PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[MonkeyPie]

puppmom, I can't tell you how many times I found Micah like that. It happens, don't feel bad! He was trying to break out and suck his hands and when he couldn't, just got tangled up in the blanket. I don't know how a Swaddleme works, but if he's strong enough, I bet he could do the same thing with that. I never used an actual swaddler though...I could be wrong.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

MP- I don't get tired of saying how Micah is such a little man! what a cutie

Pupp- oh no! Yep, looks like it's time for the next size. Don't feel bad. N would wiggle out of the muslin A+A swaddling blankie so we eventually had to go with the Miracle Blanket and he now only breaks out if we did it sloppily.

HH- we also used water, but would sometimes include a bit of baking soda to mask the smell for formula spitup. be thankful that you LO isn't on formula- now that REALLY stinks!

Ginger- Great info on starting solids! I copied and pasted your post, even though we have 2-3 months until we start. And, so sorry to hear about A!

PB- isn't it boggling how much they "spin" at night?? N never ends up where we first put him down. And right now he's in the co-sleeper. He'll have much more room to roam once he's in the crib!

Ally- you mentioned that A has no interest in crawling. Did she like tummy time/being on her tummy? N HATES being on his tummy so not sure if we should expect him to skip crawling (granted, it's going to be a while until we're there!). I'm just curious...

AFM- Today is our 4-year Wedding Anniversary. This date now has extra-special meaning to us as we're 99.9% sure that N was conceived on our anniversary last year. We had been trying for a while and kinda threw everything TTC out the window that month and it happened! Fast-forward a year later and here I am with a 3 month old. too surreal! Anyway, we're leaving N with abuela and going out to dinner tonite to celebrate.

 

[Puppmom]

Charger, happy anniversary!

HH, everyone says N looks like DH but has my nose. Thanks, all babies have wide noses!

MP, I love looking at pictures of Micah - he's such a handsome little man! My logic behind the Swaddle Me is that there's no *extra fabric* so, if N busts loose, there's nothing that could go over his face. The two flaps either fall to the side or the velcro stays closed and his hands just come out of the top. Someone please save me from myself if I'm wrong!

Charbie, MIL brought us a lot of frozen things. Our FAVORITE was mac and cheese. The only issue was they took forever to cook. MIL put instructions on them but they took nearly twice as long to cook as she instructed. She also made us several casseroles. Those were delicious too. I didn't have any dietary restrictions so I was able to eat everything she made. You're such a nice friend!

Ginger, that's awesome that you're able to EP! It's weird how they say that babies drain the breast better than the pump. That pump sure does feel like it's sucking a whole lot harder than the baby!!

So N is two months old today! Where does the time go? I took his picture (about 100 of them!) in his onesie with his 2 month sticker. He looked so darn cute! DH and I learned a lesson today. N was happily lounging in his swing at around bedtime. We decided since he seemed happy still we would try tummy time. Well, captain fussy pants came to visit - MELTDOWN! Lesson learned - put baby to BED at bedtime.

 

[curiousaboutdiamonds]

Steph - Thanks! E and A must have lots of fun together! Glad to hear that things are going well for you guys.

SS - We started with RC at 5.5 months and just started with the vegetable purees from the jar. I've heard some moms mention wholesomebabyfood.com as a source for some home-made recipes.

PB - Hope the transition won't take too long. At around 4 months we transitioned from the bouncer to the crib for naps. It took us about a week for her to get used to napping in there. Keep at it!

Ginger - Thanks for recommending the silicone ice cube trays - need to get some this weekend! Hope A is all better and back to his happy self!

Pupp - What a scary sight. I've come across A doing that a couple of times and it made my heart jump a bit. Glad he's okay. Happy 2 months to N! Would love to see him in his #2 sticker.

MP - Look how cute M is in his big boy seat! He looks so tiny in it.

Charbie - Agree with Mara to get gift certificates and take out menus. Much much easier for the new parents, and they can get whatever they want to eat.

Jcrow - Sounds like Em is already STTN! That's awesome that you pumped so much. We had a rough week when A turned 6 months because of a growth spurt and her shots. She woke up 1-2x. Luckily, it lasted only about a week.

PG - Operation Wean seems to be going well! Hope all goes according to plan. Yay C for drinking more in the sippy!

ChargerG - Happy Anniversary! A used to hate tummy time, but ever since she learned to roll over, she loves being on her stomach. She can do the army crawl but won't crawl on all 4s.

