***December Snowflakes 2012 Parenting***

[Beanonorder]

Chloe I have to agree with you about being torn! Sometimes I think I want to start trying now, others times I think next summer would be ideal and other times I think when Amber is heading for three it will be better. But truth be told I'm going to be lucky if we ever try for number 2. Dh is not sold on the idea of it and until the situation of me working and him being a SAHD changes I don't stand much chance of changing his mind.

 

[sigh]

No trying yet for us. Maybe next year So my friend's baby turned 1 this week and I couldn't make the party so I gave her a call. We haven't spoken in a while since we've both been busy and I found out she is 8 months pregnant. She didn't tell many people since the few she did treated her like she was crazy. LOL I think she's crazy but am happy for her

 

[scoobydrlp]

Sigh, my best friend had her boys 12 months apart, and everyone thought she was totally crazy!! She said it was really hard the first 2 years, but they are now 3 and 4 and are best friends. I definitely wouldn't want them that close together, but wouldn't mind a year in between.

 

[ImSoTired]

Happy I'm not the only one with a disastrous house!

Sigh, lol. Bitchy potato.

We fully plan on trying for another next summer. That may not work out if we are still struggling with our finances but if we feel stable enough we will be trying.

Hope everyone is well

 

[expatttc]

We're definitely up for trying now...hence the decision to start trying to limit breastfeeding during the day...it took us some time to have Rosa, and I will be 36 in November, so we want to have the little ones closer together if possible. That being said, we're not actively charting, etc., and don't plan to do anything like that until at least after 1 year...

 

[Chloe597]

Gabby learned how to crawl today! We have joined the ranks of the mobile babies

 

[scoobydrlp]

Hooray Gabby!!

 

[Beanonorder]

Yay for Gabby! So exciting!

I have to admit, I miss my still baby! Amber is into EVERYTHING and she seems to have severe separation anxiety. She missions off somewhere and then gets beside herself because one of us isn't right there with her. She's also pulling herself up on her knees and then she cries like its the end of the world. So we help her down and then she just does it all over again.
I have to be honest and say she is actually just exhausting at the moment. She just seems to be so unhappy a lot of the time. She doesn't want to play by herself at all, she cries in the pram. Even when we pick her up she cries half the time. I'm at my wits end because I don't know if something is actually wrong or if she's just going through a phase. And after having such an easy, placid and happy baby its a lot to take in. I'm torn about whether to take her to the doctor. I don't want to be a paranoid parent but I'd hate for there to be something wrong and we're missing it. And dh is having a hard time keeping his temper in check because he has to listen to her whining all day. He just can't get anything done and I guess men just aren't wired for that.

 

[toothfairy29]

Bean...... Joseph is being just the same for the last 2 wks. Whinging a lot of the time. Super clingy so I can't get anything done either. Even cries for me when daddy holds him. He wants my 100% attention. He cries to climb up me but then cries to go down! He wants me sat on the floor with him so he can have a climb on me whenever he wants. I have to agree that its irritating at times. I wouldn't mind if he whinged for me and I pick him up and it stopped..... but it doesn't he still whinges! I think its frustration to be honest. He learned to crawl last week and can pull up and cruise round furniture a little. He just gets pissed off he cant have EVERYTHING and doesn't like not being able to play with the hot cup of tea!

Hoping its a phase!!!!!

expat . glad you got moved!

Sigh. ..I love bitchy potato! Joseph doesn't babble mama any more. He's figured out who I am now but suddenly cant say m sound so I am "ru-ri" cute!

 

[Kelly M]

Expat, good luck with ttc #2! That's exciting! I think we are sticking with one. At least that's how we feel now. We'll re-evaluate in a couple of years.

Bean, welcome to my world! Mobile babies are so intense. Life is quite different since Carter started getting into everything. I hope your dh finds some relief soon! C went through a super whiny phase too, I figured it was teething but I have no idea. He's happy these days thank goodness.

Chloe, yay for Gabby! Such mobile babes around here now. What happened to our little sacks of flour that laid around all day?

Not much going on here. C is still sleeping horribly, still waiting for his top teeth to bust through and still getting better at walking every day. He did hurt his pinky at the dr the other day. Of all places! We were leaving, I was trying to get him dressed and he grabbed at the cabinet and smashed his pinky in it. I felt horrible! Now, it's super swollen and red (this was 5 days ago) and it looks like his nail might fall off. Planning on calling the dr. tomorrow to see if I should splint it or anything. It looks broken! But he doesn't seem to be in much pain so I don't know. He's kind of a tough guy so not sure what to do.

 

[Beanonorder]

Tooth I am sorry you are going through something similar but I have to say its a relief to know I'm not the only one!

I gave in and we took Amber to the doctor. She's due for her nine month check up this week anyway so I figured we could just do that at the same time. And of course there is nothing wrong! When the doctor heard that we'd just moved here three weeks ago she said its because Amber is still unsettled and its just going to take time. Otherwise she is doing very well. At her six month visit she was only in the 5th percentile for height and now she's in the 50th at 69.4cm (27.3 inches) and just over the 50th percentile for her weight at 8.6kg (18.96 pounds). I'm so glad she's caught up after our problems in the early weeks!

Amber has learnt to pull herself up onto her feet now. Once she's up she then wants to climb onto whatever it is she's pulled herself up onto. So you can imagine we are having even more bumps going on! She seems to constantly have her left leg lifted trying to get up (almost looks like she's trying to kick start a motorbike!). I'm very pleased to say she has also gone back to putting herself to sleep, and most times we can leave room too, which is a huge improvement!

Dh and I had a very long talk last night about everything. I'm feeling a lot more positive and it seems so is he. We also discussed having a second baby. He has agreed that it is definitely still on the table, which is a big relief for me! We won't be trying again anytime soon but as long as the door is not closed then I'm happy!

