***December Snowflakes 2012 Parenting***

[scoobydrlp]

Just thought I'd share...I made a photobook on shutterfly.com, and got it in the mail yesterday. It turned out so nicely! Most of the photos were taken with my iPhone so I was a little concerned with the quality once they were blown up some, but they all look great! I used a code for a free 20 page 8 x 8 book and only had to pay shipping. If anyone else wants the code I'm happy to share, it's good until June 27th I think.

 

[Chloe597]

Those shutterfly books are great! I have made a couple already too. Its addicting!

I had the scare of a life yesterday. gave Gabby a stick of wheat bread that i cut from a loaf, spread some banana on it, and gave it to her, and she took a big chunk off of it and gagged. Which isn't awful, but she turned red and appeared to not breathe for a second (it was literally only a second, but it felt like forever and was really scary!) and then she spit it out and carried on like nothing was wrong. DH and I about had a heart attack! And then we read about it in the BLW book and reassured ourselves that it was quite normal and experiences like this help her learn to not do that.

I second the idea to add quite a bit of milk to purees to make it nice and thin for baby's first introduction. So far gabby has loved sweet potato and carrot purees mixed with milk, although they aren't very thin. We let her feed herself with the spoon (figure if we aren't going all out with BLW, we can at least let her feed herself with a spoon). We also spread some cottage cheese on bread for her to play with too. She is really enjoying eating her purees. I am going to try wedges of mango tonight. I think the thing i hate most about BLW is that she doesn't really get to eat much if i just give her chunks. And i know she swallows the purees and enjoys them, so I am finding it hard to justify only doing BLW.

What is everyone in the US doing for father's day? I bought DH a digital picture frame for his office and will load it up with baby pics for him.

Daydream, which wonder weeks app do you use? I have android, not iphone, but I know a lot of the apps cross over. G was 2.5 weeks early, so its hard to keep track of these weeks since I think you are supposed to go from due date rather than actual birth date?

 

[cococobain]

Chloe - Scary stuff isn't it? We did the toast with mashed banana on today too. She bit a chunk off and spat it back out. She did seem to at least savour the banana flavour though haha.

Those photobooks are awesome, I'm planning on doing a few of her "first year" - one for myself and two for her grandmothers as Christmas gifts. If I thought that site would ship out here I would take you up on the offer, scooby!

I know I posted pictures recently, but today she finally smiled for the camera!

https://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u632/cococobain/3473552d-8d42-4c21-846e-a5773e7f42c4_zpsd6e9bb9a.jpg.

She used to just hold a serious looking stare-off with the camera, but now she finds it amusing All the relatives I send pictures to were beginning to think she was a humorless child haha.

Just out of curiosity - who do you think your babies look more like? Yourself or your OH? When she was born MIL sent me a picture of OH as a newborn and they looked exactly the same. Even now, when we go out together people always comment how she is the spitting image of her dad. The only difference is she has my blue eyes.

 

[ImSoTired]

Coco, that's odd as I thought Mia looked just like you when you had that pic of you and her as your avatar!? Maybe If I'd seen her with your DH I'd have thought differently. When Cait was born everyone including myself thought she looked just like me, now I see some of her father and so does half of everyone else. I can't tell..sometimes she looks like me and sometimes him. BTW good luck having visitors for 3 weeks! I know I would be excited/ dreading it at the same time. I often ask people to visit for the day and sometimes regret it afterward because I just want to do my own thing. Adorable smile on Mia! She's gorgeous!

Tooth keep trying. I wonder if you just put a spoonful of puree on Joseph's high chair tray if he would put his fingers in and put it in his mouth? It may be messy but it might also get him used enough to the taste to let you sneak in some spoonfuls here and there.

Scooby, I should look into making shutterfly books? I keep meaning to print out her pictures but I never get the chance! I feel like an awful mom sometimes because I just feel like I could be doing more! She keeps me so busy though!

Chloe I'd have been scared too if I'd seen Cait turn red and gag. I don't blame you for panicking for a moment. Last night we gave Cait her sippy cup and a mesh baggy with green beans in it. She tried chewing on the bean but couldn't get a good bite. She was more excited about the cup anyway. Not that she really drank from it, she mostly played.

