The new "New Moms" thread!

[kellyf2626]

Kelly - Yeah Brady!! That's awesome ... he is going to be walking everywhere now!!! Sounds like a wonderful birthday party coming up. Is Sunday his actual birthday?

I am so excited about the stroller. We have a Chicco Cortina and a Ct5. I think i am going to try and sell the Cortina and carseat with it. I am hoping for a girl next time and I want to go pink crazy!!! I haven't used the Cortina in months and the CT5 is just a PITA to turn with one hand now and I wanted the snack tray again for Alexander.

Yes, Sunday is his actual birthday! We figured since it landed on a Sunday, we should just have his party that day! Good call to sell the Chicco Cortina and carseat....I bet you could do it easily on Craigslist!!

 

[exwdwcm]

kelly- that is awesome- i watched the vid and he is walking so well! what a big boy he is now!

Ash- still thinking of you and your dad.

had a rough night, Will was up and down last night. DH and i are exhausted. he is a teething maniac. still can't find one, but that is what last night was about. he was slobbering so much it was crazy. gnawing on the crib with his gums. so i expect to see a tooth anytime now. he is behind on getting teeth anyhow since he is over 9 months. he was hurting for sure- we did the natural teething tablets and baby orajel and tylenol, but nothing was helping. tried the washrag to chew on too. oh and he has figured out how to 'fall' gracefully from standing. it is so cute. he squats down real low and then plops on his bottom. or he puts a hand down on the ground and then lowers himself down. it is just too cute to watch him figuring it all out. He loves to stand up and then sit down, over and over again.

 

[7beasley]

Wow – this thread is active (yeah!!) and I am sorry I have been missing for the last week or so!! I have missed everyone. I read through the many pages I missed and I am caught up on everyone’s little ones – lots has happened lately!

Ash -- I am so sorry to hear about your dad. You are both in my thoughts and prayers. I hope he is doing okay and I hope you are okay. You have had a lot of your plate lately. Has Ellery’s sleeping routines gotten any easier? I hope things with DH are going well too. Hugs re: your dad!!!!

Dzynlvr2005 -- Welcome!! Your little girl is adorable. The sleeping will get easier. I think its important to help your baby become a good sleeper now while she is still little. She is tired and wants to sleep so its important to put her down in her crib/basinet, soothe her while she is in the crib when she cries (rub her tummy or head) and let her cry a little till she falls back to sleep. What is her name? Hang out here with this great group of ladies and you will learn a lot of good tips. They are all wise!

Kelly -- Happy 1st Birthday Brady!! Wow - a year sure does fly doesn’t it? The party sounds super fun. Have a great time! And your Disney trip is getting ever closer. You must be psyched to have extended it. That is awesome. We have been thinking this is our last WDW trip alone without kids - I wish we were going longer. We figure we won’t be back now for 2-3 years and the next time we go, it will be with Izzy! Exciting news that the little man has taken some steps too. That will be a big hit at the party.

Michelle -- Hi! Will sounds like he is doing great. That is awesome that he is standing on his own. What a big guy. Hope you are feeling better. Sorry Will had such a rough night last night.

Dmickey -- Yeah for Alex learning how to open the door – now the real fun of baby proofing starts since he can’t get into places he isn’t supposed to be. Sorry about your dog - but if he is nipping at Alex you have no other choice. Good choice about the stroller. Since I read Kelly raving about the Pliko P3 I have looked into them and they are very nice. I am thinking of getting one as well.

Bethany -- My heart broke for you when I was reading your vent about DH! I hope all is well. I don’t understand how husbands have this giant disconnect in their brains...they know that we do stuff all on our own for the baby without their help but then when its their turn to take care of baby if one little thing happens they scream for our help...even though they know that we don’t scream for their help...my DH does that sometimes too. It boggles my mind. Are you teaching Owen sign language? I think that is so cool!! And yeah for Owen for pulling up on his own. Good job!!