 

[sigh]

Chloe - Yay Gabby! Now the fun begins!

KellyM - oh man hope C is ok!! Ellie pinched her fingers today too but luckily I was able to stop it before she smashed them. I bought these magnetic drawer locks.. a little expensive but totally worth it!

We are going through the clingy phase too! I had to shower holding her a few times because she kept crying. She also refused to go to DH a few times this week for the first time ever. I wonder if this is a wonder week or the 9 month growth spurt. She's close to cruising and has been trying to stand up without holding anything so maybe that has something to do with it?

She stopped saying bit-chy potatoooo and I didn't get it on video so I'm sad. The new funny phrase- "Ellie, the birdie says 'Tweet tweet!' and she says 'TIT TIT'" lol.

 

[sigh]

I finished making Ellie's 1st birthday invitations! I merged together a bunch of things I found online and came up with this

 

[Beanonorder]

Very cute sigh!

 

[Kelly M]

So cute sigh!

C has some kind of infection on his pinky so I'm calling the dr tomorrow. It's so red and swollen and dh got puss out of it today. I thought it was from him smashing his finger but there was no broken skin when that happened so dh thinks he had a splinter.

 

[Chloe597]

Kelly, I hope Carter's finger gets better soon! Is he acting like he is in pain? Puss is definitely worthy of a call to the Dr. get well soon, little man!

Bean, that is great about amber's growth! I hope she settles soon. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be growing so fast and learning so many new things all at once...its a wonder babies sleep at all!

Tooth, I hope things get better for you guys soon!

Sigh, I love Ellie's phrases and that invitation is adorable! I am still torn about what to do for Gabby. With her birthday being on thanksgiving, no one will want to eat birthday cake after a giant turkey dinner, and i just dont know if i want to have soooo many people over for thanksgiving. I am thinking of celebrating her birthday the weekend before thanksgiving which would make the food a bit easier, and also allow us to focus only on Gabby (not that she knows any difference)

Here is a super short video of my crawling baby https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReBmM4NAwMc

 

[scoobydrlp]

Sigh, I love your invitations! So creative!! Ugh, I haven't put a single bit of thought into planning Camden's birthday. She was born Dec 27th, so right in between Christmas and New Years. It's such a busy time of year! I think we'll just do family (not many that live around here anyway) and very close friends. Maybe we'll do it the weekend before Christmas.

Chloe - Gabby is so cute in her crawling video! It's funny how good they get at it in such a short period of time. Last week Camden wasn't really crawling at all, more like lunging, but today she's all over the place.

Does anyone here have experience with ear infections? Camden has been just a little bit off the last few days. For the most part she's happy, but she has skipped a few feedings here and there, and I see her with her hand on her right ear more than usual. Her temperature is normal and she doesn't act like she's in pain, but is there any other reason she would be holding that one ear?

 

[sigh]

scooby - we had an ear infection go back and forth for 2 months. Ear pulling could be teething or something else bothering her. Do you see any discharge coming from her ear? The symptoms of an ear infection are similar to teething so it's hard to tell sometimes. Ellie only had a very slight fever for a day or so with her ear infections but was crying hysterically when we put her flat in the crib. I'd call your doctor just to make sure.

KellyM - Oh no! Poor C! hope he heals up soon!

 

[Beanonorder]

Kelly I hope Cs finger heals soon. I've found a cut under Ambers foot and have no idea how she got it. But I'm watching it carefully to make sure it doesn't get infected.

Scooby I've got the same problem with Amber's birthday! Plus I've got the added problem that of the few friends I have here, who will still be in China over December, some have the weekends off and others only have days off during the week. So I'm really struggling to decide when would be the best time to do something! In my ideal world I want to do it on her birthday but even I have to work on that day!
And I really want to do something nice for her birthday because I'm really bummed out by the fact that we can't go to South Africa and be with family.

With regards to pulling on her ear, Amber does this from time to time. I think its related to teething. I've come to the conclusion that Amber is going to be one of those baby's that teeths for a long time before anything shows up. Because she goes through these phases of pulling on her ear, being quite niggly, not eating as well and very resistent to me feeling her gums. But after a few days it stops and no sign of a tooth at all!
But rather check with a doctor to be safe.

 

[Kelly M]

Chloe, I love the video of Gabby crawling! She's so cute with that puffy diaper bum!

Scooby, I hope Cam doesn't have an ear infection. I've heard teething can cause babies to clutch at their ears too but if you think she's not feeling well I'd have her seen just in case.

Bean, C is the same with teething. He has been teething off an on for over 2 months with his top teeth. They are coming in REEEEEAAAALLLY slow. I can't feel the actual tooth yet but I can see the beginning of it under the gum, big puffy bumps and they are SO close but haven't broke the skin yet. Any day now...

Well, C is on antibiotics for his infected finger. I'm not sure how it got infected or if it has anything to do with him slamming it in the cabinet. It didn't break the skin when he did that but his dr. said that babies can get infections through their skin very easily. She actually had us get it x-rayed to make sure it wasn't broken and it isn't so that's good. It was so hard to get him to hold still for the x-ray and the tech had to tape his hand down to the table but the tape wasn't quite strong enough. I told him we needed duct tape or a straight jacket. He didn't seem amused with my requests. I had to let him chew on my phone to make it happen. lol I'm worried about him taking antibiotics though! I was hoping we could make it through the year without having to give him any. They put horrible flavors and dyes in it not to mention the medicine itself throws his bacteria in his body off balance. I want to get him some probiotics that our dr. recommended but it's $30 a bottle so I might wait and see how he does on the meds first.