 

[gingerB]

ally - i think i got the tovolo ones -- off amazon? in a pinch, i have the ilicone browine bites mold from wilton that i used initially until the other ones came in. the wilton ones are 1/2 oz, the tovolos are 1 oz. no lid though. i just used saran wrap. it only takes a couple of hours to freeze.

re: baby food -- forgot to mention, i like http://www.homemade-baby-food-recipes.com/ and http://www.wholesomebabyfood.com/index.htm as my 2 go-to websites for quick answers/info on baby food making.

pupp - i think your body is designed to respond to your baby better becaus eof the hormone control. but A had so much trouble latching that i was on the pump waaaay more, so my body quickly adapted. it was almost pavlovian. i would literally start LEAKING when i took the pump out. really weird feeling.

charger - happy anniversary!

mara - i forgot to answer your earlier question re: intussuception. it occurs most often in 3mo to 6 years. the theory is that there is a "lead point" (mass, tumor, lymph node) that gets accidentally cuaght up in the peristaltic movement (the rhythmic contractions of your intestines that move food along the gi tract) and drags the bowel in with it causing a telescoping effect that results in obstruction. in the 3 month to 3 year group it's usually idiopathic (unknown cause, usually benign) -- outside of that you need to really check for a malignant cause. or if it keeps recurring. rarely, it can also happen in adults.

AFm - nothing to add except that i'm happy happy happy to have my sunny little monkey back

 

[phoenixgirl]

Charger, happy anniversary!

 

[jcrow]

today was a big day for em. it started with hubs going to get her out of her crib [oh and she only woke once last night to nurse] and she was on all fours. she started out swimming. then army crawling. now all fours and kinda rocking. she did it all day long. she also almost tripoded [seated position with one arm for support]. she was leaning a little much, but definitely was a new position for her. omg, she's going to be crawling and sitting up! it's happening too fast! haha.

 

[Mara]

CG...happy anni!!! J was conceived during our 5 year anni trip, it was either our 5 year anni or the day before. it is a fun story to be able to tell hehe.

pupp..don't feel badly..!! the kids do all sorts of weird things while sleeping. J was crazy with trying to break out of it so we had to MB him til 4mo when we had to deswaddle.

jcrow, it's crazy how fast it happens. seriously..!! but don't worry if you miss the first time, she'll be doing it all over and over and over!

ginger..thanks for the info. it's just so freaky that stuff like that can just HAPPEN for no real reason yanno. poor kiddos. hope A feels better soon.

Micah looks so cute in that car seat and WAY more comfy than J's crazy Blvd contraption. Sheesh.

Speaking of I am just ordering the Cosco Scenera on Walmart.Com tonite for my Mom's car. I saw it at Target the other day and it looked good and actually after the crazy Blvd contraption I am kind of coveting simple. Weird?!

 

[Puppmom]

gotta post and run. N is napping ( ) and I need a shower desperately. As usual, we're running a week behind with pics so I'll share the two month pic next week. Here is N is his cutey tighty PJs!

 

[fieryred33143]

OMG Pupp that is THE cutest picture I love his pjs. Very stylish. I have a thing for kiddo pjs

 

[phoenixgirl]

Mara, I was thinking about getting a Cosco Scenera for DH's car. I don't know if it's crazy to have two convertible seats, but I don't think we're going to want to remove the Sunshine Kids Radian once we get it installed; it's really heavy. I went out last night with her carseat (still squeezing her in the Snugride) in my car and actually thought, oh no, what if DH needs to take her to the hospital and doesn't have a car seat to use. So let me know how you like it.

ETA: Actually, I think my objection to the Scenera for my purposes is that it only goes up to 40 pounds. It seems like I should spend the extra money to get a seat that will go up to 65 pounds like the Graco 3 in 1. Ooh, just saw the Safety 1st All-in-One Convertible -- more what I had in mind price-wise.

 

[fieryred33143]

PG-I just wanted to do a quick warning on the all-in-one. It only rear faces up to (I believe) 35lbs. When you flip it around, it has a very short shell height so a lot of kids outgrow it before you are legally allowed to use the booster (in most states). There have also been complaints on the booster being terrible.

 

[jcrow]

the neatest thing is that they learn to crawl, sit up, etc. all on their own. we don't have to show them how to. their bodies just figure it out along the way.

in other news... my push present has arrived! i just finished a little photo shoot and i'm about to edit them to post!

