# May '04 babes/ June Toddler thread



## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Welcome to the Toddler forum mamas and babes!!

Here's a link to our last thread in Life With a Babe!

Let's start off with a quick roll call and general update if you want. Here's hoping some lurkers and less frequent posters will join in too!


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Just a quickie update here. Hmmm....where to start? :LOL Her faves these days are books and Babybug magazines and her Little People farm and new LP house. She has started carrying and crawling with things around the house and loves to push her Little Tikes bus everywhere and take on funny passengers like toy plates, stuffed gorillas, blocks and small balls! She is slow with the food stuff still, but lets me know when she is more interested and delights in mooching crackers from me. She definitely prefers crunchy things and cheese --American or shredded cheddar/mozzarella. She had us all laughing the other day when she was grunting mightily for lots of nibbles of my slice of pizza. She was verrrrrry into sucking the sauce off of it! :LOL She is still nursing lots and more often at night now as I think two more teeth (at least!) are on the way. We're in the one nap a day crowd---usually 11-1230 and bedtime at 8 and wakeup at 640am on the dot! Her favorite outside activities are playing with her new sand/water table and crawling around in the wood chips at the park. She has no qualms about getting absoultely filthy dirty. She loves to watch other kids and loves when the older kids come over to talk with her. At the library and playgroup she also loves watching the other babies and after about twenty minutes or so will usually join in with them...more like near them and for the moment will share toys and isn't very grabby. If someone grabs a toy from her she usually doesn't react much just looks a little puzzled.







Latest stats...301/8inches and 22lbs13oz.

How's that for a rambling update!


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## Jacqueline (Jun 11, 2003)

I'm here! Hard to believe I'm the second poster of this thread....not my normal mode of infrequent posting!









Anyway, can't believe we're on the Toddler Board! Wow. Gabriel is crawling/cruising around about everywhere. He plays with all kinds of things, even if it's not a toy







No walking, but soon. He loves our cats; they have a special relationship of head butting going on. He likes the idea of books, but doesn't initiate them. He also hasn't figured out a lot of imaginative play yet. He mostly likes to bang things together or look at them for a long time (maybe a boy thing!) He also loves watching other kids wherever we go, much like Camille, Heather. Don't have his stats yet as his one-year appt. is tomorrow. He'll be getting his first vaccine as we decided to delay a year and are being selective. He'll get DTaP tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Sleep is, well, difficult at times. But, he does usually sleep all night. Albeit in our bed with 2-4 feedings, but he doesn't ever really wake up and neither do I anymore, thanfully. Naps are still at 2, but it varies. Usually he needs a shortish one (30 min to one hour) in the morning about 2-3 hours after he wakes up, and then an afternoon one, usually. Sometimes the afternoon one is long (if I stay by him and read) or short (when I leave the bed). And, sometimes it's way too late in the day and messes with bedtime! We're still working it all out.

Okay, gotta change his all night diaper. It's WET!


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## Jacqueline (Jun 11, 2003)

forgot to subscribe!


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

i'm jessica. ds is isaac. he turned one on thursday (covered in roseola rash...not quite the birthday i envisioned for him). he recuperated in time for his party on monday though







he had fun playing with all the babes....and it was the first time i'd ever seen him fighting over toys. he used to sort of look and then pick up something else. he's getting quite opinionated lately

he is going into a new realm of wanting to do things himself. he'll take the spoon from me and try to eat. he'll take the comb and touch it to his head and this morning i handed him his toothbrush and he chewed on it for a bit :LOL

he is walking and getting lots of bumps and bruises. he LOVES stairs. he is a little bit verbal but mostly it is babble. he is still kind of a baldy :LOL

i'll get his stats today at his 1yr appointment. wish me strength on delaying the MMR--our ped is not a pro-delayer. he was 26 lb 2 oz, 3 weeks ago and i'm guessing he'll be ~the same. he didn't eat much last week being sick. i am curious to see how tall he is. he is taller than all his little playgroup buddies his age (dh is tall)

he loves books with action items like popups, tabs to pull, and fur to pet. other books are still sort of a wrestling match to turn pages. i'm looking forward more to the 'listening to the story' phase :LOL all in good time.

he starts each night in his crib ~8-9 and comes into bed with us after the first wakeup. he sleeps until 7 or 8 am. the number of night nursings varies hugely. last night he went from 10pm to 5am














:









dh and i both work fulltime and isaac goes to daycare. he is already in the first toddler room







: where he is having a lot more fun because they go outside and he can fall in puddles. he LOVES being outside. getting out our backdoor is a major pursuit of his.

that is isaac in a nutshell









i'll try to post a pic of his birthday tonight.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

I'm Sherri, Mom to Katelyn (5.5.04) and Sarah (3.16.02).

Katelyn at her one year checkup weighed 24lb 7oz, and was 32inches(?) long. Not sure about the height, but that is pretty close anyway...she has 8 teeth now, and 2 more are on the very edge of breaking through on the top, and two on the bottom are getting there...she has been an early teether, tho, she got her bottom two teet about a week shy of four months of age.
Katelyn is a very pleasant, laid back kid. She's so portable, and loves to go places. She loves watching her big sister play, and often tries to play with her. For the most part the get along really well. Its obvious how much they love each other. Katelyn is busy crawling, cruising, climbing stairs, and just recently learned to stand unassisted. Now she's at the point where she wants me holding onto her hadns while she walks. Today she got so mad while we were outside playing, because I wouldn't let her down when we were in the stones. OUCH! I think walking is just on the horizon for us.
Katelyn is starting to get a little frustrated at times at her inablity to walk or keep up with Sarah. She's much more verbal than Sarah was at this age. She loves to try to repeat and mimic what you just said to her. Her favorite thing to look at and say is Baby. My friend had her one month old over here today and she was enthralled with him!







She just loved looking at him, and for some reason she wanted to touch (read







oke) his eyes.
Katie loves to look at books and loves music. Sometimes when she's in the hip carry in her Hotsling and hears music, she starts to dance.







She loves to dance, and her fave music is the mix Renae made for us!
I sure love reading about your babies! oops, toddlers, now!


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## PinkPixie (Apr 28, 2005)

Hi, I'm Helene. My daughter is Elysee, she just turned one on May 11th. It was a happy/sad day... I'm always sad on my DC's B-days because they grow up so fast!!!







:
DD's just started crawling a week ago and got her first teeth (all 6 of them!) a few days ago. She likes most toys but her favorite by far is a kleenex. She will blow her nose endlessly with it then rip it to pieces. And she's totally in love with her blankees.








Her favorite diaper (yup, she has a favorite) is a Sugar Peas turtle and ladybug print. I can't put it on her because she just wants to hug it all the time. She also really likes the Baby Einstein collection.
At her apointment yesterday she weighed 19lbs and I can't remember her length but she's quite tall. She doesn't have alot of hair (my DS's already had 2 haircuts each at this age) so she still looks alot like a baby to me (toddler sounds so grown-up). She is a wonderful member of our family and her big brothers love her to pieces and always make her laugh.

Hope to get to know all of you and your babies,

One question :this is my first time posting in Life with babes, do I have to subscribe to this thread? If so, how do I subscribe?


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## celestialdreamer (Nov 18, 2004)

Hi! I've posted a few times on the thread before, but not consistently. Anna was born in May 04 too. I can't believe she is a TODDLER!







: She was 18lbs 8oz when we weighed her 2 weeks ago, but only 17lbs 11oz and 29 inches at her 1 yr checkup (she's pretty tiny). Her new favorite thing to do is climb on top of her toddler sized rocking chair or her ride on/push toy and stand up







I'm afraid she's going to fall on her face! She's not walking yet, but I think she could if she wanted to do it. She walks great barely holding our fingers, and can stand up for a long time too. Her favorite toys are her books and the cat (luckily the cat likes her too :LOL ). We are still a happy cosleeping family, and she nurses quite a bit too. I've been getting the 'so when are you weaning?' comments alot lately, and I need to think of a smart ass response







Anyway, I don't have lots of time for the computer but I will try to stop by and say hi again soon!


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Oh my, I can't believe it. They are almost all one now!







:

Hi, newbies/lurkers!







PinkPixie, you subscribe at the top of the thread where it says "thread tools."









I am Sarah, mama to Lily, born May Day. I've been a SAHM this whole first year, with the exception of teaching prenatal yoga once a week. I'm about to go back to school full time to be a nurse-midwife.

Lily is crawling, standing up unassisted and cruising. She walks holding on to our fingers but hates when we let go.









She is super-verbal: we counted up her words the other day and she has at least 50. She's also started mimicking a lot. She loves books, loves being read to and paging through them herself.

She's eating just about everything, but not lots of it. Still nurses a ton, mostly all night long. She's in our bed, waking 3 to 8 times a night, depending on whether she's teething or not. Only has 6 teeth, and got the last two three days ago! She has one nap, starting anywhere from noon to 3, for two or three hours, with nursing in the middle.

She has red hair, and it's pretty thin so she still looks like a baby. At her one year appt. 3 weeks ago she was 22 lbs, and 29 inches, I think. She looks pretty small compared to other babes we play with, but right around 50% in the charts.

She also loves music and dancing, playing outside, and riding in DH's bike trailer. She loves sliding boards and the fake steering wheel on the play structure at the park. :LOL She also loves flowers and will sit in the grass and pick the little clovers and daisies for entire minutes at a time.

Whew, I'll stop now. So much going on these days; it's fun to read everybody's posts and imagine these little *toddlers* growing up!

Sarah


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

i love the dancing too. we got in the car this morning and when the music came on isaac started bopping his head









i'm getting a lot of weaning comments too lately it seems. pretty indirect ones but sort of people giving me their (not so informed) opinions on extended nursing. but then i also recently saw an old friend who told me she nursed all her 3 kids until 2+. _she_ gets it









just curious...if our secret pal sent a present we haven't received it. if the present is late.....no problemo. i just want to make sure it hasn't been lost and our pal thinks we are ingrates!!


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

as an honorary member of the may 04 mamas since i actually have a june 04 babe, i have to say YIPES! are they really toddlers already?

i'm claudia, partner to bill, mama to marek, born june 8th, and cat mama to turbo (marek's guard kitty) and jorja (a few branches short of a shrub cat who cracked her molar in half last weekend and had to have it extracted).

marek's favorite things to do: sing with us (usually in tandem, he says aaaa-aaaaa-aaaah and one of us says aaaa-aaaaa-aaaah and then he says it back again), take sutff apart (his cone stacking tower, his new wooden shapes puzzle from jacqueline and gabriel (thank you, thank you, thank you, it's great!), his winnie-the-pooh mini book box, his exersaucer (he took the leg off the other day -- i didn't even know they came off!), play in the cat's water bowl or even better the bathtub, shake his shaker egg or his new baby maracas, push buttons on the phone, the remote, the cell phone, the keyboard, the computer tower (okay, he hasn't actually figured this one out yet, but i'm pretty sure it's just a matter of time), listen to us read the doggies book (one dog: woof! two dogs: woof! yap yap! three dogs: woof! yap yap! nnn-nnn-nnn... und so weiter...) stand next to stuff (the coffee table, his exersaucer, my knee when i'm sitting on the floor, my belly when i'm laying on the floor), eat food (especially avocado, oatmeal, and joe's o's) but i think his most favorite thing to do is bang stuff on whatever hard surface is available (the coffee table, the floor, the highchair tray, my shoulder -- ouch!).

he's a speedy-mcspeedle crawling machine, and i'm watching for signs of walking but he doesn't seem terribly interested in it yet.

six teeth: four on top, and two on bottom.

loves to watch people when we're out and about, too. he started waving his hand a couple of weeks ago, but he'll only do it in the middle of the day when we're at home by ourselves or maybe in the middle of lunch or dinner, not when we're actually saying hi or bye to anyone.

mostly babbling still, although he's got quite the range of sounds. the latest is "fuff".

he only breastfeeds about 4-5 times a day during daylight hours now. he started chewing on my nipple during night-nursing and it was definitely comfort sucking nursing and it was very uncomfortable for me, so i would pull him off and rock him back to sleep instead. this has resulted in nightweaning, which i'm both relieved and sad about.

one more time -- YIPES!!! they are really toddlers now!!!???!!!

warmly,
claudia


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

nak

beth, mama to Luke, born may 22, dh is Tom. All 3 of us spend some part of the week at a group home for developmentally disabled adults. dh and i work there, ds volunteers LOL.

ds LOVES to strum the guitar, bang the piano, and bang on bowls with spoons (a future musician in keeping w/ family tradition). loves to interact w/strangers (very social, very alert and expressive and active).

ds does Not love to injest solids (though biting and spitting them out are fun if they taste ok), or to sleep for long periods of time, or to spend too much time away from the boob. Mama means nurse me, not hi nice to see ya.









ds has 8 teeth, 2 more in progress, nowalking/talking yet.

OK, babe done nursing, both hands back. oops fussy babe wants full attention. gotta go.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Hi, I'm Renae, DS is Rowan, who turned a year old last Thursday!







:
Welcome to new/lurking posters, and hi everyone else! Wow! We're in the toddler forum! Neat!

Real quick, since I *should* be starting a blanket for a friend's babe whose birthday is in October (crocheting it; and I am SLLLLLLOOOOW! :LOL)

Rowan is cruising, *almost* standing by himself, but not *quite* sure enough to do it without grabbing for me or DH yet. Too cute. Loves going UP the stairs, can't figure out how to get down yet. He crawls so fast, I think he thinks "why walk when I can zooooom?!"








He babbles constantly, his new exclamation word is "DA!", while pointing, lately at our ceiling fans. Says "daddy", "mama" (thought not that frequently, weird), tries to sing when we do and seems to copy our words or at least inflections.
He still nurses a fair amount all day and night, doesn't usually go longer than 3 hours without a quick boob check.







We're cool with this, as long as he wakes, nurses, and goes down to sleep again at night (occasionally we're spending a LITTLE more time (or a LOT) patting, singing, rocking...every day is different!) He only nurses on my right side; a preference since he was about 3 weeks old, and he totally stopped nursing on the left about a month ago.
Nighttime stuff: Rowan stopped co-sleeping at about 6 months.







I miss it greatly, but he really does sleep best in his own space (which is only a few feet from us, so we're cool), though every so often we'll nurse in bed and then wake up a few hours later and go "whoah!"








He also loves to eat, though isn't that fond of being in the high chair, and also screams when he is finished too, Maggie, even though we keep trying the "all done" sign.







Fave foods are cheese, goldfish crackers, avocado, this chicken & wild rice jarred organic gerber food







:, squash, sweet potatoes, bread, and fruit! Especially kiwi and grapes (cut into fourths)

We had our one-year checkup today, and he weighs 20lb4oz, and is 30 inches long. Tall thin baby! Now, I have some cool and just okay things to share. We are also delaying our shots, and my doc just warned me that "he was gonna ask every time we visit"







because he really does want to see Rowan vaxed. He supports my decision to delay everything (more or less), but tried to "scare" me by telling me that kids can DIE when they get the measles, and they can get HORRIBLE SKIN INFECTIONS and FLESH EATING VIRUSES if he gets the chicken pox.







C'mon, man! I mean, I'm not pooh-poohing the seriousness of the disease, but he doesn't need to try to scare us into it! He is also saying that "since Rowan had all his vax's up to now, we HAVE to continue with them at 15 months" (the dtap and hib things, I think)...so anyway...we'll cross the bridge when we come to it. He's letting us go with DIRE warnings. Hah. He did answer all our questions, though.
He also praised the extended nursing, yay, and didn't mention anything about weaning. Woot! All in all a very nice visit.

The really, really cool thing that happened today though; he had to send us across the hall for the lead/anemia tests, where they had to draw blood.







I thought it was a pin-prick! But, I determined I would nurse him during the procedure, so off we went.
When they had us in there they asked DH to wait just outside







and then they had me sit in the blood-draw chair and they told me to put my super-squirmy, due-for-a-nap Rowan on my lap. I said "actually, I am going to nurse him while you do this; it'll make it easier for everyone" and they looked at me and each other kind of unsure-like, but they shrugged and said "okay", but before they even "told" me it was okay, I sat down, put him "in the position" to nurse and he promptly latched on (DH said "you didn't really even give them a choice! Rock on!"). He popped off twice; when they put the tourniquet on his little arm, and when they cleaned it with alcohol.
He stayed absolutely still the whole time, didn't even care when they held his arm down.
This is the totally awesome thing; when the needle went in, _the boy did not flinch!!!!_ He nursed, he frowned a bit when they went to put the next vial onto the needle, but he NEVER cried.
Excuse me, I must do this as I relate this story again:







:





















:





















:

It was AMAZING!! They were all shocked and amazed as well, said "wow! It really worked!" and I made sure to tell them what a great and quick job they did as well...and we ALL left happy!!








Dude, I am SO nursing him during our later vax's!!

So, that's my awesome story. I really have gone on too long, so off I go. Have a great night, mamas, it's so cool to see our babies growing!









p.s. and who is calling me a "perfect wife"??? HARDLY! :LOL


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## emmalola (Apr 25, 2004)

I'm emmalola, mom to the lil' lentil. His birthday was just the other day, and he is now one plus three days.

The lentil's favorite thing to do is holding steady for the past two-three months. He loves to walk holding on to someone's finger. I swear, he's been doing this forever. He knows how to walk, he can walk, but he just won't walk without assistance. People tell us the most unhelpful advice about it (namely, he'll walk when he has to, implying that we give him too much) but he just needs that security.

He eats pretty well, he really likes chicken, pasta, and strawberries. In the past he's gone through sweet potato periods, avocado periods, and blueberry stage (his blue period) but now he's happy with a chunk of cheese and a long strand of spaghetti. He nurses a lot still, probably about every two hours if I'm around and less if I'm not around.

Sleeping has always been an issue for us. We were doing pretty well with nightweaning in order to maintain sanity, but then I got sick and he got sick and we went away for two weeks and the nightweaning went out the window. Well, only sort of out the window. Now, most nights he wakes up three or four times instead of hourly, so I'm content to stay here for awhile. We're going on a few trips this summer, so maybe we'll try again when we're home for an extended period of time and things are more stable and predictable.

The boy is 31 inches long and 22 lbs. Another tall, skinny one, just like his dad.

He has a vocabulary of about 20 words, and loves to practice with his words whenever possible. He knows "up" and "hot" and "bird" and "bug." the other day I was trying to nurse him and he wasn't interested. He just looked up at me and said "apple." and I gave him an apple and he was happy.

I've also gotten a few queries as to when we will wean. I just tell people that nursing is still working for us, so why change it? Nobody has had anything negative to say about that reasoning so far.

I'm happy we have a toddler, but I get sad sometimes when i think about my little baby and how quickly that time passed us by.


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

Oh my, toddlers!

I'm Maggie, mom to Ben (the baby) and Caitlin (7yrs), and wife to Chris, my sweater model DH! (This is my friend Elizabeth's new site... check it out you knitters!)

Ben in a nutshell: 32.25" tall, 22#12oz, 6 teeth, super-crawler, walks holding hands, and stands with something to hold onto. He talks like a mad-man and just started 2 word sentences this week, as in "GO CAR!" or "No! Down!" or "Book plee!" He yells a lot. He sleeps very little. He nurses as much as he possibly can, if he remembers, that is. He loves riding toys, balls, trucks, books and the sand box. He has a friend who lives next door and every day they see each other and say "Baa!" (Ben) "Caa!" (Calvin) and then crawl/walk toward each other as fast as possible for the first of many tackle hugs. The also 'lay hands' on each other, like their faith healers or something. The boy eats lots of stuff now, but has atrocious table manners!







Pizza is a big fav, as is sauteed tofu. Ben also enjoys sunsets, long walks on the beach, furry kittens, and Olivia Newton John - is he *your* Love Connection?

(sorry! Its a little bit too far past my bedtime, obviously!)

Renae, I'm glad to hear your DR visit went so smoothly, especially the blood draw! NEver underestimate the power of the almighty-boob! :LOL

And now instead of sleeping, I must explore the brave new world of the Toddlers board!









(And can I just say one more time how bizarre it is that my husband is a sweater model?!?!?! Insanity!)


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Maggie, you completely and totally ROCK MY SOCKS!







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And your husband is a sweater model! Check it out!
Um, not much else to say right now, the babe is REFUSING his morning nap, even though he was rubbing his eyes, and sleeping while nursing. As soon as he popped off (of his own accord) he was babbling and playing again.







:
I think I will go to the mall early (we have an appt for our year portrait!







: But um...this oughta be interesting!) and OH, how I need


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

omg maggie :LOL

renae--i wish i could say our blood draw went as smoothly







it was awful. i don't know if nursing would have worked for us though. i probably would have lost a nipple. it seemed like they took the half life of uranium. but a minute later he was a-ok.

so they weren't planning to do the mmr yesterday so we didn't have to get into that discussion. he got the hib/prevnar or something

my ped is really pushing the nightweaning. she says it's bad for his teeth. (but then again i told her i was a little lax on the teethbrushing so she said i need to step that up because of the night nursing). tell me its ok to night nurse....i'm starting to feel like i should listen to her. i wish isaac was self-weaning in that department...but no such luck. i mean theoretically he is..he has reduced his number of night feedings.

he was 26lb 7oz and 32 1/4" tall.

i want to get one year pics done too. maybe sunday.


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

jess: i found this article for you: http://www.mothering.com/articles/gr.../cavities.html

more later... babe demanding attention...

~claudia


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

I almost forgot to share this funny story with you all...

We went to Boston last week for a few days (just barely missed you, TC). Friday night we ate at Bertucci's in Faneuil Hall







Anyway, we had this very pleasant, young male waiter. He was so good to the kids, treated them like people, y'know? Anyway, Katie really took to him, always gave him a big bright smile anytime he came around. So one time he came over to check on us, and he smiled and talked to her, and she did the same in return. He turned to walk away, and she starts signing "more! more!" It was too dang cute!

today we went to lunch at dh's office. Katie fell asleep right when we were in the car about to turn into the driveway. So I proceed to park the car, get Sarah out, then got Katie out. Still asleep. went inside, talked to the receptist and nurse for a bit, still asleep. Sarah had to go to the bathroom, so I helped Sarah up onto the toilet, conk Katie's head against the metal locker in the bathroom. Still asleep. Help Sarah pull up pants and wash hands. Still asleep. I couldn't believe how hard she crashed in such a short time! Finally I woke her so she would eat something and not totally mess up her one and only nap for the day (she's down to one nap now). Too funny


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## mommaluv321 (Aug 14, 2004)

hey ladies, I'm Crystal and my toddler is Asha. She is roughly about 25 lbs and I have no idea how tall she is. Sorry I ahvent been around so much lately, as some of you know, I moved recently and it was a serious PITA! Let's see, Asha has been walking since 9.5 mos and is steadily running now, eats a serious amount of table food daily, but is still nursing strong (w/ her 7 teeth!) although I haven't introduced any meat yet. She also still co-sleeps, as does my 4.5 yo daughter Kayla Rain. She is not as vocal as Kayla was, only says (regularly) mama, papa, cat, dog, uh-oh, dat, hot and mmmm-good (the last, ofcourse is my fave! :LOL )

I have to say, I'm really luvin' my new place. There's a couple next door w/ kids almost the same ages as mine, their youngest is only a month older than Asha! And another upstairs from me w/ an 8mo, not to mention there's kids all over the place. There's also a play-group *one BLOCK* from my house!! I'm so psyked (sp?)

In other news, I might be going to the national rainbow gathering this year, for those of you that don't know what that is, you can search "rainbow family of living light". Look for one that says the un-official homepage, sorry, can't find the link right now. looks like it's gonna be in either West Virginia or Virginia, which is cool, cause then I get to go visit my family too! any who, goota go wash some dipes, so have a lovely day all, and I'll try to be a lil' more semi-regular!! :LOL


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## Jacqueline (Jun 11, 2003)

I go Gabriel's stats at his one-year visit yesterday, so here's an update: 22 lbs., 11 oz.; 31" long and his head is 18 1/4". So, another tallish, skinny one. He got is first vaccine ever, DTaP, and I think it went pretty well. A book I have about vaccines recommended a couple homeopathic remedies to avoid vaccine interactions/side effects, so I've been giving him those. The only side effect I've seen so far is that he took longer naps yesterday and when he went down for the night, he stayed down for a while! We're not even going to worry about MMR until after DTaP has taken its course, which should be around 2 years.

The only concern I had from the visit is that this doctor - who's very open to everything-no questions asked about weaning, sleeping, etc.- believes you have to help an uncirced penis retract! So, she pushes back his foreskin each time. Ouchie! I asked her about it this time, though, before she did it. She said something about the risk of ballanitis, which is a serious problem IF it happens. I guess a tight foreskin can kind of strangle the penis...she said it's very rare, and we wouldn't "have" to push it back, but she prefers to do it now so that he's not at risk for ballanitis at all. So, she doesn't really have a "let nature take its course" mentality about it. I asked her if pushing it back early caused adhesions (as I'd read in all the nocirc. literature) and she said there are already adhesions there and it might cause them to reform, but pushing it back now is not causing any new ones to form. Don't know that I buy all this, but it didn't seem to bother Gabriel too much right now, so we'll see. I went to the circ board here once and told them what the ped did and they made it sound like she did a major no-no. So, who knows? So much information and I always see issues both ways, making it soooo hard to decide on a course of actions some times.

Okay, that turned into a long discourse about his penis, sorry! On to other stuff: He's got just two teeth.







No blood draws at this visit, though they checked him for iron at his 9-month, it was a little low, she recommended a supplement, I didn't do it. No mention this time. Maybe I sidetracked with all my questions about foreskins.









Maggie-great sweater model! Very professional looking! And, I love your "Love Connection" line...FUNNY stuff.

gotta go.


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## hrcmom (Jul 29, 2004)

Hi Mamas. Ds turned 1 on May 20th. I can't believe how quickly the year has gone. Dh and I have never been happier. Ds has brought so much to our lives! His one year appointment is next week. I'm guessing he'll come in around 24 lbs and 31 inches or so. Ds was born 5 weeks early, plus we learned that he had torticollis when he was 4 months. As a result, some of his gross motor stuff is a little behind "schedule" (I quit reading all those development charts!!). He isn't crawling yet, but gets wherever he wants to go by creeping and rolling. Once upon a time, I was worried, but now I've learned that he's just doing things on his own timeline. And, I'm okay with that. My guess is that he'll walk somewhere around 16 - 18 months.

He babbles constantly, and sings along when we sing to him. I don't think he's attaching meaning to words yet, but I think it may be soon. And, in the last week, Ds has learned how to play the kazoo. Yup, who has time for crawling when you need to practice the kazoo. It is the cutest thing, and ds is really quite proud of himself. I see a great muscial future for ds. Otherwise, he LOVES his books, particularly the interactive ones, loves his wagon, being outside, blocks, playsilks, playing peek-a-boo, etc., etc. And, he loves to touch EVERYTHING. Cabinets handles, door hinges, drapes, doorbells, everything. So much to explore, so little time before his nap!

Ds is a GREAT eater! He has some dairy and egg allergies (and maybe others) so we're quite cautious. But, I can put anything on his tray and he'll gobble it right down. I work full time, so we do a combo of nursing and ebm. Sleeping is going well, too. Ds was in a co-sleeper up until a week ago. I was having a hard time transitioning Ds to a crib (co-sleeping in our bed wasn't an option for various reasons). Then, last week, I was at a meeting late, and Dh put Ds in his crib for the night. That was it. No problems at all. Ds was just fine. He actually went to sleep better in his crib. It is me who still pines for baby boy right next to me, but I'll get over it. Ds usually gets up once a night for a bottle (he won't nurse at night for some odd reason), but last night he slept from 8:00 p.m. until 6:15 a.m. WAAHOOO!! I'm sure this was just a fleeting luxury, but goodness, I do feel well rested this morning!!

Overall, Ds is a really happy and easy going little guy. I love watching his personality blossom. Life is good to us!!


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Hi everybody---good to read all your posts and somehow I got dumped off the last thread (stopped sending update emails) and whenever they don't send me update emails I tend to forget and lose track!

The henna came off really quickly after a trip to a chlorinated pool! Wah!! I did get some good pix, like on film (how OLD SCHOOL! :LOL ) but one of these days I'll get better about pictures.

Crystal--rainbow, how fun! You hippie you.









sarahsmama--cute story! You must've died of cuteness!

Maggie--impressed about the sweater, mama!!! You rock! Your hubby ain't bad either!!







oh wait--did you knit that, or is he just modeling it? Anyway--very nice sweater.









Renae--cannot BELIEVE he didn't even flinch!! Rock on!









MC Sarah--just thinkin' bout ya--wanna say HIIII---









Welcome new gals! We gonna ROCK THE TODDLER BOARD, uh huh uh huh!! (insert dancing produce here)


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Hi, everyone!

Quote:


Originally Posted by *elsanne*
We gonna ROCK THE TODDLER BOARD, uh huh uh huh!! (insert dancing produce here)

Elsanne, you are SO COOL that you just typed "insert dancing produce" instead of actually INSERTING the dancing produce! :LOL

jstar - nightnursing being bad for teeth is absolute bull-malarkey. That article that Claudia linked is good, and I think there's one in this month's Mothering mag that addresses that, too...

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Mama Faery*
p.s. and who is calling me a "perfect wife"??? HARDLY!

Renae, your breakdown of the "perfect wife" post in the YG was so funny, I had to poke fun at you.







Hope you don't mind...









So everyone seems to have been tested for iron. Lily's doc didn't even mention it. I did ask about testing for lead, but he said that in his 30-year career blah blah blah he's never seen a case of lead being too high, yada yada, so why do the blood draw. And I forgot to even ask about iron. Hmmm. I have read that BF'ed babes do tend to have slightly lower iron but that it's a-okay for the first coupla years.









Crystal - have a blast at Rainbow! I always wanted to go, back in my hippie days...







: 

I'm starting a search for a mother's helper to watch Lily while I do homework, for just a couple of hours per week. Sigh. It's hard. It's one thing trading with a another mama for the morning, and another to find a teenager that I trust and can afford! Anyone else had luck with a mother's helper? (I vaguely remember you mentioning something like that, Elsanne, but I don't think it was an ongoing thing...?)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Sarah


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Sarah--Maybe for a mother's helper try looking for a younger teen...maybe cheaper and you don't need uber-responsible if you'll be nearby. When I was in h.s. there was a list there at the guidance office of people who had taken the babysitting/safey course. Do they offer those around there? Also, do you guys attend a church? I know our UU fellowship has a list of the youth group teens who are available to babysit.
---our iron test was just a finger prick and C didn't seem to mind all that much--I think she hated having her hand held more. We went ahead and got the Schiff multivitamin that KK had mentioned a while back. For some odd reason she actually seems to really like bananas mixed with blackstrap molasses though I tasted it and it made me wanna hurl!









Elsanne--you crack me up girl!

hrcmom-- :LOL I'm just LOL at the thought of your silly little guy playing the kazoo! That's totally the perfect toddler 'instrument' Yay for good sleep! I got four hours in a row last night and it was heavenly!

