February mamas, it's July! - Page 23

[Theia]

Hi all. Thanks for the well wishes. I think I discovered that this trip was just ill timed. DD is teething full force. She is constipated and not chewing on anything except her fingers which she can chew on from the side of her mouth. The other night she was crying so much and the only way she was semi-calm was if I was standing and rocking her. I can only stand for so long... finally she fell asleep out of exhaustion I am sure. So I took the moment to run to the store and get some infant motrin drops (and a bottle of wine for myself ). Get this, I could buy a half ounce of motrin for $6.49 or a full oz that was also dye-free for $8.49... She liked it the first few times, it's some horrid sweet berry taste, but now she screams the whole time I am giving it to her. Poor thing, in a strange place, missing her Papa, teething, getting nasty medicine, not sleeping and only pooping every other day..... I feel kinda like 2 weeks might be too much, but I am still hoping that this week will bring improvements.

Well, she's starting to wake, Moms keyboard is LOUD! Off to quieter portions of the net. Love you all!

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by applecore

Oops! Good luck getting ready in time. We actually started 1st grade Enki with Ronan a couple of weeks ago. I didn't want to wait until fall because we took a long break after Twyla was born. That's the beauty of homeschooling!

Indeed. Taking inventory seriously, I realized that we needed very little in the way of supplies. As of this moment, all we need are a new zipper binder (for myself; I like to keep track of everything and the one I used last year was stepped on one time too many ) and a handful of primary composition books. I was all tense and worried for nothing. I know, you can't imagine *me* overthinking things, can you?

Originally Posted by Teenytoona

And all you school-starting mommas, wow, time sure flies! Yeap in a little over a month the DSC will be leaving. But hopefully they will be back sooner rather than later.

I can't believe that I have a first grader. : Seems in some ways as though it was just a few months ago that Bean was starting to talk like a little person, and here we are starting first grade. He couldn't be more excited, though-- He adores cyberschool.

Mommas, I think DD really really wants to try something new to consume.

You know how when we were pregnant I was always ranting about following your cravings? Well, if your Nara thinks she's ready for a nibble... give it a shot. Use your common sense, keep an eye on her, and make sure she's either sitting well or she's well propped. As my sister said about What to Expect The First Year: "They were wrong about pregnancy. They were wrong about labor. They were wrong about breastfeeding. What makes you think they're going to be right now?" The point of which is... regardless of what you read where, sometimes the babies know what they want/need. I'd advise againt giving her shrimp scampi or crazy foods with small and/or highly allergenic ingredients, but that's just me. Seriously-- common sense goes a long way.

Originally Posted by peace_laughing

So I took the moment to run to the store and get some infant motrin drops (and a bottle of wine for myself ). Get this, I could buy a half ounce of motrin for $6.49 or a full oz that was also dye-free for $8.49...

Are you sure that they were both the concentrated infant drops? Sometimes the different sized bottles are different concentrations. That said... yeah, the full sized bottle is usually A LOT cheaper than the smaller one.

So.. today was a very long day. The good things: Bear is 17 pounds ( on the nose!) and is about 29" tall. : The gastro said that we can start solids slowly, so he had some banana today. I am really hoping that it helps with his reflux. Oh, Bear's dose was upped as well (because he's a big boy now!), so it'll be 3mL when it's mixed up.

I'm really tired though and i think i'm gonna pass out.

[flapjack]

Rynna. What are your thoughts on baby rice? I found carrot was also quite calming on a stroppy baby tummy (and it's one of my go-to foods for kids that have been sick but refuse to stop eating.)
Teeny, we went through this with Skye. With baby-led weaning, she can't physically swallow the food if her mouth muscles won't allow her to move the food to the back of her tongue, and so the tongue will push it out again and she won't get anything. There's a lot of defences against choking built into the human body, as well as a lot of defences against allergens. How about starting with finger foods now, and introducing a spoon in a month or two if you want to increase the volume she's eating at a single mealtime?