 

[Mara]

yay jcrow..!! i never figured out a push present and UNLIKE a true PS'er i just have back burnered it for a while--esp after Greg lost the stone out of his w-ring earlier this year and it took me like 4 months to find a replacement. a whole other project is a foreign concept right now hehe. but i'm mulling over ideas. and i want it to be something i can pass down to J's mate in the future.

and speaking of their bodies figuring stuff out, we saw this last nite and i thought it was so cool. so J has the duck tub a lot of other PS kids do. sometimes G puts toys on top of the head and J will bang his little hands on the neck until they slide off and into the water, yay lots of fun. well last nite we had the hippo on the top and he was smacking the neck and it slid down and he CAUGHT it!!! i am sure it was mostly accident but it was so much fun to see his hands working together and in coordination to do that. i think he was surprised too. but wow it just underscores how fast they go from blob to person. i remember just like 3 months ago he would get so mad because he couldn't coordinate his hands enough to play with this one alligator toy. and now he's catching things (accidentally but still, his hands closed on it and then he brought it to his mouth). anyhoo. so fun.

pupp that pic is soo squeeeeeeeeezably cute.!! i love baby PJ's. so far my favorite ones for 'fit' are the children's place ones. i love when they mark them down to $5. oh and PSA for mom's. target has union suits every year for babes and i love the fit, it's a tight fit with no feet and cuffed legs. anyway they have their fall/winter ones out. i just picked up 2 the other day for J for $5.50 in 18mo. yikes!

PG re the cosco, yeah i wish it went another 10lbs or something too but since my mom will really only use it like a few times a month and it's $43 at walmart i really can't complain. i figure we'll see what age he is at 40lbs and maybe we can get a booster or maybe by then they'll have some hybrid thing that's cheaper than another convertible or something for the last 2 years or whatever. also i've seen it in the stores and i like how basic it is and still with some padding. the blvd we have right now is a CONTRAPTION and a half. i don't think i'd recommend it in the future--a marathon is what we should have gotten.

AND pet peeve-- i hate how so many jammies for kids start going to 2 piece at 2T. i wonder why that is anyway. my kid will be wearing 2T in target clothes at like 12-15mo probably and i don't necessarily want him in 2 piece at that point so i wish that they'd at least give you 1-2 larger size options for those people with bigger babies!

happy friday all. here's a pic i took last nite of J in all his dirty, messy eating glory. he finger fed himself corn and peas and bits of cheese for about 20 min (ok tray to mouth ratio though the floor got a treat too)...and then i fed him his sweet potatoes, broccoli and fish thick puree. he ate so much he was kind of barfy before bed, yuck! but he still woke at 6:15am for a 9oz bottle. porker!

he's 8mo old today!! time really does fly.

 

[jcrow]

i started a thread in smtr, but here's a little glimpse...

 

[somethingshiny]

I love the cutie pics! It's funny how with your first, you have hundreds of pics to choose from but with the second, not so much! It's not that I don't WANT pics, I think it's more I don't want to be behind the camera. I want to be in the moment because I know how fast it goes.

Thanks so much for the advice and links re baby food making!


Lily STTN Wed 11pm-5:30 am, and last night she went from 1am-7:30am. Still trying to work out the schedule but it gives me hope that we will sleep again! I can't wait for the meds schedule to decrease so I can STTN too!

 

[gingerB]

quick (fun!) PSA -- also appropriate for BPF:

gap is having their casting call, and with all the cutie patooties we have on ps, wouldn't it be neat if someone eneded up being a gap baby/kid? info is on their website i think. you just up load a photo.

happy friday mommas and bebes!

 

[curiousaboutdiamonds]

Ginger - Glad to hear A is back to his happy self!

Pupp - Love the pj picture! N is so alert for being 2 months. Look at that happy smile!

Jcrow - What a beautiful push present ... I’m still lagging on mine. So cute on Em’s little fingers. I’ll probably wait until after the 2nd kid to figure out what I want. And yes, they do grow so fast. I looked at A the other day and was amazed at how much she’s grown.

Mara - J is such a beautiful baby! He looks like he has the softest baby hair, so cute! Such a cute story about the catch. Happy 8 months!

SS - L is sleeping great at such a young age. Hope she keeps it up!


We started putting A in a cotton sleep sack at night, and with her soothie, she reminded us of maggie simpson ...

 

[Mara]

lol ally that pic is so cute!

J's hair is really soft like baby down. mine is really thick and coarse but i don't know when their hair starts to get more texture or if this means his will just be fine always.

re: gap casting call-- i think i said this already but with that pic i posted of J in the scarf when i showed it around this event i was at last week--a few people were like OMG he looks like a gap magazine ad. so maybe i'll post it on the gap casting call! lol.

 

[puffy]

awww, i love all the baby pics!! too cute!

oh and mara, my not so little N is already in 2T clothes in a ton of brands. he's in 18-24 for gap. i swear kid grows like a freaking weed!! at 9 months, he was almost 32"!! the nurse thought it must have been way off so she measured him 5 times and then had the doc come in and remeasure.

hope everyone has a great weekend!!

