Mid-August Testers

[InHisHands]

Hey Great to see you Lisette!!!! I can't believe she's 11 months old! EEK! Time sure does fly. Our babies are starting to turn into toddlers. I can't believe how everything is going by so fast.

My hubby got home late Wednesday night and I have to say that I sure did miss having him around!!!! The extra set of hands has been wonderful!!!!

I finally was able to send out Dexter's Invites for his belated birthday party for the 10th of August. I'm so excited about it.

 

[Srbjbex]

Yes, they settled on George! I like it a lot. Welcome Prince George!

Lisette - fantastic to hear from you and hear that your little girl is doing well. Time really is flying I know. I go back to work on 16th october so not too long after you. Elliot is going into nursery 2 days a week, and my MIL is looking after him for one day, so that covers my 3 days at work. After you going back full time or part time?? Elliot too I think will Love nursery as he is also very sociable. I think it's a lot harder on us mummys!!

Hands - great that hubby is back to help you out. Now you can properly celebrate.

Nic - how have you found the transition back to work. I know you are working wednesday, Thursday, Friday like I will be.....how are you finding that?

 

[snowflakes120]

OK so I totally spent like 20 min typing a reply. Baby starts stirring. I take care of him. Hubby takes computer and closes my window. Doh! I could have killed him.

So anyways. Was saying Happy 2 years to us ladies. I love y'all! I mean it! I really want to meet each and every single one of you!

Bex - I like your Arthur better than George! I also have the same swaddle that Baby George was taken home in - I was like - Hey! I have that! We had it first though! Hehe! How's NTNP going? Are you getting it girl? We were given the A-OK to start around the holidays! Hooray!

Hands - Yipee for hubby home! So happy for you! I can't image doing this all by myself - I give you major props! I can't wait to see pics from Dex's party on Saturday!

Nic - How's Finlay coming along walking? I love the pic you have of him with the water toy! I just love that strawberry blonde hair of his! So adorable! Hola! Yeah for teeth!

Lisette - Our LO's start daycare on the same day. I know the night before I am going to be a wreck. Hubby is dropping him off bc I know I will be way too emotional! I can't wait to get a smash cake for Kellan next year!

Bea - Check in girl. You gotta know what you are having by now! I wanna know! Pink or Blue?!

AFM, Kellan is growing like a weed at least for me. He was 11pds 1oz today. Not the biggest baby and not the smallest either but closer to the smaller side. He's long though. I think he'll be tall and on the thinner side like his daddy. Which EVERYONE says he looks like. He has gotten none of my features at all. Everyone just says how much he looks like DH and Kellan is his mini-me. Hubby is so proud! It's really very cute.

EP going good. I am really packing away those milk bags these days.

Sleep was going awesome. He was sleeping from 10/11 to 5/6 for about 2 weeks. But he has gone back to being up every 3/4 hrs again this week. Awe such is life.

Life is wonderful. Couldn't be happier (except if I never had to go back to work!) but we want to sell our house and move in the next few years. I feel we have already outgrown our starter house. So we are saving saving saving for a good nice chunky down payment.

Kellan smiles all the time now. So cute. He went swimming in my uncles salt water pool for the 1st time last weekend. He found his hands. He is trying really hard to roll over. He did it once last week and that was it. He loves tummy time and laying on his back to hit his toys with his hands. Really loving seeing him blossom already. Quite amazing.

xoxo - Going to post some new pics here in a minute!

 

[snowflakes120]

Pic #1 - Kellan loves that Monkey! Pic #2 - Tummy Time! Pic #3 - The many faces of Kellan!! Pic #4 - My new fav pic!

 

[Srbjbex]

Aw snow those pics are absolutely adorable!!!! I love the tummy time pic! He really is a super cutie!

I have a question......what is a smash cake? I have it a few times on BnB and I have now idea what it is?? To me, Smash is like a dried synthetic mash potato thing....I presume it's not a cake made out of that?

I think that ntnp has now morphed into ttc! I am temping now, and taking agnus castus again. Would really like to be pg by the time I go back to work in October!

