PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[taovandel]

Sorry, for picture quality...they were all taken with my phone.

 

[taovandel]

His thanksgiving shirt---I''m Stuffed!

 

[taovandel]

Baby Yawns are the best!

 

[taovandel]

taken during tummy time.

 

[taovandel]

....

 

[taovandel]

last one....

 

[cdt1101]

Mandarine - the boys are so cute!!! They definitely look identical to me!!! It sounds like they are doing great! You are a fantastic mommy

Tao - He's so tiny!! I miss having such a tiny baby. He's super cute and I love the pics!

Hello to everyone else

 

[E B]

Date: 11/27/2009 9:55:02 AM
Author: dreamer_dachsie

Hunter has always been a BIG eater too... he nursed about every 2.5 hours. He is a big and active boy! I didn''t really notice the change in his eating patterns until he was about 8months old. That''s when he started eating 3 meals a day, which I think he really needed, and that was when we decided to night wean. Just something to keep an eye for when the time comes!

So there''s hope yet!

Thank you- I''ll definitely keep an eye out!

Mandarine, those boys of yours are precious! If not identical, they may be the kind of fraternal twins who look VERY similar (like the Olsen twins when they were little).

tao- Evan is adorable! I love his STUFFED tee.

 

[Blenheim]

Tao- what a cutie! He already has more hair than George, LOL.

Mandarine - they''re adorable and look so much alike! I''d also be interested in hearing the results of the test, if you choose to get it done.

Pandora - I try to pry George''s fingers out of my nose or get my hair out of his hands, remind him to be gentle, and if he''s clearly just wanting to play rough I try to redirect to something that''s safer to abuse like one of his toys. Sometimes I tell him that if he keeps abusing me then I''m going to eat him, and then I start pretending to eat his ear or his belly and he usually starts giggling and stops grabbing at me. This is probably bordering on positive reinforcement of the mauling, but I think that sometimes he''s just trying to play and doesn''t realize that he''s mauling me, and so I''m not really worried that he''s going to learn the wrong thing from it.
I try to model petting the dogs gently, but I know it will be a long time until he actually starts imitating me on that one.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 11/27/2009 12:35:21 PM
Author: Blenheim
Tao- what a cutie! He already has more hair than George, LOL.

Mandarine - they''re adorable and look so much alike! I''d also be interested in hearing the results of the test, if you choose to get it done.

Pandora - I try to pry George''s fingers out of my nose or get my hair out of his hands, remind him to be gentle, and if he''s clearly just wanting to play rough I try to redirect to something that''s safer to abuse like one of his toys. Sometimes I tell him that if he keeps abusing me then I''m going to eat him, and then I start pretending to eat his ear or his belly and he usually starts giggling and stops grabbing at me. This is probably bordering on positive reinforcement of the mauling, but I think that sometimes he''s just trying to play and doesn''t realize that he''s mauling me, and so I''m not really worried that he''s going to learn the wrong thing from it.
I try to model petting the dogs gently, but I know it will be a long time until he actually starts imitating me on that one.

I am pretty sure that babies can''t really control their own behaviour or remember complex things like "gentle" until they are quite a bit older than our boys

 

[Blenheim]

That''s why I''m not too worried about it.

Intellectually I know that he''s nowhere close to understanding "gentle", but I still do it. Especially because we''re now living with family, I wonder if I''m doing it more for social reasons than for his benefit - like a parent may say to their infant, "can you say thank you for the nice present?" when it''s completely obvious that they are not able to say thank you, but it shows the other person that we recognize that it''s socially appropriate and that we plan on teaching them to behave that way later on when they''re developmentally able to. (I''m not sure if my rambling makes sense.)

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 11/27/2009 5:19:29 PM
Author: Blenheim
That''s why I''m not too worried about it.

