June 2007 Moms ~ April has arrived - Page 4

[AdInAZ]

Another baby? Hmmmm.... perhaps. This fall? No way!! Too soon! (Note the spacing between my kids) ha ha! Of course we aren't exactly preventing either....sooo.....

Sean definately does the dreamy nurse check-in at random times in the night. If he doesn't latch on, he gets mad and wakes up. However, if I'm not in the bed, dh can get him back to sleep with a minimum of fuss. So I think its just habit at this point. He nurses at 7:30 pm, around 11pm (when I go to bed and *always* wake him up accidentally) and 5:00. And lots of nightimes "sips". Honestly, I don't even notice. I am sleeping sooooo much better than I was with my first child. I swear I was going insane from lack of sleep for two and a half years. But I feel like I have a enough sleep this time around. Just lucky I guess.

Honestly, I'm having no problems with ds. Its dd that I struggle with every hour of the day!

[puffingirl]

I am soooo tired today. DD is still teething big-time. She is getting 4 teeth on top all at once. 2 have come through the gums but the other 2 are still waiting. She's been waking up crying at 2 a.m. and then at 5 a.m. the last couple of nights. Yesterday she was up for the day at 5:00 and it felt like a looong day. Today we were determined to get her back to sleep. We gave her teething tablets, nursed her, and then finally Tylenol and took her into our bed. When the Tylenol finally kicked in she went back to sleep until 7:30. I must, sadly, admit that I wasn't very good with her in the early morning today. After about 45 minutes of crying I was getting really grumpy. Thankfully, DH knows me well and took DD into bed and sent me off to the couch to get some rest. He was late getting to work today because she finally fell asleep with him and he didn't want to wake her. I feel bad about that and about being so grumpy with DD--she's just a little baby and has got to be in pain with all of this tooth action.

It's fun to see others thinking about Disney already too! We've been talking about when we should take her. I'm so weird---I won't bring Disney stuff/books/etc into the house but I can't wait to take her there. Oy. My mom bought some classic fairytale books for DD and I asked her to hold off on them because I haven't decided about whether to have them at our house or not. On the one hand, I know I can't shelter her from every message I disagree with and that there are plenty of positive things in the stories; but on the other hand, I really cringe at the way women and girls are cast in these tales (the helpless princess waiting to be saved by the prince and live happily ever after). I know, I know, I'm probably thinking about this WAY too much. In any event, I think we might wait until 1st or 2nd grade for a trip to Disney. I went when I was about 7 and it was good timing--I was old enough to have the stamina and patience for long days at the park, big enough to ride everything and young enough to still be excited about the characters. We have Sesame Place not too far from us so we'll probably do that before Disney.

DD is having a blissfully long nap so I may go get myself a snack while I have a moment!

[wombatclay]

I have the same conflict too over classic fairy tales. Especially since dd1 is hard core into stories these days and she seems to pick out the "worst" bits and just go over and over and over them till I want to scream. Some of the gender-typing is just so "ugh". I do have a few collections of stories that focus on positive female images or just leave the whole "gender thing" out of the plot. Tatterhood is the title of one anthology I think (it's packed right now).

There was a quote I've been thinking about recently... something along the lines of "fairy tales don't create a child's monsters, they give the child a sword to fight them". That's not the real quote, but it was something like that. I'm pretty sure it was by Bruno Bettelheim. Have you read The Uses of Enchantment? It's an interesting book looking at the "purpose" of fairy tales in children's lives. The conclusion he comes to is that fairy tales may seem dark/bloody/horrid to adults but that for children these stories help them address the inner fears they carry and provide them with tools necessary to "solve" their own inner conflicts. The sanitized disney versions don't give children the tools they need, and don't even acknowledge a child's feelings.

There's an interesting (and readable!) article about the pros/cons of fairy tale imagery (gender, violence, etc) here: http://infohost.nmt.edu/~beverly/wri...airytales.html (the ultimate conclusion of the article is more pro than con, just so you know the bias up front)

[Jilian]

I don't think it is ever too early to decide what types of things you want your children exposed to - especially daughters. Girls have it really hard growing up in our culture. There is so much focus on looking the right way, and being beautiful, etc. It makes me scared to ever have a girl. It is almost as if you have to beat all the odds to have a well-adjusted daughter who is comfortable being herself. I'm working really hard on raising boys who treat women nicely and don't focus on just looks. It is a crazy world we live in!