 

[NotNic]

Snow - he is so darn cute!! I love the tummy time pic. So alert and he must be a very strong boy to be pushing up so well. Lovely to hear you so happy. xxx

Bex - ooh good luck with TTCing! I'm lurking on the NTNP page at the moment. Our plan is for a July baby (in as much as you can plan!) as we have a good friend of OH's getting married in Sorrento next May and ideally we would like to fly out. I have a smear test next week (yuck!) and need to get some pre-natals then once I've waited enough time for any results to come back (if they're going to) then we'll be on track to start. The idea of bd'ing that much though already wears me out! Im enjoying being back to work. It's great for Finlay and I to be with other people. I feel more like 'me' again and he has so much fun at nursery. Plus we make Tuesdays fun and Mondays we spend together at home. Little homebodies! I think the main things are to be organised. I make lunch the night before for me, have Finlay's bag packed and both our clothes for the next day laid out. I then wear my dressing gown over my outfit (no time to change of he wipes his nose on me!) and check the time every 5mins! A few practice runs are a good idea, getting ready to go early. Perhaps even getting Elliot used to eating / waking etc. at times that match nursery might help his transition. The other thing is to realise you don't work full time anymore so you just won't get everything done like you used to and you will need to step back.

Hands - yay for Mr Hand's return! Is Dex's party tomorrow? Hope he has a great time. I'm also confused about a smash cake. Are Bex and I missing out?

Lisette - great to hear from you. Are you planning on trying for number 2. Will you be working full time? Melina sounds so much fun!

Finlay is really coming on right now. He gets so worn out he is taking himself off to bed, taking his bunny with him up to bed. Too cute! He still isn't walking but we are really, really close. He has done up to 4 steps together, will stand unaided for 2-3mins and takes 1-2 steps unsupported between things. He just needs to be brave. He is very chatty and amazes me with the clever things he tries to do. He is so flipping cheeky though!

Bea - how are you right now. Would love am update xxx

 

[InHisHands]

I have no clue what a smash cake is unless it is a cake people buy to let babies smash??? I dunno.

We bought Dex a cup cake LOL

Snow - Congrats on your lil big man's achievements. He sounds like a healthy active growing boy. How is Demi dealing with her lil brother?

Bex, Nic - I can't believe you guys are already trying again! Wow time does fly. Hubby is scheduled to get referred for a vasectomy next week so I guess no more lil ones for us.

I'm so excited to hear about more Mid August babies though. I know if were to have another lil one, I would want another boy. Does anyone else have any preferences?

Dex had a great party even though he was infected with some weird viral bug that made him and one of his friends break out into a horrendous rash. The doctor says he isn't contagious but he has had a rash now for 11 days. It is slowly going away.... blah

Here is some pics of his party at the park though I don't have any real nice ones.

 

[InHisHands]

Okay... I can't just leave it at that. Those were all horrible pictures. Here are some cuter ones of my lil man. Teehee.

 

[NotNic]

Ah look at Dex!! He is so grown up looking. He could pass for much older. I'm so pleased his party was a hit. Looks like you had a great day. Do you do many activities with Dex? We still do sensory play with Finlay, but we're only going to do one more term, then I need to think about something else. Any suggestions?

This week we met up with some of our NCT girls. Not one of their babies is a proficient walker yet which feels a little late. One is gung ho and falls over every 2-3 steps, while another is similar to Finlay and will walk a few steps and sit down. His nanny had him today though and apparently he walked 10 steps for her. So maybe he'll be the first to do it. What is interesting though is Finlay has more words and sounds than any other of the babies. He is in nursery where the others aren't in childcare or have a child minder instead. It may be that he was born a chatterbox but I suspect he's just learning so much being with other children and the Nanny's (as they call them). I feel even more that nursery has been a good choice.

Hands done worry I'm not TTC'ing yet. Just thinking about it! OH had a nasty incident with our front door and fractured his finger. It's strapped up and he has to hold it in a sling higher than his heart until its reset. I don't think we'll be doing any bding for a good few weeks We're still a little undecided. As for which gender. I would love a little girl to do mum and daughter things (more so when they are grown up) but little boys are so affectionate and Finlay is such a character. I'm leaning more towards having another boy now, whereas I think before TTC'ing originally I would have said girl instead. It's probably just as well we don't get to choose. I wouldn't be able to pick!!