Crystal--I'm so happy that the move has brought you closer to lots of mamas and babes.


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Heather--it is my goal in life to be interesting & memorable on this the May Mamas Thread. Yes, I'm serious. So, in the interest of cracking you up further, might I bonk you hard several times with a hammer from Sol's toybox?

Sarah--yeah, I had a teen girl watching my punkin sometimes, and it was just fine. I think if you'll be nearby that's the best way to start such a relationship. But I've also noticed that Sol is way happier with others when I'm not around--or at least not in sight. If somehow she gets that I'm "too busy" for her and the other person is just a distraction that bugs her. But if I'm nowhere in sight she's just ducky--until I show up--then it's, OH MY GOD I'VE BEEN SUFFERING THIS WHOLE TIME WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH--such a drama queen.
Maybe just hire her to take her for a long walk, or to the park, or something.

I can't be bothered to insert any damn smilie that is not on the immediate little panel to the right there. If I have to open the other box and wait for it to blink 8,000 times while every smilie loads up, forget it. OR, the recipient of said smilie is really special.


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## susan's daughter (Apr 17, 2005)

I've been reading for ages, when i can, and my big question: HOW do you all find the time to keep up with everything on these threads!? Maybe this toddler thread will be the start of some consistency on MDC for me.

My baby girl turned one on may 14. 20lbs, can't remember her height, but she is slim -tho not skinny. terrible blood draw for iron/lead. i tried nursing through it but she wasn't having any of it.

she is an early walker. started at the end of 9th or start of 10th month. i can't remember. she likes crawling on top of the (low) coffee table and running back and forth on it. sigh. when people say "wow what a great walker" i go 'yeah...it's swell." Of course it -is- swell, and if she had been a late walker, i would have probably worried, but i still fantasize about a less mobile baby! She is reallllllly physical. has some impressive skinned knees. and i just accept the inevitability of an er visit some day. seems to take the boo boos in stride, and so do her dad and i by now.

she says: kitty cat, doggee, mama, dada, bath, mmmm (in conjunction with the eat sign) and up. (some of those though only her dad and i understand). she signs: more, bath, eat, nurse. I was signing for what seemed like the longest time and felt silly about it, but then out of no where it was "more". that was after i was giving her a ride in the laundry basket and i stopped. "more" she signed. woo hoo!

loves to go through every single book in her room at bed time. has recently discovered all her stuffed animals. was completely indifferent for months and months. now has a stroking fest with them. loves pushing around her toy stroller, and her big stroller. (It gets more use as a toy for her than as a conveyor. we sling). loves our kitties, and dogs (we don't have any). loves the park. watches other kids like a hawk, esp. the bigger ones. we spend a lot of time with a good friend and my friend's baby - a month younger. they are so great together.

she has quite a temper. has had a few tantrums by now. was worried about how we would handle them, but so far so good. she whines in a way i hate!!!!! when upset or frustrated and at this point there is nothing to do - i figure - but ignore the whining and try to deal with the frustration! i devoured the alfie cohn (?) book "unconditional parenting" and am inspired by it.

I co-sleep with her in her room. it's going ok. getting her to sleep is a challenge lately and i've been lurking with great interest on the nighttime parenting board. her nap schedule is all over the place. she is in the midst of some transition i think. today she took an unprecedented 3 hour morning nap and then another(!) hour long nap in the mid -pm. but fell asleep relatively easily at nine. also once she is down i can blessedly leave the room and get some alone or mom and dad time.

i love nursing her. have had a relatively uncomplicated time of it. she is a big time aroebic (sp?) nurser. sometimes my husband and i can't help but laugh at her contortions. latest annoying/yet precious thing: she has a grand time in the bath and then -bam- wants to nurse immediately!!!!! puts her leg over the side of the tub to try and climb out. then it is crazy making time and she stands, i nurse, and dad tries to dry and diaper her. sometimes i can not believe what we are doing!

she has 2 bottom teeth, two top coming in.

god i adore her. i have loved this first amazing year, hard though it has been at times. am looking forward to the next installment of the adventure.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Elsanne, as usual, you crack me up...

welcome Susan'sDaughter!

Glad to see some new faces (or should I say screen names







)

Just popping in to say







Not much to say...


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## Judegirl (Nov 11, 2004)

Oooh, my first one of these!!

Dd was born May 4, 2004. She has quite suddenly turned into a little communicating machine, signing and saying words and indicating that she wants things and getting excited when we understand her.

Simultaneously, she has started tantrum-like behavior, though nothing full-fledged, and also being unusually clingy.

She's a riot - always looking for a laugh and looking to laugh. She's very into putting things on heads right now - hers and everyone else's...LOL

Thanks for the roll call and the invitation to newbies!!
Jude


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Susan's daughter---Welcome! Your daughter sounds like such fun! I was :LOL at your 'swell' comment when people remark at her early walking. I get the opposite and I'm always like, no problem here, she can crawl forever!







That book title sounds intriguing....will have to look it up. We've had a handful of tantrums here, but a lot of the time she'll just stop flailing about for a second look at me and SCREAM! It's hard not to laugh at this pint-size bundle protesting at me. And most definitely make it your goal to keep up with this chatty bunch! I subscribe to the thread and it makes it easy, then I usually read a few in the toddler forum, check out the diaper board and do a couple searches for things I'm thinking about. LOTS of information here. Welcome!! And we're probably not all too far from each other (which is totally cool!) We're about an hour-ish north of the city.









Jude--Welcome! It must be such fun for your dd to be so much more communicative now. It blows my mind how much my dd understands and responds to. Her favorite thing is to mimic what I usu. say to her and ask "what you doin'"....cause when she's getting into stuff I'm forever saying in a half serious voice "what are you doing?" ....funny when she says it to the cat!

Elsanne--



































:





















:






































































Your girlie is so lucky to have such a fun-loving mama. *mwah*

DH and I are going on a mini-date this afternoon to give grandmom a test run as babysitter!







Probably just lunch and hitting a few stores. Wanted to go see Cinderella Man until DH said how long it was and I will not leave her for 4 hours w/ G-ma. We might try to go out next Saturday night to see a band, but I told DH don't count on it! Am I a nut or what? I think we're definitely going to pop her in the ergo and take her to the Mellencamp show with us in July.


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Heather & Sherri--





































Susan's daughter--I KWYM about the walking! Sol started walking at 10 mos. too and it's a whole other world.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *elsanne*
Heather & Sherri--




































.


ooooh, Heather, we're cool-elsanne actually uses a smilie for us! :LOL







:


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

we're here we're here, the fun can officially begin now. haha. holy moly, toddlers. eeesh. anyway, i'm Jackie, sahmama to the peach, Amelia. she turned the big ONE on may 8th. she's a pretty little thang, weighed 18 something at the one year check up, and short too but i can't remember how short exactly. she's my blue-eyed bundle of joy and giggles. favorite things to do lately include play in my potted plants, climb all over the dog, read books, help mama fold laundry, be flung into the air and danced around. among other things. she's quite the girly-girl so far (not sure where she gets THAT from, sure as heck not me); will sit calmly and watch intently while i clip her nails, loves brushing her teeth or letting me do it, will watch me brush my hair then takes the brush and helps me or brushes her own bald head, and talks on the phone. everythign is her phone, a peice of bread, toy seahorse, you name it. she says a few words and has a couple signs she uses regularly but mostly assigns the sound 'dah' or doh' or 'dooo-AAH' to anything and everything. she has a *very* expressive face and inflections to her babbling, it's fun to listen and talk to her. she even has the most hilarious villian laugh that she does when she knows people are watching, it goes somethign like 'hmmm HAAAA hahahahaahaaaaaaa'. i guess you'd have to hear it in real life.







cute.

she eats just about everything, but mostly loves mango and strawberries and cucumber and cheese and bread. she watches other kids from afar but isn't all htat into interacting with them. the playgroup we go to regularly is mostly kids much older or much younger than her. but she *adores* playing with her aunt. (my baby sister who's actually closer in age to her neice than she is to me.) oh yeah, another favorite thing of the peach's is going to visit grandma and grandpa and my brothers and sister. they're all so great with her. and they have a piano that she can't stay away from and a cool tree swing........ she has a blast there.

she sleeps on a twin mattress on the floor next to our bed that's also on the floor. nights always vary, sometimes i'm in her bed with her all night, sometimes i actually sleep on the 'adult' bed with dh when she only nurses once or twice. it's gradually getting better and better.

oooh, bridesmaid dress just came via fedex, must go try it on. fun stuff.

oh yeah, did someone say their babe has been super-clingy lately? i hear ya!!! oh man it's crazy, it's never been this bad before, it takes a LOT to distract her so that she'll play with dh for a few minutes so i can get dinner cooked or take a shower or something. she's had 7 teeth for a while now and i think the 8th is finally coming in and giving her hell or something.

ok enough already somebody stop me. i need to learn to post more frequently so that they're SHORTER instead of posting a novel like once a month. off to catch up on the yg stuff, i'm sooo behind there. maybe i'll even post our birth story. (a month late, gawd i'm horrible)







:







:







:

welcome new mamas and kiddos, fun hearing about all the the different personalities of our little ones.

happy weekend all!!!


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## Saartje (Oct 22, 2004)

Well, I don't think I ever really posted an introduction to this group, so I will now.

I'm Saartje, mama to Ishie, who turned one on 18 May. He's tall and thin (31.5" and 23 lbs at his 12-month-appointment), though he's just starting to get a tiny toddler belly again (he's been totally lacking it for months). Wonder if he'll keep it, or if this is a harbinger of another growth spurt. Hm.

Ishie's been walking since ten months. His favorite lovey is a stuffed octopus. He has ten teeth (the eight front ones and his bottom one-year molars) and seems to be working on more, poor little guy. His favorite thing to play with is anything that rolls, from his little wagon to an empty water bottle to his stroller. He has just discovered that he can stack the blocks he received for his birthday - until now he's played with them by clutching one in each hand and waving them in the air or carrying them with him.

I'm lucky on a couple of fronts: no one's suggested weaning (I picked his pediatrician specifically for his breastfeeding expertise







), even though I do it in public constantly; and Ishie's walking has actually made my life easier. He's so easy-going he doesn't get into much at home, and when we're out I feel a lot better about letting him get down on the floor/ground knowing he won't be tasting it! :LOL

No talking from my boy, yet. I'm not worried, because I figure this is a result of the fact that DH and I are generally very quiet at home. It's still a little disconcerting to hear how much some of your kids are talking, though, since my family is full of early talkers.

Hi, Jude! Welcome to the thread.


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Saartje- don't worry 'bout the talking. I hear that some kids hardly say anything till they're two. Einstein was a late talker and he turned out ok.







. It sounds to me like Ishie's busy working on other stuff.









Welcome newcomers!










I think this is my shortest post ever.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

I think some kids are phyiscally early learners, then there are the intellectual early learners. FOr example, my first dd walked at 10mos, and hit all of her gross motor milestones early. However, she wasn't as advanced in speech as some of her peers. Now dd2 is quite a chatty patty, and mimics sounds etc. She didn't crawl until 10mos, and isn't walking at 13 mos. So I think they have one area where they are more advanced at, and it requires more of their energy. Hope this made sense.

Hey Jude(girl), don't make it bad. Take a sad song, and make it beeettterrr. Sorry couldn't resist. Welcome!


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

:LOL Sherri! Um, yeah, youguys can come sit at the cool mamas' table in the lunchroom, okay???









*tongue planted firmly in cheek*

Ishie Ishie BoBishie Bananafana Fo Fishie!!! Hey Saartje (do you pronounce that Sar-tya?) is Ishie short for something? Or is that his name?

Oh, yay, Jackie's here, the party can officially begin!!!







We been waitin' on ya girl.

sol is really getting some words now! It's fun. "Fish" is one of them. "Uh-Oh!" (which is so freakin adorable). She blows kisses ALL THE TIME NOW, which is really just her smacking her palm to her mouth over & over, imagine how bleedin' cute. One just has to SAY Bye-bye and she's smacking her mouth and waving. Being around the grandparents is really upping the verbal progress.


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

eeeeeeee!!!! this is me today:





















:









elsanne - isn't that funny how different environments have such an impact?! it's like whenever we visit my family A's pretty much guaranteed to come up with a new word or talent or something. REALLY makes me wish she could be around all that positive stimulation more often. we can't move there though, need to convince my parents they should uproot their business and still-in-school-kids to move close to US!








: riiiiiight.

i need to change my sig from this:







to this:







. much more "me". but







is just so purdy.

dh is being such a poophead this weekend. sometimes i wish i had grown up in some totally forigen culture that has no respect for women. that way i'd have no expectations at all and it'd be like having a really good husband compared to my cultural standards. (how's that for *twisted*) it's like we're just roommates who are barely tolerating each other.







makes me wanna







sometimes. :LOL

but the babe should stay asleep for another hour and it's







outside and i'm feeling creative and so off i am to put more veggies, etc in the ground and fix up the front entrance way with some






























:

fun with smilies today.


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## celestialdreamer (Nov 18, 2004)

Hi!
I was just curious after reading that most of your ped's checked for anemia and/or lead at 1yr...did anyone's ped check earlier instead? Our ped insisted on checking at 9 months instead of at a year because she was almost EBF at that time. Of course her results were GREAT and I wanted to say 'I told you so!' to the ped :LOL I figured that I was eating healthy with lots of leafy greens, and putting blackstrap molasses in my oatmeal so I was fine on iron, so she would be getting plenty of easily absorbable iron from BFing. Guess I was right because her numbers were actually on the high end, and our ped was rather suprised.









Does anyone have any babies (sorry TODDLERS) that still will only nap in the family bed? If so, any suggestions on getting anything done around the house? I don't seem to get much done when she's awake, and most of the time during her naps I need to be near by so she doesn't decide to wake up and jump off the bed (so of course an excuse to come on here







). I have completely given up on trying to get her to nap in her crib during the day because she is hard to get to take an hour nap per day as it is already!

Anna seems to be saying alot less words than alot of the other dc on here, but she babbles alot so I'm not worried. She does say mama, dada, kitty, doggy, and bye bye, and has for months but prefers to babble. She has a very quiet voice so I sometimes wonder if we are missing some of the words she says and thinking she's just babbling. I think she's just a stubborn Taurus like her mama and will do things when she decides she's ready.


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## emmalola (Apr 25, 2004)

About the mother's helper: we have a pair of sisters who are 14 and 16 who we pay to watch the lentil on Sunday afternoons. Each week we get one or the other of the pair, and they have the boy in the living room while we are in the "study" working away. We have a very small apartment and our study is really just a sort of transitional space between the hallway and the main entrance. There isn't a door to close or anything, so the boy likes to come and visit with us occasionally while the girls are here. Checking up on us, really. He tends to get pretty worked up if he sees me, so I sometimes have to hide to avoid detection if I have some serious work to get done. If he's really determined to get to me, we send the two out for a walk. That usually helps. I agree with elsanne- it's much easier for everyone if we're not here, but it can work if we are focused on having a low profile while the mother's helper is here.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Hi mamas! I feel like I haven't been here in FOREVER!







:
I AM reading, and I MISS you guys! Been really busy this weekend, yesterday DH had some friends over to demolish and start finishing the basement, so I was on bebe-duty ALL DAY! Very fun, but also tiring! We playing in his kiddie pool for the first time though, and he had a WONDERFUL time!








And today we had a big joint birthday party for all the May/June babes from our old yoga class at a beautiful park. There was TONS of food, and grillin', and babies, babies BABIES playing and having a grand old time in the GROSS humidity! Hehe.
It was a long day and Rowan had ONE nap (two hours, right before the party) so he is SO DOWN right now. Heh.
We also put AC units in his bedroom (on only when he's not in there, and turned away from his crib) and in our living room...it made things SO much more bearable for everyone, especially when we sleep upstairs! So HOT! Rowan takes after his mama--NOT a fan of hot weather. Heh.

He's been having a great time with some new riding toys, and also with a big box o' musical instruments one of his playmates (and her mama!) gave to him...he is just so much fun I can't even stand it.

Oh, and we left him in the child care room of our local UU church today (*sniffsniff* the FIRST time anyone other than us or Gramma watched him!) and he had a GREAT time, and we got to pay attention to the service!







: And like you said Elsanne, as soon as he saw me it was "DRAMA! Where have you BEEN? I have been SUFFERING and LONELY and how could you LEAVE??" :LOL But they said he loved it, and played with two older boys when he was there (there were two babysitters and three kids--awesome!)
SO anyway, I am SO tired and I am gonna go get a snack and go hang with DH for a while.
Hope everyone else had a great weekend!







Welcome new posters! You follow along by the seat of your pants!


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## Defenestrator (Oct 10, 2002)

Hi everyone --

Haven't checked in for a while. I got swamped at work and was just trying to tread water. We have a pretty quiet summer planned, though if I can get through the next few weeks.

We got our secret pal present and Theo loves it! We got a little boat that has moveable beads on it. His big brother also plays with it in the car. I also want my secred pal to know that the present I sent out is on its way! If you are waiting for something, chances are it is from me. I am really sorry and hope that it arrives safely soon.

Update/intro -- I am Stacia, homebirth midwife-at-the-end-of-apprenticeship and doula. I have two boys, 5 and 1. THeo, the younger one, is crawling and cruising, standing independently and saying about 5 or 6 words. He laughs a lot and I think he's incredibly cute. He is about 22 lbs and people say he is tall but I haven't pinned him down to measure him. He has a serious case of brother-worship and follows his big brother around everywhere. He loves to be outside and we spend almost all of our time in the yard or at the park or hiking nearby. I can't wait until he can walk and can explore more outdoors.

We all got a little sunburned today at the lake. Theo liked sitting at the water's edge and letting the mini-waves lap at his feet. Big brother Neil was floating on an alligator-shaped blowup raft. I was trying to build sand castles but they kept getting smashed by little boys.

I hope that everyone is doing well.

See you in the sunshine!

Stacia


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Yeah, Jackie, I know what you mean about the new environments. It's wild!
And I SOOOOOOOO understand about DH issues. Lemme tell ya







I truly believe that women should all live together, like a big commune or harem type arrangement, and the men in theirs. I'm so burned out on relationships. I am not, repeat NOT, wife material. *exasperated sigh* And, for the record, I am NOT married to he who I call DH. I can think of other words besides "dear husband" for him. *maniacal laughter* Gawd, I have GOT to give this man a break. He's really not a bad guy. I am just not into it.


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Renae, nice to see you! When/How/Why does your name have "Perfect Wife" underneath it? *lightbulb* and how that relates to my last post!!! hoo boy!! *more maniacal laughter*


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Elsanne - OBviously you didn't read my last post closely (insert *pout* smilie here). It was I that gave Renae that title! Her post on the YG was funny, so I was just joshing her. Geez, no one thought it was funny but me.









celestial - my dd sleeps in our bed during naps. We have it on the floor, and she can theoretically crawl off whenever she wakes up, but she always announces her waking by crying so I hear her in the monitor and go in quickly. She wakes up at least once per nap to nurse, so I need the monitor to get there quickly before she wakes all the way up.

Hi Stacia! Glad to see you back.

Hi to everyone else, too! I want to write more but gotta go help put the babe down to sleep...

Sarah


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## Saartje (Oct 22, 2004)

Elsanne, the "tj" in Saartje is pronounced like a "ch" in English. So, Sar-che (a schwa on the "e" there) is approximately right. It's a nickname a Belgian friend gave me years ago, and I've been using it online ever since. Too many people around with my real name; this one's less confusing.

Ishie is short for Isaac.

We helped our new roommate move into our new apartment today. Ish behaved beautifully - but then, he always does, knock on wood - playing, riding in the mei tai, and flirting with our friends. When I saw inside his mouth this evening, I was even more impressed with how patient he was throughout our long day; his gums are angry and swollen in two places, waiting for teeth to come through. (One molar, and one just in front of a molar.) Time to get our own things packed up and ready to go; we'll be moving soon.

It also occurred to me that he has reversed his old ratio of crawling: walking now. It used to be that he would walk a few steps, drop down on all fours, and zoom over to wherever he was going. Today, he was toddling down the hall at our new place, and he lost his balance, dropped on all fours, crawled 3-4 "steps," and pushed back up to walk the rest of the way.

He also invented a game involving some plastic discs he found in our roomie's apartment and a log in the park; he would put the discs on the log, walk around it to the other side, push them to the ground, walk back around, pick them up off the ground, and put them back on the log to keep the game going. So cute.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mcsarahb*
Elsanne - OBviously you didn't read my last post closely (insert *pout* smilie here). It was I that gave Renae that title! Her post on the YG was funny, so I was just joshing her. Geez, no one thought it was funny but me.










Aww Sarah! :LOL I DID think it was funny but I forgot to mention it in my last post! Haha! I was confused at first but then you explained it and I was like "dude!" And now I'm not the Perfect Wife anymore...oh well! But I see that Elsanne is NOT wife material! Rock on! Hehe....how DO you give other people titles like that?? You have super powers!

And Elsanne, while I love my DH dearly, I do believe we need more of a mother-culture, we mamas should be able to live close by ALL the time, so that none of us get lonely and overwhelmed, and we have support and help anytime we need it.
*sigh* Anytime I fantasize about this, I get sad because we don't have that.







I feel so lucky that we at least have our online groups, but c'mon man, how awesome would it be if we all lived near each other, and Elsanne could pop over to my house anytime she wanted, and I could visit Sarah and Heather, and we would have coffee and our babies would play...and so on....*sigh sigh sigh*

Okay, just my own foolish fantasies! Heh...we just woke up over here so I had better go see what Rowan's doing in the other room! He just crawled over there...we'd better go get some breakfast!
Later mamas...have an excellent day.


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

Sarah and Renae - before I read Sarah's post explaining the perfect wife thing, I honestly thought that someone had put that there as a sort of compliment to Renae's perfection of wifedom.







i've always gotten the impression that Renae and her dh (among others in this thread) have a really wonderful (and of course envied by me) relationship.







and i'm like eons behind in reading yg posts.

aQ5TRFRFDCSZGgnffvffffffffffffffffffff <--- Amelia says 'hi'


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

elsanne said:


> I truly believe that women should all live together, like a big commune or harem type arrangement, and the men in theirs. QUOTE]
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Renae - just go to the "DDDDC" (Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap) section on the main discussion page to label anyone you want with your title of choice.







I think the only rule is no curse words.









Saartje - yes, good luck with moving. It was tremendously difficult on me when we did it ~2 months ago, but Lily took it pretty much in stride.

OK, so here comes a poop question. Those of you with babes eating whole beans, raisins, etc., do they still come out whole on the other end? Lily often has diapers that consist entirely of whole raisins.







Or mostly peas and corn. I realize some of it is just the skin, but man, some of those beans are still pretty plump, KWIM? And even other things come through whole. Are they supposed to be digesting better by this time? Should I stop giving her the things that pass through? Or is it all just a-okay? She's not in any pain or discomfort. And she prefers the whole stuff to mashed up. She wants to eat what we're eating! TIA, and sorry if TMI!

In other news: Lily's ALMOST figured out how to take her shirt off by herself. And she tries a lot. Eeeek!

Where's KK?? Hope she and her DS are doing okay.

Sarah


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

sarah i asked my ped that at a's one year appt. totally normal. i see whole kernels of corn and peas,etc all the time.







they still get all the nutrients out of the food, what's left is the cellulose (?) that we can't digest. until the babes have molars they can grind their food up with, stuff will come out whole.

been wondering about KK, too. yoo hoo, KKmama? hope all is swell with you and your boys.


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## mamameg (Feb 10, 2004)

Finally checking in at our new toddler board home!









I'm Megan, mama to Mia, who just turned one on the 29th. She is walking, starting to do some skippy jumpy stuff that might one day resemble actualy running or jumping, talking as much as she can (cat, daddy, mama, food, water, flower, dog, woof, duck, uh-OH, thank you), and dare I write it down for fear it will cease..... she's sleeping through the night!!!!







: For several weeks, she's been waking once around 3:00, but for the past week or so, she's been sleeping all night long until about 6-7:00. I. Am. Thrilled. Beyond. Words. Big hugs to those still struggling with sleep. I don't mean to pur salt in your exhausted wounds.









I am SO with y'all on the women in their world, men in theirs. I honestly think it would be so much better for everyone. It might mean that we would have to let go of the whole monogamy paradigm, but I think that might be for the best, as well. You know, us Westerners are the only culture in the world that systematically marry for romantic love (as opposed to for financial security) and then insist on monomgamy.... am I the only one who sees the connection between that and our *60% divorce rate*????? I'm just not sure our model works all that well. It's a shame there isn't more support for alternative arrangements.

Oaky the babe is done playing with this video tape at my feet and it's time to go outside. Bye for now.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

AGrace...







:







:







: Oh yeah, I'm the very picture of good wifedom!







:LOL But thanks! DH and I do have a really awesome relationship, he's as good a husband as I am a wife. Hehe.
But Elsanne's idea of a commune of women totally appeals to me!







Let's do this!









Um, not much else to say...I am going to have to browse the DDDDC forum now! :LOL
Oh, one thing. SLEEP! Oh, the weird sleepness. Rowan woke at 7:30 this morning (after a looooong night!) and did not take a morning nap today, so...at 11:15 he was losing it, so I nursed him and BOOM, he's napping NOW!







THis is going to be a VERY weird day. I guess whenever he wakes I will feed him lunch but what the heck do I do about this afternoon?!?! He can't take a super-late nap or we'll NEVER get him to sleep this evening....oh well. We'll see what happens when it happens. Wish me luck today, mamas!


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## mamameg (Feb 10, 2004)

Renae, on the weird naps: whenever Mia does that, I don't want her to take a late nap (or she'll be up late - I don't deal with that well







: ), so I make sure to get out of the house for a couple of hours during the time I think she will be most fussy. I get the bag all ready to go so the moment she starts to show signs of melting down, I grab the bag and we're OUT! Everything is so much better when they're outside, YK?









Speaking of weird naps, Mia just wanted to nurse and promptly conked out in about 5 minutes, so I put her down and she's napping after only being up for a couple of hours. Whatever! :LOL

On a fun for mama note, I went out with some girlfriends on Friday night and it was so great! We went to a couple of clubs, had a few drinks, danced a few dances, even had some random dorks hitting on us, but it was a nice ego stroke for us moms. DH stayed home with Mia and even though she woke once and had a bit of a fit about me not being there (he said at one point she was crying MaaaaaaaMaaaaaaa and pointing at the door







) but that lasted only a few minutes and he was able to get he back to sleep by lying down with her.









I love the idea of the mother's helper. I have been telling DH it's TIME to get a babysitter and mother's helper seems like the logical first step in working towards that. I am really missing being social and having fun with him. It's always been a big part of our relationship, so I'd like to indulge in a bit of adult time with him before I get pg again. Also, on the advice of my friend who is a mom-to-3-under-6 (her words are golden to me many days) I am considering joining a gym. I don't usually love working out in a gym, but walking outside is getting







and I really should be doing more weight training. (HA! I say that as if I'm doing ANY! :LOL) But the big reason







: is childcare. I can leave the babe in the childcare room and get some time to myself and I'm always right in the same building if anything happens. It's seems so basic and I feel silly because a lot of people leave their children in the care of others EVERY DAY, but it's not the norm for me and it's a tough step. More difficult than I imagined it would be. But I think I really need to do it. I've been feeling increasingly







lately and I need to get back on the taking care of myself train. I notice a big difference when I'm feeling recharged. I am a better mama, a better wife, a better person even.

So anyway, I'm off to get something done during the remainder of the nap. Chances are, it will be over in the next 10 minutes so


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

Wheew! Just caught up... can't leave you guys alone for a minute and you're on page 3 already! :LOL

ITA that a mama commune would be lovely - hell, even a real *community* would be nice! A place where we live with other like minded folks and take an interest in others lives and kids and help out and pull together for our collective well-being! Not to mention how wonderful it'd be to wander out my front door to the village green, plunk the baby down and find a bunch of my friends *right there* to chat with! Or to be able to send my kids next door to hang with a neighbor when I needed a little mental health break.... no arranging playdates or hiring baby sitters - just living a more inter-connected life! *sigh* some day.... Anybody scouting real estate for our commune yet?
















We too are tossing around the idea of a mother's helper arrangement... Probably just someone to hang out with B in the sand box while DH and I have lunch together without anyone throwing food or whining to be let out of the booster seat or criticizing my cooking because it involves something other than pasta and cheese! I'm encouraged by your arrangement, emmalola.

Renae and elsanne and mcsarahb, all I have to say is that you might just be 3 of the funniest people on the planet!

And in case anyone is wondering, I can assure you that the Mini-Shower/Poop Sprayer is a good long-term investment. Even long after your DC is done giving you the privlege of spraying poop off of his dipes, don't unhook the mini-shower! You never know when you might need to spray a bathroom rug...or a pair of shorts...or even some tennis shoes for that matter. Yes, it was a lovely moment when DD didn't quite make it to the toilet!







I am blessed, truly!









Dh is home! Wahoo.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

all I can say is, mamameg, you're one lucky mama! Sleeping through the night. That is such a far fetched dream for me at this point. I'm gonna rant about it, so bear with me, or skip to the next post :LOL The past coupla nights have been h-e-double hockey sticks. Katie gets beyond angry at me, and I really don;t know where to go from here. She'll go to bed after her airtight bedtime routine and sleep for about three hours. Then from there, she is M-A-D as all get out. Some nights it takes close to two hours to get her back to sleep. She wants up, I pick her up, she fights me, claws at me, pushes me away, so I put her down. she holds arms up and screams at the top of hjer lungs until I pick her up again. So then I go to the gliding rocker, and again, she fights me tooth and nail. Several times I've come so close to dropping her because she is that strong. Saturday night I had to leave her for a few minutes because I was just getting to the end of my rope and angry. I had to regroup. I know it could be several things (ie: a tooth just barely cut through the surface yesterday, a molar, and it still has a ways to go before its through. also she's pretty close to walking) but man am I getting to the end of my rope. Many times I'm afraid to nurse her for fear of getting my nipple bit off because she is just so hysterical. I wouldn't mind getting up with her if there was an easy solution, but this staying up for 1 or two hours dealing with hysterical child is really wearing me down. Oy, just had to get that off my chest. I knew you'd all be able to sympathize...

give me strength, mamas!


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## mamameg (Feb 10, 2004)

Sherri,





















I'm so sorry about the difficult nights. I have been there. I know how hard it can be. You're an awesome mama!!!!!


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Sarah'sMama- even though we're still getting up every 2 hours (sometimes less), at least ds is only up for a few minutes. I am so sorry you're going through this- you must be totally exhausted!







. The occassional night where ds is up for an hour or so completely drain me. I hope that either she moves out of this phase soon, or that you're able to figure out how to help her back to sleep peacefully without the drama. I wonder what she wants (or if SHE even knows!)