Whoever asked about Father's day, I haven't a clue. I got DH a nice card because my Mother's day card was so lovely it brought a tear to my eye. I'm thinking of letting Cait finger paint a piece of card stock and giving it to him from her. I'll also give him the go ahead to buy himself whatever he's got in the amazon wishlist if he's got. I don't know what to do really and Cait is too small to really help me out yet.

I'm officially moving Cait to her 6-9 mo clothes! She's sitting up a little longer and really getting on those hands and knees now! I think in a months time she'll be crawling for sure! We had her 6 month appt and the doctor said she's doing great. She's about 26 1/2 in and 15 lb, 11 oz. Following her centile perfectly around the 50th mark. He told me to just keep doing whatever it is I'm doing cause she is good and healthy. I told him about her sleeping and he told me to watch out for teeth though he didn't see any at the time. He also told me not to worry about her eating because I told him that I'm always force-feeding her bottles. He said to just offer and if she wants it she'll take it. As long as she is gaining steady, happy, and having wet and dirty diapers. Such a relief as I was worried. She also had her shots, the poor thing. She screamed so loudly and I felt awful as usual. What is this wonder weeks app? I'd love to know when I'm in for a whiney couple of days!

Just as I'm typing Cait did that yoga move! lol! I wasn't fast enough to get a pic but she'll surely do it again sometime! I've posted a few pics below. I have an awful time taking pictures sometimes as she moves ALL of the time!

Hope you're all well!

 

[Honey.Bee]

Coco - Everyone says that Ava is a mini-me. When I look at photos of us at similar ages, we are almost twins (but I was chubbier and she's got DH's nice ears!). Not sure if you can see it in this photo of me and my avatar of Ava?

https://i1050.photobucket.com/albums/s418/2012HoneyBee/BF738C4B-8E31-4915-8D5C-EAD75C1341C4-15904-00000FFD0E9212D6.jpg

Chloe - Ava had a choking episode with some red pepper. I was definitely more bothered - she just carried on.

 

[sigh]

Honey - so cute!! you do look similar

coco - I agree with IST - I thought she looks like your old avatar pic

IST - yay for the yoga move and yay for a good appointment! Ellie isn't even close. I put her on her tummy today and she screamed which was ... fun.

scooby - i love shutterfly, esp since they send free codes so often.

ok so the last 2 nights were HORRIBLE, especially after 3 am. Cosleeping, rocking, swing... nothing helped. She wanted to be held and walked around. She wouldn't even let DH or I sit. Soooo... sleep training begins tonight. I feel horrible for doing this but it's been over 2 months of this and the lack of sleep is affecting my ability to do my job and she's exhausted during the day. I'm going to be a wreck but I need to stay strong. I had a glimmer of hope that it might not be so bad the other night. I fed her and put her in the crib and she woke immediately so I picked her up and rocked her for a few minutes but I really had to go to the bathroom and she was still awake. I put her in the crib and ran to the bathroom. I heard her whine for about a minute, then silence. I went and looked at the monitor and she was just laying there with her eyes open. She changed positions and was just laying around for about 10 minutes before she started to cry again. Progress!! Hopefully that happens tonight...minus the crying.

 

[sigh]

She's asleep... 30 mins of screaming/crying. All the comforting words and shushing/patting did nothing and DH and I both feel like crap right now. I put a little blanky in with her and she stopped crying when she clutched it with one hand. I hope she sleeps soundly tonight!

 

[scoobydrlp]

IST - you should def check out shutterfly! I will warn you though, making a book is time consuming. It took me several hours spread over 3-4 days to get it finished. But totally worth it! Also when you sign up to their website they give you 50 free prints. Glad I have some real photos now. I often get paranoid about my digital pictures, I would be debased I I lost them somehow!

So my mom insists that Camden is "behind" because all of her friends babies are pushing themselves up much higher during tummy time than she does, and some of them are younger than her. I tried to remind her that all babies are different, and that her physical therapist was not at all worried about her progress a few weeks ago when we were there. But she insists that she's behind. Whatever!! I'm just happy that she tolerates tummy time now for 5-10 minutes at a time, as she used to despise it. I think her torticollis makes it much harder for her to hold her head up in that position too. Anyway, I kind of just wanted to tell my mom to keep her opinions to herself!

 

[cococobain]

IST & sigh - Aw, you're the first people to ever think that I think maybe if people didn't have my OH to reference too, they'd see the similarities between her and myself. Maybe when I'm home I'll slap up a group photo so you can see what I mean. Thanks for the good luck btw...I think I might need it!

