--Lion Cubs - Mummy and Baby Group!-- We are all One Year Old!

[joeyjo]

Ooo good one Boothh, thanks - now I just have to hope her name isn't as simple as mine She's a few too many doors down to accost the postman; which is what I had thought of doing!
For what its worth we had a lovely afternoon - be nice to have such a local friend

 

[ShadowRat]

LOL Joey, I can't add much to the good advice the others have given. If you're nervous that she might have a really easy-to-spell name and you'll look like an idiot asking how to spell it, you could ask her to jot it down for you. You could say something like "Oooh, shall we swap mobile numbers? Could you jot yours down for me? Just pop your name on there so I don't forget what the number is when I find it in my pocket later!" Sounds good to have a nice local friend who has recently been through the whole baby thing, hope the friendship blossoms! Hehehe and Hamish is a cute name, isn't it?

Jelr- ROFL @ Natasha's raspberries game! Vincent does it too, and I am EXCATLY the same as you, I have to look away to have a good old giggle!!! The other day, he was making this horrible noise and it was really getting to me so I met his eyes and said "Do you mind? That is a horrible noise! Stop it!" and he gave me the most massive grin!!!! I had to bite my tongue to keep from cracking up, I can tell it is going to be VERY difficult to tell him off when he is bigger! Sounds like Natasha is taking just what she needs from her milk, the guidelines are just that and you can't apply them strictly to every single baby. Like your mum (I think?) said, she is just not a big milk drinker, and it sounds as though she will really thrive on solids as you wean her more. Like you say, soon enough she can have the more concentrated follow-on milk if you want to move her onto that. Although Vincent will drink and drink very happily, I tend to limit what he has because if we give him more than 7oz in one go his reflux is terrible and it comes shooting back out of him. So I, too, am looking forward to being able to give him less volume of milk with more concentrated nutrients. Good job on the weaning cubes etc! Sounds ace!
Oh also jelr, Vince is not really rolling at all lately either, but I'm not worried It will all come together in his own good time. I know that many of the girls on here will say that their babies did lots overnight, so I look forward to that night some time soon!

tmr, I've never ordered anything from Very, but had a look at their website the other day. Doesn't sound like they are worth the effort! I hate it when you have it in your head that something is ordered and you dont have to worry about it, and then they go and cancel it or mess you about with delivery. Kiddicare and Ikea sound like much safer bets!!

Well girls, thanks so much for your birthday wishes! For the most part, I had a lovely day. It was only slightly ruined in the middle because I was brooding about the situation with OH's daughter and her mother. Heh, I just typed out a massive paragraph about it, but deleted it because it's really not worth dwellingon so much, and it certainly isn't the sort of thing we want to be chatting about in our lovely group here!

But on a positive note, the highlight of my birthday was Water Babies with Vince: It was our second week and we both enjoyed it far more than the first session. The first one was good, don't get me wrong, but I felt like it was very slow going and gentle (perfect for tiny newborns, but I had been used to doing a wee bit more with Vince in the water). This week was just so much fun, they're building week-by-week on what we've done before, and yesterday Vince went underwater 3 times! The trainer lady used him as an example for the others "because he's nice and hardy"! He seemed to love it so so much, and I enjoyed it a bit more because of that. He was beaming away loads, and even getting really vocal nearer the end (doing his new "talking" thing- "Rarara baba maaaamama..." hehehe). We also had a bit more of a chat with another mum (didn't get her name, but will ask next week!) who has a 5-month old called Molly. Molly is even chubbier than Vince, though not quite as tall, but she is blonde and blue-eyed and very cute indeed! We're joking that Vince has a thing for blondes hehe...

But all in all, a lovely time, and I look forward to next week, and the week after, and the week after... Hehehe. Would highly recommend it so far!

We're off out for a meal this evening for my birthday treat (couldn't go yesterday because of Water Babies) so am looking forward to a nice fat steak, I think!! And then I REALLY should start trying to shift some of this extra weight... Have been terrible lately!!

xxxx

 

[MollyApple]

Lol @ Joeyjo - I've been in that scenario so many times and just wait until it finally comes out in conversation or someone else says it. Is her son talking? Maybe you could ask him what daddy calls her!

TMR - so sorry to hear about the fiasco you're having with wardrobe, so very very irritating for you. Deep breaths honey, new one will soon be up! You've put me off using Very though now!

Jelr - aww, I hope your last few fulltime weeks with Natasha are very enjoyable. Interesting that your amber necklace may well be helping. It gives pain relief doesn't it? JP gets bad tummyaches too, I wonder if it will help with those. Where did you get yours?