On the dh discussion, we co-exist very happily together, but I am also one who loves the village concept. In fact, dh and I have lived in community together while married for a while. It was great for each of us personally, but hard on our marriage, because we never really talked to each other. Dh is an introvert, so I was busy chatting with everyone else in the house (the other 3 were single), and his emotional needs didn't really get met, and it took me WAY to long to realize the marriage was in trouble. Fortunately, dh let me know he needed to leave, and we were able to get to know each other again.









I was sharing with him the other day, that working together at the group home almost feels like we're living in community again on a part-time basis. The other mama and dh and I share baby duty, and we cook for each other and support each other. Even though it's exhausting, I'm starting to







my job.


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Sherri--I am sooooo there with you mama! For the past 4-5 nights she's been doing this and it takes at least an hour if not more for her to chill out and stop crawling all over us. This morning though...she was up wide awake at 430am and then was nutty until 615 or so and woke up at 7 and wouldn't nap til noon! Ahhhh! I also can't nurse her until she calms down because she just chews on me. We've been thinking teeth/developmental...who knows!

that's all for now cuz I can't nak for beans


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Sherri and Heather - what is going on? Lily had a weird night too. Up at 4 am, happy as a lark but obviously tired - crawling around and falling/laying down every few seconds - like her head was too heavy or something. Cute, but annoying at 4 am. So DH picks her up to rock her and she FREAKS OUT, screaming, yelling, arching back, etc. Put her down, same thing, nursing, same thing, blah blah. Finally I rock her a bit, she calms down but is still UP, so she stumbles around for a while longer. FINALLY DH picks her up and she falls asleep on his chest. This is at 6, 2 hours after it all started. And she only slept one more hour.







Needless to say, she's napping now, earlier than usual. Must be teeth, that's all I can say.

DH/commune talk: Yeah, DH and I are happily together, too, but I totally feel the community vibe. Hey, I have 20 acres in rural Virginia we can use! (Seriously. It's our little family farm where I grew up, and no one is living there at the moment. But it's in rural Virginia.







)

Fiddle - so glad to hear the job is enjoyable! I know you are tired and busy but at least it's with people you







.









Toddler Moment for the day: Lily eats some of my muffin. Lily nurses, in her normal acrobatic way. Half an hour later mama finds chewed up muffin in her belly button.







:

Sarah


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

Sarah'sMama: I totally know what you are talking about as well... we've had weeks like that recently, too, especially the week we were in New York and Boston and not in the babe's usual environment. Add the standing and cruising and the potential teething (lots of gnawing on things and pushing down on the gums in the back of his mouth with his fingers), and I don't know what is going on. I've passed off the babe to Bill a few times and just gone for a walk. Of course, it doesn't help when your cat cracks a tooth in half and has to go the vet for it to be extracted and then has to be picked up in the middle of the bedtime routine... grrr... stupid cat...

I have my own vent to share now: what do you say to a mama of another one year old who thinks a baby is "using you" when they wake up every two hours to nurse during the night? And what do you say to the same mama who stands around talking to other mamas while her walking one year old makes havoc all around the room, rocks a 12 week old sleeping baby in his bucket car seat while it's on the floor, pushes other babies/ toddlers, and she continues to just stand there and not even watch him?







: It's coming to the point where I can't just _not_ say something. I want it to be light hearted, but I need to say something. It's a safety issue for the other babies and toddlers. I don't care if she doesn't care about her child's safety, but I sure as heck care about all the other children who are not hers and their safety.

~claudia


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Claudia--I'd just say something like "oh, it looks like ____ is flying under your radar" and maybe elaborate on what you've seen. Her response to anything being said might be telling about how much she cares or truly doesn't. It irks me to no end when other mom's at the library leave their little hellions to run loose and I wind up intervening to spare C from getting her hands crushed or getting run over.

Sarah--phew....glad we're not the only ones in crazy sleep land. This too shall pass, right?

Someone took 14 steps today---well not all in a row, but here and there and DH finally got to see her take a few. She is *so* cautious, but so darn cute too!







:


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Wow--we ARE a chatty bunch!
Okay, jeez Sarah, I've been so caught. Well, honestly, that post just went right under my nose, because I still haven't read it!!! That was cute, though, but now it's gone! Renae, your perfect wife title has been yanked!! What'd you do???

Sarah, I sat here and seriously considered moving to Virginia.

About the whole raisins & beans--yup. I don't think it's a big deal at all. It's fiber. They don't absorb any nutrition from them but at the same time it's not hurting them. I made poppy seed muffins the other day and then changed a very poppy poopy diaper. It was funny.

We got molars in!

Sherri--that does sound like a really awful night. I hope they are getting better. I had to stop & think what "h-e-double hockey sticks" meant. That is a very nicey nice way of expressing that.







You're too sweet. Dump some profanity on us, mama!!!


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

All this talk of screamful nights had me so thankful for my good sleeper (lately) and feeling very bad for all the mamas and papas of the sleepless babes. And then we had one of those nights last night. Sheesh.

Sarah the muffin belly button story is funnnnn-y.









Two months ago dh's parents thought it'd be a good idea to get A a walk-behind/push toy to help her learn to walk. We just recieved it yesterday.







Oh well, even though she's been walking for a little bit now she still loves it, fills up the carrying compartment and drives it around. So cute.









Mrs. Not-Wife-Material, you'd be so proud of me, I just signed up for a belly dance class!





















: I'm excited. This really is a huge deal for me, I'm such a big sissy, so full of inhibitions when it comes to things like this. And it's always my New Year's resolution to stop being so shy and get off my a$$ and actually DO the things I really want to do instead of being lame and thinking: "I won't be able to do ___ well so I'm not going to even try because I'll make a fool of myself in front of people doing it poorly." So here's a baby step. YAY FOR ME!!!!!! I'm thinking dh will actually be supportive of this and help out with Amelia. Since he'll assume that if I actually learn something he'll get his own personal dances or something :LOL But there might be a couple times I'll have to take dd with me. Not sure how these people will react to me bringing a toddler to the class. Elsanne have you ever worn Sol while dancing? Hmmm, we'll figure something out. But I'm sooo excited. Silly I know, but I'm excited.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

AGrace, GOOD FOR YOU for taking a belly-dance class!!







:
I totally know how it is, to get over the nervousness and inhibitions to just DO it!







I took classes in California like 7 years ago...and I think it's high time for me to find some classes nearby! I sort of feel like everything's been put on hold since Rowan's birth and DH's grad school (he's DONE this winter!!!







)...so soon enough, I will take belly dance and guitar lessons! yea!
I know why my perfect wife title got yanked; DH washed a pen in the laundry the other day and I had to kill him and bury him in the backyard. With the ruined clothes!







: Yeah. No perfect wife title for me! :LOL I don't even know how to get the pen out! My DH is a [email protected]$$!









I am going to go work on a blanket I am crocheting for a friend's babe while mine naps, but I had to give the consensus about the bad nights. It makes me feel SO MUCH BETTER to hear I'm not the only one! Rowan's been up so much the last few nights, a couple times totally losing his "*S*ugar *H*oney *I*ced *T*ea" (figure THAT one out! :LOL) and kicking and screaming and just totally freaking out...*sigh* once we finally broke down and gave him Tylenol...and then he slept for 4 hours.







I am so lame. It's those first year molars, has to be...right?!?!?

Claudia, I hope you resolve the issues with that other mother soon...I wish I knew what to tell you...I'd probably be rude, especially about the "he's using you" comment!







: So I have no good advice here...

Anyway, hope you all have a glorious day. Um, Virginia sounds good! No, I'm serious! *sigh*
You know what we SHOULD do though...plan some sort of May-Mama Convergence, where we all get together for a week somewhere and just...commiserate. I would LOVE to see you all in person, and give you the







you deserve!
Rock on.


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## mommaluv321 (Aug 14, 2004)

hey all, nothing new here really, a few new words, "bun" for bunny and "na na na na" for no!
Agrace, I wanted to say real quick, I saw a pic of a mama bellydancin' w/ a babe in a sling, I'm pretty sure it was at www.gypsymama.com (she sells slings) maybe something you could try? if nothing else, I'm sure it's a great work-out! :LOL


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

heh. i was thinking of elsanne at lunch today in my step aerobics class. the teacher was throwing in some samba moves really swinging the hips around. i'm like HIPS????? i can't control these things!!! they have a mind of their own. i'd make the worst belly dancer EVAR! i was totally dorkin it *sigh* oh well it was fun

we are living in premolar hell here too (oops i let that one slip). human pacifier. check. frequent wakings and thrashing around the bed. check. ugh.

i'm down for the commune. ladies can do it bettah. bettah togetha! dh is ok lately but we could just arrange visitation or something :LOL . i went out last night with my girlfriend who is in town visiting and dh stayed home (nice he didn't even put up a fuss). and he didn't call when isaac screamed his head off for a while. so this is progress. but he still let me know how HARd he was to console







they were sleeping soundly by the time i got home so i hit the couch until i heard isaac wake up

oh yeah-- ishie is isaac! cool-- that is a cute nickname. i haven't really tagged isaac with one yet. (he grew out of his butterball baby nicknames like bo-bo) but the kids at school call him ika. except for this one boy alden who has the most perfect enunciation for a 2 year old. i'm in love with him







he says 'isaac is here' when we get there in the morning
















is anyone else having a major increase in separation anxiety lately?? we are. and i'm also contemplating a move back into the crib. i sort of feel like its now or never. or at least now or not for the next 6 years. but i'm sure it wouldn't be good timing with the increased sep. anx. but i might try anyway. i sleep on his floor pillow in his room for a while to get him happier in his room. we've done this transition a couple of times. and then we slip gradually back into cosleeping more and more. and the other night after his first wakeup he sat up on my lap and pointed at the door (like just take me in there and skip this rocking stuff). whoa nelly. i sometimes love sleeping next to his soft little breath and sometimes just want my big old comfy bed with dh alone. i am SO torn about it! but the one night last week that he slept in his crib until 5am i thought was blissful.

we are also experiencing an increase in tantrum behaviors. he has figured out how to stomp his feet!!! when i ask him to do something he doesn't want to do...like close a door or something. he starts crying and stomps his little feet. and i just think it is the cutest thing in the world (but then i immediately think omg!! we need to curb this tantrum stuff). i don't make a big deal out of it. i'm just amazed he's doing it at 1 instead of 2







maybe he's learning it from daycare??? he has definitely learned this cheesy grin from one of his little daycare pals sawyer. he does the exact impression

soo peeps that eat tofu. or serve it to the bebes. isaac isn't digging plain tofu squares. what can i do to snazz it up?? i remember someone mentioning sauteed tofu cubes lately. or something. i've been reading super baby food again. i skimmed before. and now i'm really reading it. and feeling woefully inadequate in the healthy food department. this woman has some serious TIME on her hands to do all that stuff. but it is good food for thought and i was looking for some inspiration in healthy toddler foods.


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## mamameg (Feb 10, 2004)

J - I give Mia cubes of the baked/flavored tofus. Wildwood makes several good flavors.


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

jstar---we are totally getting into the tantrum thing here. Her latest is to get on her knees and then thump both palms of her hands on the floor several times and if that doesn't work to get my attention she'll pretend to bang her head on the floor....I say pretend because she overestimated the other day and whacked her teeth and now she gets like an 1/8 of an inch from the carpet. Oh boy! She got mad at DH giving her a bath the other day and did her thumper routine and water went everywhere! :LOL

Where are all our regulars?? KK???

I've been lazy and sleeping on my side and probably not drinking enough water and I have a flippin' plugged duct. Anyone have these and remember how long they take to clear. What a pitb. I can't get C to nurse long or well enough on that side to do much. She looks at me like I'm nutty when I try to nurse over top of her. *sigh* /end pity party


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

mamameg~ thanks--i will buy those and try them out

heatherfeather~exploring tantrum territory must be part of the age i guess. isaac has tried the headbanging too. about a month ago he did that a couple of times. i'm glad he figured out that one hurts. although now when i try to pick him up or take his hand to guide him away from something when he's not happy he will arch his back and try to bang his head on the floor behind him.

we're having a harder time eating in restaurants too. he eats and he's done and wants down. we're doing more of the take turns walking outside thing. which we did a lot during the ~3 or 4 or 5 months stage (i can't remember exactly). i'm going out tonight with isaac. dh isn't going. wish me luck!!!!







although we all had a nice brunch on sunday and the waiter said isaac got the best behaved baby award. that was cool


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

oh man, going out with Ben is a serious production! Good luck jstar! He has a booster at the table at home, so he reeeeaaallly hates highchairs and tolerates them for very short times when we're out. Like you said, its pretty much walking/entertaining him in shifts while the other grownup eats. Friendly neighbors help, as to slow restaurants, but it ain't pretty...

Heather, sucks about the plugged duct... here's hoping it goes away soon! Usually takes mine 2-3 days... You're doing hot showers and nursing on that side first and all of the other stuff, right? Hope you're feeling better soon.

Ben is getting into tantrums lately too... especially arching his back and screaming if we try to pick him up/redirect when he's unwilling. They seem to happen more frequently and more severely when we're at home, so we spend mad time outside lately! Anything to avoid screaming psycho baby... :LOL

Renae, you crack me up! We had a pen-in-the-wash incident a few weeks ago and I nearly had my Wife Pass revoked. Same deal - DH left it in his pocket - big freakin mess - big freakin hissy fit - ruined clothes cuz I'm domestically clueless.... (but as proof that there is justice in the world, it was mostly DHs clothes that got ruined!









KK, wheeeerrrre aaaaaarree yoooouuuuu? We miss you, come back!

Claudia, any progress with that other mother? I've been thinking about it and unfortunately don't have any ideas... like Renae, I'd probably be rude, or else just not say anything. Ugh. Good luck mama.

So I'm hating the midwest right now - why does it have to be so FREAKIN hot??? No AC = sucky family bed sleeping! Thank god the babe likes the pool.

Off to take a cold shower and think about sleep. Hope you all are cooler than me!

PS: Rock on belly dancing AGrace!


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

no update on the other mama thing. i only see her at the moms and babies group we go to on mondays, and she comes only occasionally. i've only actually met her twice, maybe three times, but that was enough. we're talking about starting a playgroup separate from the monday group since there are five babies at age 12-13 months, but i'm hesitant about this other mom attending... oh well, i'll figure something out. keep it in mind and if you think of something lighthearted and clever to say, let me know.

we are freakin' freezing here in portland! it's like 50-60 degrees and it's freakin' june! i think it's gonna be another late starting summer like we had a few years ago. consistently warm weather didn't start that year until july 4th weekend, but it went all the way into october, which was nice.

anyway, i'm wasting time while the monkey plays here next to me. i can't really do anything constructive like getting ready for our trip to vegas tomorrow because bill is at hockey... grrr... i'm grumpy, i'm hungry (we have nothing to eat in the house), and we still have a lot to get ready.

oh well, i better eat something and give the monkey a bath.

wish us well on our plane flight tomorrow. thank god bill's coming with us and it's only a two hour trip.

peace, mamas...

warmly,
claudia


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## Defenestrator (Oct 10, 2002)

it is soooo hot here







waaaah!

We have also been through a recent bout of nonsleeping. 1 respiratory virus (that I think gave him headaches from fever) + teething + major developmental leaps= one tossy-turny baby. Also the longer days have been keeping us all up later.

THe last few days he has been sleeping better. I dosed him with homeopathic camomila a few days ago and noticed marked improvement. Last night I dosed him again and we slept so deeply that I had a hard time waking up in the morning. Tonight he went to bed early without any remedy, so we'll see.

Theo is nursing less and less. I don't think he'll wean himself anytime soon and when I am gone I pump about 30 oz in a 24hour period, but I feel like I have to start paying more attention to the solid food I give him. I am going to try and make his diet a little more nutritious. I just started getting vegetables from a community farm, so I hope we will all be eating better. Do any of you give your kids raw carrots? He was stealing some out of the refrigerator the other day when I was cooking dinner, but they were really small so I took them away. I wonder if he might safely gnaw on a really big carrot.

Plugged duct cure-- some people I know have gotten relief from using cheap plastic combs in the shower to draw across the breast toward the nipple and put pressure on the ducts.

Hope you all are having a good week.

Stacia


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

Stacia, Amelia







loves raw carrots!!! We used to give them to her, nice and cold out of the fridge, when she first started teething and it was the best teething remedy ever. I give her big fat ones though, and cut off the skinny tip so she doesn't jab herself in the throat or anything. Now that she has teeth she just sort of scrapes off little bits.
























Claudia - Good luck on the flight, glad you don't have to go it alone.







I liked Heather's idea of saying somethign like "uh-oh, I think ___ is flying under your radar" Or, how did that go, Heather? Don't remember, all I know is that I was thinking about how it was very clever and nice.... because I'm not one who would know how to handle that type of situation either. But it would drive me bonkers.

Restaurants With Very Young Children:














We have never had a pleasant eating-out experience. Not yet anyway. Does anyone have one of those portable hook-onto-the-table baby chairs? I've seen them and they look so handy and cool. But we don't eat out enough to make it seem worth buying one. Although it would make dinners at home easier I think too. Hmmm, I wonder how far up they go as far as weight limits.

I'm rambling. I'm tired. Goodnight ladies. Isn't that a song???







:LOL


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## emmalola (Apr 25, 2004)

we give the lentil raw carrots. We peel the big ones and he likes to scrape against them with his teeth. He hasn't ever broken off a chokeable-sized piece, so I don't really worry. I don't let him play with them when I am not immediately around (like in the car) just in case, but that sort of goes without saying.

We're really suffering right now with some serious separation anxiety. The boy won't go to anyone but me, and he gets completely hysterical if he has to be separated. But I have to do things like shower, go to the bathroom, and go to work sometimes, you know? It's been really difficult lately. Our whole household is tense because of it. When he is with me he must be carried all the time, which in itself wouldn't be so bad if he didn't also pick at my skin, pinch me, and jam his fingers in my mouth and nose all the time. I'm at my wits end, I'm telling you. This morning I even got a little mad because I just feel like everything is so out of control. I hope this passes soon.


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## PinkPixie (Apr 28, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AGrace584*

Does anyone have one of those portable hook-onto-the-table baby chairs? I've seen them and they look so handy and cool. But we don't eat out enough to make it seem worth buying one. Although it would make dinners at home easier I think too. Hmmm, I wonder how far up they go as far as weight limits.

AGrace584, we have one called "monbebe" a French company. I bought it for DS1 5 years ago because we lived in a super-cramped apartment and there wasn't enough room for a high chair in the kitchen. Very useful and space saving but will not guarantee a nice restaurant experience :LOL . It is much safer than the cheapo restaurant high chairs that barely go up to mid back.

The weight max is 15kg...what is that in pounds?







I won't even try to convert, i'm mathophobic







: . All the kids have loved this chair because it's bouncy. We like it because the baby is at the table with us and is more included in the meal. They seem so far away from the action when in a highchair.

emmalola: separation anxiety, I hear ya! It has gotten really intense in the past month. She cries as soon as I put her down and has a fit when I am out of view. (Even though she spends most of the day in her Ergo, sometimes I have to put her down to take care of the other kids). She throws herself back kicks her feet on the ground and then sticks her fingers down her throat to make her gag& choke...which always makes me run back to her (she knows I'm terrified of chocking sounds).
Ahhh, baby tantrums, a prelude to the terrible two's.


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

On the restaurant thing....the only thing that has 'saved' us is going to restaurants with salad bars and plying her with cottage cheese throughout the meal. :LOL We also try to go when it's not busy so we'll get our food faster. I still dream of lingering at a restaurant like we did in our dating days. *sigh*







Since C got on so well when MIL babysat last weekend, we're talking about doing an early dinner in the city one of these weekends.









I'm with you hot, suffering mamas. We did manage to play outside in the shady area for a little while today, but yucko on the 95 degrees!

Just got off the phone doing an interview with a local paper on baby sign language. It's not supposed to run for a week and a half,b ut I'll have to link it in the YG if they put it online. She asked to come do a photo shoot, but I kindly declined!!









Two cute things from today: blowing kisses!!!







and pretending a wooden block was a phone


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Yep, Lily decided tonight was the night to let go of the fingers...:LOL She walked back and forth between DH and me quite a few times, about 5-6 steps each time. SO proud of herself! She often does this evening-time new skill thing, so it will probably be a few days of this before she really takes off, but it's a definite start!

Heather - cool about the sign language story. Can't wait to see it!

AGrace - yay for bellydance class! You go, girl.

Restaurants: Lily's pretty good. She generally likes high chairs and playing with cups, straws, spoons, etc. Once the food comes she'll eat for 15-20 minutes with us. Then we take turns walking her around. I wonder what it will be like once she really starts walking, though...

Tantrums: Lily throws herself on the floor, droops her head down and SOBS like she's just lost her best friend. Soooooooo pathetic-sounding. They pass pretty quickly, though, usually as soon as I pick her up and show her a ball or her push-toy phone.









Hi everyone else.







Take care Mamas!

Sarah


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## Defenestrator (Oct 10, 2002)

We ate out a lot when ds1 was a baby. I developed a whole method for it. #1 rule -- after food is ordered, go for a small walk. #2 -- do nothing to entertain the baby until mild fussiness begins (because sometimes we would get 15 minutes or so out of just looking at the new environment. Why waste all of your tricks before you have to use them?) #3 -- put trusted parent on one side of baby, entertaining grandma-type on the other side (my brother is particularly good at amusing the toddler set) #4 -- for me, going to loud, busy restaurants helped, but for some that might be too much. #5 -- try not to feed the baby until you eat (this rule has to be reversed when kids are older and get cranky when hungry, but usually I try to offer drinks only when we are waiting for food. I often feed Theo at the end of my meal because it buys me a few more minutes.) #6 -- a tired baby is not a happy baby. (we have learned to either go out much earlier than we would normally, or pack in the naps before going out) #7 no high chair until either baby is eating or you are eating-- those things aren't horribly comfortable, so save them for when you really don't want to be holding the baby.

Take care,

Stacia


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Defenestrator*
We ate out a lot when ds1 was a baby. I developed a whole method for it. #1 rule -- after food is ordered, go for a small walk. #2 -- do nothing to entertain the baby until mild fussiness begins (because sometimes we would get 15 minutes or so out of just looking at the new environment. Why waste all of your tricks before you have to use them?) #3 -- put trusted parent on one side of baby, entertaining grandma-type on the other side (my brother is particularly good at amusing the toddler set) #4 -- for me, going to loud, busy restaurants helped, but for some that might be too much. #5 -- try not to feed the baby until you eat (this rule has to be reversed when kids are older and get cranky when hungry, but usually I try to offer drinks only when we are waiting for food. I often feed Theo at the end of my meal because it buys me a few more minutes.) #6 -- a tired baby is not a happy baby. (we have learned to either go out much earlier than we would normally, or pack in the naps before going out) #7 no high chair until either baby is eating or you are eating-- those things aren't horribly comfortable, so save them for when you really don't want to be holding the baby.

Take care,

Stacia


Stacia-you sound like my long lost sister! We do much of the same, and really it helps!


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Oh, great tips, you guys! I often exhaust all of my "tricks" too soon at restaurants...I will try some of these delaying tactics next time we're out!








My babe, luckily, LIKES the high chairs at restaurants (as long as he has stuff to play with while sitting in them! :LOL), because usually, he's been in my arms or in a sling all the way up to then. If I try taking him from a stroller (like when we walk in the mall or whatever) to a high chair, NO DICE. Heh. Funny all these things we learn with these babes!

*sigh* So, mamas, the past couple of days have been....you guessed it...HELL!







Like, fire and brimstone, the whole deal.







Rowan started getting a runny nose on Tuesday while at a friend's house for a playdate, and then it progressed into the full on, wiping-every-other-second, clingy as all get-out, super-stuffy COLD.





















He woke every hour last night, but luckily went right back down after a nose-wipe and a good nurse.
He is eating next to NOTHING as far as solids go, which worries me because I don't think I make much milk for him anymore! But, I nurse him OFTEN, offer lots of water, and he seems happy enough with that. We're also giving him ANYTHING he seems interested in eating, which means lots of cheddar goldfish and crackers, and animal cookies.







: I know...but it's ALL he wants to eat right now! It will pass, I know, but WHOO, mamas, am I tired! I held him since I woke this morning (after DH held him the whole time he was getting ready for work...I swear, mamas, seeing my hubby wearing our son in a sling just totally rocks my world.







)
So, I hear all you separation-anxiety mamas.









And we feel the molars in the back of his poor little mouth. It's ALL happening this summer, y'all!







I think I will raid my fridge for a carrot...I'm pretty sure we have some from when I made his carrot birthday cake a couple weeks ago...I worry that he'll bite a big chunk off but I will see what happens.

So yeah. We're laying low out here today, I filled his kiddie pool but I dunno if I want to bring him outside much until he's a little better. I can watch one of my Netflix movies while we nurse and play, my usual rule of no TV on during the day be damned!








It's like 85 degrees here today, with the humidity it means it's more like a billion.







Seriously, dude, I am SO NOT OKAY with New England humidity! Arg!
I mean, last time we were in California we had some 100 degree days, and it was like, whatever! Because it was dry!! DRY, I tell you!








Okay, I'm done.

Thank the gods on high that Rowan is napping right now. I am enjoying my coffee and eating breakfast. Whew.
And YOU GO, all you walking babes! Rowan will walk with our fingers, but immediately sits down when we let go. Heh. Soon enough, soon enough.

First, this cold has to GO.
Have a good day, mamas.







More than ever, I wish for our commune!
Though yesterday, I went over to one of my mama-friends' houses (she lives down the street and is going back to work in July! Her son is a year old this month and she is DUE IN OCTOBER!!!







) and another friend was there with her daighter and she made us lunch. Such a save for my sanity! I am lucky to have a few good friends here...but I still want all my May mamas!
Okay,







I just can't shut up (I am typing like a woman who knows her minutes are numbered. I bet I won't get to be online again until tonight!) Yeah...bye!


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

awww, renae and poor sick Rowan! Much love and healing vibes...

Go Lily Go! Rock on walking babies! Go Camille Go!

we are going away for the weekend, and I really should be packing while the babes are sleeping, but I cannot tear myself away from the puter.







I get so sick of being the one packing for the whole family. dh packed his clothes last night and thinks that's the end of packing. I'm left to pack for three people...swimming diapers, diapers, swim suits, snacks and drinks for the kids, clothes for the kids, sunscreen etc. etc.







:


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Renae, I am right there with ya, mama. Luke is sick AGAIN! I just can't believe it. The baby of the other mama I work with almost never gets sick, and they are exposed to the same germies. I don't get it. I am not a germ freak, disinfecting everything ds touches, but I'm more careful than the other mama (just because Luke's been sick so much more), and I mop the floors with a dilute bleach solution, and won't let my ds crawl in the bathroom or the clients' rooms like she does.

I also have a no TV during the day rule. I've only broken it when Mt. St. Helens erupted again, or when Luke's sick. When he's miserable and can't be set down, I rent a video and plop down on the couch and attach him to my boob and that's how we hang out all day.

I guess one good thing has come of all my trials with low weight baby and low milk supply worries. I am in the position to dispense advice (which of course you are free to take or leave, as it works for you







) Milk supply is negatively affected by stress. And one of my biggest stressors is worrying about my supply! I realized after talking to a lactation consultant that I can actually increase my supply just by telling myself I have plenty of milk, and visualizing it squirting out everywhere in its plentitude. :LOL As long as I let go of my to-do list and chill, I've got all the milk I need. Wierd, huh?

nak and i wouldn't worry if he won't really eat solids while he's sick- Luke never does. He makes it up later (except when he gets sick again too soon). So will Rowan.









ok, baby needs mama

ps- hooray for walkin' Lily!!!!


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

s and get-well-soon energy to Rowan and Luke! Such a bummer to be sick - again. Especially in the heat, Renae! Its been upper-80s, low 90s here all week and hella humid, and now I have a cold too - I feel your pain mamas!

FF ITA about the supply visualizations! :LOL That sort of thing helped soooooo much when I was having some BF issues with DD. This time around I really focused on creating positive and plentiful and affirming thoughts re: BFing Ben and its been smooth sailing all the way. Makes a lot of sense that our stress levels would affect milk production. I know that I'm so much less physically well when I'm under a lot of pressure and I suffer physically in a lot of ways if the stress goes on too long - bad skin, icky hair, weird digestive stuff, weight fluctuations - so why not milk production too? Sounds like you've got a good sense of how your body works!









I'm loving all the stories of new walkers! Yay Lily and C! Soon you'll be just like this little green guy









Ben is standing a bit more on his own, mostly when he's not aware that he's doing it! He's still a super fast crawler so not much interest in walking, which is a-ok with me.

We had a rough morning mamas: Its DDs last day of school (EVER!) and we all watched Napolean Dynamite last night, which meant we all over slept. Then DD sprawled on the LR rug and *REFUSED* to move for 20 min, which was a mega-problem b/c 1. Ben kept crawling all over her and she'd whack him every time (!!!!







) 2. She gets surly and insane when her blood sugar drops, which it did, and 3. she needed a shower in the worst way. I started issuing ultimatum ("You will take a shower right now or I'm not going to let you go to the pool for a week!"







) and it just all fell apart. *sigh* DH took Ben out for a walk to get away from DD and me fighting, and we did eventually work it out, but gosh, I'm wasted. And its not even 9am! But they're out of school in an hour and I have to go have breakfast with the class in a few minutes, so I better pull myself out of this funk... thanks for reading if you've made it this far! I just needed to get that off my chest.

So, time to finish my coffee and hit the road. Happy Friday mamas!


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Aww Maggie!








Here's to a smoother rest of the day for you all. I totally wonder if I will start doing the ultimatum thing, or other things I might not be too proud of when Rowan gets older.







: No worries mama. Already, when Rowan persists in reaching for things he really shouldn't have, or tosses food on the floor, looking at me like "what are ya gonna do about it?"...I have to take deep breaths, but still, the occasional







slips out. *sigh*

Anyway, last night was *marginally* better sleepwise, and Rowan seems to be feeling better today. I'm not wiping his nose every other minute today. BUT, he's not interested in his morning nap!







He's pleasant enough (kind of...as I type he whiiiiiiiined and crawled across the floor to me, and is now bleating at my feet...okay, now I'm typing one-handed. :LOL) so I guess I will try to feed him an early lunch and then get him down at 11:30-12...







What can ya do?

We are also carless today, I was kind enough to give DH the "good" car because of the awful heat and humidity expected today (it's not yet 75 degrees but we went for a walk this morning and it was SO humid!) and "his" car doesn't have AC.







I feel for him. He has a 45+ minute commute that is no fun in the summer. So, we're laying low in our blissfully mostly-air-conditioned house (I don't like to use it much but on days like today...it also made sleeping SO MUCH nicer last night!) and just sort of chilling. Maybe we'll use the pool today.

Send us good-afternoon-nap vibes, mamas!







Have a great day!


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## nuggetsmom (Aug 7, 2002)

Did you think I got stuck in the baby board???? NO instead I have had no internet access for 10 days







So, in case you were wondering, that is where I have been. More later, busy day today. Just the email to weed through is going to keep me busy all day. And then I will catch up with the thread.


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

I *was* just wondering where you'd been nuggetsmom.