[nolonger]

Hi Jezzy.

We're doing pretty well. ds1 was home last night and I practically sat on top of him before I noticed and squealed "HOLY POOP!".

Terran still has absolutely no interest in solids, which is fine with me.

Our big exciting news is that we FINALLY managed a back carry after what felt like an eternity of clumsy, scary, bumbling attempts. It finally all clicked the night after....well...er...ah...um...

I bought a Babyhawk.

:

It's used and I got it for half price, but it's still kind of sad moving away from simple, inexpensive carriers that I can make myself or that some other mama can make cheaply enough that anyone can afford them, even married people whose dh's are less than enthusiastic about babywearing.

This will technically be my second Fall without a homeschooler but last year I had Stephen, who was not my child but did come to my home for tutoring while he was enrolled in a home study program with a local charter school and it sure felt like homeschooling with a rent-a-kid.

Part of me wants to pull out my old plan book templates and start keeping careful records of what books i read to my 6 month old and how often we conduct "hands on integrated experiential-based studies of the Archimedes Principle", aka take baths.

I got one postcard out this week and am just about ready to start working on another one. I'm slow.

< /dork >

[Jezzy]

NOS Danke schön for the post card!!

I love my mei tai! I am sure you will too. When you are done with it you can sell it too

[lincap]

I am way behind on my post cards... wnat to make some...

I am behind but I will get htem out!

just uber busy and DH being a pain about getting "free time"...

[flapjack]

NOS, my first thought on looking at my babyhawk was "oh, I could have made this. But not this well" Mine is beautiful, and I love it, and I value the effort that was put into its creation. It comes at a cost, yes, but that's OK by me. I'll admit to looking for a Sleepy Nico though :
Oh, and happy baby-sitting I can't believe you sat on Christopher, he's a great hefty healthy lump of a lad.

Lincap, your DH doesn't get free time. He has children

[Juise]

True Blue - I hope your kitty comes back, too.

BabyBump - That is too funny. Nate and Olive were both named by the daycare kids (there were 6 kittens and 6 older girls) and our Olive is also all black and named so because she's like a black olive I suspect Nate is named after a cute little boy in someone's class

peace_laughing - I'm sorry things are so rough on your visit I hope she gets to feeling better and you can fully enjoy your visit home.

NOS - Glad you're doing well and um, I haven't gotten very far on my cards, either. I figure that's okay as long as I get them done eventually.... ..right? :P I'm hoping I can do well enough that they will be worth the wait :

applecore - I know, too funny, isn't it? And it was so random, I have no idea why I decided to stop and ask her if she made slings. I mean.. she was sitting at her mum's booth with her babe slung, but I'm glad I did Her sun-printing sounds really cool and I'm hoping I can figure out something acceptable to barter with

Teeny - I would definitely be struggling with my decisions about food if Kaia was showing that much interest. Good luck to you!

Thank You to everyone who offered me kitty well-wishes.

Solids - Kaia has really shown no more interest in solids than she has in anything else, she puts *everything* in her mouth. Every once in a while I have put a little boob juice or water in a sigg bottle for her, she drinks the boob juice and the water she just spits out, but really really likes playing with. However, question - yesterday in her morning poo amid all the normal poo goop was a teeny little turd. I was really surprised. I didn't know this could happen with EBF babies.. I've never been away from her, so I know no one slipped her anything. Can anyone tell me what's up?

Oh, and gosh you guys are starting to make me feel like an oppressive tyrant. I know she would enjoy other food, but she doesn't know that yet, and I wanted to push it as close to a year as possible. Am I being overly anal?

Homeschool - Okay, I know it's just a wee bit early to worry about this.. but I really want to homeschool, and DP is not at all sure about it. He has all the stereotypical worries, like if she'll have social issues. Hello? We run a daycare! Or where we'll find friends for her her own age (we have one in the daycare that is about 8 months older than her, but no one else very close.) I insist that there are other ways to find friends than through going to public school. I don't know, anyone have any advice?

