PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[ChargerGrrl]

Hello Mamas!

Super-quick drive by post from me. We're at my IL's this week- traveled out on Sunday. it was a loooong travel day (2 flights and hour-long car ride), but N was a total trooper. I can't believe it's only Tuesday... My IL's are lovely people, but they live in the middle of nowhere PA. There's NOTHING to do here, it's too cold to walk outside, can't really watch TV as it's always in use, no shopping to speak of. UUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH

But at least I'm spending lots of quality time with N and DH (and my blackberry!). I was finally able to snag my BIL's laptop to post on PS- yahoo!

In case I can't post again, wishing everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

 

[turtledazzle]

Hello Mamas!

Super-quick drive by post from me. We're at my IL's this week- traveled out on Sunday. it was a loooong travel day (2 flights and hour-long car ride), but N was a total trooper. I can't believe it's only Tuesday... My IL's are lovely people, but they live in the middle of nowhere PA. There's NOTHING to do here, it's too cold to walk outside, can't really watch TV as it's always in use, no shopping to speak of. UUUUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH

But at least I'm spending lots of quality time with N and DH (and my blackberry!). I was finally able to snag my BIL's laptop to post on PS- yahoo!

In case I can't post again, wishing everyone a very HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

That's so great that N traveled well. Enjoy your quality family time and make BIL leave his laptop for you

 

[turtledazzle]

Everyone -- thanks for the responses re: poops. Reassurances from you all make me feel better. He had his first poop at daycare yesterday (the longest he been there so far is 5 hours, so he just hadn't pooped there yet). I arrived when he was asleep outside in a bouncy chair (we had such gorgeous unusual weather yesterday) -- he had fallen asleep while they were outside playing. So, I just sat with him until he woke up. When I went to pick him up -- blow out was obvious, and it got on the bouncy chair cover as well. I felt so bad ... and, of course, I was the one who cleaned him up and changed him, darnit

jcrow -- I had previously tried the Target diapers and we had leaks (both pee and poop), but maybe it is time to try them again. I have some leftover in the closet.

Pupp -- I have been meaning to post about the bottle warmer. I ended up getting this one http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3955977... I see that the reviews for it aren't that great, but I just bought the one I liked best when I was at BRU (and didn't know it was poorly reviewed). We've been using it a few weeks now and it is working great for us, though we do only use it once a day.

Hope everyone else is doing well. Happy Thanksgiving to all! I'm looking forward to a four-day weekend with my husband and son. We're having a small meal with my mom on Thursday, and then over to our friends' house for dessert. On Friday we have a dinner with a few friends to celebrate a 2nd birthday for my friend's son. It will be a great, child-filled weekend.

ETA: I forgot to post our good news -- the past two days at daycare T has napped well. Yesterday he napped for a little over an hour and today his nap was 1hr 20min. So much better than the usual 45min. He still doesn't seem to want to nap longer for ME, but since his naps will primarily be at daycare in a few weeks when I go back to work, I'm so glad he seems to be adjusting well there.

 

[cara]

Well Silas is at his second day at daycare... I should be working on my writing but here I am posting on ps! Yesterday was his first day, what a day. Both DH and I had food poisoning, I had to call DH home from work in the middle of the night on Sunday to help with the bebe because I was puking in the trash can, meanwhile he had just been getting nauseous at work. So somehow 12 hrs later I managed to get all the stuff together and take Silas in to day care for a few hours so his parents could get some sleep. Oh my. Thankfully our little boy was generally happy as a clam and he was good to us last night and we could recover more... I can't imagine if we had little ones that *moved* to chase after! A diaper change nearly did me in during the worst of it.

Though some of the Silas's extra sleeping last night was probably because he didn't sleep much at daycare - no surprise, they said he's a good eater (yup, he's huge for a reason!) and a picky sleeper. He likes to sleep on/next to people and needs to be coerced into sleeping on the standard sleeping appliances. Plus day care woln't use swaddles, something about not using 'child restraints' - which I would have thought was a good policy, but maybe we could make an exception for the wee ones whose twitchy arms are not yet fully under their control and keep beating them about the head while they are trying to sleep.

But the good news is that I got a new job offer! Big changes, but I think its a good change. It's a little nervewracking, but I'll be leaving the university I've been at for 8+ years now. More than half my adult life... And jumping into the corporate world, leaving academia. I'll probably start the new job in the new year, so go back to the old job for a few weeks to finish up (say goodbye!) and then make another transition to the new job.

