march lambs 2010 come on ladies

[Seity]

vegas - That must have been quite a sight with all that food in her face at once. The only time I wish we had a dog is when I'm trying to feed Gabriel. Especially because he gags and then pukes on anything that doesn't turn to complete mush in his mouth. A dog would clean up the food and baby puke.
lynn - Oh no, I hope EJ feels better soon.
Gabriel wouldn't nap at all yesterday. I got home from work at 6pm and he was taking his first nap of the day on OH's shoulder. Transferred him to my shoulder and he slept another 30 minutes. He gets up for the day at 6:30, so that means he went 11 hours without a nap. His non existent teeth must be bothering him more because after his bedtime bottle he was fussy and trying to gnaw on the arm of the rocking chair. I had to give him the pacifier and do the miracle head jiggle, but he finally fell asleep at 9pm. He woke around 11 and I knew he wasn't really hungry after only 2 hours, so I just gave him a quick session on the breast to calm him down before giving him the pacifier again. He slept until 6:30!!! I couldn't believe it. That's the best sleep he's ever had.

 

[Emskins]

Wren goes to bed at about 6.30 which is quite ear;y but that is how she wants it! Shame seh still sleeps awful through the night! I hoped feeding her up in the day would help but not really! I give her 4 meals a day now too, she isn;t the biggest eater although she seems to be packing it away a bit more the last day or so.

I actually went out for dinner with a friend last night after Wren was in bed, I was out for almost 3 hours and it was wonderful, I got home with about 20 mins to spare before she needed her first feed. It seems she sleeps best in the early part of the evening and after that first feed around 10/11 it is every 1-2 hrs maybe if we are lucky 3 hrs that she wakes.

We don't have a dog but our cat is doing a pretty impressive job of cleaning the floor under Wren's hight chair. She is a good cat!

 

[Emskins]

Oh and Wren is 7 months today!! How times flies!! I took her to the zoo which she seemed to enjoy

 

[Seity]

Happy 7 months Wren.
We have 3 cats, but they only sniff the food around the high chair and then give me a look that pretty much say, "What, no meat?"
Gabriel's first block of sleep was always his best (4-5 hours) and then he'd wake every 2 hours after that. It's only recently that he's started to do a longer second block, but I've noticed his first block of sleep has gotten shorter.

 

[Emskins]

yeah, Wrens first block of sleep used to be about 5-6hrs now we are lucky if it is 2! OH can settle her back again quickly when she wakes before her feed at 10/11 and then she will sleep again until 10 or 11, so not good really but at least I dont have to feed her from 6.30is until 10/11

 

[lynnikins]

happy 7 months to wren, crazy how fast its all gone
Elliott seems to be wanting to master the camando crawl this weekend hes going hell for leather on the floor right now,
time to put him down for a nap though and get Nate up,
Homemade pizza for dinner tonight and DH finishes in 10 min so should be home soon to help and him and Nate can cook while i get a in and EJ naps till 6 then its feed feed feed till we are all fed and happy till 8pm and then boys in bed and loads of organizing to do tonight and over the weekend to get the flat ready for scott and char returning ( its their flat lol ) then tonight is the last night we have the option of sleeping in a seperate room to the boys till we get to my parents place in Australia so i imagine there wotn be much sleeping happening

EJ hasnt been to o bad this afternoon alot better than yesterday but the poor thing has red eyes and a red nose that is running everywhere poor thing, anyway must dash and stop browsing nappys

 

[CocoaOne]

Lyn - glad to hear EJ is a little better.

Seity - I wish we had a dog to clear up M's mess too! We're looking after OH's parents dog again next week (groan) so I guess I'll get my wish for one week! This should be the last time we dog-sit, the dog barks and gets arsey at OH's nephew so we think she'll be the same with M once she starts trying to crawl after her. The dog is a really sweet natured thing, but has lost an eye and is getting old and crabby, we don't want to risk it.

Happy 7 months Wren!
M's best sleep is usually the beginning of the night. I think we're coming out of the growth spurt now as last night she only woke twice and only one was for a feed.

 

[vegasbaby]

GL: Have fun at dinner and fingers crossed for another good night's sleep.

Lynn: Sorry that EJ isn't feeling well, but judging by your post you seem to be in a great mood. Have fun tonight.

Seity: What is the miracle head jiggle? Is this something I need to learn to do? Great job to Gabriel on the sleep! As far as the dogs go they would lick up the puke too if I let them. I have to be quick with a rag before they get to the gross stuff. The dogs lick us (and Charlotte on the face) so there are some things I won't let them clean up.

Em: Happy seven months to Wren. I bet she did love the zoo. So much to see!

