***December Snowflakes 2012 Parenting***

KellyC its nice to hear from you again! Connor is so cute! I have to admit I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who's LO has a dummy/pacifier! I kept saying I wanted to get rid of it when she turned one but we've had some serious sleep issues recently! Last night I think we finally had a breakthrough (fingers crossed!) so I'm holding off on taking it away for a while longer!
Amber claps on command (and whenever you say yay or clever girl!) she also points to her nose and sometimes her ears if you ask 'where is your ....?' She says dada but also only says mama when she's upset! Dutton is her favourite word but we've yet to work out what it is! If I ask her where's daddy or Callie or Cricket (the cats) she will look at them. She cruises really well and can climb on the couch by herself. But she hasn't stood alone yet. She walks happily with her push cart thing. She also likes to give us things. She also does her version of dancing, which is basically waving her arms around! She does wave but not all the time.

Sigh, those kitchens are gorgeous! I wish we had space for something like that!

Chloe when I was home with Amber I also felt like I wasn't doing enought to stimulate her. But truth be told, there is only so much you can do! I read a lot with her and we have a few educational toys that she only plays with under supervision. I've also been teaching her body parts. Its adorable when she points to them! I'm not a singer but I sing nursery rhymes with her too. And I'll confess that I let her watch (a very limited amount of) TV - she watches mothergoose nursery rhymes, which she adores. We gave her puzzles for Christmas which I hope to start using soon.

Chloe, out of interest sake, Amber only has one and a half teeth and I don't cut her food up into tiny pieces. I do make her vegetables soft but she eats a piece of chicken just fine.
 
Nice hear from (read from) everyone. I've had a busy and stressful December. I tried to respond yesterday but I got side tracked so I'll try again today.

Chloe and scooby. I often feel like I'm not doing enough to stimulate Cait as a sahm. It's hard to do 100 things with her and care for the house, the animals, and cook. At this age most babies don't have a huge attention span and Cait certainly does not. We will play puzzles, color, paint, listen to music, all for just 10 minutes or so before she grabs something else or walks away. I try to talk to her a lot and I hope she picks up on it. I have the tv on sometimes, mostly for myself as I like the house to have a little noise during the day, and she occasionally will watch that but only for a few minutes before she is off to play with her toys. She has some ride on toys I push her around in and I take her outside for walks when it isn't freezing out. I hope that as long as I'm talking to her, showing her things, and getting on the floor to play for a good portion of the day that she is learning from me. I guess only time will tell. Chloe, I too cut Cait's food small. She does pretty well at chewing but I am a nervous-nancy so small food it is. SHe also has 2 teeth not even all of the way through.

kellyc there is no need to be jealous. There are a lot of things Cait doesn't do very well that I think she could do if she just tried. She doesn't drink well from a sippy cup or use a spoon. She still falls quite often when walking. She has a small vocabulary even though lately she has been mimicking a lot. I know that someday, maybe soon, she will try to do all of these things and she will be successful. It''s only a matter of time and they all grow and develop at their own pace. I am easily the biggest worry-wort ever, so i know how you feel. I am sure that Connor will begin doing these things before long and perhaps even different things that none of our snowflakes are doing. Enjoy the peace before he is falling and biting through his tongue or getting a huge bruise on his forehead that people give you dirty looks for.

Cait has had an upset stomach for a few days. I took her to the doctor and they said she is likely just adjusting to whole milk but she is not allergic. She drank a milk based formula, has eaten lots of dairy, and I mixed her milk with formula for a month before giving it to her straight. Apparently it's common for their bellies to adjust and I'm giving it a little more time before I decide whether or not to lay off of the milk or what. She is also teething and has suddenly become a little snuggle bug again. The main issue I'm having is that Cait is so rough. She knocks her toys over and throws them. I'm forever following her around and trying to show her the proper way to play with things. I try to clap when she does something gently, or correctly and I show her what she should do. From my correcting her she has picked up 'no' as one of her new favorite words. When she is angry she often scolds me now with, 'no, no, no, no!' I don't know why she says it so many times as I only ever say 'no' once and then show her what she should have done or just move her away. I know I will eventually regret the day she ever learned the word but for now it's actually kinda cute.