Turtle, I am in the same boat as you trying to figure out the bottles for daycare. Yesterday he ate ~3oz every two hours, which kind of jives with how often I've been feeding him during the day. He'll go longer at night or if he has a big nap during the day, but often he's eating every couple of ours. Also we've only sporadically bottle fed him, but he's rarely finished 4 oz, more like 3+ in a typical feeding if he's hungry. But we've only had one day there. Today I made an extra bottle for him, plus I'm trying to stock the freezer as I can.

But man this pump/bottle feed combo sure makes for a lot of dishes! Tons of little parts to clean all the time. Puppmom, I too think I need more bottles. I'm also using the expensive Born Free ones. I'd like to have enough stuff to go two days without dishes if possible, or like right now, make the bottles without having to clean the ones that are currently at daycare.

Mara, drinking out of a straw seems so exciting and advanced! Silas already makes little mouthy motions when we big people are eating, so hopefully he'll be on board for all things food related. I too am thinking ahead to safe baby containment devices when the time comes, and we have a 2-bedroom apartment. Reasonably sized for what it is, but its a two bedroom apartment. I returned the pack n play we got when I was pregnant, that might have been shortsighted. We'll need *something* non-crib to contain him. And babyproofing this apartment is going to be a challenge!

mtjoya- the bieber hair is super cute! (and girly enough!)

charger- hope you survive the inlaws okay!

meresal- let us know how the high chair works out. But it sounds good!

ETA: fiery, that video is a riot. The automom's voices are great.

 

[Mara]

awww mtj... i love J rockin' the bieber! she's such a doll.

cara, yay for a great job offer!!! sounds like good things are happening. lol re the straw, sometimes it does seem that way on these new milestones. like holy crap my kid is sucking through a straw and 9 months ago he was barely figuring out how to latch on the boob. so fun really...and yes-child containment is key once they're more mobile. we didn't have really anything but our crib because he was immobile but once he became mobile i was like CRAP where do we put him if i have to pee?! literally.

gearing up for thanksgiving here. my sister just came home from europe for 5 days, so exciting. J was SO HAPPY to see her, he was soo smiley every time he looked at her.

and i plan to put our tree up the week after thanksgiving. fingers crossed J won't notice. LOL!

 

[Sha]

mtjoya - just popping in quickly to say at J! Both photos are sooo cute!

to everyone else! Been really busy but lurking/reading on the run.

 

[turtledazzle]

Well Silas is at his second day at daycare... I should be working on my writing but here I am posting on ps! Yesterday was his first day, what a day. Both DH and I had food poisoning, I had to call DH home from work in the middle of the night on Sunday to help with the bebe because I was puking in the trash can, meanwhile he had just been getting nauseous at work. So somehow 12 hrs later I managed to get all the stuff together and take Silas in to day care for a few hours so his parents could get some sleep. Oh my. Thankfully our little boy was generally happy as a clam and he was good to us last night and we could recover more... I can't imagine if we had little ones that *moved* to chase after! A diaper change nearly did me in during the worst of it.

Though some of the Silas's extra sleeping last night was probably because he didn't sleep much at daycare - no surprise, they said he's a good eater (yup, he's huge for a reason!) and a picky sleeper. He likes to sleep on/next to people and needs to be coerced into sleeping on the standard sleeping appliances. Plus day care woln't use swaddles, something about not using 'child restraints' - which I would have thought was a good policy, but maybe we could make an exception for the wee ones whose twitchy arms are not yet fully under their control and keep beating them about the head while they are trying to sleep.

But the good news is that I got a new job offer! Big changes, but I think its a good change. It's a little nervewracking, but I'll be leaving the university I've been at for 8+ years now. More than half my adult life... And jumping into the corporate world, leaving academia. I'll probably start the new job in the new year, so go back to the old job for a few weeks to finish up (say goodbye!) and then make another transition to the new job.

Turtle, I am in the same boat as you trying to figure out the bottles for daycare. Yesterday he ate ~3oz every two hours, which kind of jives with how often I've been feeding him during the day. He'll go longer at night or if he has a big nap during the day, but often he's eating every couple of ours. Also we've only sporadically bottle fed him, but he's rarely finished 4 oz, more like 3+ in a typical feeding if he's hungry. But we've only had one day there. Today I made an extra bottle for him, plus I'm trying to stock the freezer as I can.

