Who is your LO?

[Alpaca Wacka]

So, now that Elleystar and I both have babies to ooh and ahh over together (you should see us-it's like we're 8 and both have "dollies" to play with) I've really begun to notice that my child actually DOES have a personality, because I can compare her with someone else and actually see differences.

K is a VERY noisy little girl. Unless she is really deeply asleep, she's grunting and snorting at every opportunity. Yesterday I realized that she makes almost as much noise while asleep as I did while pushing her out! Honestly, I don't know how she sleeps with all her noise! It's actually making it difficult to co-sleep. At first we thought she was keeping up a running litany of low grade complaints about everything, but now I'm starting to be able to judge the disaffected grunts and snorts from the normal contented little grunts. She's a very laid back baby-doesn't cry for diaper changes or undressing, and would really rather just give you a short holler when she really means business than a full throated wail. I was very surprised to get a second laid back baby after being graced with one in DD#1. We are VERY lucky! She does NOT like laying alone-so far the bassinet has seen the most use as a kitty bed, but she sure loves her swing.

Tell us about your LO's personality-likes and dislikes, outstanding personality features etc...

[sparkly]

Emmett is NOT a baby like I've read about in any child care book...when I say he must be held all the time, I'm talking 24 hours a day. Everyone says "oh, I remember those days"...but ha! I have yet to meet anyone else who had a 24 hr/day attached kid. I also hear a lot of how we're spoiling him, and that he'll get used to this sort of attention, which is driving me crazy. He's 4 weeks old! How can we spoil something that isn't even mentally developed enough to know that his hands are attached to his body?

He sleeps on us, spends some time in the sling (he must be held up against my chest...the cradle hold is too far away for him), he screams during diaper changes, and he is fussy from 4 p.m. until midnight, even with holding him. Every once in a while I can have him lie on my lap when we eat, but too often I have dh hold a plate for me while I sit on the couch holding Emmett.

It would be nice if he'd go in his crib, for just an hour a day even...currently it is serving as the world's most expensive changing table (we splurged and got a cotton/wool mattress--I wish I had one for myself!) He is a noisy little thing, and snores and grunts a lot, and does the weirdest thing when I'm trying to feed him--he bounces his head around and snorts and looks like he's rooting around like a piggy. It may help him find a nipple if he'd actually open his eyes now and then! There's also a lot of nipple grabbing and pulling his head back while sucking--ouch!!

Still, he is a darling, and he's only tiny once, so we're enjoying this nonstop attention as much as one can. I do hope he's an affectionate kid/adult with us. I miss being near my husband without a baby between us, though!

[Alpaca Wacka]

yeah-we have the nipple grabbing too! K will actually pinch and pull on my boob hard enough to pull the nipple from her mouth! Or, stretch so much she yarnks me around till she pulls the nip out. I swear, these girls will hang to my navel after this kid is done with me!

[ORLY?]

Caleb is such a sweetheart. He is very observent, biged-eyed all the time. We call him "Lush" because he loves the boob and often is in a drunken-state of bliss. Sometimes by his expressions, I think he may be a skeptic about something. Overall, very content kid. I imagine him more of a ping-pong player than s football guy.
He is the only kid I know who can pull off infant acne and a heat rash and still look freakin' cute.

Originally Posted by sparkly

He sleeps on us, spends some time in the sling (he must be held up against my chest...the cradle hold is too far away for him), he screams during diaper changes, and he is fussy from 4 p.m. until midnight, even with holding him. Every once in a while I can have him lie on my lap when we eat, but too often I have dh hold a plate for me while I sit on the couch holding Emmett.

It would be nice if he'd go in his crib, for just an hour a day even...currently it is serving as the world's most expensive changing table (we splurged and got a cotton/wool mattress--I wish I had one for myself!)

Caleb was like this until about a week ago. He now graces the bassinet with his sleepy presence about 1 out of 10 times we lay him down, and he sleeps by our sides now instead of on us. We can also manage laying him on the bed by himself if we prop the pillows just right.