AFU - Today I came closest to losing my rag than ever. I had to take JP for her vaccines, we're really overdue for various reasons so I was dreading going to get them and being scolded for being bad mum. Also my GP only do them on Fridays between 10 and 12 and we're going away for a fortnight next week so I had to get her in today.

Cue huge paddy fits, inconsolable sobbing, limb thrashing from JP - she's like a cat who knows you're going to the vets. Feeding no help, nappy fine, she just wanted to be held. Everytime I tried to put her down to get on shoes, coat, mitts etc she screamed. Sitting on my lap no help either. And I was so stressed that we were going to miss our chance and about getting told off that I found myself biting my tongue to stop myself shouting at her whilst wanting to throw her out the window! I felt a lot better by the time we got to the surgery although we only just made it in time thanks to little miss' temper tantrums!

I'm hoping it was down to the constipation she's had finally getting on the move. I've been giving her gripe water mixed into cooled, boiled water and it seems to do the trick. A few minutes after getting home she had a massive clear out that resulted in a bath and new outfit!

Also we had a phone call from the mental health team. I was referred by my HV at 3 weeks because she was worried I was at risk of PND due to stress. I followed it up around 7 weeks as I'd heard nothing and was told they'd be in touch - yesterday they left a message on my phone saying they'll call me on Monday! Good job I didn't have PND if it takes 18 weeks to get MH care here!

Need a happy note to finish on... I know... JP has a new bling bling tiny stroller so I don't have to take the Graco monster out to lunch now and momma's got a toaster - a Tefal toast'n'egg which cooks your egg(s) at the same time as your toast. Bacon and eggs for a late lunch methinks! :-D

 

[MollyApple]

:wave: Hi Shadow, you posted while I was typing!



6pm Update: sorry for the double post but after the critical post about JP earlier I felt I ought to sing her praises as she's been calmly lying next to me for the last hour, playing with her lion toy, throwing me cute smiles whenever I look at her. From demon to angel in a day!

Also earlier she was lying across my lap snooozing, woke up and pushed her self upright! Then immediately collapsed She almost got it a second time too

 

[ShadowRat]

:wave: Hey MA Sounds like a tricky day for both of you!!! Well done Mrs, you're a star keeping your cool with her. Horray for new toaster/egger (??) and new buggy!! And super-horray for JP pulling herself upright!! Do you mean into a sitting position? That's awesome! Not long now and she'll be sitting upherself without flopping over hehehe...

Just off out for our meal soon, but Shiv mentioned doing more chats again like we used to and I thought it was an ace idea, anyone fancy setting up a chat-date some time and popping into the chat room on here like we did in August Mummies' Club?

xxx

 

[joeyjo]

i've never been in the chatroom.... infact i've never been in any chatroom!!!
i'm a bit scared of them, don't know why!!

 

[MollyApple]

Thanks Shadow, it was very testing this morning, hopefully won't have too many days like that! Egger - I likes it Yep, JP pushed up into sitting position for about half a second lol! She's also taken to hanging off my clothing, she grabs on with both hands making it very tricky to put her down but lets her pull herself up, cheeky monkey!

As for chat, I never did any on the AM club and I'd prob forget but if I actually remembered I'd be up for that x

 

[Boothh]

im up for a chatdate even though i never participated in august mummies xx

 

[Mary Jo]

ooooh, chat... I remember those chats! definitely up for it, we should set a date and take over a room like we used to.

 

[cleckner04]

Shadow- They are talking about mooncups in natural parenting under the eco living thread. I LOL at just the word mooncup. It's been forever since we had the giggles about that. haha. It's strange how fast time goes by.

 

[ShadowRat]

Hehehe OK, well maybe some time next week we could make a chat date, what is a good sort of time for everyone's routines? For me, Vincent is in bed by 7:30pm ish and we've been having our dinner then, but 8pm ish would be good! Cleck, I think that's 2pm in Indiana, am I right? Any good for anyone? It was always such a laugh when we used to have chats, it'd be nice to try it again

Jo, it's not scary at all We just tended to babble on about crazy nonsense back in the pregnancy days! Of course, it might be trickier now as some of us might have to keep popping away to sort babies etc, but I think it'd be a laugh and definitely worth another go, eh??

We had such a nice meal last night, and I drank more red wine that I have in a very long time! It was good fun, and I had the most AMAZING rare steak with blue cheese sauce, I am drooling just remembering it now!!