Sigh, you are such a crafty lady! The kitchens are adorable. I would never have the time or the patience. Kudos! Also, my house is teeny tiny, so no room.

I hope everyone is welll!
 
Kelly C, I know others have said it but try not to think about what your baby isn't doing compared to others. Carter does some things waaay before others and still isn't doing things that a lot of babies his age are doing. He walked at 9.5 months but still doesn't wave bye bye or say much. He says go and no but mostly copying us and only really says go in one context which is to the dog because we are always telling the dog to go away from the kitchen. He climbs everything, pulls chairs up and gets onto the table, etc. but just laughs when we say no so he doesn't quite get (or doesn't care) what we are saying. So he's more physical and less verbal I guess.

I feel you ladies on trying to come up with things to do at home. C gets bored so easy. I read to him, sometimes give him a bath just to occupy time although he pretty much always needs it since he doesn't get one too often lately. I do let him play independently a lot because I think it's good for him to learn to entertain himself. I watch Ava 2-3 days a week and I usually let them play together and entertain each other most of the time, and then read or play with toys on the floor if they get bored or into stuff. I wouldn't worry too much though. I've given up that dream of being the super mom teaching her baby sign language and spanish and doing flash cards, etc. Oh, one thing C does love to do is put on Michael Jackson and have a dance party. He loves music and dancing so it's always a fun way to get energy out.

Ist, Carter is rough too. He is very dangerous, climbing scary things and trying to break his neck. I say no but he just laughs and says no back to me. I don't what to do but keep trying and hope one day he gets the idea. I'm sure Cait will understand soon.

Sigh, that's awesome that you want to make the kitchen set. Even if Ellie doesn't know how to "properly" play with it now, she'll still have fun and she'll surely love it when she starts pretending when she plays next year.

Not much going on here...C still working on molars, SUPER swollen and a bit grouchy. Still doesn't sleep well at night. Naps have fallen to crap in the last few weeks too. He usually naps 2 naps a day, one about 45 mins to an hour and the other 2 hours long but lately we are lucky if he naps one nap for 45 mins.

Anyone still breastfeeding? Carter wants to nurse sooo often these last few weeks, it's killing me. He wants it all the time and I'm getting tired of it to be honest, at night especially. I have tried so many times to night wean but it isn't working yet. I want to nurse until 2 but I want to be down to just morning and night and maaaybe nap times. We are far from that right now.
 
Kelly, Camden has been nursing just twice a day(morning and night) since about 11 months. I might have gone longer if I was staying at home with her, but the pumping at work was driving me batty!!

Camden's sleep has been horrible lately. She goes down fine but then wakes up around one and cries. As soon as I pick her up she falls right back to sleep, but by the time I get back to my bed and am almost asleep she wakes up screaming. This cycle continues until I give up and bring her into our bed. I just can't handle being up half the night and then going to work exhausted. I guess we'll work on that once we move.
 
Camden's sleep has been horrible lately. She goes down fine but then wakes up around one and cries. As soon as I pick her up she falls right back to sleep, but by the time I get back to my bed and am almost asleep she wakes up screaming. This cycle continues until I give up and bring her into our bed. I just can't handle being up half the night and then going to work exhausted. I guess we'll work on that once we move.

