***December Snowflakes 2012 Parenting***

[scoobydrlp]

Omg what a disaster of a day! Today was my day off and I was so looking forward to spending the day with Camden. Of course she chose today to be the crabbiest she's ever been in her entire life! She woke up at a normal time to eat, and normally she'll go back to sleep for an hour or two, but not today. So then she was tired way before nap time, tried an early nap but she wouldn't sleep. She kept sitting herself up in her crib and just would not lay down. If she had I'm sure she would have gone right to sleep. This happened with both naps, super annoying! I ended up rocking her to sleep both times. But she only slept 45 min both times so she was tired all day. She would be happy playing for short time here and there, but most of the day she was whining if I was holding her and crying if I wasn't. I don't know how people with fussy babies live through it! I'm so used to her being happy that I didn't even know what to do. The only thing that kept her quiet was Elmo YouTube videos, so yeah, I'm elmoed out. She's finally asleep now in my bed beside me, but I'm going to have to move her when DH comes to bed. Gah!

Sorry for the rant. I know some people deal with crabby babies all day every day. I've just been lucky enough to make it this far without experiencing it.

IST- I normally steam veggies for Camden, and she eats fresh fruit. Meats are cooked same as what we are having, but without seasoning for the most part. Depending on the texture of each food I may just leave it whole (like a mini muffin), other things I will cut into strips. For meats I start out with strips and see how she does, and if she has trouble getting pieces off then I will tear it into little pieces for her. I have only started doing this since she has gotten really good at chewing.

 

[Beanonorder]

Tooth, for babyproofing we've only done plug covers and table corners so far! Will hopefully do more in our new place!

Kelly I'm so glad your earring story turned out well!

IST when it comes to food, I mostly steam veggies. And usually cut them into chip sized things so they are easy to hold. For pasta I just cook it the regular way but no salt. So far the only meat I've given as finger food is meatballs (which she loved!). I think its time for me to try some more.

Scooby sorry you didn't have a good day - neither did we! Amber knows something is up and every time we put her down she cried her little heart out - something she never does! It was very distressing.

Amber is definitely forward mobile now! She isn't traditionally crawling though! She gets up on her hands and knees, moves her hands forward one at a time then kind of goes up on her toes and moves both knees forward at the same time! Otherwise she 'worms' her way forward. Both are hysterical to watch!

Today is moving day for us! Its 7:30am here, the moving van is coming at 12pm and we haven't finished packing yet! Shocking!

Have a good weekend everyone!

 

[cococobain]

Kelly - OMG! That story has thoroughly freaked me out. So glad it had a happy ending, now I'm going to be even more paranoid when Mia is mobile xx

IST - Yay for saying Mama!

scooby - Sorry you had such a rough day with Camden. I hate how one bad nap can disrupt an entire day. Unfortunately that sounds like pretty much an average day here haha. Short naps, overtiredness, bouts of happiness followed by whining/clingyness... YUP. Could she be teething?

bean - A yay/ohnoes for forward mobility! Yay for Amber's sake, oh no for yours! Good luck with the move btw xx

Okay, so today was the first session of my tattoo. It's just the outline, we had to leave the details and shading to another date because the stencil came out halfway through the session. I hid the photos under spoilers because *shock* no make-up, haha.

Spoiler

https://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u632/cococobain/DSCF7384_zpsd3a5b5c0.jpghttps://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u632/cococobain/926bba18-faaa-4c45-9b84-a93fce1797de_zpsdd1e443b.jpg

 

[sigh]

KellyM - Wow crazy story! Glad he's ok!!

IST - Yayy for Mama! We are the opposite here. She has said Mama a few times but only says it when she's crying for something. It's "Dada" and "Dodo"(our dog deebo) all day here.

Coco - BEAUTIFUL! Did it hurt as much as you thought it would? and you are beautiful, no make up needed!