I've decided that that was my last "blowout" meal for a while, and today we are going to go food shopping to get some super healthy and low-fat stuff for this week's cooking. I have also decided to try to cook meals that I can mash for Vince, so that he is eating the same as us. I've wanted to cook for him for a while, and now he is really good at eating solids with some lumps I would like to give him some exciting new flavours to try. So I've looked up a bunch of baby-friendly recipes, and this week we will be having:

Salmon with asparagus and new potatoes with a cheese sauce
Turkey korma with rice
Italian pork with pasta (creamy tomato sauce with spinach and stuff)
Jacket potato with cottage cheese and tuna
Spaghetti bolognese
Tuna pasta in a tomato sauce

I'm making it all from scratch using no extra salt or anything, with baby stock cubes and all fresh ingredients. We like to plan our weekly meals anyway, and this will be nice and healthy and I'll know exactly what's gone ito everything so I'll know it'll all be fine for Vincent too I'm also going to get some melon and bananas and give him nice chunks of it to play with after his meal or between meals during the day, we may try him in the high chair again to see whether he seems ready for that yet. I'm quite excited, I hope he likes my cooking!!

And another thing I fancied sharing with you guys is our feeding/sleeping routine these days. It'd be great to see some of yours to compare! This is how our days mostly go:

Vincent’s Routine: 6 Months

7:00 - 7:30 - Wake; 7oz bottle feed.
9:30 - 10:00 - Breakfast jar; down for nap.
11:30 - 12:00 - Wake, play.
12:00 - 12:30 - 7oz bottle feed.
1:00 - 1:30 - Down for nap.
2:00 - 2:30 - Wake, play.
2:30 - 3:00 - 4oz bottle (if he wants it-if we go out he often skips it entirely)
4:00 - 4:30 - Dinner (solids)
5:00 - 6:00 - Nap (sometimes, for about half an hour)
6:30 - 7:00 - Bath (about twice a week)
7:00 - 7:30 - 7oz bottle feed, bed.

Total nap time: 3 ½ hours
Total daily milk: 25oz
Total solid meals: 2

How does it compare to some of you guys? It'd be fascinating to see how differently we all do things! x x x x x

 

[Boothh]

shadow weve done this too! i made cornedbeef hash the other day and mashed some up for jesse he spat all the lumps out though haha they were all over his chin lmao,

 

[joeyjo]

Hey, G's routine is fairly minimal but goes sort of like this:

8-8:30: wake up, nappy, BF kick on playmat. If we're staying in I'll offer some fruit/toast/yoghurt etc for brekkie about an hour or so after BF.

nap usually about 40min sometimes an hour anytime between 10 & 12

12ish BF

I have lunch between 1 & 2 and offer him some

Between 12 & 6 he will have 1 or sometimes 2 BFs and I usually although not always get a 2nd nap out of him (only 20min or so)

Eve meal for us about 6/6:30 and he tends to eat the best at this meal; again just has some of what we are having.

After food we have quiet play/cuddles or a bath depending on how messy he is, then story, hairdryer, very short massage (more of a rub in of cream/oil) then BF and bed, usually in bed by 7:15-7:30

Overnight he sometimes sleeps thru but more often at the mo he wnts a BF about 11pm

 

[ShadowRat]

LOL Boothh, it's all god fun eh?! Hehehe...

Joey, sounds like a lovely routine, and it seems like George will be fitting in with eating with you guys soon enough! It's nice to include him in your meals etc That's what I'm aiming for with Vince xx

 

[Boothh]

jesses routine is generally,
9/10 am wakes up, change and bottle,
he normally has breakfast around half an hour after his bottle, he normally has porridge or Hipp organic fruit purees with cereal, he has it pretty thick cus i thicken with baby rice, and i usually give him some toast or a baby biscuit which he will eat bits of,
about 1pm he has 9oz of milk, and normally falls asleep after it, for an hour or so,
2pm he has about half of a jar of baby food, and bits from me, piece of tomato/cucumber/apple etc, and normally a yoghurt or a dessert type thing,
5pm 9oz bottle, and savoury jar he normally eats half but i am trying to up this now,
8pm he has his bath, rusk mixed with milk and the remaining 9oz bottle, he is normally in bed between 8 and 8.30pm, it is prone to change though but im pretty flexable with him just let him eat when hes hungry and sleep when hes tired, i normally know what he wants so its not too much trouble to change it, the main thing we stick to inhis routine is bedtime and hes never had a problem going to bed, he knows when he goes in his cot and its dark that its time to sleep, its really working for us touch wood! x

 

[cleckner04]