Let us know how your clan is diong when you get a chance.

Healing vibes to the sicklings and strength vibes to their mamas:









Yay for hte walking girlies!








:

Amelia's big news is that she went on her first zoo trip yesterday with our playgroup. Her fav's were the peacocks running around and the giraffes. They have the coolest giraffe exhibit where you're up on a deck right at eye-level with them and you can feed them crackers. A got such a huge kick out of them, sticking their loooong blue tongues out to snatch up the treat. Fun times.

Sherri - what is with men and their lack of packing skills? :LOL mine has trouble even getting himself together, I'm usually reminding him to take things.... like socks.







Have a good trip!

Happy weekend all!!!


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

nuggetsmom- I have been thinking about posting a "where are you?" thread on the baby boards. I'm glad you're ok! Welcome back.


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

yay for the walkers!!







it is so cute to watch them figure it out.

isaac has another runny runny nose too. but doesn't seem too bothered by it. it is just snot city. i hope rowan and luke feel better soon. isaac just about stopped eating solids when he was really sick the week of his birthday

the restaurant tips are good. we do some of those. overall he is pretty good. i think the walking thing is making it harder though. he wants DOWN to explore. i put him down last saturday for a sec and ZOOOOOOOOOM he was practically running. he wants to go go go. so we go outside if it is somewhere safe to let him run around. or figure out a new distraction

i had a frustrating attempt at bedtime last night. it was more about me being frustrated that it is impossible to nurse him down anymore. if he isn't tired i just need to get over it. but at 9:30pm i think he should be tired!!!!!! and mama wants at least a 1/2 hr break before she has to get in bed. grrrr. we have company staying at our house and it is loud and he knows there are people and does not want to go to sleep. luckily at 10:30 they went out and we all went to bed *sigh*

it sounds HOT on the east coast. still blah here.

so maggie is it DDs last day because you're homeschooling now? (i might have missed that).

agrace - i can't wait to take isaac to the zoo. we went a couple of times last year just to get out and walk around. this year will be FUN. and we haven't managed to go yet. i want to feed giraffes! that does sound cool

sarah'smama--i hear ya on the packing thing. i need to start packing this weekend i think for leaving on thursday.

i got isaac a sunhat just like marek's (with the essential strap under the chin)--very cute safari hat. isaac hates anything on his head. but he doesn't have enough hair to protect his precious little scalp.

hi to all the new mamas. it is exciting to have even MORE may babies. i think our month was rockin' with baby action














:LOL


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Well, folks, ds finally had his 12 mo apt. It was delayed last time, 'cause he was sick. Of course, this week he's sick again!

Here are his stats: 17 lbs one ounce, 29 inches long.

This will probably be a surprise to no one, as it has been a long time in coming, but Luke was diagnosed today with Failure to Thrive, and referred to the local childrens' hospital for evaluation and testing.

Here has been my emotional response so far:
1st: duh.
2nd: I shed a few tears in the dr's office. She was very understanding, and assured me she knew that I'd done everything I could.
3rd: I had to go to work (yech) but my co-worker told me to hang out in the staff room and let him take care of everything. I took him up on the offer, and spent some time indulging in a bit of depression.
4th: I realized that I'm actually relieved that something's finally been done about it!

nak- this baby won't eat or drink anything but the boob today with his fever. send lots of milk vibes my way! i'm gonna be a bump on a log tonight at work- watch cable tv and nurse and sleep my shift away.


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Fiddle, *hugs to you AND Luke AND your DH. I'm so sorry you are going through this. Please know that you can call on me anytime for anything!

I took a CPR class all day today and DH had Lily the whole time. It was a boring class, but it was nice to have a "practice run" for when I go back to school. This was the longest time I've been away from Lily. DH did bring me lunch, but she wasn't hungry then anyway so I ended up pumping after they left. They apparently had a great day. I guess she doesn't really need me after all.







:

Hi, nuggetsmom! We've missed you!

Have a good weekend, everyone. I hope all the colds are on their way out, and the weather is great everywhere around the country all weekend!









Sarah


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Aw, fiddlefriend. FunkyFern. I am so moved by what's been going on with Luke. Big hugs and hope things look up very soon. Pamper yourself, good mama. Ain't nobody like you in that boy's life.

Jacqueline--glad you're back.


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

I am here laughing my head off about my "not wife material"!!!! OMG I am on the floor. This is too funny. I want to go post all around so everyone can see I'm NOT WIFE MATERIAL.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ack this is soooo freakin funny!!!!


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## KKmama (Dec 6, 2001)

Hi, I'm back. Did'ja miss me?







(We were on a much needed vacation for 2 weeks, and I forgot to tell y'all that we were leaving before we left.)

I've sort of skimmed to catch up....

Ff, I'm sorry about what you're going through still with Luke. I hope you get good, gentle, helpful help in just getting his weight up. If you can get a teflon suit now, though, I'd advise it... sometimes, the "experts" make "well-intended" comments/suggestions (as I've shared in the past) that rub sensitive/attuned mamas the wrong way. Keep us updated. If there's anything I can do to help, let me know (even if it's just comparing notes here, by pm, on the yg, whatever). The most positive thing I can say: as you know, even though our trip through the FTT label with Z has not been pleasant, he's packed on a lot of weight (and racked up a lot of developmental milestones) since we had our "intervention". So even though it sucked, it has helped, and that's all I want.

On the iron check thing... with both boys, we had a check at 9 mos (and then with T, again at 1 yr, I think). With Z, we'll check him again when he's walking, I think. Our last house was 100 yrs old and had lead paint, and our current house is almost 50 (and probably has it, though not to the same extent). It's something worth being careful about. I knew other mamas who had to deal with lead problems in their babes (back when I lived in CA), and it is a scary thing.

I think I'm not wife material at times myself.









Should I do my check-in? (Since this is my 1st post for June.) I'm KK, mom to 2 boys (Z's b-day is the 19th of May, and T's 4th b-day is on the 28th of June). Z was 23 lbs. and 31 1/2" long, 19" head (I think... actually, I think he was taller) at his 12 mo. check-up. He has 4 teeth on the top, 2 on the bottom (but he has been biting anything and anyone within reach, so PLEASE let those new teeth come in soon!). He's crawling and cruising, starting to do tiny experiments with independent standing. He says mama, dada, bye-bye (I think), baby (I think), dis, and dat. I am mainly a SAHM, occasionally teach community college (microbiology). For anyone not in the know, Z was diagnosed as FTT in early April, and we were giving him supplemental calories through a nasogastric feeding tube (in addition to nursing... he wouldn't/couldn't eat). He's learned to drink from a straw cup and he's made a lot of progress with solids. We're still giving him 8 oz/day of hypoallergenic, high calorie stuff in his cup. We've also been doing occupational therapy for ~2 1/2 months to help him learn to eat and drink and get through some gross motor delays (which seem to have occurred because of his weight deficit). I think he gained at least a pound during our 2 week trip, so it would make roughly a 6 lb. weight gain in 2 months.

And just a brief bit on the trip... OMG, I wish we had had direct flights. Anything and everything that could have gone wrong with our flights did go wrong (including sitting on the runway for an hour in a plane with no AC with a baby stripped down to his dipe covered in heat rash till I buzzed the flight attendant to ask to let us get out... everyone else on the plane was thankful, because we *all* got to get out then). Oh yeah, we were also selected for the "additional security screening" for one flight, and they went through all our carry-ons (including our 10,000 snacks, the oral therapy stuff in my backpack, and the sex lube in dh's backpack which apparently had leaked all over everything :LOL ). Even Z had to be wanded and patted down: "Can he stand ma'am?" No, so dh had to hold him steady while they wanded him...







But otherwise, it was a great trip and a much needed break. We had lots of fun and ate well (and even Z ate really well, and as I said, he looks like he gained a good bit of weight, and I think he must have grown an inch in 2 weeks). Our suitcases are lost, but that just means I don't have to do laundry. :LOL


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

Fiddlefern - Oh mama, hugs hugs and more hugs to you, Luke, and your dh. You are one tough mama and Luke couldn't have a better looker-outer to get him through this. Remember to do something special for yourself every once in a while, you deserve it!!!!!









KK - Welcome back







Glad to hear you guys were able to get away for a while, y'all deserved it. I can't believe they patted down and wanded little Z!!!!! Wowza. Maybe they think a big cloth dipey might be a good place to smuggle something. tee hee Hope you get your bags back soon though.

Jstar - Oh man, the bald heads in the sun..... Amelia WILL NOT wear any sort of head covering, and she goes berserk if I try tying it on with a chinstrap or somethign. Soooo, I've resorted to schmearing sunblock through her hair. She doesn't have enough to cover her head BUT she does have just enough to make it hard to put sunscreen on.... I think it helps though. And she ends up sporting a really cool spikey 'do.









Hope hte colds and runny noses are subsiding, that stuff is no fun in the summertime.

Hey guys, the grass is always greener..... I could totally go for at least a LITTLE bit of humidity right now. This dry hot air is killing me. I put stuff out on the line and it's dry in 5 minutes flat and I feel like I go through like a bottle of lotion a week. When I was in San Diego everyone was like "it's so dry here" and I'm like "you're crazy!". :LOL

I have a thing I'm wondering if I should start worrying about.... well *Amelia* has a thing. Or, rather, she *doesn't* have a thing... a tooth. She's had four teeth on top and THREE on the bottom for a couple months now. Aren't htey supposed to come in somewhat in pairs? So that the bite will be even? There are no signs (besides her moodiness every now and again) that it will be coming in any time soon. And I'm starting to worry about the even-ness of her bite now because she plays with that gap and pushes her jaw over to the side all the time when she grins or chews. Am I being paranoid or should I ask my dentist or her ped???

I can't remember what else it was I wanted to comment on. So off to bed for me. Hope everyone had swell weekends, Happy Monday Ladies!!!


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

we're back home, too. not much time to post... exhausted from my busy conference weekend which went really really well.

sending you hugs, fiddle... i'll call you soon...

lots of love,
claudia


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

(((( hugs )))) fiddlefern and luke and dh. i wish they called it failure to gain instead of failure to thrive. that name just implies a visual i think of lethargy or something. i don't know what. but i've seen luke in action and he is a busy little active boy







i hope the docs at the children's hospital are helpful. don't be too down. he will be ok









i think i am better husband material than anything. nice paychecks. business smarts (i spent yesterday working on dh's business books and trying to plan cash flow with his partner--i don't think either of them are super financially savvy







). and i hate hate laundry and vacuuming and dishes!!!! although i do get satisfaction from a clean house once i can motivate myself. dh is all over me about vacuuming lately and i'm like.....vacuum then!!!!!! arghshhrrrmphh. he also was being pouty that he didn't have any clean clothes and thought i separated all mine and washed them. i didn't. but it made me laugh that i thought he did because i've been threatening it. he needs to pick up some laundry slack.

i made a good wifey attempt though and cleaned house thoroughly and vacuumed and mopped all the floors and did loads of diaps and isaac's clothes on saturday. all with isaac in the ergo. he is SO miserable with these molars. just nonstop whining and clingy







the ergo is saving my life right now.

kk-welcome back!

agrace-i don't know if i would worry about the tooth yet. maybe i would if the premolars started comign in before you saw that 4th tooth. i had a 3rd front tooth that came in sideways between the two when i was a baby. FREAK MUTANT :LOL they pulled it

ahhhhhhhhh mondays. so much to do


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

agrace- I agree that the toothy thing is probably fine, especially since these aren't permanent teeth. However, if it is worrying you, I say go ahead and check it out with a dentist, just so you feel better. I can just see A's spikey doo.









kk and nuggetsmom- so good to have the two of you back!!! Where's Lisa?

thanks everyone for the well-wishes for my family. I'm actually doing really well with the whole thing. I guess that's because nothing new is really happening, ya know? At 4 months when he dropped in percentiles a bunch I was worried. At 9 months when he was physically behind for a bit I was worried, at 11 months when he'd caught so many nasties and he weighed less than he had at 9 months I was worried. But now, there's nothing new to fret about. I've done all my stressing and processing and researching and wondering already. Now it's just like, well, guess we should see if the specialists have some insight.

And like jstar said, it ISN'T like he's wasting away, lying around all day lethargic. He's an active little tyke when he doesn't have a virus (which unfortunately is WAY too often), and he's smiley and social and fun-loving and curious. By the way, the most current virus turns out to be Roseola. Every baby has to pay their dues to that one, I guess. He's feeling much better than when he had the fever, but goodness does he look a fright! Blotchy, blotchy, blotchy!









The good news is that he isn't developmentally behind (according to the ped., though he's certainly behind most of your dc's!). And his head circ. and length are fine. It's just that he's always catching viruses and he can't seem to put on any weight. I do wonder a bit at the FTT diagnosis, but I'm not complaining because it means he'll get attention and hopefully we'll figure out how to help him get in a healthier pattern.

OK, enough about that!

oh, yah, and I wanted to say... DUDE, jstar, it sounds like your dh does need to pick up some major household chore slack. Maybe ask him to be diaper laundry man? My dh usually does the diapers and/ or covers. Actually, he's kind of laundry guy in general. I tend to cook and do dishes, and he usually vacumes, mops, does laundry, and deals with the kitty litter and the trash and recycling. I may not work (for pay!) as many hours as dh, but I bear the brunt of the baby work what with breastfeeding and night-time/ napping duty. I wonder what would happen if you went on a chore strike.







Tee hee. I'm an instigator.

Elsanne- I have said it before and I'll say it again, _I_ need a wife. Just for household chores and the nurturing and the like, not err... the other "perks" of such a relationship.







I might have a hard time explaining THAT part to dh :LOL


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

oh no the roseola. it looks so bad. i hope luke isn't too miserable. at least the rash is the sign it will be over soon.

isaac was feverish all weekend but i think it was the teething/gum inflamation. he had spots on his legs this morning though and i wondered to myself if you can get a 2nd round of roseola following the first ??? (i'm sure not). he had pineapple yesterday and i think he's slightly allergic. he had some spots around his mouth right after eating it. and then spots on his legs but no where else this morning.

oh dh would never do the dipe laundry (i wish!). if isaac has on cloth and dh changes a diap he switches him to a sposie. i have no idea why. although this weekend he made an attempt at folding one to put on and it was retarded. i'm like 'you can put a sheetmetal roof on a building to be watertight and you can't fold a rectangle??????' i don't buy it.

i bitch about him but he does do *some* stuff. sometimes it takes more prompting and hints than others







but i definitely do more. but even having him there to help with isaac makes a huge difference for me. he won't be going to olympia anymore and i am so HAPPY about that. single-moming it was hard. they have lots of in-town jobs coming up. yay


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Happy Monday, Mamas!

We did miss you, KK! Glad you're back. And yeah, where are you, Lisa?

jstar - Glad to hear your DH will be sticking around town more. I know that makes a huge difference. Hope Isaac is fine and the rash is nothing big. Lily is sensitive to pineapple, too, and most berries, as well - tends to get a red bum shortly after eating those.

Claudia - glad the conference and the trip was good. Welcome back home!

DH put in the dishwasher this weekend! Woo-hoo!







: I am STOKED. I hate washing dishes and I tend to pile up a few days' worth at a time.







: Aaah, modern conveniences.

Lily seems to get one new word per day. Today's word was "snacks". Her version: "Sssss-acks!" :LOL I'm so thrilled for the beginning of communication.







Unfortunately, her new favorite word is "outside" ("ow-sah! ow-SAAAAH!") and she says it incessantly while banging on the door. I take her out as much as possible but it's been raining off and on here and it isn't always feasible. Come on, summer, hurry up!

She's still really hesitant about walking but has taken a few more steps in the last few days. She can now stand up from the floor and take a couple steps before falling back down on her bottom. Prefers to toddle back and forth between me and DH, though.

Anyone trusting babe with a regular cup (no lid) yet? Lily is pretty good if she's concentrating but tends to forget it's in her hand and over it goes. Guess we'll try to limit that to outside on the deck for a while yet.









Have a good week, everymama.

Sarah


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

jstar: :LOL at the "you can put sheetmetal roof on a building to be watertight and you can't fold a rectangle???" comment... bill is arithmetic impaired, despite being able to do higher math and differential equations and calculus and etc. but ask him what 42 + 35 is and he's like, ummm, duh, ummm, 70-something, ummm...

welcome back, KK! sorry to hear about traveling woes. there must have been something weird with the friendly skies this weekend, because my mom and dad's first flight got cancelled and they got rerouted to a totally different airport in the NYC area. they made it home safely, though.

agrace: yay for spikey dos! i smeared m's blond head with sunscreen before we went to the pool in vegas over the weekend and everyone was enamored with him. he's turned into a little cheeseball the past few weeks, and every time a camera came out and he saw the light meter orange LED turn on, he would make his cheesy grin for the camera. his pop-pop got some good cheesy photos, as did my mom and dad.

can't remember what else I wanted to respond to, so I will stop now. must catch up on some reading and start some followup work from the conference, e.g. compiling the comments.

one more thing i wanted to share with you all. i hate to be a downer, but i've been lurking on the may 2005 mamas threads as i reminisced about this time last year. some of you probably remember berkeleyp, whose baby julianna was born still in may 2004, and she had a healthy baby girl this may who came a little faster than expected and was born in the bathroom at the donut depot. also another portland mama eaglevoice finally had her baby girl this weekend. but sadly, amongst their group of may mamas, they have had three losses, the most recent was debstmommy just a few days ago. i don't know any of these women personally, but having it happen so close to our babies birthdays just resonated deeply with me. so please think of them, say a prayer or remember in your own way what it means to do the challenging, loving work of being a mama to your little ones.









sending out healthy vibes, pre-molars come in quickly and then be done vibes, walking vibes, eat more solid food vibes, and partners helping out more vibes to everyone who wants and needs them...

warmly,
claudia


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Hi May Mamas!

Just checking in after our weekend away. Dh had a conference at this lovely oceanside resort, so we just HAD to tag along.







We had a really great time. We frequented the indoor pool, where both girls just had a blast. Went to eat at lots of different restaurants, and Katie did very well. Feels good ot be home, tho, despite the upper 80's HUMID weather! Ack. We spent most of teh morning in our finished bbasement, it was soooo much cooler down there. Soo nice. Then the afternoon we spent running some errands. I got some more flowers to plant. I got some Shasta Daisies to plant near my mailbox to spruce it up a bit.

Enough about me....

fiddle-i'm so glad you are at a good place about Luke's diagnosis. You can only move up from here. I sure hope the specialists are quite knowledgeable and bf-friendly. I sure hope their advice makes all the difference in the world. I know you are so strong, and you guys will do fantastic.!!

Roseola-ick! I am pretty sure Katie had a bout of that back in the beginning of April. Can check that off the regular childhood illness checklist.

Renae-how's rowan's cold? Is he getting any better?

KK-glad to have yo uback home. Hope your time away was super relaxing.

TC-glad to have you back as well! Sounds like you guys squeezed in some fun during conference time!









Hugs to all the sickies. Hope it passes quickly. Sickies be gone!

nuggets!!! You're back! I was hoping all was ok on your end.

I know I'm forgetting tons of you....

TC, I'm so sorry to hear of the May 05 losses. I think of berkely- from time to time. It's so heartbreaking to lose a sweet innocent babe.







Prayers and thoughts going out for those sweet families.

Take care may Mamas...


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Wow, I thought I had some stuff to say but then Claudia reminded me of how very, very lucky we all are to have these sweet, amazing babies in our lives, and now all I want to talk about is that!















It really hit me to look back at the May 2005 group...maybe because those birthdates are the same month as ours like TC said...maybe just because ANYTHING sad involving babies still makes me cry...
Oh mamas, we are so lucky. I can handle any amount of night-wakings tonight!























So, my little one and I are suffering the New England heat the only way we know how--AC, baby!







Whenever we have to go out we both get cranky, sweaty and whiny. :LOL He takes after his mama for sure! With those premolars and the still-gunky nose, my babe is the cling-on of all cling-ons! I carry him everywhere. Heh. It's too hot for the sling outside so um, we try not to go out much.









The cold is getting better but like I said, the pollen+ozone+smog+yucky summer has my babe still runny-nosed. He had a fever for a day last week but it broke (SWEATY baby!) and then he was fine. He's happy enough when we're inside. I know AC isn't the most environmentally comscious thing...but we NEED it here to be marginally comfy, I swear! I also keep it as low as I can, and turn it off in rooms we're not in.
Ah, I try.








So anyway, we're good here. Gearing up for summer trips and activities, we're going away on the 24 thru July 1, at a timeshare my in-laws have. They're joining us for the weekend and then it's just us for the week!







It'll be a lot of fun. I envision beach trips and happy babies! We'll see how it really goes! :LOL

And







to fiddle; good luck with everything! I agree; it shoudl be called failure to gain, not thrive!







and I wish you smooth sailing with the professionals!

Other news:
Also, DH is refinancing, and getting an equity loan (well, we both are, but DH has been initiating it...hehe). Sounds bad until you hear what the broker told us: we will be able to pay off pretty much ALL OF OUR OUTSTANDING DEBT!!!!!!!!!!!
The payments for the house and loan will add up to MUCH less than what we pay now, plus we will own BOTH our cars and have ALL our credit cards paid off. You have NO IDEA how relieved I am, mamas...it means we don't have to panic about money like we have been, and I can still stay home with Rowan for a while yet. I am so happy about this.
And now to the budget!







:

Anyway, that's pretty much all I can think of saying right now. I hope summer comes to those searcing for it, and goes from those wanting cooler temps (like HERE!!)
many many







s to you all. I love you mamas.


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

ARGH! MDC nasties just ate my post...

So real quick:







welcome back KK and TC!







to FF and Luke and DH - sending you all lots of peaceful and *growing* vibes! A







to Renae for the good moo-la news! And lots of commiseration to everyone with a DH who doesn't do nearly his fair share of the housework!

(I read recently that one of the promises of the first wave of feminism was 'equal freedom from household tedium' :LOL When can I be equally free?)

Ben kicked off our first official day of summer by eating nothing between breakfast (before 8am) and dinner (6ish). Also no nap until 4pm.







But he woke up happy at 5:15 and then ate a ton before having a nice bath and normal bedtime.







What a weirdo!

He now says "Mmmm-kel" for Michael, the 3 yr old next door! Too cute

Have a good night mamas!


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## A&L+1 (Dec 12, 2003)

This gets it's own post:








*Eleanor has her first tooth!!!*









Actually, it looks like a two-for-one deal - she has both middle bottom teeth showing although only one is poking through so far.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *A&L+1*








*Eleanor has her first tooth!!!*


















:







:







:







:







:







:







:







:







:







:







:







:







:


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## A&L+1 (Dec 12, 2003)

Hello my long lost may mama friends! Shockingly this is my first (okay, second) post to the toddler area. I can't accept it - our babes are actually toddlers???!!!







: What the *^&*%?

Anyway, things here have been very busy but good. My parents were just here for two weeks and we had a wonderful visit. My dad and I went fly fishing (I caught two) and generally had a nice relaxing time. It was hard on my dad because he's started chemo and it makes him really tired and hard on me to see my outdoorsy do-it-all dad having a tough time casting. I am so glad they were here though - Eleanor







her grandparents.

Eleanor had a double ear infection that we didn't notice







: (went in for her one-year well baby, came out with antibiotics). I don't like the idea of antibiotics for a lot of things but she responded so quickly that we are shocked we didn't notice how listless she was before. When we watch her birthday video we feel terrible to see her blotchy tired face since we thought she was fine if a little overwhelmed by the excitement. We think she's been sick so rarely but of course now I wonder if we just didn't notice before - are we terrible parents or what?! As of last week she's all bubbly and excited about everything. She points at anything of interest (notably any picture hanging on a wall). No real words except the occasional 'ball' 'caah (for cat)' 'ahh pahh (for airplane) and 'mmmammma' for one of us. She is certainly expressing herself though - very loudly with new squeals and chirps and mini-tantrums. It's cute now, but it scares me to imagine the two-year old version.

Sarah - congrats with walking! E is taking some steps too, mostly between Alison and I but also for things she really really wants. Every day is a little more, isn't it?

Renae- Super bombastic fantastic about the re-fi and debt reduction!







Alison and I were in the same position a couple of years ago which is how we financed the baby-making and SAH baby-caring cash. We worked up some debt since but we have plans for that. It's a sweet thing to be debt free. I hope Rowan feels better soon - pre-molars notwithstanding.

Welcome back to Claudia, nuggets, KK, stacia, who else? - weird for me to welcome anyone since I have been MIA, but I love that we all keep making it back together again.

Jstar- food sensitivities are still a big worry here. E gets an upset digestive system and eventually a rash whenever I eat dairy. Otherwise we do okay, but it's scary isn't it?

Maggie Mae - congrats on making it until school let out - it was an odd sensation for me to read about school being over for the summer because usually I am so in tune with that since Alison's a teacher. Kind snuck up on me.

Fiddlefern - my dear, I am happy to hear that you are at relative peace about the diagnosis. I know you have done it all to make this boy grow big and strong and I am glad you can see the silver lining. You'll get more help and I hope resolution for this challenge that seems to be going on and on for you and your boy. I'm sending strength and







your way.

Thanks for asking about me, mamas. I am here!


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## mamameg (Feb 10, 2004)

Lisa, congrats on the tooth/teeth! It's been a long time comin'. She's earned it!







Sorry to hear about your father's fatigue, nice you were able to have a fun visit. Oh, and don't worry about not noticing the infection.







We all have our moments of feeling like, who let ME be a parent? My most recent such moment was when Mia drank rubbing alcohol while she was standing right next to me in the bathroom, but I was too busy trying to make myself look presentable to notice before it was too late!







: I *freaked* out and called 911, but in the end she was perfectly fine. Apparently toddlers drinking rubbing alcohol is the most common call they get and they ingest very little, if any, becuase it tastes so nasty. Made me feel a smidge better, but not much. Needless to say, I ordered Tot-Lok's THAT DAY.









We are refi-ing right now, too. Paying off most of our debt (ALL of the big stuff







*whew*) and getting some money to do some home improvements, as well. I am SOOOOOOOO excited to go shoppi... er, um, I mean, get out from under that debt!







:LOL







:

Cute Report: Mia's newest thing is when DH asks her, "Who's Daddy's girl?", she points at herself and says "MIA!". Sometimes is sounds more like Maya, but close enough!























Oops, lost track kof the time. Gotta run to a dentist appt.


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Howdy, ya'll.







: That smilie is too funny. This one's pretty cool, too: :familybed

Lily's down a little early and I'm actually eating lunch on time! Yay!

Lisa - Hi! Glad you're back. Thanks for updating us. I'm glad you got to spend some good time with your dad. Yay on the teeth! It makes them look so much older, huh? Lily's top four are really coming in now and she looks less and less like a baby.

Megan - So cool that Mia's saying her own name! I bet that's amazingly cute to hear. Lily still calls herself "Baby." :LOL Oh, and I've been putting off baby-proofing the bathroom, too, since Lily so far has shown no interest...but I think I will do that today!









I'm getting my hair colored this afternoon - I want streaks of a really bright color, pink or purple. We'll see what happens...I'll post pics when it's done.

Sarah


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## nuggetsmom (Aug 7, 2002)

I wathced the dvd of live aid and it has several places that show videos of the starving people in ethiopia and it makes my heart ache to see those babies and children who are too weak to stand. This hits me in a way that it never did till I had my own babies. Like hearing about birht losses and such. How sad. My thoughts are with those women.

We are so busy these days with lots of playdates, mostly for Naomi, and other things I have somehow gotten involved in. I need to have some lunch right now, but I just want to let everyone know I am still lurking around.
Julia fights naps with a vengeance and I deal with it differently almost every day. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.
She had diarrea for a couple of days so the diaper wash is YUCKY!

:familybed
Julia sleeps better if DH is not home and we both get more space in bed. Just wanted to use the new smilie







:
gotta go or I will starve.


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

: I love this reminds me of all the handsome gentlemanly cowboys in ol' Wyo.









Sarah, every time you talk about Lily's ever-growing communication skills I am amazed. She must have quite the vocabulary already! Can't wait to see hair pics!









Megan that is TOO cute about the 'daddy's girl' thing!!!

Lisa, YAAAAY on the toofers! Aren't grandparents the greatest?!! That's neat that you got some quality time with your dad.









Maggie, A does those "I refuse to eat anything" days too. A LOT lately, in fact. seems like the only thing I can get in her are yogurt-fruit smoothies. At least it's something, maybe it's because it's been so hot lately. I know I do'tn have much of an appetite on hte scorcher days.










I have to come up with some sort of (very cheap) back-carrying contraption to wear A in by Thursday! Any suggestions? I spent $6 on a loooong peice of muslin that I've learned a front-carry wrap with. We're going on a hike thurs though, and I don't think I'll be able to figure out a secure enough back carry with it in a couple days. Waaaaah, I want an ergo so bad!!!









Renae I'm so happy for you guys about getting rid of some debt! Very cool. Hopefully we'll be able to do that soon too. Doesn't feel like such a huge relief???!! For me anyway, it's like an actual physical weight has been lifted. I loathe the idea of owing money, and here we are up to our







in debt.

How's it goin' Heather? I've been neglecting the yg







: Here's to you and yours:









OK gotta go put some food in a marinade while the babe's still sleeping to GRILL tongiht. One of hte main reasons I summer... all the great grilled food. mmmmm.... bbq... mmmmm.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Agrace-too bad I didn't know earlier, i have a mei tai floating round here somewhere that we don't use. If you want it, pm me, won't make it there by thursday, but in the future you might be able to use it....

Renae-the refi sounds like the perfect setup for you guys. I second the fact that getting out of debt feels like a physical relief.

Lisa







glad ot see you 'round these parts. I'm glad you had a great visit with your folks. I can only imagine how it must feel to see your father going through such a tough time. More


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

YAAAAAY for the tooth, Eleanor!!!! Munch munch munch!!!

LOVE the stories of the walkers & talkers. Lily. Rock on, munchkin.

I'M BACK IN MEXICO!!!!!! Sooo happy about this. I gained about 15 pounds up yonder. It's this love/hate relationship with food. Love to eat, hate to gain weight. Ugh.

But the most exciting thing is the very cool gift waiting here for Sol!!!!! From Fiddlefriend!!!!!! Thanks, lady!!!!! What a very cool gift, how creative & fun! It was two metal bowls (mama might have to use them for baking sometimes) that are super reflective, and two awesome short wooden spoons painted by FF with cute designs. DH & I just did a little concert for her banging on them, they have a great sound and she digs 'em.

Ah. So happy to see the pooch, too.

Good to be home.


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Jackie-

Try the back carries at mamatoto.org. Here's one that I've used with my Moby wrap. (I think this is the right link - it should be the Tibetan):

http://www.mamatoto.org/Default.aspx?tabid=153

The muslin is actually great for back carries because it isn't as stretchy, so baby stays tighter! Good luck...

Sarah


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

Thanks for posting that link Sarah! I've been trying to figure out the rucksack/Tibetan carry for the longest and totally spaced about mamatoto.