Scooby this is exactly what I was going through with Amber! I literally became a walking zombie and wanted to cry every time I left for work. Initially I think it was a little bit of teething and a cold that started the waking up but a few nights ago I realised, while lying on the couch with her desperately trying to get some kind of sleep, that it had become a habit. The next night when she woke up I decided I would give her two minutes, if she was still crying after that then I would get up for her. Before it was even close to two minutes and she climbed back down and went back to sleep. This happened a few hours later again. The next night she woke up four times (three of those times within a half hour space) but always went back to sleep before two minutes. The next two nights there were two brief cries but she didn't even stand up and last night she slept through without a peep! It really broke my heart not getting up for her because I really don't want her to think I'm not there for her. But I knew I had to break the habit before it got any worse and last night was the best sleep I've had in over a month so I'm really glad I perservered! I hope you can sort it out soon!
 
Scooby and bean, unfortunately, I feel your pain on the sleep issues. I normally have the perfect sleeping baby but since she's been teething and transitioning to milk she's been waking a lot more. Last night she woke me 4 times screaming at the top of her lungs. The first time she woke I had a hard time settling her, but every time after that I just picked her up and she stopped. I feel like we're reverting back to when we first moved her to the crib! I hope it's just a phase and it doesn't last long because I am exhausted and really, so is she.

I hope everyone is well!
 
Scooby, I did something similar to Bean when G woke up a few times in the night. The first night i brought her in my bed, and it was awful. How does anyone sleep with a toddler in their bed??? The second night i just watched her on my new video monitor (best investment ever!), and saw that she was clearly still tired, standing up, laying down, rubbing her head on the mattress, so i felt better just leaving her in there knowing she wasn't wide awake or in pain. Do you have a video monitor? I bought mine for $100 and i think it is so worth it now that G is so active. I didn't see the point when she couldn't stand up, and would just lay there and cry. An audio only was fine for me then.

I still BF morning and night, and on the weekends, I do before nap time, although tbh, i don't know how much gabby could possibly be getting from me during nap time. She doesn't really show much interest in breast feeding during the day, but its sometimes easier.

IST, I hope cait's tummy is better! And i feel you on the "no no no" thing. I get something very similar from G, and I blame DH for repeating it back to her and laughing when she first started doing it. but it is so cute.... I too will say no, and move her away from whatever it is she is getting into. She knows she shouldnt push the buttons on our receiver, because she will go up to it, look right at me, and slowly move her fingers towards it, just waiting for the 'no'. its like a game. ugh!

Big milestone here is that Gabby is officially off the bottle at daycare! Sippy's only for milk now. If DH or my parents have to put her to sleep, they will still use a bottle at night, but she drinks all of her daytime milk from sippys now! I am very excited.

Should I be worried that only one of gabby's top front teeth has come in, but her 3rd bottom tooth is already half in? Aren't the 2 top ones supposed to come in together, or at least before any more bottom ones?
 
Hugs to all those with sleep issues. Like I said, I'm with you. Not much has changed in the way of sleep since Carter was born to be honest so consider yourselves lucky I guess. I still have a newborn. He does about 3-4 hour stretch for the first bit and after that, by around 10 pm, he's up countless times. I too have been bringing him into my bed lately. It sometimes helps, if my dh is sleeping downstairs and we have room, but sometimes I get worse sleep as he kicks me all night.

Chloe, I'm happy for you that G is doing well on the sippy at daycare. As for the teeth, Carter's are coming in out of order too. I asked his ped and she said she sees teeth come in all sorts of orders and that there is nothing wrong with it. He got his bottom three teeth first, then top two, then another top two next to his front and still no bottom fourth and molars are about to burst through (hopefully soon!). Our babies just want to be different! lol Oh and I should add that the girl I watch who is ten months old has three bottom teeth and no top so I guess hers are out of order too.

Lately Carter is obsessed with belly buttons. He goes around trying to lift everyone's shirt to look at their belly button! It's so funny! It all started from this book his grandma gave him called "The Belly Button Book" by one of our favorite authors Sandra Boynton. We showed him his belly b and now he has a real obsession. lol What funny things are your babies obsessed with now?
 
Bean - I like the idea of the two minute rule. I have been trying to wait to see if Camden will fall back to sleep on her own as long as she's not screaming her head off and standing up, but I haven't ever really put a time on it.I hate hearing her cry, but I think I could tough it out for two minutes just to see what happens.