Chloe - We have been going SUPER slow with introducing new foods. We are on level 2 purees right now and haven't done anything even semi solid. We will start soon, I'm just not sure how so I'm going to talk it over with her doc

A lot going on here. Ellie crawled yesterday but is still very cautious about doing it so she goes back to sitting up a lot. She can now sit up by herself and has been getting up multiple times at night and crying because she can't figure out how to lay back down. She sleeps on her stomach now which freaks me out because sometimes she's almost completely face down. Her top front teeth broke through this week and she also got her first case of the flu with a high fever this week so she's been suffering but has been so brave through it all! She was so weak during the flu and was trying to hard to smile and laugh but didn't have the energy - heart breaking! The worst part is that she is having trouble nursing because of the gum pain, which means my supply is starting to tank again and she isn't getting enough. I've tried to give her a bottle but it takes her 20 minutes to drink a 0.5 oz. She only wet 3 diapers today (2 were soaked, 1 was just wet). I'm calling her doctor in the morning. Hope you all are doing well!

 

[ImSoTired]

Scooby sorry about your bad day. Cait has has a handful of them where she is just tired and miserable and they are the worst. Sleepy babies who won't sleep are a handful. I hope you have better days ahead.

Bean awesome that Amber is starting to crawl.

Awesome tattoo coco. Beautiful so far. And you are beautiful so I wouldn't worry about the no makeup. I look just awful all of the time, lol.

Sigh we have tried a few solid things but we are mostly doing the purees like you. stage 2 when I do store bought. Cait is not a picky eater but she doesn't eat much in volume. She eats like a bird. So sorry Ellie has been sick. I hope the doctor can give her something or give you some good advice to help her feeling better. Poor little thing.

Thanks for the suggestions about steamed veggies and what not. I think I'm going to do a sweet potato tonight and share it with her. She'll surely be able to handle that.

I hope the US ladies have a nice holiday weekend and I hope everyone is well!

 

[cococobain]

sigh - Oh no! Let us know how Ellie is doing tomorrow! Poor thing And what a busy week she's had! TWO teeth, plus crawling and sitting up by herself?? Keeping mama on her toes I bet

I'm so happy with it (the tattoo) I can't wait until it's done. Sigh - I was anticipating a lot of pain, so I was pleasantly surprised when it didn't hurt all that. Feels like a hot scratch. It did help having Mia with me making cute faces and blowing raspberries at me the whole time. IST - Thanks And I'm sure that last part is a lie! xx

On another note; Mia officially started sitting unaided today!!! Finally! Expect lots of pictures over the next few days of her practicing her new upright position

 

[scoobydrlp]

Kelly - what a scary story!! It's so hard to keep EVERYTHING out of their little hands and mouths.

Bean - hope the move went smoothly, and congrats to Amber on becoming mobile!

Coco - love the tattoo! And congrats to Mia for sitting on her own. I think things got a lot easier when Camden started sitting, she was able to entertain herself with toys much more easily.

Sigh - Poor Ellie, she's going through so much all at once! Congrats on the teeth, and hope she's feeling better soon.

So Camden had gone on milk strike (and especially boob strike) for a few days, and I decided to cut back on table food some to see if it would help. It did! She's back to nursing on a semi-normal basis. She just loves table food so much I think she would prefer it, but I feel like she still needs the calories and nutrition from the milk first. So I think we're going to stick with table food for breakfast and lunch and skip dinner for now.

She's getting closer to crawling now that she's learned how to sit herself up from lying and vice versa. She just keeps getting one leg stuck under her so she never quite gets on both knees. Does anyone here with a mobile baby use a playpen or pack and play? I'm not sure what we'll do when she starts really getting around. We have hard wood floors and tile, and I fear for her safety once she starts pulling up on things and then inevitably falling and hitting her head.

 

[Kelly M]

Scooby, so sorry your day off was tough! Hope your weekend has been better. C has sort of done a milk strike once. He went to nursing every 4-5 hours instead of the usual 2-3 and he would fight it and cry when I tried to nurse him until he would finally latch after not nursing for much longer than usual. It's tough and hard not to take it personally! He started to nurse normally after a week or so. Hope things continue to improve with your new reduced table food schedule. Milk is definitely still so important at this age. And yay for Cam learing to sit herself up! Definitely makes playing with toys much easier and gives her a new perspective.