 

[Srbjbex]

Aw hands!! Love seeing so many pics of Dex. He looks so grown up...particularly the one where he is dressed as a tomato....if I didn't know I would say he was two!

Thanks for the tips on returning to work! Very useful!! The dressing gown over the clothes is a cracking idea!!

Ttc now in full flow.....which means we had to BD last night when we didn't want to....haha! Breast feeding is still affecting my cycles still so I'm not sure how it will go but hey ho!

I'm sort of in tww now I think!

 

[InHisHands]

Bex - YAY Bring it!!! hahaha

Nic - As far as stuff I do with dex... HAHA I have 9 cubes in an organizer full of different type toys: wooden blocks in one, soft blocks in another, cars in one, shape organizers in another, one filled with balls, one filled with household items with different textures, one filled with musical toys, one filled with cheap happy meal toys, and one filled with teethers and rattlers.

I rotate them in and out. I also have 3 knob puzzles that I rotate. We have different board books set out for dexter. Some are rhyming, some are word identification, others touch and feel, and others are peek a boo/flip type books. -- The library here has a literacy program for children who can sit and listen... dex can't yet but when he can that could be something we do as well.

I do a play date with one of his 3 friends once a week, and we go to different parks daily. Occassionally we will pick a play date at the swimming pool (swimming classes for babies are available around here at least), but normally it is at another person's house (or mine)... that way they get to see different toys and learn to share theirs.

Starting in January we plan on putting him through a tumbling class since he likes that... and today we went on a family outing to a children's museum which was more like a discovery center than a museum where he got to run around freely touching, climbing, and screaming at everything. He had a blast! They had a pretend grocery store with checkout centers, an emergency response room with different vehicles, blocks center, pretend veterinarian office, and a pretend forrest where they could pick pretend fruit off the trees (stuck on the trees by magnets).

I'm not sure what to suggest... except maybe a little of everything and see what Finlay takes to?

We have tried some art projects but Dex hasn't taken to them very kindly. We tried chalk but he likes to eat it. We tried food coloring, shaving cream, and covering it with plastic wrap and letting him squish it all together and make finger drawlings.... but he isn't interested, we tried paint dot markers (like when you play bingo) but haven't had much success with that either. So we will see how art goes in the future... right now he may just be too young.

I just say GO FOR IT! The World is there for Finlay to explore!

 

[snowflakes120]

Look at Dex all grown up! He looks like a toddler! Glad the party was great! Demi is a bit scared of Kellan when he makes alot of noise (crying). She's getting better bc he doesn't cry as much like he did as a newborn. She gives him kisses and comes to find me when he does cry to let me know to take care of him.

Any news Bex? It should be about testing/AF time now I think based off the date of your last post!

Nic - Sorry about DH. Hope he is feeling better! I have always said I wanted 2 girls. But after having Kellan - I so want another boy. I never would have thought that I would want boys!

A smash cake is a separate cake made for just the baby. Usually it is a much smaller cake - that looks just like the big cake for guests - like if you have a farm theme the smash cake would have a farm theme too. The baby gets to just dig into the cake and smoosh it with their fingers and rub it all over and try to eat it.

I go back to work on Tuesday. I am super sad. I can't believe my leave has come to an end. It has been the best 14 weeks of my entire life. I am so in love with being a mom and so in love with Kellan. All the time, heartache, money and treatments were sooooo beyond worth it!!

Kellan is now rolling over consistently. He reaches for toys, grips them and tries to shake them a bit. We love to play. He is quite a chatterbox and is making new noises all the time. He's getting better at sitting in his bumbo. Thinking about getting an exersaucer or jumparoo soon for him. His sleep has been great this past week. He dropped a feeding then - what do I do with food then? Do I feed a little more during the day to make up for the missed feeding? Not sure what I am supposed to do. He's now sleeping no less than 6 hours. Last night we got 8 and the night before 7.5 hrs. So things are going great there - even though I still have to get up in the middle of the night to pump.