Chloe - I do have a video monitor, and love it! It is very convenient to see what's going on rather than just hear. Sometimes Camden well really be fussing and I'll be ready to go get her, but then when I look she's still laying down and then falls asleep a short time later. Congrats on graduating to the sippy! I plan on making the official transition after we move next weekend. I may not even unpack the bottles just to make it that much harder to be lazy and go back to them.

Kelly- so funny that Carter likes belly buttons! Camden is obsessed with Elmo. She had several stuffed Elmos and gets so excited when she sees them!
 
Hi ladies Sorry I've been mia. My two year old was admitted into the hospital with severe anemia she ended up having a blood transfusion. We got released last night but still have a long journey ahead of us.. We don't know if she'll end up having another one or not... and I'm still breastfeeding it was hard being away from here with the verdigrising but hospital supplied me with a pump Thank God..
 
Wow, you're right, it has been quiet! I hope your 2 yr old is on the mend! That is scary. What do you have to do for her recovery?

I feel like now the milestones have slowed down. I'm not sure what to expect Gabby to do anymore except for figuring out more words. She is getting excellent at repeating sounds. I say "Brrrr, cold' and she says "brr", and i say "down", she says "dooowwww". Its so cute! She is still trying to use utensils when she eats (but fails), she has completely transitioned away from the bottle except for bed time when I can't BF.

Does anyone have a reversible crib mattress? I have one that says infant and toddler. G is still on the infant side. Any idea when to switch? And do you give your LO blankets in the crib yet? We still use sleep sacks, but mostly because G tosses and turns so much, I feel like a blanket would be useless.
 
Wow, you're right, it has been quiet! I hope your 2 yr old is on the mend! That is scary. What do you have to do for her recovery?

I feel like now the milestones have slowed down. I'm not sure what to expect Gabby to do anymore except for figuring out more words. She is getting excellent at repeating sounds. I say "Brrrr, cold' and she says "brr", and i say "down", she says "dooowwww". Its so cute! She is still trying to use utensils when she eats (but fails), she has completely transitioned away from the bottle except for bed time when I can't BF.

Does anyone have a reversible crib mattress? I have one that says infant and toddler. G is still on the infant side. Any idea when to switch? And do you give your LO blankets in the crib yet? We still use sleep sacks, but mostly because G tosses and turns so much, I feel like a blanket would be useless.

I hope everyone with sleep issues has been seeing improvements!

Ugh, stupid computer glitch posted this twice. Sorry!
 
bbygrl I hope your LO is better since you've posted! The poor little thing! What caused the anemia? Is she a poor eater? I often worry whether Cait is getting enough iron, etc, because she isn't always a great eater.

It has been kinda quiet in this thread but I'd imagine it's because we're all so busy chasing our toddlers! It's unbelieveable that they are already toddlers because I feel as though they were all just born!

It's been hectic here for me. Cait is walking like a pro and getting really fast. She also as stubborn as ever but she seems to be playing more nicely with her toys (less rough). Occasionally I feel like her stubbornness and fits are due to boredom so I've been trying to keep her busy which in turn makes me really busy. She is still having some tummy troubles and it makes me think it's not actually the milk but a stomach bug or something. I've had a heck of a time keeping her hydrated and getting her to eat some days but she seems to be on the mend. Hopefully, for good this time. She is repeating a lot of things lately and starting to use more in context. Her sleep has been hit or miss since the tummy troubles. She is still refusing to use her sippy cup for more than a few sips and still not using a spoon properly. All in good time, I suppose. I'm as worried and stressed as ever just because that's me.

I hope everyone is well!
 
Bbygurl sorry about your DD1! That must have been so scary. I hope she is on the mend now.