Lisa -














: for the teeth! And how wonderful that you all got to spend such a nice visit with your parents.








Welcome home Els! (Bienvenido?)

Megan, how adorable that Mia says her name! We're trying to get Ben to do it, but no dice...

So yea, school is out, homeschooling (unschooling) is coming (is here? If we unschool, I guess this is it already!). I'm uh, really freakin nervous... but it'll work out, I know it will. Totally helps to have lots of supportive people around me. Er, yea, um, ok.

So,







: to you all, and sweet dreams!









(or maybe







since its storming here! :LOL These are too funny!)


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Elsanne- you're welcome







Luke loves his muscial bowl-bell too.

Agrace- have a good walk tomorrow- hope the back carry works out for you!

I was really interested in the background of the mamatoto website, since I recognized the Swahili word toto, or baby.

Here's what they say, so cool...

Quote:

Mamatoto is Swahili for the Mother-Baby unit. In that culture, babies are never seen apart from their mothers, so the two are considered one.
I remember in Kenya seeing mamas everywhere with their babies on their backs, walking along the roadside to the market. When I had Luke, I asked one of my Kenyan friends why I never saw babies carried on the front, because I figured young babies probably can't be carried on the back. She said they just hold babies when they're that tiny, and the mamas don't get out much- their family takes care of them.

Anyhow, that quote made me remember something else about Kenya. At this point, people wouldn't be calling me by my first name anymore. They would be calling me "Mama Luke." And that's what my name would be for the rest of my life, even if I had other kids. While I like the idea of being part of "mamatoto" in the first year or so, I'm kinda glad I get to keep my own name and identity in this culture. I WILL forever be Luke's mama and that is an important part of my identity, but it's not my whole identity.

Those are my deep thoughts for the day.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Oh, the new smilies ROCK MY WORLD!







I am hoping someday our bed will look like that again...right now the smiley makes mejust a little sad! It's okay though. Rowan is doing what feels right for him...yup.
And this one is awesome too:







: Haha!
Okay, I am way too







to really get into typing much right now, and I have to prepare a snack for LLL tomorrow (I volunteered to bring snacks to our next meeting and then promptly FORGOT I had...







) before I go to bed.
But YAY for Eleanor and her first tooth/teeth, and yay for Elsanne back in Mexico (I wanna go! I'm MEXICAN, dammit! :LOL), and um, what else...oh yeah, Yay for pink hair!!!







I have to go and look at all the YG pics, and post some of my own. I did change my sig picture here though. Yay!
The last 6 inches of my hair is still pink, but I am running out of the dye, so I need to choose a new color...any suggestions, mamas?

Oh, so tired. This mamatoto (love the meaning of it!) is going to bed.







Sweet dreams, sweet mamas.


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

Renae, that's a beautiful picture in your sig!







it so much... How about purple for your hair?

FF thanks for sharing the 'mamatoto' thoughts. I too like the mamatoto notion, but like you said, while being a mama is always a huge part of who I am, its not the only part!









Any of your kids intentionally eat gobs of sand/dirt? Ben was taking very careful handfuls of sand and shoving them in his mouth over and over again in the sandbox this afternoon. He even tried feeding me some (gee, thanks). I tried to catch him before he got the sand in his mouth, but he was too quick. And when I moved him he zoomed right back to the sandbox, so we just went inside. In the back of my head there's the idea that a craving for non-food substances is a symptom of some sort of malnourishment, so I'm a little worried. Any thoughts mamas?

Off to look at the new pics!


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## nuggetsmom (Aug 7, 2002)

Julia had a dirt eating phase but it is over. She still tastes it but doesn't go back for more much. Just a couple of times :LOL Naomi likes chalk a lot. Not used around here at all anymore as a result. I give her a multi vitamin, but she still eats it.
too tired right now.







:


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

About the chalk/dirt eating: I think I might be alarmed if he ate mouthful after mouthful. One is good for checkin' it out, the texture, etc. But Sol really digs chalk and so much so that I only buy the clean white stuff and just let her go at it. It's pure calcium.


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Maggie---Don't think it's a pica type thing, maybe he just likes the texture? FWIW, C is aversive in that respect so one try of the sand was enough for her, but the little girl we had over for a playdate couldn't get enough of it and was spooning into her mouth every chance she got.

FiddleLuke--love your thoughts on the mama/baby pairs.









Sorry I've been MIA....been working on a knitting biz thing that I can't mention here







so wish me luck!

Off to playgroup now...updates from me on the YG later perhaps!


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

Sounds cool Heather, I am intruiged. Best of luck!









Love the mamatoto concept.









Last night was my second belllydancing class, SOOO much fun!!!! I can't believe I never did this sooner. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I'm *not* the stiffest and most uncoordinated in the class! Big confidence boost. OK so "pleasantly surprised" is an understatement. :LOL Gotta try it, anyone who hasn't ever.









OK ladies, sorry, but I have a couple worries/whines, feel free to skip over this







:
Does anyone else's dc suck their thumb/fingers or a pacifier? A started sucking her thumb (and refused a pacifier) a long time ago when we had nursing issues. Then she pretty much quit, except in her sleep sometimes. But NOW... with the onset of walking and some wierd separation anxiety, she does it all the time. I take it as a cue that she may need comforted and or nursed, and I always snatch her up and we have some quiet time if she doesn't want to nurse or she rides in the sling for a while. I'm worried that it will (or maybe already has) become excessive. At this age shouldn't they be past the "need to suck more"? I think it started a couple weekends ago when we were visiting my parents and she was left with my mom more than she has ever been in a short period of time. I feel kinda bad about that, and that brings me to the second gripe: I NEED to get some time to myself now and again, kwim? I'm going crazy. It's a total battle with dh any time I want to go somewhere without the babe or if I need some quiet time alone at home. So I feel like Amelia is learning that I'll be her ONLY caretaker EVER, and the chances of me being able to leave her with a babysitter some time or even with my mom or her dad for longer than two hours are extremely slim.







: Not really a big deal, but my sanity is hanging by a thread AND dh is getting all poop-headed about me getting a job soon. So when that time comes for me to be gone part time, he'll expect A to all of a sudden see him as an equal care-taker. There's that chance that she *will* be totally fine and transition into that seamlessly but I don't want to have to count on that, kwim? *phew* OK rant over. Kudos to anyone who made it through all that.







:

I'm totally down with the idea of the Virginia Commune. When do I start packing?









Love you guys, don't know what I'd do without my May Mamas!!!


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

Almost forgot.... Sarah,







your hair!!!!


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

the hair too, Sarah!

Heather, its good to see you 'round these parts again...







:

AGrace big







s to you and your dh/sanity issues. I certainly know how it feels to have your sanity hanging on by a thread. Maybe you could try talking to dh and explain that if he feels it so necessary that you begin a PT job soon, he needs to step up his part of the deal as well, which would be taking careof the babe. Explain that you need to know that dd will be comfortable being taken care of by someone other than you. Do you have someone nearby that could watch her once in awhile, just to get her acclimated to being cared for by others? I know I probably oversimplified the whole matter. Please know I'm thinking of you and pulling for you.









My dd has a penchant for stones.







: She loves putting them in her mouth. And then I take them out.

Did I tell you all about what happened last week? we were having playgroup at my friend's house. She only has one dd who is almost three. So she has all kinds of small toys around and Katie goes straight for them everytime. Well, last week she kept lunging for the LiteBrite. Do you remember those? Anyway I took her away from it several times as we were getting ready to go home. Well, after driving for about 10 min. on the way home, I see dd in the rearview mirror pushing something around with her tongue in her mouth. Then I see its a stinkin' litebrite piece! ACK! So at the next stoplight I turned around and scooped it out of her mouth. I was all tripped out about that. Part of me was a little annoyed that she had something like that out knowing my dd is only a year old, and puts EVERYTHING in her mouth. It would have been easy ot move that up to a table or something before we got there. I'm pretty conscious of other people's children when they are in my home, and move things that might not be appropriate. Maybe I'm just too sensitive.

Teeth #9 and 10 are making their appearance! Fortunately they don't seem to be bothering her that much. She's her usual super happy self. I have never seen a happier baby. Oh, and she's taking small steps every now and then! ACK! She's growing up.







:

OK, gonna get going...


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

i wouldn't worry about the thumb sucking too much. i think 1 year is an age of increased separation anxiety (we're definitely seeing it). it goes along with the increased independance

your thoughts about NEEDing time to yourself ring true here. i don't get any ME time. at all. if i manage to sneak out of bed in the morning without waking isaac up those 15 mins in the shower are IT. he wakes up when i get dressed. i go to work. which isn't ME time even if it is a break from baby time. i get home. isaac doesn't go to bed until WAY too late and then i get in bed myself.

i have a new mission to get our life on a new schedule after vacation. i really need him to go to bed by 9 so i have at least an hour to *relax* each day. he's been crazy with the late bedtimes lately. the other night i thought by 9:30 he needed to be tired. we go up and nurse and rock. and he's wide awake. and finally at 10:10 i just stick him in the crib and leave frustrated. he wails for 10 mins and finally quiets. someone comes in the front door a few minutes later and he resumes wailing. i'm *praying* for him to go to sleep. at 10:45 dh goes and gets him. i'm so mean...i was frazzled with him. it is frustrating. he was up til 11:30!!!!!!!! i was so exhausted at work the next day.

10:30 is turning into an 'early' night for him







i can't take it anymore. this is all on one nap a day mind you. except the 11:30 night he had fallen asleep after daycare. a definite no-no obviously

i'm not sure exactly what my plan is but i need to figure out something. he doesn't nurse down anymore. i think i need to start waking him up early. i love that he's a sleeper-inner (7:30-8). but obviously it is turning him into a stayer-upper too.







:
/end rant

we leave for vacation tonight







yay. hoping for a peaceful journey. just glad to have dh on both plane flights after my solo traveling in march.

yay on the tooth for Eleanor









i don't think isaac will be able to say his name until hes 5. kids have a hard time with it. incidentally my brit friends pronounce it differently. iz-ack.

signing off







:
-mama isaac


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## Saartje (Oct 22, 2004)

Not a lot of time to respond here - moving day is tomorrow. Eek!

AGrace: Ishie still uses his pacifier. Though we try to keep it out of reach except when it's time to go to sleep; he'd love to keep it in his mouth nearly all day while he plays. I'm not worried about that at all, personally. Sucking on something still has a strong comfort association, even at this age (and just think of all the adults who comfort-eat or chew gum; it's pretty much the same idea, but sucking on a thumb or pacifier doesn't add unneeded calories), so I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect your DD to want her pacifier when she's not entirely comfortable with a situation. JMO, but you might want to not pick her up every time she wants it, because it might do her some good to explore how she can be ok in a situation she might not be entirely comfortable with (like with a caregiver she's not used to), since she can relax with her paci for comfort. I'm thinking of this in an expanding boundaries way, so feel free to ignore me.









Ishie's new trick is putting things inside other things. DH took him over to a friend's house the other day, and they joked that he had just discovered the concept of shopping, since he got attached to a laundry basket and put everything in the room that looked like fun into that basket: monkeys, water bottles, a trophy...

He's also getting big into solid foods, so much so that DH was able to take him to a three-day convention without me (they left first thing in the morning and came home at night). No problems and no protests from Ishie. He didn't seem to miss nursing more than once a day for that stretch.

His new favorite food is pizza. I think if there were anything we wanted him to eat that he didn't like, we could grind it up and put in on pizza, and he would eat it. (Especially since he's always refused to eat cheese, to date - but he'll eat it on pizza with signs of delight.)


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Hi Mamas! Lily's finally down for her nap so I can post. This is the only real "me time" I get all day - and it's not exactly luxurious 'cause Lily still wakes up 2-3 times per nap, needing to be nursed down, and I have to be uber-quiet the whole time.









Heather - Ooooh, can't wait to hear more about your plans...! I'll stay tuned to the YG.

AGrace - I think lots of babes suck their thumbs for lots of reasons. Both my brothers were thumb suckers (well, actually, one of them sucked his middle and ring fingers - weirdo) well into childhood. I never did. We were all pretty much AP'ed as babies, extended BFing and all that. I think a lot of it is personality. I agree that DH should definitely step up the attachment on HIS part, though, so Amelia isn't more anxious than she needs to be when you're gone.









Sherri - I have had things like that happen, too. Lily is getting better about putting things in her mouth, but she does like little stones and anything shiny (nuts, bolts, pennies, etc.). We go to a rotating-host playgroup where some of the kids are older, and there are often lots of non-baby-friendly toys around. Some of the parents are aware and make a "baby-friendly" zone, or have one room for floor babies and another for walkers, but some just don't care and it's a free-for-all. I don't know. I guess if you know the host child is older, be prepared for choking hazards. But maybe it's different if this is a close friend and you see her often - you'd think she'd realize the issue and help you out a little...hmmm.

Lily's bedtime is later and later, too. Last night it was 10.







: I'm interested to hear how your rescheduling happens...
And jeez, Lily's name is so hard for kids! Two l's in a row; what were we thinking?! It's even hard for some adults...:LOL

Saartje - good luck moving! Hope it goes easily and quickly!

DH is *making* me a mini shower out of a regular sink sprayer. He's been online a lot figuring out how to attach it to the toilet. I think it's gonna be great. He's become quite the handyman since we bought this falling-down house!









Sarah


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## nuggetsmom (Aug 7, 2002)

I need the mini shower. If you make one let me know and maybe I will make one too though I think I will just buy one eventually.

Naomi just started sucking her fingers at almost 4! So, it is a tension release mechanism for kids (I talked it over with the preschool teacher) and it is totally OK. Babe up again, gotta go.


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Dude, I am SO WITH ya'll on the late sleeping. As a matter of fact, it's 11:15 pm and dh is taking ds on a walk hoping to get him to sleep, because I tried almost an HOUR to get him to sleep. And as I started typing this, it suddenly started POURING!!!! outside. I mean hard. I'm cracking up as I type and feeling bad at the same time. Ds isn't wearing a hood- it was a nice warm night- so they're gonna come back sopping wet. Oops- so much for sleep.

Sherri- I'm probably bolder than I ought to be at times, but I would have just asked that mama straight out to move her light bright while the baby was around, or I would have moved it myself.

Agrace- yup, I agree- if dh wants you to get a job, he's gotta help the kiddo get used to being around other people than mom, and he's gotta get used to doing some solo baby care.

renewed separation anxiety? yes, yes, yes. Got that here. Suddenly if I'm around dh won't do. Glad it's not just our family (ok, not really- I don't wish it on any of us). Poor dh. Such an involved daddy, he's doing ok with the semi-rejection.

mcsarahb- your babyslinin', handiman hubby totally rocks. Hooray for mini-showers.

saartje- may the move be smooth

ok- sopping hubby home


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

ok, so what's with the screaming in the middle of the night babe our son has turned into the past three nights? it's not just crying, it's full-on, inconsolable, i-wanna-be-held-no-wait-i-don't-wanna-be-held-no-i-changed-my-mind-i-wanna-be-held, gasping for air, don't forget to breathe screaming. i'm thinking teeth, so i gave him some hyland's teething tablets before he went to sleep last night, but yet again, he woke up about 4 hours later and did the whole screaming thing just like the two nights before. we've tried everything. bill is sleepwalking at work and drinking 20+ oz coffees in the morning (which wreaks havoc on his digestive system -- blecch) and i just start losing it. as it is, i took a two hour nap with him yesterday afternoon but i'm still exhausted. i don't know how much more of this i can take, mamas... AND we're going camping next friday and saturday night and i can just imagine how friendly and nice the other campers are going to be if we have another four hour scream fest like last night.

help!!!???!!!

~claudia


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fiddlefern*

mcsarahb- your babyslinin', handiman hubby totally rocks. Hooray for mini-showers.

And have you SEEN the pictures of him?? Quite a hottie, as well!







:LOL He actually looks like a boyfriend I had in highschool...hehe. So maybe I'm just biased.








Sarah, I LOVE the hair! I wish I was cool enough to be able to do streaks...it was all I could do to dye the last few inches of it! Heh.

Um...the sleep. Issues. Yes.







I drove Rowan for his afternoon nap (still not *quite* doing one nap a day...some days are still 2-nap days) and he cried for 20 MINUTES....and it was full-on crying...I sang, I played music, I nearly cried myself...I almost pulled over but we were on the HIGHWAY and there was construction so I totally couldn't.







Anyway, he finally fell asleep for about half an hour...ugh ugh ugh. I have to say I am SO looking forward to work tonight!
AND, I am using my massage gift certificate that DH gave me for my birthday (in JANUARY---hehe) tomorrow morning. Mmm, mmm, massage! Oh how I need it.

Anyway, not much time to type more...just wanted to offer solidarity...we are totally having separation issues (I have to LEAVE the total vicinity to let Rowan have some time with Daddy, and give myself some time) and sleep issues too. Poor developing babes! Poor tired mamas and papas!







We'll get through it, mamas!
Now, off to try to get some early dinner before I have to go to work. AF is here too so that's NO fun when it comes to being all perky/sexy/bubbly/sociable at work.







Oh well.
Bye!


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Claudia- I am SO SORRY you're going through this! Yipes- I wish I could get into M's little brain for you and tell you what's up. It sounds like you're doing all you can- napping with ds sounds like it's important for your sanity. Have you tried taking turns with the babe and having one of you sleeping with earplugs in another room for parts of the night? We do that on really bad nights, or dh will take ds on a walk so I can get 45 minutes of sleep.

My update: Luke didn't go to sleep until well after midnight, but thankfully slept until 9:20 this morning. Turns out dh had the foresight to bring an umbrella last night, too, so they weren't too soaked.

I'm sending out peaceful sleep vibes to all that need them!

((((((((((((((sleep)))))))))))))))


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Faery mama- we cross posted. I've had the honor of meeting Sarah's dh in person







though of course MY hubby is the hottest of all (not that I'm biased)














:LOL


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Fiddle - Looks like the nap fairy visited both Lily and Luke at the same time.









Well, I think my hubby is hot, too! Thanks for the input!







So many people have told me he looks like an ex-boyfriend...hmmm....:LOL Oh, and Renae - I can't do streaks in my own hair to save my life. I had it done at a salon. $$$, but it was a special treat before I go back to school.









Claudia -







Hope you get some rest and the screaming meemees don't last too long. We've BTDT. Sounds like teeth to me.

Okay, mamas, I'm hosting a 20-person baby shower at my house tomorrow - lend me strength and energy! Oh, and baby-napping-in-the-perfect-3-hour-window-so-we-don't-have-to-wake-her-up-when-the-guests-show-up vibes!









Sarah


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## A&L+1 (Dec 12, 2003)

I am relieved to read that other folks babes are having separation anxiety right now. It's tough on Alison as the SAHM but Eleanor has to, absolutely has to, be with me if I am in the room. At some point Alison read that babies prefer the parent they spend the most time with but it has not yet come to pass in our house. I should ask the SAHDs around here to see if they suffer the same "rejection."

Claudia - Wow, in tune babies! Eleanor has screamed like a crazy baby in the middle of the last two nights too!!! We think it's teeth (because she's finally getting some it's the all purpose excuse for any weirdness). Eleanor also is on a more powerful antibiotic for another two weeks because of her ear infections, so we thought she could have been in pain because of that. We gave her Boiron Camilia drops - not good enough - so she got Tylenol last night and then slept just fine. Sorry you are so dragging, mama!

Speaking of ear infections, anyone have thoughts on antibiotics? Eleanor did Amoxicillin for two weeks with no ill effects, but it didn't clear up the infection either. Now she's on 2-weeks of Ceftin and she has irritation between her toes (fungus?) and diarrhea...after just three days. I am giving her GSE - maybe I need to look into some safe-for-dairy-sensitive-babies supplement of Lactobacillus bulgaricus, Streptococcus thermophilus, and Lactobacillus acidophilus, Bifidus - any recommendations?

Good luck all the weekend plans (happy shower blessings, Sarah and Have fun at work, Faery mama) - I hope, so very very much, to have a low-key weekend spent with my lovely wife and sickly but happy babe.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Awww, claudia, we went through the screaming for hours at night a few weeks ago. Lo and behold, her gums were BULGING with teeth, and they've since started to break through. I can totally relate to what you said, as that' exactly how Katie was. It only lasted about a week or week and a half. (only, heh)

Sarah-when do you start school???? Keep us posted on how it goes!

Saartje-hope today went well with all of your moving!

Renae-happy working!

Lisa-no advice about the antibiotix, just







Hope she's feeling better pronto...

fiddle-after midnight??!!??









I got my hair cut and eyebrows waxed, today, mamas! I feel so much better (and less hairy







) about myself!

Anyone doing anything special for Father's Day?? I got pictures taken with my girls and framed them for dh. I also made a tee time in the afternoon (unbeknownst to him) to golf with his brother. Afterward, we're doing a little surprise bbq with his bro/wife/dd. So I hope he likes it!

Have a relaxing weekend mamas!


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## elfmamma (Jun 18, 2005)

Hello again! Has it been a year already???? Thought I would check in about weaning, and found yall!
I had Kathryn on May 19th (was due 23rd) at home. She has blossomed into a very cute red head (suprise for us!). Everywhere I go I get tons of compliments on her hair! I didn't know red was so admired!







:
She is about 19 lbs, 31 inches, light and tall! She has grey eyes too, and long lashes like me.
She started walking on May 27th! She walks aout 95% of the time now. She also just got her 7th tooth, and refuses baby food for a while now. She eats regular table food with relish. No bottles, binkies, or thumb/finger sucking, just ninny a lot. She learned todrink through a straw a few months ago. Mostly uses sippy cups now. Practices cup drinking in the shower with me.
She is still nursing night and day. At night she wakes up maybe 3 or 4 times, unless she is sick, then more. I want to wean now. I am burned out from nursing. I weaned my son when I was 7 months pregnant with her, he was 2 1/2. As soon as I did he started sleeping through the night. Hoping for the same with her. So I am looking for advice now. My husband thinks I should use the same technique as I did with my son....put aloe vera goop on the ninny and tell her it is "yucky", and if she doesn't believe me, she can try it! My husband wanted to know what yall thought of this "poisoning the well" techique!? :LOL
She does babble Da-da, and sometimes Ma-ma off and on, and dog is "daw"(with a silent "g").
Favorite toys are books, crayons and paper, phones, remote controls, calculators, computers, and anything with lights or sounds. Sand and water are definetly highly rated outside. She wants to ride a bike like her brother, so now has several riding toys.
I am now nanny-ing my sisters baby, who is 6 months younger during the week part time. This is very challenging at times, watching two little babies, satisfying their needs at the same time. The most valuable tool I have is the double stroller! Both tired and fussy? Put into the stroller and go for a walk. They fall asleep, then I wheel them into the house into a bedroom and there they sleep.
Kathryn is still sleeping with me.







Hope this changes when I wean her.
Another new challenge is that I am painting murals at my sons school pro-bono, and doing it with her around! She wants to paint so bad with me!
Waves bye-bye a lot lately and is good around strangers. She used to hug whoever held her up until recently, now she lays on their shoulder!








I was really worried about how I would handle 2, but I have adapted and things are rolling along well. It has actually been easier this second time. I kinda know what I am doing now and what to expect. And with my son in school all day, that has really helped!
OK, done gabbing for now...just so much to tell! After all, it has been a year and a month now! Fun to read all the posts! love to all...Elfmamma







:


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## hrcmom (Jul 29, 2004)

Hi Mamas.
I must confess, I am a chronic lurker. I introduced myself at the beginning of this thread, but haven't posted since.







:








:

Ds was one on May 20th. We went to a pediatric allergist today to get some help with ds's possible food allergies (dairy, eggs, maybe fish . . . ) And, on top of getting allergy info, Dr. tells us ds has hand, foot and mouth disease. (darn daycare!!) Ds spiked a fever right before our appointment, but I was chalking it up to teething (now I know teething fevers don't get very high).

On our way home from the Drs, the fever got to 104.5. I know that isn't crazy high for a baby, but was still scary. He's never had a fever over 102 before. So, anyone experience a round of hand food and mouth? (I found a few other threads on MDC, but thought you may all have some words of wisdom, too) I hear the mouth sores can be pretty painful. So far, Ds only has one sore, and he's drinking/nursing okay, but I'm preparing for this to get worse, since we're only on day one. I've already made alternate daycare plans for next week, since I hear this is mighty contagious. Any advice to help ds through this one??

Thank you!!


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

hrcmama---hugs, hon. I don't have any advice but have heard that hand, foot & mouth is a bummer but not a huuuge deal. "Hoof & mouth", they used to call it, I think hand foot & mouth is nicer. It is pretty common. Check on these forums, I bet there is some info somewhere!

Welcome, elfmamma. I call my punkin a little elf sometimes. She is suuuch a wonderful little bean.
Wow you are watching two babes!!! Holy moly. Yeah, the stroller is my best friend too for naptimes.

We're down to one nap officially. Lately the bedtime routine has been blissfully shortened by waiting until she's REALLLLY tired to nurse her down. Less than 15 min. these days, used to be an hour or MORE.

Sarah, love your hair!!! I did some blonde streaks and a red overall (the henna I did before really turned me on to red) so I've got this strawberry blonde thing going on...wooo hoooo! And Faerymama, should we call you that or R.?--anyway I LOVE how yours is only the last few inches of your hair. That's very unique. And kick a$$. And yes, hard to be sociable & perky at work when one is PMS-y. AF is back here too, and we're still hardcore nursers!! No fair.

OH MAMAS Just had to tell you: when I was at a public pool in the U.S. this last visit, in the baby pool, Sol asked to nurse so we do it, and a young whippersnapper lifeguard comes over and says, "Uh, ma'am, I'm gonna have to ask you not to do that in the water" (his attitude is like I'm somehow soiling the place).







'Nuff said.


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Claudia--I really know what you're going through...around here it seemed to last for a week or so. I thought maybe it was teeth, but still no new ones. I think maybe it had to do with her learning to take a few steps (though she has reverted to crawling most of the time) It is exhausting beyond belief to have it go on for hours and hours. Hope you and Bill and M can get some zzzzzz's soon!

HRCmom---sorry to hear about Henry's hfm diagnosis. I don't know much about it, but hoping it clears up for him soon. Any word on the allergy stuff??

Elfmama-- are you talking nightweaning or weaning altogether? In either case I think using awful tasting things is a bit cruel whether it 'works' or not. I'm not sure you'd find much support at Mothering/MDC for something like that. Though many mamas do have the need to nightwean so maybe try searching the nightime parenting forum for "nightweaning" or on transitioning babies from the family bed. We've set up a mattress on the floor in her room and in a month or so we're going to start doing naps in there and see how that goes. We have had some success in the past with techniques from the No Cry Sleep Solution to cut down on the number and length of night nursings and I just saw in the bookstore the other day that she has a new toddler/child sleep book out as well. The mural stuff sounds like a blast....I can imagine Kathryn would be really interested in getting her hands in the paint to help as well...too cute!

Sherri--I'm sure he's going to love his gifts! I am such a slacker about getting my hair cut and all that. I have a bit of a phobia of it actually as I hate when it gets cut too short or some such nonsense. Maybe I'll go to your salon when we're up there!







No big plans here, I have to look again today for a frame that holds two 4x6's because I have a pic of C and DH and DH and his Dad to give him and I can't find them anywhere! We're having his family over to grill and play board games in the afternoon. Weather is great here so it should be fun!

Elsanne--okay so bf'ing in the pool is out, but kids pissing in it is A-OK?? Weirdos! :LOL You can bf Sol in our kiddie pool anyday!

So she took a few steps here and there starting last week, but pretty much only wants to crawl. Yet last night at my niece's grad party she walked halfway across the room several times! She loved the audience I tell ya! :LOL


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## elfmamma (Jun 18, 2005)

HRCMOM.....







Sorry to hear of your plight! Never dealt with that one before. But I have dealt with high temps!!







My son (4) had 106.4 a month ago!! Talk about a scare! I stuck him in the bath tub of tempid water and got his head wet. Also gave Motrin. It went down to 102 in about an hour or less. Just a virus, nothing special. But he is notorious for high temps. It is not unusual for him to be 103 or 104.
Anyway, just letting you know something you can do about high temps. Good luck!!!







.............Elfmamma


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

for the walking C! How exciting for you guys, Heather!

elsanne - good for you for NIP, despite that rotten lifegaurd. I nurse Ben at the pool (but not yet in the baby pool, although the day is near, I'm sure) and I've gotten some *really* nasty looks. But also one mom came over and sat down next to us and went on and on about how happy she was to see me nursing - she Bf'd her kids til age 5 (!!!) and NIP the whole time too - talk about gutsy!

Claudia,







I'm sorry to hear you all are having such tough nights. I wish I had some ideas for you, but all I can do is send lots of sleepy vibes to M. Hang in there!

I'm with HF, I think aloe on the nipples to wean is a bit harsh, Elfmama. The No-Cry Sleep Solution worked well for us to reduce the # of night time nursings - you might give that a try. When DD weaned she was older than our babes are now, but her increased verbal and cognitive skills and emotional maturity made it sooooooo easy - she was 2.5yrs. My experience with her was that nursing a young toddler is really intense and sometimes draining and difficult, but that it does really get *much* easier once they get a bit older - by the time DD was 18mos nursing was very low-key and only to smooth rough patches or go to sleep. If you're determined to wean now looking at the BF and night-time parenting boards may help you. I've seen lots of insightful posts here on MDC about BFing/nightweaning/etc - poke around and you might find something that works for you all! Good luck.









All you mamas impress me with your Father's Day plans! We're leaving town tomorrow morning (East Coast for a week - WAHOO!







) so no big stuff here. We had a massive picnic potluck this afternoon in honor of DD, DH and Ben's birthdays, so I say that counts!

Sherri, right on for the hair cut adventure!







I so badly need to get something done with my hair, but when it comes to deciding how to spend my precious child-free time, hair cuts come in way down on the list! Maybe while we're away I'll splurge... my MIL swears she knows a great place to get pedicures...







My favorite summer indulgence!

So, I'll brace myself for the deluge of posts between now and when I get back from vacation! Send us your mellow-baby vibes for our looooooong day of travel!


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## mommaluv321 (Aug 14, 2004)

Hey all, lurking here too! we actually went thru a bout of the HF&M last week, although I didnt know what it was until yesterday. It was horrid!! both kids had a fever that stayed around 103 (after the childrens advil) for almost a week!!! Kayla actually had it for closer to 11 days! yikes, that sucked! they wouldn't eat or drink hardly anything, so make sure you're constantly pushing fluids. Cool baths definately helped as well as sponge baths. maybe even a lil' pedia-lite, actually if the mouth sores get bad, pedia-lite also makes popsicles, I dunno' how you feel about the sugar but...if it works...HTH!


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## hrcmom (Jul 29, 2004)

Thanks for all the support and good ideas. Sounds like it is the HF&M season (unfortunately!!) So far, ds hasn't gotten many sores/blisters, and the fever seems under control. We'll see what tomorrow brings. Sorry to hear about your experience mammaluv! What a rough couple of weeks. Glad to hear everyone is on the mend!!