Sigh - Yikes, huge hugs. I can't even imagine going 2 months of sleep deprivation. Good luck with the sleep training and stay strong! The first few days are the worst, I hear. Does she have a lovey? When you mentioned the blanky it reminded me, they're not the cure all to sleep problems, but it might help distract her and help her comfort herself. Anyway, I hope you see an improvement soon and get some well deserved sleep xx

Honey.bee - Oh wow I totally see it. She is definitely her mummy Cute picture too, crawling on the rocks!

Scooby - Mia doesn't push herself up much on her tummy, actually since she figured out how to roll over she won't stay on her tummy at all now. She faceplants anytime I prop her in a sitting position too. Like you said, every baby will do it in their own time. I don't understand why some people act like it's a competition/race. Just because they aren't hitting a certain milestone, doesn't mean they aren't developing. Oh well, some people are just stuck in a certain mindset I guess.

 

[sigh]

Scooby - Don't listen to them! My mom made a few comments because Ellie hasn't rolled back to front yet and can barely push herself up too. I was walking and said my first words super early (around 6 months) and lets just say now I'm not the brightest crayon in the pack lol. My cousin didn't crawl until he was close to 1 yr, didn't say his first word until he was 3 and he is currently doing his residency in Neuro-surgery at one of the top med schools in the country. You are totally right, everyone grows differently!

Thanks coco! She slept from 930 pm - 610 am without waking, then babbled until we got her at around 630. So proud of her but still feel so guilty, although she usually probably cumulatively cries more than 30 mins every night...

My goal is to have her sleep around 8 and wake around 630-7 with 1-2 night feedings. We're also working on getting her on a nap schedule (we'll start nap training and getting her out of the swing after her nights are fixed). I'm trying to get her to take 1 long morning and afternoon nap and 1 short evening nap (a long nap for Ellie is 1+ hrs). I go into her room about 30 mins into her nap (this is when she usually wakes) and shush her back to sleep when her eyes start to open. The last 2 days she's gone back to sleep and I've been able to get her to nap for 1 hr 15 mins - 1 1/2 hrs. I'm hiring someone to help out while I work 2-3 days a week since my mom can't help me everyday so hopefully she'll be on a schedule soon!

To those of you still bfing - how many times do you feed your LO during the day and night? How long does your baby eat for? Ellie is only doing about 5 feedings during the day but each lasts 30 minutes, plus she's getting solids 3 times a day. I'm not sure if this is too little? I wanted to try to squeeze more in but I feel like she'll be eating basically the whole time she's awake!

 

[Chloe597]

Oh Scooby, that is so frustrating. DH tries to compare Gabby's development to him when he was younger, or other babies at daycare and I get so mad. Everyone develops differently! I'm sure Camden accels at something, so just throw that in your mom's face next time! Gabby still doesn't roll, not even tummy to back,and she doesnt get herself into crawling position, but i can stand her up and she will stand up holding on to furniture for quite a long time. and shes really good at sitting now. To each is own!

IST - cute pics! I bought one of those things to put food into, but i haven't used it yet. Do you find Cait actually gets food from it?

Sigh, sounds like your night went well, despite some crying. Keep at it! Stay strong! Use DH as your support. It would be super hard to go it alone, or to have different views on it than DH.

I am still BFing - I feed G probably 6 times a day, usually from both boobs, except for her morning feed cuz i'm so full. And we do about an ounce of solids once (but we are going to move to twice a day this weekend). And I don't feed her at night at all unless she wakes up, which is rare. Granted this schedule is just my weekend schedule since i work during the week. Then she gets 18 oz of milk from bottles, and a morning and evening feed from me. And only her night feed takes 20 min, the rest she will do maybe 5 min on each boob.

 

[Beanonorder]

Scooby I agree with the others - just ignore what your mom is saying. I remember a short while ago you mentioned that Camden plays with her feet. Amber can push herself up on her tummy but unless I take her feet to her hands/mouth she doesn't even know they exist!! So its just a case of each developing different skills at their own pace.

I can't remember who brought up the question about solids and how much they should be having but I was reading that by seven months they should be having three 'meals' a day. So even if they aren't taking in much its about the schedule as much as getting them ready for eating big people food.
Tooth, Amber also wasn't too keen on solids to start with. But after a few days of offering porridge mixed with banana she eventually had a little. And then I moved on to just porridge and now she is enjoying it quite a lot. I've just started on veggies and same thing happening again. So I'm going to just keep offering until she gets used to the taste.