[sparkly]

Originally Posted by ORLY?

Caleb was like this until about a week ago. He now graces the bassinet with his sleepy presence about 1 out of 10 times we lay him down, and he sleeps by our sides now instead of on us. We can also manage laying him on the bed by himself if we prop the pillows just right.

How on earth did you accomplish this?!? We've tried everything we can think of. He can wake up from a sound sleep just because I slowly take my pinkie finger out of his mouth after he's been sucking on it for a half hour.

We are dealing with the acne too...it's way worse than I thought it would be. It's even on his scalp and ears. How long does this last?

[splath]

Originally Posted by sparkly

He is a noisy little thing, and snores and grunts a lot, and does the weirdest thing when I'm trying to feed him--he bounces his head around and snorts and looks like he's rooting around like a piggy. It may help him find a nipple if he'd actually open his eyes now and then! There's also a lot of nipple grabbing and pulling his head back while sucking--ouch!!

Ellie does this same exact thing! The nipple pulling is killing me, and she's so funny with the rooting around with her eyes tightly closed. She ocassionally ends up grabbing her fist in her mouth instead and spends some time sucking on that first

Ellie looks worried a lot of the time. She wrinkles up her brow and gets this worried look on her face. She refuses to sleep in the cosleeper, so I bought one of those snuggle nests to put in the bed, and now she refuses to sleep in that, too, so it's mama's arms all night long, when she actually does sleep. I think she has a dairy sensitivity, so she's been super fussy earlier this week. I've been dairy free for 3 days now, so hopefully it will make a difference. She's going through a growth spurt today though, and has been feeding every hour on the hour. My nipples still haven't recovered from the last growth spurt!

We took her on her first outing except for doctor appointments on Saturday though. We went to the farmer's market, the furniture store and out to lunch and she did so great in my peanut shell pouch. She let me eat my entire lunch while she was in the pouch.

[Amandamanda]

Originally Posted by Alpaca Wacka

So, now that Elleystar and I both have babies to ooh and ahh over together (you should see us-it's like we're 8 and both have "dollies" to play with) I've really begun to notice that my child actually DOES have a personality, because I can compare her with someone else and actually see differences.

K is a VERY noisy little girl. Unless she is really deeply asleep, she's grunting and snorting at every opportunity. Yesterday I realized that she makes almost as much noise while asleep as I did while pushing her out! Honestly, I don't know how she sleeps with all her noise! It's actually making it difficult to co-sleep. At first we thought she was keeping up a running litany of low grade complaints about everything, but now I'm starting to be able to judge the disaffected grunts and snorts from the normal contented little grunts. She's a very laid back baby-doesn't cry for diaper changes or undressing, and would really rather just give you a short holler when she really means business than a full throated wail. I was very surprised to get a second laid back baby after being graced with one in DD#1. We are VERY lucky! She does NOT like laying alone-so far the bassinet has seen the most use as a kitty bed, but she sure loves her swing.

Tell us about your LO's personality-likes and dislikes, outstanding personality features etc...

is it possible that we somehow have the same kid? i mean they are both named katherine right?

i seriously could have written this word for word. minus the bassinet being used as a kitty bed, but only because we don't have a cat. its become a good place for clean laundry though. does your baby love baths? my katherine LOVES bathtime. absolutely adores it. she hates getting out and would seriously stay in all day if we'd let her..

[ORLY?]

Originally Posted by sparkly

How on earth did you accomplish this?!? We've tried everything we can think of. He can wake up from a sound sleep just because I slowly take my pinkie finger out of his mouth after he's been sucking on it for a half hour.

I'm sure you have been doing the same thing I've been doing- it just takes time.
No matter how frustrated I got I tried to set him down in the bassinet at least once a day, he went from waking up instantly to sleepin for about 10 mintues, to sometimes sleeping an hour. He still has his goods and bad days. i've just learned that some days he really needs the comfort and other days he could care less. Just gotta roll with the punches.
As for the sleepin' on the side of you. My babe falls asleep while nursing, so I can ease him off and put him on his side on my chest... get into bed, slide him gently off (make sure to maintain his sleeping position), so Caleb and I are facing each other and cuddle. It takes awhile to get the techique down BUT for your sanity- keep trying! It won't last long, I promise.