On another note, Us - DP's also begun to fret about raising Kaia vegan, which came as a bit of a shock to me. We've been vegan for around 5 years now I think. It came up mildly once before, he was talking about how he was sad about how she'd be missing out on things, like going to get ice cream or going out to pizza. I said those things were only all that great because they're nostalgic and that she'll have other things to be nostalgic about. She could always get a slushy, anyway! He totally agreed then and it hadn't come back up until yesterday. He was worried about when she goes over to play at someone's house Well both of us definitely don't plan to give her meat, and I tried telling him that most people don't really think vegetarian is any less weird, which he agreed to. I said we can always send lunch with her or remind people of the vegan options they probably already feed their kids, like pasta or PB&Js, among other things. I don't really know where I'm going with this.. just being a little stressed at you guys, I guess

Well, Kaia's crawling is getting out of control! She's gotten very speedy very quickly, whew! She's getting to be such a handful She been fighting sleep and naps like CRAZY the last few days. I think it's just because she's too excited about getting around. She has too much to do to waste time on sleep! She went from fighting nursing unless we were in bed nice and quiet when she is tired to refusing to go in the bedroom to nurse because I am not sleepy, mum! (sob, whine) She hasn't had a check-up in months due to a struggle (which we lost) with medicaid concerning them not wanting us to go to our perfect and much-loved holistic-style doctor Because he's an hour and a half away. But weighed her on my parent's grain scale when we were there a week ago and she was 13 lbs. spot on. She so little! But she's got nice chubby rolls and a lot of energy, so I'm not worried. So we need to set one up with some chump doctor around here that isn't going to respect any of our views or decisions like our doctor did Oh well.. I can deal, but it was so nice having a doctor who actually agreed with our choices and had many natural solutions to offer up before he would even bring up drugs. Someday. When we can get off medicaid.

to all and good luck on your schooling adventures.

[operamommy]

**

[Juise]

Aww, operamommy I know you said you don't need hugs, but here's a anyway! It is hard keeping up, and I know personally that means a lot of the time either I end up just posting selfishly because either everything's old news or there's just too much for me, or I only end up responding to the people who really seem to need a hug, or I think I might have some productive advice for. I know it seems like when you're just cruisin along you get ignored, but I, for one, always read and enjoy your posts

[operamommy]

Gah...now I'm just kicking myself for posting something so junior high school.

I care about you all, and this has probably got a lot to do with my own self esteem issues. I think I'm going to take a break for a bit. Please ignore my stupid self.

[Juise]

I think many people have self-esteem issues long after junior high! I know I do. I think it's okay, it's good that we examine, question, and re-establish ourselves regularly. I think it's a healthy habit that far more people should pick up. I also think it's okay to ask for reassurance without feeling silly. It's a perfectly normal desire. I often resist the urge to ask if anyone gives a &*^% when I don't get a reply, but I know that in my case it's really just because, quite frankly, you guys are the only people I talk to over the age of 10 : And I know I expect too much from such a populous and active board to be as personal. Most posts are always ridiculously long cause I don't have anywhere else to channel it and I often wonder if anyone can stand it Generally if I leave it alone for a while, all of a sudden people respond to something I totally wasn't expecting anyone to notice, or even just one person says something really sweet and I feel better

So before this turns into more about me instead of assuring you, which is what I meant to do, take a break if you really feel like you need it, but know you are wanted and please, please don't feel stupid for being a human being with emotions

[eilonwy]

Originally Posted by flapjack

Rynna. What are your thoughts on baby rice? I found carrot was also quite calming on a stroppy baby tummy (and it's one of my go-to foods for kids that have been sick but refuse to stop eating.)