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Hola Mamas! I love all the pics- they totally make each Friday special

THANKS for the well-wishes on our Anniversary. We had a lovely dinner out, and came home to learn that Nico was a "complete angel" according to my mom. It's the first time that we left him with her and I'm glad that all went well.

So, I'm bummed today because it's the 1st of October and it's the last month of my leave. I'm trying to be positive, and look at it that I still have 31 days left to be with him, and i'm so lucky to have been able to take the time off. But it still stings a bit...

On to my pic for today- He was totally checking out his hands and I snuck up behind the PnP to get a shot, but he turned at the last minute. "gotcha, mama!"

Jcrow- what a LOVELY push pressie. Enjoy!! And yay for Em crawling and rocking
Ginger- glad to hear that your sunny monkey is back
Mara- how cute that J caught the hippo
Ally- haha, maggie simpson indeed!

 

[CatLuver]

Hi mommies, I'm not a member of this thread yet but wanted some reassurance - there's a chance that our little one will be going into daycare next year at around 25 weeks (5 1/2 months calendar-wise). I'm sure it will be fine, and he'll be sturdier than at 3 mo. but I was wondering what they can/can't do at that stage, how they tolerate being in that environment at that age, what difficulties they have and anything else, if any of you have experience with that? Really appreciate it! DH isn't entirely comfortable with daycare prior to 1.5-2 and I agree it's not ideal - they are still so little and fragile - but it might be the best option for us.

 

[ChargerGrrl]

Catlvr- don't have any real experience to share as my LO will be a bit over 4 months old when he starts daycare later this month. I admit that I at first (before he was born) wasn't keen on daycare - my preference would've been to hire a nanny and keep him here at home for his first year. But I warmed up the option after doing my homework and lots of research- I spoke with friends that have their LO's in daycares and visited a couple of centers to see what was out there. I believe that we're sending him to the best program in the area and I truly hope that he'll thrive in that environment- he seems to be very social, and LOVES being around other kiddos.

I guess what I'm saying is to keep your options open, and allow plenty of time to do your homework on ALL childcare options available to you. Good luck!

Lastly, babies are a lot hardier/sturdier than you think!

 

[Mara]

Ditto CG's advice re: daycare...definitely look at all the options and choose what is best for you guys. But reserve the right to change your mind too once the baby is here!

I felt most comfortable with a nanny situation vs daycare because I wanted J at home for as long as possible. I also do a nanny share with one other boy of a friend for a few days, so that he does get social interaction as well.

On the flip side, I have a good friend who has a baby girl who went into daycare at 3mo and she is doing great. She loves it, she can nap/sleep anywhere (though she might have been like that from beginning really), and totally is developing rapidly, maybe from being around other babies and kids more. I have read if the babes are around older kids they tend to mentally develop more quickly at times.

The only thing she does say about the daycare is that her kid started getting sick early and has had some real illnesses, like pneumonia and croup and stuff and I imagine daycare had something with it. Part of why I wanted J at home for a little longer--I didn't want to be dealing with a lot of sickness when he was really young. Just my two cents.

 

[MonkeyPie]

LOL puppmom, omg, that is such a cute picture. I love his jammies and his big cheese.

Mara, that is such a happy baby. He's just like Micah in so many ways, he loves to eat. I'm looking forward to trying more "solid" stuff, especially since he has teeth coming in. And I love the snug fit of the Children's Place jammies but in the middle of the night it's hard to get his legs out for a diaper change lol.

jcrow, so pretty, your push present! I am jealous, I won't get mine til February with my income tax return. I am heading over to SMTR to look at it now.

I totally entered Micah in the Gap Casting Call. I will need some more pictures to enter with later.

ally, hahaha, she does look like Maggie! What a cutie!

Charger, oh I love that look on his face. And that pointy little chin! Such huge eyes! He's a doll.

re: daycare, I originally wanted him in one, but I have gotten lucky and he stays with my grandma, DH's mom or grandma, or DH throughout the week. No daycare needed here! It would be nice because he's very social, but this works out better, and it's cheaper. Plus my family loves it. I did want to expose him to some germs so he wouldn't be so easily sick when he got older, but so far he seems to be pretty resistant to everything. I had a cold and he got one day of congestion and then was over it. He's tougher than me!

 

[phoenixgirl]

CatLuvr, Claire was in daycare from 14 weeks until 8 months when I quit my job to stay home. A few weeks after she started, a 15 month old started, and he had a much harder time transitioning than she did since he was so much more aware and could communicate his displeasure. DH and I joked about how the poor kid must cry all day long because we never saw him happy. Not to scare you -- I guess my point is that in some ways it may be better to acclimate a child to daycare before separation anxiety hits.