Originally Posted by sparkly

We are dealing with the acne too...it's way worse than I thought it would be. It's even on his scalp and ears. How long does this last?

It depends on the babe and what is causing it. If it is hormonal, it can lasts for months. Right now, Caleb is slightly clearing up. My mom told us to use papertowels instead of washclothes and just to dab his face and pat dry. I guess washclothes tend to spread the acne. We also washed our bedding. We figure since we've had our faces on our pillows- they have to be pretty gross and not good for a baby's tender skin. But, I'm not sure there is a correlation- just ORLY logic here.

[Jennisee]

DS is 4 weeks old today. The first few weeks, he was very laid back, but I'm starting to realize that was code for "sleepy." Now that he's starting to be awake more, he's getting crankier and less likely to tolerate being set down. Despite that, he's still calmer than DD was, and he tolerates DH better than DD did, so we still feel like he's pretty easy.

He's really starting to look at things like windows and ceiling fans, he kind of half-heartedly swings at the toys in his Gymini, he scrunches towards his side a little bit like he wants to roll over but can't, and he's smiled a few times. He has tolerated the car seat great so far (either falling asleep or looking out the window), and I'm hoping beyond hope that it continues, because my DD cried in the car seat until she was 1.5 years old and it totally sucked. Right now, he'll go to sleep pretty quickly when I stick him in a carrier, which has made it possible to help DD at tumbling and Story Hour, but we'll see how long that continues.

The other thing we've noticed about him is how sturdy he's been. He was almost 9 lb at birth, and he never really felt like a tiny newborn to us. He's growing so quickly--he's already growing out of his newborn diapers and 0-3 month/50 cm clothes. He held his head up in the delivery room, and his control of it gets better all the time. He started fighting swaddling when he was about 2 weeks old, unlike DD who had to be swaddled for months. He is also such a strong nurser--efficient, handles a strong letdown, rarely spits up, and burps easily. Because of that, we figured out nursing lying down when he was 2 days old, and it has made cosleeping easy. I almost feel guilty about the amount of sleep I've gotten since he's been born.

[limette]

I think Isobel is really grumpy...lol. She glares a lot. She is also super noisy, she's louder than her snoring dad at night. I guess I can attribute it to reflux but I can't help wondering if she's going to grow up mad at the world!

My toddler is the complete opposite. A total show off and goof just like her dad. Always happy and joking around.

[GISDiva]

Leo does the piggy-rooting/bouncing his head around thing too. He's a pretty deep sleeper and will sleep just about anywhere, except in the afternoon he prefers the Sleepy Wrap sling. I second the "laid back = sleepy" thing someone said too, now he's becoming fussy, especially during "Happy Hour" around dinner-time. We're also trying to get him to poo more, I must have the only constipated BF baby - all the books say it doesn't happen. I think his short stint with supplemental formula screwed him up a bit and we're still paying for it.

My favorite thing is the wrinkled forehead - he sometimes gets this plaintive look on his face and raises his eyebrows, sometimes with accompanying hand next to face like he's thinking REALLY DEEP thoughts. And the "conducting" he does with his arms is really hilarious too. He moves them around a lot, but he never wakes himself up, so we have a lot of swaddlers gathering dust...

[ishereal]

My LO was so predictable the first week ! But now ummmm I am unsure, because he wants to be at my breast ALL THE TIME and then throw up because he's tooooo full and then eat again because he just vomited his food !!!!???!! WTF

[sparkly]

Splath--I've been trying the dairy free thing too! We should start a support group.

I'm also avoiding nuts, since my mil is very allergic to them, so I wonder if that is genetic. Something seems to be working in regards to the fussiness--not sure if it is the dairy, the nuts, or just coincidence--I'll try reintroducing them one at a time next week. I'm already gluten free for Celiac disease, and don't eat meat for a variety of reasons, so my menu this week is tough. I miss cheese!