Intellectually I know that he''s nowhere close to understanding ''gentle'', but I still do it. Especially because we''re now living with family, I wonder if I''m doing it more for social reasons than for his benefit - like a parent may say to their infant, ''can you say thank you for the nice present?'' when it''s completely obvious that they are not able to say thank you, but it shows the other person that we recognize that it''s socially appropriate and that we plan on teaching them to behave that way later on when they''re developmentally able to. (I''m not sure if my rambling makes sense.)

LOL, totally! I do this all the time - she''s making a lot of effort to communicate at the moment and whilst some is quite melodious babbling the rest is corncrake like and at high volume. I spend a lot of time saying ''sssshhhhh, now we don''t shout in shops/museums/restaurants/insert venue of moment'' knowing full well that it is purely to appease the people in earshot who are giving me ''that look''.

Although I have tried the Sear''s advice that if you want a shouting child to stop then you whisper at them and they will automatically drop the volume in most cases. It actually works... so far...

Love all the pictures, so cute!


DH and I have gone away for a week to a Center Parcs place (if you don''t have them in the USA, it''s like a big holiday village in a forest) - I''ve never been on an ''organised fun'' holiday or on one which involves close proximity to lots of people so I am reserving judgement on any possibility of a repeat until the end. Anyhow they have a mega swimming complex, so I have come armed with a variety of swimsuits and anti-drowning devices for Daisy. I''ve also discovered that Santa is in residence along with a couple of real live reindeer, so I can now do the cutesy photos for our xmas cards this year (plus I LOVE reindeer in a big way!)

We have free WiFi so I am a happy bunny, but sadly it looks like the apartment we have has been let to someone with dogs recently - DH is severely allergic and is already taking antihistamines and sneezing away after only a couple of hours. I shall go on the warpath tomorrow morning and see what I can do to have the place deep-cleaned or something. Why they can''t reserve some places for people with dogs and others for those without I don''t know.

I''m now worried about Daisy as she has never been exposed to dogs and is rubbing her eyes already, fingers crossed that she is just tired - one of the reasons I want to EBF is to try and avoid her having the huge problems DH has (horses/cats/dogs/dust mites/most pollens etc etc). They have a carpeted floor here which she was really enjoying as it''s easier to crawl on than wooden floors and now I''m not sure she should. Grrrrrrrrrr.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 11/27/2009 5:19:29 PM
Author: Blenheim
That''s why I''m not too worried about it.

Intellectually I know that he''s nowhere close to understanding ''gentle'', but I still do it. Especially because we''re now living with family, I wonder if I''m doing it more for social reasons than for his benefit - like a parent may say to their infant, ''can you say thank you for the nice present?'' when it''s completely obvious that they are not able to say thank you, but it shows the other person that we recognize that it''s socially appropriate and that we plan on teaching them to behave that way later on when they''re developmentally able to. (I''m not sure if my rambling makes sense.)

LOL! Makes total sense! I don''t think my comment came accross as I intended, I meant it more as agreement not to worry about it and do whatever you want! They don''t have a clue!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Pandora Once again your post reminds me so muc hof Adrien Mole! haha... My DH also has ridiculous allergies. So far nothing with Hunter except the usual baby eczema. Don''t worry about Daisy yet. A little exposure early on is a good thing!

 

[Samantha Red]

Date: 11/27/2009 7:20:51 PM
Author: Pandora II

Date: 11/27/2009 5:19:29 PM
Author: Blenheim
That''s why I''m not too worried about it.

Intellectually I know that he''s nowhere close to understanding ''gentle'', but I still do it. Especially because we''re now living with family, I wonder if I''m doing it more for social reasons than for his benefit - like a parent may say to their infant, ''can you say thank you for the nice present?'' when it''s completely obvious that they are not able to say thank you, but it shows the other person that we recognize that it''s socially appropriate and that we plan on teaching them to behave that way later on when they''re developmentally able to. (I''m not sure if my rambling makes sense.)