Becky -- I laughed out loud at the story about Vaylie hugging her spaghetti. That sounded so adorable – it is the cutest thing ever. She is quite a ham!! Glad to hear your power is back on - that must have been rough. How is your menu planning going?

Denise -- I loved the pictures of Mo and the nursery. He is so handsome and getting so big. And the nursery came out really nice. Good job. Has nap time gotten any better? I think there is nothing you can do except put him down for his naps, go through your nap routine and then just let him cry and scream until either nap time is over or he falls asleep. When Izzy refuses to take a nap, I put her in the crib and I let her scream for 5 minutes - then I go in and rub her head and tummy and sing her a song (I don’t pick her up out of the crib though) and I give her the pacifier and leave again - if she screams I wait about 7 minutes and go back in and do that routine again. If she still screams I wait 10 minutes and do it again. After that if she is not asleep I take her out of the crib. Generally, she falls asleep either within the first 5 minutes of crying or soon after I go in the first time. We have only gone through the 22+ minute cycle of continuous crying once.

Meredith -- OMG I can’t believe how big Sam and Zoe are!! So cute. And they are standing up and eating. They are doing so great - especially for premiums. You must be loving life!!! I am so happy for you. And the stories about how they interact and poke each other and steal toys from each other are priceless.

Tiggersac -- Your fitness club things sounds awesome. Have fun. Did you find an ENT yet? There is a great adult ENT in Worcester, MA named Dr. Oyer. You could call his office and if he doesn’t treat kids then maybe he can give you a Ped ENT name. Also - you could call Children’s Hospital. Go to google and do a search for “Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine” - when you get to that website on the left hand side is link called “physician profiles” click on that and you can do a search by speciality.

Pollito/Sara -- I loved the “where is it” story - so cute!!

JennyL -- sorry to hear about the allergy testing. Hope all goes well.

***********************

Well - here is what is going on with me and Izzy. Overall, she is doing great. She now waves and says “hi” - it is super cute. And she does it at appropriate times, like when someone comes in the house or when she leaves daycare or first thing in the morning. She is eating like a champion and hates jar baby food - instead she wants people food only! The Ped said that was fine and we could give her regular food not baby food. She has four teeth already (her 2 bottoms and top 2 canines). And my girl loves to eat!!

Her stats were good. Height = 29 inches. Weight = 21.4 pounds. She is in the 75% for height and weight. She can get from her belly to sitting. She is a great independent sitter. And she rolls all over the place now.

But - as you guys know - I was worried about the fact that she is not yet crawling and does not yet pull up to standing. The Ped spent a fair amount of time with us examining Izzy and answering our questions. He basically said she is at the late end of crawling. She is 9.5 months now and crawling usually happens between 6-10 months. She is still in the range of pulling to standing which he says is 8-12 months. So overall, he is not super concerned. But he knew I am concerned!! Izzy does get into crawling position and she rocks back and forth - she just does not crawl. She does however move backwards. He thought her legs were normal in that she could bear weight (if you pull her to standing she stands) and she moves them all around and kicks in the pool...But he thought the crawling/standing thing may be muscle weakness, particularly in her left ankle.

So...he is sending us for a PT assessment. We are seeing the Early Intervention people on August 18th so they can do an assessment of her legs/muscles and give us some exercises to do with her to strengthen things. We also have an Orthopedic Consult at Childrens Hosptial in Boston on Sept 9th – just so they can do an x-ray of her legs and make sure everything is normal.

The Doctor stressed with us that he thinks she is fine and that she is just lazy/not interested because we have not challenged her by putting her toys out of reach or letting her get frustrated. And that is true -- she is a kid who is very happy to just be sitting playing with whatever is in front of her so she really hasn’t felt the need to move around. The doctor wants us to start putting things far out of her reach and letting her cry and get frustrated. So that is what we will do.