Sigh glad to hear you got a bit of rest last night. Hope it keeps up for you.

 

[toothfairy29]

Wow lots to catch up on

Gorgeous photos IST and coco. I've just orders one of those little feeder bags IST.

Honey! She's your little double!!!!

Scooby! Joseph also doesn't really show much sign of crawling or pushing up on tummy BUT hes really good at clapping, starting to wave remembering and trying to do actions for nursery rhymes and copying sounds so the all do things at a different rate. Try not to listen to the pressure of others.

Chloe... The gagging must have been scary!! This is why I'm not keen to start finger foods!

Sign.... Sounds like your tough night paid off! Hope it's the start of good nights for you!!

Thanks to you all for your weaning advice. I've ordered the book you suggested honey. Just been googling and I am certain now that Joseph hasn't lost his tongue thrust reflex yet. Usually it's lost by 6 months but not always so I feel a bit less worried. I thought I was doing something wrong but I think he's just not ready yet! Surprising as he's on 91st percentile! He is doing the tongue thrusting exactly as described on google though!

Oh... And happy 6 months honey bee and Ava! Joseph's turn tomorrow!! Xx

 

[bbygurl719]

everyone has been putting pics up here is my photo bomb lol and more

 

[bbygurl719]

and a couple more

 

[toothfairy29]

Bbygurl they're gorgeous! In say it every time but so alike and so like you!!

 

[bbygurl719]

Thank u n u can say it as much as u want it makes me smile.

 

[Chloe597]

I'm going to frame one of these pictures for my dad for father's day. I can't decide and need help picking. Which one would you guys go with?

bbygurl, too cute!

 

[ImSoTired]

Scooby I know how it is to have people (relatives) constantly comparing your child to others and pressuring you into doing things. It's the same with some of my family and feeding Cait. As If I would give my child ice cream yet? I wish they would mind their own business. Everyone here is right. Children DO develop at different rates and there isn't anything wrong with it. And yes my baby is 15 lbs, not 20 like some other children in our family,(we have petite girls and large boys) and yes she has no teeth, and no I don't feed her ice cream, or potatoes, or pork chops! They like to make out like Because my baby is small to average size and toothless there is something not right. They also don't consider that she is a girl amongst many many large boys. I remember feeding my uncles children and they would finish an 8 oz bottle at 6 months and be hungry two hours later! I can barely get Cait to finish a 4 oz! I totally know where you are coming from. Camden is perfect just tell your mother, or anyone else, that each time they say any different. BTW I'm definitely trying out shutterfly! I'll have to throw a few things together while DH or someone is taking care of the baby, or else when she is sleeping.

Bbygrl beautiful pics! You have such adorable girls!

Chloe, Cait has only used the little feeder bag a few times and I can't say she's really gotten much out of it but a taste. We give it to her once she's had her puree or baby food while we eat dinner so she sits near the table with us. I think I need to put some softer foods in until she gets some teeth.

Honey- you and your daughter look just alike! The resemblance is amazing! Cait looks like a mix of DH and I IMO. I'm just hoping she got the best of both of us, lol.

Sigh I'm having similar sleep issues. It's all trial and error for us and I've yet to really get us on a good schedule. It's frustrating and I'm tired but I don't know what else to do. I've put up with plenty of crying as well and it's heartbreaking but I'm unsure of what else to do? I'm still reading the sleep lady book here and there so hopefully it'll continue to give me an idea of what I can do to get us all sleeping better! I hope Ellie continues sleeping for you!

Cait had shots yesterday and she's been running a low but persistent fever. It's got me on edge but she is mostly in good spirits. I can't help but wonder if she's actually coming down with something or if it is the shots because at the doctors yesterday her rectal temp was 99.5. I know that's not really high but its low grade. The doctor saw this temp and he checked her chest, her throat, ears, etc and he found nothing wrong so we went along for the shots. The fever has only gone as high as 100.8 but I'm just so worried. This is her first fever and it'll be her first time ill if that's what it is. It's funny because I've dealt with many sick babies before, but it really breaks your heart (and it's terrifying!) when it's your own.

I hope everyone is well!

 

[toothfairy29]

Chloe Joseph likes the one on the right with the cheeky face!!!

IST hope she gets better soon xx