LOL, totally! I do this all the time - she''s making a lot of effort to communicate at the moment and whilst some is quite melodious babbling the rest is corncrake like and at high volume. I spend a lot of time saying ''sssshhhhh, now we don''t shout in shops/museums/restaurants/insert venue of moment'' knowing full well that it is purely to appease the people in earshot who are giving me ''that look''.

Although I have tried the Sear''s advice that if you want a shouting child to stop then you whisper at them and they will automatically drop the volume in most cases. It actually works... so far...

Love all the pictures, so cute!


DH and I have gone away for a week to a Center Parcs place (if you don''t have them in the USA, it''s like a big holiday village in a forest) - I''ve never been on an ''organised fun'' holiday or on one which involves close proximity to lots of people so I am reserving judgement on any possibility of a repeat until the end. Anyhow they have a mega swimming complex, so I have come armed with a variety of swimsuits and anti-drowning devices for Daisy. I''ve also discovered that Santa is in residence along with a couple of real live reindeer, so I can now do the cutesy photos for our xmas cards this year (plus I LOVE reindeer in a big way!)

We have free WiFi so I am a happy bunny, but sadly it looks like the apartment we have has been let to someone with dogs recently - DH is severely allergic and is already taking antihistamines and sneezing away after only a couple of hours. I shall go on the warpath tomorrow morning and see what I can do to have the place deep-cleaned or something. Why they can''t reserve some places for people with dogs and others for those without I don''t know.

I''m now worried about Daisy as she has never been exposed to dogs and is rubbing her eyes already, fingers crossed that she is just tired - one of the reasons I want to EBF is to try and avoid her having the huge problems DH has (horses/cats/dogs/dust mites/most pollens etc etc). They have a carpeted floor here which she was really enjoying as it''s easier to crawl on than wooden floors and now I''m not sure she should. Grrrrrrrrrr.

Hi Pandora

I am only a lurker on this forum but wanted to chip in about Center Parcs. I am seasoned veteran visitor of about 18 years and can say quite catergorically that they do have dog only chalets and if yours is not someone has obviously illegally had their dog in there. Complain immediately and get moved if your husband is not well. We never take our dogs because the dog villas are generally grotty to be honest.

Other than that I hope you have a great time, I always find it our most relaxing break of the year in late January with about 20 of our closest friends. I guess it is easier as we live about 15 mins drive from the Sherwood Forest village. Have fun

 

[Blenheim]

My grandmother had a heart attack on Thanksgiving and they''ve discovered that her kidney is failing.

It sounds like she''s going to be okay, but my mom and uncle are trying to convince her that she needs to go into assisted living. She''s currently living by herself in a sprawling farmhouse. I''m glad that we were able to go by and see her on Wednesday, before all of this started happening.

DD - Yeah, I think I did misread that - I get so tired by the end of the day these days, and so my reading comprehension isn''t always so great.

Pandora- Hope you get the room fixed, and that you have a great time!

 

[taovandel]

So yesterday (3 weeks 6 days), Evan rolled from his tummy to his back. We figured it was just a fluke but he did it two more times today! I''ve read about babies doing this fairly early and then suddenly never doing it again until a month later....but hey, I''m going to pretend my child is a genious!

Blen: So sorry to hear about your grandmother. You''ve had a rough couple of weeks!

 

[taovandel]

I meant to say genius....

 

[taovandel]

I''d like to know everyone''s feelings on pacifiers. He is a bottle fed baby. I''m trying to avoid pacifiers because I''m worried the habit will be hard to break later, my husband wants to use them though.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Blen I''m so sorry about your grandmother!

Tao Paci''s are great, I love them, Hunter loves them, there is a reason they exist, KWIM?

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 11/28/2009 11:14:37 PM
Author: taovandel
I'd like to know everyone's feelings on pacifiers. He is a bottle fed baby. I'm trying to avoid pacifiers because I'm worried the habit will be hard to break later, my husband wants to use them though.