But man this pump/bottle feed combo sure makes for a lot of dishes! Tons of little parts to clean all the time. Puppmom, I too think I need more bottles. I'm also using the expensive Born Free ones. I'd like to have enough stuff to go two days without dishes if possible, or like right now, make the bottles without having to clean the ones that are currently at daycare.

Cara -- So sorry about the food poisoning. Ugh. Congrats on the job offer. That's great. I made the switch from academia a couple of years ago (got out of true research as I was burned out) -- I miss academia on occasion, but for the most part I'm much happier.
Before 2.5 months T was still eating about every two hours. Now it is closer to every three hours. At daycare he has a 5 oz bottle every 3 hours. However, when I get him home in the afternoons he seems to want to eat more ... not really sure at this point if it is cluster feeding, or if he just wants to breastfeed more since he's been away from me. We're going to start doing trials of full days at daycare later next week (I go back to work mid-December), and I want to get everyone used to the schedule ahead of time.

I'm also sorry they don't swaddle at your daycare. We've got T doing naps with one arm out now ... he's 3m1w old. He seems to be doing really well with it. However, we're still using the miracle blanket at night with both arms in, but looser than we used to. He sleeps so well at night that we are both terrified of unswaddling him for nighttime sleep ... but it's gotta happen sometime, just not sure when ...

 

[ChinaCat]

Just popping in to say HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY PIPER!!!!!! And congrats to Amber, you made it!

 

[AmberWaves]

Hi Everyone! So sorry to just fall in, but I was reading that mega-thread on RT and decided to check in on the mommies!

China was right, today my girl is a year!! Holy moly, it's crazy. I guess I'd move to the other thread, but right now I just wanted to say hi to everyone. Enjoy this time with your babies, it goes by so fast!

Thanks China!

 

[Sha]

Happy Birthday to Piper!! And congrats on making it through the first year, Amber! It's nice to hear from you... I hope things have eased up a bit for you in terms of the work/family life balance etc. Do post a recent pic of Piper so that we can see how she's grown!

 

[turtledazzle]

Wishing everyone a very Happy First Thanksgiving with your LO's. This year I am so thankful to have a healthy, happy son
Hope you all have a wonderful long weekend!

 

[anchor31]

I haven't posted much lately, but I wanted to wish a wonderful Thanksgiving to my US friends!
I also wanted to share something I found this morning... I thought it could interest someone. Eats on Feets in an organization that matches mothers who need breastmilk with mother who have enough to share. I think this is amazing, and there are chapters all over the world! http://www.eatsonfeets.org/

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Thanks so much for posting that Anchor. I've got a freezer full of milk that Aidan can't eat and I've been trying to think of something to do with it. This is perfect!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

And Happy Turkey Day!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's an early contribution to BPF. Aidan in his new hat and shoes (OMG, ON has the cutest stuff right now!!!)

 

[Puppmom]

So, last Thanksgiving I got my BFP and now I have a beautiful baby boy. For that, I am so thankful!

Anchor, thank you so much for posting that. I'm still pumping 10-12 ounces per day more than N needs and there's no local milk bank. My last resort would have been to ship my milk but I hope I find something on eats for feets!

Cara, yes, holy dishes! My kitchen counter looks like a bottle and pump parts junk yard! Congrats on the job offer. That's awesome!

MTJ, J is absolutely gorgeous! And I love the Bieber-do!

Turtle, thanks for the link. I should buy a warmer for MIL for xmas! In all seriousness, DH and MIL would probably really like that. I'm so glad T is napping for you...I hope that continues! Naps are heaven.

HH, what a cute pic! He might need that hat outside today. I don't know about Boston but the cold weather is BACK! We actually had some snow this morning! Nolan slept through his first snow.

Mara, J is such a big boy. When I read your stories, I am AMAZED at how much a baby accomplishes in their first year. It's so weird to think in a few short months, we'll be doing some of those things.

SS, for decreased meds! Lily has come such a long way.

AFM, I've been on vacation from work this week so it's been really nice to be with N all day. He rolled over this week. Now that he knows he can, he does whenever we put him down for tummy time. So much for tummy time! I also think I've begun to see a schedule emerge. For the last 5 days he's had pretty much the same schedule every day. You think it'll stick? I like it because he naps for long chunks so I (or MIL) have some free time and he's up until around 7:30 or 8 which means I get to hang out with him after work.