We don't use the pack and play much, except for camping outside when he can't be in the dirt because he eats rocks and sticks. He doesn't like being in it much because he wants to roam around freely. It seems like it would work but he just pulls up to the side of it and cries to be let out. We have a walker which I HIGHLY recommend. I can put him in it when I need to get something done and he's safe in that thing if I have to leave the room for a minute. He loves running all over in it and chasing the dog and me around the house. He runs us over though so we have to be on high alert or he smashes our ankles! lol

Bean, so awesome that Amber is moving around! It's so fun and exciting! Carter is lots of fun (and work) now that he can move. It makes things much more interesting. Good luck with the move too!

Coco, your tat is amazing so far! I love it! I don't have any tattoos but I really like them on others.

Sigh, poor Ellie (and you and dh too!). Sick babies are not fun and it's so hard because you just wish you could do something to make them feel better. It breaks my heart when C is sick and we all get horrible sleep, but that's nothing new I guess. Hope she feels better soon and those teeth come in soon too!

Well, Carter is back to sleeping like crap again. We had about a two week break where he was up only 1-2 times per night but that's over now.

His nose is super runny and he's a bit cranky again lately so I'm thinking it might be his top teeth. They are taking FOREVER to come in. Either that or it's another cold back to back with one he just had. His nose didn't run with his bottom teeth but nobody else is sick around here so I think that might be from his teething. Idk...

 

[Beanonorder]

Greetings from Shanghai! We made it here! What a disaster moving was! Amber and I took the train and dh and the cats went with the moving van. We nearly missed our train because we couldn't find a taxi and I had to run through the station with the pram to make it! Dh and the movers left at 1:45pm and it was supposed to to take three hours to get there. So I expected them around 5pm. They arrived just after 8pm that night!!! The cats were beside themselves after the trip! Anyway, we are mostly unpacked and sort of settled in. My first day went pretty well. This morning hasn't gone well though - dh didn't wash any dishes so there was no bowl for Amber's porridge and only one bottle but not sterilised. Then I got to school and the office was locked so I couldn't get any of my stuff! I had to start teaching with nothing until someone could bring me my stuff. Not fun but I made it through.
My dh is being really otherwise at the moment and its making me really unhappy. He claims there is nothing going on but that is total BS! I'm so over all this drama - this was supposed to be a fresh start where he had the chance to do what he wants and I get my career going again. But I'm already starting to question it all!
Sorry, rant over.

Chloe, how did the flying go? Sorry I couldn't offer advice. Amber is already a pain on the train so can't imagine what flying must be like!!!!

Coco your tattoo is awesome! Glad it didn't hurt much. I wish I could say the same about my foot! There is another part I can add to it and I'm like 'hell no!'

Sigh, I hope Ellie is doing better.

My placid, easy girl seems to be gone! For the past month or two she has become so clingy and doesn't like to play for very long by herself anymore. And now she's starting to refuse to put herself to sleep. I'm really hoping that it is just because of the move and that soon she'll settle down. I still haven't been able to cut down from three naps to two. Its so frustrating! But until she starts waking up later I just don't see how I'm going to do it. She's up at 5am and by 7am she can barely keep her eyes open. And then by 12pm again she's finished. There is no way she can go from that nap til bedtime, unless I make bedtime 5pm!!!!

Clearly I am having a bad day!!!

 

[scoobydrlp]

Sorry your move didn't go as smoothly as planned, Bean. But glad it's over and you can get settled now! I think your nap situation is sounding like 3 is the magic number right now. Camden has never really been on any schedule as far as napping, mainly because she's at daycare 3 days a week, and then home with either DH or me the other days (rarely will both of us be home on the same day). I just let her do whatever she wants to with sleep and luckily it's worked for us. Some days she takes 1 nap, some days she takes 3. At home she rarely naps for longer than an hour and a half at a time, but at daycare she will sometimes sleep 3 or more hours straight. Since she's a happy baby I don't see any reason to force a schedule on her (or the rest of the caretakers). Hope you can get things sorted out!