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Just wanna say what a cutie Henry is, HRCMAMA. Great photo of him in your sig!!!

Home from a gig--baby & DH nowhere to be found at 11pm!!! I have to laugh, because I KNOW where they are--out in the stroller somewhere---poor papa!!! :LOL :LOL


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

elfmamma- I understand the desire to have your body back for a bit. The other night, I nursed ds on and off for an hour, then dh took him on a walk, then I nursed him for another half hour, then I had had ENOUGH. Ds cried between us for 7 minutes while dh tried to comfort him. Then I was able to get over being annoyed and go back to being compassionate, and feel good about nursing him to sleep (rather than resentful). So, I can understand where you're coming from.

What would you think about a more gradual weaning, so it doesn't come as a shock to your dd? Could you drop a feeding every week or so, then go to just feeding for naps and night-time, then night-wean, or something like that?

(oh, and just for the record everyone, that night that ds went to bed around 12:30 am- he slept in the car from 8:30 to 10 pm on the way back from a trip. _I_ thought it was the beginning of bedtime. _HE_ thought it was a nice nap to give him energy to stay up a couple more hours.)









A&L+1- I must admit that I'm relieved to hear that separation anxiety has hit your house too. I kind of look up to you (as well as some other mamas here, including mcsarahb) as a model of equitable parenting, because from what you've shared, you and your partner seem really good about talking openly about expectations/ how to share baby duty. So I tend to think that any preference shown by ds for me is the result of me being a controlling gatekeeper (which it is true I CAN be guilty of!) I guess I'm just glad to know that maybe it's not ALL me.









welcome, all the de-lurked!


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fiddlefern*

A&L+1- I must admit that I'm relieved to hear that separation anxiety has hit your house too. I kind of look up to you (as well as some other mamas here, including mcsarahb) as a model of equitable parenting, because from what you've shared, you and your partner seem really good about talking openly about expectations/ how to share baby duty. So I tend to think that any preference shown by ds for me is the result of me being a controlling gatekeeper (which it is true I CAN be guilty of!) I guess I'm just glad to know that maybe it's not ALL me.

















Well said fiddle, and big props to all the mamas/papas just muddling our way through the best we can...

Welcome to our newbies!







!

UGH Hand foot mouth! Big







to you who are going through/have gone though this. Stay away sickies!

MaggieMae-can't wait to hear about your awesome trip! peaceful and playful baby vibes!!

hcr-aside from the hfm diagnosis, how did the allergist appt go?

As far as weaning goes, I think a gradual approach is much kinder/gentler. When I weaned my first dd, I cut out one feeding every 5 days or so. Much easier this way on both of us. For dd2 weaning is a loooong way off. She is so picky with her table food, that she needs the bf nutrition. Also, she gets so excited when I ask her if she wants to nurse! It's hilarious! I ask, then we sit down together, and I lay her across my lap as I get myself ready, and all the while she gets this big excited grin on her face! Today, while she was nursing, she said "mmmmmmmm" because we say that when we're eating good foods sometimes. :LOL









Went to the park this morning. Had fun, although Katie wasn't particularly feeling the park love this morning. I couldn't quite figure out what she wanted. Oh, but before we left the house this morning, Katie was experimenting with her newfound ability to take unassisted steps, and BAM forehead first on the ceramic tile. OUCH! Poor kiddo. I felt so bad for her. Not sure what happened, b/c she's usually great about either catching herself or falling backwards on her butt. She's still a little red on her forehead and a small goosegg.

Happy Father's day to all of our partners/hubbies!


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## Jacqueline (Jun 11, 2003)

Hi there! I hope you've all had a good Father's Day. I had great plans to make a dinner for dh, but it will have to happen tomorrow as we just were too busy today. I did get him a card and Gabriel "signed" it for him. He liked that.

So, we were out of town to visit dh's mom in Kansas and dad in Oklahoma. Lots of driving, so it didn't feel like a vacation. G did pretty well in the car, even though he only sleeps for an hour tops. Thankfully, O-shaped cereal and goldfish crackers, along with the occasional nursing, kept him mostly happy.

I've caught up with everyone's posts, I think. Welcome to the new ones!







: And, if it helps, i've been part of this group since we were pg and I STILL have trouble keeping up. Luckily, this is a gracious group of women that supports each member of the group, no matter what our availability level. Gabriel hates it when I sit at the computer and he doesn't nap long without me, so my computer time is low.

While on vacation...Gabriel started taking steps while we hold his hands! He's all about that now, so we're that much closer to walking. He also learned how to clap. So cute. He's still not nearly as verbal as many of your other babes, but he makes the sweetest sounds and he seems to understand every word that he says. His inflections mean something, I know. We've done some baby signing, but he doesn't seem interested in it yet. Still only has his bottom two teeth. I'm just waiting for the next group to burst out all at once....it's been 2 months since his last tooth.

We're a long way from any kind of weaning here, but he does it much less during the day. While on vacation, we discovered that G would sleep on his own in another bed while we were nearby in the same room. When he woke up, I'd go to his bed, feed him, and stay till morning. So, that gave us the idea of getting a twin mattress for our bedroom. I can nurse him down there and then get in our own bed without disturbing him. Some of you suggested this to me several months ago, but I don't think he was quite ready at the time. Or, I wasn't, who knows! But, I think it's worth a shot. Gradually, we can move that bed into his room (a la heatherfeather's method). We'll see. First. gotta get the $$ to buy a twin!









KK, I'm glad you're back and Z is doing so well.

MaggieMae, have a great vacation. May it be more restful than ours









fiddlefern, sounds like you're handling everything so great and your babe is on the road to being even more vibrant than he already is!

elsanne, great NIP story. I admire you. I have little victories here and there, but I don't know if I'm ready for the pool yet. Maybe on the side on our beach towel...

Sherri, love the hair. I dyed my hair once and loved it, but it was too much maintenance, so I stopped. I'll live vicariously.

Heather: walking!!! wow. You've got lots going on!

Lisa, we give Gabriel a brand of bifidus called Metagenics (it's a powder; I take it in pill form but it's an acidophilus/bifidus combo). I think you have to buy it through a healthcare professional like a doctor or chiropractor (or me, an alternative healthcare provider). But some stores carry it because my sis in NYC buys it there. There are other good brands, but I don't know the names. My naturopath recommends we take it at all times, so I try, but it's tough to remember all the time.

Okay, I've blabbed on enough. I know I forgot some folks....here's a big







for all.


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Hi Mamas!

Welcome, new folks! You do have quite the cutie, hrcmom!

Well, the shower went bee-yoo-tifully. I was so relieved. Of course I was a twittering flibberty-gibbet the whole time, but it went off without a hitch and the food, games, etc. were great. I co-hosted it with an awesome woman who did most of the "style" parts of it, but since it was at my house I felt especially responsible. And Lily woke up at just the right time, DH whisked her away to Home Depot and the park for three hours :LOL, and returned just in time to charm the guests as they left.









Hope the sicknesses are well on the way out. Nothing worse and more tiring than a sick babe.









Elsanne - phooey on immature lifeguards. We take Lily to a public indoor pool, and I've nursed her in the water several times.









Heather - Yay for walking! w00t!

Maggie - Yay for East Coast trips! I *think* I'm flying back for a coupla weeks in September. Have a great time.

Sherri - so cute about "Mmmmmm" while nursing. I can just see it.

You know, I get tired of nursing sometimes, but there are other times where it's just so nice to have that closeness. And they are getting to the age where they show their appreciation. Lily says "Ma! Maaa! and smiles before latching on each time.







Oh, and when she remembers there's a whole other SIDE, and she gets to try that one TOO, boy does she get excited! :LOL

Jacqueline - the sleeping arrangement plans sound good. Keep us posted - I'm interested to hear how it works. I think getting a twin in our room for Lily is our next step, too.









We had a nice Father's Day. Meal planning and grocery shopping together in the morning (yes, we actually like to do that







), then we finally unpacked Lily's decorations/shelves and put them up in her (future) room. I taught my LAST yoga class while DH and Lily napped together, then yummy grilled steaks for dinner.

Sorry so long - nice to have so many wonderful women to respond too, though!









Sarah


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## nuggetsmom (Aug 7, 2002)

I hate grocery shopping... hate it hate it hate it. Because I do it alone with two kiddos and it is just too hard sometimes. And I didn't get it done today because we went to Merced to hang out with my FIL. SO I will have to go tomorrow with two really tired kiddos. The absolute worst grocery shopping of all....

I gotta go get some sleep. Or maybe a little wine first to complement all the whine I had today. :LOL SOrry about the pun


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

"Oh, and when she remembers there's a whole other SIDE, and she gets to try that one TOO, boy does she get excited! "

Hoot hoot!
:LOL Here too!!! She latches on to one, and open palm smacks the other side and looks at me expectantly. She thinks a different flavor comes out of the other one!!!!

New smilie I must try:







: this is me writing.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Haha...too bad my babe was never that excited about the other side.







:LOL
He slaps the side he nurses on and says "mmm! mmm!" a lot though...it rocks my world.









So on the thoughts of weaning...not happening any time soon here, either...most of the time, nearly ALL of the time, I'm fine with that (because dud, how ELSE will I get him to sleep?!?!? :LOL) but sometimes at 2am when he wants it seemingly every hour...I think of some gentle nightweaning. I will add to the consensus that gentle/gradual is best. Awful tasting stuff on the boobie would be sad for everyone, methinks...I'm logging the thoughts on cutting one feeding out at a time, slowly though! I was starting to do it during the day, there was an afternoon feeding we had skipped every so often...but when we're home he wants it. So, well, I give it to him.







The weaning isn't as important right now. It'll happen when it happens...I also suggest going into the nighttime parenting boards to check out thoughts on gentle nightweaning, elfmama. Good luck!









Welcome new peoples!







: It's hard for me to keep up too! I often skim/read and keep up that way. I sometimes miss stuff







: but well, it mostly works.

Rowan is napping, because his friend is coming over to hang out while his mama goes back home to get some work done at 12:30, and ANOTHER mama friend is coming with her DD for a playdate! Yay! So, he needs a looooong nap. Send me some "over-an-hour-at-LEAST" long nap vibes, everyone! He did really well yesterday, napped from 10:30-12:20 and then went to a friends' birthday party, and didn't sleep again till 7ish! Whoo! Long day, but fun too. Father's Day was great. DH loved the cards, a new portrait, and the night before (Saturday) I took him to see Dane Cook, a fave standup comedian of ours. I arranged a sitter (my friend whose son I'm watching today! hehe) and everything. We had a blast!
I also made a massage appt for him for when we get back from our little vacation next week (I had given him the gift cert. a while back, so he just needed to make the appt).

Oh yeah, we're leaving Friday for about a week, DH's parents have a timeshare and so we're meeting them for the weekend, then they are going home and we're using the place for the rest of the week!







: VERY excited, but also a little nervous...and I will have NO INTERNET the whole time!







Oh yeah, withdrawal, baby!







: I'm a nerd.
Oh and dude, the packing. I have SO MUCH laundry and packing to do...how did this all fall on ME?!?! Thbbbt. Silly DH.
Rowan had a fever of 99ish early this morning, with a runny nose. absolutely no other symptoms, he ate a ton at breakfast....and his gums are, like everyone elses, BULGING with teeth. Poor thing. I'm giving him Tylenol when it seems like he needs it, chamomile othertimes.

Okay, mamas, gotta go get ready for the babies that are visiting!







Have a great day!









p.s. oh yeah, and my coffee pot BROKE yesterday evening. I think I am gonna DIE!!!


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

hello, mamacitas! (had to steal that greeting from Elsanne today, 'cause it's finally sunny here)
















We're slidin' in to one nap a day- let's hope it's a long one!

Sarah- glad the par-tee went of well, and hooray for a smooth sharing of the baby duties so you could enjoy your guests.

nuggetsmom- shopping alone with two kids?







Sending you helpful/mellow kiddo vibes (((((((((((((







: ))))))))))))))

Renae- even though we'll miss you







, I think it's awesome that you get to spend some time just as a family together, with no distractions. I love times like that, 'cause often dh and I have time to vent the frustrations we normally let go, and usually we end up being closer because of it. :LOL. I hope the trip is totally fun and relaxing and rejuvenating for you.

On weaning, I simply can't imagine doing it right now. This is my first and probably only baby, and I cherish our nursing relationship. I hope he nurses until at least two or three, and plan to let him self-wean. Nursing my baby rocks my world.







Besides, with Luke's weight issues, there is no way I'm gonna deprive him of the best nutrition, day or night. He's just not ready.

When I was sharing my nursing frustration from the other night, it was to empathize with elfmama, and offer another possible way to wean if she feels the need. I was hoping to be supportive, 'cause we mamas need all the love we can get.









Sarah'sMama- hope Katie's head is feeling better.









Jacqueline- Luke's just started liking to be walked around too!

Heatherfeather- can you tell us again about your twin mattress plan? I think we might employ one soon and would love to hear your advice. What are you doing and how is it working?

I probably shouldn't fritter away the entire nap on the net. Off to ballance my check-book (fun, fun.)


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

hi all!

m fell asleep on the ride home from mamas & babies group, so i'm taking advantage of some me-time to catch up with you all. (i have taken to saying you all or y'all quite a bit lately and i think i'm finding it slightly disturbing considering i have absolutely no southern roots... hmm...)

so the screaming in the middle of the night thing ended with my last post, thank goodness. and we discovered why: two new teeth! the outer incisors on bottom, so now m has a matching four on top and four on bottom. i'm sure the molars are working their way down, too, since he's still chewing on everything and i can feel big bumpy gums in the back when he lets me stick my fingers in his mouth. but the screaming has abated, and he's been back to his usual sleep pattern lately.

on the sleep thing, about a month ago, i think when we came back from our east coast trip, i started laying m down on the bed in the guest room since he was sleeping through our arrival in bed and also since he's not nursing during the night anymore. and about every three to four days, he sleeps straight through from nine-ish at night until about five-ish in the morning (when it gets light here). most other days, he wakes once around one or two and i bring him to bed with us, then he wakes to nurse around five-ish and then we sleep another couple of hours or so. i didn't intend for him to sleep away from us, but he actually seems to be doing just fine with it. it pisses him off just as much to wake up and have us non-responsive because we are still sleepy as it does to not see us there and have to call out to us. so although he still sleeps in our bed with us sometimes, i would say most of the time, he is sleeping on his own. personally, i'm an anti-crib person, but the twin mattress on the floor idea sounds good. now to find a natural material twin mattress that doesn't cost an arm and a leg...

walking: at the mamas & babies group today, my friend brought her walking push toy and m was having a blast with it! it's probably good that bill didn't see him doing it because he'd be buying him one right this second...







it was pretty darn cute, but seriously, do we need more stuff?

sarah: yay about the party going well and miss lily being a charmer!

renae: peaceful travels... thinking of you...

hope all the sickies have passed...

welcome newbies! if you are interested, we also have a private yahoogroup that you can join if you want. just visit groups.yahoo.com/group/May2004MDCMamas and click on join this group. be sure to include your MDC name when you send the request to join. i'll approve you as soon as i can. that way, you can share pics and get emails from us and it's a more private forum if you want/need to share personal stuff.

okay, got to do some followup work from our conference two weekends ago, and start planning stuff for our camping trip this weekend...

lots of love to my may mamas,
~claudia


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

*sigh* So, Rowan had a fever of 103.7 (!!!!) this afternoon, while I was watching a friend of his with another mama and her DD....*sigh* We went to the doc, and he was awesome, and told me that Rowan's ears look fine and there doesn't seem to be any signs of hfm (after all the talk about it here, and a friend's DD getting it as well out here, I was worried too!), but he was glad I brought Rowan in. Poor babe. I gave him Motrin because he really didn't seem comfortable, and then he was, and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon even with NO afternoon nap (he slept from 10:30-12, and that was IT. We need to push that one nap a little later, dude!)...and I went to yoga and it kicked my heinie, so I am gonna go to bed.
Send Rowan good-health vibes and I will return the favor for those babes who need it!







The fever broke this evening and I think that was the worst of it. We have NO idea what the fever was al about though.







Sometimes it is such a moving target, KWIM?
And fiddle, I'm SO happy to see how supportive everyone's been of elfmama. I hope I came off at least as supportive as some of you!







Us mamas gotta stick together!








SO yay newbies! Welcome welcome!
Right. Time for bed. Sweet dreams, mamas and babies!









p.s. and I gotta PACK!!!







how am I gonna get everything done before we leave Friday?!?! HOW, I ask you?!?!
Oh, by maybe not wasting my whole life on the internet. Hah.


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Hi mamacitas!! Fiddlefern, we are all mamacitas in every sense of that word. Uh huh!!!









TClaudia--I too have NO southern roots and y'all is just a great word. Up in Orygun where I growed up we said "youguys" but it is just not as great of a word. Then, there's the midwest, "yousguys", but that just sounds dorky (sorry, midwesterners. Go open a can of cream of mushroom soup.). :LOL :LOL Tongue firmly in cheek there, don't go gettin' upset on me!

MFaery, hope Rowan feels bettah soon. I do the cup by cup drip method and that works for me--in a pinch, when the coffee machine doth break!

Weaning: not even tryin' here. Not night weaning, nothing. So far, we actually have a good rhythm going so I say, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!

Sol fell yesterday, hard, and today her knee and ankle hurt her so badly that she woke up in the middle ofthe night just screaming in pain, we thought it was teeth but upon closer inspection it's some hardcore bumps on the leg. BUMMER!!! She'll stop what she's doing and just emit an ear-piercing scream. My poor punkin. We're doing arnica & a wrap thing that has magnets in it. *sigh*. Tryingto decide whether to give her something for the pain, but also see the benefit to keeping her off her leg by it hurting her. Hm.


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## Elyse&Tae's_mom (Jan 19, 2005)

Hi all,
Just a quick intro...I have a May 04 baby and an Aug 01 baby and am always looking forward to the next adventure they throw my way. My son (I don't know the acronyms) has been walking since April and just started waving, saying "bye, mom" and blowing kisses. Its the best part of my day. My daughter is the adventurous one, who like to change her clothes 5x/day. I work full-time and my husband stays home with them. It would be great to talk to someone in similar circumstances. Glad to see this thread!
-Esena


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Hi Esena--nice to meet you!


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

Esena- A&L+1 is in a similar circumstance to your family. She's the one with the milk, and her wife is the one who stays home.


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## KKmama (Dec 6, 2001)

Howdy everyone (and welcome to the new folks!).

I haven't written much lately because I've been crabby.







: It's just the garden variety dealing with the stupid Children's Hospital type.

Nuggetsmom... I think your older dd is ~3, right? T is just about to turn 4, and I have to say, grocery shopping now is *so much easier* than it was a year ago. It's amazing how much less wild (for lack of a better phrase







: ) he is now as opposed to when he was 2 1/2-3.

Z has started intermittant standing (not if we're helping, though, he totally wants to do it himself). He's becoming a pro at going down the stairs, and he can also climb up toddler-type slides stairs and then goes down the slide on his belly (had to teach him not to go face-first... he's fearless compared to his older brother at this age... they are so different).

How are all the bonked/hurt/sick kids doing?

Whoops, gotta go...


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Welcome, Esena!







:
I don't have a lot of time but Rowan's fine now. No moe fever, not even a runny nose!







I won't question it. Heh.
He's being a total poopy toddler though, oh, the tantrums! And naps have been crazy. He took ONE this morning from 9:30-11 and then was up till just now, about 7:20ish.







I am SO tired.
I just realized that I have a ONE cup coffee maker stashed here! Wahoooo!!!!







:
Sorry. Anyway, yeah.
You can all still call me Renae, or MamaFaery, or mamacita! It's all good. Haha.
I have to go. I'm gonna go and try to get some stuff done during this first (hopefully!) long sleep stretch...
Have a great night, mamas.







s to those who need them. I hear ya on the crabby.







:
Maybe tomorrow won't be so crazy!
Oh, and I STILL have to pack!! Ack ack ack!


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

elsanne said:


> (sorry, midwesterners. Go open a can of cream of mushroom soup.).
> 
> o my god, elsanne, you might just be the funniest person on the planet!
> 
> ...


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Man you know I'm a tired slacker when Maggie manages to







: about our visit while still on vacation!







C and C definitely hit it off. I was showing DH the couple pics I took of the two of them and my C was kissing the digi cam screen.







It was well worth the drive up there! I'm very lucky to have a mellow car baby---she slept all the way up and all the way back! Ben is quite the talkative little one and kept saying "baby" when he saw C. He also can say the last half of her name too---very cute!

TC--I think we're working on the same two teeth here....glad things have settled down! We're eventually going to work toward a similar arrangement and have C start out the night in her room and then bring her into bed with us. Will start trying naps in there next week and see how it goes.

FF--our setup in C's room is pretty sparse...mattress on the floor, dresser and one toy shelf unit. She's been playing in/on her mattress for a while now so knows how to get up and down when she wants and when she's sleeping in there I'm going to put a body pillow or comforters along the side in case she roll roll rolls out of bed.


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## A&L+1 (Dec 12, 2003)

Hey there, May mamas!
Welcome new/de-lurking mamas! Glad you are here.
Esena, as fiddle said, I am a WOHM and my partner is a SAHM. Not the same as your situation, but feel free to mention anything on your mind. It's good that the May mamas are such a great mix of women.

Day Care Update: Alison and I found a place that we both felt 100% comfortable with.







If we were to compare it to the other places we went it wouldn't have stood out on paper, but when we walked in we both felt it. We just relaxed and could breathe easily there. It felt like walking into my childhood elementary school; small, cozy, safe, and interesting (and they are in the USDA food program so part of the flashback was the smell of school food - although they do a lot more fresh/organic at this place). The toddler room is big and open with it's own outdoor space and lots of windows. She'll be there from 7:30 until 3:00 everyday so it is VERY important to us that she be outside for a lot of that. The big big downer is that they won't take cloth diapers. The bright side is that we have been using a diaper service and Alison has agreed to switch to do our own diapers for nights and weekends.







_Yippee_ - I can finally get in on this cloth diaper craze.









But, we had a major day care scare this week. When we visited they wouldn't let us put in a deposit earlier than 30 days before we want her to start, which isn't until August. I called them to remind them about us this week and to verify that they will give E breastmilk and they told me that they would but that they HAD NO MORE SPACE!







: I cried; they rearranged and figured out that they have room for part time in August and then fulltime in September. We have back up lined up with Alison's sister so it's going to be fine, but man, my heart was broken there for a minute. So, I tell you all this for a couple of reasons. 1.) I know the May mamas don't judge (too much) about day care, but I acknowledge that if we could one of us would continue to be the SAHM. For those of you who can do it - count your blessings; it's hard even if you find the right day care. 2.) It is possible to find a day care that is caring and appropriate and "right". It doesn't have to feel like a compromise, so if you have to find day care one day have faith that the right thing will happen.

Phew, I guess I had a lot to say. As a WOHM I have all the sensitive buttons that MDC seems to create for working moms. Day care in particular can be a minefield. I am just so thankful to feel so good about this. Of course, there is always the chance that I will revise all this confidence and hopefulness once Eleanor actually starts day care. Eleanor seemed to like it there and Alison is going to spend a lot of July hanging out there to help E get used to the place. So, fingers crossed.

Fiddlefern - Aw, shucks, thanks - you look up to me??!?







Well, the separation anxiety continues but seems to be lessening as E recovers from her ear infection. Do you find that it increases with illnesses?

On weaning - I also think this will be my only baby (I want to do it again, Alison wants to do it too, and she wants two kids, I want three - so who knows?). Weaning is hopefully a long way off, but Eleanor is moving toward day-weaning actually. She always nurses at night (2 major feeds usually) and then previously at least 3 times during the day. Recently she has not been interested in nursing much during the day. She seems to be moving toward nursing once in the morning, a quickie in the afternoon, once before bed and once or twice at night. I like this because it means that I don't need to pump like crazy at work, but I worry she's going to self wean too. How can I prevent that? I would *really* like to hear everyone's thoughts.

Also, I want to switch to sienna as my color - does that ruffle any feathers?


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Ruffle Ruffle





















:LOL


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Oh, Mamas, I'm so down today. Its just been a really rotten day and I feel like my heart is about to break. Nothing bad has happened, per se, but several smaller things are really piling up on me and I can't esem to get through them in my head.

Lisa-







to you for finding a great daycare! Don't feel the subject is taboo with us. We all know you and Alison are the most loving and supporting and attached parents out there. Don't feel as if daycare is a bad thing in any way. E. is so very lucky to have you and the year Alison has spent at home with her are a great foundation for her. Sienna is lovely!

OK, munchkin awoke from her nap.

Give me strenght mamas. I don't know how I'm going to be a fun Mama this afternoon. I just want to crawl in a hole.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Aww, I don't have a lot of time to respond, Rowan is tearin' it UP in the other room (a 45-min morning nap, y'all...and that has been IT all day!!







) But I wanted to offer some strength and







s to Sherri (and anyone else who needs em!) because dude, I am SO THERE with you . I have been feeling like a bad mama, a not-fun mama, a mama who is at the end of her rope...more later when I can. I have to work tonight so bye for now


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

sherri: sending you lots of love and peace and hugs





















2 be gentle with yourself, mama...

lisa: yay on the daycare situation!

welcome to newbies and de-lurkers!

m has discovered the box of assorted to be filed mail under my desk, so i gotta go...

more later...

~claudia


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## elfmamma (Jun 18, 2005)

To ALL...







Thank you for your support and advice! Yes, maybe I will do a gradual method. I do have the No Cry Sleep Solutions book, I lent to my sister a long time ago...will have to get it back now! Thanks for reminding me about that!
A lot of you have suggested cutting out one feeding a day....I am not sure how I will do that...as I have no idea how many times she nurses a day. I don't count (guess I could start







). It is just "on tap", whenever. And each day is different. If I am real busy, she doesn't get much oppertunity. But if I am sitting at home all day...it is a buffet! I have tried just having more sippy cups around, so if she is thirsty... That helps.
I just got ds to sleep in his own bed now, so now I can move back into my own bed (queen size) with dh, but it is rather crowded with dd too. I got the crib cleaned out, it is at the foot of my bed. I start her out there, and then when she wakes up, I bring her to bed with me. Thinking about getting the rocking chair in here, and getting her back to sleep there, then put back into crib. Just kinda spoiled to going straight back to sleep in my bed!
Just need to re read that book....








Thanks again yall!







ELFMAMMA


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## jaam (Sep 29, 2004)

Sherri, thinking of you.

Lisa, so happy to hear that you've found a daycare that you're all comfy with, that must be a great relief to you. Yay!








the cream-o-mushroom soup bit. oh yeah, no potluck is complete without it. that and jello "salads". y'know, the kind with like fruit and stuff jell-i-fied inside it?









i should be packing and readying us for this wedding trip, but i'm SO not looking forward to it. well, i'm totally excited for my friend (the bride) and all, but she has so much down-to-the-minute plans made for the wedding party for three straight days. everyone else is single and child-less, and the bride is one of those personalities that freaks out when things aren't going exactly as she's planned. i don't want to add any stress to her very special time, but i still need to care for my baby, ya know? it could very well be hell for Amelia. dh won't be there to help







but my mom will so that's good.

On the weaning.... I'm starting to realize that this is probably the only child i'll ever have, and i'm cherishing every nursing moment. well, sometimes. honestly, there have been a couple nanoseconds where i long to have my body back alll to myself, for various reasons. but then i start imagining what it'd really be like and i know there's no way i could wean A before she herself actually wants to. dh has voiced his opinion on the matter: he would like his boobs back. HA HA HA... "his" boobs..... hahaha. he'll have to be patient a little while longer.









I really must get packing









love







love to all. hope all the sickies and bumps & bruises go away soon. welcome newcomers, you've found a lovely bunch of strong and supportive WONDERFUL women







everyone.


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Hi Mamas-

Sherri (and Renae!) -







to you. Some days are just blah, you know? WE know that you are a wonderful mama and try 100% every day. Whatever is going on won't last forever. Please fill us in when you get a chance.









Maggie and Heather - Can't wait to see the pics from the PA May Mamas Meet-up!

Elsanne - hope Sol's ankle is better! I'm so sorry for her!









Esena - welcome! I am about to go back to school full-time. It won't be 9 to 5, but usually 4 days per week plus homework time. My DH will stay home with DD a couple of days while working extra hours at home, and we'll trade childcare with friends the other few hours. So our situation is kinda similar, though not totally WOHM/SAHD.

Lisa - SO glad to hear about your daycare successes. I know that is a hard topic here at MDC, and know that we support you and Alison in your choices! I'm about to join the ranks of work/school-OHMs, so I'm glad to "know" you who have already been in the trenches!







About day-weaning: I've read a few good threads in the Breastfeeding Beyond Infancy forum. I hear that at this age a lot of babes seem to drop off in the nursing department, only to renew the nursing with vigor when reaching another milestone, getting teeth, etc...although I have also heard of 13- ,14- ,15-mo-olds self-weaning. Any of you with an older child have thoughts?

I'm going to see a movie IN THE THEATER tonight with a friend! Woo-hoo!







:




























:









Sarah


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Sarah--I saw the latest Star Wars in the theater!!! What a treat. I can't believe a MATINEE COSTS $6.25 in alba-quirky. Jeez. Sol is much, much better now, indeed I discovered







: that it wasn't her leg at all







: . She would scream when she peed, and just pee a little bit, so I inspected her to discover somehow a minor yeast-y infection which cleared up with 2 applications of a fabulous cream. Phew.

Lisa--I am so glad you found a daycare you love. That is SO GREAT, and believe me I can understand as I ponder that concept--you don't just wanna entrust your jewel to anyone. That's awesome that you found a good 'un. Bummer that you somehow got half bumped for August!! Argh.

Sherri--I had one of those days today too. Those days where you just look forward to bedtime so you can scratch this one off the board, call it a wrap, I had one and a half mezcal & cokes--and I am the type to rarely drink alcohol and even MORE rarely, coke. I freaked out on DH when I perceived him to be mistreating Sol when truly I was the less patient parent today. Aaaah those durn mirrors that relationships can be! Anyway, Sol's asleep, so I can almost sweep this day out the door, under the rug, wherever!


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

WAIT A MINUTE-- I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED. It all started when I sensed a strange ruffly sensation upon perceiving a certain post to be done in sienna.
:LOL


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## A&L+1 (Dec 12, 2003)

Elsanne :LOL
But what's really cracking me up is that your ruffle posts remind me of a joke Alison and I have. We've taken to calling my saggy stretch mark covered pooch of belly skin my "ruffles." As in, "I can see your ruffles" if my shirt hikes up while NIP (I've asked her to tell me since I am shy but also oblivious). Makes me kinda like the damn belly ruin.


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## nuggetsmom (Aug 7, 2002)

Lisa- I am so glad you found a great daycare adn that you don't habve to compromise. Not that you would have to but it is great to have a place lined up. No judgment here on working either. I would put dd2 in daycare for a couple of days if the place we have used for DD1 had space but that will have to wait a bit.

