But woke up at least every 1/2 hour. I didn't sleep. I took the morning off work and grabbed a couple extra hours. I tried to put her in her crib - she slept just a little over an hour in there and I heard her whimper in her sleep a bunch of times.

What is wrong with my baby?!?!?!

[Queen of Cups]

Sarah - do you get the dye-free Motrin? When I gave Killy tylenol that was pink when he was 4 months old, he stayed awake for 18 hours straight - I kid you not. A lot of kids are super-sensitive to red dye.

[spughy]

Yeah, it's dye-free. But it's loaded with sugar. It tastes disgusting.

[flapjack]

Hey, that shows how healthy you are now and how re-defined your taste buds are. A few years ago, you might not have thought that
Kavita, one of the things that my ex and I have talked about recently is that maybe, just maybe, we could have survived the combination of my PND and his bipolar and nervous breakdown if only we hadn't had an incredibly demanding toddler with serious health issues sapping the emotional and physical life blood out of us. Seriously. (and given that you know how I feel about my ex, this says a lot.) This age is a lovely age, but it's very very very hard work. The one piece of advice I'd give, though I know you can't take it, is to not make any big changes at all this year and just let the dust settle.
You know what? My gorgeous, adorable son aforementioned now has less control over the English language than his 1yo sister. It's official. The reason I know this is because he was babytalking today and she laughed and said "baba" . Which made him all the worse

[Gunter]

trying...to...catch....up...

[Kavita]

Originally Posted by flapjack

This age is a lovely age, but it's very very very hard work. The one piece of advice I'd give, though I know you can't take it, is to not make any big changes at all this year and just let the dust settle.
(

BWAAAA HAAAAA HAAAAA!!!:

Okay, now that I am finished with that--how I wish I could take that advice!
I felt really bad today b/c at story hour at the library, my mommy friends were planning activities for the coming months and the summer, and I'm not going to be there. Things are not going well the last couple of days--I had a huge fight with DH last night, and then today on the phone I unleashed on my mother in a huge way. My mom is really snappy and hostile with the family, but doesn't even realize it because she is just used to talking to everyone in the family like crap and they (my dad + my sister and her family) are just used to it and put up with it, and further take on responsibility for not making her angry. Oh, and then try to get everyone else to toe the line and not make her angry or upset. I live far away and I don't play like that, but I also know that it's mostly pointless to try to improve anything with her because you end up the bad guy. So I've mostly distanced myself from her a lot. But in talking to her tonight about what is going on with my sister, she started up with me and I WENT OFF. I am both horrified that I was totally verbally abusive and horrible to her, and just also sort of feel relieved to just express the anger I'm feeling toward her for once.

Sigh. I need to take some B vitamins and Omega fatty acids and just lock my a** in a closet until this passes.

[flapjack]

I know. I'm so sorry- but seriously, try not to file for divorce until Ella's two, huh? Moving cross-country is scary but for us, it's been the best thing we've ever done (even if our living room does look like a nursing home.) We have friends, we have a social life, etc, etc.
Whilst totally unrelated to my Nov babe, I shocked myself today. I booked an appointment with the boys headteacher for next week. I'm asking for help in finding parenting classes (so that I can rule out the possibility that it is "just bad parenting") and a professional opinion on his behaviour and tantrums. I just can't deal with him any more - I don't WANT to deal with this any more. We had a long chat yesterday, and he acted like he's never heard the word "wrong" before. The forgetfulness, the rudeness, the complete inability to have things any other way than his is driving me crazy. It's now at the point where either we get outside help, or I have to ask his dad to offer him a home for a while and I don't want that.

[spughy]

Helen. Is it Isaac who's causing you grief? Could it be related to his hospital visit(s)? Is it possible he's worried that one day he'll go into the hospital and you won't come to get him out again - he's trying to push you to see if there's a breaking point? I know it sounds wacky but I've been reading Alfie Kohn and he touches on some stuff like this. And even if that's the case it wouldn't really make things any easier for you would it?

for you too Kavita - sounds like you're going through a very stressful time. I hope this passes quickly for you.

Rowan SLEPT last night - from 2:30 til 6:30 in her crib. But before that she was up for DH and wouldn't settle - he gave her a snack then brought her to me after an hour of her being awake. But she slept well after a good long nurse, very quietly, no moaning and tossing.

The difference? No motrin last night. We gave her some Hyland's teething gel instead. Hmmmm..... Also, I found her last molar had popped out yesterday - that combined with the two canines has gotta cause some discomfort. So I'm less concerned that it's the milk now.

[flapjack]

Yeah, it's Isaac who's causing grief. Some of this could be him pushing because he's insecure, but some of this is him just being him. He wasn't left on his own in hospital, btw, and never has been: but he has a strong sense of his own mortality. I'll try Alfie Kohn though, I've never read any of his stuff.
One thing we realised today. Isaac, for all he drives me absolutely, completely totally and utterly insane is totally true to himself and his moral values. I've never caught him lying, doing anything deceitful or- you know. Any of the nasty tricks that small children do sometimes. Alex's integrity (and the grownups) tend to work much more on scales of grey, so I'm glad for that. We'll come through this. Somehow.

[spiritmomma]

Geez...
Hugs to you Kavita and Helen... and you too, Sarah for Rowan's unhappy sleep nights...
Things seem pretty good here. We went to the Children's Museum again today. The scheme of letting her run herself ragged and then sleep for a few hours in the afternoon seems to be helping both her mood and her nighttime sleep. She slept from 9:30pm to 7:15am only waking once around 1:30. Papa helped her back to sleep and I woke up feeling fabulous.
I am taking a break from prepping some of tonights dinner. My best friend from California has moved to Indy and is coming for dinner tonight with her daughter whom I've never met and she's almost 2!!! Our girls are almost exactly 6 months apart. This should be really fun.
Well, I better get back to grating carrots and chopping cilantro...

Peace be with all of you!

[s_kristina]

Dairy protein allergies are something I know too much about. Annette was around 10-11 months and starting to eat cheese and yogurt before I figured out her fussiness and eczema was due to dairy. At 5 years old she can handle some amounts of cheese, yogurt and ice cream, but if she has too much she will still get an upset stomach and break out in patches of eczema. We have never tried giving her straight milk as the proteins are changed some in the processes of making other things with them. There are many people that can handle cheese and yogurt, but can't handle straight dairy. There are also lots like my dd that can handle small amounts of diary, but too much will cause a reaction when they hit the threshold for their body. I'm still 100% dairy free not even hidden diary or Joseph reacts badly. We are OK if either of us has small amounts of hidden soy, but if I pig out on soy ice cream we are in trouble. I don't plan on introducing soy milk to him until he is at least 18 months, but at this point 2 years is looking far more likely. We are also holding off on eggs and a number of other foods that have a high potential to cause problems.