If he'll take them then use them!

I have often wished that Daisy would take one as we have sat through over an hour of non-stop screaming in the car!

Daisy did the rolling thing in the first few weeks - and then not until 2 weeks ago when she rolled over and set off across the floor. Nightmare as I was expecting her to do all the mini-steps before crawling so I could baby-proof the house etc. Nope, in the middle of total chaos and builders everywhere she decides that power-tools are the latest must-have accessory and she is going to get one all on her own. I now have a baby cage and her attempts are thwarted!

So watch out that Evan doesn't suddenly do a Houdini on you when you least expect it!

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 11/29/2009 10:21:22 AM
Author: Pandora II

Date: 11/28/2009 11:14:37 PM
Author: taovandel
I''d like to know everyone''s feelings on pacifiers. He is a bottle fed baby. I''m trying to avoid pacifiers because I''m worried the habit will be hard to break later, my husband wants to use them though.

If he''ll take them then use them!

I have often wished that Daisy would take one as we have sat through over an hour of non-stop screaming in the car!

Daisy did the rolling thing in the first few weeks - and then not until 2 weeks ago when she rolled over and set off across the floor. Nightmare as I was expecting her to do all the mini-steps before crawling so I could baby-proof the house etc. Nope, in the middle of total chaos and builders everywhere she decides that power-tools are the latest must-have accessory and she is going to get one all on her own. I now have a baby cage and her attempts are thwarted!

So watch out that Evan doesn''t suddenly do a Houdini on you when you least expect it!

Even though he is a genius, I think at 4 weeks old she is safe from crawling still

Have fun with your mobile baby Pandora

Now you will feel my pain....

 

[phoenixgirl]

Blen, ugh, so sorry to hear about your grandmother. Hugs.

Tao, we tried to avoid pacifiers, and that lasted all of 6 days. We'll just have to cross the giving up pacifier bridge when we come to it. There are definitely times when Claire is fussy and giving her a pacifier does the trick. I also think it reduces how much she spits up when I can't hold her upright for very long after feeding.

Mandarine, I think it's great that you're being so consistent with the boys. I want to be consistent (have also read Baby Wise, which I hope people realize has been revised since the original extreme version) but we have often found ourselves out with Claire at night or wanting to have her downstairs with us until closer to our bedtime. I have been wondering when the "right" time to initiate a consistent tuck-in is.


Last night Claire went from the 11:00 feeding until 4:15 without waking up, at which point I asked DH to go wake her up in a panic (slightly worried that there was something wrong since she hadn't woken up, although actually DH found her awake in her crib when he went in). So who knows how long she would have gone if we hadn't gotten her. I'm game to find out! We've had two nights in a row of a single overnight feeding between 11 and 6:30, so maybe we can work on eliminating that 3:00 feeding. But seriously BFing moms, do your breasts just adjust? While I'm on maternity leave I might pump in the middle of the night to alleviate the fullness, but on the other hand, isn't one of the big plusses of getting your baby to STTN that you can sleep too?

I've jogged a mile (well, more like sprightly speed walking since I am 3 minutes slower than my pre-pregnancy pace) twice over the weekend and did one of my Lite workout DVDs, and I can't tell you how good I feel. I'm excited to be on the road to increased fitness rather than the gradual reduction that went along with pregnancy. DH has been really good about proclaiming that my workout time is a priority and will come home for lunch a couple of times a week so I can jog during daylight. I'm glad I've always preferred DVDs in my basement over going to the gym as that will be pretty easy to fit in while Claire is napping.