[splath]

Originally Posted by sparkly

Splath--I've been trying the dairy free thing too! We should start a support group.

I'm also avoiding nuts, since my mil is very allergic to them, so I wonder if that is genetic. Something seems to be working in regards to the fussiness--not sure if it is the dairy, the nuts, or just coincidence--I'll try reintroducing them one at a time next week. I'm already gluten free for Celiac disease, and don't eat meat for a variety of reasons, so my menu this week is tough. I miss cheese!

We definitely need a dairy-free support group I really miss cheese! I can't imagine doing dairy AND gluten-free. I'm avoiding peanuts, but do eat almonds and almond milk.

[BensMom]

I am skeered to make any predictions on temperament based on my baby at day 5. So far she is pretty laid back. Last night she made me a bit crazy with a cluster nursing session from 5-10pm, and I was so ready to have her settle in her own space so I could sleep in comfort, but no dice. She likes sleeping by me at night, so bad hips and aching back here I come. But during teh day, she eats, sleeps, looks around and is very tolerant of her siblings manhandling her. She cries very little and is amazingly happy during diaper changes.

I have a high, high, high (did I say HIGH?) needs first child. His sister was probably an average to highish needs baby, according to most people but after Ben, we considered her a piece of cake. LOL So I am not expecting a super laid back, easy sleeper here. Its just not in our gene pool, apparently. But if she can just go with the flow and tolerate the insanity, I'll take it.

[Ironica]

Raphael is pretty different from his brother. For one thing, he unlatches. Ever. Which Donovan simply did NOT do (well, once in a blue moon if I nursed him for like 40 minutes after he fell asleep, he'd pop off with this cute little twist of his head and lay his cheek on my breast... but I rarely had the patience to let that happen). He's also super strong, which makes dressing and diapering fairly challenging. He's got an aversion to being laid on his back that his brother didn't share, again making diapering no d*mned fun.

He's more alert than I think Donovan was at this age. D didn't really wake up until he was three weeks old, and then he was crying non-stop during his waking periods :-/. R has had a couple periods of 1-2 hours of wakefulness where he's been generally happy. Crankiness almost always means hungry, poop/pee imminent, or needing to burp (and the fun part is figuring out which is which).

Sometimes he just looks at me like I'm the most FASCINATING thing in the world... which, well, I am, to him. ;-)

[3for3hb]

Caedmon is pretty mellow. He doesn't have any qualms about letting me know when he's uncomfortable though. He hates his poopy diapers and likes to exercise his legs when his diaper is off.
He's a pretty serious little man. Does the glaring thing a bit. And grunts when he roots too.
And is so cute when he smiles, yes, smiles at us. Not just gas bubbles anymore but intentional, "I recognize you" smiles

Here's a bit of the visual for you all

[ORLY?]

Originally Posted by willemsmamma

Here's a bit of the visual for you all

Super cute!
BTW, you are so pretty!

[3for3hb]

Originally Posted by ORLY?

Super cute!
BTW, you are so pretty!

Awww... thanks ... italics and everything!!! :

[thetnpreacherswife]

Emmett is NOT a baby like I've read about in any child care book...when I say he must be held all the time, I'm talking 24 hours a day. Everyone says "oh, I remember those days"...but ha! I have yet to meet anyone else who had a 24 hr/day attached kid. I also hear a lot of how we're spoiling him, and that he'll get used to this sort of attention, which is driving me crazy. He's 4 weeks old! How can we spoil something that isn't even mentally developed enough to know that his hands are attached to his body?

Wallace isn't quite that crazy about being held but definitely prefers it...I tried our Moby wrap today and have had some luck with babywearing in the hug hold...he's quieter (knock on wood) and I've been able to accomplish a few small tasks...and my eardrums are happier The fact I'm able to type this using both hands is a huge improvement!