Ugh – another hurdle to go through. The doctor did say it is definitely nothing with her brain or being mentally delayed so that is good. He said she was very social and smart and he was impressed that she was already saying hi and waving. He really thinks her legs are just a little weak from never being challenged. We never even used to hold her up on her legs and get her to stand because my MIL was always telling us that was bad for babies and put too much pressure on their legs before they were ready. Turns out she is wrong. We should have been making her stand to strengthen her legs! Anyway - Doctor says its nothing life threatening or super bad - she will walk and will stand...eventually. He just thinks it’s a good idea to get her doing those things now rather than give her till 12 months, have her not do those things and then get help and then she’s 6 months behind as opposed to 1 month behind.

At least August 18th is not too far away - I am interested to hear what the PT says after the assessment. We are going to spend a lot of time with Izzy this weekend on her tummy and playing with toys out of reach. Quite honestly, that is not something we have really ever done with her so that is probably a big part of the problem!

Sorry for the long message!

Hope everyone is well!

-Nicole

 

[Tiggerlover91]

When do I start giving Mo just filtered water? I give him juice every other day to help "stretch" the formula. I'm down to my last can...but my WIC checks start tomorrow for nine more....thank goodness! Since I've stopped breastfeeding and he's gotten older, we go through them A LOT quicker now. I know he doesn't get whole milk til one year, but doesn't filtered water come into play sometime soon?

 

[kellyf2626]

Hey Nicole!! First off...can I just say you do such a nice job responding to everyone!! I am always like hmmmm....did I respond to that? Who did I leave out? You are so good at it!! I love how your ped is very pro-active....many ped's are not, and I agree with him that better look at stuff now (even though it's probably nothing ) instead of waiting until it's completely past the timeframe and then be saying, "Oh...if we had only done x, y, or z....". I am sure she is fine....Brady had absolutely NO drive to crawl. He would just sit and play with what was around him. Then one day, he started army-crawling to get a few things (I also never really made him "work" to get to toys....always just brought them to him! ), and then after a few weeks of army-crawling, he started getting up on all fours. And he hasn't slowed down since!! You know Children's will be the best. Keep us posted and (((hugs)))!

Hmmmm.....Denise.....do you mean giving Mo filtered water for a normal bottle feeding? I started giving Brady water in a sippy cup pretty regularly around 8 months old (as well as juice). But, when it was time for a bottle (like in the morning, before naps, and before bedtime) I always gave him his normal 6-8oz of formula. I haven't ever heard of substituing juice/water for a normal bottle feeding....but....I am a first time mom, and don't know everything! We just transitioned completely to whole milk a few weeks ago, and he is loving it so far!!

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Hmmmm.....Denise.....do you mean giving Mo filtered water for a normal bottle feeding? I started giving Brady water in a sippy cup pretty regularly around 8 months old (as well as juice). But, when it was time for a bottle (like in the morning, before naps, and before bedtime) I always gave him his normal 6-8oz of formula. I haven't ever heard of substituing juice/water for a normal bottle feeding....but....I am a first time mom, and don't know everything! We just transitioned completely to whole milk a few weeks ago, and he is loving it so far!!

Not in place of, but in addition to. Mo is still having "issues" with his sippy cup...he likes to eat the handles! But I'll keep working with him and give him filtered water maybe after lunch. I'm not substituting, it just seems whenever I give him juice, it holds him til next solid feeding or bottle feeding. Thanks Kelly, must get ready for work now. Take care.

 

[kellyf2626]

Not in place of, but in addition to. Mo is still having "issues" with his sippy cup...he likes to eat the handles! But I'll keep working with him and give him filtered water maybe after lunch. I'm not substituting, it just seems whenever I give him juice, it holds him til next solid feeding or bottle feeding. Thanks Kelly, must get ready for work now. Take care.

Ahhhh.....ya, that's exactly how I started giving Brady water and juice - in-between feedings if he got thirsty or with a small snack. Ya, Brady loved to eat the handles (still does!), although now he has moved-on to chewing right on the spout. I have been trying to transition to cups without handles, but he really isn't great at those yet! I am sure Mo will be a pro in no-time!

 

[Pollito916]

Kelly - that's so exciting that Brady's walking - and so close to his 1st b-day - what a great present! The video won't play on my work computer (just says buffering) but I will try to watch when I get home.