I'm aiming to lose 15 of the 25 extra pounds I'm carrying now when I reach equilibrium, whenever that will be, as I know that with BFing I can't expect to lose the last 10. Sure, I hope it's sooner than later, but I've never been the kind of person to set arbitrary weigh this by a certain date goals; as long as I make healthy eating choices (I never count calories, just try to eat healthy stuff when I'm hungry) and exercise regularly, I'll accept whatever my body does. But speaking of hunger, it's amazing how hungry I've been since Friday when I first started exercising. I swear I hadn't really been hungry ever since Claire was born, and I was worried I wasn't eating enough as a result, but in retrospect I figure that I didn't really need to make much of an adjustment calorie-wise since my activity level has been so much lower than usual, and now that I'm trying to up my activity, I'll definitely need to eat more.

Some of BIL's friends were over last night, and it was interesting to me to observe the women with Claire. There was a lot of fawning and insisting that I allow them to change her diapers, etc. OK with me! I was just never that kind of lover of other people's babies; that's my DH. One woman was ordering her husband of a few months to hold Claire in a bunch of different positions and then told him to put this large metal hair bow (the kind with the locking clip) of her 5 year old cousin's in Claire's hair. Luckily my SIL insisted that was a bad idea; I try to be pretty go with the flow if Claire doesn't seem worse for wear, but it definitely wasn't going to work with my baby's fine hair.

 

[Dreamer_D]

Date: 11/29/2009 4:34:29 PM
Author: phoenixgirl
But seriously BFing moms, do your breasts just adjust? While I''m on maternity leave I might pump in the middle of the night to alleviate the fullness, but on the other hand, isn''t one of the big plusses of getting your baby to STTN that you can sleep too?

Yes, they did for me and I night weaned. He still drinks a tonne in the day. BUT this assumes that you are EBF. I do not think that pumping can replace BFing in terms of keeping up your supply. So if you are skipping a lot of feedings and using a bottle I suspect that for many mothers their supply would not keep up. Unless you are an abundant producer, which some women are. Such women can skip days and still have milk to feed the nation.

BTW if you pump when your baby doesn''t need it your breasts will keep making that extra amount of milk. If you just feed on demand then the supply will equal her needs. So you won''t feel over full at night.

 

[Pandora II]

I am feeling your pain Dreamer !

On my warning to Tao, I meant in the future, not at 4 weeks... I was expecting to see lots of rolling followed by attempts to crawl, I purposely was a bad mummy and didn''t do tummy time in the hope of keeping her in one place as long as possible, so the whole roll over and set off thing was a real shock especially as I was out of the room at the time!

On the supply thing, I think it''s very individual. I''ve always heard that you have more milk in the morning and less in the early evening... well, someone forgot to tell my boobs that. I have next to nothing all morning and then loads in the afternoon and evening. Loads for me that is - I have never produced masses and never even needed a breast pad - if D wasn''t obviously growing I''d still be paranoid about having enough.

I got the apartment sorted out today - thanks for the tip Samantha - and had them deep-clean the place. Seems a lot better since. Hooray! I''m also celebrating that Daisy went to bed last night at 8.30pm, I fed her at 10.30 and then at 1am when I went to bed. She then woke me up at 10am... I really love my daughter today!

Blen - I''m so sorry about your grandmother, how nice that you and George got to see her so recently though.

 

[NovemberBride]

Did you all wait to get clearance from the doctor at your 6 week postpartum appt before starting to exercise? I have been walking around the neighborhood with the baby and the dog, but would like to start some light exercise if I can. I feel completely fine, but have heard some horror stories of moms who thought they were fine so they started exercising and ended up back in the hospital after hemorraging. Definitely don''t want that to happen.

 

[Blenheim]

Thanks for the well wishes about my grandmother.

Tao - he sounds like a genius to me, LOL! My main reservation about pacifiers was nipple confusion, and in some ways I wish that we had introduced one earlier in retrospect. He won''t take one now but sucking really calms him down and it would be so useful in a car. I think that pacifiers may be easier to wean a baby off of than thumb sucking because you can take it away, but I know that other people have had issues with the baby screaming because it falls out of their mouth and they can''t figure out how to put it back in by themselves. I don''t think there''s really a right answer on whether or not to use them.