My thoughts on rice vary with the babies; I think it might help Bear's tummy settle a bit, so he'll certainly get some. I've got issues with carrots; Carrots were Bean's first solid food and they gave him the most amazing case of the poops I've ever seen. I'm a big fan of squash.

Bear loves eating. He's quite orally exploratory, though.

Originally Posted by noordinaryspider

We're doing pretty well. ds1 was home last night and I practically sat on top of him before I noticed and squealed "HOLY POOP!".

THere you are! Um.. is that a good holy poop, or a neutral one? In any case, s.

I bought a Babyhawk.

I don't even know what that is. : Sounds fun, though. Back carries are nice. I think the reason that they're so difficult for me is that I'm short. I realized yesterday with Bear in the sling that in order to have him high enough to be comfortable for my back, I have to kind of turn one or both of our heads, or keep my head tilted up. He's a tall kiddo with a short mamma.

This will technically be my second Fall without a homeschooler but last year I had Stephen, who was not my child but did come to my home for tutoring while he was enrolled in a home study program with a local charter school and it sure felt like homeschooling with a rent-a-kid.

Part of me wants to pull out my old plan book templates and start keeping careful records of what books i read to my 6 month old and how often we conduct "hands on integrated experiential-based studies of the Archimedes Principle..."

I'm looking forward to each new identity as it comes.

Originally Posted by Juise

I think many people have self-esteem issues long after junior high! I know I do.

: It's taken me the better part of fifteen years to understand, to really grok, that there was nothing wrong with myself in junior high. I didn't see the OP, but..

***Warning: Freakish Baby Behavior Ahead. The following message is in no way, shape or form meant to intimidate, irritate, or piss anyone off. This is not a commentary on anyone else's children, parenting, or lifestyle. This statement is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease, and has not been approved by any regulatory commisions whatsoever.***

Last night Bear stood unassisted for the first time. He got on his knees and, as he often does, pulled his feet up underneath him so that he was on hands and feet. Then he pushed up with his fingertips and he was quite suddenly standing... He looked around for a moment and then fell onto his widdle tush. I was astounded, and truthfully more than a little horrified. He's been chatting up an absolute storm lately, and I know that he's been wanting to walk but I had no idea that he was even remotely capable of standing on his own. He's just getting so very... toddlerish. : My very last baby, on the verge of toddlerhood. I feel a movie musical montage coming on. :

[nolonger]

Originally Posted by Jezzy

NOS Danke schön for the post card!! :

I'm so glad it got there! I was kind of worried and totally admit to fishing for reassurance,

:

It was the first one that came to me and literally the first postcard I have written since breaking up with the long distance thing that never worked out three years ago.

I'm weird that way. Please be patient with me if it takes awhile, because I AM going to send at least one to everybody!

Helen, I am going to try my hand at making Mei Tais at some point, but right now I need to finish this one diaper cover and focus on food preservation for winter.

I love my Babyhawk. It's reversable, with one stunningly beautiful side that looks like my grandmother's Blue Willow china and the other side is also pretty, but not so much so that it will break my heart if I stain it (and let's face it, even if the Blue Willow side doesn't remain pristine for more than another hour or two, it should age nicely and look just fine with poop, beet juice, and bicycle grease on it, or at least better than tie-dye or patchwork would) and the straps are a nice, sturdy dark blue denim that won't show dirt but so much either.

picture


Okay, confession time:

The car has been SO miserable and since Humboldt is such an "ecotopia" with its wide bike lanes and well-maintained paving that lots of locals start trailering 5 and 6 month olds, I went ahead and got Terran's helmet and gave him a tiny taste, no bumpier than a stroller ride, on the sidewalk in front of my house.

He hated it.



To me it may be getting my freedom back, but to him it's just another "car seat". I may try a front carrier like this when he's nine months old of I may just never leave my house again.



The IRL friend posts were making me really want to go out and find some, since I was shocked that my favorite DDC friends have time for more offline friends and even seem a bit lonely for them the way I am. I haven't felt very good about myself since exy stopped paying child support 8 years ago and have slipped into such a reclusive lifestyle, hiding behind this computer, that I might as well be cowering in a bombshelter somewhere.