Chloe we don't have a reversible mattress so can't help there. Although if it were me I'd turn it now. As for blankets, we've actually used them from birth. I didn't much about sleeping bags in the beginning (and it was almost summer by the time Amber reached the weight requirement for one!) and she was a tummy sleeper who hated being swaddled so I had to do something!! Now she sleeps in a sleeping bag but I still put blankets on her because its pretty cold. I'm planning to buy a duvet/comforter for her soon. Apparently once they can sit up its no problem for them to have blankets. I do agree that Amber moves so much that blankets alone would be useless but it makes me feel better that they are there!

IST sorry Cait has been suffering tummy troubles. Not much fun! I know its hard not to but don't stress about the sippy cup and spoon thing. Amber will sometimes drink well from a sippy cup or straw cup and other times she takes a mouthful and spits it back! And if I put milk in it then she doesn't really drink well so she still has bottles for milk! And as for a spoon, if I load it and give it to her she's fine but she's nowhere near putting something on a spoon herself! She's still lifting up the bowl and waving it everywhere!! Today I finally found a bowl with a suction thing on it so hoping this helps!

Otherwise things are going fairly well here. I'm on holiday and its so nice to spend time with Amber again. We went away for a few days which was nice. Bit tiring because she doesn't sleep well when sharing a room with us but anyway... I'm pretty sure she's teething her top teeth now. Very grumpy, crying in sleep and runny nose. She's not keen for me to touch her gums either. She has a modelling shoot tomorrow so I'm really hoping she's not difficult when we get there!
 
Chloe we have also used blankets since birth. When Cait wore her harness she couldn't wear pajamas and the only sleepsack I could get to fit her with the harness on was way too big around the chest area and I was uncomfortable with that. When she went out of the harness and began rolling and crawling more I stopped blanket use for a while but it quickly got cold and so I give her an Aden and Anais muslin cloth blanket to sleep with. It's thin and she can breath through it if she puts it on her face. I've been noticing she doesn't cover her face as much so it might be time for a thicker blanket. As for the mattress I would turn it now. It couldn't hurt and they are officially toddlers now that they are walking.

Bean I hope that Amber has a great photo shoot and the teething doesn't affect her mood much.

I hope everyone is well!
 
Ty u all. She not anaemic due to iron her bone marrow was not producing any new red blood cells. Her hemoglobin is on it's way up. It's a 7.88 now should b a 12 or 13 for her age. But now she is running a fever again so not on the mend yet. And angel is sick too it's all hitting at once.
 
Bbygurl, sorry to hear of the health troubles with your LO, how scary!

For those asking about blankets, I've been using them since Camden was around 11 months, and that was on top of her sleeps sack. Her room in our old house was freezing cold. Now that we've moved her new room is super hot so she just wears jammies and I'll put a blanket over her if the room feels chilly by the time I go to bed. As for the two sided mattress, we have one. We also have a convertible crib, so I figured I would turn it to the toddler side when we convert to the toddler bed. She will sometimes sleep face down on the mattress so I'm not really comfortable switching to the softer side yet.

So we got moved into the new house over the weekend, although we're not nearly done unpacking yet. It's so much work! Plus I was sick as a dog yesterday and got nothing done, and today I drove back to Charlotte for Camden's one year appointment and also visited with some friends so I didn't get any work done today either. Her visit went well, although she hasn't really gained any weight in the past several months. She's 19 lbs 11oz. I don't think she'll ever be 20 pounds! Her doctor wasn't concerned, so I guess I'm not either. She's not walking yet, but cruises 1 handed, so I think we're getting closer. She has 4 teeth now, and two more are coming in on the top.I've been doing a horrible job remembering to brush her teeth, but I think I'm going to try to make a loose schedule for our days so that things like that won't get missed.
 
Hi ladies :hi:

Quick update from me... I think I may be expecting baby no3! lol! I got a + ic a couple of days ago but negatives on a FRER and superdrug own brand test. Took a SD & FRER this morning just to check, and both have very faint lines :argh: a lot earlier than we expected, but a blessing nontheless!
 

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