Speaking of crazy, DS1 is doing well Surgery went well this morning and he's back to his rambunctious self. He was quite out of it from the anesthesia but it seems to have worn off. His ears aren't bothering him at all and he seems to be hearing better already.

Evan has turned into a good napper these days. He now takes one nap for about 2+ hours! Now we just need to him to do this at night and all will be well!

[momtokay]

Originally Posted by Jilian

I don't think it is ever too early to decide what types of things you want your children exposed to - especially daughters. Girls have it really hard growing up in our culture. There is so much focus on looking the right way, and being beautiful, etc. It makes me scared to ever have a girl. It is almost as if you have to beat all the odds to have a well-adjusted daughter who is comfortable being herself. I'm working really hard on raising boys who treat women nicely and don't focus on just looks. It is a crazy world we live in!

Speaking of crazy, DS1 is doing well Surgery went well this morning and he's back to his rambunctious self. He was quite out of it from the anesthesia but it seems to have worn off. His ears aren't bothering him at all and he seems to be hearing better already.

Evan has turned into a good napper these days. He now takes one nap for about 2+ hours! Now we just need to him to do this at night and all will be well!

So glad the surgery went well!!! I was thinking of you guys. Yes, when I think of helping three girls through junior high school age I cringe. It can be so hard to be a girl. I'm sure it's hard to be a boy too, though I have no first hand experience with that.

We're thinking of a Disney trip next spring, but it depends on whether the baby starts sleeping more before then. I'm so tired all the time I can't imagine trying to spend our days at an amusement parks.

And speaking of babies, I'm still feeling quite done, thank you. Three kids just seems "right" for our family. Barring something totally unexpected (though not unwelcome) we are done!! Unless sometihng drastic changes I can't ever imagine TTC again.

Lucy's started to try to stand by herself. It's so cute!! She's so cautious that she stands for a second then sits down quickly before she can fall. I love this age and all the incredible fast-development. It seems like there's a new milestone every couple days or so.

BTW, is Lulu the last gummy grinner? She still hasn't gotten her first tooth, though she's madly teething and unhappy about them so probably soon?

[PatchChild]

Part of what I really love with these monthly threads is how varied all our babes are. No teeth, eight teeth, walking for ages, not even crawling. It's fun to see the differences, and it helps keep me from stressing.

[AdInAZ]

Originally Posted by momtokay

BTW, is Lulu the last gummy grinner? She still hasn't gotten her first tooth, though she's madly teething and unhappy about them so probably soon?

We are still toothless here!

[acp]

Originally Posted by PatchChild

Part of what I really love with these monthly threads is how varied all our babes are. No teeth, eight teeth, walking for ages, not even crawling. It's fun to see the differences, and it helps keep me from stressing.

:
I thought Willa was going to be the last gummy grinner, but a tooth finally poked through last week, though you can still barely see it. My grandmother tells me none of her babies got a tooth before a year old. One of my friends here has a daughter Willa's age who already has 8 or 9 teeth I think - first one at 3 months old.

[willoLevin]

Top left tooth (that's A.'s third) poked through yesterday. Still waiting for number four. Still not enjoying the painful nips during nursing! :

S. still has goopy eyes, and now the baby has one goopy eye, so I called the doctor's office, but he wants me to give it a few more days. Now I'm the one thinking we should be doing more active treatment. More missed school days. I don't worry about academics at age 4, but I wish I didn't have to pay when we've missed about half the days of the past few weeks!

I'm kinda in a funk today. Fighting the boys' virus? Feeling overwhelmed by all the home improvement projects we're in the middle of? Just generally prone to depression and at an iffy place? Lonely days? (Won't have Mom back until A's birthday in June.) Bleh.

Spending too much money! Yikes! I ordered some fairly useful things for the house, but also some clothes for me. Admittedly, I have little that fits well, but I wasn't going to buy any more fat clothes, even on sale. (I'm still 20 pounds up from pre-preggo--and, based upon last time, won't lose the weight until A. is weaned.)

--willo

[herbmama3-7]

hugs willow, I hate days like that.

Those babes without a tooth amaze me, we are working on #9 and I seriously have had enough, can't wait until they are ALL through.

Anyone dealing with separation anxiety? DD can't handle being out of my sight, it can be really hard on my arms and back, but (this is silly) I kind of enjoy her wanting ONLY Mommy. Is that silly? Poor Dh is feeling a little rejected though.