PG- doesn''t exercising again feel great? When you get engorged it sends a signal to your breasts to slow down milk production. If you consistently get engorged at a certain time of day because she''s not eating then, milk production will slow down for that time of day at least as your body will know that you don''t need the milk then.

November - I did some light exercise as I felt able (walking around the neighborhood light) but it''s a good idea to hold off on anything heavier for 6 weeks. The issue isn''t just hemorage, but you also want your pelvic floor to really recover so it doesn''t give you trouble later on (like in old age). Just a warning - my midwife told me that unless your dog can heel perfectly, the twisting on your midsection from them pulling on the leash isn''t good immediately post partum. She wanted someone else to hold dog leashes for me for about 6 weeks.

 

[Mandarine]

Phoenix, That sounds great!! and funny...I would also go check on the babies if they didn''t wake up to eat when I expect them...hehe. Kind of funny since all I want for Christmas is a silent night!

Yay on running!!! I''m also about 3 mins/mile slower than I was

( Booo!!!. But, since getting clearance last week I have been out running 3 times. First time was able to run 2 miles and walk the rest, then 2.5 miles..and last one 3 miles!!...woohoo!. Hopefully I can work up to 4 miles soon which was my weekday distance pre-pregnancy.

Tao - On paci''s...I also say use them!. My boys don''t always want them...but when they do, they are life savers!!!...specially when I need to stretch out a feeding (if one baby wants to eat well before it is time!). My boys also rolled over pretty early..DH didn''t believe me...so I had the boys give dad a show


***

On the boys being identical...I''m definitely going to do the test...I''m just so curious!

So how long did it take you guys to get back into your clothes?. This wearing maternity clothes thing is getting pretty OLD!!!! (specially since I didn''t buy much of it!). I gained 48 lbs total..lost 28 in the first 3-4 weeks and now I''m stuck with the last 20 lbs. I just started running this week and I know I will need to start dieting if I want to get rid of those lbs. It''s just so hard though when you sit home all day!. Any tips?

 

[E B]

Pandora- We're dealing with roughness here, too. Henry grabs everything he can, including hair and skin when he's nursing. I have to keep his nails super short and even then, the pinching. OUCH. I just move his hand away and like Blen, say, "gentle."

Blen- I'm so sorry about your Grandmother. Hugs.

tao- Yay, Evan! Quite the accomplishment at 4 weeks.

November- Personally, I'd go the safe route and wait the six weeks. If not, def. stick with light activity just in case.

Mandarine- I was pretty lucky and was back to pre-pregnancy weight in less than two weeks. (My 45 lb weight gain was mostly fluid.) I bought new pants after giving birth but they were in pre-preg size, and I was in them by about 3 months PP. I continued to wear my pregnancy jeans for a long time though, because I was strangely comforted by the pregnancy panel. It takes different women different amounts of time, but I bet you'll see those pounds disappear quickly just looking after TWO babies. I'm sure you're doing plenty of exercise without even realizing it!

Well, we now know why (or THINK we know why) Henry's been up at least twice every night when before, he was sleeping much longer: his bottom center teeth have broken through! BOTH. Ahhhhh! You can just barely see them poking through, and when you rub your finger against his bottom gum, you can feel the razor edges. We've been treating with teething tabs and when it gets bad (and nothing will console him, not even BFing), we break out the baby tylenol. Poor little guy.

 

[taovandel]

Thanks everyone for the advice on the pacifiers...He doesn''t seem like he needs them right now--but we were just wondering for the future. We have some ready to go if we need them though.


Mandarine: I''m already at my pre-pregnancy weight (have been for about 1 1/2 weeks) I''m into all of my regular tops...I haven''t tried my pants yet but all my maternity pants practically fall off....

I''m waiting to start working out until after my 6 week appointment (in about 2 weeks). I wasn''t huge on working out before, so I''m going to start off slow.