Emma has never had a routine really because we aren't on solids or anything so she doesn't eat at specific times yet. Just feeds on demand. She has a very loose routine because I'm out and about just about every day since being home which could be why she's having sleep issues suddenly. But anyways, she typically takes a nap around 12 or 1 in the afternoon. Than around 6 or 7 at night she always wants another catnap. Than bedtime used to be at 8 but since moving, it's all messed up. So here in the next few weeks I want to start slowly getting her back on our old routine of bath at 8 than rubdown with lotion/singing songs to her, than bed. We will see how that works. And I'm doing BLW so she'll just eat when I eat once six months hits. So I'll start trying to eat at the same time every day to get a routine going with that as well. It's so hard to do when I'm at one house one day, another house another day visiting, etc. But I know I need to start getting a bit more strict about it because Emma is starting to be so unsettled at night and I'm SERIOUSLY lacking in sleep right now. I've had maybe 6 hours of sleep in the past two days and nights. Thats including a nap I snuck in yesterday during her noon nap. With Corey gone, it's not helping matters because I get no breaks at all now. Before I could hand her off for a bit to regroup when he'd get home from work. I give tons of credit to single mommies because it's tough work. And I refuse to let anyone babysit. I haven't been away from emma for more than half an hour(still in the same house) since she was born.

 

[cleckner04]

Started reading my BLW book today!! I can't believe how fast the time is flying. So far the book is really good. Highly recommend it to those of you considering BLW. Even those of you that aren't it's probably a good read for ya.

 

[Mary Jo]

cleck, I got the BLW book yesterday and am reading it now, too. not far in but it's really interesting. have also read some interesting articles that someone posted in the weaning forum.

highchair also arrived yesterday and I was out this morning and when I got back, C had assembled it! am planning on letting AE sit in it for a while each day, pulled up to the table (there is no tray on it, it's really just a high chair) with things to look and and touch on the table, then sit up myself to eat during the day and C when he is home, and see how he responds. I'll have some baby friendly foods of my own so we'll see if he is interested. from what I have read when he is ready he WILL be interested. I want him to be happy playing in the seat before there is an edible plaything involved though.

 

[spidey]

Shadow- good idea to share schedules. I'm always curious of what others do because it feels like I have no clue if I'm doing things right!

Everyday is different but here is a typical schedule for when I'm home with Kira all day:

8:00 wake up, dressed, watch mobile in the crib she doesn't use (LOL) as I tidy up the bedroom.
9:00 mommy breakfast and BF
9:00-10:00 watch mommy do some chores around the house
10-11 nap
12:00 BF
12- 2:30 play, go for short walk outside (a short 30 minute nap sometime in here)
2:30-5:00 nap with a BF in the middle
5:00 daddy comes home and takes over! play time, watch mommy cook dinner
6:00 BF
6:00-8:00 passed between mommy and daddy for play time
8:00 baby bath time, pj's and bed by 8:20 (go to sleep with tired mommy, plus a BF)
9:30 BF and wiggle in bed for 30 minutes to wake tired mommy up (new bad habit!)
2:00 BF
5:00 BF
5:30 BF snack (I sneak out of bed and leave for work if its a work day)
7:00- 8:00 baby wake up

Kira also snacks throughout the day on the breast, but she seems to have big feeds every 3 hours now.


Cleckner- Kira has been really unsettled at night the past 3-4 weeks too. She use to stay asleep so good but now she's waking up about 1 hour after we go to bed and often will be so awake that I give up on trying to get her to sleep and get up and watch tv like a zombie until she's tired again- then she requires bouncing to fall back asleep (instead of boob). So I haven't been getting to sleep until midnight many nights. I was so tired these last 2 nights that when she did her wake up, I was so passed out that I slept thru most of the fussing and she was laying right next to me! I have tried everything and can't figure out why she's so unsettled now. Let us know if staying home and being more scheduled during the day helps Emma sleep better. I'm so desperate I'll try anything at this point!!

 

[Pippin]

Hey ladies,

Interesting reading your routines, have to say I'm with Cleckner we have no routine and still not on solids as he doesn't seem interested yet just likes the boob still. I'm reading the blw book too makes a lot of sense and Samuel fits in the category of just not ready yet. He uses his mouth to explore rather than eat still so not going to force it. Tried parsnip last night and he gagged so just milk for now.

Glad so many of you are up for another meet soon everyone happy for me to suggest a few dates????

Bothh it was me who has a city supporter as a husband (more fool me!) so definitely we'll arrange something in Manchester next time we go Really nice secluded seating areas at the City Inn which is where we normally stay. During the day it's quiet and they do nice food. I could ask if babies are welcome.