DH bought concert tickets for the end of the month, and as fun as it will be, I am really worried about leaving DD for about 5 hours. MIL will be out of town, who is our go-to babysitter and I am a little worried about leaving dd with another person. Uuuuggghhh, I think I have separation anxiety too

[AdInAZ]

Originally Posted by herbmama3-7

Anyone dealing with separation anxiety? DD can't handle being out of my sight, it can be really hard on my arms and back, but (this is silly) I kind of enjoy her wanting ONLY Mommy. Is that silly? Poor Dh is feeling a little rejected though.

Ha ha! I remember feeling that way with dd#1. I never admitted though, of course. But you guys are a safe crowd. We haven't quite hit that stage with ds though. He generally prefers to be with me, but doesn't mind hanging out with dh or others for awhile.

I also know what you mean about not wanting to leave for 5 hours. I'm already trying to psych myself up for me and dh's anniversary night out...in June! Sheesh! Sean will be a year old by then. You would think I would loosen up a little already! I do work mornings so we are apart 4-5 hours every day. So whats one night out? I guess I'm just not ready yet.

However I have no problems thrusting Sean into dh's arms the second he gets home so I can take a break.

[willoLevin]

I think, with both my boys, I've tended to be a "Here, you want to hold him?!?" type of mom. (Except maybe the first couple of months with the first, whom I never wanted to put down.) I mean, I let my friends and neighbors hold A., and, this time around, I even say to them, "Do you want to hold him and are just too shy to ask?"

But A. has had a few (like, literally three) episodes where DH came home and took him and he just burst into tears and howled until I took him back! DH felt bad, but, honestly, I, too, had a feeling of, "Wow, I really am important to this kid!"

S. really never had any noticeable separation anxiety, or stranger anxiety for that matter, so it kinda makes me feel loved. Admittedly, if A. would never go to other people, I'd probably be a jittering wreck by now. I depend upon my in-laws, my mom, and one particular good friend to bail me out when I am worn out and really want help. I am not strong, not energetic, and not always ready to be a great mommy.

Hoping I'll be in a better mood today...
I'm feeling overwhelmed because I've got to take S. to a specialist at Children's Hospital today because his knee(s) were bothering him. Of course, he hasn't complained of it since the day after I finally took him to his pediatrician to get a referral to this pediatric orthopedist. Figures, eh? But he's complained of it off and on since November, I think, so, by March, it just seemed time to get somebody to look at it. (And I didn't think a four year old could so consistently claim the same--left--knee hurt for several months if it weren't real.)
But my MIL is still sick so I have to take both boys and we've had about five nights of pretty bad sleep and my whole body aches from it, so I've had more optimistic mornings...

And now I need to go eat before the boys wake up and I forget about my own basic needs!

--willo

[Jilian]

Originally Posted by willoLevin

and, this time around, I even say to them, "Do you want to hold him and are just too shy to ask?"

I'm the same way this time around! Evan isn't even that heavy (16 lbs) but holding him for a long time kills my neck and shoulders. It doesn't help that I was in a car accident when he was 8 weeks old and got whiplash. But I love handing him off, it gives me a nice break.
We dealt with seperation anxiety but it seems to be completely gone now. Evan even sat with my mom the other day while I went into surgery with Aiden. Evan didn't care at all that I was gone. It makes me think tat maybe, just maybe DH and I will be able to go out to dinner alone sometime in the next few months

I can't believe that our babies birth month is coming up soon. Seeing the April mamas have a birthday thread reminds me of when we were all pregnant and their birth month arrived. I knew ours wasn't far behind.

DH will be home of Friday and I can't wait. Not having a break from the kids at all is wearing on me. Evan is sitting next to me playing with two (closed) highlighters and a piece of paper right now, who needs baby toys?!

[puddle]

*

[puffingirl]

willo--I hope today is a better day! Those blue days are rough... I also know what you mean about the clothes. I'm still 10 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight and I had just about nothing to wear (and wearing maternity clothes was really not fun anymore ) but I didn't want to spend money on new stuff. I got a few things that fit though and it feels soooooo good to wear them. Enjoy your new clothes!

Separation anxiety: Joy is totally fine with DH--he's home with her 2 days a week without me. With others, she's ok if we're in the room with her but doesn't really want to be held by the other person. She's better if they sit down and play with her on the floor. If she's had a chance to warm up to the person when we're there, she's been ok with us leaving for a little bit (maybe an hour). It helps in a pinch but we're still not really able to hand her off for a long stretch. Usually that's ok but I am looking forward to having a date with DH every once in a while again sometime.