I want to stop doing that. Seriously. This sociable, gentle, loving little boy has made me seriously reconsider a lifetime of misanthropy.

Terran is such a miracle in so many ways.

ETA: for operamommy, thanks to Rynna for responding to my post so personally and for having the guts to post about Bear's precocious walking and Bean's precocious verbalizing (Terran is a very early talker too) and apologies for hitting the "submit" button before even seeing the last five or more posts! I'm off to pickle a plethora of local organically grown cucumbers and really need to get back to chore wars as this place is a mess again.

Shine my sink? HA!!!!!

[salt_phoenix]

Shine my sink... Yeah, that'll happen.

Ember wants some food. All the food. Her little bird mouth flies open every time we eat or drink anything. She yells at us. It's adorable.
I did give her a chunk of apple and she sucked on it and mouthed it until she flung it to the floor.
I couldn't stand it so this morning she got mushed avocado with mama milk. She absolutely LOVED IT!
I picked up a copy of Super Baby Food. Even dh is reading it.

We've just been out of internet service for a week or so... back now! Well, for a week or so. I haven't had a chance to check my mailbox in a couple weeks. I'm looking forward to getting to it!

I've been thinking about a Babyhawk myself...we also got Ember a Kelty Kids Carrier... she's REALLY loving it! It sure makes longer hikes and chores WAY better than a soft carrier! She likes sitting up so high in the back. I think she thinks it's a ride... she hates the car though.

School: Glad we are unschoolers

Kitties:
I worry about mine non-stop; especially when they aren't "home on time"- living in a camper has really upped those worries.

[BabyBump]

My postcards are in the mail!! I finished them while Eli power napped after the dr yesterday. Hope they all arrive safe and sound to you shortly. The post office even had fun stamps with guava's, pomegrantes, starfruit etc....

Eli's right eye tooth is through. Now if his top tooth would come in the world would be peaceful once again.

[lovetobemama]

hey mamas! Trying to get back in the swing of things after our trip! More reading to do but here are a couple thoughts!!

Rynna, I LOVE your "disclosure" And, don't take this the wrong way, but I'm SO glad that it's your LO standing, not mine!! I'm very content to have DD in arms for quite some time still!

Operamommy: Don't see your post...I think you might have taken it off. But I just wanted to say that I love hearing your updates and peeking at your blog from time to time, too. I LOVE : the felt food post on your blog...I kind of want to hire you to make some for my kids!

Jusie, good luck on the vegan thing...its so hard to "share" parenting with DH sometimes, but I do think that our lives are better when he and I make decisions fully together. If this is the way your partnership works too, then I hope that you guys can come to a good place on this issue! Oh, and I have NO idea about the little "turd". This makes no sense to me either!


BB, can't wait to see the postcards! Congrats on the tooth!

NOS, LOVE the pic of Terran in the babyhawk! And, to you for thinking about needing to expand your social life. It's funny how babies change us mamas in so many ways!!

Salt-Phoenix! Congrats on Ember's first meal! Molly is getting closer to this level of readiness. I have been giving her carrot sticks when DS and I eat carrots for lunch, and she LOVES gumming away on them. But, because she's not even 6 mos yet, I haven't given her anything she could actually "eat" yet. I'm pretty sure she'll be ready when the time comes, though!

Helen, hope the visit with your mom was good!

I'll post something about us tomorrow...I need to be in bed...like an hour ago!

[Jezzy]

NOS I got it yesterday!

eilonwy yea on bear standing up!! they are growing so fast arent they

[flapjack]

Rynna, rather you than me. River was standing up holding onto the sofa yesterday and let go.







He looked very shocked, fell to the floor, shrieked with laughter, turned onto his tummy and crawled away You can keep your atypical development, it's what you get for being so bright yourself.