Denise - I started giving DS small amounts of water (1-2 oz) around 6 months to help teach him to use the sippy cup. Now he loves water as much as he loves milk, and will suck/chew on ice cubes all day if we let him. Which is NOT fun when I come home from work in a skirt and he runs up and wraps his ice cold hands around my bare legs!

Nicole - glad to see you back! That is so cute when they start waving and saying "hi" especially when they do it at the right time! Make sure to let us know how everything goes with the PT.

 

[Pollito916]

So Alex fell while he was running last night, and must have bit down on his bottom lip when he did it, b/c he was bleeding all over the place. Poor little guy! DH got to him first, and when I saw all the blood dripping down his face I was so worried! Luckily we were able to stop the bleeding after a few minutes, and he is fine. We tried giving him ice to suck on to help with the bleeding and sucking, and he just kept wanting more!

Unfortunately, he was carrying his lovey, Rupert, when he fell and got blood all over the light blue bear-blanket. Luckily we have a few more Ruperts in reserve so after the bleeding stopped, we pulled a switch and I soaked the bloody one in ice water to try to get the blood out. It doesn't look too bad, I'll add some oxicleand and hopefully the rest comes out in the wash later!

I'm sure this was just the first of many boo-boos for Alex! He is such a rough little guy!

 

[DMickey28]

We started giving Alexander a little bit of water in a sippy around 6 months as well. Probably by 9 months or so we were giving him a sippy with 90% water and a splash of juice during the day. Usually one normal sized sippy to sip at throughout the day. He still gets at least one if not two sippies a day of either all water or 90% water and a splash of juice.

By a year we started transistioning to toddler formula and whole milk. I honestly can't remember how we made the full transition. For a few months now he has been eating breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner and a bottle of formula at bedtime. He gets whole milk first thing in the AM and for his afternoon snack/dinner, then the formula. He also has at least a yogurt and some cheese during lunch.

Michelle - Has your ped said anything about Motrin yet? I started giving that to alexander when he was teething and over 6 months. I found it gave him more relief than the Tylenol.

Nicole - I am glad that you are getting and evaul for Izzy. It sounds like is more advanced on the vocal/cognative side of things rather than physical so i wouldn't worry at all. Alexander is 15.5 months and he barely has any solid words. He's very vocal and gets his point across but as far as actual words he's got next to nothing. We are going to do an EI meeting and some tests if he doesn't have more by 18 months. Great on the waiving. Alex waves but only when he chooses. He will not wave when we go out to say Goodbye to DH in the morning but he waves at the strangers driving away in the grocery store parking lot!!!

Aww poor Alex. It's so scary when you see them bleeding isn't it? DH panics so luckily it usually happens when he is at work. Months ago when he first learned how to climb up on the couch he didn't know how to get off and would just walk off!!! Once he did it so fast before I could get to him he fell face first on the coffee table gashing the gums above his teeth.

 

[ashjohnson80]

Ellery still has no idea how to work the sippy cup. She mostly just hits herself in the head with it and then growls at it. I don't try it every day though, I always seem to forget.

Her sleeping is getting a teeny bit better. Naps are still really hard but she's doing some better at night. But now she's getting up at 6am. I'm getting so tired. DH is working so much this week and I haven't seen any other human except for the baby in days. We did go to see dad last night for a short visit, I think that cheered him up a little bit.

Dad is probably going to be in the hospital for a while still. They aren't even talking about doing the heart cath until next week sometime and until they do that we don't really know what to expect. Dad is being stubborn and saying that he wants to go home and that he doesn't think that he's even had a heart attack, and we're like dude, it's showing up on all of the fancy doctors stuff, just calm down and try to relax. All of our computers are all messed up and I think its driving him crazy that he can't come and fix them. I wish my mom hadn't even told him.

Speaking of formula. I need to go to wal-mart and buy some.

 

[beckmrk04]

Vaylie wasn't good at the sippy cup until around 9-10 months (I think).