I am also in a major funk today. My neighbor jokingly said I should take a valium and drink some scotch. I said I would give the valium to one kid and the scothch to the other :LOL Kidding of course but it would be great if they settled down. The problem is that we went out for ice cream after a playdate. This made me short tempered and DD1 hyper. Julia had not had much of a nap so she was crabby and tired and then we went shopping.







DD1 wanted to put the grapes in the cart. Grabbed the bag from the bottem and when I tried to intervene she tore at it and grapes flew everywhere. I flew off the handle and pointed out to her that sometimes when I suggest something I am actually RIGHT. Not that it did any good.

DD1 is missing her daycare so much that I may put her back there part of the time. I can't quit the other school because I am on the board of directors now. :LOL







And we have some great plans for how to make it really great







But I can take her to the daycare for a few hours a week to play with her old friends. What is nice is that a former colleague of mine has started inviting us to socials because his DD was at the daycare with DD1.

OK, I need to go give some emotional support to another mama in need.


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

P.S. KK - thinking of you, mama, and your daily issues with Z and the doctors.


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## A&L+1 (Dec 12, 2003)

Just a quick post to send love and strength to KK (congrats on the standing boy!), Sherri, Nuggets, and Renae. Hang in there mamas!


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## KKmama (Dec 6, 2001)

Lisa, I don't think you should be bashful about your relief about finding a good daycare. We all have different situations, and not everyone can be a SAH parent forever.

AGrace, we went to a wedding when T was this age where everyone else was childless. I felt like such a freak. I hope you have a better time than I did.









To Sherri and everyone else in a funk (mezcal and coke?), I send big







s. Sometimes, this is SUPER HARD WORK, y'know? When I'm having a poopy day, sometimes the best thing to do is to force myself to get the stroller out, walk to a distant playground, and just get out. I also have lowered my expectations for myself--I am not SuperKK all the time. (And then I have a glass of wine when dh comes home







).

Yeah, I haven't really discussed it here lately (more on the tube-feeding/reflux board I participate in, but it's been down, so a few of us took refuge in FYT in MDC)... we've been going through more dr. stuff with Z. We were blown off at Children's last week (and they didn't realize that he had gained very little weight, and they were dismissive when I tried to point it out). I took Z to his ped yesterday for weight check, and his ped freaked out. The ped called the specialist. I called the OT. The OT called the specialist and the ped. The specialist called me. I finally got her straightened out about the weight. She finally gave me more information. She apologized. But I'm exhausted. I'm exploring what our other options are...


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

KK--thanks for the update. I would be livid if I had to keep such close tabs on all manner of medical "professionals" like you've been doing. I hope things look up soon.









Lisa--that daycare sounds perfect. If you and A had the same good vibe---that speaks volumes. I'm so glad it will work out to start in Aug/Sept! No need to be sheepish about your situation. You guys are awesome mamas and I look forward to hearing how the adjustment goes for both of you.

Today is a "test" for us, as I'm dropping C off with MIL for an hour while I go shop, get a coffee and kill time. MIL is off from teaching for the summer and has offered to sit whenever I need her to. I would love to get into the city by myself now and then so we'll have to see how it works out.

I'm still waiting for C to slow down with nursing, but I don't see it happening...I think maybe it happened briefly a month ago, but now it seems she's up my shirt every time I sit down. :LOL To cut down on the fly by nursing, I'm always sure to have something in hand for her to play with....Little People, the remotes, a book. I'm still a little worried about her food intake (other than the three or four varieties of jarred stuff that she likes)....I guess I'm just worried about my supply dropping at some point during the pg and then her suffering for it.







She is still reluctant to self feed other than natural veggie sticks (chip things) and has no interest in other liquids besides water.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Thanks for the support, Mamas. You are all awesome! What would I do without you?

KK-I sure hope people get the heads on straight. Its pretty sad to be falling through the cracks on so many occasions. Love and strength to you, mama. And you are *always* SUPERKK despite what you might think!

Heather







for the summertime sitter! Hope all goes well with the trial run. I feel your pain about the eating. Katie is so finicky that I get exhausted trying to figure out what to feed her. I'm glad she is such a good nurser, otherwise I'd be more worried.

Renae-happy packing to you and







to you too. And







to nuggets. This is tough work.

As for me, I had a tough morning with Sarah yesterday. I totally lost my cool with her as we were leaving a playdate yesterday. I got all mad at her about not putting her shoes on. Normally I get annoyed with this, but yesterday it just set me off for some reason. So I was feeling really bad with the way I handled the situation. Then dh and I were not seeing eye to eye over something, so that bugs me. Then an acquaintacne of mine called and asked me for the phone number to my babysitter. This was what set me off big time. My sitter is awesome. Shes a mother of a 19yo dd and takes such good care of my dds. I never worry about them when they are in her care. She plays with them, loves them, is patient, etc. She also works full time and just watches my kids maybe once or twice a month so dh and I can go out and reconnect, since we don't have family nearby to count on. What irks me is taht this acquaintance has an 11mo ds, and has never really made an effort to find someone on her own, just assumes she can use mine whenever she wants. Also, I don;t feel right giving out my sitter's number without her knowledge. She's too nice and I know she'd never say no, but I don't want her to get upset with me. Plus, as I said, she works full time and sits my kids because she likes to, its not like she wants to be a professional babysitter. There's alot more to it, but I don't want to bore you. I was just livid and angry. Funny enough, it was Sarah that got me perked up, she saw I was sad, and gave me lots of hugs and "feeling better Mommy?" How can that not make me smile? So I felt alot better last night.

OK, enough of my







: Take care Mamas


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Sherri---the word exasperated comes to mind...sounds like that was the kind of day you had! I can certainly understand your frustration about the babysitter. Sounds like you're trying to be thoughtful. Glad your little sweetie made you smile in the end. Can't wait to meet you all later this summer!







Let me know if you come up with any new food tidbits that work. Forgot to mention that our other major food groups are yogurt and cheese! I'm trying to be patient and see how she's doing at the end of the summer and then ask about it again at her 15 months check. In the meantime, I'll just blame my hubby--he can be very particular about his foods :LOL

She is still napping! MIL is probably wondering where we are! I guess it makes up for the other day when I was







when she only napped for 30 minutes in the car!

Renae--hope everything is all packed and ready to go....you guys are going to have an awesome time!

Sarah--just now peeked at your hair pics--looks so good!! Did Lily notice the change? Last time I got my hair chopped C looked at me funny for a little while.









Well I sure am







: a lot today....maybe I'm just antsy to go get me a frappalattechinomocha thingy.


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

What about noodles, heather? Katie likes noodle plain ok, but loves them if they have cheese or pasta sauce or something on them.

gotta go....baby awake!


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## nuggetsmom (Aug 7, 2002)

Well, I have to pack for the beach today. Not that excited about going because DH will be no help at all and we are going with my IL's. Too many people in too small a house and they don't get along that well. But I will do my best to be lovely and wonderful and nice.

When we went to my FIL last weekend I found a CD sleeve with a bunch of homemade mixed CD's on it. It was unlikey that the owner would return for them and so we decide to take them along, and I was kind of excited about having some new mixed CD's. But it turns out that I really don't like any of them. It surprised me because I love all of the CD's I got from you all and yet we didn't really know each others musical taste. I sort of think that it is evidence that if you click in a way that your other tastes fall into step too. Even though all the CD's were really different and not music that I would have or that I knew about. And I think of myself as liking a wide range of things so I was surprised.

Oh oh gotta go. Thought I was in for a longer nap, but oh well. Sleep has been terrible here and I think teething and excitement over life in general is to blame. It is a dillema of sorts for me


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Hi everyone.








s to those that need them. Nugget, hope your trip is better than you expect.







Sherri, glad your day ended well.

KK - I'm sorry to hear of the lame-o medical "community" that you are dealing with. And I'm so glad to hear you've found another group of mamas to support you - it's important to find people who've been in the same place. I hope this group continues to serve as a helpful, supportive place to vent, too.

Heather - hope the MIL test goes well. I am continually amazed how Lily seems comfortable with others. Obviously she loves hanging out with DH for hours on end, but we've left her now with a few others and she's always been completely fine. I'm almost sad that she doesn't miss me more.







Lily did notice the color change when I first came home from the salon. She pointed at it and tugged on my hair, then never mentioned it again.

And I know you didn't ask ME,







but have you tried frozen peas for C.? That is Lily's favorite food of all time. I think it's the shape/size/cold/sweet combo that interests her. At first I was worried about her choking, but she seems totally fine with them and often crams up to 10 in her mouth at once before chewing.







Also grapes, cut in halves/quarters, are a current fave.

Orientation for my school program is tomorrow, 8-5! I will have to lug my pump around all day. I am excited for classes to start on the 5th!

I am feeling a little blue today. I will post what happened in the YG.

Sarah


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

I was DJing last night so I got about 4 hours of sleep today (even WITH my MIL here to watch the babe while I slept for one more hour)
so um..bear with me.








I guess what's been up with me lately is that I am just having a hard time at times, adjusting to my bebe turning into a TODDLER with a capital T-_antrum_!!!!!








My sweet happy little baby is turning into a screaming, kicking, _slapping_, throwing-food-off-the-highchair-with-FORCE, and did I mention the screaming? whirlwind that tries my patience every second, it seems.







I know it's not ALWAYS that way, I love how playful, how full of laughter, how excited Rowan is about life. I love watching how he learns and how loving he can be, with the hugs and the kisses "mwah".







But oh man, the screaming fits and tantrums! Eeeech. Some days are better than others. This evening I had to hand DH the food and leave the table saying "oh GOD, YOU feed him! I can't deal!"







: But then I took a bath with him and he kept crawling over me, toy in each hand, giving me big sloppy wet hugs and trying to nurse in the tub, but being too slippery. :LOL So I didn't want to sell him on the black market anymore.







:LOL







It's a good things he's so awesome.








Oh, and the food thing; cheese (cottage, american, cheddar), yogurt, two or three different jarred things, bananas, and um, most of the time, that's it!








Oh, with a nice side of Goldfish crackers







: and veggie snack sticks (those same ones you mentioned, Heather) thrown in there. Hah. Potatoes (french fries (but not from fast food! Just um...when we go to actual restaurants sometimes...I know, I'm making excuses--I suck!), bread, grapes, blueberries (just started eating them again yesterday!) and yes, I will second the pasta with cheese thing (annie's mac n cheese, baby!)...I guess he eats a lot of stuff...but it all is sort of the same, and he sometimes eats SO little of it, takes tiny bites...and not enough veggies, IMO...I worry, but since he's still nursing a ton too, I know he's getting enough (I HOPE!). I just have to keep offering broccoli, even when he takes a bite, shudders, and throws it violently to the floor! :LOL

Anyway...yeah, my MIL was here all day which was actually really nice, and my job gave me some great ego boosts last night (my boss came up to me after we were done and said "wow, you are REALLY good at this"





















I LOVE playing music, and so to know that some people think I am actually GOOD at it, well, it just rocks my world.

I've been feeling a little snippy at DH tonight for some reason, so I think I will go and do better by him right now. He's been awesome, so I think it is just me being stressed about packing for our trip (I SO have to go do this!), being still tired from last night, and well...worrying about being a "good enough" mother for my babe. He's so turning into this great little boy with a strong personality and preferences and I have to remember--his mama has one heck of a strong personality too!







I adore him, truly.
I heard some of you all talking about how you think your babe may be your only one...and that's totally where I am too--I feel the need to make sure I drink in and relish all of these days with him (even the CRAZY ones!) and remember them; they are sacred.

Wishing you a peaceful night.


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## KKmama (Dec 6, 2001)

Renae, Rowan sounds a lot like T when T was a young toddler. He was a whirling dervish. He didn't want to go to sleep at night, he had a huge of amount of energy, he was always into everything. And as I've said before, 12-18 mos. for me as a mama (to that particular child) was the most difficult phase so far. He's going to turn 4 next Tuesday, and I'm just telling you to hang in there--he's so amazing, so much fun now.









Quote:

And I'm so glad to hear you've found another group of mamas to support you - it's important to find people who've been in the same place. I hope this group continues to serve as a helpful, supportive place to vent, too.
I found them (via another MDC mama) early in the NG process... I got great advice from them about how to tape the tube properly and other logistical things y'all know nothing about.







I bitch to them about the nitty gritty details and swap OT tips. But don't worry, I'm always going to be a May '04 mama.

I can comment about some nutritious hi cal foods Z likes which may work for others... baked beans (there's some kind of really yummy organic in a can variety which is almost kidney bean sized, which is better for finger foods, otherwise do the smaller ones on a spoon or finger)... veggie booty, sardines in mustard sauce, guacamole, hummus, peas with olive oil through the baby mill, sometimes bits of homefries (you can make them with sweet potatoes, which are super nutritious)... I sneak cantaloupe into things (another super nutritious food), bits of dairy-free burrito, soy yogurt... He may not necessarily eat a lot, but it adds up.


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Well the MIL tryout went well for 10 minutes....then she broke down and MIL tried everything under the sun to cheer her, but I got called back after a half hour. I had time enough to buy DH some swim trunks and get to the B&N, but that was it. *sigh* MIL said she'll come up here next week and see if C does better on her home turf while I hang out upstairs/outside/nearby.

All the food suggestions sound great and I'm going to start a list. Just a bit







as almost none of them are likely to pass muster as she still has the chewing/swallowing issue. Going to try one new thing a week though and see how she does.

Lisa--forgot to mention...how cool that you guys are ditching the service and getting some cd's for at home. Let me know if you have any question about sizing/brands/wool etc.


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Heather--wow! Is this the first "babysitter" you've ever tried? It's a good idea to try her on your home turf.

whoops gotta run, baby fuss


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## emmalola (Apr 25, 2004)

hi everyone! We're back from a great trip to England and it's taken me ALL WEEK to get caught up. Geez- you're a prolific bunch.

daycare: go for it! We need to do what's best for our families, and sometimes daycare is what the whole family needs to feel fullfilled and happy. We've been doing babysitting coop with another family for the past year, and are now preparing to start the lentil in daycare in the fall. it's a coop, and very well matched to our philosophy, so we're very lucky. And the other boy we've traded child care with is also starting there, so I know the lentil will have at least one friend on the first day.

Heatherfeather- I'm so sorry the MIL tryout ended prematurely. I bet when things are on the home turf it will go much better. We have been cultivating a babysitter by doing in-home appointments where the boy is watched by the sitter, but I'm just in the next room in case something goes awry. good luck!

faerymammy- I hope your trip goes well. I bet it will!

Thanks to everyone for the food suggestions- I hadn't thought of baked beans but that sounds good! my husband doesn't like baked beans much, so he was suspicious, but I bet it will work. We give the boy whatever is on the plates, only sometimes we have to suck off the seasonings first. :LOL The only things that are strictly off limits is peanuts and seafood.

oh, rats. I started this hours ago, then the lentil woke up and we had to go to watch our co-care kiddo too. I'll catch up with more later.


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

sarah: thinking of you all day today... hope your orientation goes well and miss lily doesn't miss you too much









fiddle: we had fun yesterday! thanks for coming out to our house and bringing along a whole party! hope your honey and your friend enjoyed themselves, too, and that luke slept at least part of the way home.









woohoo on finding the right day time care providers, lisa and emmalola!

and sending your MIL and C getting along without you vibes, heather...









renae: get packing! :LOL just kidding! (I should be telling myself this, as well, since we are going camping for two nights with the big MDC Northwest Camping Crowd! Luckily, it's only like an hour away from where we live since we live so far out in the western 'burbs and closer to the beach and the campground that was chosen. woohoo!









welcome back, emmalola! tell us more about england when you get a chance so we can live vicariously! how did the lentil do on the plane?

okay, now i really must get motivated to put some stuff together for our trip. bill was supposed to be in charge of food, but of course, he left the menu planning until last night and then the monkey was tired so we couldn't get to the grocery store so i have to go today AS WELL AS finish drying the clothes, fold them, pack clothes for all three of us for 2.5 days (how many outfits DO you take for a crawling babe who will inevitable get very extremely dusty and grimy in the sandy dune dirt of a campground? sheesh...)

at least we have stuff to sleep on and a stove to cook on... :LOL (i borrowed another thermarest and a dual burner camp stove from our friends...)

i'll post some pics of the MDC crowd to the yahoogroup when we return on sunday (or perhaps monday... we'll see how tired i am... )

have a groovy weekend, mamas!

warmly,
claudia


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

We have had MIL watch her here at our house before, but this was the first time that I've left her alone at MIL's house.

Emmalola---I saw the title of a book at the library the other day called "the lentil" and I thought of your lentil.









TC--have a great trip! Let us know your camping with babe tips/tricks. I would love to go camping with C later this summer if I can arrange to get the camping stuff from my mom....or perhaps it's time to start amassing our own gear!


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Happy Camping TC! Hope it's a blast!

Sarah-how'd orientation go yesterday? I must admit I'm a bit jealous. I'd really love something to do for *me*, y'know? I'd love to take a class just for fun. Ahh, someday....

Heather, bummer C didn't go for being at your MIL's house for too long. I agree that she'll be more comfortable on her own turf. How ya feeling these days?

emmalola-how'd the lentil do on the plane? Curious to hear. It's quite a long flight. I've flown to London twice and really dread the plane trip. Although dh and I







London. We're anxious fo rthe kids to get older so we can take them nd show them around. Won't be happening for awhile tho, but someday....

Renae-wtg on your DJ gig! You sound like a rockin' dj!







Maybe you can DJ at all the May Babies' Weddings or college graduation parites or somehting. :LOL

gotta go, gonna be a hot one today. DH and I set up our inflatable pool today and some friends are coming over. My friend (she's my idol) has five kids! She's awesome...gotta go help dd1 with the potty.,,,


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## KKmama (Dec 6, 2001)

We finally had our birthday party for both of the boys (T turns 4 next week, and as you know, Z turned 1 last month). It was a lot of fun (and of course a lot of work! :LOL ). I cooked and cooked and cooked, and dh cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. But we all had a great time, and the house is still clean, and we have lots of yummy leftovers (and grammie is asleep with T in the guest room while Z is asleep NAK).

I have to admit that while we were total backpackers before we had kids, these days, instead of camping, we go the "rent a weekend cabin near a natl. park route"







: . It's still rustic-ish, and I like access to a bathroom.







It makes food stuff so much easier, too (stove and fridge). I'm all geared up to go to Rocky Mt. Natl. Park later this summer. My other big admission... as I've gotten older... the really thick Thermarests are looking pretty attractive to me (we have the 3/4 length thin backpacking version, and it's not cushy enough for my old bony butt).

Heather, tell me more about the chewing/swallowing problem (in a PM or the YG if you want more privacy) and I'll share any part of what we've learned that may be applicable.

I'm going to post a b-day pic or two sometime this weekend, also a pic of Z standing (and throwing his hands up in the air).


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## emmalola (Apr 25, 2004)

By popular demand, here is a run-down of our England trip. First, the airplane: We weren't the ones paying for the trip, so we asked my FIL to get us day flights. We left from Boston and flew directly to London Heatherow. The flight is about 6 and a half hours. We kept the boy awake until we were on the plane so his first nap occurred shortly after take-off. He always nurses down for naps (still!), so he was nursing during take-off, which helped with the air pressure in his ears. We packed a few books, a few familiar toys, and then before the trip I went and bought him three toys that I wrapped up for him to unwrap during the flight. (The toys were a set of crayons, a little boy with arms and legs that move with this very satisfying clicking noise like this and an elmo cell phone that has buttons to press and it makes music.) As it turns out, he wasn't interested much in unwrapping the presents, but he liked having new things to play with. We had the bulkhead seats, which made a huge difference in the amount of space we had to negotiate with. He took two naps during the flight, so I even got to watch a movie! He also ate off and on throughout the flight, which kept him pretty busy. The return trip was just about the same. I think the key was not having red-eye flights so we weren't at all concerned about missing out on sleep ourselves. There's no way I could have slept with him on my lap- he's just too big for that now.

We took buses to get to places, which meant we didn't need to have a car seat on the plane- less luggage. We just figured all our sleep was going to be screwed up, so we tried to get the boy to bed at a decent time each night and get two naps in during the day. We weren't stuck on any particular schedule, so it was easy to make our most basic goals. He woke up a lot during the first few nights, but that regulated itsself out by the end of the trip. (we were gone 8 nights).

When we wanted to go out to eat, we went to pubs early in the evening so the restaurant wasn't full and there was plenty of room if he wanted to get up and move around. Hardly any pubs had highchairs, so he sat in our laps to eat- that was hard. It was really hard to eat anything ourselves while making sure he was eating and not throwing our forks on the floor and tipping our beers into our laps.

We drank a lot of beer. That made EVERYTHING better.

Most of our time was spent in Oxford, where my FIL was a guest professor for the past school year. We stayed in his house, and we had our own room with an attached bath and (get this!) a maid who came and cleaned and did our laundry EVERY DAY! The lap of luxery. We got her a big gift when we left, because nothing beats laundry magic. She would even iron the lentil's overalls!

The hardest part was finding activities to do that the little boy would enjoy. We had to really limit our museum going, which was too bad, but we did have a great time at the Oxford museum of Natural History. We went to a lot of gardens. We rode in a little boat down the river and back. We had picnics. We did almost no shopping, which is probably a good thing since the exchange rate is so lousy right now. We tried going to a playground, but it wasn't a playground for children- more like a cricket field. that was disappointing. He always is happier when there are other kids around, so we tried to be around other kids.

We took one day trip to the London zoo, which was fun. I enjoyed being there, just because I love seeing all the animals. He loved seeing all the monkeys. I know zoos can sometimes be downers, so I won't dwell on this, but it was pretty cool. They have a great insect exhibit that is just so neat. I got to see dung beetles! live and in person! Yeah, I'm a total geek. whatever.









The only rough patch was at the end of the day on our return home. The little boy was tired of travel, I was tired of travel, my husband was tired of travel. We were held up in customs for an hour because the stupid plane people couldn't get our luggage to us, and then when we got out to the reception area my MIL took forever walking to the car because she was being a pain in the ass. Then we went to my in-law's house where our car was being kept and they were just generally lame. The little boy really didn't want to get back in the car for another two hour drive, but we did it anyway because we just wanted to get home. He cried in the car until he fell asleep, and then we were home sweet home.

It was a wonderful trip, so relaxing. It gave me hope for other nice vacations in the future. For the past few years we've been doing a lot of work travel and travel to see family and those trips just aren't very relaxing. Having the lentil forced us to slow down and just enjoy our time there. He's constantly teaching me how to appreciate life in such a beautiful new way.

I had something else I wanted to write about but I forgot!!! typical. dang.

eta: okay- I just remembered- some of you may recall my postings about nightweaning way back when. Well, that whole thing has flown the coop. We were on a big trip home, then our trip to England, and coming soon a trip to Maine, and now I'm back to nursing the boy at night. But this is a good thing. After nightweaning, the boy started a new pattern of waking up only two to three times each night, which I can totally handle. So now when he wakes up I nurse him back down, and life is good again. After all that effort, I am thankful that we were able to change to a better rhythm for all of us. Obviously, he needs the nunu. We all sleep better if I give him the nunu at around 1am, and then he's usually down until 6am. I can handle that. My husband wants to try the nightweaning again, but I just don't think now is the time. Maybe at the end of the summer, when things are on a more predictable schedule. but not now.


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Emmalola---sounds like an awesome trip! Glad the lentil forced you guys to slow down and enjoy the sights and all! Glad to hear that you all have settled into a better nighttime nursing pattern too! On non-teething nights we do about 2-3x a night and it seems like a good groove for us. We're looking forward to a trip to Maine later in the summer as well....where do you guys go?? We're staying in the Old Orchard area in August.









KK--I bet the party was a blast! I'll PM ya about the food stuff.









Looks like another looong hot week here---lots of time in the kiddie pool for sure this week!

Sherri--I'm just TIRED these days with the usual no food is appealing but junk food thing going on.







Had the same greasy fries/junk food cravings w/ C in the beginning so I'm just gonna go with it. :LOL

We're going to finish babyproofing C's room later tonight so I'm hoping to start napping with her in there this week.


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

hiya
i've been skimming posts and haven't quite caught up yet but wanted to say HOLA. we're back from vacation. back from the land of early weaning







i could go on and on about that. they all thought i was a freak nursing my BABY for cryin out loud

i have to say i am contemplating night weaning and buying a twin bed more and more though. of course i want the cute pottery barn camp bed. need some $$$$. hah. (yeah right) we had $33 in the bank when we got home last night :LOL

the travels were ok except our flight down was so delayed that we ended up requesting to come back in the morning. some guy from boise got on our plane and didn't figure out we were flying to burbank until we were out on the RUNWAY







: and then the plane started having problems. so maybe the guy from boise saved our lives









yesterday in the burbank airport isaac had a screaming headbanging tantrum. i tried to stick him on the boob and he bit me so hard i bled







and it still really hurts. mama was not happy about that one.

my friend gave me this shirt and my other friend gave me all her pre=preg victoria's secret brand new bras that she'll never fit in again (stoked! i haven't bought any bras). so i'm wearing this 'hooty mcboob' cleavage shirt with the major push up bra today (i've never had cleavage before). (especially needing to pump right now) i ask dh if it is too risque for work and he says 'who cares....everyone has seen your boobs and at least your nipples aren't showing!' i'm like TRUE but that's different!!!!!!!!!!

isaac loooooooooooooves the other boobie. he has to stick his hand up or down the shirt to pat it and twizzle the nipple. drives me nutso (the twizzling). then he has to switch and taste the other one. he's reveling in the concept that there are two and he can have them BOTH. i'm really working on some nursing manners. he's way to grabby and pully with the shirt. so i'm trying to wait til he will do the milk sign. it is sort of working. gimmie your manners tips if you have any

we're doing the 'nummies go night night' attempt. i told him that last night and rubbed his back and he went to sleep in between us. that was one small success. i really want to get him out of our bed. i know it isn't very ap. but i'm really envious of people whose babies settle right down and sleep on their own with nary a peep til 7am. (we spent a week with my friend and her very independent baby). dh on the other hand thinks there is something wrong with that baby :LOL :LOL :LOL

sarah-glad the shower went well

i'm going to finish reading now














:


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Jstar--ugh ugh ugh about the tantrum! And sol does the exact same thing with boob #2. We too have started signing here and she's taken to it like crazy, milk being the first one she got. And yeah, she grabs my shirt and yanks and I do the sign, seems to give her something else to do with her hands.

Signs: we have milk, bath, eat, no more, more, and sleep! I'm going to introduce want, and I've done some others (paint, dance) but since they are not pressing needs of hers she's not that concerned.
Every little creature is a "fish"...she points at birds and says, Fish!









Heather--I craved french fries while pg with Sol too! Also, green grapes.


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Hi Mamas!

KK - glad the party went well. So fun to have the birthdays close together.









Emmalola - wow on England! Lucky duck! And thanks for the update re: nightweaning. I've been wondering, and it's good to know it kinda worked, kinda didn't, and ya'll are cool with it!









jstar - poop on early weaners. Weiners, ha ha, get it? *snigger* And you go, sexy mama, with the cleavage. If you got it, flaunt it!







:LOL

elsanne - cute about the universal "fish." Lily calls every smallish insect-looking thing a bee. Spider, ant, speck of dust on the wall: "BEE! BEEEEE!"

Heather - your mention of fast food cravings TOOK ME BACK, sistah. I had major hamburger-and-fries cravings, complete with the chocolate shake, my whole pregnancy. Feed your desire; you DOUBLY deserve it with a toddler!









Claudia - can't wait to hear how the camping trip went. Hope the weather was okay, and you met some fun MDC families.

Orientation was pretty good. Of course some typical boring parts, but it was great to meet my cohort of midwifery students, and get the lowdown on the important stuff. I am excited. It's getting close. I am having a bit of separation anxiety (luckily that hasn't hit Lily yet), but I am soooo thankful that DH will be home with her most of the time I will be in class. And the other friends watching her are great.

I am feeling exasperated with the sleep thing, too. Not quite ready to do anything about it yet







, but I've been mulling it over. I'm thinking we might try to move her into a single bed beside our bed first. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Sarah


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

we're back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

camping was great! marek did okay on night one, so-so on night two. we finally admitted it was actually morning after i loaded him into the car and drove around with him for about 45 minutes and he slept for 45 seconds at a time, cried for a couple of minutes, slept for another 45 seconds, cried for a couple of minutes, rinse, spin, repeat. and then we changed his diaper and discovered WHY he had such a hard time. i guess something in his poop the night before made him break out in a major diaper rash, complete with watery blisters.







it was and still is not pretty. blisters went away after a few hours, but his bum is all scabby and pink and raw. poor baby... it makes bill weepy to change his diaper, so guess who has to do it every single time. oh, and what's up with the leaky diapers? we switched to premium sized prefolds and are using bummis medium covers, and they are wicking something fierce and getting every single outfit wet. any suggestions?

the mdc folks on the camping trip were soooooooooooo fun! there was a couple from eugene (about 2 hours south of portland) that are awaiting their first baby in late august/early september, a family with two adopted preschool age children, a family with an almost 3 year old & a 3 month old, a mama and her 6 month old, 4 year old and 6 year old, a family with an almost one year old and a 6 year old, and another family with a 2 month old, an 11 year old and 9 year old, and another family with a 2 year old. there were a few more, too, but i don't know the ages of their kids. altogether it was quite a crowd! we had a great fire and outdoor grilling going on on saturday evening, and two daddies had brought their guitars and played and sang for us. we sang the most eclectic version on old mcdonald had a farm i've ever heard (there was a snake and some popcorn, as well as the usual barnyard assortment.)

we're already starting to think about next year, so portland mamas, stay tuned!

other than the crazy diaper rash, nothing terrible exciting here. still standing up on everything, occasionally getting entranced by something he's holding and letting go of the piece of furniture he's holding on to and free standing for a few second, only to realize, hey wait, i'm not holding on to anything and promptly falling on his butt. oh, and putting everything in his mouth. he tried sand, pine needles, sticks, twigs, dirt, pine cones and grass over the weekend, but his favorite was rocks. :s

grumpy babe who apparently is getting tired earlier than i thought he would... hmmm...

warmly,
claudia

p.s. you can see some pics here: http://www.mothering.com/discussions...24#post3365524


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## Defenestrator (Oct 10, 2002)

Sarah -- Glad to hear that you had fun at your orientation. Starting a new school is so fun. I bet that Lily will sail through the transition just fine. Do you have a lot of nursing clinicals this first year? I really enjoyed the nursing classes I took when I was thinking of being a CNM.

Claudia -- Glad to hear that you had fun on your trip. I am sorry that your diapers are wicking so badly. We had some Bummis with our first baby that wicked horribly. I think that the waterproofing on those just wears out faster than some other brands. Are you tucking the diaper inside the little pocket in the front? That can make it a lot worse. That little pocket helps create a barrier between the diaper and the stitching on the velcro, which is where a lot of the wicking happens. You can also try re-waterproofing them with waterproofing spray that you can get in the camping section of your local store.