OM I didn't ignore your post, I just have no idea what to say. I don't have a family, really (that's why I have so many kids myself) as both DH and I are only children, so we just roll with it.
NOS, he's just too young. You tried him in a trailer, right? Where he can't see you? Right at the very beginning of the separation anxiety stage? Come on, give him a chance. Try skateboarding with him in his babyhawk instead

Emily The time with mum was great. It's a tough time for us- we were both stressing about the 10th anniversary of my dad's death, but it was nice to spend some time mellowing out. We went down to Avebury (with the stone circle), over to a fantastic kids playground, it was grand

[applecore]

Originally Posted by noordinaryspider

Part of me wants to pull out my old plan book templates and start keeping careful records of what books i read to my 6 month old and how often we conduct "hands on integrated experiential-based studies of the Archimedes Principle", aka take baths.

Originally Posted by Juise

On another note, Us - DP's also begun to fret about raising Kaia vegan, which came as a bit of a shock to me. We've been vegan for around 5 years now I think. It came up mildly once before, he was talking about how he was sad about how she'd be missing out on things, like going to get ice cream or going out to pizza. I said those things were only all that great because they're nostalgic and that she'll have other things to be nostalgic about. She could always get a slushy, anyway! He totally agreed then and it hadn't come back up until yesterday. He was worried about when she goes over to play at someone's house Well both of us definitely don't plan to give her meat, and I tried telling him that most people don't really think vegetarian is any less weird, which he agreed to. I said we can always send lunch with her or remind people of the vegan options they probably already feed their kids, like pasta or PB&Js, among other things. I don't really know where I'm going with this.. just being a little stressed at you guys, I guess

I'm treading lightly here, because I know food choices are very important to people, and most have very strongly held beliefs. I was vegan when Ronan little, and he was vegan for the first year and a half of his life, and I regret it more than I can possibly express. It has nothing to do with your dh's concerns about missing out on the kinds of things he experienced as a kid, though I do understand that, as my dh had those same feelings. Ronan had very little sugar and no juice, and his teeth are now riddled with cavities at 6 years old. I had never had a cavity in my LIFE until I became vegan. Now I have a mouthful that I can't even afford to take care of. In fact, I don't know a single child that was raised vegan that does not have terrible tooth decay. A good friend of mine also raised one of her sons vegan in the early years, and she is convinced that is why he has broken so many bones so often, as well as terrible tooth problems.

I know that none of this is proof that veganism is unhealthy, but I have such terrible feelings of guilt over the issue that I couldn't just keep quiet. I hope I haven't offended anyone, and I won't bring it up again, but I really wanted to share my experience since I've btdt.

Originally Posted by eilonwy;11809209
[color=Red

***Warning: Freakish Baby Behavior Ahead. The following message is in no way, shape or form meant to intimidate, irritate, or piss anyone off. This is not a commentary on anyone else's children, parenting, or lifestyle. This statement is not intended to diagnose or treat any disease, and has not been approved by any regulatory commisions whatsoever.***[/color]

That is a priceless disclaimer. I second what Helen said- better you than me!

Originally Posted by salt_phoenix

I've been thinking about a Babyhawk myself...we also got Ember a Kelty Kids Carrier... she's REALLY loving it! It sure makes longer hikes and chores WAY better than a soft carrier! She likes sitting up so high in the back. I think she thinks it's a ride... she hates the car though.

We got a Kelty Kids when Ronan was a baby, and rarely used it. We still have it- maybe I should try it out again.

Operamommy, whatever it was that you posted, it must have been important to you at the time, so don't feel bad about sharing it. We all love ya! :

Well, after having lots of women say they didn't want me to come to their births with a baby, I'm finally back into the midwifery apprenticeship! Three women are glad to have me come with Twyla. : I'm so excited to get back at it!

I have about half of the postcards done, so I think I should just send them out and then finish working on the rest.