God, it seems like so much of this stuff I can't remember. Already.

Nicole- sounds like Izzy is on the verge of crawling- Vaylie started getting up on her hands and knees and rocking, and before long she was zooming around (at around 6 months). My nephew had NO interest whatsoever in crawling for the longest time. FInally, at around 9 or 9 1/2 months, he started army crawling. DId that for a couple of weeks, then started crawling regularly. But then it wasn't long after that before he started walking.

Now they run. Everywhere. All the time.


Yesterday was "errand" day. I hate taking up my days off to run errands, but it's gotta be done, I guess. Got DH's financial aid for school all figured out. Had to go get his glasses adjusted. Got Vaylie's bangs trimmed- she SCREAMED bloody murder. She does not like people messing with her hair. She even had a sucker! No luck. But her bangs grow so darn fast. No way am I cutting them. I can't even imagine what a goofball she'd look like if I cut her hair. I can barely manage to get the pigtails in (but she looks SOOO cute with her hair in pigtails!!!)

 

[jennyL]

Morning everyone. Its been a crazy week with working and everything that I've been reading but not really responding much.

I do have a question how long did it take for your little ones to accept food. Noah seemed to start ok with it but its only been 2 weeks and he doesn't seem to want it at all. When we sit him down for food he keeps turning his head back and forth like no he doesn't want it and then when he gets it in his mouth he screams again and it falls out. I can get him to eat sometimes by going mmmmm and he mimics me so the food goes down and he doesn't seem to mind that. I really think he just doesn't like the texture in his mouth or something. One of the people at DHs office suggested letting him try to feed himself with his hands so that he gets used to the texture and taste and then going back to the spoon. Has anyone done that? So far we've tried rice cereal, bananas and applesauce thinking he just didn't like what we were giving him but no luck so far. Ideas?

 

[kellyf2626]

Morning everyone. Its been a crazy week with working and everything that I've been reading but not really responding much.

I do have a question how long did it take for your little ones to accept food. Noah seemed to start ok with it but its only been 2 weeks and he doesn't seem to want it at all. When we sit him down for food he keeps turning his head back and forth like no he doesn't want it and then when he gets it in his mouth he screams again and it falls out. I can get him to eat sometimes by going mmmmm and he mimics me so the food goes down and he doesn't seem to mind that. I really think he just doesn't like the texture in his mouth or something. One of the people at DHs office suggested letting him try to feed himself with his hands so that he gets used to the texture and taste and then going back to the spoon. Has anyone done that? So far we've tried rice cereal, bananas and applesauce thinking he just didn't like what we were giving him but no luck so far. Ideas?

Hmmmmm....I would keep offering him the rice cereal, banana's, and applesauce. It probably is a texture thing along with this just being new. Is Noah teething? His gums could be feeling weird to him as well, so that could be it too. I would keep offering it (maybe try oatmeal cereal as well?) and maybe after a while he will take to it?

 

[exwdwcm]

Nicole- welcome back. i understand the concern for Izzy and glad the ped is on top of it and doing something. i bet she is just taking her time, but i know it will make you feel better to check it out. Will loved his rainforest jumper and i think the strengthened his legs a lot when he was 5-8 months. and if she is rocking back and forth on her knees, then she is close.

Ash- glad Ellery is doing a little better at night. hopefully you will continue to get a little more relief. hope your dad is doing better too.

Denise- i give him water and some juice usually in the am and after dinner. he also chews on his cup handles a lot, but i think it is all a learning experience. he also drinks out of it and sometimes just plays.

So sorry about Alex falling- how scary! glad he is okay. i am sure you were probably more scared than he was! i know that is how we moms get.

Will slept better last night, but still woke up once, which is unusual. i will have to ask about motrin- i didn't know it worked better, so that might be worth a try. we are going for our waterbabies swim lesson tomorrow! he loves the water, so we are goign to try it.

oh and we booked our Dec09 trip today! yeah. 10 days at WL waterview with dining and park hoppers. i wish it wasn't so far away.