 

[Chloe597]

Scooby, sorry for your bad day! Hope it got better! and that the milk strike is officially over

Bean - glad the move is over! Sorry about your nap issues. is a 3 nap schedule bad for you? And i feel for your cats! Moves have always been stressful for mine, I can't imagine they liked being in the moving van! And that is exciting about Amber's forward movement!

Coco, great news about Mia sitting, and your tattoo is great!

Kelly, sorry about Carter's return to poor sleep

As for us, we survived both the plane ride and sleeping away from home! Gabby was a champ on the plane, although she needed constant stimulation. During the landing she was grabbing at her ears so i nursed her and she fell asleep. Same thing with landing back home too. She did keep trying to grab the barf bags, and was unhappy when i wouldn't give them to her. But we managed to keep her mostly entertained. Thankfully it was only an hour long flight! Not sure how i would have done on a longer flight. And she slept in a pack n play with no issues, all through the night. Her nap schedule was crap, as she only got naps in the car or in her stroller each day, so that made for some crankier times, but overall she was still a happy baby. It was fun to go away, but I can't say I'm itching to do it again any time soon!

 

[ImSoTired]

coco yay for Mia sitting on her own!

Scooby I hope that Camden continues to nurse regularly with the new 2 meal schedule you've implemented. I only feed Cait breakfast and dinner because lunch would interfere with the amount of formula she drinks and her naps. I'd really prefer she drinks her 6 bottles a day as I think it's probably more important than food or purees. As for crawling Cait crawls all over the house. We have hardwood kitchen floors and carpets in the living room and dining room. When she first started crawling she didn't go very far. She stayed where she could see me. Then she began venturing to the dining room and then following me into the kitchen. She fell a lot at first but she barely does at all now. I think Camden will be okay on the hardwood as long as you keep a close eye when she first starts standing. We have a pack n play and an exersaucer/walker thing and that's where I put her when I need to leave the room.

Kelly so sorry that Carter isn't sleeping well. As you said though he has a runny nose and he may be teething so I hope that is the reason and once his teeth come through he'll be back to sleeping well for you. Still no teeth here. We may have to get her some dentures or something, lol.

Bean Congrats on the move! I hope that everything settles down for you and you and your DH get to do what you want/need to do. Moving is so tough and it can be so stressful for everyone but I hope all goes well for you from here on out and you all adjust accordingly. I wouldn't worry too much about bumping naps down to 2 yet. I think some babies need a little more sleep than others and if she prefers 3 she probably needs it. We do one or two naps a day and she is just cranky if I can't get her down for her second and then she goes to bed between an hour or a half hour early.

Chloe I'm happy to hear that your trip went well. Traveling with an infant must be rather difficult and stressful. I can't afford to go anywhere anyway but if I could I'm sure I'd be a nervous wreck with her and she'd never be able to sit still long enough. Also we are going through this stage where I can't get her to sleep anywhere but at home in her crib so I'm glad to hear Gabby slept well in her pack n play. If we ever get a chance to travel I hope it goes well.

Cait has begun clapping on a regular basis and it's adorable. She was only doing it once in a while and now she does it all day. So cute though, I love it. She's getting so big I can't even believe it. She'll be 9 months in 6 days. Unbelievable. On another note I've been dieting and exercising and I'm losing beautifully. I hope I can keep it up

I hope everyone is well.

 

[Beanonorder]

IST that is awesome that you are losing weight beautifully!! I wish I could say the same - I'm a little jealous! With everything that has been going on the 30 day shred kind of fell away. After the initial small loss it didn't seem to be doing anything, even after 12 days. Now I just don't seem to have the time. I'm still trying to walk with Amber and I will try get into some kind of exercise routine once I've settled into a work routine!! (Fingers crossed I don't put on any weight in the mean time!!!)