Wake and eat at 6:30am
Nap 9-11:00 or 11:30 (I've been waking him at 11:30 to eat if he isn't up)
11:30am eat
2:00 - 3:30pm nap
3:30 eat
5:30 eat
7:30 eat
8:00 bed

It's weird that he goes 5 hours then 4 hours between feeds and eats every 2 hours at the end of the day. I don't mind because it means more nursing and less pumping. Oh, I also think N is teething. He was all a fuss last Saturday night for 4 hours! DH had a work function so it was just me and DD (she was so helpful thank goodness!) I was about to lose my mind. After trying Mylicon with no success, I tried Tylenol wondering if it was teeth since he's been drooling a ton. Still nothing so I called SIL for some advice. She recommended orajel. I went and bought some and he was a new man within 2 minutes of putting it on! I wish it hadn't taken 4 hours to get there. Gosh, I'm such a novice! He's been needing it twice a day since but still no chomper. I wonder how long it will take for that thing to bust through!

Well, I better get my butt in gear. We have to be at the IL's for Thanksgiving in a few hours!

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

Pupp, it's so fracking cold here now! It was about 60 degrees on Tuesday. Last night my SIL and I went out and just about froze our nips off walking from the restaurant to the car.

So I've already found someone to donate my milk to. She lives about 5 miles away. I'm so excited 1. to empty my freezer, I have bags of BM falling out everywhere when I open it, 2. to not have it go to waste and 3. to meet a fellow mom in my area!

 

[anchor31]

HH and pupp - I'm not sure why I'm so personally moved by you two donating your milk (perhaps because I would have needed it for my son 6 months ago?), but God bless you. Seriously, this is the most amazing gift to give.

 

[somethingshiny]

pupp~ Lily cluster feeds at night too. Looks like you've got a pretty good schedule going! I can't get Lily on a schedule for the life of me.

 

[MonkeyPie]

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving with their little ones!

Babysteals.com has baby fedoras right now for $15! I got one, of course. Hahaha!

 

[Sha]

Where are all the BPF pics?

HH - Aidan looks so content and comfy in that pic! Love the hat and shoes!

Here's a pic of Dalila a few weeks ago - sitting on the table at her grandparents' house, eating her rag...

 

[Mara]

happy thanksgiving mamas!!!

kudos to you ladies donating your milk, that is awesome! and great find, anchor.

sha, D is sooo cute!!!

so i posted this already on FB but here is a pic of me and J from yesterday at the turkey trot. it was 35 out so i dressed him in fleece PJ's and this snowsuit thing that his grandma got him. he was so toasty in the stroller--but my hands almost froze off. my little eskimo bear.

 

[mtjoya]

Thank you ladies! Hehe she is a handful!

HH-What a cutie! I love the hat!

Sha-She is such a beauty! Such a cutie!

Mara-What a cutie! I love his gear! You are so cute too! you don't look like his mom but older sis! hehe!

 

[Allison D.]

here's a belated shot of J from this wkd taken by one of his most favorite aunties..!!! i love it because i'm tickling him and he's giggling.

This most favorite auntie was SO excited to finally spend some time with him too! The only think better than pictures of this child is SNUGGLING with him - nothing better on earth! He is just truly a love, so much personality and very sharp like his mama.

One of my favorite things about him - he loves jewelry! Fascinated with it, loves to touch it, play with it, etc. If he didn't already have my heart, I'd be a goner on that one!

 

[Sha]

Thanks for the comments, Mara and mtjoya! Cute outfit, Mara! Looks very comfy.

So I guess I'll be leaving this thread soon , as Dalila will be 1 tomorrow. But of course I plan to stick around still... ) I'm excited about reaching this milestone! Dalila's growing more and more delightful and engaging every day. She's not walking yet but can stand by herself for about 30 seconds or so, before falling on her bum. I guess the next thing will be learning to take a step forwards. I'm excited about her learning to walk, but at the same time, very, very afraid..... Her two words right now are "'Dad- dee" (I keep trying to get her to say 'Mom-mee"...but nothing yet! ) and 'Ba-bye", with the hand motions. he hee...

I'm going to dress her in a special onesie tomorrow and maybe give her a little treat in the afternoon, after daycare. We're planning to have a little family get-together on Saturday (just cake, snacks, and drinks) to celebrate.

 

[mtjoya]

Sha- You are leaving! But congrats on your bebe's bday! Wow! 1 already! They grow sooooo freaken fast! She is such a beauty! I will see you in the the other thread in 2 more months!

Question: Highchairs/boosters..

What do you ladies have? I am looking for one online. A cheapy one. Don't know what to get. Please advise. Thx!