We have friends with a child the same age as Claire, and while this may totally be personality, he just cannot be left alone with anyone other than his parents (even grandma or aunt). We attended a wedding where they had to leave after 90 minutes because he wouldn't stop crying. When I saw her next she sheepishly said, "You guys must have thought we were so lame to leave so early, but Claire was in daycare; our baby doesn't know how to be around other people." I don't know if daycare caused Claire to do better around non-parents, or if it's personality, or if it's other things we did, but certainly there are advantages to having a child who is used to being around other people.

Claire does better when there are tons of people around; Pandora mentioned on another thread recently how throughout human history we have lived in clans or packs or whatever, or how children must have regularly just been part of a big group rather than stuck at home alone with a single person all day. At 11 months Claire definitely gets tired of playing with her toys by herself, and we need to go out of the house to seek company, which you readily have at daycare.

Certainly there are pros and cons to all situations (even SAH!), but daycare isn't necessarily a worse option than any other.

 

[Puppmom]

Anyone else have babies who react poorly to immunizations? N was absolutely inconsolable after his shots today. He slept most of the afternoon then woke up and SCREAMED (gagging and losing his breath) for almost an hour and refused to nurse. We got him back to sleep and the same thing happened a few hours later. We gave him acetaminophen even though he didn't have a fever because we thought it would help with the pain. About 45 minutes later he nursed on and off for over an hour and is now asleep. I just feel so sick for him.

We called the doc who said to just make sure he stays hydrated and that, while the severity of his reaction is uncommon, it's not worrisome unless we go any length of time without him eating.

 

[somethingshiny]

pupp~ Both of my kids had the exact same reactions to immunizations. Also, their legs were very sore for a couple days. Lots of cuddling and warm baths help! Good luck!

 

[phoenixgirl]

Today Claire figured out that she can try to wriggle out of my arms when being put down for a nap. Previously she would fuss but she hadn't seemed to put it together that she could try to escape. I hope this is a phase . . . ? I don't want to have to wrestle her into the crib each time.

She is obviously much too smart for me. She is obsessed with having books read to her -- the daughter of an English teacher -- and will crawl around from book to book picking them up and asking, "Doh? Doh?" until you read it to her. But she also seems to have baby ADHD and will cast aside the book you're reading after only a couple of pages to find a new one. Anyway, today she tricked me into getting off the couch and down on the floor with her by picking up her sippy cup upside down and going, "Doh?" So stupid Mommy thinks Claire has somehow forgotten how the sippy cup works and needs help . . . no, as soon as I was next to her, the cup was cast aside and a book was presented for reading. Clever girl.

So last night I was supposed to go out to a movie with a friend of mine who's also a mom. We were to leave at 7, but her husband was off in the mountains somewhere helping a friend train for a marathon, and he was supposed to come home at 4 but didn't make it until 10 p.m. And he never called to say, hey, sorry, I'm going to be six hours late, although she did eventually reach him at like 7:30. I don't know her super well but she seemed like this was kind of normal. Eek! Makes me glad to have my DH. I brought a movie over to watch at her house, and when he got home he just said hey and walked on past us upstairs. It was just very weird.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

My husband and I are going to attempt to sleep in the same bed again tonight. He goes back to work tomorrow and we've got to figure out this sleeping/baby thing ASAP because our typical shifts aren't going to cut it.

The last two or three nights have been challenging. He was sleeping really well for a few days and then all of a sudden his sleep went to hell. He's fussy, fidgety, fights sleep and just wants to be held non stop. But oddly, only at night. During the day he's fine. I'm not sure if he's in the midst of another growth spurt or something, but he fights sleep and just wants to be held all.the.time. We had friends over for dinner last night and it was hard to get him down. Then we went to a friend's house this afternoon for a BBQ and he cried all the way home. Then he ate 4 oz (he normally eats 1-2), and continued to scream. I finally swaddled him and rocked him with the white noise machine on and he fell asleep after about 20 minutes of constant soothing. I don't know if he was overstimulated? But anyway, he's napping in the PNP in the bedroom right now, I have the monitor on, I'm sort of paranoid about it not working and not knowing while he's screaming upstairs. DH and I are going to go up around 8 to watch TV and go to bed. Then we'll see how the night goes. I'll have to pump so I know I'll be up at least every 3-4 hours. Aidan will be up every 2-3 hours to eat and be changed. Should be a fun time...wish us luck.