Dh finally admitted that he is frustrated because he feels emasculated staying at home with a baby. Which annoys me because I asked him repeatedly if he was going to be ok with it if I accepted the job. And he assured me he would be fine. I will say it is tough staying home with Amber at the moment. She is super clingy. I think she is having some serious separation anxiety. If we put her down and even take a step away she cries like mad. And every time I put her down in her crib she cries too. And these are things she never used to do. She's never been a crying baby so its really hard to deal with now.
I think I'm going to look at the idea of getting a walker again. Maybe if she's upright and slightly mobile for short periods of time she might be a little happier.

Chloe I'm glad your trip went well! We are planning to go to South Africa next June and I can't even begin to imagine what flying with an 18 month old is going to be like! But at least this time I won't be alone!

 

[Kelly M]

Ist, congrats on losing weight! I hope you keep it up! So cute about Cait clapping all the time. C did it a few times and won't anymore. Punk.

Bean, sorry the move was rough and that you are having problems with dh. It's really good that you guys talked about it though instead of just letting things fester. Good thing he was able to communicate how he feels and now you can be more understanding and try to make adjustments. Maybe give him a "guys night out" every week or have a date night with him and let him be the "man" and choose the place and organize it all. I don't know obviously what will work for you but just tossing ideas around. I know you probably are having a hard time being away from your lo and all and he needs to understand that too. Hope things improve with you and dh. I'm sure once you all get settled in your new roles and once Amber gets used to it and passes through the separation anxiety phase things will be a hundred times better! This is a common age for separation anxiety too. Carter cries when I leave the room sometimes and he follows me around wanting me to pick him up. It's really annoying most of the time but kind of sweet too because it makes me feel good that he wants me. He's so independent since learning to crawl that he rarely wants to be held.

Chloe, so glad your trip went well! That's nice to get away but it's also tiring with a baby I know. I feel like I need a vacation after taking a vacation with Carter.

Hope the rest of you ladies are doing well!

 

[bbygurl719]

Hi ladies.. sorry I've been mia. Taking about vacations me n my family seven of us. Are driving up to Maryland (straight thru) on October 3 for my cousins wedding. IT's going to b my mom, dad, me, my husband, my 8 years old, my 22 month old n 9 month old. It's like a 16 hour drive. I'm scared out of my mind how the girls r gunname handle it. We will b driving @ night so hopefully they will sleep most of the time. We did do a 24 hour drive with my 22 month old when she was three month. So we leave on the third get there on the 4th wedding on the fifth, spend the day with the family on the sixth, go to Washington school on the 7th, leave on the 8th, drive to Chattanooga,TN get there on 9th n spend a day or soy there n go to caverns. And then the 10th or 11th leave from there and drive back home to Florida.

 

[bbygurl719]

Oh n update on angel. She will b 9 months on the 22nd. She's been army crawlier mg for two months but this past weekend she has started to hand n knee crawl. She's always trying to stand up on anything n everything. She tries to be brave n let go. She's had plenty of bumps n boo boos already. The walker is a God send she loves it n goes all over the house. She says ball, mama, dada, papa, Hi bye n yay. My babies r getting too big too fast..

 

[cococobain]

https://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u632/cococobain/mybaby_zps5ab853d6.jpg

Hey girls! Went to my SIL's yesterday and Mia was fascinated with their lion ridgeback outside. Both bottom teeth are through and now it's the top rows turn and boy - these are turning out to be way worse. Poor thing goes through bouts of utter misery all day long. OH has been home these past two weeks on vacation and he goes back to work tomorrow - it was nice having the extra pair of hands.

IST - YAY on the weight loss! I have a bad case of jelly belly, but I can't be arsed to do anything about it.

Bean - I'm sorry you're going through a tough time! I'm glad he at least admitted to it rather than keep it bottled up and let it turn to resentment. Dealing with a crying/clingy baby all day long definitely wears you down. Mia seems happy if I put her in her high chair with her toys while I get things done, but otherwise I'm stuck carrying/giving in and lying on the floor with her all day.