 

[turtledazzle]

Hi mommies,
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! I love all the baby pics!

T has been congested the past few days ... we think it might be his first cold. His daddy was a little congested on Thanksgiving so that might be the source (or it could be the beginning of daycare colds -- the little ones there are always having runny noses these days). He seems to be a happy baby otherwise, though.

I've been trying to suck out the snot with the bulb syringe with limited luck. Should I get a battery operated one? I also remember reading about the Nosefrida here?

We have been doing one arm out of the Miracle Blanket at night for a few nights now. DH does bedtime and did this w/o my input (when he told me I was freaked that we would have a terrible night), but since we had a long weekend it was a good time to test it out. He actually slept pretty well, if a bit more noisy. He would get roused and need the paci at 5:30a instead of his usual wake up time of 6:30a. He sucks on his hand and sometimes gags himself because he is a finger sucker instead of the thumb (he's only found his thumb a couple of times that I saw). He sticks those fingers back too far in his mouth and that causes him to gag. Did anyone else's LOs do this? I'm wondering if it is too soon to let the hands loose if he's doing this?

Last night DH tried both arms out (again w/o asking me -- I'm chicken about trying new things and messing with his sleep). He slept well from 7:30p until 2:30a, at which time he woke us up. We checked the monitor and he was trying to shove both hands completely into his mouth -- not enough room there little guy . Any way, DH got up with him and reswaddled with one arm out and gave him the paci and he fell back to sleep within 15 minutes or so. So it seems he's definitely not ready for two arms out yet, and maybe we're pushing the one arm out thing on his a little early. But he is 3.5 months old now, so it should be time soon.
This congestion might also be affecting his sleep a bit.
It has really just been the past week or so where he keeps cramming his hands in his mouth all.the.time. At first we thought it meant he was hungry, but he does it immediately after eating as well. Maybe he's just *found* his hands, or could it be a really early sign of teething? He doesn't seem in discomfort, just cannot keep his hands out of his mouth. I teethed early (by his age I already had white nubs that had broken through my gums). I was hoping he would be spared.

Sorry, I seem to be in a rambling mood today. Gotta run to get ready to take T to daycare for a bit. Hope everyone has a good day!

 

[meresal]

Congrats of D's birthday Sha! I hope that the party was wonderful!

Question: Highchairs/boosters..

What do you ladies have? I am looking for one online. A cheapy one. Don't know what to get. Please advise. Thx!

Mtjoya- We just orderd this one for "One Step Ahead": http://www.onestepahead.com/catalog/product.jsp?productId=536832&cmSource=CrossSell&relatedProductId=534089

I LOVE that C will be able to use it after he needs it as a high chair. Some of the parents reviews say that thier kids still use it up to age 3 (without the harness part of course). Also, I like the wood. Though it is not as dark as our espresso furniture, I will be ok with it sitting in the corner and not putting it away every time we use it.

We haven't received it yet, but I will post my review once we get it!

 

[meresal]

Also, here is my belated picture from last week:

C's 1st Thanksgiving... he was such a doll the whole day, and I'm sure it didn't have anything to do with the 15 women there that doted over him the entire day!

 

[Mara]

so cute Mere. is that him getting into someone's purse lol.

sha, congrats on D's birthday and HAPPY BIRTHDAY D!!!! first birthday, huge milestone! Great job Mama!! I will miss you here so hope you stick around but I'll be over there in 2-3 more months, YIKES. I am with MTJ, it's so weird that the time goes by this quickly.

MTJ..we use the FP booster that is like $23 on walmart.com. I didn't want a big high chair in our house and this fits in a chair under the table so it's barely visible. Plus supposedly he can use it til he's like 2 or something so that was nice for so little cost. and LOL re: me looking like J's sister, that is a sweet yet utterly untrue compliment hehe. but thank you!

turtle, we have the Graco battery aspirator and it's ok. it seems to depend on what type of snot it is to say how easily it comes out. but it's better than the manual free bulb from the hospital for sure. the nosefrida had great reviews but we needed something ASAP so we just went to the store and bought the graco--nosefrida was not sold at BRU or local drugstores. hope baby is better soon.

hope the other mamas are doing well. we are in the swing of crazy holiday work and planning/gift buying etc. my CC is smoking and needs a break. yikes!

 

[meresal]

so cute Mere. is that him getting into someone's purse lol.

Ha, you know, mommy's little pick-pocket... SAHM's need to get theirs somewhere.

It was ThanksGIVING after all...