 

[Seity]

Seity: What is the miracle head jiggle?

In the hospital after the birth, they had a bunch of videos I could watch. One of them was called "The happiest baby on the block" or something similar and it had this guy who could calm down even a screaming baby in seconds - I call him the baby whisperer. Part of what he did was jiggle the baby's head. He'd lie the baby sideways with the head in his hand and waggle his wrist slightly and it was like he hit an off switch and you see the baby go from crying to calm to asleep in seconds. If you're doing it correctly the babies head jiggles kind of like one of those bobble head things. I can't do it with my hand, but if I cradle hold him with his neck at the 'V' of my elbow, I can gently wiggle my elbow up and down and it gets Gabriel's head to jiggle in the right way. I combine it with a pacifier and "Shhhhh" in the ear and I can get Gabriel to sleep even at his worst, but nowhere near as fast as that guy could do it. You can also add swaddling to the process if your baby likes that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6KnVPUdEgQ - shows the whole process, but at about 4.5 min in you can see the jiggle.

 

[hivechild]

Hive: Love that hat! Ronan looks like he loves the hat too. Such a happy boy. Hope you enjoy your new Kindle. Does the new Kindle do something that the old one does not or is it just smaller and lighter? I have a Sony Reader, but am thinking maybe I want an iPad since it does the same thing and more. As if I need more electronic stuff! Congrats on the tooth too. I am so jealous as Charlotte is now the oldest toothless baby.

It's lighter, smaller, brighter screen, longer battery life (1 month between charges with wifi off), has international 3G & wifi capability. Those are just a few things that come to mind straight off. I didn't think there'd be much of a difference, but I'm actually really liking it.

If I wanted an e-reader, I definitely wouldn't get an iPad. The screen is just like a computer screen which means dreadful eye strain trying to read for long periods of time. I just can't read for long on my computer. Also, I never, ever buy a first generation anything from Apple! They usually don't hit their stride until 3rd generation and onward. I would definitely recommend the Kindle (for a significantly cheaper price) over the iPad purely on an e-reader comparison basis.

Also, cute pic of Charlotte with the cheerleaders, and don't be jealous of having no teeth because it's awful when it's cutting through and they're in so much pain and discomfort!

it is a lush hat but im not so much an orange fan lol, would look fab in green i think

It had to be orange! It's Jayne's hat from Firefly. Anything else would be sacrilege!

Sorry to hear EJ's not feeling well. Hopefully it's nothing serious and passes as quickly as it came.

Seity - that head jiggle video is just freaky. I could have used that little trick a time or twenty when the monkey was a wee screamy baby.

Emskins - Ronan has gone through phases of sleep like that, and I always end up kicking myself for not going to bed earlier, but then if I'd gone to bed at 8 and he hadn't woken up, I would have woken at 2am and been wide awake until morning and then feeling dead tired for the rest of the day. You just can't win!

GL - I can definitely sympathise with the way you've been feeling, and especially when everyone else around you seems to be in their happy little routines, but let's face it...most people paint a much brighter and happier picture than the reality of it and most people don't skate through their LO's first year or two without their fair share of upsets and hardships. Not to mention that all too often you get a bunch of mothers together and the one-upmanship rears its ugly head so things probably aren't as perfect as they all make it out to be.

Ronan's been through some really fussy times with breastfeeding. I never thought that there would be anything more wearing and frustrating than a growth spurt where all he wanted to do was feed, but ironically when he does the exact opposite, it's just as bad! I've had to take a deep breath, relax and remind myself that it's all normal, he is getting what he needs and that ultimately, 'this too shall pass,' and it has!

We've been through growth spurts and cluster feeding, constant night wakings where nothing but nursing will satisfy him, and then we've been through nursing strikes, disinterest, distraction, snacking etc. but here we are at almost 8 months. I originally thought I would be happy to make it to 1 year, but now that I'm this close already, I am really hoping that we can keep on going from there.

Now that he's eating real food, he's sitting himself up, crawling and pulling himself to stand. Everything in the big wide world has his attention most of the day, so I'll take those precious few minutes when he takes a time out to come for a cuddle and a feed for as long as I can get them!

CocoaOne - I wish I could say the fighting nappy changes gets better and is just a phase, but for us at least it's turned into a contortionist gymnastics act just to get him changed and dressed when he used to absolutely love hanging out on his changing pad and getting his bum changed! Half the time I am chasing him as he crawls off, trying to drag him back or hold him still for a few seconds to get one side of his nappy done up before he flips around and is off again and I'm chasing him down to get the other side done up before he can pee on the carpet!

Kel - Can't wait to see those pics. That cable better get here fast!