Chloe - Yay for surviving air travel! I'm glad I don't have to deal with that any time soon (unless someone wants to offer me a vacation somewhere exotic, then I'll tough it out hehe)

 

[scoobydrlp]

Bbygurl - good luck with your trip, that's a whole lot of traveling! Hope it goes smoothly.

Bean - hope things with DH shape up for you. It's good that he was at least able to verbalize how he was feeling. That's a start!

Coco - what a cute picture of Mia! I love ridgebacks too, don't see a whole lot of them around here, but they are beautiful animals. Sorry Mia's teeth are bothering her, hope it will be short lived. Camden still has no teeth, which is a-okay with me!

Not much to report around here. DH is driving me crazy as it seems his only priority is golf right now. He played 3 times this week. Am I crazy or does that sound unreasonable for a married man with a teenager and a baby? The first two times he played for free, so it's not really a financial concern, but why not spend some time with your family? Tuesday was his day off with Camden but he left her with my mom to go play (of course my mom loves this, so she wouldn't never complain about it). Then he left work early friday to play with his boss (could have gone home and picked Camden up from daycare early and seen SD before she went off to her mom's for the weekend). Then yesterday both he and I were off work which NEVER happens on the same day, and he was gone from 8:30am to 9:30pm playing with his brother and some other friends at a course over an hour away. I guess this had been prearranged and he said he told me about it a long time ago. Maybe he did. But still...why play the other two times this week then? It's just hard for me to understand why he wouldn't want to spend any time with us. His job doesn't have normal hours so we don't see each other on weekends, and even most weeknights we only see each other for an hour or so. Rant over.

Hope everyone had a good weekend!

 

[Beanonorder]

Coco what a cute picture!

Scooby sorry for your issues! I completely agree with you that it wasn't necessary to play all that golf. Its like it just doesn't occur to them to say stop and say 'hey, I could spend this time with my family'. My dh has only recently started to come to this realisation but its taken a long time!

I'm pleased to say we have hired a new ayi (cleaner/nanny) and she starts today. She'll be working three hours a day in the morning so at least dh will get a break then. I get home for lunch about half an hour after she leaves so he will only really have Amber in the afternoon's now, which I think will make a big difference.
We also had a really good weekend together so I'm feeling quite positive for this week.

Amber is still a little fussy but each day is getting a bit better. Last night instead of rocking her to sleep (again!) I put her in the crib and then just sat on the couch next to her. As long as I was in the room she was happy and after playing for a bit she put herself to sleep. This is progress and I'm hoping with perseverence we'll get back to the way things were.
Amber is still worming herself around! She has now realised she can pull herself up onto her knees to grab things off the table or the couch (or anywhere else!) But of course once she's up and got what she wants she leans back, loses balance and falls over. Thankfully I've caught her most times but she did knock her head a couple of times. We definitely have to get a playpen for when we leave the room. We aren't allowed to drill so we can't bolt the bookcases to the wall so can't leave her even for a second!!

 

[Beanonorder]

I have to add that when I went home for lunch on Monday I discovered that in the few hours I'd been gone Amber had mastered proper crawling! Just amazing! Now she's a little menace, getting into everything!!

I'm feeling really down about my weight again. I was just starting to feel better about myself and then last night dh told me that in his opinion I should have lost the baby weight already. (for honesty sake I will add he didn't say it in a nasty way but it still made me feel really bad). And its not like I'm really huge either! I was a UK10/12 when I fell pregnant and now I'm a UK12/14 (and the same size I was when I met him actually!). To add to it, he is saying this is one of the reasons he's reluctant to have a second baby - because I'm obviously struggling to lose the weight now and he doesn't want to see me go through it all over again. He does have other, more valid reasons too but it really sucks that this is on the list at all. I really want another baby, not now but definitely before I'm 35!
Sorry I don't mean to make him sound so terrible. I'm just really frustrated by the whole weight and wanting another baby thing. I just want him to take me as I am right now and to be open to having a second baby. Its not like I'm asking him to set a date to start ttc or anything. I just need to know that the door isn't closed.