We are going away the weekend after the 4th of July, provided the mom who is due this week has had her baby. We hope to actually have a nice mellow 3 day holiday this weekend and work around the house. My older ds has a nice veggie garden that we will be fussing with and I think we will try to go to a carnival and get sick on junk food.

Theo has really gone nuts with separation anxiety. I can't even blame work because I have barely been working at all (I think I worked 3 hours last week). If he gets me in his sights when I'm home it is mamamamamamama and then wants to be carried, but then doesn't wants to be carried and squirms. Up/down/up/down/up. The only cure seems to be to go outside, so we have been outside nearly all day every day. He is getting quite tan







: I am trying to figure out if there is some kind of carrier I can use that would allow him to be carried on back, but be easy to get in and out of. I have a frame backpack, but he doesn't seem to like it. My fleece pouch sling is too stretchy for back carries. I have been hoping to find something so that we can start doing longer walks into town. Older ds really likes to tromp into town to go to the museum or library, but I just can't carry Theo in the sling on front that far anymore and he isn't a big fan of our rickety little umbrella stroller.

Take care, everyone. Happy 4th of July!


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

Claudia--That camping trip sounds AWESOME! What kind of premiums did you get (unbleached/bleached?) and how many times have they been washed? I know the unbleached ones we had had to be washed 4-6 times to get enough of the oils off to work well...and it even seems some of our unbleached ones needed lots of washing to get fully absorbent. I ditto Stacia's suggestion for some nixwax if you think it's just the cover wearing. Are you trifolding into the wrap or using a snappi? Where is it wicking...in front or around the legs? If the fit is not snug enough sometimes I've had the wet just run to the legs and wick there.

Stacia--here's hoping you guys can have a nice relaxing weekend! What is in DS1's veggie garden this year?? We're hoping our zucchinis and squash are ready soon!









Our solution for the tossing/turning/crawling all over us baby worked! She has been getting restless starting from 2-4ish for a good two hours and none of us were sleeping so last night DH took her into her room (mattress on the floor) and patted her back and she went right off to sleep and he made a bed on the floor next to her. He said she continued tossing/turning, but didn't wake up from bumping into me. Not sure if this is a restless phase or the start of half-time cosleeping.


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

we're using the medium bummis too but haven't had the wicking. stacia had good ideas. i think we need some larges. isaac is getting red lines around his legs. he got a bunch of XLs for his bday (different brand) and i think they might be too big. i've only tried one so far and i think it leaked but it might have been from his drink spilling. i get bad wicking with his fuzzi buns from the fleece touching his clothes.

isaac had a hard day at daycare yesterday. tough transition back to school. but i fed him and wipped him off to bed at 7pm because i am on a mission to end these 10-11pm bedtimes. he is periodically falling asleep when dh picks him up early so then he's revved up to go for hours. and even if he doesn't sleep he gets the overtired crazies. so nooooooo more napping after daycare. on his several wakeups i slept with him on his floor pillow. so he was in his room all night







i go back and forth to my more comfy bed when the back pain wakes me up. must.get.twin.matress

isaac ran off to play this morning when i dropped him off with no tears. yay!

meanwhile my nipple is KILLING ME. it feels infected and i cringe when i need to let him nurse on that side







nothing has ever made me contemplate weaning more. being a weiner. :LOL i'm not but damn it hurts.

the early-weiners were crazy. my dad: "he doesn't need that. i think you are the one that needs it, not him." yeah ok whatever. my friend from england and her mom and baby came to stay at my parents house for 10 days. her baby is almost 8 months. she only bfs him first thing in the morning now and she is the LAST one of all her baby-friends to still be nursing. she said everyone in england quits so they can go back to the gym and lose the weight. (apparently no one there has figured out bf takes the weight off. they also don't have any advisories to quit drinking when they're pregnant). her and her mom were asking me if it was 'normal' here to bf this long (long????). i told them 1 1/2 yrs is 'mainstream' and LOTS of ppl go to 2-3-4 yrs. i was telling everyone i'd be nursing til he was 5 just to get some looks.

its weird though when you're surrounded by the conservatives how you start questioning yourself. one of my best friends lives in ventura. she had a baby in feb and has a 3 year old (they came over for a day and we got to see them). they are totally ap. bf, cd, no circ (they have the only non-circ'd son they know), cosleep. but she weaned her ds at 1 1/2 yrs. i'm sure it was from living in southern california. thank god we're home in oregon









the mdc campout sounds awesome







the rash sounds like a bummer

after 6 weeks of every yeast treatment under the sun and several days in the heat and swimming and walking around diaperless i decided isaac's diaper rash was not yeast. his testes were still hot pink inflamed rashy. so i used the super-dooper steroid cream and it cleared it all up. they finally look NORMAL for the first time since...april i think. such a relief. i guess it was balls-o-fire eczema









stacia-do you have an ergo? it is the best now for us. i can't do any slings because the one-sided thing kills now he's so heavy.

i better get busy







:


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

jstar----any chance you have a milk blister/bleb or the start of one?? I have a recurring pita one on my left side and sometimes it just appears as a harder spot of skin and not a huge white spot full-on milk blister. Just a thought as that is always the most uncomfortably painful thing for me w/ nursing these days if I don't stay on top of it. I'm with you on all the interesting weaning/age comments. I've taken to saying "Well they actually recommend til at least 2" and that kind of dumbfounds them. :LOL


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## TurboClaudia (Nov 18, 2003)

Re: the wicking of he diapers...
We have unbleached prefolds, and I washed them about 8 times before I even tried putting them on him. I did he pour a 1/4 cup of water on them to test if it absorbs immediately thing, and after 6 times it didn't, but after 8 it did. They may be just too big, because the gappiness at the leg is still quite big, but the infant sized ones are just too small. We use a snappi, but on the premium sized ones, I have to fold down the front because they are too long. I've been bikini twisting them since yesterday, and it seems a little better, but I still had to change his clothes twice yesterday and then i just gave up and let him wander around the house in a shirt and a fitted diaper with no cover. It seems like the wicking is happening at the legs because it's even happening with the brand new frog cover I just bought a couple of weeks ago. The other three bummis I have are all previously owned but in very good condition. And the few other random covers I have also have the wicking issue, so I'm pretty sure it's at the legs.









Stacia: I was going to suggest an Ergo, too. It's super comfy for long periods of time for us.

jstar: grrr about the early weaning comments. you can breastfeed isaac around us until he can play soccer and we won't comment negatively! remember, it's just not something this culture is used to, but in a more traditional culture, he would be nursing until he wanted to stop and was well past toddlerhood.







on them.

i smell what i think is a poopy diaper... hrumph...

warmly,
claudia


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

I'm home!









Eventually I'll read everything and catch up and post for real, but for now, I'm home I'm home I'm home!!!!









So good to be back.... cloth dipes, VEGETABLES to eat, big apartment, kids can play outside! Life is good!

Hope you all are doing well....


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## elfmamma (Jun 18, 2005)

I need yall's advice!!! I recently joined the gym to work off "mommy-fat"







. They have child care, which is very clean and safe looking, and caring people working there. However, dd doesn't like to be dropped off there and left. I only work out there about 30 minutes, so I am not gone long. But when I go to pick her up, she is visably upset! Usually one of the workers is holding her, said she would cry if put down (nice of them to go the extra mile!).
She used to go to anyone, hold out here arms, and hug them when they got her.







But now she shies away from people and runs to me or starts crying when they talk to her.
She did have some stranger anxiety a while back, but got over it. But now she has regressed, and I think it is because of the gym. I think she thinks that when someone comes over to her, that they might take her away from me, like at the gym.
When we first started, we went in there with her, and sat and played. That way she would feel more comfortable. Then when it seemed OK, we would vanish. But recently I just hand her over and go.
I keep thinking that if I go often enough, she will get used to it, and the people too.
What do you think? Should I change the approach, how?
I hate to quit, but.........
love to all,,,,Elfmamma


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *elfmamma*
When we first started, we went in there with her, and sat and played. That way she would feel more comfortable. Then when it seemed OK, we would vanish.

Well, honestly, I think the vanishing might have been not such a good idea. I guess it depends on the baby, but IME disappearing while Lily is occupied makes her all the more upset once she realizes I am no longer there. I try always to tell her I'm going, give her a kiss, etc. and then let her see me leave. She might be upset for a few seconds, but usually not. Of course sometimes she is napping or something and I have to leave, but she doesn't mind that if she wakes up to DH.

I'm not sure how you can "undo" the damage. Maybe start over with the center, play with her in there, tell her you're going to leave and then come back. Maybe she'll eventually figure out that you're always coming back. But if she continues to get upset, I would follow her lead and not put her in that situation for a while. Good luck!

Welcome home, Maggie!









Stacia - Hi! Glad to see you around these parts! My clinicals start in the Fall, and I'll have quite a few, since this first year is basically a BSN packed into one year. Yikes. Oh, and I second (third?) the Ergo.

Okay, have to share some cuteness: I made DH a corny shirt for Father's Day that has Lily's face on it, sticking out her tongue. He wears it to bed. Well, Lily thinks it's hilarious, and loves to point, say "Baby!," kiss it, touch her tongue to it, etc. So funny that she's kissing herself. :LOL

Sarah


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Elfmamma,

OOOh it is soo tempting to sneak away while baby is distracted!!! I don't know if that's what you did but I did that too, and I agree with Sarah it's not a good idea. Sol kept looking for me in other parts of the house...somehow they learn that "Mom just might disappear on me so I have to keep tabs on her 24/7" (no fun for anyone). So now I say goodbye, wave, blow kisses, and like Lily, Sol doesn't get upset or she gets over it quickly.

I also have a friend with a daughter one month younger who freaks out EVERY time she leaves, big ol' scene. I don't know how it's different but I do know that separation/stranger fears are prominent now.

Sarah, that is major cuteness about her kissing her image.


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## Jacqueline (Jun 11, 2003)

Elfmama-thanks for asking this. I'm trying to get back to the Y (well, not "get back" so much as "go!") and the main deterrent is putting G in the day care. He doesn't stay with anyone else but me and dh now, since we just don't know a lot of people that well here yet. Anyway, good ideas from everyone on playingwith him first, making sure he sees me leave, etc. Maybe I'll work up enough gumption to try it out! For now, dh is going to be with G while I go to the Y for a bit.

G woke up with a weird rash around the back of his neck and on his cheeks a bit. We changed his shirt and I put calendula on it, so we'll see. Very bizarre. He's also tugging his ear, but I don't know if that's cause it hurts, the rash itches, or he's teething. And, finally, his third tooth broke through. His top right central incisor. So, yeah, I got a nice bit mark on the nip. Must have happened in our sleep, cause I would have remembered this! I can feel it now, though. Ouch!

Sounds like we've all had interesting travel experiences and reactions to our nursing. We'll be traveling again in two weeks on a plane (with a layover!) We're just going to San Francisco for a few days to a friends' wedding, but the plan ride will be a bit more interesting with a 13-month old than with a 9-month old (last time we flew).

I've had wicking with the Bummis, too. Mostly at the beginning when I wasn't sure what I was doing, I think.







We get it occasionally now and it is around the legs if it happens. Usually due to my putting it on poorly, or the baby just moving so much it loosens up. He's about ready to switch to a size large cover, so I'm thinking of trying some other covers. We'll see.

I had more to respond to, but he's a bit cranky, needing his morning boobie and nappy, so I better go.


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## Maggie Mae (Sep 14, 2004)

elfmama- Ben is getting pretty crazy with separation lately too - this is really when it sets in, and IME it lasts a good 6 months, at least. I second what everyone said about not disappearing. Ben does much better if he sees me go, even if he does get a bit grumpy at first, he calms down quickly and is ok longer. I like Sarah's idea about 'starting over' - leaving (after saying goodbye, and letting DD see you go) and then coming back in a few minutes, slowly building up the length of time you're away. In the short term that will probably mean no workout for you, but in the long term I think its worth it since your DD will know you'll come back and that you're not likely to vanish if she takes her eyes off you.

Oops! Its late - gotta get kids ready for the pool. More soon!


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## mommaluv321 (Aug 14, 2004)

hey ladies, de-lurking for a moment, about the dipes, I know that skinny legged babes don't usually fit as well in bummis, maybe you could try trading for something else TC? I know that lovey-bums are really nice, and not too expensive, her fleece covers are great. Stacinator is also a really good cover, then again so are pro-wraps and they're alot cheaper. I only used nikki's and bio-bottoms w/ Kayla, and she has really skinny legs. The poly is better than the all cotton, as it doesn't get as streched-out. Though, I have to say that nikki's run a lil small, and they won't hold up to multiple kids, as the one I have leftover from Kayla are a bit streched out and showing their age.hth!


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Crystal!! Good to "see" you on here...this morning I woke up thinking of you, wondering, because I hadn't seen you on here for a while.

Welcome back! Don't be a stranger!!


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## orangecanoe (Aug 3, 2003)

TC---random diaper thought...have you tried a simple pull-on cover. C has pretty skinny legs too and our no-fail cover is dappi pants.....got ours from Integrity Diaper company...some people have had problems w/ the BRU/Espcially for baby brand--with the nylon taffetta separating, but I've had good luck w/ the ones I got from IDC. Cheap too! We're in larges for the rise even though the weight says 26+.

Nap craziness here today







But I will not talk about sleep! :LOL


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## fiddlefern (Nov 9, 2003)

elfmama- the separation anxiety- OMG! Luke's really social and doesn't have stranger anxiety, but separation anxiety- yes! I've found that it comes and goes, but is worse when he's tired or sick or working on something new.

The other day I tried to leave him with the care person at church for the first time. We meet in a big old house where the pastor and his wife life in community with 5 or 6 other people. DH and I went up, played for a minute or two, said bye-bye, and left. Instant tears. I could hear him as I went downstairs. I waited about 2 minutes down there to see if he'd calm down, but he didn't, so I went back up and brought him into the living room for the service. Later I took him up again, and he got interested in something and barely noticed when I said goodbye, and was fine.









Claudia- I use the same system you do (standard prefolds and bummis). Did you go straight from infant size to mediums? I use a combo of smalls and mediums. The smalls are less likely to leak (though M's legs aren't as skinny as Luke's so maybe he can't fit in them). At night we use the mediums because the doublers make the dipe bigger, but we add a cheap plasic pull-up to prevent leaks. I had some Nikkis when Luke was an infant and LOVED them, so I second Crystal's idea. Oh, and I second j-star's experience that my fuzzibuns wick.

Jacqueline- let us know if your gym plan is a success. I hope you can do it, as much for the "you" time as the work-out. I'm too po' to afford it- or more accurately, I'm spending that $ on therapy- so I guess I'm trading good mental and emotional health for the physical health. I suppose the two helpings of chocolate ice cream I've eaten while typing this post probably don't help the leftover tummy flab either. Thank goodness for long walks and a high metabolism, otherwise I'd never get away with it. :LOL

OK, maybe I should actually do some housework (check out the forward I got from my mom on the Yahoo group- tee hee).


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

mmm chocolate ice cream

about the gym thing i think it's important to work out. i'd keep doing it. play a bit to get her interested and then say goodbye. tell her you'll be back and she gets to play with the kids and ALL THESE TOYS. make it sound fun. don't let her see you fretting. they can understand a LOT at this age. she'll cry but they are holding her and comforting her. go do the quickest workout ever (15-20 mins on the elliptical or something). keep going and eventually you'll come back and she will be playing. or just sitting on their lap watching the other kids. and she'll give you a big smile

i know separation anxiety is high right now (it is for us). but she will see that you come back. start out slower and work up to longer workouts.

i haven't tried isaac at the gym daycare yet so i'm kinda talking big. i go to the gym on my lunchhour. but i do drop him off at daycare every day and he isn't always excited. i make it sound fun. i talk about the kids and the toys. and if he does fuss he's always done by the time i peek in the window on my way out. they are at an age where they are getting intrigued by other kids. and playing with new toys, etc. it won't be bad. and working out feels good!!


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## mommaluv321 (Aug 14, 2004)

Hey Elsanne!! thanks for thinking of me







: I'm glad I haven't been forgotten about! Since we are on the subject of baby-sitters, I thought I'd put one out there for you ladies: In 2 weeks Kayla is going to be the flower girl at my friend Avital's wedding, but the catch is that there are going to be no other kids there, including Asha. Avital's mom is getting her nurse friend to come to a nearby hotel to baby-sit during the ceremony. Well, Avi called the other day and said her mom would like her friend to watch Asha during the reception too, which could last who knows how long...I don't know how to react. Asha has only been watched by one other person before, once and that was when she was 3mos old and I had hernia surgery. I've told Avi this and she's like, "No big deal, my mom's friend is good w/ babies" I was ok with her watching her during the actual wedding, but not for like 5 hours!! Can you say abandonment issues? She doesn't even like other ppl to try to pick her up! Another thing that sucks is we have to drive 2 hours to go there, so I can't ask my friend who she is most comfortable with. Any ideas as to how I should handle this would be greatly appreciated!!


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## KKmama (Dec 6, 2001)

Crystal, 5 hrs. sounds way too long. Does Avital have kids or know much about them? She may think she's doing you a favor and being nice, while she may not realize that it could be really hard on Asha, her mom's friend, and you. Just try to be as diplomatic as possible and feel out exactly why she's offering this. If it's because she (or her mom) has decided she doesn't want any kids at the reception, you could gently explore why and whether she'd make an exception for Asha.

As far as the gym thing goes... I've finally been able to do a lot of hiking and walking again. I hike with the baby in a backpack, of course. It's a pretty good workout, it's free, and I don't have to worry about the childcare situation. But I realize not everyone has hiking as readily available as I do... I'm kind of a weenie about leaving mine, so I have no good advice.







:

Jstar, re the weaning... I feel a little weird here, because it seems like I nurse way, way, WAY longer than everyone else (T weaned at not quite 3), though I'm supposedly in a very crunchy place (maybe it's because we moved here from Berkeley, where one of my friends told me, "No one even asks about weaning until your child is 4 years old." :LOL ).


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## Sarah'sMama (Nov 30, 2002)

Hi Mamas!

Katie is a walking-talking-crazy-girl! Its the cutest thing. She's walking with such confidence these days. She's so proud of herself. I have to pinch myself sometimes because I'm just so happy and proud of her. She is way more verbal than dd1 was at this age, so thats fun too. She copies everything we say. I love to hear her try to say "cheese" its funny. Since Katie's walking so well, I had to get her some new shoes today. I got her a pair for like, five bucks a while back, before she was walking. they're cute, but the sole doesn't flex at all, so I went to the shoestore and bought her a better pair. I also got Sarah a pair of little Teva's today, too. I couldn't pass them up. Seeing her little feet in Teva's just makes me smile.









Crystal-no real advice. I really like what KK said, maybe your friend thinks she's doing you a favor by lining up this woman to care for Asha. I didn't realize how strong the mama-baby bond was until I had kids, so maybe she doesn't understand? Definitely do what you're comfortable with. Even if it is an adult's only reception, how much harm is one little one year old going to do? There will probably be music at the reception, so no one is even really going to hear her if she cries a bit. I think mostly people don't want older children running amuk, so that's why they don't let kids come to some receptions. But really, Asha's at an age where she's not going to be running around and stealing all kinds of balloons off the tables or whatever.

Jacqueline-how's G's rash these days?? Hope its getting better.

TC and MM-welcome back!









Heather-how's the sleeing on the twin going with C? Hope the transition goes well!

GOt some stuff I must do. Catch ya'll later!

Anyone see Lisa around? I saw someone DDDDC'ed her :LOL


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## jstar (Jul 22, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *KKmama*
maybe it's because we moved here from Berkeley, where one of my friends told me, "No one even asks about weaning until your child is 4 years old." :LOL .

heheh. i love it.

i find it all pretty interesting (the weaning thing). i really had no idea when i set out how long i would breastfeed. so i don't have many preconceived notions or goals about it. i am taking it as it comes. isaac isn't anywhere near self-weaning. he's still a major 24/7 boobie baby. dh would like his boobies back someday (he mentioned yesterday :LOL ) but i think he can share. i'll keep on fantasizing about sleep







(i keep mentioning night weaning but there is never a night that seems like a good night to deal with major crying sessions....so that is an easy thing to put off for another day...or year!).

but i DID stop pumping on monday. that was the last day














:














the engorgement should hopefully level out soon. it probably wasn't a good idea to quit one day after vacation but oh well. PHEW. no more bottle/cone washing. yahooooty

i feel like kind of a hardass on the separation anxiety thing. but i think it is a good 'skill' for them to learn that mom goes away and always comes back. they will likely encounter it at some point in life...preschool or staying at grandmas or kindergarten or with dad. only you know your baby and how bad that 'distress' is. gauge it and go from there. it will be hard on mom and baby no matter when it happens. it is *wierd* to be with your baby all the time and then not be with them. it feels like something is missing. but separation can be introduced gradually and gently i think. now leaving your baby for 5 hours with a total stranger......WAY too intense for everyone involved. i would skip the reception if the friend is not flexible. take turns with dh half way through if that is possible to stay with asha

sherri--little tevas are heartbreakingly cute. i look at those every time i go to nordstrom. i got isaac some carter tevas. they're kind of stiff so i ended up getting him flexible sandals. they came in handy for swimming though because the concrete was so hot around the pool

isaac has seemingly reverted on the verbal thing. no talking at all. besides 'daddy'







. what happened to mama????????? i think he's concentrating on other things. like learning to run. he tries to walk faster and faster and starts listing to one side. it's hilarious

heatherfeather--the nipple pain isnt' a milk blister. its from isaac biting the **** out of me on sunday. be broke the skin on top and bottom of the nipple and it was bleeding. major owie. (last time i try to nurse to stop a tantrum). and it feels infected now (still major pain....4 days later). i'm really hoping it doesn't turn into mastitis. it feels like the 4th week of breastfeeding when my nipples were pussing and each latch was excruciating. and that did turn into mastitis. so i have my fingers crossed

so far this week our new 7:30pm bedtime is working pretty well









anyhoot. sorry if i sound like a meanie on the separation anxiety







: i'm just jaded because i had to go through it when he was so young. it is a harder thing to introduce at this age but i don't know when it is supposed to get easier on them (age 10? :LOL ). i just know when he was starting daycare they said it was WAY easier for little babies to start and be used to it by the time they get to the stronger separation anxiety peaks than for older babies to be plunged into it. (isaac is totally used to daycare and i've even noticed an increase lately) dh took him in this morning so i'm not sure how he did today/

have a good one


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## Defenestrator (Oct 10, 2002)

Does anybody else's kids have an odd number of teeth that have been that way for a while? Ds1's teeth always came in pairs but Theo's got 7 teeth and it has been that way for over a month.

In other news, I got a massage today. Ahhhhh. My friend Kate, the massage therapist, really ground me into a pulp, but it was the good kinda hurt. Everyone should have a friend who is a massage therapist.

I was thinking about the wedding issues posted and remembered that it has been about 5 years since I made it through anything but dinner at a wedding reception. I have either left my kids with my parents, who turn into pumpkins at 10pm or taken them with me, in which case they turn into pumpkins at about 9pm. I think you should put your foot down and say that either your girls come to the reception with you or you will need to only attend the ceremony. If your baby is not used to being with a sitter, being with a stranger and a bunch of other strange kids will probably be totally overwhelming.

It has been storming all day here on and off. We had a huge branch fall on our house. It dented our metal chimney and made a very loud noise. I reacted totally inappropriately, ordering older ds to get away from the window. I am surprised that I didn't tell him to "stop, drop and roll!" What would one do to protect oneself and ones little ones when giant branches fall through the roof? Get near a loadbearing wall, get under furniture? I'm not sure.

We are thinking of going to one of those carnivals where they have disgusting food and life-threatening rides. Wish us luck.

Take care,

Stacia


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## elsanne (Mar 10, 2004)

Stacia--in stormy weather you're going to the carnival??? Loca!! I absolutely adore those carnivals. I also







county fairs. I used to be in 4H and my bread won champion!! Uh oh, my dork-o-meter's going off...

I have yummy homemade pizza in the oven after a long hard day at the hot springs. It's funny, because it actually WAS long and hard. I got a sunburn as did la bebe (grrr DH's fault, of course!). Not horrible, but owie shoulders.







:


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

: Hey mamas! I'm back from vacation as well! Newport people squick me, I tell ya! Rich rich RICH and everything was SO expensive. But DH spent every summer there since he was 8 and it IS fun to be in another place for a while...we even did a Mansion tour (Newport, RI is famous for it's mansions on Bellevue Ave) and I made DH drive past the ocean every chance we got, even though he said it was stinky. :LOL
Oh man, I can't even begin to touch on everything we've been chatting about here, but welcome back from vacation/camping/whatever, everyone!







And um, weaning. Yeah. DH and I have talked about nightweaning, but well, we've been taking our hints from the babe, so basically, it's NO right now.







I mean, I nurse him down at 7ish (when I have to work, I nurse him right before I leave, and DH gets him down w/o me, which is sometimes hard, sometimes easier than he thought it would be) and then we can usually lie him down and pat his back for a minute or so, and he's asleep. Naps lately have been weird; he's only doing one now, around noonish (or, we try to stretch it to noon--sometimes it's more like 11:30ish--ack) and he nurses, but often is awake when we lie him down. Then we have to pat his back for a little while and he sleeps 1 1/2-2 hours. Not too shabby. I don't even have to go up there...usually.
At night is he wakes before we go to bed (usually about 10:30-11) we try to pat his back but if it's clear that it won't work, I nurse him. So um, last night he went down at 7, woke at 11, nursed, slept till 3:30, then woke at 4:30, 5:45, and was up at 6:45 for the day.







Sometimes I tell DH that I would rather he wake every hour at the start of the night and save those long stretches for the late night/early morning! Oh well. I'm dealing. Teething has been rough...no molars yet but BIG bumps in the back. Poor thing. I have often given him Motrin along with his teething tablets, even though I hate it. Only at night before bed, and not every day, but I still feel like it's too much. Tylenol doesn't work, period. He takes after his mama, needs the big guns for pain. *sigh* I will be so happy when he has all those teeth!

So, definitely no weaning yet. I'm not too worried. No one, luckily, has really pressured me about it, and I have my answers ready if they do.







I think at first, since I hardly knew the first thing about this mama thing, I thought I would nurse for a year, tops. Now, it's like, whenever he's done I'll be done.
But, to join jstar, I stopped pumping as well! I only have to do it on weekends when I work, but well, I don't really HAVE to, and Rowan is happier with water when I'm gone at work nowadays...so it's all good. It's strange to only have 2-3 oz of milk in the freezer when I used to have 8-10 (not a lot, I know, but it was a lot to me!)...anyway, yeah.

He is just amazing right now. Yeah, the whining and sep. anxiety is there (elfmama, I tend to also make sure he sees me leave, like when I go to work or even to the store or whatever, while in the arms of DH or in your case, a trusted caregiver, and I make sure he's settled with whatever he's doing before I go (or as much as he can be). I give him kisses and tell him about how long I'll be gone. He's usually fine. He may get a little upset but usually he's easily soothed/distracted after I've left his sight, or so DH tells me; today, I had to go to the store and I called DH to let him know I was on my way back and to see if he needed anything, and he was like, "we're having a great time!" so um, yeah. All the advice sounds good, and good luck!







It can be hard to deal with the absolute fact that you are this baby's WORLD, and will be for some time. But think about how amazing that is!







)
ANYway!







He is allllmost taking steps, standing on his own...but isn't quite sure about it yet. He is talking up a storm, mostly in his own language, but we're starting up the signs again, and he almost has "more" and "all done", and always, "milk" (though he prefers to just lunge for his boobie while in my arms! :LOL) and he points and grunts for things, which we find hilarious but we're also trying to teach him the words while we hand the desired thing to him.
He very clearly pointed to a bell inside a block the other day and said "bell!" Awesome. Such a fun (and crazy!) age.









Um, I thought I had other things to say but he just woke up and I had to nurse him so I was afk for a few...oh well.
I'm back! Yay. It's good to be home (especially since DH doesn't have to go back to work until Tuesday! Yay!)
later, awesome mamas!








Oh, and while I was in Newport, I got this:
http://pics.livejournal.com/rantfaery/pic/00013af6
http://pics.livejournal.com/rantfaery/pic/000113zz

It looks ouchie in the pic because it was taken the day after I got it, but it's a lotus (water flower, symbolizing rebirth, it closes and sinks beneath the water at night, then opens again and rises at down--how perfect is that??) with the word "mother" in Sanskrit above it. I can talk about the symbolism of it with y'all later but just know that it is *me* inn every sense of the word.
A pregnant tattooed mama did the artwork after consulting with me, and she inked it onto me! It was a sign, and it was beautiful.
I was a little worried about getting a tat while I was still nursing, but I looked things up online on kellymom even, and I think on the LLL website, and there was no real risk to do it while nursing (I would think also, since Rowan is not a newborn anymore it's definitely not a problem) especially if you go to a clean, reputable place. And it's healing prefectly (and kinda grossly too...it's all peeling and stuff--ick) so I'm not worried.
Okay, now I really AM gonna go! Later, mamas!


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## mcsarahb (Aug 25, 2003)

Ooooooooooooooh, Renae, that is BEAUTIFUL! I am so jealous! :LOL Really, it is a gorgeous piece of art. The colors are great. I can't wait 'til I can afford mine! :LOL

Oops, gotta run - 'night, Mamas.


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## nuggetsmom (Aug 7, 2002)

Well, the beach trip ws better than expected and the drive there was OK too.

I know I have been missing quite a bit lately, but I just have a ton of stuff going on and so I don't get on the computer much. And I do try to keep up a little, but you know I am sort of not into being on the computer lately. I will check in but not neccesarily post and I do read the YG too.

Renae- WOW how nice.

KKmama- what do you do with T on hikes? I can't walk these guys anymore because one in the jogger and one in the backpack is too much,. And Naomi doesn't seem motivated to walk herself very far and certainly not very fast.

It took Julia a while to get used to the Y daycare and she has her older sister there. I did it slowly, but the other day I took her without Naomi and it was not OK. She also goes to the nursery at the preshool while I work and she did fine with a change in babysitter there.
But yes, I don't sneak out. I would rather have her cry when she sees me leave than freak out later when she realizes I am gone. A good babysitter will distract her again right away after I leave. Maybe play with her till she is into playing, then tell her goodbye and have the sitter get her back to her play as soon as you leave.

As for cute cute cute. I took the girls out for dinner with my friend and her kids and Julia fell asleep in the car on the way over. Then she stayed asleep on the way to the restaurant and while we ordered and stuff. I was holding her. When she woke up she started to look around at everything and I was talking to her to reassure her that I was there. My friend said "Yeah, it is good that you are there, but she thinks she justwoke up on Mars" and that was exactly the look too. :LOL :LOL







It was really funny.
And she pushes her push toys around with this crazy intensity and Naomni used to do that too. They are so sweet these babes of mine.


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## Mama Faery (Apr 19, 2004)

Lalala...we have a new thread!








http://www.mothering.com/discussions...76#post3386676


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