Phew, sorry if there's anyone I missed. My brain is fried and I'm staring down a mountain of laundry that is refusing to fold, iron and put itself away. Hrmph!

 

[CocoaOne]

Seity - I've seen that before somewhere, on the TV prehaps? Is it the 5 s's - swaddle, sway, shhhhh and some other things? I always wondered if it actually worked, I half heartedly tried with M once but the shhhhing just makes her cry louder!

M seems to have a bit of a chesty cough She kept waking up after we put her to bed and crying lots, I put it down to tiredness because she was awake for 4hrs yesterday before bed, but then I heard her cough a couple of times and it woke her up. Bought her in with us and kept her head elevated on my arm. Poor little monkey. It's not too bad at the mo, I'm hoping it doesn't get worse.

On a happier note : I've nearly finished the Mei Tai so I'll try and post pics when I try her in it later.

 

[CocoaOne]

]'Tis finished!

 

[vegasbaby]

Seity: Thanks for the video. I had read articles about "Happiest Baby on the Block" and even practiced the four (or is it five) S's. For us they worked quite well (most of the time), but I had never seen or heard about the jiggle. Will have to try that with the next one (if I have another). Also, that baby in the demo was so good. Charlotte was never that good at such a young age unless she was asleep or on the boob.

Hive: I totally agree about first generation electronics, especially Apple. I'm happy enough with my Sony Reader, but always love new gadgets.

I know that the poor babies are miserable when those teeth come through which is why I just want the whole process to hurry up so we can be over it sooner. She has been drooling so much more lately and chewing on everything (I've even caught her with a dog toy this morning that one of the dogs brought her).

Cocoa: Sorry M is not feeling well. Hope she improves quickly. Love the mei tai and especially how you made the "M" out of hearts. So creative! The mei tai looks a lot more comfortable that the baby bjorn (which we've outgrown). Is it as comfortable as it looks?

Heading out of town for the day. Hoping that Charlotte and the sitter get along since the sitter will have Charlotte for eight waking hours as opposed to the usual one hour before she goes off to bed. I just feel bad we can't take Charlotte with us today. I've never left her this long.

 

[jj-rabbit]

GL Ahh hun hope your feeling a bit better yeah maybe try putting Flora down earlier, i'm feeding Chase earlier an going to start moving his bedtime forward as he's knackered about 7 but usually having boob at that time then by 8 o'clock, bedtime, he's hyper and full of beans. He moved his bedtime himself from 9 to 8 but i still think 8 is too late for him. Maybe continue to dreamfeed too as that seemed to work.

I know how you feel about wanting a routine before you go back to work, i go back in Nov and i'm slightly worried about it but im going to contact the b/f support worker i've seen before to see what i do, if i should drop feeds etc and how to do it.

Your routine is so similar to ours hun!!

I've got the Annabel Karmel weaning book and it says that from about 7 months food should be more and not milk so much, so when Flora doesn't need b/f as much i'm sure her routine will get more stable re the feeding hun and i've heard that by 8 months a lot of babies only have milk morning and night.

Hang in there it was around 6 months when it was stressful with Chase and i had hubby saying he needed formula at night, things are back to normal now, ahem, except for the last couple of nights....

Emskins great you had dinner out hun and that Wren didn't wake for a feed while you were out! Chase is random sometimes his best sleep will be early on other times its from 1 or 2am and other times he goes right through?

Lynn hope you got sorted you busy bee. Ooh i love homemade pizza. Hope EJ is feeling better.

Hive Lovely pics of Ronan! Hope you got your laundry done, i hate ironing.

CocoaOne Hope M's cough hasn't got any worse hun. Wow i love the Mei Tai your so clever making that. Ooh yeah i would like to know if its comfy too as Chase will soon have outgrown his Baby Bjorn too and i love carrying him and so does hubby, do Mei Tai's go up to quite a large weight do you know?

Vegas Enjoy your day and i'm sure Charlotte wil have fun with the baby sitter hun.

Yawn...... i'm super tired today Chase has had an awful two nights sleep with waking and crying, he's had a bit of a snotty nose so i'm sure thats been half the problem. Last night he was crying again as soon as i put him down like the other week, thought we'd got past this

Yay though he's finally showing interest in feeding himsef, we gave him toast and scrambled egg for breakfast today and he seemed to really enjoy it, nothing cuter than watching him grab a handful of egg or a piece of toast and eat it what a mess though!

He's now at the i want everything stage, phones, remotes the laptop, basically anything we have he sees it and wants it, he's very determined to. We went shopping before and he was reaching out trying to grab anything, we had to make sure the trolly wasn't too close to the shelves.