Well my time is up. I still had more to say but Kellan is being a crabby boy right now! xoxo

 

[NotNic]

Ah Snow sorry to hear your leave is almost up. Are you going back full time? Will Kellan be in Daycare? It sounds like he has achieved so much already. You must be very proud! Are you pumping exclusively now? If you are then I would suggest increasing the size of his bottles but you don't need to worry about making up the ounces exactly or squeezing another feed in the daytime. Just try to slowly up each feed by an ounce. If you are nursing then don't worry. He will naturally take the extra on board. As their tummies get bigger they need less frequent feeds.

Bex - fingers crossed for you xx

Bea - how are you getting on? Hope everyone is well.

AFU - Finally F is walking!! He took his first steps at just 13 mths but has been thinking about it for a while. Already he is very fast. He practically runs - eek! We've had a rough few days with teething and an eye infection but we're getting past it.

Hope everyone is keeping well x.

 

[snowflakes120]

Got Kellan down for a nap.... I should be cleaning as my parents come to visit tomorrow for the holiday weekend. And this house is seriously a hot mess!!

Congrats to Finlay on walking!!! Awesome news!!! Go Finlay go!! I bet you are a proud mummy!!

Kellan will be going into Daycare and I will be going back to work full time. We are going to continue to live off the one income and put the other one into the savings so we can sell this house we bought in 2005 and buy a bigger one. It is our new 3 year plan.

I am exclusively pumping now. He was getting about 31oz a day with the night feed - I was feeding 7x a day. I was trying to sneak in the extra feed all day yesterday. I was feeding sooner than the 3 hours that we usually do and he did spit up like once so I figured it was too much too soon. So this AM hubby said we should just do 6-5oz bottles to equal 30oz - glad you said to do the same thing Nic. Makes me feel better that we are doing the right thing. I really was unsure. Don't know what I'd do without you guys!

 

[Srbjbex]

Hey ladies! AF got me yesterday (boo!) but I'm fine about it, my luteal phase was much better length this time so I feel happy things are heading in the right direction. Plus it means it will be BD time when we are on hols!! haha!!

Congrats Finlay on walking!! Yaaay! That is exciting news! Walking is soooooo cute, I think they look like little zombies or something when they are learning to do it!

Snow - that 14 weeks has gone so quick, goodness knows how quick it must have felt for you! Sunds like Kellan is doing great with all his rolling and grabbing already.....we have very clever babies on the mid August thread, dont you know!

Elliot had his first settling in session at nursery today! Only for an hour, but he has a great time. I'm actually looking forward to him going as I think he will enjoy it. He will be able to get waaaay more stimulation than I can give him just with me at home!

 

[NotNic]

I really am. Last night he and his Daddy walked to meet me after work. So cute! His dancing is hilarious now. He copies his Gangnam man doll. He is a funny little dude!

It does sound like a wonderful plan. Once you're in your new family home, it will all be worth it. It will be hard, bit it will be so good for all of you. My sister is going back to school as she wants to train as a midwife. She feels sad about putting her daughter in childcare at 6mths old, but my niece loved her trial. She was so smiley and excited. I bet Kellan has a ball! They learn so much when they are with other babies.
It is good too for you to have some time to yourself. From a practical point of view I use my lunches to do all my admin so I don't waste any Finlay time at the bank or the post office!

Bex - yay for a good settling session! I completely know what you mean. When is your first day?

 

[InHisHands]

Hey all.

Congrats to Finlay for walking!!!!

Congrats to Kellan for Roll'n and sleeping longer!!!!!

I agree the mid august babies seem to be pretty bright.

AFU - we will be taking our first airplane trip across country next week... yippee. Dexter says 8 words now and he has learned how to jump and eat with a fork.

I agree with you all. I have a full blown toddler on my hands. He's into a negative phase where he shakes his head "no" at everything. hahaha

 

[InHisHands]

Nic, have you decided what to do with finlay after sensory class?

 

[Srbjbex]

Just a quick one to say we're off on hols to France for a week tomorrow, so willbe offline for a bit!

Hope you are all good!

 

[snowflakes120]

Have fun Bex!! Can't wait to see some pics!! So jelly that you guys are so close to such awesome places for vacations!!