 

[beckmrk04]

Little brag-

DH went to Border's yesterday to get himself a magazine. And he told me while he was there he got me a surprise...

When I got home from work he gave me a copy of "Walt Disney World with Kids 2009" !!! I love this man!

And I want to book my trip, darn it!

 

[kellyf2626]

Little brag-

DH went to Border's yesterday to get himself a magazine. And he told me while he was there he got me a surprise...

When I got home from work he gave me a copy of "Walt Disney World with Kids 2009" !!! I love this man!

And I want to book my trip, darn it!

What a nice guy!!! That book sounds good! I think I need to get one!!

 

[beckmrk04]

OK. I have decided to book a trip. We are doing a vacation savings club with my bank, and I am going to put that and our tax refund towards DISNEY!!! I mean, that Mouse just doesn't have enough of my money.

I am so excited!!! I need something to plan, and it has been 2 years since our last trip.

Now, we have to sit down and decide when to book. And I think my sis is going to go with us! Which will be fun- she's never been.

Sometimes I think the planning is more fun than the actual vacation!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We went to Grant's Farm today (in St. Louis)- I haven't been since I was small! It is fun, though. They have all kinds of animals, you can feed little goats from bottles, they have food and gift shops, and it's just a really nice place to spend the day outdoors. And what a gorgeous day- usually in August it's horribly disgustingly hot, but today was sunny and beautiful and just right! Vaylie got such a kick out of all the animals and tried to make all of their unique sounds (although, apparently she thinks most animals say "quack" or "moo", as in- "Vaylie, what's a camel say?" "Quack, quack!" ) I love my kid.

 

[TiggerStac]

OK. I have decided to book a trip. We are doing a vacation savings club with my bank, and I am going to put that and our tax refund towards DISNEY!!! I mean, that Mouse just doesn't have enough of my money.

I am so excited!!! I need something to plan, and it has been 2 years since our last trip.

Now, we have to sit down and decide when to book. And I think my sis is going to go with us! Which will be fun- she's never been.

Sometimes I think the planning is more fun than the actual vacation!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We went to Grant's Farm today (in St. Louis)- I haven't been since I was small! It is fun, though. They have all kinds of animals, you can feed little goats from bottles, they have food and gift shops, and it's just a really nice place to spend the day outdoors. And what a gorgeous day- usually in August it's horribly disgustingly hot, but today was sunny and beautiful and just right! Vaylie got such a kick out of all the animals and tried to make all of their unique sounds (although, apparently she thinks most animals say "quack" or "moo", as in- "Vaylie, what's a camel say?" "Quack, quack!" ) I love my kid.

I love it...camels say quack. Don't let her near my son, he thinks everything sounds like a monkey.

 

[Pollito916]

God, it seems like so much of this stuff I can't remember. Already.

Isn't it sad!?! I see all the newer new moms on here talking about milestones and I can't remember when Alex hit some of them. Sometimes it bothers me so much I dig up his baby book and look it up!

I do have a question how long did it take for your little ones to accept food..... Ideas?

I agree with the other ladies to just keep trying, and one thing that helped with Alex was to let him hold his own spoon. Even before he was old enough to try to feed himself, he still liked holding the spoon and would let me feed him that way. Without his own spoon, he would scream and his head would spin in circles. Ok not really, but it seemed like it sometimes!

OK. I have decided to book a trip. We are doing a vacation savings club with my bank, and I am going to put that and our tax refund towards DISNEY!!! I mean, that Mouse just doesn't have enough of my money.

I am so excited!!! I need something to plan, and it has been 2 years since our last trip.

Now, we have to sit down and decide when to book. And I think my sis is going to go with us! Which will be fun- she's never been.

Sometimes I think the planning is more fun than the actual vacation!

Yay! We haven't been since 2005, so we are way overdue too. And I planning almost as much as I love the trip too. My family all knows how much I love planning that they let me plan the trip for everyone and call me the "trip planning nazi". Nobody mess with my ADRs!!!