Hmm well Chase should have had his tea half an hour ago and currently he's flat out on me, think i'll just leave him until he wakes up naturally as i'm worried he won't eat if i wake him and he's still too sleepy. Little monkey should have slept last night.

 

[CocoaOne]

JJ - M is in that stage now. Whenever she sits on my lap she's trying to dive off to get her sticky mitts on something!

Mei Tai's are really comfy. I bought one off ebay but it's plain black and a bit boring, so I thought I'd turn my hand at making one - and I put padding in the shoulders and waist which my other one hasn't got. The one I made is slightly smaller than some, but most MTs are a standard size which is suitable for up to toddlers. And M weighs 20lbs so I've reinforced it a lot!

 

[jj-rabbit]

Thanks hun ooh i'm going to look on e-bay for one after tea! Got some bits to sell so hopefully if they sell that will help fund it. I'm always selling bits but they i spend what i've made

 

[lynnikins]

looks fab i might have to get you to make me one lol got some material knocking about here somewhere lol

EJs been a bit up and down all day we have been doing a HUGE organization of the house so there is stuff everywhere to be taken to storage etc... tomorrow DH is going out tonight so got to get on with the stir fry for dinner so Nate can eat i might just go do it myself since what DH is watching is taking its time finishing lol

 

[greenlady]

Cocoa wow you're so talented! Can you make me one too? no seriously..?

Hive - thanks hun I was having a bit of a down day and you're right, everything's not necessarily rosy in everyone else's situation, as you say, especially when mummy's are comparing notes. I know this phase will pass, I've decided not to introduce any formlua right now - I might sooner or later when I'm back at work but for now I too enjoy the closeness we have when BFing.

JJ - thanks to you too for your kind words. I feel a lot more human. Last night wasn't as good as the night before, but thats because we were out to dinner and disturbed her sleep to bring her home at 11pm. Bit naughty but my OH feels its important to go round to SILs now and again. They're both chefs so I'm not complaining. I'm finding it hard to imagine that in only a couple of months Flora will be BFing so much less. When do they start to drop milk feeds I didn't think it was that soon?

Sorry to hear you had a couple of bad nights. SO many ups and downs hey! And Floras the same grabbing at everything, she breaks into the biggest smile when she sees my mobile phone! And she loves tapping on the computer. SHe grabs the glasses off our faces frequently, and actually loves blankets with tassles and the texture of the fabric on the sofa. Its so cute how she's exploring touch.

Seity - Intersting trick that guy uses. I wonder if it would work so well on a six month old??

Lynn - yuk house organisation is the worst! I got all in a mood this morning because the house was cluttered and we nearly had a row. Hope it all goes well.

So we just booked our tickets to Oz for christmas, my god they will probably be the most expensive tickets I'll ever buy at nearly £4K for the 3 of us. My mum is contributing half thank god or we wouldn't be able to go. Thankfully we have some savings to afford it, and its really so important to me to take Flora to meet her other family, cousins, etc. And a 2 week holiday in the sun is great too

I have some EBM ready to do a dreamfeed I've got to time it right, hopefully we'll get a decent kip tonight. I'm watching the x factor and some are great some are dreadful. So better go see the next freakshow. xx

 

[Seity]

GL - I'm still using those tricks on my 7 month old, so they definitely still work. I just got done putting G to bed with them.
Cocoa - Nice wrap. You have some mad sewing skills! Yep, it's the 5 S's. Swaddle, sideways, sway, shhhh, and suck.
Vegas - Gabriel is still toothless and the teething is driving me mad as well, so I understand what you're saying about wanting it over with already.
jj - Gabriel is a grabby monster as well. I have to keep everything out of reach or he'll put it in his mouth.
HC - Firefly rocks! We have a lot of fun with diaper changes as well. My OH wants an ipad and the newest iTouch. He spends a lot of time on his 1st gen iTouch while dealing with Gabriel all day.

The weekend is off to quite the 'fun' start. Our fridge has decided to leak water all over the floor from somewhere. So, we got to go shopping for a new one that we can't afford. Got it at 18 months 0% financing, so we have 1.5 years to miraculously come up with the money. Bad news is that we had to special order it because there were only 2-3 fridges that would even fit in the space the old one occupies and it'll take 3 weeks to arrive. Gabriel has decided to start taking only 1 nap per day for only an hour. Yesterday he was awake 6:30 am - 5:30 pm before napping. Today he was 7 am - 1 pm. For a baby who only sleeps at most 9 broken hours at night, he sure doesn't make up for it during the day. I can only be grateful that he's happy and not cranky for so little sleep.

 

[MiissMuffet]

Just popping in tpo say hi, been super busy lately i will catch up later. i hope you are all well xx