Fairy tales--Glad to hear I'm not the only one thinking about this! It's funny but I didn't even think of the violence aspect of it all--it's just the gender stuff that really gets under my skin. I guess I base it on what I internalized as a kid: Violence in fairy tales=not real/ doesn't apply to real life; gender roles in fairy tales= supposed reflection of reality, even though it wasn't like that in my home. Thankfully I didn't carry that with me for long but I definitely bought into a lot of it for a while.

It's a lovely, warm day here so I think we'll go to the park when DD gets up!

[wombatclay]

Sep anx- Ro is actually getting a bit better. While dd1 was happy as long as someone was paying attention to her it didn't matter to her "who" was paying attention. But Ro has been a hard core "MUST BE WITH MAMA!!!!AAAAAAAH!!!!" baby since about 4 months. I mean she would wail, scream, cry, sob, turn purple, shake, arch her back.... the works. And she would do this for hours on end. Only to stop the instant I held her again and start back up the moment I handed her off (even to dh). She is so totally opposite dd1 that sometimes I find it hard to believe I birthed both girls. But she is finally starting to perk up and seperate a little form me. Which is nice.

Teeth- we still have only those three bottom teeth. I keep thinking she is teething (drool all over, gnawing on things) but no new teeth.

Poop- poor kiddo. Despite her daily dose of prunes she is still constipated at the drop of a hat. She screamed in my arms for a good 30-40 minutes today while producing a marble sized rock of poo. And I mean, solid and round. I totally get the bit in the Sear's Baby Book where Martha talks about being a midwife to her constipated child's poo. I didn't have any glycerine suppositories to "soothe the way" so to speak so, um, well, I used the adult version (water based, for those intimate moments doncha know). It seemed to help, but her poor little bum was all ripped up. I don't know what to do. She nurses round the clock, has 1-2 prunes a day, doesn't eat that much solid food and yet about once a week things get backed up. And when that happens... ouch. It breaks my heart.

Random sling stuff- I love love love my ergo. Which is good since putting Ro down is basically impossible. But I recently (like, yesterday) discovered that if Ro falls asleep while nursing (so sort of laying on her side on my lap) I can slide a ring sling over/under her and sling her up without waking her. I can't do that with the ergo and this is a wooooooonderful new tool for me!

My dad- he's still in the hospital. My mom wont let DH and I see him, but my bro arrived a few days ago from AK and he's convinced her to let us see him tonight or tomorrow. We hope. He'll probably go straight to a residential care facility but we need to find out what medicare/disability will cover. Hopefully I'll know more soon.

[PatchChild]

Separation anxiety is in full force around here. Owen can't stand to be out of arms at the moment. He's fine with my dh, unless it's the end of the day and then he demands to be held by me and only me. If we're in the room, he won't even sit near someone else. Argh. I know that developmentally it's a good thing, but it's a bummer that he won't happily hang out with his Memere.

[Jilian]

Ev is constipated too. I can't remember the last time he pooped, it has been since at least last weekend. I suspect it is the oatmeal I have been giving him every morning in an attempt to fatten him up. It is fortified w/iron and I wanted to avoid it but decided to try it after all. I think I'm going to try pears tomorrow. I tried some juice today with no luck, but he sure loved drinking a juice box!

Clay, that sling idea is fabulous! I'm going to have to try that. We LOVE our Ergo here too. It is so comfy, and I love putting him on my back and having my hands free.

I hope everything goes well with your dad.

[Robbins0614]

Joseph has serious separation anxiety. He wants Mom and Mom only. Most of the time it's not a problem, but sometimes I do need a break or need to get something done at work and can't have him with me.

We went bowling yesterday. Our youth group participated in a fundraiser for Big Brother Big Sister, and since DH is still in the middle of his exams Joseph went with me. He had a grand time watching everyone. I haven't been bowling in a long time, so my score was pretty pathetic but I had a good time.

Only one more week of exams for DH!! I'm looking forward to seeing him more often!

[Jilian]

Jessica: I hope the exams go well and your DH has more free time soon!

Speaking of DHs, mine is back from his week-long trip! I'm so happy he's back, it was rough without it. By Friday I was pulling my hair out. I don't know how single moms of more than one kid do it.

I ended up buying some Earth's best prunes with oatmeal and giving them to Evan yesterday. They didn't work right away so I gave him prune juice too. It worked, but his poop was still pretty firm. Poor guy. I'm gonna back off on the oatmeal every morning for a while.

Ev is sleeping better now that DH is back too. He will go back to sleep on DH's chest when he wakes up in the middle of the night. I woke up engorged the last two days - who cares, I'm getting a little sleep!